Former Iraqi Prime Minister Rashid rushed back to the Middle East from Germany on 27 July, and in view of his more pro-German and anti-British stance and the experience of the Iraqi army fighting side by side with the German and Italian forces in May last year, the German top brass generally believed that Rashid was more reliable and had more potential for support than Egypt's Maher, so they treated him with a good courtesy, not only arranging for a special plane and escort crew to transfer from Germany to the Middle East, but even equipping him with a platoon of SS soldiers.

After in-depth communication and negotiation with Rashid on the spot, Rommel and Gauss and others were shocked into a cold sweat, and they now realized that they had made a big mistake: Basra is an important town and transportation hub in southern Iraq, and its location is very important, but the oil fields being exploited around Basra are not producing much at present (the world-famous Rumaila oil field has not been developed at this time), and the reason why the aircraft reconnaissance judged that there is a large oil field cluster near the city is completely misunderstood - those oil fields are either Kuwaiti. Either it belongs to the Persian Ahvaz oil field group, Basra and Persian Abadan are more like transit cities. If the paratrooper brigade had been airdropped according to Rommel's plan, not only would it not be able to seize the large oil field group, but it might also be surrounded by enemy troops.

"Of course, Kuwait should also be regarded as part of Iraq, which in the Ottoman Empire belonged to the province of Basra, and Kuwait was only a county in the province, and at the time of Iraq's independence, in order to contain us, the British forcibly separated Kuwait and became a separate British protectorate - a disgrace to all Iraqis. In addition, the kingdom was not born with it, they are now loyal lackeys of the British. Mobil Corporation of America has a large investment in Saudi Arabia and ...... of oil field exploration blocks"

Rommel heard that Rashid was trying to annex Kuwait and at the same time had ideas about Saudi territory. To paraphrase the latter, Iraqis are the heirs of the orthodox ancient Babylonian civilization. When discussing the situation in the Middle East, Hoffman clearly told him that the countries east of the Suez Canal would be divided as small as possible, and that Germany should play the role of arbiter in them, and that it must not favor one country over another, still less support a certain regional power so as not to lose its weight -- Egypt's influence should be strictly limited to the west of the Sinai Peninsula.

He had a perfunctory conversation. Only said: "At that time, the Führer and Marshal Kesselring will communicate with you in depth, they have a unified arrangement for the situation in the Middle East, and we will first of all drive out the Anglo-American forces." Then, on that basis, respect for the independence and freedom of peoples and tribes. ”

Rashid's remarks were also tentative, and seeing that Rommel could not find a clear answer, he turned to the oil fields: "You don't have to worry about crude oil, although the oil fields in Basra are not large, I can provide your country with enough oil -- in Kirkuk, southeast of Mosul, in addition to some of the oil fields that are being exploited." During my tenure, several high-production oil wells were discovered. The production was very large, and the depth of the oil layer was about 400 meters, but it was not exploited in large quantities for various reasons. ”

"Why?"

"Because the British control too much oil, re-extracting it will drive down the price too much, and the capitalists have no motivation."

Gauss was indignant: "The British have too much oil, but we have too little oil in Germany, and Britain and the United States have always imposed a blockade on us, and we have no choice but to use coal to make oil at home." ”

"There are Iraqi oil fields. The shortage of oil in your country can be greatly alleviated. Rashid was well aware of Iraq's oil situation, "Originally, our country estimated that the crude oil extraction in 1943 would reach 4.5 million tons. Among them, the oil field group near Mosul can reach more than 3.5 million tons, and if the oil fields in Kirkuk are effectively developed, I think it can exceed 6 million tons, plus some oil fields in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the total output will be at least 8 million tons. ”

"What about the Persian oil fields?"

"The Persian oil fields were developed earlier than Iraq, and there are more blocks and oil wells explored so far than ours, and the total production should be more than 12 million tons."

After hearing this series of figures, Rommel and Gauss looked at each other, and their eyes were full of desire: as commanders of armored forces, they knew how important oil was to the war, and after taking Persia, the oil in this area could fully meet all the needs of Germany, even if they could not take Persia, with Iraqi oil fields and Romanian oil fields, it would be almost enough to fight the war.

"How? Are you two interested in investing in an oil field? When the time comes, you will inform you in advance of what block you like, and I will keep it for you. ”

"This ......" Rommel couldn't bear it anymore in the face of Rashid's familiar business experience, and said with a sneer, "You see, I only lead troops to fight, and I don't understand politics and business, and this has to be discussed by diplomats and industrial magnates." ”

Rashid smiled: "Marshal, I know that you are very trusted by the Führer, so you don't have to worry about any adverse consequences of doing so. There are many oil fields in Iraq, and your heads of state and generals have done a lot to help the Iraqi people become independent and free, and we should express our gratitude, and we also have many things that we ask for your country: such as arms, military instructors, industrial technology, etc., I heard that your country has captured a lot in Egypt, and you are willing to help the Egyptian people to form a national defense force, and Iraq also hopes to form a strong national defense force, and it would be even more honorable if you can get the guidance and guidance of Your Excellency the Marshal. ”

"I will certainly convey your requests and wishes to the Führer."

At about 7 o'clock in the morning, the prime minister, who was full of enthusiasm and energy, finally couldn't hold it anymore and went to rest first. When he was alone with Gauss, Rommel wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and said: "Today I finally saw the power of politicians to corrupt and co-opt, obviously it is a bribe, and it is really ashamed to be so high-sounding and righteous and strict by him--Anyway, those giants in our country should not make a fortune like this, right?" ”

"This ...... Think of Generalissimo Goering - he just took too much that he shouldn't have taken. ”

Speaking of this, Rommel remembered the dark days in the basement of the army hospital, and said with emotion: "Gauss, you need to remind me that I can't be foolish in small things. ”

While they were waiting for the news of the Italian paratroopers' paratroopers, the adjutant came in and said: "Sir, an Iraqi plane has been forced to land at the airport - he said he had come to report on the orders of Prime Minister Rashid. ”

The two were overjoyed: "Please come in immediately." ”

The man was a pilot of the Iraqi Air Force, flying an Italian Fiat C.R.42 fighter -- fortunately he had chosen an Italian fighter plane, and the Luftwaffe, which was unsure of his arrival, did not shoot him down.

Although the map of the garrison provided by the other party was poorly drawn, Rommel listened very carefully to the briefing:

1. The small town of Habaniya, less than 97 kilometers from Baghdad, has a Royal Air Force base with a total strength of about 2,000 troops, including a battalion of British infantry (nearly 500 people), 1,200 Iraqi and Assyrian mercenaries, and 300 flight cadets and instructors, with about 70-80 aircraft, most of which are training aircraft (including Glasgow's "Gladiator" biplane, "Oxford" training aircraft, Ferry "Gordon" training aircraft and Hawk "Odoxes") trainers), only a small percentage of Hurricane fighters;

2. There is a brigade of British infantry in the city of Baghdad, which was left in Baghdad after the suppression of the Rashid Revolution last year, with an estimated 24 tanks, the model is Crusader or Matilda;

3. There are 2 Iraqi infantry brigades, 2 mechanized battalions, and 1 mechanized artillery brigade around Baghdad, with a total strength of about 20,000 troops, all of whom are British officers, and the firepower is roughly 18 6-pounder guns, 12 17-pounder guns, 4 25-pounder guns, 12 armored vehicles, and possibly some anti-tank guns, the number is unknown;

4. There is an Indian brigade in the direction of Mosul with an unknown number, and 2 Iraqi infantry brigades;

5. In the direction of Basra there was an Indian division and a British infantry division, and more than 100 aircraft, mostly Wellington fighters -- the Iraqis suffered heavy losses in the last year's battle, and probably some of the naval forces.

Combined with the information on the enemy situation in the Persian direction, Gauss easily judged the general disposition of the British 10th Army:

The British 10th Army had a total of 2 British divisions, namely the 5th and 56th Infantry Divisions (forming the British 3rd Army); The five Indian divisions are the 6th, 8th, 10th, and 31st Indian Infantry Divisions and the 10th Motorized Division (forming the 21st Indian Army), and the main force in Iraq is the British 5th Infantry Division and the Indian 10th Infantry Division.

"If we take down the British air base in Baghdad, will it turn the Iraqi forces against us?"

"This ...... Maybe. The Iraqi pilot hesitated, "But my qualifications and prestige are not enough, and I can't go." ”

"What about Prime Minister Rashid?"

"The prime minister should be fine, he has a lot of supporters in the army, but it's too dangerous, right?"

"I'll go!" Rashid also received a notification at this time and hurried over, "Your Excellency Marshal, it is my duty to liberate Iraq as soon as possible and reduce its losses. ”

"We will send troops to protect you, you are Germany's most important partner." While explaining the protection of Rashid, Rommel quickly issued an operational order, "When the Mosul airborne group returns, please ask General Student to lead the paratrooper brigade to dispatch, and now let the air force fighters go out to seize air supremacy over Baghdad and destroy the ......planes at this air base in one fell swoop."

"As for the second step......" he glanced at Gauss, who understood that Rommel was about to use his usual serial killing, which he often used against the British in the deserts of North Africa, with extraordinary effect. (To be continued.) )