"Ike, I'll tell you some unfortunate news......" White White, Chief of Staff of the African Theater of Operations, walked into the command headquarters and said with a sad face, "Our counteroffensive plan has come to naught......

"How so?" Before Eisenhower could speak, Patton, who was also in the command headquarters, was the first to jump, "Why are those dog-mongrels in the Joint Chiefs of Staff doing this?" ”

"It's none of the business."

"Marshall?"

"Not really." White shook his head, shook the telegram in his hand and said, "The Joint Chiefs of Staff sent a secret telegram saying that the Royal Navy suffered a crushing defeat in the North Sea, losing 300,000 tons of warships including 4 battleships, 8 escort aircraft carriers, and 8 cruisers, and now the main force of the German fleet is floating in the Atlantic, no one knows where they are, let's be careful at home." As for the landing in Kenya, because the current naval strength is insufficient and the Royal Navy needs to put the main force into the defense of the Atlantic route, it will be postponed for 3-6 months, so let's be patient. ”

"300,000 tons...... My God! Add in the sinking in the Indian Ocean, there must be 600,000 tons, right? Eisenhower, who had not spoken just now, was shocked by the news, stood up in shock, and came back to his senses for a long time, "Is it the German fleet and not the Japanese?" ”

"It's the main force of the German Navy, and I haven't heard of any Japanese ships."

"Are you sure it's not the navy the Japanese are pretending to be?"

"It's not!"

Eisenhower muttered to himself as he read the telegram: "No, how can the Royal Navy not even beat the Germans?" It's understandable that the army can't beat it, but the navy is Britain's strong point......"

"Believe it or not, it's just the way it is." White spread his hands and said helplessly, "China also informed us that after the arrival of the goods next week, there may be more variables in the follow-up transportation, and I hope we can save a little." ”

A week ago, a huge convoy of transport ships arrived in Cape Town, carrying the most urgently needed supplies and equipment in the African theater, and the escort aircraft carriers were neatly equipped with B-25, B-24, B-17, C-47 and other aircraft - originally sent to Britain, and the Liberty and Victory ships were loaded with all kinds of war materials, and even included 50 Shermans in the form of loose parts, which were not too lazy to assemble at home, but were ready to be airlifted to Kenya and then reassembled - The United States of America is still very good at logistics.

After several days of intense transportation, this batch of tanks has now just been assembled and put into Patton's command, coupled with the arrival of other arms and supplies, the African theater has finally recovered some morale and combat effectiveness.

"I knew that the British were the biggest-stirring stick in the world, and it was a good thing that they couldn't spoil." Barton scolded, his face full of chagrin. There was a dreary in the headquarters, and Eisenhower didn't know who to fire at, so he could only smile wryly.

Just when he was about to say a few words to fight the round, the more unfortunate news came: on the afternoon of February 13, after five days of fighting, the German army captured Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie was missing, after several days of law and order fighting, the German-Egyptian coalition forces have cleared the city of all resistance, tomorrow (February 17) will hold a grand entrance ceremony, Mussolini himself may come, it is said that Germany will hand over Ethiopia to the Italians in the next step.

"Ike, let's send planes to bomb the Germans." Patton was visibly annoyed, "Now we have a lot of heavy bombers, how good it is to mess up that entry into the city, we can't let the Germans be too German, in case they kill Mussolini or Guderian himself, they will make a lot of money." ”

"No, we can't waste capacity and bombs, it's not good for us." Eisenhower, though furious for a moment, quickly calmed down, "The telegram is very vague, but I think what they mean is that there is a possibility of shipping being cut off in the short term." We must immediately rush to transport supplies, increase the workload by 2 hours a day, and strengthen our own strength at all costs; The plan to hold the northeastern corridor was immediately abandoned, and the troops accelerated the construction of fortifications on the spot. ”

"Do you doubt that the Germans will soon come here?"

"I don't know when they'll come, but I have a feeling they'll come, maybe this month, maybe next month." Eisenhower squeezed out a wry smile at Patton, "George, you have to be mentally prepared for a hard fight, we are not for the British, we are defending Kenya for ourselves." ”

The day after the commander of the African Army, Field Marshal Guderian, commanded troops to occupy Addis Ababa, Field Marshal Rommel of the Middle East Army was not to be outdone and decisively occupied Tehran.

In the Persian offensive at the end of January, Rommel adopted a dizzying tactic, first dividing the entire Middle East Army Group into two clusters, the North Route Group, with the Viking Division as the main force, deployed on the flank of the logistics line between Tabriz and Tehran, and the South Route Cluster with the Greater German Division and the 15th Panzer Division as the main force in the south of Tehran. This deployment made the Persian Army Group of the Red Army very uncomfortable: if the Red Army focused on defending Tehran, the Germans would attack Tabriz; If the Red Army focused on the defense of Tabriz, the Germans would attack Tehran; And if the Red Army were to divide its forces evenly between Tehran and Tabriz, it might face a situation in which the German Northern Route Group would cut off the supply lines between Tabriz and Tehran, where the Middle East Army Group did not have the advantage in strength, but it had air supremacy.

The hesitant Persian Army Group Mezov could only adopt a-for-tat strategy to respond, sending reinforcements to Tehran, adding two infantry divisions and one tank brigade to the latter's 402nd Infantry Division, 1st Mountain Cavalry Division, 23rd Cavalry Division and two motorized independent regiments, trying to outtake the Germans in the two main strongholds in the north and south. It's a pity that this reinforcement encountered the prepared Viking division on the way and was quickly surrounded, especially the armored brigade, which was defeated by the 506 Tiger Heavy Battalion directly under the Middle East Army. In order to save these troops, Mezzov made the second wrong decision, and at the same time sent troops from the direction of Tabriz and Tehran to meet them.

Not long after the Red Army troops left Tehran, Pahlavi, who was instructed by the German army, immediately hinted that the Iranian army was in chaos, and when the city was in chaos, German and Italian paratroopers quickly airborne and controlled the defense of Tehran with lightning speed, and then the tank units of the German Division and the 15th Panzer Division rushed all the way, and fought from Isfahan to Tehran in one day and one night. Together with the troops in the encirclement of the Viking Division, the Red Army lost more than 50,000 men.

Pahlavi, who had recovered Tehran and freed himself from Soviet control, was young and vigorous, and the next day he telegraphed to announce that he had joined the Axis bloc and declared war on Britain and the Soviet Union, and at the same time claimed 1,000 tons of gold for the brazen invasion of the two countries during Iran's neutrality. At present, all of Iran has been liberated, except for Tabriz in the north, which is still in the hands of Russia. Pahlavi announced that he had joined the Axis and immediately began to expand the Iranian army, and many officers who had fled during the joint invasion of Britain and the Soviet Union and were hiding in the civilian population went to Tehran to report, and the voices of the people about revenge became stronger.

The German side promised to support 10 divisions of Iranian British equipment, on the condition that all crude oil production in Iran and the Abadan refinery would be used by Germany with full authority, plus 100 years of exploration and exploitation rights in several areas, Pahlavi immediately agreed with a stroke of his pen, and also promised to send three divisions to follow Rommel north to fight the Red Army and prepare to recover Tabriz as soon as possible.

"Your Majesty, this is the Tiger tank." After taking Tehran, Rommel received a batch of domestic aid, including the fully equipped 508 heavily armored battalion. Because he commanded the airborne troops to occupy Tehran and protect the royal family at the first time, Pahlavi was very grateful, and he was already very admired by Rommel, and the two got along very well.

"I really want to have such a powerful weapon...... After looking at the majestic appearance of the tiger and experiencing it himself, Pahlavi was deeply fascinated by this, and suddenly turned his head to Rommel and said, "Marshal, can you let us also equip such a battalion, I am willing to pay any price." ”

"This ......"

"I understand." Pahlavi remembered the harsh conditions of "designated use and designated parking area" when Stalin "aided" one of his T-34 tank regiments, and then heard that the T-34 was killed by the latter like a melon and vegetable cut in the face of the Tiger in this battle, and said sincerely, "I understand your difficulties, and I promise to return to your command after obtaining them -- I am completely at ease with you." ”

The next day a call came back from Berlin: they agreed to sell the car at 600,000 marks per car - this is also the price for Japan. The Iranian personnel sent to Germany for training must have received Western education and formal military education, have a basic knowledge of vehicle driving or artillery operation, and be able to speak German or English. Germany promises that if the personnel are in place and the acceptance is qualified, it will be formed within six months. Berlin has no other political conditions attached, and Iran will be free to use this armored battalion in the future, except for the necessary German instructors and liaison officers.

"I'll give 200,000, no, 400,000 marks to train a car crew." Pahlavi was very excited, he never dreamed that there would be such good conditions, Germany not only agreed to sell at the price of allies, but also agreed to train personnel, and even more rare there were no strings attached - except for Japan, even Italy has not yet received the Tiger Style. He thought that Rommel was doing the work behind his back, and he shook the latter's hand and said repeatedly: "Marshal, I will always remember everything you have done for us, and no matter what difficulties you encounter in the future, as long as you can use it, I and the whole of Iran will do our best." (To be continued.) )