章 361: Chapter 438 North African Campaign (6)
General Wavell knew that directly engaging the German armored forces was tantamount to suicide, so he planned to use urban warfare to decimate or heavily damage the German troops within Cairo.
Urban warfare favored the defenders. The defending forces, familiar with the terrain, could attack from concealment and occupy advantageous defensive positions. The attackers' tanks and armored vehicles would struggle in the narrow streets, making them easy targets for anti-tank weapons. In such close-quarters combat, heavy artillery and air support would be less effective. Moreover, the ruins, buildings, and numerous pipelines in the city provided excellent defensive conditions.
Under General Wavell's command, the defending troops actively prepared for urban warfare, setting up barricades, piling sandbags on rooftops, and establishing defensive positions everywhere.
To counter the German armored units, Wavell ordered the production of incendiary bombs. These were essentially makeshift Molotov cocktails, made by filling bottles with gasoline or high-proof alcohol, inserting a cloth wick.
This weapon first appeared in the Spanish Civil War and was popularized by Finnish soldiers in the Winter War, who named it the "Molotov cocktail" to devastating effect against Soviet forces. In this timeline, however, the Germans supplied Finland with various anti-tank weapons, so Finnish soldiers had no need for Molotov cocktails. These were only used when no other anti-tank weapons were available, as a desperate measure.
The method of using a Molotov cocktail was simple: throw it at the tank's engine area. Most World War II tanks used gasoline engines, and if the burning liquid seeped into the engine compartment, a fuel leak would ignite the engine. Without automatic fire suppression systems, the tank crew would have to expose themselves to enemy fire to extinguish the flames, a deadly task. (Some tanks, like the Tiger, had automatic fire suppression systems that triggered at 120°C, using a bimetallic temperature controller to release carbon dioxide and extinguish the fire.)
Furthermore, while the burning liquid's temperature wasn't very high (though adding magnesium powder or thermite could increase it), it produced thick black smoke that could choke the engine, causing it to stall.
Tanks losing mobility on the battlefield were doomed to destruction unless they were on a Hollywood set.
After nonstop production, every defending soldier in Cairo had at least one Molotov cocktail.
Additionally, they had a powerful secret weapon: the No. 74 anti-tank grenade, known as the "sticky bomb."
Tanks, moving at high speeds in battle, were hard to hit with grenades. Contact fuzes were dangerous, so British designers had a novel idea: coat the grenade with strong adhesive to stick it to the tank's armor.
Thus, the No. 74 anti-tank grenade was developed. It was a handle-equipped grenade with a spherical warhead containing about 1.25 pounds (0.57 kilograms) of nitroglycerin inside a glass sphere, wrapped in elastic fabric coated with birdlime. This earned it the nickname "sticky bomb."
The grenade's casing consisted of two hollow metal hemispheres holding the glass sphere, with a wooden handle fixing it in place and a 5-second fuse. The handle had two pins and a lever; pulling the first pin removed the casing, while the second pin armed the grenade.
Its design flaws were evident. Users had to get close to tanks and attach the grenade rather than throw it from a distance. The adhesive often stuck to the user's uniform during handling.
The birdlime was very sticky. New soldiers often had the grenade stuck to their clothes before use, requiring them to strip to remove it. One Home Guard member noted in his diary: "During practice, a thrower stuck the grenade to his pants and had to strip to get free."
Moreover, the grenade had to adhere to smooth tank surfaces, which were rarely clean in combat. This forced soldiers to quickly find a smooth spot at close range, a dangerous task, especially with a 5-second fuse that left little time to retreat.
To ensure soldier safety, the British devised a peculiar tactic: soldiers hid in foxholes with a towel and grenade, wiped a tank's surface as it passed, stuck the grenade on, and retreated quickly. This required dexterity and quick reactions; any mistake could be fatal.
Many quartermasters preferred primitive anti-tank methods over risking soldiers' lives with sticky bombs. (Despite this, Britain produced 2.5 million sticky bombs, distributing them to other Allied forces like the Australian army and French resistance.)
General Wavell, aware of the sticky bomb's unreliability, prioritized producing Molotov cocktails.
There was also the much-maligned Boys anti-tank rifle. This bolt-action rifle with a five-round magazine on top fired steel-cored armor-piercing bullets. Its power was limited, only penetrating 21mm of steel at 100 meters, and it had severe recoil, making it unpopular with shooters.
As for anti-tank guns, the most common was the somewhat famous QF 2-pounder. Its design prioritized cost over anti-tank performance (aiming to use up existing 2-pounder shells).
On paper, the QF 2-pounder was an excellent early WWII anti-tank gun. Though it underperformed in the French campaign, it excelled in North Africa.
In numerous North African defensive battles, the QF 2-pounder was Rommel's nightmare. These low-profile guns, well-concealed in preset positions, could rotate 360 degrees, easily targeting and destroying German tanks in the desert.
In the early war, when Rommel's Afrika Korps mostly used Panzer II and III tanks, attacking British defenses bristling with QF 2-pounders was suicidal. Faced with high losses, Rommel lamented that positional warfare was about killing, not the maneuver warfare aimed at destroying the enemy's technical assets. His limited troops couldn't sustain such losses, forcing him to abandon unrealistic assaults on British defenses.
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