With every kilometer I took, it started getting hotter.
However, I was a tough guy, so I just kept going.
The only time I ever bothered to stop, aside from rest periods, was to patch up some damage on Goliath.
I was a bit concerned about water, but at one point, I found a well.
Luckily, it still had water, so I took whatever I could of this clear liquid gold and kept going.
I soon crossed the Egyptian border into Sudan.
In Sudan, I came to a little village named El Halluf, which was concentrated around a deep valley.
Unlike the Sand River in Egypt, this place was under the control of the Apfel Korps.
My 152mm cannon wasn't the most accurate cannon, but I decided it would be safer to hold back for a bit and let the Korps members come to me, instead of the other way around.
Already, I spotted a Panzer II "Luchs" and a VK 1602 "Leopard" coming towards me.
The Leopard looked to be going faster, so I targeted it first.
BOOM!
The Leopard was toast.
The Luchs came up to me before I had reloaded, so I had to use an anti-tank grenade to destroy it.
Rather than staying here, I had to move.
Instead of going into the valley and getting myself killed, I decided to take the western flank.
Things were going pretty well until I got to the western side and was about to go downhill.
By the time I got there, there was a group of four tanks consisting of a Panther, a Panzer IV and two Panzer III/IVs.
The Panther looked like the biggest threat, so I fired at it first.
While it wasn't killed, it did take plenty of damage, including some broken tracks.
When the crew attempted to repair the tracks, I eliminated them using my hull-mounted DT machine gun.
I backed away, but as I backed away, I heard some rounds bouncing off my turret.
I discovered that there was another Leopard behind me, which, thankfully, was only armed with a 2cm flak gun.
I rammed the tank, immobilizing it, and then put it out of action with an anti-tank grenade.
By this time, my gun was loaded, and I discovered a Panzer IV aiming at me.
I had taken aim at him too, and ultimately, I was faster on the trigger than he was.
BOOM!
With the Panzer IV taken out, I turned my attention to the other tanks.
Unfortunately, an SPG was also firing at me, which complicated my work.
While he was only marginally accurate, he was still annoying me, so I had to eliminate the spotters.
With my cannon loaded, I eliminated one III/IV and severely damaged the other one because it was too close to his comrade.
The other one was summarily destroyed when I rammed it.
Still, the enemy artillery fired at me.
A Hetzer also fired at me from the top of the next hill.
I took careful aim, and…
BOOM!
One down, a few more to go.
Coming over this hill, I encountered a VK 2801.
He fired a shot at me, doing plenty of damage.
However, I simply took care of him and moved on.
I got a little reprieve for the next few moments, save for a couple of random artillery shells.
My reprieve ended when I encountered a second Panzer IV.
His tank also ended when he encountered me.
Coming over to their side, there was only a Hetzer expecting me.
He did a significant amount of damage to me, so I had to be cautious.
I edged my tank over until I could at least see part of him, and…
BOOM!
Hetzer destroyed!
Aside from him, the only other tank that seemed to be expecting me was a Panther, but I caught him looking another way and did massive damage to him.
After my first shot, I backed away and let him come to me.
When there was another round in the chamber, I went to engage him when he broke through a few nearby houses.
However, I was well-prepared for him.
BOOM!
After destroying the Panther, I decided to take cover behind its charred corpse when something caught my eye:
It was a Grille.
It was turning towards my direction.
Unfortunately, I had not completely reloaded before it fired.
Fortunately, it missed.
Also fortunate for me was the fact that I blew it away once I'd reloaded.
All that was left was a Panzer IV and a JagdPanzer IV.
The Panzer IV was coming my direction, which complicated matters somewhat.
Thankfully, I took aim before it did, and…
BOOM!
As for the JagdPanzer, I didn't waste another round on it because it was just sitting there.
Apparently, despite the loud, booming sound of my cannon, it was still expecting that I was going to make the mistake of crossing that forlorn valley.
Taking advantage of that crew's obliviousness, I left Goliath temporarily, opened up a hatch on the JagdPanzer, dropped an anti-tank grenade in and ran before it took me down with the JagdPanzer.
Phew, I've had enough of this sea of fire!
Before heading home, though, I decided to collect any supplies and scrap metal that I could in order to repair my tank.
While I was doing so, though, a sandstorm started brewing, so I got into the turret and waited for it to subside.
About an hour later, the sandstorm stopped.
When I got out to continue my repairs, I got a big surprise:
All the tanks that I had blown up had completely disappeared.
How did that happen!?
Was it some sort of magic?
As you know, I don't like to spend too much time trying to figure out such mysteries, especially when I had a job to do, so I finished up my repairs and started my journey back to Europe.
This journey was probably the hardest of all.
Being deep in the desert, I couldn't exactly get all the supplies I needed.
I knew, however, that water was more important than food, so I concentrated on trying to find that.
Fuel was the most difficult of all.
Although I was able to siphon some fuel from dead tanks, there was a problem:
My KV-2 – as with most Soviet tanks - was powered by diesel fuel.
All of the German and French tanks I encountered were powered by gasoline.
Actually, Goliath could still run on gas, but not as well.
Eventually, I ran out of fuel.
I got so angry that I just started to throw a tantrum, even shooting my Tokarev at the ground.
Luck had never shined brighter than before:
One of those shots opened a hole in the ground, causing oil to spout.
I didn't even care that it was raw petroleum; I just collected whatever I could, filled my tank and put the rest into fuel canisters.
Remember how I said Goliath could run on gasoline?
Well, as long as a liquid burns, Goliath will run on it.
Obviously, crude oil wasn't the best for that V-5 engine, but as long as it got me home, I wasn't going to be choosy.
By the time I had gone a significant distance north, I was tired, bleary and half-dead from hunger and thirst.
I had even started to have hallucinations about Mia, which soon morphed into the mysterious shadowy figure.
The occasional sandstorms didn't help, either.
Finally, when I thought that this was the end, I made it to the lush grasslands and cool mountain ranges of Europe.
Food and drink was more plentiful here.
I was so grateful to make it back home alive!
When I located my hideout, I carried out proper repairs.
I was so tired that I didn't feel like doing maintenance afterwards.
I simply fell asleep and didn't wake up until a few days later.
Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.