On the evening of December 12, the German-Italian combined fleet covered the huge second wave of landing troops from Crete to land in the port of Matru, during the day the British Air Force had mustered up the remaining courage and tried their best to prevent the German landing and deployment, but was hit by a huge group of cover aircraft, a large number of British planes were shot down in the cold Mediterranean before they even approached the target, for this desperate attack, the Royal Air Force lost more than 200 aircraft that day, and their achievement was only the sinking of 2 transport ships, 1 destroyer was silent, several Italian battleships were close to missing - at such a moment, instead of attacking the transport, the battleship was definitely broken.

Although the British army in Egypt was supported by aircraft from Syria, Iran, Iraq, etc., according to the orders of London, and General Ted also took back most of the main force of the desert air force (only pilots, planes, and a small number of ground crews, and the rest of the ground crews could only stay at the base and wait for fate), the British air force in North Africa still fell to the point of only more than 900 aircraft, and now the Luftwaffe not only surpassed the British Air Force in quality, but also far surpassed it in quantity.

Forced by the cruel situation and the need to defend Alexandria and Cairo, Admiral Alexander, commander-in-chief of the Great Britain Middle East Theater, reluctantly gave up the idea of continuing to fight for air superiority and began to focus on air defense, while the hapless Eighth Army not only had to accept the bombing of German planes after losing the air umbrella of the desert air force, but even the bombers of the Italian Air Force came to beat the water dogs, and the German African Army and the Canal Army were the first to be connected in the airspace.

On the morning of 13 December, Rommel, who had successfully landed on the shore, did not wait for all his troops to land and deploy - he left all this work to Gauss. He immediately commanded part of the Canal Army to advance forward, and he gave full play to his usual charging spirit and ordered the Greater German Division, the SS Viking Division, and the 20th Motorized Rifle Division to send one armored battalion each to form the "Suez" rapid strike group. With the cooperation of more than 200 aircraft, this rapid cluster built with the most elite armored forces exerted the power of blitzkrieg to the limit, and its impact power was not at all able to withstand the repeated blows and weak combat strength of the Indian 4th Division and the 72nd Infantry Brigade, their temporary defensive line quickly collapsed, a large number of Indian officers and soldiers surrendered to the Germans, and the recalcitrant British soldiers were mercilessly wiped out by the tanks.

In the evening, the Suez Rapid Strike Group quickly captured the valuable Arabburg. At the moment they were less than 50 kilometers from Alexandria, and all the British troops in Egypt were in a state of flux, while Rommel's temporary command was under the cover of a platoon of Tiger tanks. Closely following the Rapid Strike Group, there was not even a part of the force that managed to land from Matroux Harbor - after a long silence, the prestige of the Desert Fox began to shine again.

At the same time, the Egyptian army, which had received a large amount of supplies and equipment from the Eighth Army, relied on a large number of trucks and armored vehicles. A painstaking detour was made from the southern front. Because the German and Italian air forces were busy attacking the British troops on the Tobruk front, Guderian did not realize that there were more than 30,000 fewer enemies in front of him, and he did not expect that the British would leave the coastal road and take a long road in the desert, so Montgomery's roundabout strategy was an early success. It's just that the long way is not easy to walk, and they are still more than 500 kilometers away from Cairo......

Alexandria is the most important port in Egypt. The British not only operated for many years, but also hoarded a large amount of supplies, equipment and oil. After the supply lines of the Eighth Army were cut off, the supplies that had been transported from Britain, the United States, India, Canada, South Africa, and Australia that were supposed to be transported to Montgomery were also forced to be hoarded in the warehouses of the port.

After Harwood's death, Rear Admiral Andrew, chief of staff of the Mediterranean Fleet, temporarily took over the command, and he believed that Alexandria should be held on the grounds that Alexandria had both an important position and value, an extremely rich material reserve, and a relatively complete system of shore fortifications - he believed that it was impossible for the Germans to come from the sea and try to land, as long as the army could make up its mind to hold on, Alexandria could be kept with its fortifications, and in case it could not be held, it could also buy enough time for the defenders to transfer and destroy supplies.

Admiral Alexander himself held a different point of view, arguing that after the collapse of the temporary line of defense at El Alamein, The strength of the Egyptian army, including some marines in Alexandria, is less than 28,000, and aircraft reconnaissance shows that the German troops have landed as many as 50,000 to 60,000 troops, and the rapid strike group under Rommel's direct command is particularly powerful, and Alexandria is now only a defensive force of more than 6,000 people, which is simply not enough to resist the German attack, and the operation to defend both Alexandria and Cairo is simply impossible militarily. It can't be left to the Germans anyway.

He also made a counter-proposal, asking Andrew to quickly lead the remaining ships in the harbor in the direction of Suez, and if necessary, scuttle the warships to block the canal. Andrew was planning for the worst to move and destroy supplies, and on the other hand, he was arguing that Alexander would agree to defend the port, and the lawsuit between the land and the sea over the matter went all the way to London.

The atmosphere in the Prime Minister's Mansion in Downing Street was dreary and depressing, Churchill had long since lost the sparkle he had had been when he visited North Africa and negotiated with Stalin a few months earlier, his old eyes were dark, the situation was developing worse than he had estimated, the Eighth Army in the direction of Tobruk was on its way to slow suicide, and the situation in Egypt was precarious.

"Prime Minister, I think we should hold on to Alexandria, the importance and value of this port need not be overstated, and we have good sea fortifications and large-caliber shore artillery, which can last more than 10 days as long as we are covered by the air force - only this time is enough to transfer or destroy the materials stockpiled in the port." First Admiralty, Admiral Dudley Pound, known in the Cabinet as "Churchill's anchor" and consistent supporter of the Prime Minister's ideas, saw that Churchill intended to hold on, so he preemptively stated his position, and finally added, "With the arrival of the Torch Project support force, there will also be a suitable port for them to land, and there is no more suitable place than Alexandria." ”

Churchill nodded, Pound's words were beyond reproach, if such a large and important port was handed over to the German army without fighting, where would the face of the British Empire? How to account for the allies? Delaying time is also necessary to wait for reinforcements, and Admiral Cunningham is now advancing with a fast fleet and reinforcements, and it is completely too late as long as there is time.

But the chief of the general staff of Brooke had a different opinion: "In the case of a clear imbalance in the balance of forces between the enemy and us, we should no longer divide our forces to defend the cities that are destined to fall, and concentrate on consolidating the defense of Cairo, and as for the supplies of Alexandria, the rapid destruction is as much as we can destroy." ”

The rest of the cabinet was divided into two factions, some for Pound and some for Brooke, but the minority for sticking, most of them agreed with General Alexander's judgment that the limited number of troops could no longer be wasted to divide the troops, only Attlee finally said a fair word: "I think there are actually some problems with both plans, but now is not the time for us to dwell on the details, the most important thing for us is to decide quickly, I think it is okay to choose either one, let the prime minister decide for himself." ”

So, more than a dozen eyes were all focused on Churchill, and he was about to open his mouth to make a statement, when suddenly the adjutant rushed over and handed him the latest telegram from the front, he was ecstatic after reading it, as if the man who had fallen into the water had grasped the straw, and said loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Eighth Army has temporarily formed an Egyptian army with the 2nd New Zealand Division and the 9th Australian Division as the core, including the personnel of the army headquarters, with a total of more than 30,000 personnel, led by Major General Ramsden, to retreat from the southern front in a roundabout way, preparing to retreat to Cairo and defend Egypt. ”

The crowd was overjoyed to hear this, and Alexander had the upper hand in this matter, but Ramsden's telegram quickly changed everything, because the telegram clearly told the Cairo side that "I have brought two divisions to the German flank, and after a long period of attrition, I need all kinds of supplies, and I hope to be ready to meet and prepare accordingly." It was clear that if Alexandria was abandoned immediately, the Germans would be able to advance quickly, and it was likely that the Egyptian army, which had more than 30,000 men and more than 300 tanks, would be indispensable for the consolidation of Egypt's defense.

"What about General Montgomery?" Attlee asked, "Why wasn't he leading the team, and he was injured?" ”

"No, he stayed in Tobruk and Guderian to continue to negotiate and cover the retreat of the Egyptian army, and he also gave Ramsden all the equipment and supplies that the army group could collect." Churchill's voice was low, "I'm sorry for him, he's a real general, and I'll apologize to him personally when he gets back to London." ”

"This ......" everyone's faces became ugly.

Churchill, who had not yet made up his mind just now, now became very resolute: "I think that these more than 30,000 reinforcements are enough to defend Egypt, at least until the reinforcements arrive, in order to cover their retreat, and in order to buy more time for the reinforcements, send a telegram to General Alexander, asking for the port and Cairo as a horn to guard the west bank of the canal as much as possible." ”

They exchanged glances and agreed with Churchill's decision. (To be continued.) )