The Logistics and Maintenance Department lived up to Rommel's expectations and completed the transformation of twelve "mine-sweeping tanks" within twelve hours, that is, at 8 o'clock that night.

After that, Rommel personally organized a small-scale exercise... The troops must know the usage of this new weapon and its formation. It took two hours.

Then the minesweeping tanks and the 21st armored units set foot on the road of attack again in the darkness.

Rommel's deployment is as follows:

The Italian 7th Infantry Division and the 48th Infantry Division opened a long line of defense to confront the northern section of the British Alamaic Line and launched a feint attack.

(Note: Italy originally had ten divisions in North Africa. After being defeated by the British, Rommel reorganized it into one armored division and five infantry divisions in Tobrook)

Rommel dared not have too much expectations for the Italian army, so they could only have a feint attack, that is, they could fire empty guns in the defense line or fire a few shots in the direction of the enemy.

Later, Qin Chuan learned that these were actually two infantry divisions with strong combat effectiveness in the Italian army... The three divisions with worse combat effectiveness were stationed in Tobrook or were in logistics tasks.

The combat effectiveness of the only armored division of the Italian army, the 132nd Armored Division (Ariet Division), is still not satisfactory, but they have the same shortcomings as the British armored units...the speed is slow.

This is mainly because the M13 tanks they equipped are very backward. They are not even equipped with dust filters when fighting in the desert, so they are not slow (the maximum speed is 33 kilometers per hour), and there are still failures during the march.

So, when Rommel was eager to launch an attack on the enemy's defense line, the armored division, honored by the Italians, was still on the way.

Of course, Rommel would not stop and wait for the "ram" that was slow and always disappointing.

The 15th Armored Division was placed on the front of Roaise Ridge, and launched two strong attacks after it was dark... This made the British even more convinced that their idea was correct: the Germans' breakthrough was Roaise Ridge.

However, at this moment, the 21st Armored Division had just moved around to the right wing of the Ruwai Sat Ridge, which was originally the main force of the 4th Infantry Division of India.

General Strek was more cautious, or it could be said that General Strek was a little worried about the new equipment of "mine-sweeping tank", so before the troops arrived, a team of engineers arranged to lurk in the minefield for mine clearance and preliminary reconnaissance.

In fact, the more important thing is reconnaissance, because this determines the allocation of minesweeping tank locations and walking routes. For example, if there is a roadblock at a certain location, it is difficult to cross the minesweeping tank, so you should avoid the route as much as possible.

Then, the main force of the 21st Armored Division rushed to the British minefield five kilometers away, and they rested in the dark for ten minutes... After these ten minutes, the minesweeping tank slowly drove to the front of the team.

Due to confidentiality, the German soldiers had no idea about the existence of the "mine-sweeping tanks". At this time, they were a little confused when they saw strange things appearing in front of the team.

"What's this?" Werner asked: "Is the thing in front of him filled with explosives?"

"I saw chains on it!" the baker replied, "They don't want to use these chains to beat the British!"

Qin Chuan couldn't help laughing when he heard this.

"Sergeant, what do you seem to know?" Alphredo asked.

"Yes, of course he knows!" Bazel, who was familiar with the matter, replied: "Because he invented it!"

"What? Is this the sergeant invented?" The German soldiers couldn't help but stare at Qin Chuan with wide eyes.

"This is a minesweeping tank!" Qin Chuan explained: "I just hope we don't have to risk our lives to clear mines like we did last night!"

The German soldiers couldn't help but look gratefully at Qin Chuan:

"Good example, Sergeant!"

“My family and I will appreciate you for this!”

"You are simply our savior!"

"Why is it 'just'? He is!"

...

Minesweeping tanks are divided into five groups every two. (The extra two are used as backup)

The reason why two vehicles are needed is to open a wider attack channel on the one hand, and on the other hand... it is to worry that if a tank fails or is destroyed, the other tank can continue to clear mines without giving up halfway.

General Streck looked at his watch and ordered: "Attack!"

Three red signal flares quickly rose into the air.

The sound of artillery sounded at the first time... Before this, the German army had transferred some of the artillery regiments of the 15th Armored Division and even the artillery regiments of the Italian Infantry Division.

The British army used the vast majority of artillery on the Roaishat Ridge, and thus, an abnormal phenomenon in the local area of ​​Dilseyin was formed, in which German artillery had a slight advantage.

So the German artillery successfully suppressed the British artillery fire to provide cover for mine-sweeping tanks.

But this is not the point, the point is that the sound of gunfire can cover up the sound of "mine-sweeping tanks" demining.

Sure enough, when the information about Dilseyin being violently bombarded reached General Ochinlek, General Ochinlek did not take it seriously.

"This is just another trick of the Germans. They want us to transfer the artillery back!" General Ochinlek looked at his watch and said, "It's already twelve o'clock now, and the minefield in Dilseyin is a full five kilometers... If the Germans attack there, they are afraid that they will not be able to pass the minefield at dawn!"

"But Major General David reported that the enemy's artillery fire was very fierce!" Major General Rich was a little worried. He already felt that the battle was a little different.

"Major General David hasn't participated in the battle yet, do you understand?" General Ochinlek said: "To be precise, they have never seen the German artillery fire, so they can't tell what is 'violent'."

General Ochinlek took it for granted, but he couldn't blame him. Without knowing the "mine-sweeping tank", it was indeed impossible to imagine that the German army would choose another location with a complete minefield to make a breakthrough.

On the other hand, the German "mine-sweeping tanks" were already showing their power on the battlefield... Ten tanks lined up in a row, and as soon as the motor started, the steel chains would "swoosh forward". As the tanks advanced forward, the steel chains kept whipping the ground in front like whips.

Landmines exploded one after another. Because the tanks advanced rapidly and the British mines were densely laid, the smoke and dust that exploded in front of the tanks were propelling towards the British army like a tide.

However, the British army knew nothing about this scene because they were panicked by the fierce artillery fire of the German army and did not know how to deal with it.

Until they stabilized and fired a flare in front of the position...
Chapter completed!