Almost everyone thought that the Führer's talk of strengthening the southern front was to increase the investment of troops in North Africa in the direction of Italy, but apparently no one guessed the Führer's thinking: because they knew very well that it was Crete, the eastern Mediterranean, the sea south of Greece, and the Empire that had taken it at great cost.

Looking at the stunned crowd, Hoffman said with a smile: "The troops secretly dispatched from the battlefield on the Eastern Front rushed to Greece and moved to Crete in batches after resting and completing replenishment, waiting for the right opportunity to drop them into North Africa. At the same time, the newly formed 7th Air Force was to gather forces in Crete. In order to avoid the vigilance and suspicion of the enemy, we must not only make a massive movement and reinforcement in the direction of Sicily, for Marshal Kesselring himself is a good way to confuse us, but also give the Italian leader an irresistible condition that he will know how to cooperate with us. As for the overall plan, the poor Italians must not be given the slightest detail - if they knew the contents, Churchill would know it in a few days, and maybe Churchill would know it first. ”

It sounded playful, but no one laughed, for the Italians knew all too well the virtues of the Italians against the ambitious but vain leader, that is, Kesselring. Now everyone understands the profound meaning of Guderian's overnight rush to Rome to meet Mussolini, which is simply a strategic feint for the British, and they can also realize the Führer's good intentions in arranging the commander of the air force: Kesselring's concurrent position as commander of the 2nd Air Force is obviously a smokescreen, and the 7th Air Force, which has been transferred from the commander of the 5th Air Force and commanded by General Hans Jürgen Stumpf, is the real killer weapon of the Führer.

"As for the navy, the poor and inefficient command of the Italians doomed them to serve only as bait. Before the real operation, I do not intend to mobilize any Italian warships for the campaign, except for the necessary transport ships and the German submarines currently in the Mediterranean. Hoffman's assessment is very mean, but it sums up the course of the Mediterranean naval battle in the past two years, the Italian navy was originally far superior to the British Mediterranean fleet on paper, but after several tosses and turns, it was no longer a match for the British.

"Our operational intent is to ......" Marshal Kesselring tapped a few times on the map with his whip and drew a circle casually, "taking advantage of Montgomery's attempt to launch the Battle of El Alamein to attack our army, using the existing strength of the Afrika Korps as bait, and fighting and retreating, even if it retreats to Tobruk, as long as it can lure the British Eighth Army forward, as soon as their front is stretched and far from Alexandria, our counterattack will come, The troops secretly massed on the island of Crete were able to land in the rear of the British, cutting off the retreat of the British and encircling them. ”

The Führer is crazy! This is the first feeling that swells in everyone's hearts, actually playing landing operations in the Eastern Mediterranean and under the noses of the British, no matter how you look at it, it is a rhythm of death, not to mention that the Führer has just emphatically stated that he is not ready to call on the Italian naval forces, even if the troops are successfully concealed in Crete in the early stage, can the tanks of the armored division still be driven directly from Crete to the coast of Africa?

"Führer, if I'm not mistaken, this is a landing operation?" Admiral Yodl, who had always been in charge of drawing up the battle plan, had been scathed by Hoffman's bold idea, "The choice of the landing field? ……”

"The commandos who use the paratroopers to drop them control individual points in advance, and then let the armored troops rush to land, gentlemen, I have studied the map and the terrain, the Mediterranean coast of Africa and the Mediterranean coast of Europe are two completely different landforms, there are no cliffs and cliffs, only flat beaches, the coastline is very gentle, except for sand or sand, and more importantly, the population distribution is also very small, and the concealment is strong, as long as we have an armored regiment, no, an armored battalion can completely control the situation if the landing is successful." Hoffmann turned to Kesselring and said, "What do you think, my dear marshal?" ”

"It was a bold move, and I dare say no one could have conceived it except the Führer." Kesselring was almost stupefied when he first heard the plan last night, and it took him a night of pondering to calm his beating heart, and he began to think seriously and ponder the decision of the campaign, and after repeated study, if the adventurous spirit of the Führer was to be discarded, he could actually pick out a lot of bright spots from it.

"Führer, what about the escort of the transport fleet?" Jodel was terrified, the transport fleet without the escort of warships was like a live target, and in the Mediterranean, especially in the eastern Mediterranean, the Royal Navy was absolutely invincible.

"We have S-boats, short, sturdy, high-speed torpedo boats that can make a big difference, and I have entrusted my adjutant to confirm to the Navy that S-boats can be transported in sections by rail, and we will assemble these 'flying cavalry' in Greek ports and secretly deploy them to Crete, where they will form a reliable defense and patrol force with the air force." Hoffman comforted his subordinates, "Gentlemen, this is not my irresponsibility with the landing force, but precisely to protect the transport fleet. Just imagine, when the Italian navy was dispatched, the British Royal Navy didn't pounce on it like a shark that smelled fish? If we really want to achieve our goal quietly, the farther away from the Italians the better. ”

"It's about 200 nautical miles from Crete to the coast of North Africa, and it takes about 18-20 hours for a transport ship, and we can effectively use the darkness as a cover." Hoffman began to elaborate on the idea of the campaign step by step, "The whole campaign was conceived as a strategic point, secretly mobilizing reinforcements and throwing them by surprise, so as to achieve a joint attack on the British Eighth Army with the African Army Group -- as long as these 200,000 troops were cleared, Alexandria and Cairo would naturally fall like ripe apples, and the key to the success of the campaign was suddenness, and you should not be afraid of the British fleet in Alexandria, which was 260 nautical miles from the predetermined landing place. The Royal Navy didn't have more than 10 hours to make it, and that was enough time for us to land. Please show your courage in Operation Thunder-Thurbrus. ”

"What if the fleet of the Royal Navy is on patrol? They will send all the landing troops to the sea to feed the fish. Someone muttered, his face full of fear.

"It's not funny at all." Hoffman retorted, "Of course we pick the day when the British are at home, shouldn't the rat see if the cat is asleep before stealing the oil?" ”

Hahahaha, everyone laughed.

The Führer seemed to be addicted to transporting warships by rail, and after the S-boats, he motioned to the adjutant to take out a photo of the Sibel-type landing attack barge, "The number of transport ships in the Greek direction is far from sufficient for the needs of the operation, and if a large number of civilian ships are called up, the British will be alarmed, so these ships, which have performed well in the battle on Lake Ladoga and can be disassembled and transported by rail, will constitute the main force of transport, and the first wave of assault troops will take these ships to land on the beach." At a critical time, there are not many troops, and an armored battalion is enough to solve the problem. Imagine that while Montgomery was besieging Tobruk, two of our divisions suddenly appeared behind him......"

After listening to Kesselring's detailed description of the entire operation, everyone's heads were sweating, and the operation of crossing the English Channel during the war was enough once in a lifetime, and the Führer actually dared to play a small boat in the Eastern Mediterranean to fight without an escort, and everyone felt a little out of breath. But the Führer's determination had been made, and the Supreme Commander of the Southern Front, Field Marshal Kesselring, seemed to have been impressed by this plan, and considering that in case the operation failed, it was only the army that would be unlucky, and the air force generals muttered a few times and then fell silent.

"Please, you have a proper and comprehensive plan, which we will launch in mid-October, and air cover is a top priority." Hoffman admonished, "Yodel, that's pretty much the idea of the battle, and I ask you to work out the plan with Kesselring and Guderian after consultation." ”