That was all that there would be of Kinlan’s shadow in this engagement. The rest of the Brigade was far away, and headed for a rendezvous south of Tobruk. If things went bad for O’Connor, they were over 500 kilometers away, and for the first time in many months, Rommel finally had a fair fight in front of him—a chance to make good on his promise to Hitler that he could beat the British 8th Army.
O’Connor was moving into Tripolitania, and feeling the same wind at his back that he had after soundly thrashing the Italians in 1940 and then racing all the way across Cyrenaica to Beda Fomm. This combination of circumstances, a strengthened Afrika Korps, a weakened 8th Army, a beaten German General looking to redeem himself, a victorious British General giving his horses the reins—it was all going to add up to the danger Popski could sense all around him now. The Major’s eyes were hard on the desert as he scanned the terrain ahead with his field glasses. This was too easy.
44th Home Counties Division was in the lead, having passed through both 50th Northumbrian and the 4th Indian Division after the successful breakthrough along the coast. By mid-day on the 3rd of October it moved through the coastal town of Bin Jawad, and was approaching the wadi that ran through Nofilia, some 8 miles inland, winding and twisting its way to the coast.
The division was a patchwork force, as its 131 Brigade had been detached to 7th Armored, and its 133 Brigade had gone to Spain with the 10th Armored. This left only Whistler’s 132 Brigade, and to beef up the division, O’Connor had attached the two Free French Brigades in theater, and then added the independent 1st Tank Brigade. Their mission was to get to Nofilia and prepare the area to receive supplies for his new forward depot. The area was perfect for a support site, protected by a wadi to the west, well-watered, and with a small airstrip.
The division was advancing up the one main road that governed all movement in North Africa, the coastal Via Balbia. Montgomery once remarked that fighting and supplying the troops in North Africa was like advancing from London to Moscow on a single road. That was the same distance by land between Tunis and Alexandria, and the Via Balbia was the only good road. The inland roads were nothing more than well-worn tracks where vehicles had pushed their way through the imposing terrain, the paths of least resistance.
4th Indian was next in line on the Via Balbia, followed by the two divisions that had broken the Italian resistance along the coast, the 51st Highlanders and 50th Northumbrian. Both would need a little rest before moving up through the Marble Arch and making their entry on the new chess board that was now being set. As for the armored Divisions, O’Connor had his lighter 7th Armored on the leftmost inland flank. And the 1st Tank Division between their position and the Via Balbia, about 12 kilometers inland. 23rd Tank Brigade was in reserve following O’Connor’s headquarters.
For his part, Rommel had completed his final briefing the previous day. “Wadi Hiran,” he said, running his finger along the map. “It runs almost perpendicular to the coast, about 30 kilometers east of Sirte. That’s where we’ll stop their advance. General Lungerhausen, I’ll want you on the coast with your 160th Division, right astride the Via Balbia. General Marcks, your 90th Light will be inland at his shoulder, with your right flank a few kilometers beyond this feature, Bir Khalfiyah. The wadi meets another there, and covers your right. This road just beyond that point runs east to west, as you can see. That is where I will place General Bismarck with the 21st Panzer Division. That road is ideal. It allows Bismarck to keep his division in march column, but at the same time, that column covers the infantry defensive front perfectly.”
“And where do you want my fighting 15th,” said General Randow, another new stand-in after Crüwell left the scene.
“Hold on this road south of Bismarck’s position. Wait for Funck to bring up 7th Panzer. That will give us a situation much like our defense at Gazala. I will have all three Panzer Divisions in hand on a tight leash until I deem it time to begin the counterattack. Before that happens, I will want the British testing our blocking position on the coast. It will hold, they will reinforce, and at that point, this O’Connor will look to take his armor in a typical flanking movement.”
“You intend to meet him with all three Panzer Divisions?”
“That would be a good attack, but an even better one would be to swing well outside his own envelopment, then come north and take him in the flank. So I may use 21st Panzer as the shield, and the remaining two divisions as my sword. Hauptmann László Almásy is already well to the south scouting out the ground. This terrain here labeled Abu As Shawk is open and flat, with good traction. The same for Alam Qarinah here, further east. But the objective of our envelopment will be these crossroads—Alam Hunjah. Look how all these tracks run parallel to the east and northeast, and note this difficult ground on the right. That protects your flank as you make your turning maneuver. See this hill? It was scouted yesterday, and gives a perfect view of all surrounding ground. We make this maneuver at night, and I want to be standing on that hill by noon the next day.”
“And the Italians?
“What of them? I have sent them to the Buerat line to prepare those defenses. If anything goes amiss, then our two infantry divisions fall back through Sirte to that position. Ah… Herr Ramcke. I forgot your brigade. I will want your men here, right along this wadi screening the location of the Korps Headquarters at Gasr bu Hadi, about ten kilometers due south of Sirte. Any more questions?”
“Suppose they don’t attack us,” said Bismarck. “It’s over 100 kilometers from El Agheila to this wadi where we make our stand. What if they dally about?”
“I am planning a ruse. I have sent a signal saying that fuel stocks are running dry, and we must wait for deliveries. We have long suspected that the British are reading our signals traffic—decoding it at will. I want this O’Connor to think he has me at a disadvantage, that we are desperate to retreat. I have even planned a little theater of a more personal nature. You know I am in the habit of corresponding with my wife back home. Well, I have prepared a phony letter, and I intend to see that it gets found by the British. O’Connor must believe we are a wounded animal, limping off to seek shelter. If I know this man, he will attack, and with the envelopment maneuver I expect.”
Von Thoma had been listening to all of this, and now he spoke up, remembering Rommel’s admonition to him upon his arrival. “And these heavy British tanks you spoke of earlier,” he said. “What if they appear in the midst of all of this?”
“The Luftwaffe has spotted them far to the east. It seems the British already believe we are beaten here. Now gentlemen, it’s time we showed them how very wrong they are.”
Chapter 21
A whisker over 370 miles due south of Tobruk, the wreckage of an American B-24D Liberator bomber still rests in its dusty grave, like a forsaken shipwreck on the seabed of an ocean that had dried up and vanished long ago. The nose and cockpit, and much of the fuselage still remain intact—even the window glass remained sound for the most part. A machinegun juts from a circular aperture just above the plane number 64, which vanished into the sand at the base of the crumpled fuselage. The broken tail was bent forward towards the nose, jutting into the stark sky above, and twisted propellers still hung from the remnants of the wrecked engines.