Mussolini, who was beaten to the ground and searched for teeth, urgently appealed to Hitler for help, and Hitler decided to intervene on November 4, 1940, four days after British troops were stationed in Crete and Mykonos.

He ordered his generals to prepare an offensive plan for an invasion of northern Greece via Romania and Bulgaria, as part of which was to completely dismantle British power in the Mediterranean.

On 12 November, the Wehrmacht High Command issued Order No. 18 to attack Gibraltar and Greece in January of the following year.

However, in December 1940, when the Spanish dictator Francisco ? After Franco refused to participate in the operation to attack Gibraltar.

Historically, Germany had to reconsider its plans in the Mediterranean because of Spain's refusal.

At this time, the Seventh Panzer Army could be said to be strong and strong, with four armored divisions under its jurisdiction, including three armored divisions of the German Wehrmacht and one Wansheng Volunteer Division.

These armoured divisions were reinforced with firepower, each with twice as many guns as the others, and even weapons such as tanks and armored vehicles were twice as large as other Wehrmacht divisions.

The entire Seventh Panzer Corps had 64,000 troops, 1,600 tanks of various types, and more than 2,000 artillery pieces of various calibers.

This is thanks to the strong support of the French government of Vessy. Because they gave Rommel enough money, Rommel had enough money to order and repair so many weapons and equipment in France.

When Hitler issued the 18th battle order, Rommel shut himself in the war room to think.

Hitler's Battle Order No. 18 was divided into two steps, the first of which was for the Germans to send troops directly to help the Italian army fighting in Greece. The second step was for Spain to attack British-occupied Gibraltar.

Gibraltar's strategic location is so important that there are two outlets from the Mediterranean, one is the Suez Canal and the other is the Strait of Gibraltar.

As long as Spain recovered Gibraltar, which was occupied by the British, then Britain's door to the Mediterranean would be closed, and Britain would need to make a detour through the Cape of Good Hope through the Mediterranean route, which would have an additional range of more than 10,000 nautical miles.

It can be seen the importance of Gibraltar to Britain, Gibraltar is simply the lifeblood of Britain, such an important place, of course, Britain also built a very strong fortress, stationed a large number of troops, including the Gibraltar fleet.

But the Spanish dictator Franco was a wall-hardened man who had been on the sidelines, and Germany's defeat in the air war at Great Britain strengthened Franco's desire to sit on the hill and watch the tiger fight.

Franco is a typical nationalist, Nazist and opportunist, how could he have shed his blood for Germany, and Germany would have shed his blood for him.

At the beginning of December '40, Franco finally officially rejected Hitler's request for him to attack Gibraltar.

How could Rommel give up this good opportunity to attack Britain's goal, absolutely impossible to give up.

Gibraltar must be taken, and Gibraltar must be taken, so that the future African battlefield can be guaranteed, and at the same time, it can also cut off the British Mediterranean route, so that the British can make a 20,000-nautical detour of various materials looted from the colonies to Britain.

Britain is an island country, its own material and resources are extremely poor, most of the materials needed by Britain come from various colonies, once Britain's Mediterranean route is cut off, the blow to Britain is absolutely very deadly.

For example, oil in the Middle East, rubber and grain in Southeast Asia, and various ores in Australia all take the Mediterranean route, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the Mediterranean route is the lifeline of the British Empire.

Didn't the Spanish dictator want to be ******? Well, after Rommel sent a telegram to Hitler asking for war, he immediately gathered his forces and prepared to assemble on the Franco-Spanish border.

Hitler hated Franco, a white-eyed wolf, during the Spanish Civil War, Germany sent tens of thousands of soldiers to help Franco fight the civil war, and Germany spent a huge price to help Franco seize power in Spain.

But Franco, the white-eyed wolf, didn't recognize people in a blink of an eye, it was tolerable, familiar and unbearable. When Rommel's telegram reached Hitler, Hitler immediately granted Rommel's request and gave Rommel the power to make decisions, and Rommel was assisted by the Fourth Air Division.

It was the first time that Hitler gave such rights to a general of the German Wehrmacht, and Hitler controlled the military power very tightly, and if it were not for Hitler as a confidant, Hitler would not have given Rommel such great power.

As soon as Rommel received the telegram, he ordered the 7th Panzer Corps and the 4th Air Division to immediately assemble on the Franco-Spanish border.

Before his departure, Rommel also invited the world's media to interview freely at the train station or airport.

Rommel did this in order to get the first word out and put pressure on the Spanish dictator Franco to build momentum for Rommel's next move.

Rommel didn't want to force Spain to attack Gibraltar, that was undoubtedly to force the Spanish soldiers to die, and with the tattered weapons and equipment of the Spanish army, they could not defeat the heavily garrisoned fortress of Gibraltar.

Rommel sent troops to the Spanish border with great fanfare, in order to get Franco, the dictator, to agree to the Seventh Panzer Army to attack the fortress of Gibraltar through Spain, which was actually an excuse.

……

At the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain, now the capital of the head of state, Franco, the lifelong head of state, is like an ant on a hot pot, constantly moving around his office, and on his desk, there is a newspaper reporting on Rommel's invasion of the Spanish border.

What kind of unit is the Seventh Panzer Army, it is a unit known as the "Devil's Division", Rommel's outstanding military exploits are praised by Germany as the "Eagle of the Reich", and the outside world is even called the "Nazi God of War".

Spain's military strength was less than one-fifth of that of pre-war France, and Germany captured France in only 50 days, so how long could Spain hold out, whether it was five or ten days.

Even if he gave Franco 10,000 guts, he did not dare to meet the German soldiers. Historically, it was because Hitler did not take a hard line against Franco that he gave Franco the opportunity to become a ******.

Rommel could never have given Franco such a chance, Rommel had the chips and the means to make Franco a complete member of the Axis powers.

Franco said to himself as he walked around the office:

"What to do? What can I do, this time it's Rommel's Nazi god of war. ”

The advantage of a dictator is that he has the power alone, and the disadvantage is that he has to make a choice and bear the consequences of his choice.

Suddenly, Franco stopped spinning, as if he had suddenly thought of a crucial question, Franco pressed the electric bell on his desk, and in a moment, a beautiful female secretary knocked on the door and came in:

"Yuan is born first, is there anything wrong?"

"Immediately invite the German ambassador to my office."

"Okay!"

What Hitler was going to do when he sent Rommel, the "eagle of the Reich," to the Spanish border, Franco still does not understand Germany's intentions.

Therefore, he wanted to ask the German ambassador to Spain what Germany's intentions were, and only after understanding Germany's true intentions could he formulate a corresponding plan.

……