"The Army is far from the time when demobilization is relaxed." Hitler smiled at Brauchitsch, and his words of encouragement were completely devoid of the bluntness and indifference they once had. Seeing this scene, Keitel and others next to him couldn't help but be stunned, and they all couldn't believe that this would be Hitler's attitude.

Previously, because Brauchitsch had had a fierce conflict with Hitler over the attack on France, and even did not hesitate to hinder Hitler's adventurous actions by passive confrontation, that is, deliberately proposing a castrated version of Schlieffen's plan, the latter could be said to have a grudge against Brauchitsch and wanted to oust him from the center of power for a long time. Now, however, it seems that the Führer's affection for the Commander-in-Chief of the Army has completely disappeared. The glorious victory on the Western Front seems to have become the glue of the relationship between the two, and at this time there is no disagreement between the two sides at all.

"The next step, the Army's target will be Gibraltar." Hitler's two fingers merged, and he was a little heavier in the corner of the map of Western Europe on the wall, "At present, the British military presence in this small area divides the maritime power of the German-Italian axis into two parts: the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Especially today, with the withdrawal of the British Mediterranean Fleet from Egypt to its homeland, it has become even more urgent for the Italian Navy to rush out of Gibraltar to enter the war. ”

Fang Yan's eyes flashed brightly, this was exactly the war strategy he was going to propose to Hitler next. In the future Atlantic campaign, the Italian fleet was undoubtedly a decisive force. Although their ships have the defect of short legs, their large ships of more than 10,000 tons still have a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles with additional fuel, and there is little pressure to operate in the eastern Atlantic, which is close to the European plate. The remaining light ships could participate in the clearance of the English Channel, and their addition would immediately change the balance of power between Germany and Britain in the Channel region, and be a key help for the Axis powers to break down the resistance of British ships near the sea.

In addition to this, the passage of the Strait of Gibraltar will also mean the reactivation of the French fleet.

Because once this gateway to the Atlantic Ocean was opened, the Axis navies would take control of the entire coast of West Africa because of the Italian fleet, and by that time, the African coastline of Vichy France would be under the shadow of the Axis powers, and the French warships scattered in the ports of the colonies would in fact become the pockets of Germany. As long as Hitler operated at the political level, the French fleet would almost certainly be fighting on the axis - after all, Germany in this plane was much stronger than it was in history, and the Vichy government could not hesitate to choose sides!

If Gibraltar could be captured in mid-autumn, Fang Yan even felt that Britain might not survive this winter. A harsh naval blockade would greatly hamper the operation of the British war machine – the Royal Air Force would be the first to collapse in a war of attrition, followed by widespread famine; The pain of hunger, cold, and the blood of death will make the British people truly sober up from their impulsiveness and stubbornness, and understand that there is only one way to die if they continue to fight. Under normal circumstances, Churchill would probably be ousted by the British Parliament and replaced by a Pétain and his ilk.

"It's just a pity......" Thinking of this, Fang Yan felt a little bitter in his heart, and looked at Hitler and sighed. His declaration of war yesterday evening had put Germany and Britain on the stage of a duel. Although Hitler attacked the Churchill government in his speech, the latter's rise to power and determination to resist were firmly supported by almost all the British people at this stage; Under these circumstances, Hitler's declaration of war was tantamount to extending to the British people, making the latter's room for manoeuvre for peace even more imperceptible.

The only thing that made Fang Yan feel a little comforted was that Hitler's strategic vision was still there, and he had accurately identified the key node to destroy the British Empire at this moment. Although his detailed analysis of the situation at sea still lacked a lot, this did not affect the overall situation - in order to make Brauchitsch willing to gnaw this hard bone, Hitler also specially explained in depth the advantages of capturing Gibraltar to the army from the difficulty of the future British campaign. In the end, Brauchitsch was resigned. At this point, he clearly had no other choice.

"In addition, the army needs to work out a plan of operations east of the Suez Canal, with the goal of reaching Persia and clearing all British power in the Middle East." Hitler instructed his adjutant Schmund to put up another map of the Middle East, fully showing that he was prepared for the day, "It will take some time for Britain to collapse, and what we have to do is to grab as much of the old bandit's legacy as possible during this time." We can't fight desperately on the front, but let the necro-eating hyenas of Russia and Italy take advantage of it. ”

Hitler cleared his throat and said, "I will consult with the Italian leader and let him provide enough ships in the Eastern Mediterranean to carry out transportation work for our army." The army landed on the west coast of Syria and needed to advance east to Basra and in the north to Mosul in order to create a direct deterrent to both Iran and Turkey. Although the Middle East was far away from Germany, Britain also had little military power there. I have every reason to believe that the German Army will be able to take control of the Middle East within this year with satisfactory efficiency. ”

Fang Yan's eyes flashed again, and he immediately understood the subtlety of Hitler's move. For Germany today, the Middle East is no longer on the map 3,000 kilometers from Berlin. Militarily, it was bordered by Iran (Persia) to the east and Turkey to the north, both of which bordered the Soviet Union to the north and were the primary bulwarks of Soviet expansion on the southern flank. Over the past few hundred years, Turkey's predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, fought 11 major wars with the Russian Empire, the predecessor of the Soviet Union. Persia, on the other hand, was the frontier of a long-standing rivalry between Britain and the Soviet Union, where both sides cultivated numerous forces and proxies.

If German troops entered the Middle East, they would be able to exert significant influence on Turkey and Iran, thus encircling the Soviet Union on the southern flank. From northeastern Turkey, across the Caucasus Mountains, the Soviet Union's vital Baku oil fields, and north of Iran, the vast and empty Central Asian wilderness, from which the Soviets could attack each other. What's more, there is also a railway artery in Iran that connects the main trunk of the Trans-Siberian Railway from the southern sea, and controlling Iran would cut off all possibility for the Soviet Union to receive foreign aid from the south.

And that's just the military prospects. At the geostrategic level, control of the Middle East is also of great importance to Germany today. Turkey would be encircled on the eastern and western fronts of Germany, which would have had enough time and means to gradually control and colonize the country. And the Pahlavi dynasty of Iran, which was already politically pro-German, would kick away Britain, which was trying to enslave itself, and at the same time turn to Berlin, it would also open the door to India. You must know that colonial India was not only the one after independence, but also a large area of land, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, which belonged to this "most brilliant pearl in the crown of the British king"! ()

Please remember that the first domain name of this book is:. Mobile version reading URL: