Iron Cross

ps: Happy Dragon Boat Festival to everyone!

Before President Inonu thought about how to reply to the German diplomatic delegation, the latest news came from the intelligence system. A large number of Russian troops began to enter Persia from Armenia and Azerbaijan. Judging from the strength of the troops, it seemed that there were no less than 100,000, and the intelligence system showed that These troops are not the ones that have been confronting the Turkish army all year round. They are probably additional troops sent from the Caucasus.

"This news is not good...the Russians don't want the Don front line anymore?"

"They only mobilized 100,000 troops. The Russians can still handle it. Didn't the Germans also mobilize more than 100,000 troops to the Middle East? From a pure comparison of military strength, the Russians can mobilize more."

Sarajolu frowned and asked: "The Russians are adding fuel to the flames. What are they thinking? Just to protect Persia? The British can't protect Persia, but now they can rely on Russian troops?"

"It's not as far as you think. They only need a part of Persia." Inonu shook his head and gestured with the map with his hand. "It's only more than 700 kilometers from Mosul to Baku. It's even faster to walk from here." It’s easy to go from Persia, otherwise what do you think the German planes are doing constantly crossing the border?”

Sarajolu was stunned. He immediately rushed to the map to check the situation - obviously, the president was right. He couldn't help but say this: "Sending planes to bomb? They don't want Baku's oil?"

"With Iraq, and perhaps Persia and Saudi Arabia, will the Germans still be short of oil in the future?" Inonu sneered, "As long as the Baku oil field is bombed, Russia will lose more than half of its oil sources, and it will suddenly be choked. Cut off their energy supply. And is 700 kilometers far away? As long as the tanks are 300 kilometers away from Baku, the Russians will have to figure out how to bomb the oil fields themselves - just like the British did in Persia."

"So, the Germans are serious about attacking us this time?"

"Of course it's true." Inonu smiled bitterly. "There is another situation that must be considered. There are a large number of mountain Turks on the way from us to Baku..."

Sarajolu couldn't answer the next sentence. The so-called Mountain Turks are actually Kurds. The Kurdish gathering area spans the four countries of Turkey, Iraq, Persia, and Syria. Turkey has the largest population and the largest area. They have always been seeking independence. or national autonomy, and even resorted to the use of force to confront them. In the past 20 years, two large-scale uprisings have been launched, and each time it took a lot of effort to suppress them. Now that the Germans have taken control of Syria and Iraq, the Kurds in both countries will definitely seek German support—in other words, if Germany does not get the results it needs in Turkey, it is likely to turn around and support the Kurds. For Germany, there is no obvious difference between such a move and their support of Ukraine, Cossacks, etc. in Russia.

Sarajolu shudders when he imagines a Kurdish region with the support of German armed forces. If Germany can send so many arms to the Turks, it can send more arms to the Kurds. Anyway, they have captured a lot of things. This basically means The Kurds are invincible - once there is a risk, the Kurdish armed forces can just hide in Iraq or Syria. Do the Turkish troops still dare to cross the border to fight the Germans? If Türkiye had such courage and level, it would have accepted assistance from the Americans and declared war on the Axis Powers.

"They will come to see you early tomorrow morning. What should I do?" Originally, according to diplomatic etiquette, diplomatic envoys at the level of Keitel and Ribbentrop should have been hosted by the president at a banquet that night, but because the German side declared that it was a secret During the trip, the Turks did not want to escalate the situation, so only the military came to entertain Keitel and his party - the personnel were controlled within a very small range.

"What else did they say today?"

"General Manager Keitel didn't say much, but Foreign Minister Ribbentrop said frankly that he was surprised by our attitude towards the Russians. He cited the examples of Finland and Romania, implying that we could take the opportunity to regain territory - - There is no need to declare war on Britain and the United States." Sararuolu said with a bitter smile, "What should I do? Even I am a little tempted by this. After they meet with the military leaders today, they will definitely encourage them - I can't stop them. Let’s see.”

"Aren't you interested in the Americans' $500 million?"

"If you are tempted, how can you not be tempted? But compared with the territory, 500 million US dollars is nothing. If the Russians are willing to return the territory to us, I would rather give them 500 million US dollars, let alone 500 million, it can be 1 billion. "

"Let me think about it." When he thought of the attitudes of the United States and Germany, Inonu felt very distressed.

In the hotel where he was staying, Ribbentrop, who was slightly drunk and slightly drunk, asked Keitel: "Do you think they listened to what I just said?"

According to the original division of labor, Ribbentrop was responsible for bragging about Germany's war progress and great victory, and then unscrupulously wooing senior Turkish military officials to fight against the Soviet Union, while Keitel's attitude was relatively "pragmatic" and always used just the right examples to communicate with the Soviet Union. Facts have proved that the German Foreign Minister is not completely bragging - Germany is indeed considering this, but the specific plan still needs to be coordinated. This fully expresses the intention without making Turks feel crazy. Ribbentrop drank a lot of wine, but Keitel barely touched it.

"Of course I listened. Don't you think their eyes were different after that?" Keitel said with a smile, "The appearance of our tanks in Iraq and Syria is the best explanation. This is more convincing than any words. ”

"Do you think the head of state's first plan will be effective?"

"You'll know if it's necessary to get in touch, and the head of state doesn't expect success at the first time. We send some arms to Turkey. It's just a relationship. If the Turks were really so cheap, they would have done it a long time ago. At any rate, we still provided it in the last war. We have a battlecruiser..." Keitel smiled, "Besides, aren't we preparing the second option?"

Ribbentrop laughed: "The situation is very good now. If the Syrian card is played again, I don't believe the Turks can withstand it."

"After listening to our words and taking our gifts, someone will put pressure on President Inonu. Some words are more useful for the Turks to think than for us to say. Soldiers and politicians have different standpoints when considering issues. Soldiers always have to Be impulsive, President Inonu is now a politician, he is not in this category. The problem is that he is a soldier first, and without the support of the army, he is nothing.”

"The current diplomatic strategy of the head of state is really superb." Hahahahaha, the two of them laughed.

"However, I'm worried that the Turks will make a big move." Ribbentrop gestured. "What if they make some conditions that we can't agree to?"

"This is a problem, but not serious. The key is that the Turks must first make their position clear." Keitel said with a smile, "Once the position is established, the Turks will no longer be able to look forward and backward. The question of whether to give or not to give and how much to give is just a technical issue... …”