With the tacit cooperation between the two sides, the feint attack on the northern line finally started on September 5. The commanders of the three Italian infantry divisions, including Brescia, Taranto and Bologna, suddenly discovered that the combat effectiveness of the troops had soared. The attack group they sent jointly pushed the front forward 10-15 kilometers during the attack on the day. Although the enemy troops launched a counterattack in the evening and regained many positions, they still achieved considerable results overall.

What made several commanders even more happy was that they found that they were not the authentic British team, but the autonomous commander composed of South Africans and Australians. The Italians called them the "colonial" division, and according to their preconceived concept, they believed that the combat effectiveness of the colonial division was much worse than that of the troops on the British Isles. Anyway, the combat effectiveness of the Italian colonial troops was the worst, and one hundred officers from the Apennines looked down on them.

In order to make the feint attack "very colorful", prevent the British from detecting the actual situation through reconnaissance aircraft, and to cheer up the Italian infantry on the ground and prevent them from defeating without fighting, the Air Force was not yet in Guderian's plan, but on the contrary, it also required the fight to be more fierce than before. Kesseling gave great support in this regard, airlifting a large amount of accessories and aviation fuel directly through Junker to the front line.

Now, the Italians' favorability for Guderian has increased greatly, and they think he is much better than the original German commander Rommel. First, he took care of the face of the Italians and arranged for them a more suitable opponent like the "colonial division" instead of following the large army to chew the bones of the southern line. Second, he frequently dispatched air forces to cover infantry attacks, and almost every moment they had planes with iron crosses on their heads. Italians had never enjoyed such high treatment, and their morale suddenly increased a lot. What made them even more satisfied was that when the attack was successfully advanced 10-15 kilometers on the first day, they could not wait to send a telegram to the command center.

Thinking that the call was returned had lost a large part of it. The Bologna Division was a new unit that only arrived in July. The division commander General Gronia knew that there was an aircraft overhead observing the battlefield. He felt that he could not leave a bad impression on the new commander, so he suggested to tell the truth. He thought that the Germans, who were so rigid that they would definitely accuse themselves of lying about military affairs, but he did not expect that Guderian's attitude was surprisingly good. The telegram clearly stated, "As long as the position has not been taken back by the enemy, it will be regarded as victory." All of this made them feel that they had encountered an understanding commander - why didn't the Germans replace Rommel, who was cruel to the enemy and his own people earlier?

Several division commanders discussed it and felt that they could not let General Guderian down. Tomorrow, everyone would set up a regiment to continue the attack. It would be better to snatch back the position that was lost today. As for the feint attack, it would still be a bit imposing. The only problem was that the logistics supply seemed to be insufficient, so they could only continue to last for half a month. The result of the discussion was that after another three days of fighting, the commander asked the commander to replenish supplies. If they were not given, they could naturally transfer to the spot for rest. In this regard, the Italians had a very tacit understanding.

Just as the Italians were complacent about the progress of the feint attack, Montgomery led Chief of Staff De Gungan and a group of major generals to study the next combat plan in the war room. Although the first shot was fired by the Italians, and it was a feint, Montgomery was still very satisfied - which fully demonstrated that the intelligence and information he had were correct. Although Guderian was a little more cautious than Ronmel, he still advanced on the road that the Eighth Army hoped. In the entire battle, the Germans might have chosen any of the three routes, north, middle and south. When Guderian transferred all the Italians to the north, all he could choose was the South.

The British army did not take the Italian offense seriously at all. If Montgomery had not instructed the South African Division and the Australian Division on the front line, the Italians might have been beaten back, not to mention moving forward. Because the traffic conditions on the North Road were the best, the British army had long focused on the Alaman Station. Not only did the defense area narrow, but also had a good base for building. Colonel Guinggang was very confident: Not to mention the Italians, even the Germans might not be able to chew.

The question now is that Guderian's feint attack has arrived. When and where will his real offensive be launched on the southern line? The staff in the command center have different opinions on this, and Colonel Gangang's judgment is also very cautious, giving three statements on September 7, September 10 and continuing to postpone it. This statement is equivalent to not saying anything that made the combat staff roll their eyes. After a long discussion, everyone reached an agreement on only one point of view: Guderian's offense depends on his analysis of the feint attack on the north road and how much new arrival supplies are.

The high temperature and heat are already irritable. Seeing that the crowd still had no certain opinions from noon to evening, Major General Hollox, the commander of the 13th British Army, could not bear it: "Everyone, since we cannot judge the time of the Germans' movement, why don't we hit it directly?"

"Call over?" Montgomery asked in confusion.

Major General Horox pointed at the defensive area occupied by the Italians in the north with his teaching stick: "Since it has been found that they are weak Italians, I suggest that they directly surround and destroy them, and then detour from the north to the south line, forming a pincer attack on the Germans when they are in front of them."

"This is not in line with our strategy." Montgomery shook his head slightly. "You do this and scare Goodrian away immediately. It's meaningless to catch the Italians."

"I can't agree with you," Horox said angrily. "The Italians have more troops than the Germans, and all the supplies of African legions come from Italy. Why do you think the Italians have no meaning?"

Montgomery smiled and said, "Think about it, where is our front line when there are Italians in North Africa?"

Horox was stunned at first, and immediately came back to the scene: before the Germans intervened in the African War, the Italians launched a fierce attack, but the British army suddenly wiped out more than 300,000 people, and the entire front was suppressed by Libya. When Rommel led the German army, the British not only lost Tobrook, but the entire front was overwhelmed by Alahman, which was only 120 miles away from Cairo. It can be seen whether the Italians have meaning. Horox was Montgomery's confidant, who did not want to undermine his enthusiasm, so he deliberately reminded him in this tactful way.

Major General Gatehouse was the commander of the 10th Armored Division, and he suggested: "What if we attack the South Road?"

Colonel Guinggang's eyes lit up: "Tell me what you think."

"As the commander said, the Italians on the Northern Line are not worth worrying. As long as we are willing, we can take it down in 3 days, no, 2 days. We can maintain surveillance of the Italians, and at the same time use the tenth and the first two armored divisions to break through the Miteria Ridge as a guide, open the North Road Corridor, and cut off the connection between the German and Italian groups; then use the Seventh Armored Division and the 44th Division to detour along the edge of the Gaitara Basin, and bypass the southernmost minefield of the African Army to encircle - the German groups can be installed in our steel cage first."

Everyone took a look at the map and understood that this plan was based on the proposed proposal by Horox. Originally, it was to complete the detour against the German army by eating the Italian group first, but now it is to directly insert the armored division into Germany, and the two Italian groups are connected and surrounded the German army. This is a bolder and more direct solution.

Montgomery looked at the map and pondered for a moment. In Gatehouse's hopeful eyes, he still shook his head and expressed disapproval.

"Why?" Major General James Langton, commander of the 7th Armored Division, who was named "Desert Rat", couldn't help asking, "Although this plan has a little higher requirements for coordination, if it is well deployed, there is still a high chance of success. Even if it cannot form a siege against the Germans, we can stick to their butts for a tail-chasing attack..."

Montgomery said only: "That means that our tanks not only have to break through the enemy's minefield, but also encounter anti-tank fire attacks preset by the enemy."

Everyone looked at each other. Could the commander have an attack route without being attacked by the enemy?

Seeing that everyone was silent, Montgomery thought that everyone did not understand what he meant, so he waved his hands and said in a firm tone: "I carefully analyzed all previous battle examples and found that German tanks were always with their 88 guns and anti-tank guns. When they encountered our tanks, they immediately hid behind, and then used anti-tank firepower to destroy us. Finally, their tanks came out to occupy the position. Therefore, they must not be deceived by the Germans. We must prevent our tanks from rushing out of the position to prevent them from becoming targets of the 88 guns. Let us hide the tanks as anti-tank guns, let Guderian's tanks hit us, and then smash him. We can no longer do the stupid thing of letting our tanks jump out and be hit by the enemy's 88 guns..."

He talked a lot of things over and finally summarized it in one sentence: "If you don't attack, wait for Guderian to attack us first - I believe he will come."

Everyone was so choked by this sentence that they could not speak, so they could only roll their eyes to the sky: more troops than the enemy, stronger equipment than the enemy, stronger defense line is built than the enemy, and more information is mastered than the enemy, and they have to wait for the enemy to attack first. How stupid should Guderian on the opposite side be to choose to do this? In the silent silence of everyone, the combat meeting of the British Eighth Army on the night of September 5 ended in a strange atmosphere.
Chapter completed!