The commander of the British 10th Army, Admiral Wilson, finally saw the legendary "defeat of the army", and unfortunately, he is now the protagonist of this big scene:

On December 31, 1942, he lost control of Mosul and the surrounding oil fields in Iraq.

On January 1, 1943, he lost the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and a nearby air base, where nearly 4,000 British soldiers were killed or captured by the SS Viking Division.

On 2 January, the 10th Indian Division, which he had sent to the rescue from Basra, was routed by the Greater German Division at Nasiriyah, and the scattered and fleeing troops transmitted panic to Basra and other units departing from the direction of Ahvaz, and the 6th Indian Division, which had just crossed the border, retreated in a hurry, while the 5th Infantry Division (owed to the 13th Infantry Brigade, which had been wiped out or captured in Baghdad) that had been holding out in Basra was in disarray.

On January 3, the Great German Division stormed Basra, with the cooperation of the Luftwaffe, the majestic armored troops were brave, especially the Tiger tanks in front of the assault ignored all anti-tank weapons and rampaged, so that the British infantry had built up a position collapsed on the whole line, and after the German heavy self-propelled rocket artillery company carried out overwhelming coverage fire on the Basra front headquarters, this second-line infantry division with nearly 10,000 men lost the will to fight and surrendered. More than 20 oil tankers and more than 400,000 tons of crude oil that had taken refuge in the port of Basra for fear of the statement of the Combined Fleet Commander Hori Tsukichi about the blockade of the northern Indian Ocean became the spoils of war for the Germans.

On January 4, the German army arrived at the border between Iraq and Kuwait, and in the face of the fierce German offensive, the Kuwaiti government hurriedly issued a notice announcing the termination of all treaties with Britain and the choice to become a German protectorate. Under the influence of these two countries, there is a dark current in the protectorate of Aden (Yemen and Oman), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

At about the same time as the opening of electricity in Kuwait, the German-Italian combined fleet heading south from the mouth of the Suez Canal shelled Port Sudan in Sudan and forcibly landed it.

Admiral Alexander, commander of the British Middle East Theater, who had been cowering near Aswan, was frightened by the German armored forces in the direction of Port Sudan, and he forcibly ordered the troops to retreat into Sudan as soon as possible and move in the direction of Ethiopia despite the fact that the two divisions in Cairo had not completely retreated in placeThe soldiers of the new two Dominions were almost equal to the British native army, but fortunately, both sides lost all their heavy weapons, and the only ones they could get their hands on were rifles, Bren light machine guns, and 50mm mortars, and even the Egyptian troops who watched from the side were better equipped than them.

Fleiberg was furious at the attitude of the British officers and soldiers who were eager to flee, and ordered the New Zealand troops to bayonet, surround the British soldiers, and prepare to charge with white knives - this guy was full of white-knives fighting, although the number of New Zealand soldiers was slightly smaller, but the fierce atmosphere frightened the British, and finally most of the officers on the scene were still relatively clear-headed, knowing that no matter what, they could not do anything, and the matter was really irreparable as soon as they were shot. At the critical moment, a telegram was sent from Cairo informing him of the suicide and martyrdom of Lieutenant General Montgomery, and Freiberg, impressed by Montgomery's kindness, decided to let the British go as they pleased, with the mediation of the Australian troops.

But Freiberg's other decision was chilling: he ordered the New Zealand division gendarmerie to set up a bayonet formation, and ordered Alexander and Ted, who had secretly escaped from Cairo by plane, to walk under the bayonet formation before it was finished. In order to avoid affecting the overall situation and delaying the time, under the clamor of many Australian and New Zealand soldiers, Alexander and Ted endured the humiliation and overburdened the bayonet formation of the New Zealanders, and retreated in the direction of Sudan with their troops.

Officials, journalists, businessmen, expatriates and their families who had fled Egypt had seen the heartbreaking scene, and some reporters had even taken photos on the sly, and the thought swelled in everyone's minds: the global hegemony of the British Empire is over!

The confusing lawsuit between the New Zealanders and the British over this matter went all the way to Washington, but the mediation of the Americans was not resolved.

Now, the situation in front of Wilson is very bad, he thought that with his own hands with 2 British divisions, 5 Indian divisions of the 10th Army can completely stop the pace of the Germans, but in the face of the fierce attack of the German armored forces, this is only Rommel 2 armored divisions, 2 airborne brigades to play the prestige, when the problem of Cairo City is solved, there are still 3 armored divisions and 1 infantry division over there will pounce, how to deal with it? Now he finally realized the pain of Montgomery's initial 300,000 troops and more than 1,000 tanks still claming that his troops were insufficient and that he needed at least five armored divisions to support them - the combat effectiveness of the British and German troops was not at the same level at all.

Some neutral military observers believe that at the level of the Greater German Division, it would be effortless to fight three British armored divisions, and some people asked: "What if we change to an Indian division?" ”

"Then ......," the observer ran out, "6-8." "Actually, there aren't that many armoured units in all of India.

Wilson estimated that London was the same as he thought: because he received a notification that the Soviet Red Army was ready to send 150,000 troops into Persia, which was simply unthinkable a month ago, and forced by the erosion of the situation in the Middle East, Churchill, who was known for his ****, reluctantly agreed to the Americans' suggestion, and even had to express his gratitude to Stalin for his actions. But far from quenching the thirst, the Red Army will not arrive for at least half a month, and Wilson can only support it before that.

Late on the night of January 4, in a church in Egypt, Ramsden finally met Montgomery, who had been separated for a long time, dressed in a full lieutenant general's gown, with a serene face and closed eyes, as if he had fallen asleep. However, Ramsden knew that this was just a hallucination, and in fact there was a small wound in the right temple of his esteemed commander - the bullet eventually killed him, and the German military doctor, after bandaging and treating it, skillfully covered the wound with a military cap.

Looking at the commander who could not wake up no matter what, Ramsden could not help but feel sad and uncontrollable: only a month earlier, the commander had led his troops in command of the battle, and a month later, he had become a cold corpse. He believed that Montgomery had committed suicide - that there was no need for the Germans to deal with a surrendered lieutenant general, and the suicide note left by the commander made this abundantly clear.

The suicide note is very long, and it can be seen that it has been written for a long time, and Ramsden knows that it is Montgomery's handwriting after reading it, and the suicide note says a total of 4 things:

The first was to criticize the Cabinet's stupid and short-sighted military deployment, which had been denied by its request for reinforcements from five armoured divisions, while the Cabinet insisted on using other forces to launch the torch plan for the landings in Morocco and Algeria, and that it would have been a completely different matter if the troops had been reinforced to him in the first place, which were intended for North-West Africa.

The second is to explain the motive and reason for his surrender with his troops: In the situation where the supply base of the troops was terminated, the logistics line was cut off, and the naval reinforcements were eliminated, it was impossible for him to retreat with all his men and horses, and on the basis of comprehensive consideration, he selected two divisions of Australia and New Zealand to retreat. Seeing this, Ramsden's eyes moistened again, and Montgomery wrote: "...... I don't regret this decision, and if I have to regret it, it's that I can't get more people out of the encirclement. ”

The third is his account of his family and loved ones.

Finally, the reason for his suicide was elaborated: "...... I had the opportunity to retreat with the Australian and New Zealand divisions, and I was able to escape by plane, but I did not choose to do so, because there were still nearly 100,000 officers and thousands of wounded in front of me, and I could not retreat without settling them down - it was my duty and mission. Now that the vast majority of them have survived and entered the prisoner-of-war camps, they can survive despite the difficulties, their parents and children still have the opportunity to see them again after the war, they have fulfilled all their responsibilities for the country, and it is time to think about themselves and their families. I am tired...... My mission was accomplished, my education, the honours and status I had received in the past made it impossible for me to live in this world any longer, and I hoped that my death would inspire all the British to unite and work for the final victory over fascist Germany. ”

After reading this suicide note, stroking Montgomery's thin and slightly shrunken hands, Ramsden couldn't help but cry.

"General, people can't be resurrected after death, I hope you take care."

"It's you...... You were the ones who killed General Montgomery. Ramsden pounced on Guderian, who had accompanied him to mourn, but fortunately the pistol had been unwound when he entered the church, otherwise it was not known what would have happened, and he was soon forcibly removed by several guards, and Guderian stroked his neck in fear and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"The German Führer has arrived, the Italian leader has arrived."

With the order of the soldiers of the Guard Flag Corps, surrounded by many officers, Hoffman and Mussolini also stepped into the church, and he saw Ramsden being held by the guards at a glance, and hurriedly asked: "What's the matter?" ”

"He was a little emotional, and I told him to calm down."

A guard attached to Hoffman's ear whispered the whole process just now.

"General Ramsden is General Montgomery's old subordinate, his mood is understandable, let go of his hand and let him calm down." (To be continued.) )