บท 63: Patrol
After a hearty meal, the soldiers lay down on the beach in the gentle sea breeze and fell asleep to the setting sun, with Qin Chuan among them. The sudden relaxation after prolonged tension and fatigue on the battlefield quickly made his eyelids heavy, and he soon fell into a deep sleep beside the campfire, covered by a poncho and a blanket.
Later, Qin Chuan would realize how dangerous their actions had been. The comfort of their seaside holiday nearly made them forget they were on a battlefield, and the enemy would not care whether they were on vacation, especially with a bunch of campfires along the beach serving as targets.
While the soldiers were sleeping soundly, a sudden screeching sound from the sky was followed by an artillery shell exploding by the seaside. The blast of water and mud, like a torrential downpour, splashed over the soldiers, jolting them awake.
When Qin Chuan woke up, he was disoriented for a while because he had dreamed he was back in modern times enjoying a beach outing, completely unable to grasp what was happening.
Most of the other soldiers were in a similar state, but Werner reacted quickly. With a swift movement, he grabbed a shovel and quickly smothered the campfire with sand.
In the darkness, several more shells howled through the air, exploding nearby. Fortunately, none hit the soldiers' gathering place.
Then gunfire erupted everywhere, though these shells were aimed at the German defensive lines outside the city.
"They've started attacking!" Bazel realized and shouted to the soldiers, "Everyone up, the holiday is over!"
The soldiers all understood Bazel's meaning. Although the Germans had taken Tobruk and its relatively robust desert defenses, the issue was the inadequacy of German forces—a mere thousand men defending a 30-mile-long line, averaging only 33 soldiers per mile, and they also had to ensure the safety of Tobruk's port and warehouse supplies.
Naturally, the Germans had to utilize every soldier, with each man taking on tasks that normally required several people, thus ending their brief holiday.
Amid a chorus of curses at the British from the soldiers, Bazel led the team hurriedly back to the port.
The port was bustling, with German soldiers climbing into vehicles and heading to the defensive lines as if fighting fires. Colonel Slyne, passing by in an armored vehicle, saw Bazel and others and shouted as the vehicle sped along, "Captain, the defense of the port is up to you now. You must ensure its safety, especially the materials in the warehouse..."
"Yes, Colonel!" Bazel responded crisply.
As the roar of the engines faded, only Bazel and his men were left in the empty port, facing the brisk sea breeze.
"This is a good assignment, isn't it?" Werner remarked, "We seem to be in luck!"
The soldiers knew what Werner meant. The port and its supplies were at the core of Tobruk. If the enemy could reach this point, it would mean that the entire German defensive line had collapsed.
So, in any case, they could consider themselves the safest within the First Infantry Corps.
"We've always been lucky, haven't we?" the baker said, glancing at Qin Chuan.
"Don't be complacent; our task is not an easy one!" Bazel said as he walked toward the port operations room that served as their command post.
There, Bazel found several maps, clearly left behind by Colonel Slyne in his haste. This also showed that Slyne had not anticipated the British would launch a nighttime attack.
"Look at this!" Bazel pointed at the map, "We have eight warehouses to defend, located here, here, and here..."
Bazel then assigned the defense of the warehouses, with roughly each squad responsible for one, and the remaining personnel serving as a mobile force or patrol squad.
Qin Chuan's squad was assigned to patrol, which meant marching in formation with rifles at the ready, keeping an eye out for sabotage by underground organizations.
Most of these underground groups were Libyans. As the saying goes, where there is oppression, there will be resistance. Italian colonization of Libya naturally aroused the animosity of some Libyans.
However, these armed forces were very weak and unorganized... This was because many people in Libya at the time lacked a national identity. They didn't care who occupied or ruled Libya; their allegiance was to their tribes. As long as their tribal interests were not harmed, they considered it a "non-issue," and they would even fight for you if you offered them some benefit.
Thus, the tribes that became part of the underground were either those wronged by the Italian military during colonization or bought over by the British.
The equipment of these underground groups was often outdated, with many using hunting muskets, so the German troops stationed at the port, although only an infantry company, were still confident.
As Qin Chuan led his team past a bungalow, he unexpectedly found two unfamiliar German soldiers standing guard at the door.
"What's being held inside?" Qin Chuan asked.
"They're crew members from a cruise ship, Sergeant!" the guard replied, "The Colonel asked us to watch them, saying we might need them!"
Qin Chuan nodded.
Colonel Slyne was right; Tobruk was a port and had captured several large cruise ships... These could be utilized as transport ships between Italy and Libya.
Qin Chuan continued leading his troops forward, pulling out a map under the starlight to roughly memorize their location.
"Sergeant!" Werner called from behind, "Do you think our troops can hold off the British attack?"
Listening to the gunfire coming from outside the city, Qin Chuan replied, "I think they can!"
"Why?" Werner was curious.
"The British seem to have made a mistake!" Qin Chuan stopped, looking toward the dark where the gunfire continued, "Listen to those gunshots; they seem to have dispersed their forces along the entire defensive line to attack simultaneously!"
"I think that's a smart move!" Werner expressed confusion, "Because they have many more troops than us, spreading their attack could further disperse our already scant forces!"
"You might have a point!" Qin Chuan said, "But you haven't considered... many positions along the defensive line actually don't need many troops because there are plenty of barbed wires and landmines. We only need to position a few machine guns, and that will prevent the British from advancing. I think that's exactly what Colonel Slyne is doing. This allows them to concentrate forces, and vehicles and armored cars can quickly reach any place that needs reinforcement!"
Werner realized with enlightenment, "Mobile defense!"
"Yes, mobile defense!" Qin Chuan said, "Quick and agile movements can compensate for a lack of troops to some extent, because they can appear here and there suddenly, which is equivalent to having twice or even more the manpower!"
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