The Port of Djibouti is located at the western end of the Gulf of Aden, on a headland southeast of French Somaliland.

The port is 77 nautical miles north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and 130 nautical miles east of the Gulf of Aden, founded in 1896, in 1917 the railway to Addis Ababa was built, is the most important transshipment port in Ethiopia and East Africa.

French Somaliland, to which the port of Djibouti belongs, is also strategically important, bordering Italian-controlled Eritrea to the north and British Somaliland to the east.

When the war in East Africa was in a stalemate, Britain tried hard to get the French army in French Somaliland into the war.

In order to flank the French army in French Somaliland, after the British Eighth Army recaptured British Somaliland, the Free French Oriental Brigade was first sent to British Somalia, and the Free French leader Charles de Gaulle personally went there to persuade the French garrison in French Somaliland to defect.

However, the few small victories won by the British could not completely impress the commander of the local garrison, Brigadier General Bernard.

In late 1940 and early 1941, when the Eighth Army was on a rampage in East Africa, Brigadier General Bernard's attitude was only slightly shaken.

In the face of De Gaulle, who came to persuade him, he verbally promised that if the Eighth Army could capture Addis Ababa and conquer all of Ethiopia, he would lead his troops to revolt and join the Free French camp.

Seeing that the main force of the Eighth Army had already been stationed under Addis Ababa and could be captured with one last attack, de Gaulle excitedly returned to British Somaliland and waited for the happy moment to come.

Who knows that the ideal is very plump. The reality is skinny.

Addis Ababa became the mainstay of the Italian front, which could not be shaken by the efforts of Montgomery and the Eighth Army.

The fighting continued into March, and bad news came one after another.

First, Spain joined the Axis powers. Gibraltar was lost, and the main force of the Italian navy was henceforth free to enter and exit the Mediterranean and Atlantic Oceans.

The British Royal Navy lost a series of subsequent naval battles, relinquishing sea supremacy in the Atlantic, and the transportation lines on the west coast of Africa were directly abolished.

By late May, in two days, the Indian Ocean Fleet had been wiped out, and Britain's naval supremacy on the east coast of Africa ceased to exist.

Brigadier General Bernard had already seen the situation clearly by this time. Ruthlessly expelled the Free French liaison in French Somaliland.

No sooner had he driven out the Free French liaison than Brigadier Bernard received two pieces of information.

Looking at the telegrams that were sent to the desk almost at the same time. Brigadier General Bernard's rich and somewhat festive face was covered with a few beads of sweat the size of soybeans.

The first telegram came from an order from the French government ordering him to open the right of passage of French Somaliland and, of course, the important port of Djibouti to the Axis forces.

The content of the second telegram was that the British Eighth Army had been defeated under Addis Ababa, and the Italian army had fully switched to a counteroffensive.

Brigadier General Bernard wiped the beads of sweat from his face. I was secretly glad in my heart.

The defeat of the Eighth Army was a logical thing under the conditions of being cut off supply lines, lack of fuel, lack of aircraft, lack of tanks, in short, and lack of everything.

Fortunately, I didn't have too much contact with the British, and with the alternative of Charles de Gaulle, otherwise I would have spent the rest of my life in exile or prison.

Brigadier General Bernard faithfully carried out the order to maintain the government and open the border to the Eritrean Axis forces.

The main force of the 15th Panzer Division of the German Army, the Marati Battle Group of the 2nd Division of the Italian Blackshirts, immediately drove into French Somaliland, without stopping along the way. Straight to the east, British Somaliland.

The Free French Oriental Brigade stationed in British Somaliland had an initial strength of only 1,200 troops, and after subsequent replenishment, it was only more than 2,000. And there is a lack of heavy weapons, and even less of aircraft.

The German 15th Panzer Division and the Italian Marati Battle Group swept through cities and towns in British Somaliland almost in the form of marching occupations

On 29 May, on the eastern coast of Italian Somaliland, a huge fleet of nearly 400 ships of various types was galloping southward.

This combined fleet of the German, Italian, and Japanese navies was extremely large, with a total of three aircraft carriers. Four battleships and four heavy cruisers. Eight light cruisers, as well as twenty-two destroyers.

Escorting 10 troop carriers, more than 200 special attack boats and minelayerers, and 36 logistics supply vessels, they marched to Kenya, the stronghold of the British army in East Africa.

On the bridge of the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen, Chen Dao looked at the vast sea and the countless ships and ships on the sea, and excitedly asked Lütjans: "The British would definitely not have imagined that we would go directly south from the sea and go straight to Kenya." I think this landing operation will be a very pleasant trip.

"Now on the east coast of Africa there are twenty-two of our submarines on patrol, and this is not counting the number of submarines of the Italian Navy, and the British have completely lost maritime contact with the outside world. I was worried about the defense of the British troops at the Kenyan landing site, as well as the combat effectiveness of the Italian army. ”

"The fighting power of a soldier is determined by his stomach, and the British defenders are now short of everything from weapons and ammunition to oil, like a strong man who has not enough to eat, and can only scare and scare those who do not know him. What's more, this strong man is now focused on land, and he certainly didn't think that we would rush directly to Kenya from the sea, and I don't think we would meet decent resistance.

As for the combat effectiveness of the Italians, it doesn't matter anymore, all they have to do is go up and take over after we have leveled the enemy positions on the shore, without too much technology, they should not have problems.

What we should be worried about is the weather, as long as we are given good weather in the morning, the war in East Africa will be resolved. Chen Dao said.

Two days later, on May 31, the port of Mombasa, a major town on the southeast coast of Kenya.

As soon as the sky was brightened, seven seaplanes from Germany, Italy and Japan flew over the harbor one after another, circling and flying along the coast and inland areas near the harbor.

Half an hour later. Twenty-four Zero fighters escorted forty-eight Type 99 dive bombers to the southwest of the port of Mombasa, where they launched an attack on a small field airfield southwest of the port.

Fifteen 40-mm and 94-mm anti-aircraft guns guarding the airfield opened fire one after another, casting a net of fire in the sky.

The airport's only four Hurricanes and three Spitfires also took off urgently. Take on the sudden arrival of Japanese fighters.

The British pilots gave up the fight with the Zero fighters, but clung to the Type 99 bombers, but they were chased by the Zero fighters again.

In the blue sky, the smoke and barrage of gunpowder from the aircraft and aircraft burst into flames, and the chasing and chased fighters shuttled through it.

Type 99 bombers threw bombs one after another on the airfield buildings and anti-aircraft gun positions, and tons of bombs turned the airfield into a sea of fire.

In the sky, one fighter plane after another was hit by artillery fire. Tumbling and spinning, it fell to the ground and turned into soaring flames and parts.

In less than half an hour, all seven British fighters were shot down.

on the ground. The anti-aircraft fire of the British army was also getting weaker and weaker, and when the Japanese planes left, only seven anti-aircraft guns on the ground were still firing,

The aircraft carrier Zeppelin flew over the airfield. The second round of air strikes began.

Twelve ME-109 fighters threw thousands of SD2 butterfly bombs at the airfield, and more than 300,000 shrapnel sprayed from the bombs pierced the airfield with holes, and the antiaircraft gunners fighting in the open air even spurted blood all over their bodies and fell on the gun positions.

After the screeching of the fifteen Stukas as they dived disappeared, the airfield was littered with mottled craters, broken wreckage and burning buildings, completely rendered useless.

Twenty kilometres south of Mombasa Harbour, there are many ships off Diani Beach.

A dense crowd of small boats, such as special attack boats and torpedo boats, were scattered around the ten troop carriers and waited.

Armed with both hands and feet, the Italian officers and men climbed down the rope ladder woven with thick hemp rope and into the dinghy below.

The reconnaissance plane had already taken the lead in circling over Diani Beach.

Chen Dao and Lu Teyansi soon learned the information. There were no defenders on the beach except for a few figures suspected to be local natives, and the natives were frantically fleeing inland to the beach.

After receiving the information, Chen Dao and Lu Teyansi breathed a sigh of relief.

The weather was good. There were no defenders on the beach, and the biggest threat to the defenders, the field airfield, had also been destroyed, and the landing battle began immediately.

More than 200 landing craft braved the wind and waves to rush to the beach, and after 10 minutes, they rushed across the vast sea and arrived near Diani Beach.

There were no gunshots on the beach. There was also no cannonball, only the whistling of the rising and falling tides of the sea. As well as the roar of the landing craft motor.

Looking through the binoculars, Chen Dao saw that Diani Beach was covered with countless black spots of activity, which looked like a colony of ants against the backdrop of the sand.

Chen Dao said solemnly: "I dare to pack the ticket, for the Italians, they have just won a great victory with zero casualties. ”

Lutyans said with the same seriousness: "It's rare to see. ”

The beach-grabbing operation was as easy as an exercise, and the Italian troops immediately marched north to the port of Mombasa.

Five hours later, when the vanguard of the Italian infantry arrived at the port of Mombasa, the harbor was in flames.

In the sky, German and Japanese carrier-based aircraft took turns to attack, and they smashed bombs on the British positions on the ground without interruption.

Seaplanes from battleships, heavy cruisers and light cruisers were also mixed in, directing targets for the guns of battleships outside the harbor.

When the Italian infantry rushed to the south and southwest of the port of Mombasa, all they saw was the smoke of gunpowder and the miserable outlying positions.

The British army had already retreated into the city.

Two hours later, tens of thousands of Italian soldiers had surrounded the port of Mombasa, and the siege began.

Under the combined attack of naval artillery bombs and the Italian army, the city of Mombasa was turned into hell in an instant.

One by one, the houses collapsed and were buried along with the defenders inside.

First the southern part of the city, then the west, then the north, then the central part of the port.

Vast expanses of black smoke and flames rose into the air, the number of ruins and ruins grew, and the area of the city under the control of the Italian army grew larger.

Covered by the superior firepower of the Axis forces, the first to withstand the pressure and collapse was the local indigenous army.

They threw away their weapons. Walk out of the building with your hands held high or a white flag in your hands and surrender to the Italian army.

Lose the support of the vassal troops. The situation of the battle was even worse for the remaining British troops.

The battle lasted until 7:30 p.m., when the shells of the ship's guns fell on the northeast corner of the port, and the remnants of less than a thousand British troops could no longer hold on, and they surrendered to the Italian army with a white flag

East of Nairobi, Kenya's capital, six Bedford trucks sped out of the city and toward the airport in the eastern suburbs, dragging long stretches of yellow soot down the road.

A sedan is sandwiched between trucks. The British commander-in-chief of East Africa, Admiral Auchinleck, leaned on his back in the back seat of the car, staring blankly at the roof of the car.

Mombasa is lost. It's over.

The Port of Mombasa is located in the middle of the east coast of Africa and is the largest port on the east coast of Africa.

From the port of Mombasa to the north to the Red Sea, there is almost no large port, and to the south to South Africa, only the port of Durban can match it.

The loss of the port of Mombasa meant that the British army in East Africa had been cut off from the sea. It was only a matter of time before they were wiped out.

Fortunately, the Prime Minister was kind and allowed himself to evacuate early.

The convoy frantically rushed into the airfield and stopped next to two Wellington bombers.

The moment he stepped onto the door of the Wellington bomber, Auchinlake couldn't help but look up in the direction of Ethiopia to the north.

In that direction, the remnants of the Eighth Army led by General Montgomery were being pursued by the Italian army, and it was not known when they would see him again, fearing that he would not be able to wait until the end of the war and he was released from the prisoner of war camp by the Germans.

Ask for more blessings, General Montgomery. We'll see you after the war is over.

Sending good wishes to Montgomery, Auchinlake bent down into the cabin.

Twenty minutes later, the plane taxied off the runway. Fly to India in the East

The moment Ochinlek's plane took off, in southern Ethiopia, the southern town of Moyare, on the border with Kenya.

In a wooden house south of the town, Montgomery sat on a round stool, his right hand pressed against the top of a square wooden table, and his head was looking down at the ground.

Four staff officers stood around him. He looked nervously at Montgomery, but no one spoke.

"We were abandoned. The Eighth Army was also abandoned. Montgomery suddenly looked up and said.

"London actually ordered me to take over as commander-in-chief of the East African garrison at this time, obviously wanting me to take full responsibility, our Eighth Army, and all of East Africa, have been abandoned, and we have lost this war."

"General, it's time for us to go, Nairobi still has some supplies to use, as long as we withdraw there, we can rearm and fight the enemy again." Said the staff officer of the major.

"There is no point anymore, to fight any more is just to waste the lives of soldiers. You haven't been to the battlefields of France, but you've all seen our battle in Addis Ababa, where the enemy has absolute air supremacy and an overwhelming material superiority, while we have nothing.

The port of Mombasa is lost, and the enemies in the port of Mombasa are closer to Nairobi than we are, and they may take Nairobi before we do.

If you think about the situation in the last few days of the retreat, because there was no petrol, there were no spare parts, our tanks and armoured vehicles were abandoned one after another, because there was not enough medicine, our wounded could not be treated in time, and they could only die tragically in wailing, and the bodies were lying all over the retreat road.

I don't know how many more tragedies like this will occur. So, I decided not to retreat, let the troops gather here, and then negotiate with the enemy for a decent end. Montgomery said decisively.

The four staff officers looked at each other at first, then at Montgomery again.

After a long life on the run, poor food and sleep, and great psychological pressure, Montgomery's already emaciated appearance tended to develop into skin and bones, and his cheeks also flushed an unhealthy yellow, as if he was suffering from a disease.

It was still the major staff officer, and he said with concern: "General, you are the supreme commander here, and everything is subject to your orders." Let's go and deliver the order first, you rest first, and I'll find a doctor to check your body. ”

Montgomery nodded weakly, and was about to speak, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, followed by a whirlwind of the world.

As soon as it was dark, Montgomery threw himself on the table and fainted (to be continued)