Alexandria, Egypt, December 1940.

This famous city under the protection of the British Empire has now completely emerged from the shadow of the invasion of the "Roman legion".

In September, when the Italians had just begun to cross the border to Alexandria and Cairo, Arabs and Westerners in Egypt were thinking of Caesar, Octavian, and their invincible Roman legions. The history of the Roman Empire's conquest of Egypt seems to be repeating itself, and in the face of as many as 200,000 or more "Roman warriors", it is obvious that there is no way to stop the tens of thousands of British and Indian Asan.

All Arabs once thought that the new Caesar of the Roman Empire would soon become the masters of Egypt, and that they needed to make a change to adapt to this unstoppable trend of history! King Farouk I of Egypt, a lover of food and beauty, had even prepared a dozen "Cleopatra" for the 20th-century Julius Caesar.

But by December, Farouk I had turned these "Cleopatras" into his mistresses. Because the armies of the Italians were obviously different from the Roman legions of antiquity, they were too slow to move, and they had to rest for several months if they fought for a few days.

The Italians began their offensive on 13 September and stopped at the Egyptian town of Sidi Barani on 16 September. It was still 130 kilometers from Melsa-Matru, where the main British army was concentrated. This pause lasted almost three months, and until December, the Italians did not attack again, but built fortifications at a place called Maktila, 16 kilometers east of Barani in the west, and put on a posture of being prepared for a long-term garrison.

Did these 20th-century Romans travel all the way to Africa to seize a worthless desert? Just when Alexander and the people of Cairo were confused, the "Julius Caesar" suddenly invaded Greece under the control of the Germans for no apparent reason.

Then something happened that surprised everyone, Mussolini's Roman legions were defeated by the "vulnerable" Greeks. With the support of a small British air force, the Italian offensive that began on 28 October was crushed by 3 November. On November 14, the Greeks gathered 12 infantry divisions, 2 cavalry divisions and 3 infantry brigades to launch a counterattack, crushing the Italian 11th Army, and on the 21st, they attacked Italian Albania and occupied the important town of Kolcha in the southeast of Albania!

Seeing that the Roman Empire in the 20th century was defeated by the Greeks, the leaders of the Kingdom of Egypt all dispelled their doubts that the British Empire might be over, and began to run to Alexandria when they had nothing to do, bringing all kinds of condolence items to pat the British old men.

On the morning of 8 December, His Majesty King Farouk personally arrived in Alexandria from Cairo with his mistress and dignitaries. He watched a football game (British Army vs. Royal Navy) in the company of Commander-in-Chief Wavell and Commander-in-Chief Cunningham, and in the evening attended a reception held by the British side to welcome him, and he was drunk until the early hours of December 9.

King Farouk returned to his palace in Alexandria and slept with his mistress in his arms. And the half-drunk commander-in-chief of the British forces in the Middle East, Admiral Wavell, went directly back to his headquarters to prepare for war. In a few hours, the counterattack, codenamed Operation Compass, will begin.

In Admiral Wavell's plan, Operation Compass was only a counterattack on a limited scale, with the aim of simply driving the pesky Italians away from Egyptian soil. Because in the imagination of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the Balkans were the best passage for Germany to the Middle East. So Admiral Wavell did not get enough ground forces to crush the Italians, at least he himself thought so.

And Churchill's opinion was not unreasonable. Once Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece all fell into German hands, the German bombers and Fokker Zero fighters deployed on Crete could fly to Alexandria and the Suez Canal at any time to drop bombs, and the British Royal Navy would have no place in the Eastern Mediterranean!

In addition, as long as the Germans deployed enough aircraft in Greece and Crete, they could cover the useless Italian fleet from the air to capture Cyprus.

And as soon as Cyprus is controlled by the Germans, Turkey may fall to Germany. Even if Turkey does not change for the time being, the Germans and Italians will be able to land in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine under the cover of the air force deployed in Cyprus...... So that the British Empire would lose the whole Middle East! The oil bottlenecks that stuck Germany's progress would also be resolved once and for all.

With an abundant supply of oil, Germany's rule on the European continent will be strengthened, and France, which is still barely neutral, will likely fall into the arms of Germany, and the powerful French navy will become an accomplice of the German Empire, like the Italian navy.

By then, the British Empire would be completely finished, and Winston. It is also very likely that Mr. Churchill will go down in history as the "last British Prime Minister"!

"Anthony, John." In the early hours of December 9, 1940, when the British army in the Middle East had already begun to carry out Operation Compass. Churchill was working with his two most important aides, Secretary of State for War Anthony. Aiden and Chief of the General Staff John Ayden. Admiral Dill talks. However, the content of the conversation had little to do with Operation Compass.

"I don't need to stress the importance of the Balkan front, it's a front that has to do with the viability of our empire." As he spoke, Churchill tossed a cigar butt into a shiny copper can filled with sand, and then lit another cigar.

"And your task is to establish the Balkan front, and now is the best chance, Admiral Wavell will soon drive Mussolini's Roman legions out of Egypt. This would greatly encourage the courage of the Greeks, Serbs, and Turks to resist the Nazi and fascist invasions. ”

Churchill continued his plan. His idea was to pull Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey into the British chariot. In this way, the British were able to hold back the German advance south in the mountainous Balkans with a small number of troops.

"The Germans are now responsible for most of Europe's oil supply," Churchill said, "and millions of tons of oil are being supplied every month from their limited reserves to countries like France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Norway." Soon, their oil depots will be empty. And by that time, the strategic bombing of Germany will also begin! The United States and the Soviet Union will also enter the war because of the inevitable defeat of Germany, so that we can achieve the final victory! ”

I have to admit that Churchill was still very good at finding unlucky people who could shed blood for the British Empire. When France and Belgium were defeated by Germany and the Soviet Union was asking for too high a price, he turned to Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey.

"Prime Minister, but what are we going to use to impress Turkey?" War Secretary Aiden asked.

Turkey is clearly the most important and critical link in the Balkan Front. Because Yugoslavia seemed to have a hard time withstanding the German attack, it could only hold out on to the dangerous Isthmus of Corinth and Crete. Without the accession of Turkey, as long as Germany and Italy concentrate their forces on the offensive, the advance in the Balkans will still not be good.

"French Syria and Lebanon," Churchill said, smoking on his cigar, "and I will give them back to Turkey as long as they are willing to join." ”

This is the best he can give, it is impossible to hand over Iraq and Saudi Arabia to Turkey, and Turkey will not be able to eat it now.

"Add to that the Albania of the Italians," said Aiden, "and the Turks are always obsessed with the land of Europe." ”

Churchill nodded, "Well, you can add Albania, but it can only exist as a Turkish enclave." ”

What is now Albania and Turkey do not share a border, and they are separated by Greek and Yugoslav lands. It was historically conquered by Turkey and later became independent due to Turkish weakness. If Britain allowed Turkey to regain its hands on those turf, it would be plunged headlong into the Balkan quagmire.

"Besides," said Churchill after a moment's thought, "Anthony, you have to convince the Turks that they are impossible to stay out of it!" If the British Empire were defeated in the Mediterranean, then Turkey would have been carved up between Germany and the Soviet Union. In fact, Stalin had already offered to regain Constantinople, but it was not implemented because of our opposition. ”

The taking of Constantinople was a condition for Stalin to consider joining the Anglo-American side! Because in Stalin's opinion, this is a debt owed by Britain to Russia, which must be paid off before anything else.

Churchill, of course, would not agree to Stalin's demands that if Stalin declared war on Germany and marched into Poland, Constantinople or even the whole of Turkey could be handed over to the Soviet Union. But pay off the debt or something...... The British Empire owes too much to people, how can it be repaid?

"Prime Minister, if we inform Turkey of Soviet ambitions, will it cause Turkey to defect to Germany?" Admiral Deere, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, said with some concern.

"No," Churchill said with great certainty, "Turkey fears us, before the last world war." Unless our fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean ceased to exist, Turkey would never fall to Germany. He paused, "As long as our superiority in the Eastern Mediterranean remains, Turkey will only consider when and on what terms to join our side." ”

"But there is also a possibility that the Mediterranean Fleet will suffer a setback." John. Admiral Dill whispered that "the Luftwaffe has moved to Sicily and has paralyzed Malta with indiscriminate bombardment......"

Churchill smoked a cigarette and was silent for a long time before he said: "I will not allow the fleet to suffer defeat in the Mediterranean, soon more warships and planes will go there!" (To be continued.) )