Egypt must be defended, Egypt must be defended!

This is the commander-in-chief of the British forces in the Middle East, Archibald. Percival. Admiral Wavell, on the afternoon of February 17, 1940, received the general contents of the order from the British High Command. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

With the loss of air supremacy in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the loss of more than half of its sea supremacy, the British army in the Middle East can now count on the defense of the army. And the British Army in North Africa now had to face no longer the bully Italians, but the terrible Germans.

Everyone knows that this will not be easy, because since the beginning of the world war, no one has stopped the German offensive on land. And now in charge of commanding the Mediterranean theater of operations is Marshal Marquis Heinsberg-Hersmann, the god of the German army.

Still, Admiral Wavell was prepared to do everything in his power to accomplish the "mission impossible." Immediately after receiving the order, he took the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, Admiral Cunningham, and the commander of the Mediterranean Air Force, Arthur Anderson. Both Admiral Ted and the commander of the newly formed 8th Army, Lieutenant General Cunningham (the younger brother of General Cunningham), were invited to their headquarters.

"Andrew," Admiral Wavell first called Admiral Cunningham, "just received information that the main fleet of the Italian Navy has left the port of Taranto, probably in the early hours of the morning. Whereabouts unknown. ”

Now that Malta is no longer a stronghold, it is much more difficult to monitor the Italian fleet, and there is no place for reconnaissance planes, submarines, and spy ships disguised as fishing boats. Only the spies lurking in Taranto can venture out to reconnoitre, and from time to time someone will be caught by the fascist secret police.

In addition, because Hersmann hid the Enigma cipher machine in the twenties and did not allow it to be used by the German army's communications department, and at the same time bought the patent for this cipher machine, and did not allow the commercial Enigma machine to come out.

Therefore, the Polish and Anglo-French intelligence services did not know about the existence of the Enigma machine at all before the war. It wasn't until after the start of the war that Hersmann began to use the Enigma machine, so there was no possibility that the British would be able to crack the German cipher code.

Therefore, the British Middle East Command is now in a blind eye, and does not know the movements of the German and Italian armies and fleets in the Middle East, and the command of the war can only rely on guesswork.

"Probably going to attack Crete!" Admiral Cunningham said, "When they begin to land, I will set out with the fleet!" ”

As he spoke, Alain Brown, who had just been transferred from the East African battlefield. Cunningham glanced at his brother. Using four old Queen Elizabeth-class ships against the main Italian fleet with two brand-new Richelieu-class battleships was almost like playing with his life, and in a few days, he would have to read a eulogy at his brother's memorial service.

"It's also possible that they went to shell the port of Tubruk!" Admiral Cunningham frowned and said, "If that's the case, I'm afraid the chances of a decisive battle for the fleet are very small." ”

"Can the port of Tubruk be held?" Wavell asked Alain. Cunningham. "Is there enough troops?"

"In the current situation, the number of troops is still sufficient." Alan. Lieutenant General Cunningham replied.

Now all the units of the army on the front line in North Africa belong to Alain. Cunningham's 8th Army. The main units were all from the colonies, including the 5th Indian Division, the 10th Indian Division, the 1st South African Division, the 1st New Zealand Division, the 9th Australian Division, and the 3rd Indian Motorized Brigade. There are also units in the British mainland, namely the 1st Armored Division, the 2nd Armored Division (only 1 armored brigade). There were also the Polish Independence Brigade and the 1st Free French Brigade. The total number of troops is no less than 150,000, and there are hundreds of tanks of various types, which is very powerful.

Also around Alexandria were units under the command of the 1st Army, including the 7th Panzer Division and the 4th Indian Division. These two divisions were the heroes of the "Compass Operation", which fought all the way from Egypt to Tubruk, and were withdrawn not long ago for reorganization.

The British 50th Division, also under the command of the 1st Army, and garrisons from a number of colonies were deployed in Syria (French Syria was already under Free French control), Palestine, and Jordan. Air forces have also been deployed in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, among other places.

In the East African direction, there were also the 5th Indian and 2nd South African divisions belonging to the 32nd Army, as well as a number of Sudanese and Abeynesian indigenous units.

In the Greek direction, the British army also deployed the 2nd New Zealand Division, the 6th Australian Division, and the British 44th Infantry Division and 14th Infantry Brigade.

Taken together, these British troops deployed in the secondary directions, not counting Uncle Black and the Arabs, there were almost 150,000 men. The ground forces under the command of the British Army in the entire Middle East currently have as many as 300,000, which is indeed not a small number.

"And Tubruk's defenses are quite strong," said Alain. Cunningham added, "The Italians have been operating there for many years and have turned it into a fortress." However, the shore artillery there was blown up before the Italians retreated, and they were not replenished later. So if the Italians shelled Tubruk with battleships, it would be very difficult for us to hold out. ”

"Arthur?" Wavell looked at the frowning Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East Air Force Arthur. Admiral Ted. "Can planes stop their battleship from approaching Tubruk?"

Tubruk was not only an important supply port on the North African coastline, but also a gateway to the defense of Egypt. It was impossible to abandon the defense, otherwise Hersman would not have been able to stay in Alexandria as long as he deployed the Fokker Zero, S.M.79 and JU88 to Tubruk.

If the Mediterranean fleet leaves, then the Germans will land wherever they want in the whole of North Africa and on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, and even if Egypt holds on for the time being, the oil-producing areas of the Middle East will not be able to be preserved.

"Do your best," Arthur. Ted smiled bitterly, "As long as I can send a bomber, I'll fight the Italian fleet!" ”

"Yes, that's how it should be!" Wavell nodded approvingly, "Now is the most dangerous moment for the British Empire, and we must fight to the end!" ”

He thought for a moment, and then said to Admiral Cunningham, "In addition to night operations, the fleet must be ready to withdraw troops from Greece at any time." ”

Now the German troops in the Balkan direction have been deployed to Bulgaria and Albania and could attack Greece at any time. At the same time, the Tubruk front line may also start at any time. Therefore, the plan to abandon Greece (excluding Crete) and concentrate forces on the defense of Tubruk and Crete was ready.

Of course, in the event of an unfavorable battle on the Tubruk front, Wavell also plans to further concentrate his forces on Egypt. Withdraw the troops from Tubruk and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean to Egypt and hold on.

Just as Wavell was revealing his plan in full, a staff officer from the British Army General Headquarters in the Middle East walked in briskly.

"Admiral, the submarine discovered the Italian fleet, at least 5 battleships! The coordinates are 35.5 degrees north latitude and 18.5 degrees east longitude. Heading southeast. ”

"Southeast?" Admiral Cunningham frowned, "It's to Benghazi, or maybe Tubruk." ”

Wavell clapped his hands, "Alright, no matter what these Italians want to do, we can't let them do it!" ”

……

"This is my son Rudolph, he is a pilot, this is Admiral Rommel."

At a military airfield outside Rome, Hersmann introduced his son, Rudolph, to Rommel. He and Rommel were preparing to go to Benghazi together on an FW-200 airliner.

The purpose of Hersmann's trip was twofold: first, to inspect the situation of the German African Army and the Italian North Africa cluster; The second was to help Rommel establish his authority and facilitate his command of the Italian army.

And Hersmann and Rommel are both important people, and the landline naturally needs to be escorted. Today it happened that it was the squadron of the little Hersman who served as an escort. So before the plane took off, Hersman called his son to his landline.

"Rudolph is so old, what a blink of an eye," Rommel met the young Rudolph, "or a pilot in naval aviation, a graduate of the Kiel Naval Academy?" ”

"Admiral, I am a graduate of the Lichfeld Military Academy and the Karlsruhe Air Force Non-Commissioned Officer School."

"Is there a result?" Rommel asked with a smile.

"8 shot down." Hersman Jr. replied.

"We're 17 short of Blue Max," Hersmann said to Rommel with a smile, "We've all taken Blue Max, and now it's our boys' turn." ”

Rommel shook his head with a wry smile, "Marshal, my Manfred can't be compared to your Rudolph, he is too timid and not in good health, he can't get the blue Max." ”

"Manfred is still young," said Hersman, after a moment's thought, "he seems to have been born in '28, and he is only 13 years old this year, and by the time he reaches the age of enlistment, the war will surely be over." ”

"I'm sure I've got the Blue Max Medal too." Hesman Jr. chimed in.

Hersman smiled and nodded, then waved at his son, "Good job, I'll wait to see your blue Max." ”

Little Hersman gave a military salute and left the cabin. Hersmann told Rommel: "I think he'll get his wish soon, because now is the best time and we have a big advantage in all aspects." It's okay to take some risks at this point, but I don't want you to take too many risks and ignore the fact that the British Army is also a formidable military force. ”

"Of course, I'll be careful." Rommel smiled and said, "I now have 165 No. 4 tanks, as well as dozens of No. 3 assault guns and dozens of Wasp self-propelled guns, and I also have air and sea superiority." Therefore, it is necessary to start as soon as possible, and to fight all the way, this is the key, and not to give the British time to adjust their deployment...... As long as I can make a breakthrough, I can rush all the way to Alexandria, and the British can't stop it. (To be continued.) )