In the middle of the meeting, a distraught Ramsden took his leave under the pretext that he was going to inspect the city's defenses and adjust the new defense system after the troops retreated, and Alexander gave him another reassurance as he left, telling him not to worry about the second retreat.

Looking at Ramsden's fading back, Major General Coffey said humbly: "It's okay for us to do this, right?" ”

"What could be the problem?" Brown, the Emperor of Egypt and the British Consul General in Egypt, glared at him, "It is the duty of a soldier to obey orders, and General Alexander, as the supreme commander of the Middle East, has the right to arrange which troops to retreat first, besides, what right does he have to express dissatisfaction?" He was able to withdraw to Cairo only because General Montgomery made a decisive decision to meet our armed forces, was it right to let him withdraw first, but it was not right for us to arrange for other troops to withdraw first this time? Could it be that Ramsden will always have to retreat first? ”

"That's not what I meant, I meant the order to retreat," said Coffey. ”

In fact, Alexander lied to Ramsden, and this afternoon he received a telegram from London, but the telegram did not directly agree to his retreat, but a vague instruction," ...... Unless there is nothing else to do, try to hold out in Cairo until reinforcements arrive. ”

It was well known to everyone that Ramsden wanted to open up the battle for the defense of Rous, but no one approved of it, and after deliberation it was decided that the original circumstances of the telegram could not be told to him.

Alexander shook his head: "I didn't do anything wrong!" At a time when the fleet under Admiral Cunningham had failed and the landing force could no longer be counted on, the situation in Cairo and even in Egypt had indeed reached a point where nothing could be done, and I arranged the retreat solely in accordance with the advice of the telegram. Can't we judge the situation on the ground and not ask the authorities in London, thousands of kilometres away, to make decisions for us? Such a loss has already been suffered once: Montgomery said that 5 armored divisions were needed, and London did not give them. Well, now 300,000 troops have been lost in a row - what a bunch of pigs for those who sit in certain positions in the cabinet! ”

Everyone agrees.

Only a stunned young man like Ramsden can win the prime minister's favor. Until now, they still want to hold on to Cairo and wait for the Americans to land in Kenya before coming to our rescue, bah! When they got to Egypt, they should go to the German prisoner of war camps to find us. "If you had listened to me and pulled your troops across the Sinai Peninsula into Iraq and Syria in time, and were directly connected with the commander of the 10th Army of General Henry Maitland Wilson (responsible for defending Persia, Iraq, Syria, etc.), what would be so much going on now?" ”

Everyone nodded in agreement again, and for a while it was all a complaint to the cabinet.

"Admiral. The route and way of retreat are all right? Brown asked, uneasy.

"No problem! I have prepared carefully and carefully to minimize the risks. "Alexander is worthy of being a veteran of retreat for many years, and the so-called retreat of two divisions by train is completely a smokescreen. The real retreat was far more complicated than it had been portrayed: he had already arranged a large number of river vessels. Preparing to transport all the way upstream through the waterway of the Nile is the main route of the retreat, and the train retreat is not only later than the waterway retreat, but also not the mainstream in the way. Of course. It's not that he fools Ramsden. This is a need for confidentiality.

Of the more than 30,000 British troops in the first batch of retreat, at least 25,000 had to retreat by water, in addition to some British officials in Egypt and their families, and of course, some powerful British and Egyptian businessmen. The British army, numbering less than 7,000 men, would retreat south with a mix of Egyptian residents and ordinary British expatriates, who were fleeing south every day because of the German threat. The Egyptian government sent a note to the Germans pleading for the Germans not to attack the trains, and Kesselring agreed to the request on behalf of the German side. The premise is that the British army cannot be transported.

Determined to break this tacit understanding between the Egyptian authorities and the Germans, Alexander arranged for his troops to leave by train. Because he believed that many Egyptian wall grasses would not be able to resist tipping off the Germans.

He laughed and said: "Let our soldiers take a train with the Egyptian people and expatriates who are going to flee south, and then let those conspirators hook up with the Germans, I want to see if the Germans dare to bomb these trains......"

Everyone smiled knowingly, thinking that Admiral Alexander had made a good move: if it was bombed, it would destroy the tacit relationship between the Germans and the Egyptian propertied class, and even if the Germans finally occupied Egypt, they should not expect it to stabilize quickly, let alone expect the Egyptians to cooperate with the Germans sincerely; Not fried? That's even better, these more than 7,000 people can retreat safely, but he doesn't dislike the large number of retreating troops.

"Gentlemen, go and get ready at once, and you will leave at 12 o'clock in the evening."

"What about you, sir?"

"I can't go! I'm going to see off the troops tomorrow, and I'm going to have to show up in the city to calm the people. Alexander relieved everyone, "Rest assured, the Germans are not coming so soon." ”

"Yes! Sir! Coffey looked at the Middle East Theater Commander with reverence.

"General, take care." Consul General Brown was also touched and warmly hugged Alexander and said goodbye.

Only Ted didn't think so: don't look at what the commander said so well now, in fact, he had already asked himself to prepare a B-24 bomber in the best condition and with night flight ability to stay on standby at the secret airport in the suburbs, and in order to win him over, he also suggested that the two go together.

Just as Alexander and the others were in full swing to arrange the retreat, in the German secret command outside Cairo, Field Marshal Kesselring met with two representatives of the secret organization of Egyptian officers, one of whom was a young officer with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and said: "Your Excellency, according to reliable information, the British intend to withdraw part of their forces from the railway tomorrow evening, and at the same time many British expatriates and Egyptian civilians will be evacuated. ”

Kesselring instinctively frowned: "Didn't the authorities of your country promise not to carry British troops?" ”

"If their promises worked, how could the country of Egypt become like this?"

Kessellin froze for a moment, and he sensed something else in the young officer—one that was dangerous.

"What's your name?" A voice suddenly came from somewhere else, and the interpreter quickly translated it into English.

"My name is Gamal Abdul Nasser, next to my important aide Mohammad Anwar Sadat, who is our liaison and our leader is Muhammad Najib." Nasser methodically introduced as he looked back to see who the questioner was. At first he thought it would be Field Marshal Rommel, but when he saw the face of the person who came, he stood up in astonishment and stammered, "Yuan...... Monarch! ”

Sadat also stood up at a loss, not knowing what to say, and finally reacted and saluted in a hurry.

"Sit down, don't be nervous, feel free."

Kesselring was obviously not mentally prepared, he thought that the Führer would not come out if he stayed inside - for the sake of safety, several generals repeatedly persuaded Hoffman to return to the country or stay in Alexandria, but Hoffman still insisted on coming to the front line, only promising not to show his face, but he did not expect to be exposed after holding out for two days.

"Albert, don't be nervous, I'll leave after saying these few words." Hoffman knew Kesselring's thoughts, "My life is worth much, and Churchill would like to kill me now, right?" ”

This joke made everyone laugh.

Nasser slapped himself on the back without a trace: "Now I understand why the British will lose and the Germans will win, when Churchill was still thousands of kilometers away in London to point fingers at the war, the German Führer himself came to the front line to plan. ”

"No, no! The battles were fought by marshals and generals, and I just came to see how it was going. Truth be told, I'm more interested in keeping Egypt stable and united than in capturing tens of thousands of British prisoners, and let them escape if they want. To everyone's surprise, the Führer was very polite to the two.

"Honorable Führer, we are very envious and yearn for Germany, and we are encouraged by the German declaration of the liberation of the Arab nation, and we look forward to the establishment of National Socialism in Egypt."

"You're going to have that opportunity. Egypt's tomorrow cannot be achieved by rotten politicians or reactionary monarchs, but by young and ambitious military officers like you, Mr. Nasser, and Mr. Sadat. Knowing your deeds, I feel that there is great hope for Egypt for tomorrow and for the future of the Egyptian people. ”

"Honorable Führer......" Nasser was very emotional when he heard Hoffmann remember his name at once, "Can I understand that German friends will help us realize our wishes?" ”

"Of course, we'll help you as much as we can." Hoffman smiled slightly, "We have captured a large number of British weapons in Alexandria, if you need them, we can provide them to you, we can also provide instructors, I expect Egypt to form 200,000 defense forces in the future, and we ask for far less than the British." ”

Nasser nodded: "Thank you to the Führer and Marshal for their heartfelt help, and also to our German friends for their frankness, our organization will do everything in its power to cooperate with your army's actions." ”

After the two left, Kesselring asked curiously: "Führer, these are just two young officers, and the big men behind them have not yet come forward, why would you?" ”

Hoffman shook his head: "Albert, you read it wrong. These two are the big ones, and they will be the rulers of this country in the future, and the friendship you have made now is far more useful than the friendship you will have in the future. ”

Kesselring was a little skeptical

"Do you think they're hard to control? Didn't the representatives of those politicians come to bow down and stammer? Hoffman said contemptuously, "We need strong people who are truly rooted in the Egyptian people, who can easily fall to our future and who can easily fall to the enemy." In addition, arming the Egyptians had the advantage of reminding certain Italian politicians who did not know the height of the sky......"

Kesselring smiled knowingly.

Hoffman thought to himself: The two Egyptian presidents are here, and this relationship is not being drawn together now, when will it be brought together again? (To be continued.) )