Iron Cross

In sharp contrast to the miserable life of the British, after intercepting the fleet and taking over the entire Alexandria, the Germans were shocked by the overwhelming amount of supplies. The city has now become a sea of ​​joy-a large amount of supplies They are being quickly counted, accepted or put into storage, and beaming German officers and soldiers can be seen everywhere. The swastika flag was flying high at the city hall in the center of the city. The Egyptians looked at this new batch of European uninvited guests with mixed emotions. At present, it seems that the German military discipline is not bad. As for the future, it is better to let the politicians worry first.

The port transport ships carry a large number of trucks, jeeps, aviation gasoline, anti-aircraft guns, Sherman tanks, submachine guns and other equipment, as well as wheat, flour, sugar, sausages, grease, butter, milk powder, egg powder, cheese and other military supplies. More than 40,000 tons, including cans of Spam meat (the predecessor of luncheon meat) and other cans were seized. 300,000 pairs of military leather boots were also found on the ship - these things are not very easy to use in the desert. , but German veterans who have been on the Eastern Front all admit that it is no worse than the high-end goods produced in Germany. It is both light and warm.

Kesselring certainly had the ability to thrive in Italy. On the one hand, he promised the Italians that they would give them trophies after the war to inspire them to fight hard. On the other hand, he made the immediate decision to distribute canned meat to each person. 5, double for officers. In the afternoon, all the Italian naval officers and soldiers who stayed at the port gnawed on the fragrant canned meat and said good things about Kesselring, thinking that it would be a good idea to follow the Germans on this trip.

Rommel rushed back to the port from the canal zone at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. As soon as he arrived, he was eager to watch the seizure of supplies, especially the oil that he was most concerned about.

The result was a huge relief. The Mediterranean Fleet stored a total of 400,000 tons of heavy oil in Alexandria. Although Andrew ordered someone to open the valve before leaving and discharge it into the Mediterranean regardless of the risk of environmental damage, the German army arrived in time and turned it off. After the valve was closed, not much heavy oil leaked, with nearly 360,000 tons remaining. There were a total of 8 oil warehouses scattered by the British army in Alexandria. In the end, they only had time to destroy 2, and 6 warehouses were preserved intact. An inventory found nearly 80,000 tons of various types of oil, which was really disappointing. People were overjoyed.

The British destroyed more food and logistics supplies, but even so, there were still mountains of supplies left. Considering the food on the ship, the amount was simply outrageous.

The British army in Cairo now numbered 60,000 and was supported by fortifications. It was not an easy opponent to deal with. Considering that Guderian would be able to massively reinforce himself within three days after finishing the Eighth Army, Rommel did not want to attack too hastily. After deploying the defense line, settling the troops, and continuing to press the Cairo defenders, he roped in Gauss to count the various trophies with great interest.

There is only one word to describe the feeling after seeing all the materials - shocked!

Looking at the dazzling array of products, Rommel felt quite overwhelmed - this battle was too cost-effective. Normally, he would let the seized materials pass after just a few glances, but a large number of steel structure products found on one of the transport ships piqued his interest, because no one could understand what they were, and even asking the engineering troops seemed to understand them. Understand. After questioning the prisoners in detail, they found out that it was the Bailey Bridge of British and American standards - lightweight standardized truss unit components made of high-strength steel, which can be quickly assembled with special equipment to form a truss girder bridge suitable for various spans and loads. German engineers Although there are such routines, most of the time they use local and temporary materials, and Americans do not have the deep pockets to directly prepare a complete set of bridge components.

Relying on the instructions and drawings, the engineers quickly built a 17-meter-wide military bridge with a span of nearly 100 meters in three hours, with a theoretical carrying capacity of 40 tons. However, after temporary reinforcement, it was found that a nearly 50-ton Tiger tank could not be pressed onto it. Walk steadily.

Now everyone knows that the captured crew members did not lie. These things are indeed not for the British, because there is no need for bridges in the desert. Only the Red Army can use these guys. Rommel was keenly aware of the value of this batch of goods, and immediately asked the logistics department to transport it back to China and prepare for imitation. He also emphasized that the size must be compatible with British and American products - the second part of the sentence made everyone laugh.

When it came time to inspect the last few tanks, armored vehicles, and truck warehouses, even though Rommel was mentally prepared, he was still startled by the neatly piled new tanks that exuded the smell of brand-new engine oil. There are 180 Shermans, 60 M3s, and more than 800 military vehicles of various types - all new! Even the chassis numbers are consecutive. When Rommel was so poor that he even wanted to take back the rags that the Italians threw in the desert. Now he can't be overjoyed to see such a treasure trove? Only the last aircraft warehouse has the smallest number, because the ship only carries more than 100 P-39s and P-40s that have been dismantled into parts. The rest of the aircraft in the inventory have been collected by the Egyptian Air Force and put into combat, but the accessories include engines, aircraft, etc. There are still a lot of wings left.

Caressing these new guys, he smiled at Gauss: "Heinz (Guderian) is such a lucky man... If he wants to transport all these things to Montgomery, he will have to hit his head and bleed."

Gauss shrugged: "It's hard to say whether he was lucky or not. He captured so many British soldiers and had to provide them with food and drink. Suddenly there were 100,000 more mouths, so he had to be poor."

"What's this...didn't he take away the British supply warehouse? He also seized equipment and supplies for more than 200,000 troops. As for those unwanted things and prisoners..." Rommel curled his lips and said, "He will dump it on the Italian leader Yes, the leader likes to take prisoners and captured materials to Rome for exhibition."

"Sir, after counting, the equipment that has been seized so far is enough to arm 5-6 divisions and more than 80,000 troops. The logistics materials can support 300,000 troops in combat for 2-3 months."

"This statement is incorrect. To be precise, it should be 8-10 divisions and 150,000-200,000 people."

"Why is there such a big discrepancy?" Gauss was stunned for a moment and asked curiously.

"This... this..." the logistics officer stammered, "We also found several divisions of Italian equipment in other places... all of which were piled together by the British as rags. This can also be said. When seized?"

Gauss burst into laughter, and he finally realized that most of the Italian prisoners captured in previous North African campaigns were being held in Egypt, especially in Alexandria and Cairo. In addition, there were some prisoner of war camps in the direction of Ethiopia.

When Alexandria first encountered major changes and gunshots rang out outside, the German prisoners of war were actively planning riots and prison escapes, but the Italian prisoners of war, whose number was dozens of times theirs, remained indifferent and were as docile as sheep, even in the British army. When he and the Egyptian guards dispersed, he still didn't think of resisting. He just huddled in the prisoner of war camp and waited for the situation to become clear. When the German troops went to rescue them, these Italian prisoners of war were clamoring for materials, supplies, and treatment. Some generals even staged a show to ask the Germans to quickly invite officers to speak, which made the paratroopers as big as In order to fight, simply out of sight and out of mind, they armed the captured Germans with captured weapons and handed over the management of the entire prisoner of war camp to them.

Although they were under the same roof of the prisoner of war camp, the captured Germans were obviously unhappy with these Italian cowards. Seeing how noisy they were now, they were even more angry. Instead of rescuing them, they continued to blockade the prisoners of war on the pretext of screening out British spies. The battalion even set up a fire line with the machine gun bunkers left by the British. Then something happened again at noon when lunch was being served - the British supply system collapsed in the morning, and the logistics department was faced with the sudden increase in demand. Tens of thousands of people had trouble opening their mouths. They couldn't even make the logistical arrangements for the Canal Army, so how could they bother to deal with the prisoner-of-war camps? As a result, these Italians were starved to death.

This is a real shock to Ma Feng's nest - I didn't even go hungry when I was a British prisoner of war!

Things got serious in the evening. The Italians were noisy and wanted to "riot". The German guards were so angry that they picked up their Browning machine guns and fired continuously at the open space at the entrance of the camp as warnings before suppressing the commotion. As a result, the Italians didn't even have dinner. Unable to eat, the matter finally reached Rommel.

Speaking of the Italian prisoners, Rommel's face became a little ugly. He asked: "Are those damn Italians still making trouble?"

"They have become much more honest after the supply was restored, but..." the logistics officer glanced at Rommel secretly, "They are clamoring to go to the leader to sue you for mistreating them, and to sue General Guderian for dumping the Italian troops to Captured by the British."

"If you're so dishonest, just keep me in jail for a few more days! Aren't they going to sue me? Okay! I'll ask the leader to come to the prisoner of war camp to listen to their complaints." Rommel made a face at Gauss and said seriously, "Don't worry. To release them, there must be British spies mixed in to instigate trouble... We need to screen them carefully... Well, we can ask the Gestapo to come forward. "

The nearest Gestapo is still far away on the Eastern Front. If we invite them again, Egypt will probably be captured. Gauss wanted to laugh but couldn't, so he just advised: "This is not good. The leader will come in two days and they will lose face. Moreover, it will be useful to deal with the British army in Cairo after they are rearmed."

"They only know how to do bad things. After being held in a prisoner of war camp for so long, they may have exhausted their last bit of energy. It is better for them to wait for Heinz to come to support." Rommel cursed a few words angrily, and then said confidently. Tell his adjutant, "Send a telegram to the head of state and the leader. I invite them to have a meal in Alexandria tomorrow evening - a full set of American aid materials for the Soviet Union. As for the Italian prisoners of war, let the leader liberate them."