Montgomery has been depressed lately, and the problems he faces are so intractable that he is a little undecided. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

The problem comes from the defense of the Middle East, but also from the war in the Balkans. As the only theater commander who can support the Balkans, he is not sure how he should respond.

If he reinforces the Balkans, it means that he can only weaken the forces in the Middle East theater, which is tantamount to putting the Middle East oil fields at risk.

But if he did not reinforce the Balkans, the situation there would eventually collapse and the Balkans would become German territory.

Britain completely lost its air base for air raids on Romania, and at the same time was completely driven out of the European continent.

Neither of the above two options was perfect, so Montgomery's most supportive plan was to withdraw troops from the Balkans.

Assuming that it is really possible to retreat from the Balkans, it will be possible to withdraw 40,000 troops with combat experience and strengthen the defenses of the Middle East.

To do so would be to strengthen the forces in the Middle East and to shorten the defence lines that need to be garrisoned - it would be tantamount to killing two birds with one stone.

However, to do so would be tantamount to betraying Greece and Yugoslavia, and to abandoning the Balkans.

Churchill was not in favor of abandoning the Balkans, which, in Churchill's view, was the weakness of the Third Reich, from which the Third Reich could be easily defeated!

If the Balkans were still in British hands, bombers flying from there could fly over Romania and attack the precious oil resources of the Axis powers.

On the other hand, the retreat would have lost an ally like Greece, as well as the wavering neutral region of Naslavia, which was a great loss for Britain today.

Moreover, the retreat from the Balkans represented another crushing defeat, and Churchill had had enough of it.

"Mr. Prime Minister did not allow a retreat from the Balkans, saying that the retreat was an admission of one's own defeat." Sitting in his tent, Montgomery spoke with a helpless look on his face.

"If you can't command and mobilize troops according to the most reasonable plan, then what do you need me as a commander to do?" Beneath the surface of helplessness, there is more chagrin.

Montgomery knew that if he squandered his time like this, he would not even be able to prepare well when Rommel attacked.

As a front-line commander, the best plan he planned was rejected by the rear, which is definitely not good news.

Auchinleck, the former commander of the 8th Army, who was sitting next to him, sneered and said, "Do you know now that you know everything but can't do anything?" ”

Auchinleck is also a relatively wronged figure in real history. He fought hard in North Africa, but he did not earn the respect he deserved.

In real history, it was Auchinleck who stopped Rommel's attack at El Alamein, stabilized the North African front, and drew up a plan for a counterattack.

It was only because Churchill disliked that he was too slow to move and was unwilling to fight back immediately that he replaced the poor general with Montgomery.

Of course, the rest of the story is known, Auchinleck became an unknown British general, and Montgomery became the hero who defeated Rommel.

Now, Auchinleck is also a tragic figure. When he took over command of the North African Army from General Cunningham, the situation in North Africa was in chaos.

Cunningham lost 50 percent of his ordnance, lost a lot of men and materials, and lost a vital line of defense -- this battle will be lost by anyone.

Therefore, Auchinleck has no chance of winning at all, and he also tries to make the losing scene look much better. In terms of ability, he is also a powerful commander.

Unfortunately, Churchill did not have the patience to wait for him to organize a counterattack in the Middle East, and sent another general, Montgomery.

Montgomery looked at Auchinleck, who was sitting beside him, and knew that it was very uncomfortable to be interfered with, and said, "We must always think of a way to withdraw our troops in the Balkans!" ”

In Montgomery's view, now was the best time to retreat. They had just helped Greece defeat the Italian invasion, and the pressure on the defensive line had eased and was ready for retreat.

"If we wait for the Germans to enter the Balkans, it will be too late for us to go." Montgomery said as he looked at Auchinleck.

The German armored forces were known for their blitzkrieg, and the speed of their attacks was obvious to all. Waiting until the Germans made a move, and then withdrawing the troops was obviously not a good option.

Once the German units advanced, it was possible to advance a distance of more than 200 kilometers in 5 days.

If the 40,000 British soldiers in the Balkans were taken prisoner, it would be a big bustle for Churchill and Montgomery.

In the Middle East, the British defenders, who were already overstretched, now lost 40,000 soldiers in the Balkans, which was nothing short of a disaster.

"Retreat now, Churchill will not promise you." Auchinleck shook his head and said to Montgomery: "Once we retreat, Greece and Yugoslavia will surrender to Germany." ”

You know, there is no World Anti-Fascist Alliance, and there is no such thing as an Allied Army.

Poland has been partitioned, the three Low Countries have been occupied by Germany, France has been defeated, the United States and the Soviet Union have not yet entered the war - now is not the rhythm of the whole world beating Germany, but Germany, Italy, and even Vichy France, beating Britain......

If Greece and other countries in the Balkans were to be lost, Britain would almost really be alone, fighting Germany and Italy alone.

Although the United States was assisting Britain in the back, and although Germany could only disperse its forces if it wanted to guard against the Soviet attack, it was Britain who fell into unprecedented isolation in the end.

Under such preconditions, how could Churchill allow the withdrawal of troops from the Balkans? He was even thinking about how to stabilize the defense line in the Balkans and turn it into an outpost to defeat Germany!

"We have to find a way to make Mr. Prime Minister aware of the danger of a war in the Middle East." Montgomery frowned, worriedly speaking to Auchinleck.

"Rather than making Mr. Prime Minister, who has no way out, realize that defeat has become inevitable, it is better to hide his actions and rush the troops back to the Middle East first." Auchinleck had already done one disobedience, so he was somewhat addicted to this option.

He said this, looked at Montgomery and said, "Commander, if we don't act immediately, in a few days, Rommel will teach us a lesson with action, let us know that wasting time is the most stupid thing to do." ”

When it comes to Rommel, who is on the west bank of the Suez Canal, Montgomery is even more depressed. Look at people, look at yourself—there's no comparison!

Rommel received a large supply from Germany and Italy, which was timely and large because of the distance.

But what about Montgomery? In addition to receiving a batch of weapons and equipment from the United States, the most supplies he received were fuel oil produced from Iraq.

At this moment, Montgomery is indeed surpassing Rommel in terms of troops, but everyone knows that this kind of data is meaningless.

Rommel had an advantage in tanks, planes, artillery, and ammunition, while Montgomery was slightly superior in infantry numbers and fuel.

However, most of Montgomery's infantry was drawn from India and South Africa, and some from New Zealand and Australia.

This uneven combat effectiveness made Montgomery's numerical superiority meaningless, and without tanks and anti-tank guns, he could not even stop Rommel's troops from crossing the Suez Canal.

Recently, Rommel's troops were resting, and some of Italy's non-main forces were flanking the Sultan south, driving out the scattered British forces near Egypt.

If it weren't for the security of the flanks, as well as waiting for supplies and hoarding supplies to continue the offensive, Rommel would have crossed the Suez Canal and hit the Middle East.

It is precisely because of this that both Montgomery and Auchinleck know that their defense line is like a blank piece of paper, and the reason why it has not been pierced by Rommel so far is just because Rommel did not mean to pierce this blank paper.

In addition, Montgomery's biggest concern was the field airfield that the Germans had built near Port Said -- if the Germans really brought aircraft like the HE-111 to Africa, what would happen to the important Iraqi oil fields?

"I sent a telegram to China last week saying that we need a lot of new fighter jets." Montgomery thought of this and complained, "What about the result? ”

As he spoke, he picked up a document, slapped it twice and said to Auchinleck: "As a result, the Royal Air Force gave me 20 Hurricanes!" Damn it! 20 Hurricanes! ”

Without waiting for Auchinleck to speak, he threw the telegram back on the table: "If the Germans really bomb the oil fields of Iraq and Iran, all I can use to fend off those bombers is a hundred and ten planes!" ”

A large part of the British army's series of defeats in North Africa was due to the loss of battlefield air supremacy.

Germany has Stuka whistling overhead, and ME-109E combat mechanism dominates the sky, but Britain has nothing, so it can only be beaten passively.

The Luftwaffe was attacked by the Luftwaffe and a series of highly targeted bombings deprived Britain of most of the factories that produced fighter jets. The local air defense is overstretched, and the ability to support Africa is completely lost.

At present, Britain's fighter planes in the Middle East include 40 P-40D fighters with US assistance, and 20 Hurricanes of domestic production that are still on the way, and the rest are all in rags.

Relying on such an air force, to fight against Germany's sophisticated Afrika Korps air force, there is no suspense about victory or defeat......