GBP Chapter 150 The Ace Tanker's Thoughts
Chapter 150 The Ace Tanker's Thoughts
The defensive battle centered on Aswan began. However, what the German southern commander, General von Arnim, hadn't anticipated was that his opponent, General Kuang Zhengqi, would not focus his main battles in the open areas of Aswan, but rather around the city of Nasser and along the opposite bank of the Binban line. Despite being significantly outnumbered in both troop numbers and tanks, Kuang Zhengqi attempted to exploit the Second Army's slight advantage in manpower and firepower in the Nasser line to annihilate the German 3rd and 21st Divisions.
Von Arnim was completely oblivious to his opponent's unusual behavior, still immersed in his usual superiority mentality. However, he didn't know that this was precisely a trap carefully designed by Kuang Zhengqi. Thus began a fierce and targeted counterattack!
Around 4:1 PM that afternoon, the German 1st Tank Corps arrived with overwhelming force at the outskirts of Bimban. Without hesitation, they launched a fierce attack on the US 15st Armored Division. Commanding Lieutenant General Adolf Leonard Kite ordered the 8th Regiment of the 1th Division to launch a direct assault from the front, while the st Light Infantry Division would maneuver and seize the high ground west of Bimban. Furthermore, he directed all artillery fire to indiscriminately bombard the Bimban defenders.
In an instant, the Binban line was ablaze with flames and filled with smoke. Across the Nile River, the soldiers of the 83rd Regiment could clearly hear the deafening roar of artillery coming from the opposite bank.
Powell and Cheney stood together at the divisional observation post, observing the enemy's movements through gun scopes and binoculars. Powell didn't immediately commit the heavy artillery regiment to the battle, preferring to wait for the German artillery to become paralyzed before suddenly delivering a fatal blow. As for the incoming German tanks, Powell and Cheney shared the same idea: let them in and, using their superior anti-tank firepower in the narrow streets of Binban Town, contain them.
Their goal was clear: to draw the main force of the German 1st Tank Army toward them. Bimban wasn't crucial; the Mahadoviv Desert gorge south of Bimban could restrict the movement of large-scale German tanks, forcing them to engage in close combat. Of course, even if they couldn't hold the gorge, there was no need to worry. Beyond the gorge, the town of Sabhayeh was even narrower, and the heavy artillery regiment had been discreetly relocated there. This area was ideal for heavy artillery strikes against mechanized clusters. Once inside, the Germans would be trapped.
This was a strategy of resistance at each step and luring the enemy deep into their territory that Kuang Zhengqi and Powell had worked out after several hours of discussion. As long as the US 1st Division could hold back the main force of the German 1st Tank Army and Lieutenant Colonel George's surprise attack disrupted their logistical supply lines, the German 1st Tank Army would not be able to quickly advance to the other side of Aswan before the end of the Nasser front line. The Allied air force base in Aswan would be able to continue to maintain air strikes on the German army. At the very least, Eisenhower and Montgomery would have more time. Even if the defense failed in the end, the Second Army's minimum goal would have been achieved.
The 8th Tank Regiment, responsible for the first-line attack, is the main force of the 15th Tank Division. Because of its outstanding contribution in the North African operations, the 15th Tank Division was upgraded from an armored division to a tank division. It has three tank regiments and one mechanized infantry regiment, with 156 tanks.
In Rommel's Afrika Korps, tank divisions were the absolute backbone, followed by armored, grenadier, and light infantry divisions. A German armored division typically consisted of a tank regiment, a grenadier regiment, an armored reconnaissance battalion, an anti-tank battalion, an air defense battalion, a mechanized infantry battalion, and an engineer battalion. They possessed approximately 100 tanks and tank destroyers, and their most lethal weapon was their 16 88mm anti-tank guns, which had been incorporated into the anti-tank battalions and no longer specialized for air defense. The air defense battalions were equipped with 37mm single-barreled rapid-fire anti-aircraft guns.
The German Panzergrenadier Division consisted of two Panzergrenadier Regiments, a tank battalion, an engineer battalion, and other auxiliary units. Each Panzergrenadier Regiment had 2 tank destroyers and other anti-tank weapons, primarily composed of two grenadier battalions and an artillery company. The German grenadier battalion was large, numbering over 36 men. Its subordinate artillery company had 2 1200mm howitzers, designed for both offensive and anti-tank operations.
The German light infantry division was composed of three infantry regiments, a motor regiment, an artillery battalion, an armored reconnaissance battalion, etc. Its strength was equivalent to the well-planned and well-organized German-equipped division of the Chinese army before the War of Resistance.
The 8th Tank Regiment's 51 tanks launched the attack in the Germans' traditional cone formation. At the forefront were 17 Panzer V tanks, the latest model. Their 75mm KwK 42 L/70 guns were incredibly powerful. Currently, only the M6B1 and the latest Churchill heavy tanks could withstand their attack head-on. Tank 015 was at the forefront, commanded by Lieutenant Andermar von Einstein. He was the 15th Division's ace tank driver, and since entering Africa, he had destroyed nearly three dozen American and British tanks and armored vehicles.
Von Einstein, halfway out of the tank's roof, used the cover to observe the enemy positions across the way through his binoculars. Intelligence indicated that the enemy was their old rival, the US 1st Armored Division. Von Einstein had made several successful encounters with the 1st Division, especially against the tall, slow-moving M3 Lee tanks, which were practically sitting ducks for the German tanks.
Von Einstein clearly remembered that when he first confronted the M3, he was driving a Panzer IV. The 57mm tank gun could not penetrate the front armor of the M1000 Lee at a distance of 3 meters. However, the 3mm gun on the M37 Lee turret was also unable to do anything to the Panzer IV. While it was clumsily adjusting its main gun, Von Einstein had used the mobility advantage of the Panzer IV to detour to its flank and ignited its fuel tank with a precise shot. Then, flames filled the sky. The crowded interior of the M3 prevented the seven tank crew members from escaping in time, and they could only cruelly wait to be burned to death inside the tank.
The 1st US Division was now also equipped with M4 Shermans, but von Einstein had also switched to the more powerful Panther V, which continued to crush the American tanks. Von Einstein clearly remembered the first time he shot down an M2000 Sherman at 4 meters. The Sherman was incredibly foolish. Knowing the Panther's powerful gun, it dared to advance and even stopped on a high slope, as if it had become a target for von Einstein.
The 75mm armor-piercing shell hit its flank accurately with flames. The metal jet generated by the shell instantly penetrated the armor and entered the interior of the M4, not only killing the members inside the M4, but also igniting the tank. In less than 3 minutes, a secondary explosion occurred inside the M4. The huge impact force lifted its turret into the sky, and then it fell heavily more than ten meters away!
Von Einstein continued to observe, expecting to see familiar targets. He wanted to break the triple digits as soon as possible and become one of the few tank elites in the Third Reich!