While the battle in Baghdad has come to an end, the scene of blood and fire at the Royal Air Force base in the town of Habbania in western Baghdad is a different scene.

In order to reunite with his family, in order not to be a prisoner of the Iraqis, Lieutenant General Smart made a resolute decision.

He's going to gamble with his life.

After nervously observing for a while, Lieutenant General Smart found that the Iraqi army had only shelled the airfield and had not launched a ground offensive.

Although he didn't know why, Lieutenant General Smart felt that this was an opportunity for him.

He also observed another exciting detail: Iraqi shells were almost entirely concentrated near runways 2 and 3, while runway 1 was unharmed.

Not only Runway 1, but even the hangar is safe and sound.

The nearby Iraqi artillerymen must have been a flock of rookies who would make such a low-level mistake.

Lieutenant General Smart hesitated and finally decided to risk breaking through the air.

More than 20 brave pilots volunteered to act together with Lieutenant General Smart.

Ground crews also took action, running out of the hiding-in buildings and bunkers, through the wide runway 1, and rushing to the hangar at the end of runway 1 and the open-air parked aircraft.

The pilots climbed into the cockpit with their hands and feet, and Lieutenant General Smart also jumped into the cabin of a "Gordon" trainer plane.

The ground crews were not idle, they quickly hung the 200-pound and 250-pound bombs that had been prepared for a long time onto the bomb pylons of the trainer aircraft.

Due to the tight fighting, all the combat-ready aircraft in the Habaniyah base were equipped with weapons and fuel tanks were refilled. Be ready to support the battle in Baghdad at any time.

These preliminary preparations now come in handy. The workload of ground staff has been greatly reduced. The time for combat readiness was also narrowed to an acceptable level for Lieutenant General Smart.

Sitting in the cabin, Lieutenant General Smart closed the canopy, expertly checked the instrument panel before starting the plane's engine, and then patiently waited for the ground crew's orders.

A few minutes later, Lieutenant General Smart saw a ground crew member running directly in front of his plane and waving to him, signaling that the plane was ready for battle and that the plane could take off.

Lieutenant General Smart habitually raised his left hand and gave a thumbs up to the ground crew, and then used this thumb to wipe away tears from the corners of his eyes.

Habaniya Airport has a limited number of aircraft. There were only 84 of them, most of them trainers, and that was before the destruction by the Iraqi army.

There are only 35 instructors in the base with rich flying experience, and even if you count the unqualified rookie pilots, you can't take all the planes flying, and you can't take away all the more than 1,000 British military personnel.

Knowing that they could not break through by plane, these ground crews still faithfully performed their duties and cooperated with Lieutenant General Smart and others to fly away, and what awaited them would be the fate of being prisoners.

What will those savage Iraqis do to them? Will they all be killed?

Thinking that it was likely to be a farewell to the ground crew in front of him, Lieutenant General Smart was filled with sadness in his heart.

The propeller spun at a rapid pace. drove the Golden trainer plane slowly out of the hangar and slid onto the runway, and then queued up to wait for liftoff.

A Gladiator biplane fighter and a Hawker trainer in front of the line accelerated to the runway. Finally, it was Lieutenant General Smart's turn to take off.

Visually inspecting that the Hawker trainer plane in front of him had reached a safe distance from his own plane, Vice Admiral Smart steered the plane to accelerate and taxi down the runway.

Glancing nervously at the flames and smoke rising one after another on Runway No. 2 on the right, Lieutenant General Smart was relieved that the shells were still far away from Runway No. 1.

The plane accelerated so rapidly that Lieutenant General Smart's back pressed against his seat, his eyes glued to the dashboard until he saw the number he had been waiting for.

A slight feeling of dizziness rushed over the brain, a symptom of insufficient blood supply to the brain during the rapid take-off of the plane.

Lieutenant General Smart restrained the discomfort in his head and controlled the plane to climb to an altitude of 3,000 meters in one breath before stopping the climb.

"I've taken off, what's going on on the ground?" Lieutenant General Smart asked over the radio.

"Those damn Iraqis are starting to shell runway one, the planes behind can't take off for a while, and we're in a bad situation."

"What is the extent of the damage to the ground of Runway 1? Does it affect the taxi? Lieutenant General Smart then asked.

"Their gunnery is terrible, the shells only fall on the sides of the runway, and it doesn't affect the glide for the time being, but our good luck won't last long."

"Wait for me in a few minutes, I'll deal with the Iraqis, and you're ready." Lieutenant General Smart said confidently.

A few minutes later, Lieutenant General Smart's plane flew south of the Habaniyah base, at this time he was less than five hundred meters above the ground.

Without much effort, Lieutenant General Smart found the artillery positions of the Iraqi army on the ground.

Large expanses of white smoke floated over the position, tantamount to shouting "Fire at me" to Lieutenant General Smart. ”

When Lieutenant General Smart flew over the Iraqi artillery positions for the second time, the plane had already dropped to 300 meters above the ground.

As the Iraqi army's frenzied anti-aircraft shells whizzed around the plane, Lieutenant General Smart pressed the button, the bomb pylons were released, and two 200-pound bombs fell in an arc near the Iraqi artillery positions.

Amid the rumbling explosion, Lieutenant General Smart felt an involuntary tremor in the cabin.

Two unusually large fires rose from the Iraqi position, and the sand and smoke filled the area where the shock wave passed.

Artillery parts and broken human organs were splattered everywhere, staining the Iraqi artillery positions with a layer of blood.

Hawker trainers and gladiator fighters followed closely behind Lieutenant General Smart and used machine guns and bombs to harshly teach the Iraqi artillery on the ground.

"I'm attacking the artillery positions of the Iraqis, can you take off now?". Lieutenant General Smart shouted over the radio.

"The shelling of the Iraqis has stopped, and other planes are lining up to take off, thank you for your cover. Checkmate. ”

"Good. So that I can go to Basra port with peace of mind. See you soon. Lieutenant General Smart said.

Before Lieutenant General Smart could finish speaking, a black smoke suddenly passed from the right side of the cabin out of the corner of his eye.

Poor fellow, it must have been hit by Iraqi ground artillery fire.

Lieutenant General Smart could clearly see the gladiator fighter rushing to the ground with fire and black smoke, and then crashed into pieces.

There were no parachutes in the sky, it seems that the pilots did not escape, and the Iraqis owed another blood debt to the British Empire.

Lieutenant General Smart glanced resentfully at the ground, then looked up at the instrument panel in the cabin, turned the nose and flew in the direction of the port of Basra in the southeast.

Hey? What is it? Out of the corner of Lieutenant General Smart's eye, he suddenly saw an extra shadow on the left side of the plane.

He turned his head curiously. After seeing the true face of the shadow, his hand shook and almost pinched off the lever in his hand.

A fighter plane, which he did not recognize, was flying in tandem with him at a distance of about twenty or thirty meters to his left.

It was a German plane with the Iron Cross of the Wehrmacht on the fuselage.

Lieutenant General Smart instantly felt even colder on his body, the two bombs were the only weapons on his plane, and after throwing them away, his resistance was zero, and he could only be beaten and could not fight back.

The German pilot waved hello to Lieutenant General Smart, and then disappeared from his sight in the plane.

"General, be careful, the air forces of the Germans and Iraqis are coming, there are forty of them." Frightened shouts rang out over the radio.

Why didn't you say it earlier? Lieutenant General Smart felt resentment rise in his heart.

The sound of a bullet piercing the fuselage reached Lieutenant General Smart's ears. It's as if someone is hitting a tin sheet with a hammer.

The fuselage of the Gordon trainer shuddered rapidly, and then gradually leaned to the left. Everything is out of control.

Before he had time to curse the German pilot, Lieutenant General Smart quickly opened the hatch and jumped out of the cabin, then pulled his parachute.

Watching his plane whirl to the ground, Lieutenant General Smart wanted to cry without tears.

The gambling that I made with my life as a bargaining chip fell short.

Why didn't the German Air Force come earlier, so that they could discourage the idea of taking risks and give the decisive order to surrender, instead of hanging in the air as they are now, putting their lives in the hands of others.

Luftwaffe Second Lieutenant Marseilleu was in a very different mood than Lieutenant General Smart, who excitedly shouted over the radio to his wingman Potgen, "See? I'll kill another one. ”

"You can't take all the gains and leave me one." Potgan shouted disgruntled.

"Come with me, let's go to their airport, there will definitely be a lot of British planes there."

The two young German officers left on the plane, not even looking at Lieutenant General Smart floating in the air.

Lieutenant General Smart landed to the ground without danger.

Releasing the parachute and patting his aching buttocks, Lieutenant General Smart looked up at the desolate sand.

Where is your path?

The port of Basra is 500 kilometers away, and you can't get there on two legs.

Do you want to go back to Habbaniah and surrender to the Iraqis there?

Moments later, a group of cavalry made a choice for Lieutenant General Smart.

Forty or fifty cavalrymen roared and pounced on Lieutenant General Smart, surrounding him as he stood still.

Lieutenant General Smart wisely did not run away, firstly because it did not make sense, and secondly, did not want to provoke these clansmen militants.

A young man stepped out of the crowd and slashed at Lieutenant General Smart with his saber.

The cold light on the scimitar made Lieutenant General Smart involuntarily close his eyes and silently wait for death to come.

An old voice roared, and the steel knife instantly stopped at Lieutenant General Smart's neck, and a burst of cold came from the blade.

Lieutenant General Smart opened his eyes and saw an old man wrapped in a white turban and wearing a brown-black robe jumping off his horse and walking towards him.

Seeing the old man's gray beard, old face and deep gaze, a glimmer of hope rose in Lieutenant General Smart's heart.

This old man should be a reasonable person, and he may save his life.

The old man did not speak, but looked Lieutenant General Smart up and down, and then grabbed his hands.

A pair of leather gloves were quickly slipped into the old man's pocket, and then the wedding ring of Lieutenant General Smart's left ring finger was placed on the old man's index finger.

Seeing the watch on Lieutenant General Smart's right wrist, the old man's eyes instantly flashed with a hint of surprise.

A minute later, the watch from Switzerland was transferred to the old man's right wrist.

After another two minutes, Lieutenant General Smart changed owners of all the valuable items on his body, and even the leather jacket on his body could not be saved.

Asking people to put away the white parachute on the ground, the old man pointed at Lieutenant General Smart and shouted.

The young man jumped off his horse, tied Lieutenant General Smart's hands with ropes, and dragged him north with the main force.

More than 50 minutes later, Lieutenant General Smart was taken to the devastated base in Habaniyah, where a white flag had been raised and surrendered.

Seeing the familiar faces in the group of captives, Lieutenant General Smart smiled bitterly and said, "It's really unfortunate to see you. ”

The fall of the Habaniyah base announced the cease to exist the last formed British army in the Baghdad area.

The 10th Panzer Division and the 90th Light Division did not stop much in Baghdad, and they quickly advanced towards the port of Basra, preparing to sweep the last British stronghold in Iraq in one fell swoop.

The 7th Panzer Division remained near Baghdad to guard the prisoners and cooperate with the Iraqi army to search for the remnants of the British army.

On the afternoon of 24 December, Rommel, commander of the German Middle East Corps, led his headquarters into Baghdad.

In the evening of the same day, the newly appointed German ambassador to Iraq, Mr. Bloomberg, flew to Baghdad to hold overnight talks with Rashid to discuss the future direction of relations between the two countries. (To be continued......)