Mersa Matruh Oasis

Berger's body lay by the roadside, his hands still tied behind his back, his legs curled up in pain from his final moments, his head tilted to one side, with a distinct bullet hole on the right side, still oozing blood.

No one buried him. It wasn't that the German soldiers lacked compassion, but they had received orders not to bury Berger. More precisely, they were not allowed to bury him too soon. Berger's body had to be displayed in front of the entire unit so that everyone would understand the consequences of killing a comrade.

As an army, this approach was indeed necessary because unity and trust are vital for a military unit. Only with these qualities can soldiers function as a cohesive whole and achieve victory on the battlefield.

Therefore, the unit's commanders used this method to intimidate others and thereby increase cohesion.

However, from a personal perspective, Qin Chuan still felt that this was a bit excessive, especially when many German soldiers, passing by Berger's body, spat disdainfully in his direction.

It wasn't until the unit was nearly at the end of its march that Kuhn waved to Qin Chuan and the others, signaling that they could begin burying Berger.

The burial was simple. Using a sapper's shovel, they dug a pit in the nearby sand, and two men lifted the body into the pit. After covering it with sand, they placed Berger's sapper shovel at the head of the grave as a makeshift tombstone, and one soldier even put Berger's helmet on top of it.

As Qin Chuan and the others left, the setting sun cast long shadows, leaving the lone helmet swaying in the wind and sand. Overhead, a few vultures appeared, already catching the scent of blood, waiting to descend for a feast.

The next day, the unit successfully reached the oasis of Mersa Matruh.

Mersa Matruh Oasis was not quite what one might imagine as a lush oasis. In reality, it was just a small pond, only a few hundred square meters in size, surrounded by some sun-scorched yellowish weeds. Only near the pond or within it could one see a bit of green.

But for those who had been traversing the desert, this sight was enough to lift their spirits. The soldiers excitedly rushed to the oasis, greedily drinking the water, with some even jumping into the pond and shouting with joy.

Qin Chuan could certainly understand their feelings because he himself found it hard to resist the allure of the pond... At any other time, Qin Chuan wouldn't have given this unimpressive pond a second glance, but now, it seemed to have a certain magic that made Qin Chuan want to "stay here and go nowhere."

However, this was just a luxury, as the order soon came down: "Fifteen-minute break!"

Fifteen minutes... The soldiers who had jumped into the pond regretted it immediately because they would now have to march on in soaking wet clothes.

"Do you know why we're in such a hurry?" Werner, who always had his ear to the ground, returned after making some inquiries and said, "Because our forces are about to reach Mechili. We need to get to Tobruk as quickly as possible, or the enemy will escape our encirclement!"

"My God!" the baker exclaimed, "Our forces have already reached Mechili? Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious!" Werner replied confidently.

The baker pulled out a map from his pocket, looked at it, and said, "That's over seven hundred kilometers away! They've covered that distance in just ten days. Didn't the British put up any resistance?"

"What could we expect from the British?" Werner said, winking.

Werner's words elicited a round of laughter from the surrounding German soldiers, who were immensely proud of how easily the British had crumbled before the German army.

The baker didn't understand the situation, but Qin Chuan did.

The British army's combat effectiveness wasn't as poor as it appeared. The real issue lay with the British Commander-in-Chief, Wavell, and his misjudgment.

Wavell believed that Rommel would not continue his offensive, so he made no effective defensive or counteroffensive plans.

This wasn't entirely Wavell's fault, as the British had access to "Ultra."

The so-called "Ultra" referred to a British intelligence organization based at Bletchley Park, where the first rudimentary computer had been developed. This machine could mechanically crack German codes through brute force... somewhat akin to guessing someone else's password using a combination of possibilities.

Normally, this method would take over ten years to crack a code... which was clearly impractical because by the time the code was deciphered, the war would likely be over.

But because the Germans habitually ended their messages with "Heil Hitler," the British intelligence officers input these words into "Ultra," drastically reducing the time needed to break the codes.

In May 1940, the British successfully cracked their first German code using "Ultra." From that point on, German communications were practically laid bare before the British.

Wavell's belief that Rommel wouldn't attack stemmed from orders he intercepted through "Ultra," where Hitler repeatedly commanded Rommel to halt his advance and hold his position.

So, Wavell believed that Rommel was merely conducting aggressive patrols rather than a full-scale offensive.

But who could have predicted that Rommel would completely disregard Hitler's orders and launch a series of "real offensives" that Wavell believed would never happen?

This left the British forces constantly on the back foot during the battle.

As a result, Rommel's units, even after enduring a sandstorm, advanced over seven hundred kilometers in just ten days... a speed that even Rommel himself found surprising.

This was despite the sandstorm that struck the area, known locally as the "Ghibli wind," which swept across much of Cyrenaica, raising temperatures to 54 degrees Celsius.

The damage caused by the sandstorm to Qin Chuan's regiment was relatively minor... the first regiment had only about a hundred men missing and over fifty confirmed dead. This was mainly because the regiment was relatively concentrated and well-prepared.

Other regiments, like the second regiment, were spread out while pursuing the British when the sandstorm hit, leaving them disoriented afterward, not knowing whether the troops beside them were friend or foe.

Even Rommel himself couldn't locate his units... At one point, Rommel was only ten kilometers from Mechili and wanted to rally his troops for an attack, but he could only find a few dozen men around him.

Among them, the Fifth Panzer Regiment, which had the most tanks, seemed to have vanished completely.

It was later discovered that the radios in their vehicles had all malfunctioned due to the sandstorm, rendering them useless.