Chapter 143 Volume Four, Chapter Thirty-Third, The Battle of Alamein

Preparing for the Desert Offensive Reluctantly Delaying General Alexander's Reason Battle Date Approaching Chip, October 23, 1942 Montgomery's Deployment Thousands of Artillery Bombardment General Offensive Combat Mutual Gains and Losses Ninth Australian Division Brilliant Offensive Ten Two days of fierce fighting on 27th and 28th of August Report to the Prime Minister of the Dominion and congratulate the generals on the British casualties Alexander's telegram of November 4 Ring the bell for the enemy's rout!An old-fashioned tactical twist of fate. In the weeks following the change of command in the Middle East, there has been uninterrupted planning and training both in Cairo and on the front lines.The Eighth Army has been strengthened unprecedentedly.The 51st and 44th Divisions had arrived in the Middle East from Britain and had become accustomed to fighting in the desert.Our armored forces have grown to seven brigades, equipped with more than a thousand tanks, almost half of which are Grant and Sherman tanks from the United States; is comparable.An unprecedentedly strong and well-trained artillery force has been assembled in the Western Desert to support the impending offensive.

According to the order of October 7, 1941, the Middle East Air Force was under the command of the commander-in-chief in terms of operational policy and tasks, but under the command of Lieutenant General Ted Air Force, there was no need for any strict regulations at all.The relationship between Air Force Command and the newly installed Army generals is cordial.The Western Desert Air Force led by Lieutenant General Coningham now has a combat effectiveness of 550 aircraft.In addition to the aircraft based on the island of Malta, there were two other air forces, with a total of 650 aircraft, whose mission was to harass the enemy's ports and supply lines in the Mediterranean and in the desert.Add a hundred American fighters and medium bombers, and our strength totals about twelve hundred operational aircraft.

While all these preparations were going on, it was necessary for me to know General Alexander's intentions as early as possible.I therefore sent the following telegram on September 17: Prime Minister to General Alexander September 17, 1942 I am eagerly awaiting your call to explain your intentions.I had agreed with you to launch the attack in the fourth week of September.You later stated that, because of the latest campaign, the campaign had weakened the enemy considerably, and that it would take a little longer to regroup, etc.I don't want to know your plan or the exact date, but I must know which week it is, otherwise I cannot make the necessary judgments about the whole situation of the battle.

General Alexander told us in several telegrams that the launch of Swiftfoot, which was the code name for the campaign, was scheduled for about the 24th of October."With no open flanks, the campaign had to be staged to break a breach in the enemy's lines," he said.Tenth Corps, which formed the main body of the armored force, was the vanguard of the attack and would advance through this breach during the day.The army will not receive all its weapons and equipment until October 1.Then it takes nearly a month of training to take on this task.In my opinion, the initial breakthrough attack must be carried out when the moon is full.This would be a major operation, it would take some time, and a sufficiently large breach in the enemy's line would have to be made if our armored forces were to have a full day to settle the fight.My whole plan is practically inseparable from the full moon.I have carefully considered how to coordinate the timing of this campaign with the Battle of the Torch, and I have come to the conclusion that the best date for our army to launch an offensive is thirteen days before the Battle of the Torch. (The Battle of the Torch had already been scheduled for November 4).

Prime Minister to Commander in Chief Middle East September 23, 1942 Everything is entrusted to you.As long as this battle can be won, it is certainly worth delaying for a while.No matter what happens, we will be your backing and support to the end. I would like to raise one point with you concerning the fortifications which the enemy will build during this period.Have you ever thought that you will encounter a twenty-five-mile-deep fortification composed of blasted caverns, concealed artillery emplacements and machine gun positions, instead of a thin layer of defense that can be breached overnight? ?Tanks were originally invented to withstand the firepower of machine guns and clear the way for infantry, but now it is infantry who have to clear the way for tanks.In my opinion, this task of the infantry will be extremely difficult now that the firepower has been greatly increased.You must now also be thinking about these problems and their solutions, and how to expand your offensive surface to take advantage of your numbers.

Nearly another month passed, and the day of the offensive drew near. Prime Minister to General Alexander October 20, 1942 Whether it is North Africa or the development of Vichy France, it is beneficial to our side. Preparations for the Operation Torch plan are well underway on schedule, but we're pinning all our hopes on you and Montgomery's upcoming campaign. This battle is likely to have major consequences for the future.Please give my warm regards to Montgomery and Corningham.When you start attacking, please use the word Zip to notify me. By this time the air force had already started fighting, attacking enemy troops, airfields and lines of communication.The Air Force paid special attention to the enemy's convoys.Thirty percent of Axis ships carrying supplies to North Africa were sunk in September, mostly by air forces.By October, that number rose to forty percent.The enemy's petrol losses amounted to sixty-six percent.During the four months of autumn, Axis ships lost more than 200,000 tons.This was a serious blow to Rommel's army.

The word I had been waiting for finally came. Commander-in-Chief Middle East to Prime Minister and Chief of the Imperial General Staff October 23, 1942 Zip! I immediately telegraphed the president. former navy personnel to president roosevelt October 23, 1942 The Egyptian campaign begins tonight at 8pm London time.The entire force of the Army will be devoted to this campaign.I will keep you informed of the situation.A victory in Egypt would be extremely advantageous to our principal cause.Those Sherman tanks and self-propelled guns you gave me that dark morning in Tobruk will be useful in this campaign.

At that time, there were thirty armored divisions and the equivalent of seven infantry divisions at the disposal of General Montgomery at any time.The concentration of such a large force necessitated several ingenious measures and precautions to deceive the enemy.It is especially important that enemy planes must not overlook our preparations.All this was accomplished with such great success that the attack was completely unexpected by the enemy. On the night of October 23rd, under a bright moon, nearly a thousand cannons opened fire on the enemy's artillery positions for more than 20 minutes, and then bombarded the enemy's infantry positions.Under the cover of this concentrated artillery fire, coupled with the support of aerial bombardment, the Thirteenth Army (General Lies, Commander) and the Thirteenth Army (General Horrocks, Commander) launched an offensive.The enemy's line of defense, attacked by the XXX Corps, was defended by the Forty Division, whose entire force was trying to open two passages through the enemy's fortifications.Immediately behind this army were two armored divisions of the Tenth Army (commanded by General Ramsden), in order to expand the results of the battle.They pushed forward under heavy artillery fire, and by dawn they were deeply wedged into the enemy's lines.The engineering unit has cleared the mines behind the vanguard.However, our army has not yet broken through the depths of the enemy's minefields, and our armored units have no hope of breaking through the enemy's lines anytime soon.Farther south, the 1st South African Division fought its way to protect the southern flank of the salient, while the 4th Indian Division attacked from Ruweset Ridge, while the 7th Armored Division of Thirteenth Corps and the 40th The 4th Infantry Division also broke through the enemy line in front of them.The force thus accomplished its task: to induce the enemy to hold two armored divisions in the rear of this part of the front for three days while the main fighting was unfolding in the north.

So far, our army has not been able to break through any gaps in the enemy's deep minefields and defense lines.In the early hours of the twenty-fifth, Montgomery held a conference with his senior generals, at which he ordered the armor to strike again before dawn, in accordance with his original instructions.During this day, after fierce fighting, some progress was indeed made; but the characteristic place known as Yaozi Ridge became the focus of fierce fighting between our army and the enemy's 15th Armored Division and Ariyat Armored Division. , They counterattacked violently one after another.Thirteenth Corps held back on its front in order to preserve the strength of the 7th Armored Division for use at the height of the tide.

There had been serious confusion at the enemy headquarters.Rommel returned to Germany for medical treatment at the end of September, and was replaced by General Steem.Within twenty-four hours of the battle, Stem died of a heart attack.Rommel was discharged from the hospital at Hitler's request and resumed his command on the evening of the 25th. On the twenty-sixth, fierce fighting continued on the entire front that was now deeply wedged into the protruding part of the enemy's line of defense. This time, it was still Yaoziling that fought the hardest.The enemy air force, which had been silent for the past two days, also challenged our air superiority without showing any weakness at this moment.There have been many air battles, and most of the results are that our side has the upper hand.Thirteenth Corps' efforts, while delaying the enemy's movement, did not prevent the Germans from moving their armored forces to what they now knew were vital areas of their line of defense. However, this movement was thwarted by our Air Force .

At this point a new offensive was launched by the 9th Australian Division under General Mosshead's command, with great success.The division attacked from the salient to the north towards the sea.Montgomery seized the opportunity to extend this excellent victory.He ordered the New Zealand division to halt its westward advance and ordered the Australian forces to continue northward.This action threatened the retreat of part of the German infantry divisions on the northern flank.At this time, he felt that our army was staggering in the dense mines and powerful anti-tank artillery positions, and its momentum had declined.So he regrouped his troops and reserves in preparation for another onslaught. On the 27th and 28th, in order to compete for Yaoziling, our army fought fiercely with the German 15th and 21st Armored Divisions for two full days.These two divisions were recently transferred from the southern region. Their repeated attacks on Yaoziling were repelled.General Alexander described the battle as follows: [1] [1] Excerpt from his telegram to me on November 9th, which was sent to me after the battle was over. On October 27, the enemy launched a large-scale counterattack of the old-style armored forces.They attacked as many as five times, using all the German and Italian tanks available, with very little ground and heavy losses, and what was worse, because our tanks were on the defensive and suffered less losses than ours. Much heavier.On October 28th, (the enemy army) came back, (after) a long and careful reconnaissance in the morning, in order to find the weak part of our side and the position of the anti-tank guns, and then in the afternoon, carrying the sunset Afterglow, concentrate its forces and launch a fierce offensive.Enemy reconnaissance is not as effective as it used to be, because our tanks and anti-tank guns are able to engage them at longer ranges.Just as the enemy was trying to muster forces for a final offensive, the Royal Air Force rejoined the fray with a destructive force.In two and a half hours, the attacking bombers dropped a total of 80 tons of bombs on the three-mile-wide and two-mile-long enemy army assembly area, and the enemy's attack was defeated even before the formation of the enemy.This was the enemy's last attempt to seize the initiative. In the two days between October 26th and 28th, three extremely important enemy oil tankers were sunk by our air force. Combat is an integral part of land combat. Although the outcome has not yet been announced, I think it is time to inform the prime ministers of the dominions about the situation. Prime Minister's Letter to Prime Ministers of Canada, New Zealand and Australia October 28, 1942 The great war in Egypt began very well, though it is not yet possible to predict its outcome.The enemy was short of ammunition and fuel, and our army had recently sunk an extremely important tanker which they must have been waiting for.Our army is vastly superior to the enemy in air, armor (including the best), and numbers, and has a very convenient line of communication.Rommel was seriously ill and was only brought back as a last resort.Generals Alexander and Montgomery were determined to fight to the end.If they succeeded, it would be difficult for the enemy to retreat smoothly due to lack of transportation and fuel.Therefore, for our army, it is far more beneficial to resolve the battle on the spot than to resolve the battle in the west. To Mr. Fraser: It will be with pride and excitement that you will see the full deeds of your New Zealand warriors and their contribution to an event that will likely last forever. To Mr Curtin: It will be with pride and pleasure that you will learn of the deeds of the 9th Australian Division in what deserves to be an event of the greatest importance. I also sent the following telegram to General Alexander: You and General Montgomery have carried on with determination and success the present decisive engagement, and the Defense Committee of the War Cabinet congratulates you hereby.In the opinion of the National Defense Committee, the general situation has justified this brutal fight, regardless of all dangers and sacrifices.We assure you of our full support at all costs in all actions you take to completely defeat Rommel's forces and fight to the end. 2. The brilliant success of the Air Force in sinking the enemy's much-needed oil tankers, and the great anxiety and tension behind the enemy's front lines, give us every reason to believe that the final victory will be yours.I would appreciate your briefing on any current intentions that have not been mentioned in your report. 3. At the same time, the preparations for the Torch Operation Plan have been proceeding smoothly under extremely confidential conditions, and we will launch the attack on time. 4. The following information is only for you and Montgomery to understand.Clarke has visited the Torch area and held long talks with some French generals friendly to our side.We have reasons to believe that not only will we not encounter resistance, but we will also receive strong assistance.So things may develop faster, perhaps much faster than originally planned.A decisive response from the French side is likely to be expected; there is no danger yet from the Spanish side.As far as we know, the enemy has no idea that an attack is imminent, nor does it have any idea of ​​its magnitude or imminence.Best wishes to you and Montgomery.If your battle is completely victorious, it will never be forgotten. General Alexander to Prime Minister and Chief of the Reich General Staff October 30, 1942 Montgomery and I completely agree that the pressure on our offense must be kept high. Enemy minefields and anti-tank guns caused difficulties and delays.But we are about to attack heavily with infantry and tanks in order to fight the way for the Tenth Army.The offensive, if successful, could have far-reaching consequences. Prime Minister to Air Force Admiral Ted October 30, 1942 Congratulations to you for your brilliant success in attacking the enemy from the air, land and sea.Hats off to Corningham and to the RAF men who welcomed me in the Libyan desert.I knew then that the great days were not far off.The days are finally here, and you are making an honorable contribution during these days. Air Force Admiral Ted to the Prime Minister October 31, 1942 On behalf of all Air Force officers and soldiers here, I would like to express my most sincere thanks to you for your congratulatory message of commendation and motivation.We are pursuing the victory and are determined to fight to the end. General Alexander to Prime Minister October 31, 1942 Thank you for your call.The enemy is struggling desperately, but our army is constantly beating them mercilessly.The enemy has a high probability of crashing recently. General Alexander to Prime Minister and Chief of the Reich General Staff November 1, 1942 As of 6:00 am on October 31, the highest estimated loss of our army was: 695 officers killed, wounded and missing, and 9,435 soldiers. The troops with the heaviest casualties were the 51st Highland Division and the 9th Australian Division, each losing about 2,000 people.The Tenth Armored Division lost 1,350 men. Damaged tanks are being repaired smoothly.In the first six days, a total of 213 tanks were repaired, of which only 16 were definitely beyond repair. Montgomery was now planned and deployed for the decisive breakthrough (Operation Booster Plan).He withdrew from the front the 2nd New Zealand Division and the 1st British Armored Division, the latter in particular needing to be reorganized after its successful repulsion of German armor at Waist Ridge.The British 7th Armored Division was merged with a brigade from the 51st and 44th Divisions to form a new reserve force.The breakthrough will be led by the 2nd New Zealand Division, the British 151st and 152nd Infantry Brigades and the 9th Armored Division. During this period, on the night of 28th and 30th October, in Alexander's words, the Australian forces stormed north towards the coast, finally encircling the four (German) battalions remaining there in pocket positions . The enemy seems to be convinced that our army intends to attack the road and railway, so they resist our attack with all their strength.The enemy transferred the 21st Armored Division, which was originally on the west side of our army's salient, together with the 90th Light Armored Division, which was originally defending the northern flank of our army's salient, and used these two troops to launch a fierce attack in an attempt to rescue the enemy. besieged troops.The enemy took up the old positions of the 21st Armored Division with the last unused reserves of the Trieste Division.While the enemy had spread his forces widely and drawn upon his last reserves not engaged in combat in order to relieve a regiment, our army was able to regroup at leisure for the execution of the pressurization plan. After a series of tough fights, the Australian athletes went straight ahead and achieved brilliant results, which made the whole situation very favorable to me.At 1 o'clock in the morning on November 2, the pressurization began.Under the cover of 300 cannons, several British brigades under the Second New Zealand Division broke through the enemy's defense zone. The British Ninth Armored Brigade took the lead and went straight to the enemy's position.But they found a new line of defense armed with powerful anti-tank weapons along the road to Raman blocking their way.After a long battle, the brigade suffered heavy losses, but a corridor was opened for the follow-up troops, and the British 1st Armored Division advanced through this corridor.Then came the latest tank battle of the campaign.The enemy attacked the two wings of our army's salient with all the remaining tanks, but they were all repelled.This was a decisive battle; but on the next day, the third day, when the air force reported that the enemy had begun to retreat, the enemy's retreating rear guard on the road to Raman was still entangled with the main body of our armored forces. , making it impossible to move forward.Hitler ordered no further retreat, but the decision on the matter was no longer in the hands of the Germans.Now it is only necessary to open one more breach in the enemy's defenses and the job is done.On the morning of November 4, the Fifth Indian Brigade launched a thunderous and successful onslaught five miles south of Tell Aggier.Our army has won a complete victory so far, and our armored forces have finally opened up the road to pursue the enemy across the vast desert. General Alexander to Prime Minister November 4, 1942 After twelve days of bloody fighting, the Eighth Army had crushed the German and Italian troops under Rommel's command.The enemy line has been breached, and a large body of British armor has passed through the breach and is now fighting in the enemy's rear.Some of the enemy troops who were able to get away are retreating in an all-round way, and are constantly being harassed by our armored forces, mobile forces and air forces.The remaining enemy divisions are still holding their positions, trying to survive. These troops are likely to be surrounded and have nowhere to go. The RAF has been excellent throughout in support of the land battle and has been bombarding retreating enemy columns. The battle is still going on. Prime Minister to General Alexander November 4, 1942 Congratulations to the Eighth Army, under the command of your illustrious second-in-command, Montgomery, for its feat in the Egyptian campaign.Although the effects of this battle will not be shown until several days or even weeks later, there is no doubt that an earth-shattering event has occurred, which will affect the entire future course of this world war. If the reasonable hopes which you have expressed in your telegram come to pass, and the enemy is about to be captured and retreated in great numbers, I intend to celebrate with the ringing of bells throughout the country, for the first time since the outbreak of the war.Hope you can make my wish come true in the last few days.The number of prisoners must be at least 20,000.You will see that such a demonstration is timely for the coming Torch War, as it will both encourage our friends in the Torch War area and distract the enemy from their attention Another attack is imminent. The transfer of the torch is proceeding exactly as planned, and the secrecy has remained unbelievable.It won't be long before we look at the whole situation with admiration. Rommel is now retreating across the board, but his transports and gasoline can only be used to retreat part of the army. Therefore, although the Germans have performed heroically in combat, they now leave the Italians and take their own cars first.Tens of thousands of soldiers from six Italian divisions were left in the desert, unable to escape, starved of food and water, with no way out but to be captured.The battlefield is littered with destroyed or abandoned tanks, artillery and vehicles.According to German records, at the beginning of the war, the German armored divisions had a total of 240 operational tanks, but by November 5, only 38 remained.In the face of our dominant air force, the German Air Force simply gave up the hopeless battle. Therefore, our air force is now almost as if there is no one in the land, using all its strength to attack a large number of enemy troops and vehicles retreating westward in embarrassment.Rommel himself once spoke highly of the great achievements of the Royal Air Force. [1] His army has been completely defeated; his assistant, General von Thoma, and nine Italian generals have become prisoners of our army. [1] See Desmond Young: Rommel, p. 258. It seemed promising to turn the enemy's disastrous defeat into total annihilation.The 2nd New Zealand Division was ordered to pursue Fuqua, but by the time it reached there on 5 November the enemy had passed.There was still a chance to intercept the enemy's retreat at Matruh Harbour, towards which the British 1st and 7th Armored Divisions had advanced.By the evening of the 6th, they were not far from their destination. At this time, the enemy was still trying to escape from our increasingly tightening encirclement.But it was raining, and there was a lack of gasoline for the march.All day long, our army failed to continue the pursuit.This twenty-four-hour pause prevented our troops from completing the encirclement.But despite this, four German divisions and eight Italian divisions were routed.Our army captured 30,000 prisoners and piles of various supplies.According to records, Rommel had the following opinion on the role of our artillery in defeating the German army: British artillery once again played its famous strengths.Of particular note was the high mobility of British artillery and the requisite quick reflexes of the attacking force. 【１】 [1] Ibid., page 279. Regarding the history of the defeat of the German army this time, we may conclude by quoting a passage from the telegram sent by General Alexander on November 9; The campaign can be divided into four phases: The first is to gather our forces for the fight and try to confuse the enemy, which enables us to carry out surprise attacks, which are the key to success.The second is breakthrough, that is, to concentrate a large number of forces of various arms, open a deep gap in the enemy's defense line, and then divide the breakthrough force into two, forming two flanks, so that our army has more opportunities to expand the results of the battle.The third is to attack eastward and westward a little, so as to attract the enemy's forces and make them use all their reserve forces to block the breakthrough and repeatedly carry out counterattacks.Finally comes the onslaught, smashing the last line of defense of the enemy.Open a passage, and our army's armored and mobile troops will pass through this passage in an endless stream. General Alexander to Prime Minister November 6, 1942 Ring the bell!It is estimated that the number of captives has now reached 20,000, 350 tanks, 400 cannons, and thousands of tons of military supplies have been captured.The leading mobile unit of our army has arrived south of Port Matruh.The Eighth Army is taking advantage of the victory. But at this moment I was reminded of what had happened after the Battle of Cambrai in 1917, and I decided, after a second thought, that it would be better to wait until the forthcoming Operation Torch was victorious before ringing the bell.But I hoped to have my wish within a week, so I informed General Alexander of this opinion. 【1】Cambrai is a city in northern France. In November 1917, the British army used a large number of tanks to attack the Hindenburg defense line established by the German army in the area for the first time. With a large-scale counterattack, the British army turned victory into defeat.translator The Battle of Alamein was unlike any previous battle in the desert. Because the front line is narrow, the fortifications are extremely strong, and there are heavy troops defending them.There are no flanks to outflank.Only the stronger side and the one who dares to take the offensive can break through.Speaking of these circumstances, we cannot help but think of those battles fought on the Western Front during the First World War.We see again in Egypt the contest of power which occurred at Cambrai at the end of 1917 and later in many of the battles of 1918, that is to say, the assailants had short but excellent lines of communication , Try to concentrate the use of artillery, form a fire net with fierce artillery fire, and then swarm forward with a large number of tanks. Both General Montgomery and his boss, Alexander, were experienced, well-studied, and intelligent men who knew this well.Montgomery was a great artillery specialist.He believed that cannon could kill, just as Bernard Shaw said Napoleon believed it too.We can often see him trying to get three or four hundred guns into action under a unified command, instead of the small-scale bombardment of scattered squadrons; Attacks in a wide desert area.Naturally, the Battle of El Alamein was in no way the scale of those fought in France and Flanders.At El Alamein we lost 13,500 men in twelve days, and in the Somme area we lost nearly 60,000 men on the first day.On the other hand, defensive firepower has increased considerably since the First World War, and in that great war it has always been thought that, not only in artillery but in numbers of soldiers, two or three pairs A ratio of one to one can break through a solid fortification line of defense. In Alamein we have no such advantage.The enemy's front not only consisted of continuous forward strongholds and machine gun emplacements, but such defenses spread throughout the depths.In addition, in front of such a position, there is a large minefield, forming a strong barrier, and the quality and quantity of the mines laid there are unprecedented.Therefore, judging from the above-mentioned circumstances, the Battle of Alamein will always be a glorious page in the history of British warfare. It will go down in history forever, and for a reason.It actually marks the key to destiny.We can say: We were invincible until the Battle of Alamein; After the battle of Alamein we were invincible.