British Rifles

"Yes, General!" replied Colonel Slein. "We are 80 kilometers away from Tobruk. If all goes well, we can launch our attack in two hours!"

There was a prolonged silence from Rommel's side. Colonel Slein guessed that Rommel was looking at the map, trying to locate Lucadai and discussing the situation with his staff.

About ten minutes later, Rommel responded, "Colonel, did you pass through Tugela?"

"Yes, General!" answered Colonel Slein. "We took it over and blew up its warehouse, did the same with Tengerten, and we plan to do the same with Lucadai's warehouse!"

"Well done, Colonel!" Rommel replied. "Please forgive my earlier harsh words. The victory you've achieved has far exceeded my expectations!"

"I understand, General!" Colonel Slein allowed himself a satisfied smile. "So, General, would you prefer I go back and retake Tengerten, or continue the advance on Tobruk?"

"Of course, advance on Tobruk!" Rommel replied. "God, if you can take Tobruk and hold it, the British are finished! We will drive them out of Libya completely!"

When Colonel Slein received the telegram, he proudly raised it towards his adjutant, as if to say everything was proceeding exactly as he had anticipated.

Rommel then sent another message: "But you must hurry, Colonel. The British have already taken Tengerten. Now they surely know it was an empty town, and soon they'll realize you're advancing on Tobruk. They will do everything they can to intercept you and set up defenses in Tobruk. You must reach it and attack before they are prepared; otherwise, victory will be extremely difficult!"

Colonel Slein's face darkened. He knew Rommel was right. The earlier success was largely due to the British being caught off guard.

But now, if the British knew their next target was Tobruk... everything would change.

So Colonel Slein immediately ordered, "Set off at once! Target: Tobruk!"

This time, the soldiers were not as lucky as before. They wouldn't be able to get any sleep, and even if they could, they wouldn't be able to sleep because the sun was already high in the sky, and the temperature inside the vehicle had reached over fifty degrees, making it feel like an oven.

"Take these rifles!" Kuhn opened several boxes that had just been loaded into the compartment and handed out a few "Enfield" rifles to the soldiers.

"We're going to fight with British rifles?" Werner looked concerned.

Fighting with enemy rifles isn't impossible, but if the entire army fights with enemy rifles, it would undoubtedly affect the combat effectiveness of the troops. After all, the soldiers are unfamiliar with the enemy's rifles, and more importantly, they are unfamiliar with the combination of enemy rifles, submachine guns, machine guns, and other equipment... These are systems carefully balanced in terms of range and firepower.

"This is just in case!" Kuhn replied. "We can't get any support or supplies... but our trucks are loaded with crates of British ammunition and weapons. If we run out of bullets, we'll have to use British weapons. All you need to do is get familiar with how to use them!"

The "Enfield" rifles were passed from soldier to soldier. It wasn't difficult to learn to use them since, like the K98k, they were bolt-action rifles. The soldiers just needed to fiddle with them to figure out how to operate them.

The problem was... having gotten used to the accuracy and rate of fire of the K98k, taking the "Enfield" to the battlefield after just fiddling with it a bit wouldn't be easy, especially since the battlefield doesn't give you much time to adapt. Many would likely become casualties before they even learned to use it.

When Qin Chuan took the rifle, the baker said to Kuhn, "Sir, I think we should save the bullets for Frick!"

"I agree!" someone quickly chimed in. "Bullets in Frick's hands are more valuable!"

"I agree too!" another replied. "I'd rather use the 'Enfield' from now on and save the ammunition for Frick. I believe Frick can provide us with better cover!"

Hearing these words, Qin Chuan felt a strange sense of gratitude, even though he knew that part of the reason the soldiers said this was for their own benefit... as they said, saving bullets for Qin Chuan could provide better cover for them on the battlefield.

But at the same time, it was also a recognition and trust in Qin Chuan, and it could even be said that they were entrusting their lives to him.

While the soldiers were discussing, the sound of airplane engines droned in the sky again.

The soldiers stopped talking and looked up, though they couldn't see through the iron roof of the truck.

Werner whispered to Qin Chuan, "Should we send another message?"

Qin Chuan knew what Werner meant by "message"—like last time, they could keep their speed and refrain from shooting to disguise themselves as a British convoy.

But...

Qin Chuan shook his head slightly and said, "They've found us!"

His words immediately brought a look of fear to the soldiers' faces.

The baker nodded and said, "Yes, it's been circling above us, clearly tracking us and reporting back to their command! That means... their fighters and bombers are on their way!"

"What do we do now?" Alfredo asked in panic.

It was then that the soldiers noticed Alfredo's presence. Until then, he had been curled up in the corner of the truck, silent and inactive, like a pile of mud. The soldiers secretly called him the "Italian Beggar."

"There's nothing we can do!" Qin Chuan replied. "Just speed up and be ready to disembark!"

If a convoy in the desert is spotted and tracked by enemy planes, it's like a bald head with lice—utterly conspicuous and impossible to shake off.

Now, they could only hope that the British didn't have too many air forces allocated to this direction or that the convoy could cover as much ground as possible before the danger arrived.

Colonel Slein clearly understood this too, so the order to "go full speed ahead" was quickly passed down.

The drivers floored the gas pedals, and the trucks sped down the road at over 100 kilometers per hour. Inside, the soldiers were tense, occasionally poking their heads out of the compartment to glance at the sky.

Finally, someone shouted, "Planes! British planes! They're here!"