Iron Cross

At 11 o'clock in the evening on December 28, the German special envoy went to the British headquarters in Cairo again with high hopes, hoping to hear news from Ramsden that he was willing to lead his troops to surrender, but he was stunned by the British reply. , he immediately jumped up like a cat whose tail was stepped on, and said angrily: "General, this is impossible... This is tantamount to us completely letting you go, on the premise that our African Army Group has surrounded Cairo. Come on, this is just nonsense.”

"This is the situation." Ramsden had predicted the other party's reaction in advance and was not angry. "I have tried my best to persuade my men, but they are not willing to surrender. You may know that we are from the trust. Brooke moved here. If you want to surrender, I can surrender in the desert. There is no need to do anything more in Cairo. "

"We have made the maximum concession. We can allow your army to capture the city of Cairo without any blood. This will not only avoid the killing of Cairo citizens and the destruction of the city, but also reduce the casualties of your army." Mosshead supported from the side, his attitude Aggressively, "Why wouldn't your country do such a thing that has the best of both worlds? If you have to compete with us, we hope to show off in Ethiopia. If your army insists on attacking Cairo, then we can only fight to the last man." "

"We have 2 divisions and more than 30,000 people. We are the best warriors in the British Empire. We have enough equipment, materials and supplies, and the most powerful allies in the world. We are fully capable of fighting a hearty defensive war. "How many troops and materials can your country come from afar to compete with us?" Freiberg pretended to be angry, "Our soldiers have not lost their desire for victory, and they are far from exhausted. Why should we surrender?" "

"In this case, there is nothing to say." The special envoy knew that it would be useless to waste words. "After midnight tonight, the two armies can only return to the state of war. Take your leave."

Just as he reached the door, Ramsden stopped him: "Wait a minute."

The special envoy turned his head in confusion, wondering if there was a change?

"I offer a compromise plan. In order to give us more time to convince our subordinates and form a unified opinion, I think both parties can consider it again. If you are willing to give me 3 more days, I can first move the 3 cities north of Cairo. The fortifications and the airfield in the south will be temporarily handed over to your army for occupation..."

"Sir, this won't work... these three fortifications are very important to us - they are the first line of defense against the Germans."

"Sir, this is an insult to us. The airport must not be handed over to them. I have asked the engineers to lay explosives. Even if it is completely destroyed, it cannot be left to the Germans."

Mosshead and Freiberg objected one after another, threatening to use force if they disagreed. The special envoy was dumbfounded. He was so dizzy from the torment that he said before he could think about it: "Okay, okay, ceasefire time." If extended by 2 hours, I will report to our commander immediately and I will give you a clear answer before 2 o’clock.”

After the German envoy left, Ramsden and the other three slumped on the stools. This double act was so bad...

"The British want to delay time?" Guderian raised his eyebrows after hearing the report. "They can't beat us on the battlefield, so they are starting to play tricks."

"So what if you delay, they will inevitably fail in the end." Kesselring asked doubtfully, "What good will it do them to just delay?"

"A group of troops have landed in Mombasa, Kenya. Maybe Ramsden is waiting for the Americans to rescue them." Guderian said with a smile, "Let alone whether the Americans can reach here, I just let them march. The traffic conditions in Kenya, Ethiopia and southern Egypt are so bad that we can’t even think about it within three months.”

"To cover other directions, such as Iraq?" Kesselring looked at the map carefully and agreed with Guderian's judgment. At the same time, he came to this conclusion after analyzing the distribution situation of the British 10th Army.

"With Erwin at the front, the 10th Army cannot defeat it, but it is more likely to destroy the Iraqi oil fields. Ramsden may have received orders from London and was preparing to use this behavior to buy more time for the Middle East troops. , lest my troops rush to help the Canal Army."

"How sure are you of opening Luocheng?"

"It can be taken down. It will take about a week. The casualties may be close to 10,000. In addition..." Guderian hesitated, "I'm afraid the entire city of Cairo cannot be saved."

Kesselring frowned and said: "This news is not good. We cannot pay such a high price. There are still 100,000 British troops in Iraq and Persia, and there are no less than 100,000 British and American troops in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. By 1 "If you don't want Italian troops before the middle of the month, the most you can hope for is reinforcements from the 7th Armored Division."

Guderian shrugged: "I don't care, but do you think there are still Italian troops who dare to join my army group?"

Kesselring suddenly burst into laughter: Last time, Guderian directly sent three Italian infantry divisions to the British for capture, and then used a large number of Italians as bait to lure the British to pursue them, resulting in heavy casualties. He was more deceiver than Rommel. ruthless!

"Then we can only agree to the other party's rude request."

"Do you want to ask the head of state for instructions?"

"No need. Keeping Cairo intact as much as possible and avoiding street fighting are the instructions that the head of state has repeatedly emphasized. It will be delayed for a few more days to observe. Anyway, the troops have just arrived and have to rest to see if Rommel's operation tonight can be successful."

At about 2 o'clock in the morning, the German and British armies reached an agreement to extend the ceasefire for another three days. To show their sincerity, the British army abandoned three suburban strongholds and the southern airport, and retracted all its forces into the city. The German army's encirclement became tighter and tighter. , people in Cairo are panicked.

At 3 o'clock in the morning, at the Damascus military airport, which was tightly controlled by the German army, the Italian paratrooper brigade was quickly boarding the plane - this force, which was completely trained and commanded by the German army and had transferred from Tobruk, was a rare sight among the Italian army. The elites they met today had a very difficult task: to parachute into the Mosul oil fields, curb the British sabotage attempts, and then hold on there for at least three days until the response troops arrived.

The faces of these soldiers were full of excitement and fanaticism, and their movements were neat and neat, without the usual Italian malaise at all, which made Rommel and Gauss very happy to see them.

Rommel sighed: "If the Italians were so good at fighting... there would be no need for us to come to Africa."

"They are not an army, they are an air force. The Italian Air Force is quite brave - it is completely different from our Air Force Field Division. Even General Stuart was full of praise for them." Gauss smiled, "So the head of state promised Italy Leader, let this unit serve as the representative of the Italian forces when the Cairo entry ceremony is held.”

"I don't know how many people will survive after this operation. Send a message to General Felix Steiner and ask them to speed up. I must seize the oil field completely."

Rommel's original combat plan was to airdrop in Mosul and Basra at the same time. In addition to the Italian paratrooper brigade, he also had the German paratrooper brigade directly commanded by General Stuart available, and then the two armored divisions bypassed Baghdad. Instead of fighting, they marched to the north and south respectively, occupied the oil fields, and then launched a centripetal attack on Baghdad. However, after careful consideration, Gauss objected on the grounds that the operation was too difficult. The reason was:

First, there are not enough aircraft. If the two places are airborne at the same time, the first wave of airborne people will be too small and may not be able to deal with the defenders;

Second, Basra is too far away. Departing from Damascus is almost the limit of the transport aircraft after mounting the auxiliary fuel tank. If there is a slight mistake, it will not be able to come back;

Third, the two armored divisions of the Canal Army are still more than 300 kilometers west of Baghdad. It will take at least 3 days to reach Mosul, and the fastest 5 days to reach Basra - this is the waiting time in the direction of Basra, assuming everything goes well. Exceeded the combat capabilities of paratroopers;

Fourth, according to Iraq's internal intelligence, the number of enemy troops in Mosul is small, and there is at least one division in the direction of Basra. If the oil field cannot be captured immediately, when the enemy reacts, not only the oil field will not be saved, but the entire airborne brigade will be involved.

Rommel was very bold in his use of troops, but he knew that he must not act recklessly. Any mistake would bring disaster to the troops. This consequence was not only military, but also political: there was a circle of Middle Eastern countries around him that paid attention to the war process. These are people who will listen to whoever has a big fist or a thick arm. If the German army cannot show its crushing strength, it will be very detrimental to future control of the Middle East. To take a step back, these oil fields are really important to Germany. Instead of taking the risk of not being able to get both oil fields in the north and south, it is better to secure one first.

Gauss's revised combat plan finally became that the paratrooper brigade would first land in Mosul, while Steiner led the Viking division to intervene diagonally, while the Grossdeutschland division attacked Baghdad in front of them.

"Sir, Prime Minister Rashid Ali is here. He has something urgent and wants to see you."

"Please."

A year and a half ago, the political situation in Iraq changed dramatically. The anti-British Rashid Ali Gailani came to power as the Prime Minister of Iraq and submitted a note to Berlin in the hope of forming an alliance with Germany. Churchill immediately asked Wade, the then British commander in the Middle East, to Ver sent the 10th Indian Division to land in Basra, preparing to use force to overthrow the legal government of Iraq. Rashid believed that it would take time for the British army to reach Baghdad from land, and planned to take the forcible occupation of the Royal Air Force Base in Habbaniya near Baghdad first. , forcing the British army not to dare to advance rashly in the absence of air superiority. As a result, the British army, with the cooperation of base defense forces and aircraft, not only thwarted the Iraqi army's offensive attempt, but also defeated the Junkers Special Air Force and the German Air Force. The Italian Air Force (with a small number of aircraft flying from Crete), Rashid himself was eventually forced into exile in Germany.

Rashid is a typical intellectual, but his anti-British attitude has always been resolute: "I have contacted supporters in Baghdad, and they have promised to cooperate with your army's actions and will find a way to send you the British garrison status tomorrow."

"Thank you very much." Rommel held his hand. "Mr. Prime Minister, let us work together to drive away the British."