As usual, it didn't take long for Hitler's telegram with Rommel to appear on Montgomery's desk in the Eighth Army. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

But alas, this telegram did not attract Montgomery's attention.

In fact, Churchill also chose to ignore the telegram...... Churchill, as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, did not offer much advice on the war at the front, but he was so obsessed with "super secrets" that he even ordered that the latest "super secrets" should be transmitted to him at any time and in any place.

There was also a reason why Churchill and Montgomery would have chosen to ignore the telegram.

This was partly because Rommel had repeatedly asked Berlin for reinforcements, so many times that both Churchill and Montgomery were numb.

On the other hand, because Hitler's reply did not contain much information, just the words "we will send reinforcements soon", it is easy to think that Hitler was perfunctory to Rommel.

More importantly, British intelligence agencies in Italy detected intelligence that the Germans had indeed sent an armored division and an infantry division to assemble in Italy and prepare for shipment to North Africa...... This made Churchill and Montgomery even more convinced that the reinforcements that Hitler was referring to were sending troops to North Africa.

This was not what Churchill and Montgomery feared, because, as Rommel thought, the British Air Force occupied the island of Malta, which was between Italy and North Africa, and its warplanes and warships were constantly bombing Italian ships...... In fact, this is also a blessing thanks to the "overstepping of secrets", because of the decipherment of the German code, Britain was able to accurately grasp the time and even the route of the Italian merchant ships, so the fighters could carry out "precision strikes" on them.

Therefore, Churchill and Montgomery believed that only a small part of the reinforcements could reach their destination from Italy, bombed by the British Air Force and then across the Sahara, so there was nothing to worry about, and the most important thing was that the supplies in the hands of the British Commonwealth army should not be robbed by the Germans...... It's ridiculous to say that this is the main source of supplies for Rommel's Afrika Korps, which has at least half of its cars and fuel captured from the Commonwealth army.

But this time, Churchill and Montgomery guessed wrong.

Hitler's troop buildup in Italy was not intended to reinforce North Africa, his goal was the island of Malta.

The island of Malta, with an area of only 316 square kilometres, is located almost in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and acts as a train transit point to supply the British fleet and merchant fleet between Gibraltar and Alexandra.

The British occupation of the island and the establishment of air and sea bases on it enabled the British to defend one of the lifelines of their colonies to the British mainland...... A sea transport route from Oceania and India to the British Isles via the Suez Canal.

It should be said that the most missteps of Hitler in the direction of the North African battlefield were that he did not attach importance to the island of Malta, his eyes were always on the Suez Canal, thinking that Rommel's troops would soon occupy Egypt and block the Suez Canal, and once this step was achieved, then the island of Malta would become an island locked up in the Mediterranean, with no choice but to surrender.

Admittedly, there was some truth in Hitler's ideas.

But the problem is that for such a strategic place as the Suez Canal, which is also a must for the British army, it is obviously very difficult or even impossible to capture it in a short period of time.

The island of Malta is right in front of you, right next to the Italian island of Sicily and not far from the southern Italian port of Taranto.

Once the Germans took Malta, they almost achieved the same effect as the capture of the Suez Canal...... British merchant ships could enter the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, but they had to pass through the warplane blockade of the island of Malta.

Britain would then have only two options: either send warplanes on a long trek to provide cover for merchant ships, or make a detour to the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.

And that's just one aspect.

The failure of the Germans to capture the island of Malta led to a series of chain reactions...... Rommel's Afrika Korps could not be adequately supplied and reinforced, and after several invasions of Egypt, they had to withdraw with regret.

Now, the dire situation in the North African theater has finally aroused Hitler's attention and apprehension.

Especially at this time, the status of the African battlefield has risen...... With no hope of attacking the Soviet Union, Hitler could only turn his attention to Africa, hoping to take a piece of oil-rich land and choke the Allied industry.

And to do this, the first thing is to pull out the island of Malta, which is like a thorn in the flesh.

Therefore, although Hitler was unwilling to disperse the forces of the Soviet-German battlefield, he was forced by the situation to transfer the 2nd and 10th Air Brigades of the Luftwaffe to Italy, and at the same time planned an offensive to capture the island of Malta.

In fact, Hitler's plan began to be secretly implemented half a month ago.

Hitler had the Italian naval fleet train so that it would be responsible for covering the landing campaign...... The British spies had received the information, but did not take it to heart, because the Italian navy was doing so badly that the only thing they could do during the battle was to release smoke and leave the merchant ships behind.

At the same time, the British believed that the training of the Italian naval fleet was only to strengthen the escort of merchant ships.

On the other hand, Hitler asked Italy to prepare landing ships, and the "special naval forces" were responsible for the training of the landing force of the army and navy.

This was not detected by the British spies, because many of the landing vessels prepared by Italy were fishing boats, and the British spies did not care about these civilian facilities at all.

The two German air flots, on the other hand, secretly flew to the air base in Sicily in batches, an operation that even the Italian commander, Marshal Cavalero, did not know, and every Italian officer and soldier at the airfield was under semi-house arrest by the Germans, and all foreign communications facilities except the Germans were demolished.

This was because Hitler also believed that the information was transmitted through the Italian army, so he made a "ruthless move".

Soon, the number of German fighters and bombers stationed in Sicily increased to more than 700, and another 200 were ready for reinforcements.

At the same time, reconnaissance planes frequently carried out reconnaissance on the island of Malta and its vicinity, and a German infantry division was also assembled in Italy and seized the time to conduct landing combat training...... The British had always thought that this infantry division was a reinforcement for North Africa, but this was not the case.

A big war was about to come, but the British were unaware of it, and their eyes were still fixed on Rommel.