Defending Benghazi is the 132nd "Arriete" Armored Division under the Italian 20th Motorized Corps. In terms of equipment, the Italian 20th Motorized Corps is one of the largest motorized units in Italy. From this Judging from the troops being dropped to Libya, Mussolini did not neglect the British troops in Egypt. Judging from the organization, the 132nd Division should have a very strong armored force, including 189 tanks, 16 self-propelled artillery, and 39 armored vehicles. , in addition to 8 command Thermo Winters.
It is for this reason that General Wavell attaches great importance to the 132nd "Arriete" Armored Division. After all, this will be the first major battle between Britain and Italy in Africa since the war, and General Wavell cannot afford to make any mistakes.
The organization of the British Army's armored divisions is very complex. One armored division is divided into two brigades, one armored brigade and one mechanized infantry brigade. There are also 48 6-pound anti-tank guns in the anti-tank regiment directly under the division. An armored car regiment. One anti-aircraft artillery regiment and two heavy artillery regiments, as well as engineering troops, medical troops and other fragments. The armored brigade has three tank regiments and one mechanized battalion, and the tank regiment has three squadrons. The motorized infantry brigade has three motorized infantry battalions, and the battalion has four companies. The division totaled less than 200 tanks. The organization is smaller than the German armored division, but it is more suitable for fighting in Africa.
Compared with the data on paper, it seems that the British 7th Armored Division has no advantage at all when facing the 132nd "Ariette" Armored Division, and can even be called evenly matched. Considering that Italy is actually out of From a defensive position, the 7th Armored Division's attack would be extremely difficult.
Of course, just considering the data on paper, General Wavell no longer has to fight a war. On a larger scale, the data on paper are now far inferior to Germany, and there is no need for Britain to resist. In fact, General Wavell has already figured out the details of the 132nd "Arriet" Armored Division stationed in Benghazi. Now the division only has 92 tanks and 12 armored vehicles, and only self-propelled artillery is fully equipped. If you take into account the poor combat capabilities of Italian tanks, this strength becomes even more insufficient. Because of this, Wavell intervened and took the initiative when the overall situation was at a disadvantage.
On September 27, four days after the official battle, General Wavell was ready to give the aggressive Italian Army a taste of the odds. The current situation was progressing in the direction planned by General Wavell, corresponding to the 132nd "Ariette" Armored Division. The 133rd "Littorio" Armored Division is attacking the hinterland of Egypt in the south. Without three days, it is impossible to come back to rescue the 132nd "Ariette" Armored Division. This means that the British 7th Armored Division has three days. time to attack this Italian counterpart who has only half the number of tanks.
The 133rd "Littorio" Armored Division was formed in 1939 on the basis of the "Littorio" Division that participated in the Spanish Civil War. It is similar in strength to the 132nd "Ariette" Armored Division, and its basic organization is the same as that of the 132nd Division. The tank battalions are numbered 4th, 12th, and 51st, and are equipped with 189 tanks. Like the Ariete Division, the Littorio Division is also severely under-equipped with equipment. The division now only has 85 medium tanks. In other words, the two divisions combined only have the strength of the 7th Armored Division, not to mention that there is only the 132nd "Ariette" Armored Division in Benghazi.
Although it has no local support, the British have always managed the troops stationed in Egypt well, so General Wavell still concentrated nearly a hundred 115mm howitzers to cover the upcoming battle. Many of the artillery were temporarily deployed. The Egyptian army was mobilized. For this reason, General Wavell and the local Egyptian troops were slightly unhappy.
In order to achieve a sudden attack, General Wavell did not choose the early morning time for a general attack. Instead, he started preparations at seven o'clock in the evening. At this time, there was only one hour before the sun went down. Of course, the British soldiers picked up When the fuse shells were moved to the position, it was the most relaxed time of the day for the Italian 132nd "Arriete" Armored Division.
At this unexpected time, the 7th Armored Division's attack began. It only took a quarter of an hour to prepare the artillery. This was also ordered by General Wavell. This attack was not to kill many Italian troops, but to destroy the port of Benghazi and temporarily destroy the connection between Italy and Libya. First of all, maintaining the success and suddenness of the offense is the first priority.
The shelling of Benghazi's outer defense line didn't last long. Just ten minutes later, the 7th Armored Division was dispatched. All two hundred tanks rushed out of the desert. At full speed, it took less than two hours. , they can rush to Benghazi.
The Italian defense here is not tight. After all, no one would have thought that Britain would have an armored division under their noses. From this, we can see what Italy's attitude towards the war is. The war has been going on for several days. I haven't figured out the location of the British Army yet, and I wishfully thought that the British would definitely resist the Italian army's attack on the southern front.
The sudden artillery fire immediately plunged the few Italian troops into panic, and many soldiers had not yet adapted to the war. They did not have decent training and good equipment. Compared with the British soldiers, they were at an all-round disadvantage. Therefore, after receiving a sudden attack, the first reaction of most soldiers was to run away. A small number of soldiers bravely stayed in their strongholds and reported the situation here to their superiors. However, these brave soldiers quickly drowned in the British attack.
After succeeding, the 7th Armored Division, known as the Desert Rats, immediately made rapid progress. Two hundred tanks swept away anything blocking their advance. The most equipped tank of the 7th Armored Division was the "Crusader" Type I tank, with a total combat weight of 19 tons and a crew of 5 people. Structurally, its biggest feature is that in addition to a main turret, there is also a small machine gun turret on the left side of the front of the car body, which can perform limited independent rotation. The main weapon is a 2-pounder gun with a caliber of 40 mm.
The Crusader I tank is certainly no match for the German Panzer IV tank. However, in Africa, the Crusader I tank once again found its value because the Italian M13/40 medium tank they faced was even more vulnerable. This full-length There is no such tank in Germany with a height of 4.93m, a total height of 2.38m, and a weight of 14.3 tons. German light tanks are all originally produced by the Skoda Arsenal in Czechoslovakia. They are mainly equipped with the Czechoslovak Army, but are used by German armored forces. Make up for the lack of Panzer IV tanks.
In Europe, the Crusader Type I tank is not even qualified to compete with the Type IV tank, but it is different in Africa. Italian tanks were even slightly inferior to the light tanks produced in Czechoslovakia, and even weaker than the Crusader I tanks.
What makes Italian tankers even more angry is that the M13/40 medium tank is not suitable for fighting in Africa. Apparently the Italian designers forgot the combat conditions in Africa and did not install a sand filter on the tank, making this type Tank failures occurred frequently and combat efficiency was very low. Although the 132nd "Ariette" Armored Division has not yet taken the initiative to attack, the M13/40 medium tanks have already caused them a lot of hardships in their usual mobilization.
The 7th Armored Brigade under the Armored Division headed straight for Benghazi under the cover of the division's main force. After attacking for half an hour, the 7th Armored Brigade first encountered the 132nd Armored Brigade under the Italian 132nd "Ariette" Armored Division. Armored regiment, the two sides immediately started a battle apart from above. It was getting dark. General Wavell had to defeat the Italian army in front of him as soon as possible in order to reach Benghazi as expected. So the 7th Armored Brigade started attacking without stopping at all.
Colonel Chloe Berryman, the commander of the 132nd Armored Regiment, is a veteran who has participated in the Spanish Civil War and has combat experience. Although he is not necessarily far-sighted in the overall situation, as a soldier, Chloe Berry Colonel Mann still knew that he could not let his opponent pass through his defensive position unscathed.
The 132nd Armored Regiment is affiliated with the 9th, 10th and 13th Tank Battalions. The regiment headquarters company has 6 M13 command tanks and 27 M13 series tanks. Since the number of tanks of the 132nd "Ariette" Armored Division is less than half of the establishment , the 132nd Armored Regiment concentrated all the tanks of the entire division. The performance of the M13/40 and M14/41 tanks is far inferior to that of the German Panzer IV tank. The armor is weak and lacks inclination. However, although there is a gap between it and the British Crusader I tank, it is roughly equivalent to a tank of the same level. That is, as long as it hits , both Italian and British tankers could destroy each other.
Amidst the rumbling sound of artillery, British and Italian tanks finally found their opponents in Africa. Two tanks, which were called medium tanks but only had the tonnage of German light tanks, fought in the desert for the first time on the African continent. Although they weighed It is light, but one advantage it brings is its high maneuverability. During the movement, it is not easy for the tankers on both sides to accurately hit the opponent's tank.
Therefore, within the first ten minutes of the encounter, apart from a burst of dust and dirt, very few tanks were hit. However, as time went by, the unresolved problems of Italian tanks were exposed. The M13/40 medium tanks did not install anti-sand filters on the tanks, and problems began to occur. Many tanks began to slow down with the rumble of their engines. Slow, this is because sand gets into the tank and starts causing the tank to malfunction.
The Crusader I tanks also began to achieve results at this time. The Italian 132nd Armored Regiment began to suffer losses. One after another, the M13/40 medium tanks were hit and turned into fireballs burning in the desert. However, although it was the Italians who suffered the losses, it was the British who were anxious. General Wavell's plan could not be stopped because of this encounter, so after the encounter started, General Wavell kept telegraphing the 7th Armored Brigade immediately. Deal with the Italian tank troops and rush towards Benghazi.
An hour later, the 132nd Armored Regiment began to retreat under the command of Colonel Chloe Berryman. Now the 132nd Armored Regiment has lost more than 40 tanks, although it has also destroyed more than a dozen Crusader I tanks. , but if the fight continues according to this result, the 132nd Armored Regiment may disappear, so Colonel Chloe Berryman had to consider for his own troops and chose to retreat.
To be honest, Colonel Chloe Berryman is also very depressed now. The losses are several times more than the British, especially when the British in front of her were beaten by their allies just three months ago and have no temper at all. Such a big gap. Colonel Chloe Berryman couldn't accept it, but the facts were in front of him, and there was no room for Colonel Chloe Berryman not to accept it.
However, Colonel Chloe Berryman's 132nd Armored Regiment still successfully played its role. The 132nd "Arriet" Armored Division stationed in Benghazi already knew that there was a British armored force in front of them. Lurking, already prepared, from this aspect, the 132nd Armored Regiment has completed its mission.
After losing a precious hour, General Wavell, after a brief thought, ordered the 7th Armored Division with the 7th Armored Brigade as the vanguard to continue attacking Benghazi, although General Wavell already knew that the Italian Army might have already done so. We have made preparations, but there are only one division of the 132nd "Ariette" Armored Division stationed in Benghazi. There may not be such a good opportunity in the future. Over the next three days, the British only had to face one division of Italian troops.
And in view of the performance of the Italian Army in the Battle of France, General Wavell really couldn't overestimate the Italian Army, so it was only a short-term reason that General Wavell made his own thinking. In General Wavell's view, the outcome of this battle was The results will not change at all.
But even General Wavell knew that he was really wrong this time, and it was so wrong. If it were replaced by the vast majority of Italian troops, General Wavell's judgment would not be wrong. Unfortunately, The 132nd "Arriete" Armored Division stationed in Benghazi unfortunately does not belong to the vast majority of Italian Army units.
Major General Kermit Bradman, commander of the 132nd "Arriete" Armored Division, had already decided to defend Benghazi after learning about the actions of the British 7th Armored Division. This is typical for Italian troops. The incompetence of one general led to the death of the three armies. Major General Kermit Bradman was still studying in Germany in the early stages of World War I. He was obviously not an ordinary no-nonsense officer. The 132nd "Arriete" Armored Division does not have the ethos of the general Italian army. They know why they are fighting. If the original historical development is followed, the 132nd "Ariette" Armored Division has fought with the German Afrika Korps many times since then. Among the many Italian troops, this division has received the highest evaluation. On November 4, 1942, the last bit of armor of the Ariete Division was destroyed in the battle. After that, it and the remnants of the other two divisions of the 20th Motorized Corps formed a battle group and retreated westward. In the final battle , the troops of Ariete's division sent what may be the most tragic message in the Italian army in World War II: "The enemy tanks have broken through the southern flank of our division, and the entire division has been surrounded. It is located 5 kilometers northwest of Bir Abad," Ariete The tanks of the special "division are still fighting!"
At 9 o'clock in the evening, the 7th Armored Division had arrived in Benghazi, and the 132nd "Ariette" Armored Division had also built a defense line and was ready to stand ready. After the division commander, Major General Kermit Bradman, inspected the defense lines, he ordered the women and children in Benghazi to evacuate outside the city, because the subsequent fighting would likely harm the residents here.
The terrain in Benghazi is not complicated, and there are not many huge buildings in the city. Generally speaking, it is not a city suitable for street fighting, but it is better than nothing. Anyone with some military knowledge knows that the location is advantageous. The advantage is that it is obviously unrealistic for Major General Kermit Bradman to abandon the city of Benghazi and fight in the wild with the 7th Armored Division.
However, even relying on city defense, Major General Kermit Bradman was a little nervous. After all, the logistics of the Italian army were so terrible that the 132nd "Arriete" Armored Division was already considered good, but still Lacking heavy weapons, especially anti-tank weapons, Italy had originally prepared to imitate Germany's Panzerfaust anti-tank rocket. It is said that it has been successful, but it has been slow to release troops. Major General Kermit Bradman, who had seen the power of the German armored divisions, felt like the commander of an infantry division.
Just when Major General Kermit Bradman was preparing for the upcoming war, the British 7th Armored Division did not take advantage of the darkness to attack Benghazi. Like all countries in the world, the British did not have the ability to do so. The ability to launch offensive operations at night. Therefore, General Wavell decided to wait for dawn before attacking. This gave the Italian defenders an extra day, but his troops could also have a good rest.
"The standardization of parts must be accelerated, oh, wait..." In a huge factory, Lin Wei was chattering about how important parts standardization is. After Crawford came up and whispered a few words, Lin Wei apologized. In the spotlight, he was pulled aside by Crawford.
"The British 7th Armored Division attacks Benghazi?" Lin Wei said, "My Italian allies are going to be embarrassed again?"
"Leader, what a surprise!" Crawford said with a shrug.
"Accident? You mean, Benghazi is still in Italian hands?" Lin Wei said dumbly.
Crawford nodded and said, "At least for now, yes! Leader, there is one more thing, Trotsky is not willing to help us!"