On the evening of the day when Alexander ran away, Guderian sent an envoy under a white flag into the chaotic city of Cairo, which brought a huge impact to Ramsden and others: at five o'clock in the afternoon, the Canal Army under the command of Field Marshal Rommel had rushed into Lebanon and Syria, giving full play to the desert fox's ability to run thousands of miles and be lightning fast, the two armored divisions under his command opened bows left and right, the Great German Division occupied Beirut, the Viking division occupied Damascus, and the resistance of the British army and the Free French in the area was insignificant, Totaling less than 5,000 men, they were no match for the elite German forces, and many of them surrendered, and some of the remnants of the defeated army retreated south into Transjordan, but Ramsden knew they were just surviving.

It was only then that he understood why the Germans had only besieged the northern part of Cairo in recent days and had not launched an offensive for a long time, because the Germans had only arranged a 20th Motorized Rifle Division in front of Cairo, which was very inadequate, and the reason why it seemed that there were still a large number of them, and that they were all bluffing troops composed of newly liberated Italian prisoners. However, now that Guderian commanded three armored divisions of Army Group Africa, the weakness of the insufficient strength of the German army had been overcome.

Earlier, he had received news of the fall of the island of Cyprus, where the British numbered less than two companies and were no match for the German-Italian fleet and the landing force, which now Germany had absolute superiority in the Middle East.

With a light-hearted expression, he told Ramsden that the day of a complete German victory in the Middle East was just around the corner, and that the surrendered officers and men of the Eighth Group had been properly accommodated—they were on a transport ship in the port of Tobruk to go to an Italian prisoner of war camp. He brought with him a letter from General Guderian in the hope that Ramsden would follow Lieutenant General Montgomery in leading the British army in Cairo to surrender.

Ramsden did not directly refuse the envoy's request, but simply made three counter-demands: "First. Give him 48 hours for internal deliberation and deliberation; secondly, during this period the two sides ceasefired, and the Germans were not allowed to attack Cairo by any means; Thirdly, there are now a large number of British wounded in Cairo's hospitals, and it is hoped that they will be properly accommodated in the future. ”

The envoy agreed with all three points, proposing that the ceasefire take effect at midnight tonight – which would give Ramsden more time to think about it, but he also assured that the German forces would not launch any offensive action between now and midnight – unless they were forced to return fire because of an attack.

After the German envoy left. Both Mosshead and Freiberg looked at Ramsden nervously, and this time the two unexpectedly did not lose their temper, only frowning. In a not-so-sure tone, he asked, "Thinking about surrendering?" Don't stick to the end? ”

Ramsden shook his head resolutely.

"And keep fighting? Where is the way out? You promised the Egyptians not to engage in a large-scale exchange of fire in Cairo. ”

Ramsden shook his head as well.

The two were confused by his attitude: if they neither fought nor surrendered, was there any other way out? The breakthrough was vetoed by Ramsden just this morning.

"Do you dare to fight north?"

"To the north?" The two were taken aback.

"To the north." Ramsden pointed to the map and said, "Just now the envoy proudly declared that they were making good progress in the direction of Syria, Lebanon, and Jerusalem, and that they had made a mistake that they had reorganized the Italian prisoners. I don't think this is our chance. We now have 2 divisions, at least one of which is an armored division. ”

"What do you mean to hit the port?"

"Let's outflank Rommel's retreat."

"It's too late......," Mosshead sighed, "Rommel has at least one German division north of Cairo, and it is estimated that there are one or two Italian divisions, if we leave one division to defend the city, we will not be able to take it with only one division, but if all two divisions are dispatched, we will go out of the city on the front foot." The Egyptians will be able to put Guderian in the south, and before we can take the port, we will be encircled by the enemy. ”

Freiberg said hatefully: "If only this dog mongrel of Alexander had not let more than 30,000 people retreat two days ago." We now have every chance of retaking the port and sealing Rommel off his retreat. ”

Ramsden sighed: "What a good opportunity, we still have a chance to turn the tables." ”

"I can't turn it over." Mosshead shook his head, "Even if those 30,000 people don't leave, what can we do if we retake the port?" The Germans will soon come back, they are outnumbered and have control over the sea, and they can move our troops continuously, and we will inevitably fail in the end - the difference is that they can delay for a long time before they fail. ”

"This is not necessarily, if the 10th Army presses forward, it can be connected with us." But Ramsden felt that he was not confident when he said this - the main force of the 10th Army was still in Persia, at least 1,500 kilometers away from Egypt, and when they were transferred, it was estimated that the Egyptian officers and soldiers would have died in battle. The crux of the matter, Egypt is the gateway to the Middle East and the key hub of the British Empire in the region, and once the enemy opens this portal, there is no other force that can resist their attack.

"Then use the ceasefire to buy a little time for friendly forces...... Alexandria doesn't have to count on it, but I hope to give the garrisons in the direction of Mosul and Basra a chance to blow up the oil fields. ”

"It's all on this, what are you still worried about the oil field? That's what the 10th Army should think about, and we just want to think of our own way out. ”

"No!" Ramsden said firmly, "We are one and should not be divided into yours and mine; Nor should it be divided into Great Britain, Dominion, and Colony. If we always adhere to the policy of differential treatment, and finally cause a separation between the members of the empire and the homeland, this war will not be won. ”

The other two sighed and said no more: Alexander's behavior really broke their hearts, fortunately there were still high-ranking officers like Montgomery and Ramsden in the British Empire, if they were all like Alexander, what would they fight in the future? Wouldn't it be better for the Dominions to take care of themselves? Why come to Europe to wade through the troubled waters?

After the Germans occupied Alexandria and eliminated Cunningham's Rapid Column, the instructions to blow up the oil fields had been given directly to the Middle East Theater by the London side and instructed the 10th Army to carry it out, but the order had to be given by Alexander on the spot in the name of the commander of the Middle East Theater. Before Alexander ran away, he had asked the 10th Army to make all preparations for sabotage and only wait for the final order, but due to the wide distribution of oil fields and numerous facilities, and the fact that the British never expected that one day they would blow up these hard-built facilities with their own hands, they had no preparations at all before the war, and now they are still hurriedly ordering the engineering units to place explosives and arrange the overall destruction plan.

Until the afternoon of the 26th, the 10th Army telegraphed to the command that the overall sabotage was not yet fully ready, and everything needed time. Ramsden was anxious and asked how long it would take, and half an hour later he was replied that it would take at least 5-7 days. At first, Ramsden thought that the Germans would at least give themselves this time, and felt that it would be too late to order the oil fields to be blown up after the fall of Cairo, but he did not expect that the Germans did not come to open the country at all, but first pointed their troops in the direction of Iraq, which disrupted his plan at once.

After the occupation of Beirut and Damascus, the German forces were still 700 kilometers away from Mosul in a straight line, and the railway mileage was less than 1,000 kilometers, and they were already in a very dangerous situation.

"On the one hand, I want to make time for the bombing of the oil fields, and on the other hand, I want to buy time for Admiral Wilson to adjust the deployment of the 10th Army - his troops are deployed in twos and threes in twos and threes in a place of 1,000 kilometers long and more than 700 kilometers wide.

"Then how did you finally decide to reply to the Germans? Now it can only drag on for 2 days. ”

Ramsden said with a smile: "I have already thought of the reply: the British Empire respects the independence and autonomy of Egypt, and in view of the importance of Cairo's geographical location and historical value, our army has decided to withdraw from Cairo and Egypt, retreat south into Ethiopia, and not fight with the German army. ”

"Is that okay?" Mosshead almost burst out laughing, "How stupid do the Germans have to be to agree to this condition?" ”

"They will not agree to such conditions."

"If you don't agree, they'll raise objections, and we can make corrections and considerations – that's the best place to delay." Ramsden said with a smile, "If you want to delay time, you can't just talk about it, at least give the Germans a little thought, so that they feel that we are really considering, but there are big differences of opinion within the country, and the asking price is relatively high." ”

"That can only drag on for 2 days, what will I do later?"

"Give the Germans a little more sweetness." Ramsden looked at it, "and gave up the three defensive positions outside the city to the north and the airfield in the south to the Germans, and withdrew the troops back to the city to defend them." ”

"Is that okay?"

"Why not? Anyway, I can't hold it when I fight, and besides, the planes have run away, so what do you want to do at the airport? Do you want the officers to escape? ”

"What if the Germans don't agree?"

"I have expressed our sincerity...... The Germans also need to show a little sincerity. "The Germans are not going to force their way, they are now very mindful of their popularity and prestige in Egypt, and they hardly send bombers against targets in Cairo, not even artillery bombardment, which shows that they don't want to fight either – that's their weakness, and that's the only place we can exploit." ”

The two men admired Ramsden's resourcefulness and immediately rushed back to the unit to deploy, ready to delay as much time as possible. (To be continued.) )