Chapter 658: Patton Makes His Move
Montgomery’s request made Patton restless. He knew how much pressure Montgomery was under at this stage of the war. In fact, that Montgomery had been able to hold on until now had greatly exceeded Patton’s own expectations. In the war games he and his staff had run, Montgomery’s forces should have begun to collapse days ago.
As for why Montgomery had not yet been defeated by the German army, the reason could only be that Montgomery had performed exceptionally well in the battle for the outskirts of Alexandria, and that the German forces under Rommel had not gone all-out.
In fact, the thing that concerned Patton the most was the second point: just how much strength Rommel was holding in reserve. Rommel had not committed his elite armored units to the battle for the defensive lines, or rather, he had not committed too many of them. The number of German armored units that Montgomery could confirm the location of was a pitiful three. This meant that Rommel had at least two full panzer divisions that had not yet been deployed, which was undoubtedly a sword of Damocles hanging over General Patton’s head.
After all, the armored forces under Patton’s command were not plentiful either. After such a long period of accumulation, he had finally managed to scrape together 300 M4 Sherman tanks and about 500 M3 Lee tanks. This was the entirety of the force he had that could threaten the German panzers. As for the other 460 M3 Stuart tanks, Patton could only classify them as armored cars, because these tanks were basically useless against German armored forces.
His original hope was to use Montgomery’s defensive battle to buy time, accumulate strength, and wear down a portion of Rommel’s armored forces to gain an advantage on the North African front. But now, there was clearly not enough time, because poor Montgomery’s forces had been too severely depleted.
In recent days, German submarines had begun to indiscriminately attack American merchant ships heading for the Middle East. The supply of materials for the American army in the region had become a serious problem. Although it wasn’t immediately apparent due to America’s long-standing presence there, Commander Patton could already see his own doom in the support he was receiving.
It was a very simple deduction. The support Montgomery was receiving from the British government-in-exile was almost zero. He could only rely on the original British colonial system in North Africa and some British army units that had been left behind. Now, these forces were basically wiped out. Even if Rommel did not win this time, the next time, Patton could not count on Montgomery, who was not being resupplied in a timely manner.
On the other hand, the German-Italian forces in North Africa, which had the advantage of Mediterranean supply lines, could gradually accumulate their strength again and wait for the next opportunity. For Patton personally, it was better to fight a battle now with the forces he had, rather than wait until that time to be annihilated by Rommel’s superior forces. Perhaps there was still a chance to turn defeat into victory.
And so, Patton had sent this idea to the high command in Washington, including Roosevelt, and had received the president’s support. If Patton did not seize the opportunity to fight while he could still lean on Montgomery’s forces, then he would have no choice but to retreat to the Middle East and wait to be annihilated by Rommel, piece by piece.
“Order the troops to immediately advance 10 kilometers. The main force of three armored divisions will swing south, deploy into formation, and prepare to counter-attack the flank of Rommel’s Afrika Korps!” Patton stared at the map in front of him and finally made the decision to initiate a decisive battle. His character would not allow him to walk slowly towards death. While he still had a chance of winning, he would fight his opponent, Rommel, head-on.
The chief of staff nodded, immediately picked up the phone in front of him, and loudly issued the order for the troops to move out: “All units on standby, advance, execute pre-arranged plan A. The counter-attack will be launched on all fronts in 24 hours!”
It wasn’t just here that the order for a full-scale counter-attack was given. The Army Air Corps command also issued an order, requiring the aircraft of the American and British expeditionary forces to take off immediately to engage the rampaging German Air Force fighter units. With this temporary order, Patton had effectively become the overall commander of the Allied forces on the North African front, surpassing Montgomery.
One after another, American tanks charged out of their temporary camouflaged sheds and shelters. Soldiers busily removed the camouflage from armored cars and trucks. Cannon after cannon was towed out of its original artillery emplacement by trucks. The American soldiers on the trucks held their weapons, their bodies swaying slightly with the forward movement of the vehicles.
On both sides of the wide desert road, American soldiers, one after another, marched forward with their rifles. They formed dense columns, advancing towards the front in unison with the shouted commands. On the road, the tanks and motorized vehicles formed a single line, a steel torrent that stretched to the end of the sky, a sight so shocking it was beyond words.
Just as the American soldiers began their full-scale advance, from the field airfields behind the Allied lines, fighter plane after fighter plane roared down the long runways and took off. Hundreds of planes rose into the air. The sky, which had previously been almost exclusively occupied by German military aircraft, suddenly became lively. The Germans could no longer dominate the skies of Africa. The Allies, at the cost of heavy losses, had prevented the German Air Force from conducting reconnaissance deep into the Allied rear.
A fierce air battle broke out in the contested airspace. In the end, the German pilots, at the heavy cost of 40 aircraft, shot down 71 of the 75 American planes that had come to fight. However, the air battle was still raging fiercely. Although the German Air Force firmly held air superiority, for a time it was unable to use that superiority to support a ground attack.
“A reconnaissance plane from the 14th Air Wing has returned. The enemy has deployed new-model P-40 fighters, which prevented our air force from conducting close reconnaissance,” an aide said to Rommel in the German front-line headquarters. “General, should we notify the air wing to send more planes to investigate?”
“That won’t be necessary. Patton has almost certainly made his move. It’s not easy for them to scrape together so many planes to fight for air superiority. It’s unlikely they would do so for a meaningless feint. So, it’s highly probable that Patton is on the move,” Rommel said with his hands behind his back. He looked at the operational map, which was almost identical to the one hanging in Patton’s headquarters, and frowned, staring at the arrows indicating troop movements, as if trying to judge where Patton would launch the battle that would decide the fate of North Africa.
“The north! Along the Mediterranean, the forces Montgomery left to guard Tobruk suffered a small setback. I don’t think they’ll dare to attack… Now, that only leaves the front and the south as the two options,” Rommel muttered his analysis, extending a hand to tap the map with his finger, as if confirming the enemy’s position.
“I estimate that Patton has deployed his forces in the south. Only there can he avoid the advantage of our Mediterranean fleet, which may be deployed,” Rommel said, tapping the map hanging on the wall with a very certain tone. “If I were him, I would place my forces in the south! It must be so!”
He glanced at Schörner, who was sitting in the command post, and the Italian commander Gariboldi, who had come to attend the operational meeting. “My 7th Panzer Corps, along with the main force of the 12th SS Panzer Division, will head south with my command post to meet our old opponent, Patton! After all, our chances of meeting again are not many!”
The operations officer nodded and likewise issued the order for the main force to head south. The assembled German armored forces, like a waking ancient beast, began to move its massive body.
With the sound of the departure order, the soldiers packed up their tents and belongings, slung their rifles, checked their ammunition, and, accompanied by the rumbling tanks and armored cars, strode firmly into the sea of yellow sand. Huge swastika flags were spread on the roofs of the tanks. The German armored officers sitting in the commander’s hatches smiled and gazed into the distance, where they would begin a battle of immense scale.
A fighter plane skimmed low over the road, passing over a long dragon of German Panther tanks. Because there were so many vehicles on the road, and the infantry marching on both sides had kicked up a sky full of dust, from a distance, it looked like a huge sandstorm moving slowly forward.
Rommel sat in his car, covering his mouth with his old scarf. The sand kicked up by the surrounding vehicles really made it impossible to open one’s eyes, so he had put on the goggles that were part of his peaked cap and was moving forward quickly with his troops.
Far away in Berlin, Germany, Akado, in his office, received the battle report from North Africa. The battle for the encirclement of Alexandria had reached a fever pitch, and the Allied 8th Army Group, led by Patton, had appeared in the southern region of Alexandria. Rommel was leading his armored forces to intercept them. The battle that would decide the future of North Africa was imminent.
“I hope Rommel and Schörner don’t disappoint us,” Akado said, closing the telegram from North Africa. He glanced at Anna, who was standing guard beside him. “I’ve sent them so many supplies and equipment, and I’ve even prepared a trick up my sleeve for them. I hope to hear news of a great victory from the North African front in a few days.”
“You will, my dear,” Anna said, coming up behind Akado and, with her slender hands, began to massage his shoulders. “I heard the analysts at the High Command say that in this battle, our chances of winning are at least ninety percent!”
Published: 2025-09-15T05:57:49.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-02-10T19:21:01.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c658-patton-138920631
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