It is now December '40, and the German attack on the Soviet Union began on June 22, '41, and the Greek campaign dragged the German army for two whole months, and this delay prevented the German army from taking Moscow before the onset of winter.

The situation is not exactly the same as it was in history, because Rommel sold the captured French weapons and equipment to China, thus obtaining three million tons of rare metal ore for Germany.

All of these 3 million tons of rare metal ore were transported by rail from the Soviet Union, although Germany and the Soviet Union had agreed that the Soviet Union would transport 300,000 tons of rare metal ore to Germany every month.

However, this is not the case, the Soviet Union always postpones the transportation plan under various pretexts, and the original transportation plan of 300,000 tons per month is actually only about 100,000 tons for Germany.

This amount of transport was only one-third of the amount of the negotiation, and Hitler was in a hurry! In order to get the Soviet Union Stalin to finish transporting these rare metal ores as soon as possible, he even stationed a million troops on the German-Soviet border.

Stalin personally came forward to explain the specific difficulties of the Soviet Union, and there were thousands of excuses, but anyway, he did not increase the volume of transportation.

In order to obtain these rare metal ores, Hitler could only use intimidation for the time being, and could not really take action against the Soviet Union immediately, otherwise the Soviet Union would not be able to help Germany transport a grain of rare metal ore.

Stalin was also sure that Hitler did not dare to take action against the Soviet Union immediately in order to obtain these rare metal ores.

Although Stalin was brutal, Stalin was definitely not a fool, he was not a fool, and he certainly knew that when the Soviet Union finished transporting rare metal ores for Germany, it was when Germany immediately took action against the Soviet Union.

Stalin was not stupid, but he was clever enough to reduce the volume of transport to one-third of what had been agreed, which would have delayed the German attack on the Soviet Union for about a year or two.

What is the situation of the Soviet Union after the Great Purge, Stalin is very clear, many high-ranking generals of the Soviet Red Army were promoted by rockets, and they have no fart skills.

A few months ago, the Soviet Union went to attack a third-rate country like Finland, and the result was heavy casualties, which is the status quo of the Soviet Red Army.

So Stalin urgently needed time to restore the combat strength of the Red Army, and at the same time to intensify the production of weapons and equipment and make more preparations for the coming war.

Stalin's rogue trick played a very good role, and the monthly transportation volume of 100,000 tons was just above the bottom line of Germany.

If Germany attacked the Soviet Union now, Germany's source of obtaining rare metal ores would be almost cut off, and Germany could only wait, endure, and have no other way in order to obtain rare metal ores, in fact, this is also Rommel's most desired outcome.

Hitler had to postpone his attack on the Soviet Union, which made Hitler in Germany feel like he was in the throat, and he vowed to take the cousin Stalin to Berlin and parade through the streets.

Stalin played this hand beautifully, and Hitler could only curse Stalin in his office, and then swore that when all the rare metals were shipped, he would do what happened to Stalin.

……

Before Rommel reached the Spanish border, he received a telegram from the German High Command:

"Spain has given your troops permission to enter, and now orders your troops to take the fortress of Gibraltar as soon as possible, and the Fourth Air Division will cooperate with your actions."

The head of the German High Command was Field Marshal Brünberg, and Marshal Brünburg was a die-hard supporter of Hitler, and he would never disobey Hitler's will, otherwise Brünburg would not have been able to sit in the position of head of the High Command.

But here's the problem, Germany also has a Ministry of Defense, the Minister of Defense is Brauchitsch, the High Command is made by Hitler, and the Ministry of Defense has always existed.

Why did Hitler create a high command whose powers completely overlapped with those of the Ministry of Defense?

The Ministry of Defense was controlled by the traditional German aristocratic officer corps, and Hitler, the civilian Führer, did not really have full control over the Ministry of Defense, and certainly Hitler could not fully control the Wehrmacht, Germany's main military force.

For a dictator, this is absolutely intolerable, so Hitler created a high command in an attempt to empty the Ministry of Defense.

The complete overlap of the powers of the High Command and the Ministry of Defense will definitely result in multiple orders, which may not be so obvious when there is no war, and if the war is in full swing, it will be necessary to order multiple doors.

If it weren't for the heroic tenacity of the German soldiers and the superb command art of the commanders, Germany would have been doomed long ago.

Rommel was shocked when he saw the telegram from the High Command, which was purely here to make a mistake, but now Rommel has no way to change all this.

Rommel had already secretly decided in his heart that this high command must be abolished, but not now, when Rommel himself had this power.

Now that Spain has relented, Rommel is not polite, he came to the Spanish border this time to attack the fortress of Gibraltar, so he is very well prepared.

Heavy artillery and ample ammunition were brought, and most importantly, Rommel also prepared two thousand aerial bombs weighing up to a thousand kilograms for the Gibraltar fortress, and there were one hundred and sixty-four JU87 Stuka dive bombers dedicated to dropping these heavy aerial bombs.

The Gibraltar fortress itself did not have an airfield, but the British stationed the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal here, and later added one.

The aircraft carrier "Ark Royal" can carry up to sixty aircraft, including 36 Swordfish torpedo planes and 24 Thief Seagull fighter-bombers.

The two aircraft were very poor in performance, and the gap was large compared to the German BF109 combat, and there was no comparison between the two at all.

The railways of Spain were connected to those of France, and the trains carrying the 7th Panzer Army did not need to get off at all, and the trains rumbled into Spain.

……

Rommel invited journalists from all over the world to interview him before he left, and Rommel did so to put pressure on Franco, the dictator of Spain.

In a twist, the Spanish dictator Franco compromised and allowed Rommel's Seventh Panzer Army to attack Gibraltar through Spain.

Well, the world's media are reporting the news that the 7th Panzer Army is about to attack the strongest fortress in the world.

The Times, Britain's most famous newspaper, even used a special issue to report on the incident, and the panic of the whole British people was once again ignited.

Originally, Britain had just resisted the German air raid with heavy losses, and because of this disastrous victory, Britain made the British people build up a little self-confidence.

The German Seventh Panzer Army, which can be called the "Devil's Army" and should now be called the "Devil's Army", has been released by Satan again.

During the air war of Great Britain, no matter how much Britain was afraid of the Seventh Panzer Army, Britain still had the English Channel as a moat to protect.

What now! The "devil's army" released by Satan will directly attack Gibraltar, Gibraltar is not protected by the Strait, but Gibraltar is the lifeblood of the British Empire.

The only thing that reassured the British was that Gibraltar had the strongest fortress in the world, and Spain had tried to retake Gibraltar several times before, only to be defeated in front of the Gibraltar fortress.

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