Lake Ulmi, also known as Lake Urumiya, is a saltwater lake, shaped like a seahorse (similar to the Caspian Sea), the longest two ends are 140 kilometers long, the widest is 55 kilometers, the narrowest point is less than 20 kilometers, the deepest is about 16 meters, the area once reached 4,500 square kilometers, it is one of the largest lakes in the Middle East, and the third largest saltwater lake in the world, by the 21st century, the lake has been greatly reduced, only 120 kilometers from north to south, and only a little more than 10 kilometers at the narrowest point, but in 1943, the scale was still relatively large.

Now, even the most sluggish people have realized what the German troops were doing in the air reconnaissance that seemed to be aimless and did not have the slightest grasp of the context and focus of the air reconnaissance some time ago -- no matter how the German reconnaissance planes went to North Persia and Transcaucasia to reconnoitre, on the way back, they would always skim around Lake Urumije, intentionally or unintentionally. The mindset will make people only pay attention to where the reconnaissance plane went, but do not understand that it can also be reconnoitred when it comes back.

After taking Urumiya, Tabriz was under the direct threat of the German front, and the Persian Army of the Red Army, which was hastily marching towards Tehran, immediately changed its operational disposition, except for a small part of the troops that continued to go to Tehran, the rest of the troops consciously retreated, preparing to stick to Tabriz and maintain the unimpeded rear road of the Persian Army Group. The cautious Tyulenev repeatedly demanded that Lieutenant General Mezov be sure to keep Tabriz's defense system intact and the rear consolidation.

After the Red Army urgently adjusted its deployment, the German troops already in the west of Lake Urumiye stopped to gather troops and build fortifications, and did not seem to have the slightest intention of launching a further offensive, and just when everyone was not sure what Rommel wanted to do, the Middle East Army gave an order, and the main force of the 15th Panzer Division and the Greater German Division in Isfahan quickly advanced northward, marching more than 200 kilometers in four days and three nights, and taking Qom and Kashan in the south of Tehran, which were only more than 120 kilometers away from Tehran. But strangely, he did not choose to attack in one go, but instead paused on the spot after taking Qom, allowing his troops to slowly gather and receive supplies from the rear. In the Persian war, the fighting was much stronger than in the deserts of North Africa, and the oil needed was basically open to supply - not only did the Germans capture a fleet of ships loaded with refined oil, but the Abadan refinery, which had been damaged by the British, still maintained a refining capacity of about 1 million tons, and technical and engineering experts were rushing to repair it, and Speer was optimistic that the refinery could be restored to 3 million tons of refining capacity by June.

After the implementation of this series of dazzling offensive operations, everyone's vision was once again messy, but everyone had to admit that although Rommel's tricks seemed to be a match, like a trainee officer who had just graduated from a military academy and had little practical experience was messing around, it was really difficult to deal with:

What was the real purpose of the German army? Baku? Tabriz? Tehran? Each one is alike, but each one doesn't seem to be like each other, and even Keitel and Yodel can't see through Rommel's thoughts—they just think he's too fanciful and completely out of order.

"Führer, to tell you the truth, I am surprised to this day that Erwin let the British go."

The Middle East Army's move to release the remnants of the British 10th Army was agreed to by Hoffman, and although Keitel, Jodl, and Kesselring did not quite understand, Hoffman still gave great trust and support, and decided to let him do it.

"Actually, it's nothing, just the remnants of Admiral Wilson's army, even if he retreats into India and Afghanistan, what can he do? If they don't fight this time, next time someone will clean them up -- by the way, these soldiers who survived the catastrophe can still publicize the wisdom and courage of our army in India! ”

"Will you?" Both Keitel and Yodel looked suspicious.

"Of course." Hoffman laughed, "If we don't exaggerate the sharpness of our attack and the strength of our combat effectiveness, how can we hide their defeat?" Aren't they even as good as rice buckets when they say that we are rice buckets? ”

The two immediately laughed knowingly.

"I don't understand what Erwin is doing now, and he doesn't know what he's doing, but that's okay, I'm sure he can do it well. It is the job of the marshal, not the commander-in-chief of the army, to command an army group, and I am only responsible for giving him what he needs. Hoffmann asked, "Has Prince Eugen gone up?" ”

"We have already set off, this time we will take the line of the Balkans, Greece, and Haifa, and we will start landing in 3 days, and the whole army will be deployed in 10-15 days."

"Very well, how is Guderian doing?"

"Yesterday it was reported that Khartoum had been taken, but the enemy forces that had not been eliminated were very large, only more than 2,000 prisoners had been captured, and the rest of the British troops continued to flee. He left an Egyptian division to hold on to Khartoum, and then led the rest of his army to continue the offensive south, expecting to cross the Sudanese-Ethiopian border in three days. The Flying Fortress Armoured Brigade has already invaded French Somaliland (Djibouti) in the early stage and is currently staying on the border, and will launch a centripetal offensive with the main force of the African Army Group, striving to take Addis Ababa as quickly as possible. "From what we know, the total strength of the Australian, New Zealand and British forces led by Ramsden is close to 40,000, and after a long pursuit from Aswan, we have killed, wounded, and captured more than 20,000 people, and the remnants are retreating to Addis Ababa one after another. ”

"The Italian leader is probably going to wonder what to do with the city-entry ceremony again?" Hoffman said teasingly, "This time I won't have to run all the way over, you can go for me, and let him be in the limelight on other occasions." You can find a way to remind the Italians in a euphemistic way that those captured Italian soldiers should no longer be organized into an army, I am really not optimistic about their will to fight and combat effectiveness, and they should return to China and demobilize to contribute more to Italy. ”

A few people, you look at me, I look at you, obviously holding back a smile, but they really can't laugh.

"After the battle in the Horn of Africa, a group of British and American troops successfully landed on the beach, and finally found their traces through aircraft reconnaissance, and the situation showed that the other side had more than 20,000 troops and was retreating in the direction of Kenya, and in the Kenyan campaign, the Americans sent a lot of planes to drop supplies for them......

"Airdrop provisions? Interesting, interesting. "I'm getting more and more fond of Eisenhower, let the Air Force bomb them, but don't be in a hurry, slowly drive them to Mombasa, I'd love to see how the Americans maintain supplies and supplies after the sea is cut off." (To be continued.) )