Line of Defense

Qin Chuan and his comrades were clearing out the enemy in Agdabia, moving through the streets, house by house, room by room.

The intensity of the fighting wasn't high, but it was extremely dangerous because you never knew when a rifle would suddenly appear and fire a bullet that could take your life, or where a trap might be set in a building.

Qin Chuan and his comrades witnessed a terrifying scene: A squad of German soldiers from another platoon followed standard procedures to search a house. Like other units, they threw a grenade through the window before rushing in to engage the enemy. But soon after they entered, there was a loud "boom," and the entire building collapsed in an explosion, burying all the German soldiers inside.

The baker was initially stunned when he saw this, but then he let out a sigh of relief with a look of gratitude.

Everyone understood what the baker meant... that building was supposed to be cleared by them, but the baker had decided to take a break and have everyone recheck their ammunition.

Rechecking ammunition meant that after the last battle, some people had run out of ammo while others still had some left. To ensure that everyone could contribute effectively in the next fight without affecting overall combat effectiveness, they needed to inventory and redistribute the ammunition.

Qin Chuan counted his rounds and found that he only had 25 bullets left... which was worrying because this amount might not even be enough for an emergency.

But Qin Chuan soon realized that the other riflemen had even less ammunition left; they had fewer than 20 rounds.

What surprised Qin Chuan was that the baker didn't take any bullets from him but instead gave him seven more.

Seeing the confused look on Qin Chuan's face, the baker explained, "At any time, we don't want you to be without bullets. I think no one else would disagree with that!"

The baker was right; no one protested, not even Paul.

Because everyone knew very well that the more bullets Qin Chuan had, the safer they would be. Otherwise, the next one to die might be any of them.

After preparing for battle again, everyone was thinking about one question: Where had the British main forces gone? And what about the British tanks with their thick armor but slow speed?

Although there had been a few skirmishes before, they were all small-scale, and only a few or a dozen British troops were found in the captured buildings... To be precise, they were Australian troops.

At first, Qin Chuan didn't realize this because Australians looked like the British, and their uniforms seemed no different, but the baker recognized them as Australian troops.

"Take a look at this!" The baker picked a button off a corpse and tossed it to Qin Chuan.

Qin Chuan took it and quickly understood... the button had a map of Australia on it.

"Besides that," the baker said, "they also wear a 'Rising Sun' badge on the lower left of their collars and hats... and most importantly, British troops generally don't take on such dangerous missions!"

"They are second-class citizens in the British Army!" Werner laughed, "While the British are the upper class!"

Qin Chuan thought it made sense.

Previously, Qin Chuan had found it strange that the British would engage in such intense street fighting with the Germans. Although the intensity wasn't high, it required a strong will to fight!

And in this era, Britain was known as the "Empire on which the sun never sets," meaning they held a high and mighty status all over the world. A unit so accustomed to comfort and with such a "noble" status would rarely engage in face-to-face combat and hold out to the last moment.

However, if they were Australian troops, it all made sense.

The baker guessed correctly; they were indeed Australian troops, specifically the 6th Australian Division's Infantry Regiment. The regiment's task was to spread out in Agdabia's buildings and create as much trouble as possible for the enemy while wearing down their forces.

Middle East British Army Commander Wavell (Note: The British 8th Army had not yet been formed at this time) intended to delay the German advance and tire them out so that by the time they reached the main British defenses, they would be too exhausted to continue the offensive.

Wavell's decision clearly had a selfish element, as he assigned the Australians to what was almost a fight to the death, while the British troops waited comfortably on the defensive line, ready to reap the rewards of victory.

But what could be done about it?

This era was one where power and strength determined everything. As a British colony, Australia being sacrificed was seen as only natural.

Soon, Qin Chuan and his men found out where the British forces were.

As the baker led the unit forward cautiously, the sounds of artillery and gunfire suddenly intensified ahead.

Then a messenger ran towards them, shouting, "Hurry, we've encountered the enemy's main force!"

The soldiers grabbed their weapons and gear and followed the messenger along the indicated path.

Turning and weaving through the cleared streets, the sounds of gunfire and explosions grew louder, and soon, they arrived at the frontline.

German tanks were attacking the enemy's defensive line, but unfortunately, they were unable to break through. The ruins of buildings were already piled high with the wreckage of five tanks and the bodies of over a hundred German soldiers, all facing forward with weapons in hand.

Qin Chuan raised his sniper rifle and looked through the scope, and there they were: several "Matilda" tanks.

It was clear that the British had established a defensive line using these tanks, hiding them in buildings with only the gun barrels or a small part of the turret and front armor exposed for firing. Behind the tanks were infantry with various weapons, and further back, the artillery.

"Why aren't they using the 88mm flak guns?" the baker asked, puzzled.

Since Qin Chuan had successfully used the 88mm flak gun to repel British tanks, it had become the go-to weapon against them.

Qin Chuan looked around at the enemy's defenses and surroundings and then answered, "The 88mm flak gun might not be effective here!"

"Indeed!" Werner chimed in, "There are buildings everywhere, and the 88mm flak gun would need to get close to shoot, which would make it an easy target for the enemy!"

It was obvious; the 88mm flak gun was a tank-killer because it could easily penetrate the "Matilda's" frontal armor from a kilometer away. But if it had to be brought close due to the buildings... it would only take a few shells from the enemy tanks to take it out.

"And more importantly, there's that..." Qin Chuan pointed to a tall building within the British defensive line, "That building is probably the tallest around here, and from there, they can clearly see our movements. The 88mm flak gun is a big target; it would probably be spotted by the enemy as soon as it moved in and then intercepted by their artillery fire!"