Not only did the Austrians cry out that they could not fight anymore, but even the Germans were shaken after seeing the terrible losses. The Germans shuddered when they looked at the distance between the Chinese soldiers and Kirkuk, an oil town in the valley of the two rivers, and the distance to the Eastern Railway. The Germans had no doubt that the targets of the next Chinese offensive would be these two places. "The Chinese Army didn't even have to attack the city, just bombed the oil fields and factories inside and outside the city with artillery and bombers, and it would take us years to rebuild. We will lose one of the most important fuel bases to go south to India. What can we do even if we take down Iran? The Iranians will destroy their oil fields, and Iran's refining capacity is not enough to support our operations in terms of production and quality, "In the face of the aggressive offensive of the Chinese Army, even the most belligerent Ludendorff realized that it would be Germany that would suffer if it continued to fight."

"Are we just throwing in the towel? Just because of a defeat in a campaign, we abandoned a plan we had been planning for years? Could it be that a few divisions of Chinese troops are helpless for the nearly 200,000 troops of our allies? Where is the German Iron Army, which once roamed Europe and fought against Britain, France, Russia, and the United States? We have defeated one strong enemy after another, do we have to admit defeat in front of Huaxia? The Kaiser's angry roar resounded throughout the hall. The king's anger made everyone present shudder.

"Actually, we didn't lose, strategically we achieved our goal. Thanks to the efforts of the Imperial Army, we have built a road to India. The border between British India and Iran was under our control, while China controlled only the northern part of Iran, and we, together with Turkey, surrounded the remaining territory of Iran from both north and south. Strategically. We are at an advantage. "Looking at Ludendorff, who had been giving him a look, Hindenburg finally came forward." Our occupation of most of Iran's territory is a fait accompli. China should have no intention of recovering lost territory for Iran, otherwise they should have fought us in Iran instead of in the valley of the two rivers. The other party's coercion is just to exchange for a slightly decent ending. ”

"The situation at this time is the same as in the Italian war, both sides are exhausted on the battlefield, and what is needed now is an opportunity, an opportunity to end this war with dignity." Looking at the Kaiser's slightly furrowed brow, Hindenburg continued. He could sense that the Kaiser didn't want to fight anymore. The huge casualties and losses affected the construction of the German army, and the loss of equipment was not very important, but it was only a few months of production capacity, and this was still without mobilization. What really distressed the Germans was the loss of a large number of experienced grassroots commanders and veterans, especially the Air Force. The loss of the pilot gave Richthofen a straight twitch of heartache. This is not something that can be achieved quickly, and even individual ace pilots cannot be trained by training, it depends on talent! Therefore, at this meeting, the Luftwaffe and the Army had the same opinion, that is, to accept the good news, to end the war as soon as possible, and to talk about the humiliation brought by China to Germany later. Anyway, Germany has already achieved the minimum goal. The gain of continuing to fight is small, and the cost will be great.

"How's the case with you, Count Spee? If I'm not mistaken. You just told me three days ago that that Iranian fleet would be annihilated within a week. Is that so? Just as Hindenburg was thinking about how to continue to "fool" the Kaiser in order to take over the armistice, the Kaiser turned his attention to Count Spee, the commander of the German navy, who had been silent.

"That's right, we'll see it in four days. General Luknar has already bitten his opponent in the South Atlantic. Only the final blow was missing. The other party will definitely not be able to escape. We will be victorious, Your Majesty. Count Spee bent slightly and said sternly.

"Shhh What do you mean by this at this time?! "Count Spee's statement surprised and dissatisfied Hindenburg, who had just proposed an armistice! When everyone says that the situation of the war is unfavorable and you are ready to take it when you see it, you suddenly jump out and say that the navy is about to win a big victory. Isn't this a demolition of everyone's platform?! Where do you put the face of the Army and the Air Force?! Emotional people don't know how hungry people are hungry. Iran's land fighting has nothing to do with your navy, so you're here to advocate and keep fighting?! Hindenburg sneered with great dissatisfaction. He could already imagine it. It is highly likely that the Kaiser will let the battle continue because of this victory at sea.

"But victory at sea could not fundamentally change the disadvantage of the German army in Iran. The Air Force and Army stationed in Iran are exhausted, and we have spent years preparing for this war. Even if our sea traffic is smooth. But the replenishment will also be very slow, and our convoys will have to depart from the Mediterranean Sea or even the North Sea. It took a long voyage to reach the Persian Gulf, and the port of Basra had a very limited capacity. This bottleneck is difficult to overcome. "God turns! To the surprise of almost everyone here, Count Spee had just said that the German Navy had the hope of a big victory in the near future, and in less than five minutes, he had begun to side with the army and air force to express his support for the armistice. It was a little strange to almost everyone.

"The war has become larger in scale, and General Schrager was attacked by the Huaxia Strategic Air Force, which, according to our estimates, concentrated at least four strategic bomber wings in China and more than 800 heavy bombers to attack the Austro-Hungarian Army in turn. They certainly have more bombers on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, and our largest oil-producing base is separated only by a narrow Caspian Sea from the deployment area of the opposing side's strategic air force. If the other side launches an attack on our oil fields, then the scale of this war is likely to be completely expanded. Richthofen then added a fire.

"Huaxia wouldn't do that. They were also unprepared for war. There was also a sense of uncertainty in Wilhelm II's words. From the bottom of his heart, Wilhelm II thinks that Xu Jie and himself want to be a person who will not be taken lightly. Judging from Xu Jie's appearance in the past few decades, Huaxia has never succumbed to the pressure of external forces. Even for Saipan, Huaxia can fight with the American fleet. The decisiveness and courage of this made Wilhelm II have to admire. Although Wilhelm II was arrogant, he was definitely not stupid, and he could tell when it was more advantageous to go to war.

"It's because they're not prepared. That's why there is a possibility of reconciliation between us, even if it's temporary. In the future, the first target we have to deal with is France. Even if we can defeat Huaxia in the next battle, we will not be able to deploy too many forces in the Middle East, and we must do everything in our power to deal with France! That being the case, we can now slow down now that we have opened the road to India. "Richthofen was a rare occasion to be stiff in front of the Kaiser.

"If we now send a strategic bomber force to attack the Huaxia Air Base on the east coast of the Caspian Sea, will we be able to contain the other side's strategic air strikes?" Wilhelm II's words startled Richthofen.

"This is impossible, our strategic bombers in the Middle East are deployed in the southern regions of the two river basins, and the combat distance is too long. Fighters could not accompany the escort. And to fly over the defense zone of the opposing air force. I'm afraid that we will lose quite a few aircraft before we reach the sky over the Caspian Sea. China has established a very complete radar network and ground guidance and command system in northern Iran, and we cannot take advantage of it now. It is also impossible to strike from the Caucasus oil fields, where we have all fighter units deployed. Used to defend against bombardment by the opposing side. Even if we were to immediately transfer our own strategic bomber forces to the country, the airfields and maintenance conditions would hardly support large-scale strategic bombing. And it is easy to let the war develop in an unpredictable direction. ”

"However, with the improvement of the logistics and transportation situation, we can completely deploy more aircraft in the two river valleys, and if we can really have a thorough understanding of the threat from the sea as the earl said, then we can increase the strength of at least three aviation wings, which will greatly improve the situation on the battlefield." Richthofen said. The size of the Luftwaffe's corps in the Middle East was always limited by logistical supplies. All kinds of supplies, including high-grade aviation gasoline, are transported from the mainland, and if there is no threat from the sea, then the supplies transported from the mainland can support a larger fleet, and the increase in various accessories is also conducive to improving the uptime of the aircraft.

"Okay. Still, I wonder what the so-called decent ending is. The Navy gave me the answer to destroy the Iranian fleet. And what about the Air Force and Army? What about your answers? Wilhelm II asked. In fact, Wilhelm II would have preferred that the army would say that the air force's planes could quickly transfer and fly over as long as the supplies were in place. But the Army is different. The transportation of a large number of soldiers and tank vehicles is a difficult process. And at the moment the German front-line troops suffered heavy losses. It will probably be a long process to regain the strength before the Hanging Garden.

"With the standards of unloading at the port of Basra, it is difficult for us to get enough supplies. I am afraid that the equipment and personnel coming from land and sea will only make up for part of our losses in the previous battle. If we can get some equipment from Turkey. The situation will be much better, Turkey uses the same weapons as ours. And many of these troops are stationed in the northern part of the two river basins. They lack experienced troops, and if we had brought the fighters over and requisitioned the equipment of the Turks, we would have done more with less. Although the German army top brass has agreed to an armistice, they are obviously not satisfied with the German army's performance on the battlefield this time, so Hindenburg and others plan to try to save some face.

"Our two armored divisions on the northern front have been prepared, and if the Turks cooperate, we can at least muster together the strength of two mechanized infantry divisions, so that the combat effectiveness of this force is already very considerable, and in three weeks, we can restore the four divisions on the southern front to 70% of the combat strength before the war. In this way, we will regain the advantage, with the troops on the northern front and the defenders of Kirkuk blocking the opponent, while the troops on the southern front can threaten the flank. We have already figured out the strength of the Huaxia Corps, counting the troops that will meet in the future, they will have 5 divisional combat units and 1 independent brigade, as well as a number of independent armored units. If you don't count the strategic bombers, the Huaxia Air Force will not be able to use more than 600 aircraft. We will still have the advantage in our forces, and we will be at least 70% sure that we will block the opponent. Hindenburg replied.

If Hindenburg's plan had come to fruition, the German Army would have been in a perfect position to engage in battle, with Kirkuk surrounded by permanent fortifications on the front. Although Schrager lost most of his equipment and his field combat ability decreased a lot, he could at least hold out for a long time if he relied on fortifications, after all, there were 100,000 garrisons, and even if he was in line to kill, he needed to kill for a while! To the north of Kirkuk were 4 German divisions, which had not yet entered the battle and were in good shape to threaten the opponent from the flank. As for the remnants of the German troops on the original southern front, although they could not recover to the pre-war level after resting, they did not have to face the main force of the Chinese troops as they did before the war, and in the next battle, they only had to face the ever-extending supply lines of the Chinese. The total strength of Huaxia is limited, and there will not be many troops to cover the supply lines. If Huaxia dares to continue to go deeper, then what awaits Huaxia will be an all-round attack from the Allied Legion!

The Air Force has said it will increase the strength of at least three wings. Then with the existing available crews, the number of aircraft will definitely exceed that of Huaxia. Although it may not be guaranteed to get air supremacy, it is still no problem to divide equally. Although Hindenburg admitted that the quality of the Chinese armored forces was higher than that of its own, it did not think that the gap between the two engines was so large that it could not be compared. According to the deduction of the German General Staff, if the Chinese Air Force is suppressed, the German Army's 4 divisions and 1 brigade will at least be tied against the 3 divisions of the Chinese Army. Don't forget, the Huaxia division is larger.

The request of the German General Staff was simple, to stop Huaxia west of Kirkuk. Then hit the opponent so hard that the opponent had to evacuate. As long as China eventually retreats to Iran, then Germany at least does not lose on the battlefield. In the event of negotiations under these circumstances, Germany could at least guarantee the fruits of the existing victory. Of course, this all depends on whether the German Navy can completely destroy the Iranian fleet. If the sea transportation line is not guaranteed, then it will be empty talk. At this time, in the Atlantic Ocean far from Germany, the siege of the German fleet under the command of Admiral Luknal had reached its final moment, and as Count Spay said, it would be known in a few days!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the reward~~~, as well as the book friend old students, Harvard Street monthly pass support ~~~~~. (To be continued......)