Washington's order split the Allied fleet, which was hurrying at full speed off the coast of Portugal, into two.

The British, of course, insisted on coming to Gibraltar's aid, because that was the United Kingdom's last line of defense outside the mainland.

The Americans, on the other hand, obeyed the president's orders and went to Rabat, the capital of Morocco, and Casablanca, the seat of the governor's palace. There, they will rendezvous with the convoy and escort it while awaiting the boarding of the U.S. troops, who are retreating at full speed toward the west coast of Morocco.

Eisenhower was ordered to abandon all his baggage, as long as all the soldiers were brought back to Morocco.

Even though he was reluctant, even if the troops under his command were not at a disadvantage on the battlefield, Eisenhower understood that there was nothing wrong with Washington's orders.

The complete fall of the Strait of Gibraltar was only a matter of time, and it was impossible to expect the British, who were in constant infighting, to be able to block the Allies in northern Morocco. If this multinational force, the Afrika Korps, does not retreat immediately, and when the Allies break through the British lines, I am afraid that there will be no chance to retreat.

Before the expedition, Alhower, who was arrogant, had to admit sadly: even if he had defeated the Han army, the Entente had completely failed in the African theater!

Intelligence shows that Han's submarine force has already appeared in the Atlantic, and if the Strait of Gibraltar is again controlled by the Allies, with the current comparison of the naval strength of the two sides, it will not be long before the west coast of Morocco will fall into the hands of the enemy.

For the sake of his hundreds of thousands of soldiers, or even the hundreds of thousands of the most elite soldiers in the multinational force, Eisenhower knew that something had to be sacrificed.

In previous operations, the multinational force took advantage of the topography of the Tademet plateau in central Algeria and successfully stopped the aggressive offensive of the Allied forces. Patton's Panzer Corps even had a slight advantage in a flank armoured duel with Rommel's German-Italian Afrika Korps.

As long as it doesn't take on the monster Mammoth heavy tank, the American M26 Pershing tank will not fall behind when attacking other medium tanks of the Allied forces.

But at this stage of the war, the performance of the tank is no longer a decisive factor on the battlefield. In the face of the opponent's attack like waves that are more turbulent than wave, the number of armor is more important.

Even if the perverted Mammoth tank was given to the U.S. military, the officers of the U.S. military were not confident that they would continue to hold out for long in the face of the armored waves of tens of thousands of tanks of the Allied forces.

Fortunately, there was Patton, who had always been disobedient and often clashed with Eisenhower, and his superb armored command tactics delayed the continuous offensive of the Allied forces and brought a little respite to the multinational forces.

Eisenhower did not hesitate any longer, taking advantage of the longer and longer Allied fronts, the widening supply gap, and the fact that he was blocked by Patton's Panzer 2nd Army, and while Tademite continued to assemble, he urgently convened a corps meeting at the Gorala Oasis and read Washington's retreat order to the commanders of the armies and above.

Everyone was silent for an instant, no one was surprised, but everyone was digesting the impact of this order on the direction of the war.

A retreat in Africa meant that the Allies had completely abandoned the Western European theater. Many officers of the Commonwealth Army were at a loss in their eyes, and until this time, they were the least willing to face and the least willing to admit that the scar had been lifted. As a member of the British Commonwealth, as the overseas Dominion of the United Kingdom, even Britain is about to be abandoned, where will they go?

At a time when time was so tight, Eisenhower convened such a conference not to promote the so-called "democracy" that Americans like to talk about so much.

Now that the once-mighty United Kingdom has reached its knees, the Commonwealth countries must have a new choice. But imagine that if they were not allowed to choose freely, the result would be that the majority would have fallen to the fascist states that were militarily victorious.

Eisenhower wanted to bring the armies of other countries in the corps back to the United States as well, so that he could have some fears when making new choices in those countries. He also believed that the officers had no choice. No country's military wants to be taken prisoner, and that would be a shame that will never be erased in the military career.

Ike's humility towards people and American-style democracy played a considerable role in this time. In the end, the officers of all the other countries expressed their willingness to advance and retreat with the American army, which made Eisenhower, who had been nervously waiting, breathe a sigh of relief. It is certainly a blessing in misfortune that internal unity can be maintained before such a large-scale retreat.

In the next tactical arrangement for the Great Retreat, Patton was the first to stand up. "The task after the break should and must be undertaken by the US military, and I am willing to lead the 2nd Armored Army to accept this task."

Looking at this quick-tempered general who had been trying to compete with him for the position of commander-in-chief of the multinational force, Ellinghower was both surprised and felt reasonable for his initiative to ask for battle.

Surprisingly, Barton has been looking for an opportunity to oppose him, but at this time when it is easiest to embarrass himself, he chooses to take on the most dangerous, even life-threatening, mission.

That's right, it's nine deaths! Once the 2nd Panzer Army was left alone, without the ground air defense forces of the flank motorized forces as a deterrent, the Han Army's air cavalry division could quickly form a devastating blow to the tank army.

Having lost the protection of the "Stinger", the armored units in the face of the helicopter gunships of the Han army were nothing more than a herd of lambs to the slaughter, which has been proven many times on the African battlefield.

It is reasonable because in this moment of crisis, if you don't stand up first, it won't be Barton's character! If it is said that among the generals of the US army, he is ranked by "bravery", then Patton considers himself second, and absolutely no one dares to call him first.

"The most hated bastard, the most respectable comrade-in-arms!" Eisenhower's assessment of Patton in private was apt.

……

The corps headquarters was a relatively forward retreat sequence, and before departure, Eisenhower deliberately rode a Humvee jeep to the 2nd Panzer Corps' station.

"George, don't be bruised!"

"Oh? Dwight, I'm not as good as you as an officer in the drill battalion, but I command the armored corps...... You're not qualified to teach me a lesson! ”

Not caring about Barton's irreverent tone, Eisenhower shouted "George, you bastard, you must come back, I'll be waiting for you in Casablanca" the moment he turned to get into the jeep. ”

Barton smiled, took off his soft military hat, and dusted the sand off his hat, "You're a bastard!" Wait for me to do it? Wait for me to go back and rob your commander-in-chief? ”

"No problem, as soon as I return home, I will submit my resignation to Chief of Staff Marshall and recommend you to be the next commander of the expeditionary force."

...... ", Lao Tzu is not uncommon with your recommendation, Lao Tzu's promotion depends on himself on the battlefield." ”

The Hummer had already started, and Patton's whispered murmur was not heard by Eisenhower at all. But Barton knew he could guess what he would say!

It is not you who knows you best, but your opponents.

Eleven days later, Admiral Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander-in-chief of the Multinational Force Afrika Korps in Casablanca, received news that the broken 2nd Panzer Army was surrounded by Allied forces near Mairij on the border with Morocco. The whereabouts of the commander, Lieutenant General George Patton, are unknown, most likely ...... Died in battle.

In order to be able to pick up the troops in Africa, the Americans organized a huge transport fleet, and the navy almost poured out of the nest, and several Essex-class aircraft carriers that had just entered service appeared in the escort formation, and there were also nearly 20 escort aircraft carriers and nearly 100 other frigates.

The submarine forces did not have any chances. Even if it was possible to lay an ambush in advance, the submarine had almost no chance to escape after the attack. The Americans' P-3 "Orion" anti-submarine patrol planes patrol the living waters near the route almost non-stop, and those escort aircraft carriers are also equipped with "Mysterious" anti-submarine helicopters modeled after the PQZ-41 "Sea Hawk" of the Han Royal Navy, which greatly limits the activity space of Dongfeng-class submarines.

In fact, His Majesty in the Weiyang Palace was also furious about this matter, because of the tension of the war, Zhong Yi, who had been staying in Weiqing Pavilion, did not return to Jinhua Hall for many days, and was complained by Qin Yingxue and Haini.

"Wei Qingge has no shortage of beautiful girls, and it's just a woman who forgets herself, but Wei Qingge always has no children of her own, right? Could it be that Your Majesty has even forgotten Tianlin and Tianning? ”

Such vinegary words are not common to say in Qin Yingxue's mouth. Zhong Yi also realized the seriousness of the problem, and took the opportunity of Concubine Jin, who had returned to Kalgoorlie Province, to return to the palace today, His Majesty hurriedly called Concubine Lan and asked Hai Ni to drive her "Feiyan" light helicopter to Wei Qingge to pick him up.

Three women in one play, when there are two babies added to this play, Zhong Yi is full of pain and happiness, which is even more brain-consuming than dealing with military and political affairs.

Director Mu came uninvited, and finally saved Zhong Yi from fire and water, and called Vivian to take away the naughty Tianlin, His Majesty found a towel to wipe the saliva on his son's face, and walked into the study in the Jinhua Hall with Mu Yu.

From the children's toys on the bookcase to the side, the two finally sat down.

"Your Majesty, there are eyebrows on the case of the United States successfully copying China's 'Sea Hawk' helicopter!"

There were no outsiders, and Director Mu didn't need to be too polite, and before the fart/stock touched the chair, he started to report in a hurry.

"Who? Who did it? "As soon as I heard that this was the case, Your Majesty was more anxious than Director Mu." The "Sea Hawk" leak case has been under secret investigation, and after Lin Jie, commander of the Atlantic submarine formation, reported on the appearance of an anti-submarine helicopter similar to the "Sea Hawk" in the US military, it was listed as a particularly serious case by the Military Intelligence Bureau.

His Majesty was even more furious when he heard the news, and ordered the Military Intelligence Agency to make every effort to crack the case and cut off all the tentacles of the Americans reaching into the empire.

For the Han Empire, advanced military technology is the foundation of the country on which the empire depends. The most core military aviation scientific research has been leaked, and Zhong Yi is very suspicious that the problem may not only be the production technology of "Sea Eagle".