“Blasted to hell,” came Wavell’s voice in reply. “The bay is twice the size it was, and all the fuel bunkered on the south shore was completely destroyed. Every ship in the harbor was sunk, including two tankers, several gunboats, the monitor, and an American destroyer.”
“Destroyed? But we sent Kinlan’s Brigade there to top off. Can you reach him?”
“We’ve tried, but get no reply. This report came in from troops at Mersa Matruh that were moving to Tobruk this morning. If he was there, then Kinlan went the way of everything else. I’m told the whole area is completely devastated, for miles in all directions. They saw it light up the sky like a second sun when it hit. Planes were blown off the tarmac at El Adem, and the hangers caught fire there. That’s all of 13 miles south of the bay. It had to be one of those special warheads the Russians told us about.”
“Well who in God’s name fired the damn thing? Surely not the Germans—they can’t have such weapons.”
“We don’t know, but I’ve a message out to the Argos Fire, and to the Russians. Richie, you had better rethink this offensive. If Kinlan is gone, you’re on your own out there.” O’Connor looked over his shoulder, seeing the Colonel trying to get his attention.
“Damn it man, what is it?” he said, still shocked by Wavell’s news.
“Rommel sir,” said the Colonel. “That scout down on the southern flank says he seen a lot of movement. He’s reporting division sized forces on the deep left flank—two divisions, sir.”
O’Connor nodded. “General,” he said into his handset to Wavell. “I’ve got my hands full out here. Keep me advised if you learn anything more.”
He stormed over to the nearest map on a small field table set up outside his HQ tent. He had been all set to leave for the front to go and listen to the battle, but this news from Wavell was deeply shocking.
“Colonel,” he said, collaring the messenger. “Where was Popski when he reported that movement you spoke of?”
“He says he was on Hill 482, sir, southeast of Sidi Azzab.”
“Sir,” came another Lieutenant. “General Tuker with the 4th Indian reports the enemy is attacking Sidi Azzab. He’s had to turn his whole column 90 points to face what looks to be a full panzer division.”
“That was where Harding was with 7th Armored this morning when we jumped off,” said O’Connor. “Rommel’s got round my left flank!”
“This Popski fellow seems rather insistent about exactly that, sir,” said the Colonel.
“Well, why didn’t I hear about it sooner? Alright, where is Brigadier Richards with the 23rd Armored Brigade? Has he moved yet?”
“No sir,” said the Lieutenant. “He’s still laagered on the road leading up to Bir Qarinah, waiting for orders.”
“Good for him. Now he’ll get them. Tell the General I want his Brigade here. He’s to swing southeast of Sidi Azzab. General Horrocks?” O’Connor looked over his shoulder for his X Corps Commander. “You had better get forward and sort things out. We may have to stop 7th Armored and get it turned around. I’m taking the AA park south and setting up a screen at Ulyam Ar Rimith. Both roads meet there if Rommel is doing what I think he pulled off here. Now… What’s this unit?”
“Those are the French Brigades attached to 44th Home Counties.”
“Good. Tell General Hughes I’ll be taking them into Army Reserve. And where is the 21st Indian Brigade?”
“They were at Nofilia, sir, but nobody’s heard from them for hours. Probably on the road somewhere.”
“Well someone bloody well find out where they are, and tell them they are to go here…” He leaned over his map, squinting. “Alam al Hunja,” he said. “Yes, that’s what the cheeky bastard wants. From there all the roads lead him right to the coast, and 50 kilometers behind our backsides! My God, that man does war justice. Who’s attacking who here? Rommel looks like he’s trying to bag the entire 8th Army!”
Chapter 23
All was not lost on the front simply because Rommel had out flanked O’Connor’s position. The wily General O’Connor had reacted quickly, reaching for any reserve he had at hand and sending them to precisely the right positions to stop what he believed his enemy was now doing. Meanwhile, further west, his own planned envelopment was still pushing hard. Horrocks did not get out there quickly enough to stop 7th Armored.
Now the planned two division thrust looked like a great arm swinging into an uppercut at Rommel’s defensive front. The long muscular forearm was the sturdy 4th Indian Division, most of which was now facing south against the threat of Rommel’s envelopment. The clenched fist was 7th Armored, and it was punching through Rommel’s screen of AT guns and light mobile Panzerjagers. And on the Via Balbia, the 51st Highland Division had forced two penetrations in the line against the German 164th Light Division. All was not lost. There was still a great deal of fight in the British 8th Army.
Moving swiftly through the night, with sandy fragments in their wake catching the moonlight, Sonderverband 288 raced towards their objective at Alam Hunjah. That was the place Rommel said he hoped to be standing by noon on the second day of the battle, and his troops were nearly there. 7th Panzer had crossed all the plain of Abu as Shawk that night, turning north. There, to its chagrin, it ran right into Brigadier Richards 23rd Armored Brigade.
This was O’Connor’s haymaker, the heaviest brigade he possessed in terms of sheer armored fighting power. 50th RTR had 36 Churchill IIIs, 36 Valentines and another 36 Crusader IIIs. The 46th and 8th RTRs were configured the same way. A fourth battalion, the 40th RTR had another 48 Valentines in reserve, placing over 350 tanks in this single brigade. 7th Panzer’s lead elements had just crossed Wadi Harawah when that wave of armor fell upon it like a hammer. O’Connor then ordered both the two Free French Brigades due south to Sidi Azzab, and they were to attack immediately. To the 4th Indian Division, he gave orders to push south with all its strength. His intention was to take hold of the German Tiger as it prowled east in the night, wrestle it to the ground and attempt to stop it, then and there. It remained to be seen whether he was taking a tiger by the tail or not, but this battle would decide the war on this front for months to come.
50th RTR drove on, pushing back the armored cars of the 7th Panzer Recon, and then trundling down into the wadi. Popski’s scout detachment was right there with them, and his AEC III was shot right out from under him. He only just barely managed to escape through the upper hatch before the vehicle ‘brewed up.’ There was a shrapnel wound on his left forearm, though the adrenaline of the moment was too great for him to notice. All he could think of was getting to the nearest cover, which in this case was a scout jeep. When he dragged himself under it, there were two other members of his team, Lance and Nelson.
“Whoa Nelly,” he breathed. “We’ve no business in the middle of this mess. Does that jeep above us still run?”
“Shot clean through the engine,” said Nelson. “Richards has all the rest of the group, back about 300 yards. Can’t see a thing in all this smoke and dust.”
“Then it’s belly work for us,” said Popski. “Stay low and we’ll head that way. We belong out on the flank, not here in the middle of the stew.”
“You’d best bandage that arm,” Corporal Lance pointed, and Popski noticed he was bleeding for the first time. He took the scarf from around his neck, and wrapped it as tightly as he could. Then they began to craw, like three fat snakes in the sand, making their way from one hummock of low growth to the next. Off to the south, Popski could see the tanks of 46th and 8th RTRs grinding towards the German Position, and the whole scene was masked with grey smoke, where the lightning of gunfire cracked out sharply as the tanks fired, the yellow orange fire marking their positions.