PS: Modified.

Kesselring was tempted to say no to the hopes and conditions offered by the Iraqis, but in the end he sighed helplessly and promised to send the relevant note to the Führer as soon as possible to ask him to make a final decision. On the one hand, Rashid continued to supply Germany with crude oil, on the other hand, he collected a large amount of oil and food at home, provided emergency supplies for the African army, and also sent engineers and construction troops to build front-line airfields for the German army. ”

Rashid was ambitious, but also rightly locked Germany on favorable terms - he believed that the Germans could not be unmoved.

1. Assist Germany in undertaking the construction of oil pipelines in Iraq;

2. All crude oil production in Iraq, except for satisfying its own needs, shall be supplied to Germany or countries designated by Germany at 20% of the market price, and Germany shall pay for it with arms, equipment, industrial technology, etc.;

3. Arm the Iraqi army and hire German instructors and advisers to assist the German army in fighting in the Middle East.

The first few articles are still the conditions that were communicated at the beginning, and Iraq gave three proposals regarding the territorial dispute with Saudi Arabia;

First, Germany assisted Iraq in acquiring no less than 100,000 pieces of land bordering Iraq's existing territory;

Second, the region is a special economic zone, which is sovereign by Iraq and leased to Germany with full power, and Germany can station troops and colonize, and Iraq only sends some government officials to perform civil administration;

Thirdly, all the minerals in the leased land were allowed to be exploited by Germany, and for the first 50 years Germany held all the interests, and from the 51st year onwards, Germany handed over the corresponding output to Iraq at an annual rate of 2%.

These conditions may seem harsher than the leased land and sphere of influence, but it should not be forgotten that this is not a division from Iraq itself, but a direct cut from Saudi Arabia, not to mention the premise that Germany is allowed to mine and occupy its resources will inevitably allow Germany to compensate Iraq with better land plots - the interests of both sides are tied.

On the other hand, Kesselring also communicated with the Saudis, and he did not know whether the Saudis' brains were broken or how, and when the territory was surrounded on all sides and the German army was overwhelmed, although he expressed his "cooperation" goodwill to Germany and released more than 800 Italians and 25 German seamen who had fled across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia during the rout of the Italians in East Africa, this attitude seemed to Kesselring to be quite perfunctory, not to mention the degree of confrontation with the Iraqis, and even worse than the attitude of the Egyptian authorities. Not only has it repeatedly stated that it will "strictly observe" its neutrality and will not join the Axis Group, but it is not even willing to hand over the relevant property and development blocks of the Mobil Oil Company in China to Germany, and has only agreed to give the German side three exploration areas free of charge.

Before the Battle of El Alamein, he had declared on many occasions that the Germans could not win and that they had to stand with the British and the Americans, and at the same time granted Mobil a huge mining right and collected money, so he changed his tune now, not necessarily to gain Germany's "understanding", but to lose the support of Britain and the United States, unlike Rashid, who was originally a pro-German politician, he has always been pro-British, and this position cannot be shaken.

The second factor in judging his decision was that, although the Axis was now strong in the Indian Ocean, he believed that it was impossible for the Japanese Combined Fleet to stay in the Indian Ocean forever, and that the German and Italian naval forces were still weaker than those of Britain and the United States, so this advantage was only temporary, and once Britain and the United States freed up their hands to counterattack, he believed that Germany would not be able to withstand it at all. He had an instinctive fear of the strength of American industrial power.

The last point is that it has only been more than 10 years since he completed the reunification of Saudi Arabia, and the original local forces are still ready to move, if he shows timidity or fear, he will definitely be attacked by the crowd, even if it is to stabilize the internal stability, he can only make this statement temporarily. He was making a gamble: he had time before Germany could solve all the problems of Persia and the Middle East -- a period that could be delayed until the Anglo-American counteroffensive began. And he received news from secret sources that the Soviet Union would send 150,000 troops to Persia, and he thought that it was not yet known who would kill the deer in the entire Middle East.

Kesselring wanted to teach this king a lesson, but the reality was cruel, the German army was not strong enough in the Middle East, and even Rommel, who had always been known for his boldness, had no choice but to tell him that the main spearhead of the army in a short time could only be the British army in Persia.

The British didn't know Rommel's pain, and the strength in his hands was also used to the maximum, starting from crossing the Sinai Peninsula, the Great German Division fought more than 1,500 kilometers in more than half a month, almost to the limit, although the spirit was completely excited, but the equipment and supplies were completely to the extreme, if it wasn't for Baghdad to get a batch of oil and supplies, and then captured the supplies of the British army in Basra, the strong as the Great German Division was about to be unable to withstand it, Otherwise, instead of confronting the 10th Army at Ahvaz, it would have been taken directly.

If Admiral Wilson now had a unit like the 1st or 7th Panzer Division at the core to launch a counterattack, it would have been possible to push the Germans back into Iraq. It's a pity that he has only one armored division at hand, not to mention the local division, and the other Indian divisions have long been trembling with fear when they hear the name of the Great German division that swept across the Middle East. In order to replenish the needs of the front, Rommel was forced to reach out to Guderian for reinforcements, at least the latter's troops had rested under Cairo for several days. Under Kesselring's coordination, Guderian agreed to give him the 15th Panzer Division, and let the 7th Panzer Division, which was about to arrive in Egypt and was commanded by Major General Mandolfer, take the place of the 15th Panzer Division and join the African Army.

Speaking of which, before the appointment of a new division commander in the 7th Panzer Division, which had been resting and replenishing in France, there were many lieutenant generals and even generals vying for the post of commander of this prestigious unit, but in the end, under Hoffman's final word, it was actually Colonel Mandolfel, who had the least qualifications and was recognized as the most unlikely, was promoted to the first rank and was appointed to this position.

According to the old rules, he had to go to Rommel's account to listen to orders, but in this way, he was transferred to Guderian's side, and the battle plan and analysis drawn up before could only be invalidated, but he was not discouraged - because it was obvious that Guderian faced more and more difficult enemies, and he hoped to fight a few brilliant battles, on the one hand, not to fall into the name of "ghost master", and on the other hand, to prove himself to all sides.

Faced with the difficulty of the lack of major generals on the front line, Hoffman could not remain indifferent to this, and after consulting with Zeitzler and Keitel, he decided to readjust the strength again: in view of the end of the war in Libya and the fact that the British prisoners were continuing to be taken to Italy, the 164th Infantry Division remaining in the direction of Tobruk could be liberated, and in addition to leaving an infantry regiment to continue to guard the fortress and supervise the remaining prisoners, let the two Italian divisions that had been restored in Egypt go to Libya to camp - Anyway, neither Guderian nor Rommel wanted to see these Italians, so they let the 164th Division be stationed in Alexandria and the 20th Motorized Rifle Division to be stationed in Cairo, and then mobilize the SS Reich Division from France to Africa to support, asking them to arrive before the end of January, and at the same time let the Air Force mobilize another fighter wing, 1 bomber wing, and 2 transport aircraft wings from China to the Middle East to listen to orders.

It was not that Hoffman did not want to mobilize more troops, but it was that the front in the Middle East was stretched too long, and it was very troublesome to replenish supplies, supplies, equipment, etc., forcing him to invest only the most prestigious troops of the Third Reich in the hope that these troops would be able to exert maximum results. However, in this way, the Imperial Division, which was originally planned to be transformed according to the 1943 model, was in vain, and the relevant reorganization tasks were postponed again, and the relevant equipment was first used for the adaptation and supplementation of other armored divisions.

After receiving Kessellin's information about Iraq's conditions, Hoffman pondered for three hours, and finally he decided: since Saudi Arabia is so ignorant and occupies such an important position, he is the only one in the world who understands what it means under Saudi soil, and he can only take a thunderous rage and occupy and dismember the country. There is no right or wrong, only interests, and now Germany really needs to assert its authority in the Middle East, and this goal is in line with Saudi Arabia.

"Re: It has been learned from the previous telegram that the current Saudi regime can be defined as a country that favors Britain and the United States and must be destroyed. Agreeing to Iraq's proposal to conclude the matter after the end of the war in Persia, it is now possible to order the Iraqi army to cross the border to provoke and create incidents, and at the same time, to engage with internal forces in Saudi Arabia to prepare for political changes. ”

After sending the telegram, he looked at the map blankly, thinking a little stupid: with so many oil fields, which one should he start? He had to think about it.

Kesselring smiled meaningfully after receiving the telegram, how could the Germans have an excuse to intervene without friction and conflict?

Rashid readily signed the agreement, in his opinion, the Iraqi troops may not be able to beat the Saudi troops, but the Germans are next to them, if I do it, will you Saudi Arabia fight back or endure?

At a time when the big chess game of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Persia was in full swing, due to the great changes in the situation in the Middle East, the question of Turkey's position once again became the focus of public opinion and political circles in this country.

And because of Germany's proximity to the water, there were two high-ranking representatives, one was Marshal Keitel and the other was Foreign Minister Ribbentrop. (To be continued.) )