So the British army started from several aspects at the same time.

On the one hand, they secretly transported equipment by submarines or risked dropping equipment by transport planes to the militia on Crete at night to support them in guerrilla warfare against the Germans on the island or to harass, sabotage and blast the construction of German factories.

To be honest, this was a headache for the German and Italian armies, because most of Crete was mountainous, and only the southern Meshara Plain had a few dozen kilometers of flat land, which itself was very suitable for guerrilla warfare...... The militia casually drilled into the mountains and disappeared, and it was almost impossible for the German and Italian troops to search in the mountains, because not only would this not lead to anything, but would also lead to the loss of troops in the unfamiliar mountains.

On the other hand, it was the endangered movements of the navy and air force that confused the German army.

Montgomery even requisitioned hundreds of fishing boats in Port Said and conducted landing combat training, and at the same time transferred a paratrooper division from the mainland to actively carry out airborne training and put on a posture to recapture Crete.

The most important link is the "Sherman" tank requested by the American side.

Of course, Montgomery could do nothing about it, and he had to leave it to Churchill.

Churchill personally flew to Washington to meet Roosevelt for this.

"Mr. President!" Churchill said to Roosevelt: "The situation in North Africa is so urgent that we have no way out, and we have only one chance of being driven out of Egypt by the Germans!" ”

Roosevelt's face was not good-looking, he was disappointed with the British performance in North Africa, and it can even be said that the reputation of American equipment was ruined by the British.

But Roosevelt had no other choice, and as president of the United States, he could not allow Britain to continue in this rout......

The importance of North Africa is undeniable, and once the Suez Canal falls into German hands, the entire Mediterranean Sea will become an inland sea for the Germans, and all the countries around the Mediterranean will be under the guns of the German and Italian armies, and Britain and its colonies will be divided in two.

On the other hand, Roosevelt knew that sooner or later the United States would be dragged into this war...... In fact, at this time, the United States could be regarded as entering the war, providing equipment assistance to China, the Soviet Union, Britain, etc., and at the same time stopping the export of strategic materials such as oil, scrap steel, and rubber to Japan, and freezing overseas accounts.

(Note: The United States imposed sanctions on Japan on July 28, 1941, and before that, 80% of Japan's oil came from the United States.)

Supply the allies on one side, and sanction the Axis powers on the other...... Therefore, the United States is no longer neutral, but the Axis powers have not torn their faces because they are temporarily afraid of the powerful industrial capacity of the United States.

But in the end, Roosevelt believed that the United States could not escape war, no matter how unwilling the people were.

Therefore, helping Britain now is actually helping yourself.

Thinking of this, Roosevelt asked with a calm face: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, I still say the same thing, how can I help you!" ”

"New tank!" Churchill said: "I heard that you are equipping a new tank...... We urgently need this batch of tanks to launch a counteroffensive in Africa! ”

"You're talking about the 'M4' medium tank?" Roosevelt asked.

Like all previous tanks, the U.S. military only had a code name for the tank, and the name "Sherman" was actually taken by the British.

"Yes, Mr. President!" Churchill replied: "I accidentally know its performance data, it was simply developed for the African theater of war, and I believe we can beat the Germans to the with it!" ”

In fact, Churchill inadvertently said that the "M4" medium tank is not considered to be developed for the African theater, but it is almost the same, it is a tank urgently developed by the United States after absorbing the shortcomings of the previous tanks in all aspects, and most of the shortcomings of the American tank were exposed in the hands of the British in the African theater.

"But we haven't even had time to equip it yet!" Roosevelt was a little hesitant, because the U.S. military also had to prepare for the upcoming war, so it also needed this tank training.

After thinking about it, Roosevelt added: "And the 'M4' medium tank is not within the scope of Lend-Lease!" ”

"But the United States hasn't been to war yet, is it?" Churchill said: "You don't need this tank with it, and we desperately need it to defeat the Germans!" As for the Lend-Lease Act...... Who cares? The United States is already using aircraft carriers to help us deliver fighter planes, will it still care about the Lend-Lease Act? ”

Churchill was right.

If, from the point of view of fear of getting involved in the war, the US aircraft carriers helping Britain deliver fighters can be said to be a more serious quasi-war or even an act of war, and Germany can tolerate this, then of course it will choose to remain silent about the "M4" medium tank.

Although Roosevelt knew that war could not be avoided, he hoped that the United States would have more time to prepare, so he was still somewhat cautious in this regard.

After thinking about it, Roosevelt thought that it was unlikely to provoke Germany, or that Germany could only swallow this breath...... At this time, Germany was at war with the Soviet Union on the one hand, and Britain was fighting happily on the other, how could it provoke the United States!

"Okay!" After thinking about it carefully, Roosevelt felt that there would be no mistakes, so he nodded and agreed: "We will ship the new tank to you as soon as possible!" ”

"Thank you very much, Mr. President!" Churchill almost cheered in his heart, he finally saw a little more light in his victory.

Roosevelt said he would do what he said, and immediately ship the more than 200 "M4" tanks that had just come off the production line to North Africa, and then start production at full speed day and night, striving to transport another 200 tanks to Africa within half a month as required by Churchill.

Montgomery conducted preliminary tests on the "M4" tank as soon as it received it, and Montgomery was overjoyed with the results:

IT WAS ABLE TO PENETRATE 50 MM OF ARMOR AT A DISTANCE OF 800 METERS, WHILE THE GERMAN TANK "NO. 3" HAD ONLY 47 MM ARMOR.

AT THE SAME TIME, IF THE "NO. 3" TANK WANTS TO PENETRATE THE 76MM ARMOR OF THE "SHERMAN" TANK, IT MUST GO AT LEAST WITHIN 500 METERS.

(Note: PAK38 ANTI-TANK PENETRATES 500MM AT A DISTANCE OF 78 METERS, WHICH IS HIGHER THAN THE "SHERMAN" 76MM ARMOR, BUT THE ACTUAL THICKNESS OF THE INCLINED ARMOR MAKES IT LESS PRONE TO PENETRATION).

That is to say, the "Sherman" has a kind of "I can penetrate the enemy and the enemy cannot penetrate me" over the "No. 3" tank, which is undoubtedly very useful on the battlefield and can give the tank crew a great psychological help.

This, of course, in turn, creates a psychological pressure on the enemy's tank crew.

More importantly, the "Sherman" tank is still comparable to the "No. 3" tank in terms of maneuverability...... Then, it seems that the "three" tank has only the fate of being used as a target.