"Führer, I still don't understand why you promised to give the Iranians more favorable terms?" Keitel asked, puzzled, "Although ethnographers tell me that the Persians are the Aryans of the plateau, I ......"

"That's right! You are right, I really did not make a decision because of whether the Persians belonged to the Aryans or not, it was just a political excuse. If the Persians can be considered Aryans, then the Slavs can also be Aryans - the gap between them and us is much smaller than the gap between the Persians and us. ”

Keitel nodded mechanically, and then looked at Hoffmann with a blank eye, eager for an answer like a schoolboy who humbly begged for advice - this was of course a pretense, and no one who could be a marshal was stupid, and Keitel's humble and studious appearance was completely a change of way to slap the Führer's ass, and Hoffmann did not know if Hitler could see it, at least he knew that there were students who engaged in such performance art when he was a professor at the university - ingenious and unobtrusive.

"There are two factors involved. First, we have made the overall arrangement of the post-war Middle East world, I don't know if you have noticed, the Persians and Arabs are completely different peoples, not only the living habits, historical inheritance, and humanistic atmosphere are different, but even the religious beliefs are very different - the differences and antagonism between Shiites and Sunnis are so deep that I am afraid that only the relationship between Protestants and Catholics during the Reformation can be compared, and we should arrange for different voices to appear, just as a catfish must be arranged in a sardine can. This is good for the future position of the empire in the Middle East; Secondly, and it was a touch on Turkey, I promised the Persians a piece of land in Armenia and Azerbaijan, which is also a territory that Turkey has historically owned, and if we gave it to Iran, which was part of the Axis, what would you think the Turks? Do they dare to jump into the Allied camp? ”

"I don't dare."

"If Turkey doesn't get this territory in the end, who will they be angry with? Is it us or President Inonou? "Shah Pahlavi is a young, impulsive and even reckless representative of statesmen, and President Inonu is a representative of sophisticated, calm and even repeatable politicians - now, if I want to benefit the former politician and disappoint the latter politician who expects more in return, do you think the observers will comment on whose strategy is more correct?" ”

"I see." Keitel showed a "sudden realization" expression, "You are putting pressure on Turkey. ”

"Russia and Britain have left the Persians with painful memories of their colonial years, and this time they have undermined their neutrality with an armed invasion, and if we show the slightest sign of goodwill and friendship with them, the desperate Persians will surely pounce on them. And, to be honest, I am only interested in Iran's oil and minerals, and I have no desire to control its territory, population, or interfere in its internal affairs, and I have enough to worry about the hundreds of millions of German peoples, and I don't want to carry the burden of tens of millions of other peoples. In that case, why not be generous? "Helping the Pahlavi shah establish his prestige and consolidate his rule is of great benefit to us, and this is a real investment of the empire in the Middle East." Actually, I am very grateful to Stalin and Churchill, if it were not for their short-sighted and stupid behavior, how could I have picked up this bargain today? ”

There is one sentence that Hoffman did not say, judging from the original historical time and space, Pahlavi followed the United States with all his heart after receiving help from the United States until the outbreak of the ****** Revolution. It shows that he is a politician who values feelings and friendships, and such a figure deserves support, and as for what Iran will do in the future, it will be a matter for the future.

On the other side, Pahlavi, having calmed down, explained to the prime minister and the princess why he was so impulsive: "Why am I so eager to agree to the conditions of the Germans? Because I can see that Germany has no territorial claims in the Middle East, except for economic and security interests, and does things relatively well. This is true in Egypt, it is also true in Iraq, and we in Iran will be the same. It's disgusting to look at what the British and Soviets are doing -- they keep saying that they support our independence and self-determination, and on the other hand they support the 'Iranian People's Party' (developed from the Iranian Communist Party) and the rebels in the northern mountains, who now want to get rid of the royal government, and I don't believe that they will withdraw after the war. ”

The others nodded silently, Pahlavi was right, and the examples of positive and negative photos were clear: Egyptian cotton was bought by the Germans, while the few trucks and railway wagons in Iran were requisitioned by the Soviet Union without compensation, wheat, rice and cotton produced in Northern Iran were also expropriated by the Soviets and shipped back to the country, and the peasants received worthless military tickets; In order to pay the garrison, the allies also forced the National Bank of Iran to issue an additional 700 million riyals in banknotes, causing the Iranian currency to depreciate by 20 percent overnight. Under Allied orders, rice, sugar, tea, cotton fabrics, and other necessities were rationed in Iran, and the British and Soviet unions issued ration tickets to tribal chiefs, which could be exchanged for large sums of cash on the black market for future armed rebellions.

"As long as the Germans support the Royal Government and are willing to help us deal with the separatists, we can even pay a little more - which is why I asked the Germans to send instructors to help us rebuild the Wehrmacht, if you remember the shameless proposal of the Russians a few months ago."

Prime Minister Frugi nodded with a gloomy face: A few months ago, the Soviet side proposed to give Iran a regiment of T-34 tanks and a batch of fighters. Pahlavi was very happy and was ready to accept the gifts, but when he heard the additional conditions, his heart was half cold: the Soviet officers would come to Iran with the gifts, the tanks could only be placed in Qazvin, and the fighters had to be parked in Mashhad; Until the end of the training (the end date was to be decided by the Soviet side), these tanks and planes were to be under the direct command of the command in Moscow, which was by no means tolerated by a young and arrogant king, and this "kindness" could only be thanked in the end. The Germans use the word "sale", which shows that Iran has full sovereignty and freedom of movement, and judging by the record of the record, the German equipment is clearly better. Pahlavi is already dreaming of the majesty of the Tiger tank.

"Field Marshal Rommel reminded us that he hoped that His Majesty would be patient and protect himself for the time being, and that if he needed to say something insincere, the Germans would be understanding—he had his men give us a set of contact code sheets, and if the Soviets jumped over the wall, he would find a way to send special paratroopers to rescue us—but not too many of them."

"Very well, thank you to Marshal Rommel for me, I am waiting for his arrival in Tehran." Pahlavi smiled and said to his sister and the prime minister, "You see, the Germans and Marshal Rommel are still friends enough, and I will not let them suffer." ”

Faced with the complete collapse of the British 10th Army, part of the German army pressed to the gate of Tehran, and part of the German army was eyeing the passage between Tabriz and Tehran, Tyulenev found it very difficult. As Rommel had predicted, this was a very cautious commander of the Red Army, who pondered the tactics available to him, but found that there was no balanced approach, and that if he had to find one, it might be relatively wise to hold on to his help.

However, from the day before yesterday, Lieutenant General Mezhov reported to him that the days of the Persian army group had begun to be unstable, and groups of German planes were wantonly carrying out air raids on the Red Army's transport and supply roads, and the small number of Red Army planes with inferior performance and technology were soon beaten away, and only planes painted with the Iron Cross could be seen everywhere in the sky. With the intact rate of ammunition and other combat materiel sent to the front line declining day by day, and the normally docile and docile Iranian units beginning to become restless, there are signs that the army group is in a dilemma.

"Comrade Zhukov hasn't called back yet?"

"Not for the time being, maybe he will have to ask Comrade Stalin for instructions."

After thinking about it, Tyulenev felt that there was only a way out by abandoning Tehran and holding Tabriz with all his might, so he drew up a plan: let the troops take the Iranian top command hostage and move to Tabriz, and then use this as a base to use the rugged terrain to resist layer by layer, as for the idea of forcibly attacking the left flank of the German Northern Route Group through Turkey, the idea of forcibly attacking the left flank of the German Northern Route Group only flashed in his mind once and then he automatically gave up - he did not dare to poke the hornet's nest of Turkey.

Just when Tyulenev was in a hurry like an ant on a hot pot, the call back from the General Staff finally arrived, but in a cold and unquestionable tone: "...... As we have already learned, Tehran is the capital of Iran and is of extraordinary political significance, and it should be fully defended and shown to be strong in the face of the Red Army. Tehran currently has the 402nd Infantry Division, the 1st Mountain Cavalry Division, the 23rd Cavalry Division, and two motorized independent regiments, plus the additional strength of the Persian Army Group, while your enemy is only 4-50,000, and the total strength is completely sufficient. The leadership of the Caucasian Front should not be intimidated by the momentum of the German army, but should have a fearless revolutionary spirit......"

"This ...... Do you want to ask Comrade Stalin for another message? ”

"No need." Tyulenev waved his hand in frustration - he was an old comrade, and he immediately read between the lines whose meaning it was, and then sent a telegram to ask for instructions would only be a humiliation for himself.

"What now?"

"Send 2 more divisions of troops, and at the same time let Comrade Mezzov do a good job in the construction of the defense system, turn Tehran into a strong fortress against aggression, and let the Germans meet and break their blood, as for the ......air force," Tyulenev muttered for a moment, "transfer 2 more regiments from the flying army attached to the front army, and the rest of the air defense will count on the Persian army group to figure it out on its own." (To be continued.) )