Chapter 696: Elegy

Just as the two of them were grieving for their country, the piercing sound of an air-raid siren suddenly filled the sky. The ear-piercing wail of a hand-cranked siren instantly broke through their sorrowful thoughts.

“What’s going on? The Germans almost never bomb the facilities inside the city. What’s the meaning of sounding the air-raid alarm?” Montgomery asked, grabbing a soldier who was rushing past to move a bed. But he soon knew the answer himself, because in the sky above him, one German bomber after another was already visible.

“My God!” Montgomery lowered his head and saw the chaotic mess of civilians and soldiers. There were far too many things in the city that had not been camouflaged or protected in the rush: piles of supplies and fuel, undistributed ammunition and first-aid supplies, and of course, the ground was covered with the wounded and civilians. In contrast, due to the geological reasons, there were pitifully few air-raid shelters and other such facilities here.

Swarms of German bombers blotted out the sun. One didn’t need to think hard to know what kind of losses this German bombing raid would bring to Alexandria. Although he knew in his heart that this would happen sooner or later, when he saw it with his own eyes, Montgomery still realized that on this afternoon, the British would face their most terrible test in a month.

Due to the lack of artillery, most of the city’s anti-aircraft guns had been sent to the outer positions, either to act as temporary anti-tank guns, like the German 88mm cannons, or to be used as support artillery. And most of the artillery had already been lost in the fierce fighting on the periphery. There were only a few anti-aircraft weapons left in the city that could let out a groan at this moment.

Yes, a groan. In the face of the German Air Force’s overwhelming number of bombers, the British anti-aircraft fire could now be described with the word “groan.” A few small-caliber anti-aircraft guns spat fire at the sky, but they did not disrupt the dense bombing formation of the German bombers in the slightest.

The local Egyptians looked up in terror and saw the bombers open the bomb bay doors underneath their fuselages, revealing the terrifying bombs. Then, with a whistling sound, these bombs were dropped one after another, creating a shrill sound in the wind. It was the sound of the wind blowing against the whistles on the bombs, and also the whistle of the Grim Reaper as he prepared to harvest lives.

One bomber dropped its bombs, and dozens of bombers behind it dropped their bombs together. Then more bombers opened their bomb bays and dropped their heavy bombs. And so, the entire port of Alexandria seemed to be caught in a heavy rain, a rain of steel and destruction.

The British general who had lost a hand looked at the dense mass of German bombers in the sky and sighed with a bitter smile, “How can humanity stand against such a terrifying force? How can a human body withstand the devastation of steel? In the face of such a powerful war machine, how long can we last?”

“Sir! Please leave here with me immediately! It’s too dangerous!” an aide said, pulling at Montgomery’s arm, hoping to lead the dazed general away. But his efforts were clearly in vain. Montgomery stood there, showing no intention of leaving.

Montgomery remembered the scene he had witnessed in the British homeland. Hundreds of German bombers had appeared in the skies over London and then dropped hundreds of huge bombs. Those bombs were filled with a terrible chemical agent that made the flames burn so fiercely that even water could not extinguish them. The whole of London was burning, the whole earth was trembling. The civilization that humanity had built over thousands of years had collapsed and been destroyed in ten minutes.

To experience such a terrible thing once was enough to make a person break down. And Montgomery had witnessed it twice. What was even more tragic was that both times, the target of the bombing was a city he had sworn to defend to the death. The result was the same both times: the city he was to protect was turned into a pile of rubble, and his efforts were completely in vain.

A bomb landed not far away, right in the middle of a crowd. The huge flames instantly engulfed countless living souls. Then the massive blast wave spread over a wider area, tearing people’s bodies apart. Montgomery personally saw an arm fly onto the roof of a nearby building, personally saw a mutilated body fly into the distance.

Then more bombs exploded. The nearest one went off, and the blast wave sent a gust of wind that blew the hat from Montgomery’s head. The loud rumbling of collapsing buildings came from the distance from time to time. Montgomery remembered that the sound of buildings collapsing in London was louder, because the buildings there were thicker and taller.

Before Montgomery could recover, he was pushed down by his aide, his adjutant, and the surrounding guards. A group of people hustled him towards a nearby anti-aircraft gun position. There was only one pitiful anti-aircraft gun there, but there were fortifications made of sandbags that could provide some cover.

The field hospital, which had been overflowing with people, was instantly thrown into chaos. People dodged the bombs dropped by the bombers, then crashed into each other and were trampled underfoot. White tents billowed in the wind, gauze and sheets were blown away, and some precious and invaluable instruments were scattered on the ground, with no one paying them any attention.

The Germans had sortied a full 190 Do-217 bombers in one go. This number was a bit terrifying for Alexandria. What’s more, there were a full 140 Stuka bombers supporting from the front line, and 50 Fw-190D fighters carrying small bombs. Including the 40 escort fighters, Germany had sent out a total of over 400 aircraft, which could be described as blotting out the sun.

And this time, the German Air Force had also mixed in a large number of napalm incendiary bombs with the bombs they dropped, increasing the power of destruction. In an instant, the entire port of Alexandria was filled with thick black smoke. Some buildings were ignited by the fierce flames, making a crackling sound. Even the sea was on fire, and some ships were ignited.

Some of the wounded, who were already struggling in pain on their hospital beds, quickly ended their lives in this chaotic situation. They lay on their unattended beds, struggling to sit up, but finally stopped breathing, their arms hanging limply.

More people were engulfed by the fierce flames and directly turned into charcoal. Bed sheets were ignited and turned into black powder, and the beds were also burned, becoming twisted iron frames. The wounded were stuck by the chemical agents in the napalm bombs and then struggled frantically in the fierce flames, tearing off their own skin and letting out blood-curdling screams.

The escort fighters of the German Air Force, with nothing to do, began to dive and attack. They strafed the crowds with their cannons, cutting down the British soldiers who were carrying stretchers and medical equipment. Blood stained the streets red, and new bodies were piled on top of the old ones.

Montgomery was helped into a shelter piled high with sandbags by his men. Before he could recover, he saw the only anti-aircraft gun not far away being visited by two Stuka bombers. One dropped a bomb that blew the cannon into scrap iron, while the other poured over a hundred rounds of 20mm cannon shells, kicking up a cloud of white smoke all around the gun position.

The entire port of Alexandria was turned into a sea of fire, a true hell on earth. Although the bombing of London by the Germans had been on a larger scale and for a longer period of time, London had a relatively complete system of underground shelters that could protect the lives of most people. Alexandria’s underground structures were almost non-existent, so its ability to withstand bombing was much weaker.

All the buildings trembled with the explosions of the aerial bombs. People watched in despair as their homes were destroyed, as their relatives and friends died violent deaths, as everything they were familiar with was turned into rubble and debris.

However, the high-intensity bombing quickly ended. The German planes had come fast and left even faster. Because the scale of the bombing was unprecedentedly large, the Germans had not prepared for a second wave. Most of the bombers left in the direction of the sea after dropping their bombs. A few escort planes and Stukas were still circling.

With tears in their eyes, people came out of their shelters before the German planes had completely left and began to rescue what little was left to be salvaged. Some people had just been splashed by the napalm and their skin was now ulcerated and blackened, emitting a scorched smell.

Cries began to come from all directions. In fact, the crying had been going on since the bombing began, but the sound of the explosions had been too deafening and had drowned out these hysterical cries. Cries for help also came sporadically, but they seemed weak and powerless amidst the crying, with a deep sense of hopelessness.

“General! Are you… alright?” Montgomery’s aide asked, his face already blackened by the smoke, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He looked at Montgomery, who was still in a daze. The German bombing had finally come, but it had come too swiftly, too without warning, and it had brought a true catastrophe to the people in Alexandria.

Hundreds of soldiers had died in the bombing, and many more wounded and civilians had also died in this disaster. The number of people who had died directly from the bombing exceeded ten thousand. And at this time, the survivors did not yet know that the city’s fresh water reserves, purification facilities, and power systems had also been destroyed. The destruction of these living facilities would bring death to even more people.

“I’m fine… find a phone, quickly organize people to help rescue the wounded, and… send people to assess the losses. I need a loss report as soon as possible,” Montgomery said, looking at the burning flames everywhere and muttering the order. “Quick! Go and help! Don’t worry about me!”

Published: 2025-09-19T07:01:25.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-02-26T18:22:07.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c696-elegy-139242078

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