The Rise of the Third Reich

Egypt must be defended, it must be defended!

This is the general content of the order received by Admiral Archibald Percival Wavell, the commander-in-chief of the British Army in the Middle East, from the British Supreme Command on the afternoon of February 17, 1940.

Since the air supremacy in the Eastern Mediterranean was lost, more than half of the sea supremacy was also lost. Now the British Army in the Middle East can only rely on the defense of the army. The enemy that the British Army in North Africa is now facing is no longer the easy-to-bully Italians, but the terrible Germans.

Everyone knows that this is not easy, because since the beginning of the World War, no one has stopped the German offensive on land. And now the German military god Marquis Heinsberg-Hersmann is in charge of commanding the Mediterranean theater.

However, Admiral Wavell is still prepared to do his best to complete this "impossible task". After receiving the order, he immediately invited Admiral Cunningham, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, Admiral Arthur Tedder, commander of the Mediterranean Air Force, and Lieutenant General Cunningham (Admiral Cunningham's younger brother), commander of the newly formed 8th Army, to his headquarters.

"Andrew," Admiral Wavell first called Admiral Cunningham's name, "I just received intelligence that the main fleet of the Italian Navy has left the port of Taranto, probably in the early morning. Its whereabouts are unknown."

Now that Malta is no longer a base (Malta was completely occupied by the Italian fascist blackshirts on January 28), it is much more difficult to monitor the Italian fleet. Reconnaissance planes, submarines, and spy ships disguised as fishing boats have no foothold. They can only rely on spies lurking in Taranto to take risks in reconnaissance, and from time to time someone will be arrested by the fascist secret police.

In addition, because Hessman hid the Enigma cipher machine in the 1920s and did not allow the German military communications department to use it, he also bought the patent for this cipher machine and did not allow the commercial Enigma machine to come out.

Therefore, the Polish and British and French intelligence departments did not know the existence of the Enigma machine before the war. It was not until the war began that Hessman began to use the Enigma machine, so there is no possibility for Britain to crack the German secret code now.

Therefore, the British Middle East Command is now completely in the dark, and has no idea about the movements of the German and Italian armies and fleets in the Middle East. Commanding the war can only rely on guessing.

"Maybe they are going to attack Crete!" Admiral Cunningham said, "I will lead the fleet to set off after they start landing!"

As he spoke, Alan Cunningham, who had just been transferred from the East African battlefield, glanced at his brother. Using four outdated "Queen Elizabeth" class ships to deal with the Italian main fleet with two brand-new "Richelieu" class battleships is almost like playing with one's life. Maybe in a few days, he will have to read a eulogy at his brother's memorial service.

"It is also possible that they are going to bombard Tobruk Port!" Admiral Cunningham frowned and said, "If that's the case, the chance of a fleet decisive battle is probably very small."

"Can Tobruk Port be defended?" Wavell asked Alan Cunningham. "Are the troops sufficient?"

"Under the current circumstances, the troops are still sufficient." Lieutenant General Alan Cunningham replied.

Now all the army units on the front line of North Africa belong to Alan Cunningham's 8th Army. The main troops all came from the colonies, including the 5th Indian Division, the 10th Indian Division, the 1st South African Division, the 1st New Zealand Division, the 9th Australian Division, and the 3rd Indian Motorized Brigade. There were also troops from the British mainland, namely the 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Armored Division (only one armored brigade). There were also Polish Independent Brigade and the 1st Free French Brigade. All in all, the total force was no less than 150,000, and there were hundreds of tanks of various models, which was very powerful.

In addition, there were troops under the command of the 1st Army Group around Alexandria, including the 7th Armored Division and the 4th Indian Division. These two divisions were the heroes of "Operation Compass", fighting all the way from Egypt to Tobruk, and were withdrawn for reorganization not long ago.

The 50th British Division, also under the command of the 1st Army Group, and some colonial garrisons were also deployed in Syria (French Syria was already controlled by the Free French), Palestine and Jordan. Air forces were also deployed in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

In the East African direction, there are also the 6th Indian Division and the 2nd South African Division belonging to the 32nd Army, as well as some Sudanese and Abyssinian natives.

In the Greek direction, the British Army also deployed the 2nd New Zealand Division, the 6th Australian Division, the 44th British Infantry Division, the 14th Infantry Brigade and other troops.

These British troops deployed in secondary directions, not counting black uncles and Arabs, are almost 150,000. The ground forces under the entire Middle East British Command are currently as many as 300,000, which is indeed not a small number.

"And Tobruk's defense is quite strong," Alan Cunningham said again, "The Italians have been operating there for many years and turned it into a fortress. However, the coastal defense artillery there was blown up before the Italians retreated, and it was not replenished later. So if the Italians use battleships to bombard Tobruk, it will be difficult for us to hold on."

"Arthur?" Wavell glanced at Admiral Arthur Tedder, the frowning commander-in-chief of the Middle East Air Force. "Can we use aircraft to prevent their battleships from approaching Tobruk?"

Tobruk is not only an important supply port on the North African coastline, but also the gateway to defend Egypt. Abandonment is impossible, otherwise Hessman only needs to deploy Fokker Zero, S.M.79 and Ju88 to Tobruk, and the Mediterranean Fleet will not be able to stay in Alexandria.

If the Mediterranean Fleet leaves, the Germans can land wherever they want throughout North Africa and the east coast of the Mediterranean. Even if Egypt holds on temporarily, the oil-producing areas in the Middle East cannot be saved.

"Do your best," Arthur Ted smiled bitterly, "As long as I can send out a bomber, I will fight the Italian fleet!"

"Yes, that's how it should be!" Wavell nodded in agreement, "Now is the most dangerous moment for the British Empire, and we must fight to the end!"

He thought for a while and then said to Admiral Cunningham, "In addition to night operations, the fleet must also be prepared to withdraw troops from Greece at any time."

German troops in the Balkans have now been deployed to Bulgaria and Albania and may launch an attack on Greece at any time. At the same time, the Tobruk front line may also start at any time. Therefore, the plan to abandon Greece (excluding Crete) and concentrate forces to defend Tobruk and Crete has been made.

Of course, once the battle on the Tobruk frontline goes unfavorably, Wavell also plans to further concentrate his forces to defend Egypt. Withdraw all the troops from Tobruk and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean to Egypt.

Just when Wavell was telling him all about his plan, a staff officer from the British Middle East Headquarters walked in quickly.

"Admiral, the submarine has discovered the Italian fleet, at least 5 battleships! The coordinates are 35.5 degrees north latitude; 18.5 degrees east longitude. Heading southeast."

"Southeast?" General Cunningham frowned, "To Benghazi, maybe Tobruk."

Wavell clapped his hands, "Okay, no matter what these Italians want to do, we can't let them do it!"

…

"This is my son Rudolf, he is the pilot, and this is General Rommel."

At a military airport outside Rome, Hersmann introduced his son Rudolf to Rommel. He and Rommel were preparing to take a Fw-200 passenger plane to Benghazi together.

Hersmann's trip had two purposes. One was to inspect the situation of the German Afrika Korps and the Italian North Africa Group; the other was to help Rommel establish his authority so that he could command the Italian army.

Since Hersmann and Rommel were both important people, the aircraft naturally needed escort. Today it happened to be little Hersman's squadron serving as escort. So before the plane took off, Hersman called his son to his plane.

"Rudolf has grown so big in just a blink of an eye." Rommel met the young Rudolf. "He is still a naval aviation pilot and a graduate of the Kiel Naval Academy?"

"Admiral, I am a graduate of the Lichfeld Military Academy and the Karlsruhe Air Force Academy."

"Are there any results?" Rommel asked with a smile.

"Eight shot downs," little Hersman answered.

"We are still 17 short of the Blue Max," Hessmann said to Rommel with a smile. "We have all taken the Blue Max, and now it is our children's turn."

Rommel smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Marshal, my Manfred cannot be compared with your Rudolf. He is too timid and in poor health, so he cannot get the Blue Max."

"Manfred is still young," Hessman thought for a while and said, "He seems to have been born in 1928 and is only 13 years old this year. By the time he reaches the age to enlist in the army, the war will definitely be over."

"I definitely got the Blue Max medal, too," little Hersman interjected.

Hersman smiled and nodded, then waved to his son, "Do a good job, I'll wait to see your blue Max."

Little Hersman performed a military salute and then left the cabin. Hersmann said to Rommel: "I think he will get his wish soon, because now is the best time, and we have great advantages in all aspects. We can take some risks at this time, but I also I don’t want you to be too adventurous and ignore the fact that the British Army is also a powerful military force.”

"Of course, I will be careful." Rommel smiled and said, "I now have 165 No. 4 tanks, dozens of No. 3 assault guns and dozens of 'Wasp' self-propelled artillery, and there are also naval Therefore, we should start as soon as possible and rush forward fiercely. This is the key. Don’t give the British time to adjust their deployment... As long as I can achieve a breakthrough, I can rush all the way into Alexandria, and the British cannot stop it.”