Chapter 1219: Iran Strategy
Doing business pays attention to asking for a high price and paying back the money on the spot. Frugi knew that he thought that Iran's status and role in the hearts of China and the Entente were not as good as Italy's, and in the war, China and the Entente could not support Italy without doing their best! In the end, about half of the fleets of the five countries were even concentrated against the German naval aviation, and the great courage and determination of this made Fruji have to admire. But even so what? Eventually, Germany occupied Italy, and Mussolini, a traitor, entered his official residence in Rome. Fruji knew that with the current state of China and the Entente, it was impossible to completely stop the attack of the Central Powers. On the one hand, the strength is not enough, and on the other hand, it is not committed. Huaxia is fighting to the death for Iran and the Allies? Even if this came out of Cai Yi's mouth, Furuji didn't believe it! Therefore, what Fruji said earlier was just to test the other party, let Cai Yi make a decision, and see what Huaxia's strategy was.
Cai Ye also thought of this meaning, even if the Iranians did not ask, Cai Ye must make it clear. After all, this is the basis of cooperation between the two sides. It took Xu Jie and the top brass in China a long time to formulate this plan, and even before the outbreak of the Italian war, they had already begun to consider the Iranian issue. It is impossible to hardcap with strength, so it is more important to highlight the strategy when specifying the Iranian plan. Not only did it take into account Iran's national conditions and the strategic intentions of its allies, but even its allies made calculations! In addition to mutual assistance, another very important role of allies is to be used to pit!
When making a plan first, it is important to understand the intentions of your opponents. Judging from the information collected so far, the German occupation of Iran was due to the following reasons, the first of which was naturally Iran's oil and gas resources. No one can have too much oil. But it should be noted that the Allies, especially Germany, were not short of oil. Even the combined oil production capacity of Iran is not as good as that of the Transcaucasian oil fields controlled by Germany. So that's a very important reason. But definitely not the decisive reason! The second reason is that the future Allied Indian Ocean Fleet needs a completely closed and safe base. The Persian Gulf is the best choice, for the safety of its own fleet, Germany must obtain the right to control Iran's territory along the Persian Gulf coast, whether it is coercion or forcible occupation, this goal must be achieved, which is also a very important reason, but it is also not the most critical, the most critical reason is that Germany needs a springboard to attack India!
Germany's ambitions went far beyond Iran, and the wider South Asia was what the Germans ultimately wanted. And the British, naturally, will not give it up. Want to build such a huge colony. The air force and navy alone would certainly not work, so the Germans had to make a land passage. So that the tough German Army could enter the South Asian subcontinent. Generally, it is not difficult for the upper echelons to think of this layer when there is sufficient information. But this is only the first step in Huaxia's analysis of Germany's strategy, and there are more important ones below!
It is true that the Germans need a springboard and a position to launch an offensive, but that does not mean that Germany needs to occupy all of Iran! Are there two seemingly contradictory inferences? In fact, there is no contradiction at all, occupying part of Iran can still get this springboard, and if the cost of occupying the whole of Iran outweighs the benefits, then the Germans naturally need to weigh it carefully and prioritize it. Who, of course, is to prevent Germany from gaining this passage. Then there's nothing to talk about, let's show your weapons and fight to the death!
Now that we have realized this, we have finally touched the core of the strategy of the Allies, and the next step is to analyze how the road of the Allies has opened! Geographically and infrastructively. The conditions in Iran are not good, the road traffic is not good, and the railway can only be described as sad compared with European countries. Even the British Army's internal writer once optimistically analyzed that even if the Allies had taken over the entire Iranian transportation system. It was still not enough to support an offensive in South Asia with more than 1.5 million troops. Then now the question arises, the Germans could not have received the Iranian transport system in its entirety. It is even more unlikely that it will take a long time to build a complete transportation system after the occupation of Iran. So how does Germany need to solve this problem?
The Germans thought of it, and Xu Jie also thought of it, land transportation is not enough, so use sea transportation to make up for it! In order to ensure the smooth and safe passage of sea traffic, Germany was bound to occupy the coastal areas of Iran, especially the important ports, and then obtain at least a starting position in the border area between Iran and British India. This is the minimum goal of Germany's Iran strategy, and it is also a goal that must be achieved. Whoever stops, Germany is in a hurry!
At this point, the purpose of the Germans in Iran is analyzed. Then Xu Jie naturally thought of a question, if China and Iran ceded this area, would the Germans leave a piece of land for the current Iranian government? As for saying that Germany wants to fight India, then well, China would like the Allies and Britain and the United States to fight to the death in India.
This idea is unrealistic and even unreasonable in the eyes of the vast majority of people, not to mention whether Germany will leave a piece of land for itself to the current Iranian government, and even if it does, what if it does? After losing access to the sea, Iran's external communication was completely cut off, Iran's oil could not be exported through the coastal ports of Guò, and it was difficult for Chinese goods and aid to enter Iran. What is the use of such an isolated island for Huaxia? In the face of this question, Xu Jie's answer is very simple: "The southern part of Iran is the Indian Ocean, and there is also a Caspian Sea in the northern part of Iran. Wouldn't it be better to process it directly at China's oil processing plants in Central Asia and turn it into gasoline and diesel and other petrochemical supplies to supply China's troops in Central Asia and North Asia? "In the same way, since Huaxia can obtain Iranian fuel through the guò route, it can also supply Iran with supplies through the guò route.
With this transportation line in place, then the Iranian government's reserve in the north is of great significance to the whole situation of the war. On the one hand, the Chinese garrison in Iran directly faced the narrow transportation lines of the Central Powers, which was as deadly as a long sword nailed to the waist of the Central Powers, and on the other hand, it could be used as the starting position of the Chinese Air Force, directly threatening the two river basins and even the Persian Gulf. Whether from the army or from the air, this is a rare salient, so now the question comes, Huaxia can see this step, the Germans have not seen this step, in this case, then what way does Huaxia have to keep this isolated island? What hole cards does Huaxia have for the Germans to cast a rat bogey?
"The Germans hijacked our oil fields in the valley of the two rivers to restrict our movements, and what the Germans did not expect was that we also had the means to threaten the security of Germany's fuel supply, do you think it is a waste that China has spent more than ten years insisting on building railways, airports and various military facilities in Central Asian countries since the end of World War I? Naturally impossible! Lao Tzu has been busy for so long to prepare for today. At the high-level meeting in China, Xu Jie proudly pointed to the Chinese garrison in Central Asia and said: "Our troops deployed in Central Asia, especially those deployed along the Caspian Sea, can drop bombs on Transcaucasia, the most important oil-producing area under German control, as long as they cross the narrow Caspian Sea!" If the Germans want to fight us in Iran, then their Transcaucasian oil fields and even those in Mesopotamia (bombed from Iran) will be hit with a retaliatory attack from China! When necessary, we need to tell the Germans our ideas with great determination and perseverance! ”
"The Germans are not stupid, they will deploy a large number of air and air defense forces in the valley of the two rivers and in the Transcaucasia, and we will probably pay a great price as the attacking side. After all, in the battle of Italy, even if the Luftwaffe had an overwhelming numerical superiority, it still suffered heavy losses in the face of the air forces of the five countries, and the situation we faced could be even worse. Xu Jie's opinion was very innovative, but it lacked enough convincing, and the generals of the air force expressed concern about the situation, after all, it is not easy to train the personnel of the air force.
"Boss, I don't really agree with you. This is completely different from your previous strategic thinking, which was that you used to think about how to get the most out of your efforts, but this time it can be described as brute force. You started to say very well, we ceded the southern regions of Iran because of the unattainable strength, and this is the area that the Germans were bound to acquire. And our blow to the oil fields of the Transcaucasia also touched the Germans. Why would they compromise with us? The result of such a battle was naturally the expansion of the battle between China and the Allies, and even the fact that we started a full-scale war with the Germans earlier than the Entente. This is not in line with the strategy and interests that we have set out now. After a while, Peng Yi also expressed his opposition to the plan.
"It's a big gamble, I bet that Germany won't go all out in Central and South Asia until a problem is resolved, and I'm betting that Germany will threaten us with our sword and reach a short-term compromise. Everything has priorities, and I think even the safety of the Transcaucasian oil fields may not be as important to Germany as this matter! As long as we give the Germans a step down, they will accept it! Xu Jie said calmly!
Oil is the lifeblood of industry, and what could be more important than surround your own oil fields? When Xu Jie's words came out, the shock in many people's hearts was difficult to describe in words. They even wondered if Xu Jie was making a joke, but judging from Xu Jie's attitude, it was absolutely impossible!
Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976, hukaikaka for the tip~~~. (To be continued......)