With the passage of time, the second contest between the Allies and the Entente after World War 1 was about to begin in Iran. 1920+15 years. The war preparations of both sides are no longer disguised. The Germans moved the main forces of the 1st, 5th, and 6th Heavy Panzer Divisions to the southern part of the Two Rivers Valley, accompanied by four other infantry divisions and some logistics units. In just a few months, the number of German troops in the area grew from 30,000 to around 150,000 (including logistics units)! Although some of the heavy equipment has not yet been put in place, anyone with a discerning eye knows that the war has entered the countdown.

The three armored divisions had about 600 tanks of all kinds that could fight. Combined with the accompanying tank destroyers and assault guns, the energy of the first wave of the German Army's attack was already considerable. There are a total of 7 divisions, and the number of troops that can be dispatched is also about 100,000. Compared with the US and British forces defending southern Iran, the latter's strength is much worse, so far, the total number of troops promised by the United States and Britain is only about 80,000, and about 500 tanks and armored vehicles. In terms of size, it is less than half of the Germans, and in terms of combat effectiveness, I am afraid that it is only about 30%! In Xu Jie's opinion, being defeated is certain, and the key is how long it can be delayed!

On the southern front, the Germans did not intend to go all out at the outset, and the Germans planned to commit two armored divisions and two infantry divisions as the main force first, while the remaining forces were to be used as the general reserve for the entire theater of operations. It is not that the Germans underestimated the combat effectiveness of the American and British armies. But he was very worried about the Austro-Hungarian army on the Turkish front on the northern front! If the southern route is dominated by the Allies, then the northern route is dominated by China and Iran. At least judging from the number, the combined forces of China and Iran on the northern front have a total of 4 armored divisions. 2 of them are Iranians, while the other 2 are genuine Chinese front-line armored forces!

"According to reliable intelligence. The scale of the Huaxia Armored Division is somewhat larger than ours, and there are about 250 tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns in one division. Only the total strength of 2 armored divisions is counted. It's already about the same as the troops we have deployed on the front line. If we take into account the difference in the quality of equipment, then even if we have a head-to-head battle with our opponent, the battle situation will be very unoptimistic. I also think that the two inferior armored divisions of Austria-Hungary and the Turks will be able to block the overwhelming blow of the Chinese and Iranian forces head-on. Their target is Kirkuk. This field is critical and there must be no room for error, so I would like to either draw new troops from home to strengthen the defenses of the Northern Front, or draw an armored division as a general reserve. At an internal meeting of the Army, Manstein said without worry.

Manstein's words were a wake-up call to the German Army's top brass, but they later discovered that the transfer of reinforcements was not an overnight thing. It was very difficult to transport 200 tanks and thousands of trucks for an armored division, plus a large number of self-propelled guns and other heavy equipment. And the consumption is even greater. If one more panzer division were to be added, it would undoubtedly be a serious challenge for the current stocks of fuel and ammunition on the German front. At the same time, the Germans are worried that China and Iran will be more prepared as time goes on, and time will not necessarily be on the side of the Germans.

In the end, the German General Staff made a compromise decision to draw out a separate panzer division as a general reserve. At the same time, in order to cope with the possible shortage of armored forces on the southern front, the German Army decided to send several independent armored battalions to make up for the lack of armored forces after the outbreak of war. These separate armoured battalions contain a certain number of wheeled armoured vehicles. And it's not equipped with ranged support firepower, so it can save a lot of supply units. In the eyes of the Germans, although this combination of half tracked combat vehicles and half wheeled combat vehicles is a bit nondescript, it is absolutely impossible to meet the real armored forces of Chinese Germany. But it was enough to fight the weak American and British forces. This can be regarded as a convenient and quick way to improve combat effectiveness.

In the end, Germany and Turkey, as well as Austria-Hungary, came to an agreement. Both sides attacked simultaneously from both directions, the west and the south. The German Army would do its best to break the American-British forces on the Chinese flank in a short period of time, while the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian armies would have to contain the Chinese and Iranian armies and prevent the other side from uniting together against the German Army. According to the plan of the Germans, the German Army, with the cooperation of the Air Force, would crush the American-British forces in 2 weeks, and then detour to the flanks and rear of the Chinese and Iranian armies and form a pincer offensive with the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian armies.

As for the other possibility. Huaxia launched a direct attack on Turkey at the beginning stage, and the Allies also made arrangements, and that armored division was the last fuse to protect Kirkuk. According to the estimates of the Germans. Even if they can't finally contain the offensive of the Huaxia Army, they can at least delay it for a while. And the Chinese troops, who were attacking with all their might, were naturally unable to support the United States and Britain. Then the German assault on the southern front would have been much smoother.

And on the Air Force. A huge cluster of nearly 2,500 aircraft of the four air armies, including the Reich Air Force, the Griffon Air Force, the Frederick the Great Air Force and the Condor Air Force of the Luftwaffe, began to enter the valley of the two rivers and Asia Minor. A semicircular encirclement network is formed. Together with the front-line troops invested by Turkey and Austria-Hungary, the entire Allied air force in the Middle East has reached about 4,000 aircraft! As an adversary, the aviation forces of Huaxia and the Entente countries have only deployed more than 2,200 aircraft in Iran. Among them, the Huaxia Air Force has about 900 aircraft. Iran's air force is about 500 aircraft. The rest are the United States and the United Kingdom. Compared to the Allied air force, it was a balanced mix of fighters, night fighters, and bombers. The aviation forces of the Chinese and Entente countries are mainly defensive, and the proportion of fighters accounts for the vast majority, although there are also attack aircraft, but they are all single-engine. Only a limited number of ground attack missions can be performed. Although Huaxia and the Entente are still trying to replenish the number of aircraft, from the current situation, it seems that due to Iran's fragile ground handling and maintenance capabilities, there is not much room for growth.

In terms of numbers alone, the Luftwaffe can be called a good hand, but the only thing that makes the Germans feel more depressed is that the range of the BF109 fighter is really sad. EVEN WITH AUXILIARY FUEL TANKS, THEIR COMBAT RADIUS GENERALLY DOES NOT EXCEED 500KM. If you consider getting the enemy in advance and throwing away the auxiliary fuel tanks, then the voyage will be more miserable. So on the first day of fighting. It is indeed difficult to strike at targets in Iran's depth. Unless the Luftwaffe is willing to take greater risks and losses.

In response to this situation, Goering proposed to implement night bombing. Although the accuracy will be lower, it is better than nothing. Grim, on the other hand, built a campaign to attack Iran's air bases. The heavy losses in Italy last time made the bomber commander very jealous of the Allied intercepting forces. In his view, the primary combat target of the air force is the opponent's air force, and let's solve this problem first and then talk about ground support. And on the issue of the selection of targets, the Red Baron, as the boss of the Air Force, did not give clear instructions. On the one hand, it was because he was more in favor of Grim's proposal, but on the other hand, under pressure from the General Staff, he had to take into account the requirements of the Army. So I put on an attitude that you do it, don't go too far, and I pretend not to know. And the little Richthofen, who was in charge of making the plan (the Luftwaffe general of the 2 war in history, was related to the Red Baron. And Kesselring naturally understood.

The Allied Air Force and Army were prepared, and the Navy, naturally, would not be idle. Two twin aircraft carrier formations of the German Navy have already left the Mediterranean Sea and entered the Red Sea. And the Turkish Empire and Austria-Hungary each sent a medium fleet aircraft carrier. In this way, the naval force of the Allied Powers deployed in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea has reached the standard of 6 aircraft carriers, which is definitely quite formidable in history. 3 heavily armored aircraft carriers and 3 lightly protected medium fleet carriers. This is the lineup that completely exploded the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor in history! However, such a lineup may not be so abundant for the opponents to face.

First of all, they must keep an eye on the "Iranian fleet", which may appear at any time. The other side has two fleet carriers, so for the sake of safety, the allies need to draw at least 3 fleet aircraft carriers to have a relatively large chance of winning. This divides nearly half of the forces. In addition to this, the German fleet had to be responsible for maritime security along the line from the Arabian Sea to the Persian Gulf. This makes them have to distinguish themselves from the British land-based aviation deployed in southeastern Iran, after all, people have gone to great lengths to build airfields and deploy a large number of air forces, but it is necessary to see the real thing! Three aircraft carriers are only 300 aircraft at full strength, and an endless tug-of-war with land-based airfields is certainly not possible, but it is a pity that the air force under the Navy lacks long-range heavy bombers. It is difficult to inflict a devastated blow on the British air base in southeastern Iran.

So what seems to be a formidable fleet force is actually in some extreme cases even beyond its means. For example, when the Iranian fleet is discovered in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Fleet of the Central Powers will have to allocate half of its forces to deal with the Iranian fleet, and even if it wins, the three aircraft carriers will probably be lost. Even if you are lucky. Not a single aircraft carrier has sunk, so the loss of carrier-based aircraft and materials is enough for these aircraft carriers to temporarily withdraw from the front line. And the remaining three aircraft carriers will be knocked out within a week in the face of British land-based aviation. Follow the lessons of the Italian war. It is quite normal to lose more than 300 aircraft in a week of fierce air battles. Even if this number were reduced to a third, it would be enough for the German Navy. According to European military standards. After losing a third of the troops, it is already possible to make this unit incapacitated. If one more aircraft carrier is lost. I'm afraid that the remaining German Navy will have to think about withdrawing from the battlefield.

Faced with this situation, the German navy responded by establishing an air base along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf to counter the land-based air force with a land-based air force, and at the same time, in order to ensure the fleet's continuous combat capability, the dispatched fleet and the fleet deployed in the Mediterranean Sea carried out a round battle. When the strength of a fleet shows signs of exhaustion, it is decisively pulled back to correct it. Replenish it with another fleet. In this way, the entire fleet of the Central Powers was completely mobilized, and even the two medium fleet aircraft carriers of the Spaniards were "requisitioned". Although they will not enter the first-line battlefield, they will also be used as escort warships and aircraft carriers to undertake second-line missions. At this point, the war planes of the entire Allied Powers were finally mobilized.

When the Allies sharpened their knives, China and the Entente would naturally not be idle. While the Allies were consolidating their forces, China and the Entente were also calculating the capital in their hands to decide what role each country should play in the future war.

"On the whole, the gap between our army and the other side is not too big, although the other side will have a large advantage in numbers. But a considerable part of them were the Austro-Hungarian army and the Turkish army, the former of which could only be considered second-rate in Europe. And the latter is not even second-rate in Europe. The real threat was the German troops on the Southern Front. In order to reduce the pressure on your country and the British army on the southern front, the Chinese army could launch an attack in the direction of Kirkuk at the beginning of the war to pin down the opponent's forces. But there is a premise for us to do so. That is, with the exception of the British air force in southeastern Iran, the remaining air forces must have a unified body under command. In the face of the US envoy Marshall and the British envoy Churchill, Xu Jie offered his own price.

Xu Jie's pledge was not just to share the pressure of the United States and Britain, but was based on China's strategic purpose in Iran. China's actions in Iran were centered on the preservation of northern Iran. Then there is only one way to make the Germans bow their heads, and that is to hurt the other party and make the other party realize that this is a hard bone! Iran's territory is too large, and the number of troops in China and Iran is too small, so it is impossible to fortify it everywhere. Passive defenses can eventually be dragged down by highly mobile opponents. Therefore, Huaxia must take the initiative to attack, and this blow must hit the Germans in the sore spot! What really hurts the Germans is not the loss of troops, even if those armored divisions are finally exhausted, it is not too big a thing for the German Army, it is the oil field of Kirkuk that is really fatal to Germany! This is one of the most important energy bases for the future German offensive in South Asia. There must be no mistakes, and only after Huaxia has demonstrated its ability to threaten this important energy base will the Germans consider backing down.

Also in order to achieve this purpose, what China lacks most is not enough ground forces, but enough air force. Or in other words, to weaken the intensity of the other side's bombing as much as possible. That's where there are enough planes! There are nearly 4,000 aircraft, which is less than the number of German Barbarossa projects in history. Although the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian air forces have somewhat mixed the forces of this air force with some moisture. But the superiority of the opposing air force is beyond doubt. If the air forces of various countries are allowed to fight independently, then the final result will be that everyone will be completely dragged down by superior opponents. No one can live.

Neither Churchill nor Marshall were stupid, they knew that this so-called unified command organization must be in China's final say. But this condition is not something they can easily refuse. There are two main reasons for this, the first of which is naturally the weakness of the US and British armies. Whenever Marshall thought of the German Army, which had at least four divisions of the US Army in front of him, he couldn't help but shudder. Unlike the Navy, the U.S. Army never seemed to have defeated the Allies in a head-to-head battle from the beginning of World War 1. Britain and the United States found themselves in a great deviation from their plans and reality. Originally, it was thought that the Germans would concentrate their forces on the northern front and defeat Huaxia first. But who knew that the Germans concentrated the main forces on the southern front. In this way, the United States and Britain will face the sharpest swords of the allies. And in the previous plan, the saddest idea of the United States and Britain was only a partial division in the face of the Germans. Therefore, the United States and Britain can only stabilize the front with the support of China. Otherwise, it is better to retreat directly and neatly.

The second reason is that it is so. The Allied air force was strong, and at the same time, the supply speed was faster than that of the United States and Britain, which were thousands of miles away. In the Iran war, the only way to contain the allies' formidable air superiority was to centralize fighter jets and ground command systems. Concentrate superior forces on certain important directions to strike at the Allied air forces. If the other party hurts, it will make them restrain themselves.

Although China will definitely concentrate its aviation forces on the northern front at the beginning, the impact on the American and British armies is not too great. First of all, the American and British troops were relatively far from the border, which meant that the threat of the Germans from single-engine dive bombers was not great. Except for the latest JU88, twin-engine aircraft can only bomb horizontally or shallow dives, with limited accuracy. Secondly, the American and British troops, who were in a state of static defense, were protected by bunkers and anti-aircraft guns, and their need for fighters was much smaller than that of the Huaxia, which was preparing to take the initiative.

"Mere promises will not compensate for our shortcomings, if your country's attack does not attract the attention of the Germans. What are we going to do? Churchill asked. We need a tangible guarantee. Strong support is needed. Although they agreed with Huaxia's opinion in principle, the British still had to fight for the specific details! And the Americans hold the same view. After all, there is no evidence.

"What about the 2 Chinese armored battalions and the Russian units? They will serve as a reserve for the British and American armies. Peng Yi on the side said. This kind of thing doesn't need Xu Jie to ask about it personally, the army has arranged it by itself. "I think everyone understands what the latter means. Together, these two units have nearly 200 tanks and other armored vehicles. Enough should be enough. ”

If you look at the number alone, 200 tanks can completely make up for the gap in armored units on the American and British side. But taking into account the fact that the equipment of the Russian troops was completely impossible to be comparable to the regular Chinese army. Some vehicles with only a cannon cover and a semi-open fighting compartment can be called armored units in the eyes of the Russians. So the actual combat effectiveness will definitely be discounted. Although it is still inferior in a head-to-head battle. But after some consideration, it seems that accepting the other person's opinion is the best option. After all, this time it was Huaxia who took the lead. The United States and Britain don't want to pay, so naturally they can't get too much right to speak. At the same time, they also know that this is the biggest concession that Huaxia can make. There was also a French unit that was ready to go to war, but unfortunately they were being trained in Central Asia, and the fighting at the beginning of the war had nothing to do with them. It would be nice if the French could join the battlefield 2 months after the start of the war.

After the arrangements for the army and air force were completed, all that remained was the "Iranian fleet" under the joint control of the three countries. To the surprise of ordinary people, this fleet did not return to Iran after it was formed, but has been training and cruising in Southeast Asian waters, and has conducted several exercises with the Chinese fleet. As if the war was about to break out had nothing to do with them. But a small number of core personnel knew that the fleet was going to the United States before the war. And their battlefield will not be the Indian Ocean battlefield as the Germans presupposed, but the Atlantic! Most of the Allied navies were already in the Middle East. And the task of Su Mo and the others is to stab the other party in a few weak directions!

All deployments are in their final stages. The war has entered an irreversible process. Ground troops have been deployed to pre-arranged departure positions. Yiqiē is waiting for the final moment to come. As the supreme commander of the Iranian Air Force stationed in China, Qin Yue finally obtained the command of most of the air forces in the entire Iranian theater. This Chinese lieutenant general will be the first commander in China's military history to command several air forces in actual combat, and his deeds will certainly leave a heavy mark in history!

Obtaining unified command is only the first step, and the rest is how to integrate this force. Qin Yue looked at the dense compilation table in his hand, there are mainly 3 types of single-engine fighters he has, namely the Huaxia Shicha Falcon Fighter (Huaxia version of P51), this aircraft has quite good performance. (Well, although the aircraft still didn't reach the level of the P51B because of the engines, the 1,000 hp liquid-cooled engine and excellent aerodynamic layout gave him some advantage over the BF109 early model.) After all, the DB601 in the early days of the latter was just like that. ) is the main force of the Chinese and Iranian air forces. There are about 700 of these new aircraft.

Then there were the P40 fighters of the Americans and the Spitfire of the British. Both aircraft have their own advantages and disadvantages. The former has average air combat performance, but the range is relatively long. And the latter is very good in air combat performance, and even surpasses the Ishifera Falcon in some performance. But the short voyage can be described as a tragedy. So much so that it was jokingly called a special fighter for airport defense. Combined, the number of these two aircraft is only about 500.

In addition to single-engine fighters. Qin Yue also had about 200 Tiger Cat fighters in his hands, and this kind of twin-engine light aircraft in China was the only twin-engine light aircraft in China that was preserved as light bombers and heavy fighters. But judging by the current situation. Or is it more reliable as a heavy fighter. These fighters were intended specifically for German strategic bombers. A BOMBER LIKE THE JU88 CLASS WAS ENOUGH TO HAND OVER THE ISHILIA FALCON WITH 2 20MM CANNONS AND 2 12.7MM MACHINE GUNS, AND THE POWERFUL SPIANO CANNONS AND THIN-SHELLED BULLETS STOLEN FROM THE TRAVERSER WERE ENOUGH TO TEACH THESE GUYS TO BE HUMAN AGAIN.

But if you want to run into the Lancer Strategic Bomber Wing that once wreaked havoc over Italy, I am afraid that these heavy armor will still be needed. HEAVY FIGHTERS LOADED WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF 30MM GUNS WENT INTO BATTLE. However, compared with their predecessors who used their blood to achieve brilliant results on the battlefield in Italy, they have one thing that scares all bombers in addition to large-caliber aerial guns. That's air-launched rockets! Huaxia did not choose large-caliber rockets similar to the Germans in the early stage, but chose medium-caliber rockets of the 5-inch class. A Tiger Cat can be hung with 12 rounds of 5-inch high-speed rockets, and the higher speed and greater number make it more efficient than a single large-caliber rocket! The other is the Flying Bat fighter, at this time the Flying Bat aircraft is closer to a fighter than a bomber, and after removing a lot of armor and increasing the engine power, the combat effectiveness of the Flying Bat is close to the P38 fighter in the early part of history!

"Everything is ready, only the east wind is owed, but I don't know how this war will begin?" Qin Yue looked at the city of Tehran and said faintly.

Thank you for the tips of hukaikaka and zhouyu1976~~. (To be continued......)