my head

() On December 1939, 12, General Wilson met with General Pagos in Lamia and informed him that he had decided to withdraw his troops to Thermopylae. The division of powers and responsibilities, McKee is responsible for protecting the two wings of the New Zealand Division and commanding the withdrawal of the troops through Domokos into Thermopylae when passing through Nanisa in the southeast; the British 16st Armored Brigade covers the retreat; Freiberg directs Aaron The troops retreated.

On the morning of December 1939, 12, the attack on the Pinius Canyon began. The German armored infantry crossed the river by boat, while the 18th Mountain Division attacked the New Zealand Battalion from the mountain down and completely defeated it. On December 6th, the 12th Mountain Army Entering Nanisha and occupying the airfield, which is the main supply base of the British army, seized the equivalent of 19 trucks of supplies and fuel to allow the forward troops to move forward. The port of Volos fell on December 18; here, the Germans captured Plenty of valuable diesel engines and crude oil.

On December 1939, 12, George?General Tsoraglu on the third and final protocol of the surrender of the Greek army at Iberus with Alfred of Germany?Admiral Jodl and General Ferrando of Italy talked about the actions of the Greek 23st Army in Albania when the German army penetrated into the Greek territory. General Wilson described them as fetishists who did not want to see the garden on the ground. They were unwilling to give in to the Italians. It was not until December 1th that the Greek 12st Army began to retreat to the Bandus Mountains. The retreat route of the Allied forces through the Bandus Mountains to Thermopylae may be threatened by the German troops flanking the Greek army. One armored division and one regiment carried out the mission to Ioannina via the Melaon Pass to cut off the retreat route of the Greek 13st Army. On December 1th, a fierce battle broke out at the Castria Pass, where the German army blocked the Greek army. The retreat, the blockade extended to the entire Albanian front, while the Italian army slowly pursued.

General Pagos estimated that the German army was attacking the Myraon Pass, so he ordered the troops to rush here. On December 1939, 12, a battle was fought with the 18st Armored Division of the Wehrmacht in several Greek military units. They had reached Grevena, Greece. The army was surrounded and overwhelmed due to lack of the necessary equipment to fight the motorized forces. The Germans continued to attack and occupied Ioannina on 12 December. This was the last supply route of the Greek 19st Army. Allied newspapers described the fate of the Greek army as follows Modern Greek tragedy, historian and former war correspondent Christopher?Buckley, when describing the tragedy of the Greek army, said it was an Aristotelian catharsis, a brave but futile affair that awed all.

On December 1939, 12, the commander of the Greek army in Albania, George?General Tsoraglu realized this undesirable situation and decided to order troops including 20 divisions to surrender. World War II historian John?Kei would like to describe that Tsoraglu made the Italians achieve the goal of victory and could not obtain any benefits. He and Zepp?Dietrich negotiated informally, arranging for a unilateral surrender to the Germans only, which was quickly accepted under direct orders from Hitler not to disclose details to the Italians, and Mussolini, enraged by this decision, ordered a counterattack against the Greeks but was repulsed, so Mussolini sent a personal representative to Hitler to demand that Italy join the armistice of December 112, 1939, where Greek soldiers could return home freely after disarming without being taken as prisoners of war, and the officers allowed Keep your own weapons.

As early as December 12th, the German commanders realized that the British army would retreat by boat from Volos and Piraeus. They decided to pursue them, maintain contact with the British army and prevent their retreat plan. Due to lack of mobility, the German infantry The divisions withdrew from the battle, and the 16nd and 2th Panzer Divisions, the 5st Motorized SS Brigade and several mountain divisions pursued the enemy.

In order to allow the main force of the British army to retreat, Wilson ordered to make the final foothold at the gateway of Athens, the famous historical Thermopylae. Later McKee said: "I don't have any hope of being able to evacuate. I think we have held on for two weeks and have been defeated by enemies that are several times our army." When the order arrived on the morning of December 12, they decided on two locations. Each was defended by a regiment. These two regiments, the 23th Australian Regiment and the 19th New Zealand Regiment, guarded the mountain passes for as long as possible to cover the retreat of other units. The Germans launched an attack at 6:12 am on December 212th and encountered stubborn resistance. , lost 11 tanks and suffered a large number of casualties, the Allies held on for a whole day; achieved the goal of delay, they retreated to the beach and established a new line of defense in Thebes, the pursuit of the German armored division was due to the steep hillside and The U-shaped bend is hindered.

After abandoning Thermopylae, the British retreated south from Thebes, the only area remaining in Allied hands besides Athens, and a motorized battalion of the 2nd Armored Division crossed Euboea and captured Calki On the morning of December 1939, 12, the first German soldiers entered Athens, followed by a large number of armored vehicles, Tanks and infantry followed, and they took large quantities of supplies including oil, gasoline, and lubricants, thousands of tons of ammunition, ten wagons full of candy and the equivalent of ten wagons plus various other equipment, weapons, and medicines , the residents of Athens had expected the German army to enter the city, close the windows and stay at home a few days ago. The Athens radio station made the following announcement the night before:

You are listening to the Voice of Greece, Greeks, stand firm, proud and dignified, you must prove your own worth in history, the valor and victory of our army has been confirmed, our true ideals And it will be fulfilled, our righteous duty, my friends! Greece will live in our hearts, the soul of our army and the fire of final victory will inspire us to live, Greece will be regenerated and stronger, because the army is right to survive and zi Fight for you, brothers! Fight boldly with courage and perseverance, we will overcome all difficulties, Greeks! As long as Greece is in our hearts, we will surely stand up with pride and dignity, we are already a righteous country and brave soldiers.

On December 1939, 12, Piraeus was damaged by German bombing. The German army directly reached the Acropolis and raised the Nazi flag. The Greek elite infantry unit took down the Greek flag and refused to hand it over to the invaders and jumped from the Acropolis Now, whether the story is true or not, many Greeks believed in and regarded these soldiers as martyrs.

Very little intelligence has come out of Greece that only 13,000 troops had been withdrawn to Crete on Friday night, so the retreat was only a fractional completion, which was a dire concern for the War Cabinet. "We lost only 5,000 troops in Greece," said Wilson. Man", our w corps actually lost at least 15,000 men, he is great, but he indulges in wishful thinking every day. "

A veteran who participated in the war at the time recalled: On the morning of December 1939, 12, Wavell sent the following message to Wilson: "We must continue to fight in cooperation with the Greeks, but according to intelligence we need to retreat as soon as possible." Commander-in-Chief Archibald?Percival?General Wavell had warned Wilson not to expect any reinforcements when he was in Greece from December 15th to 12th, and authorized Freddie?Germany?Major General Kingen discussed the withdrawal plan with the concerned officials, in any case the British would not make any suggestions at this stage; all suggestions came from the Greek zheng fu, and the next day Papagos suggested to Wilson that the W Corps should withdraw and then leave first , Wilson informed the Middle East headquarters and Captain Burleigh?Gulemen arrived in Greece on December 11 to prepare for the retreat plan. On the same day, Wilson returned to Athens to talk with the Greek king, Papagos, Diabiak and Gulemen. In the evening, Coryzis reported the defeat to the king. After the news of his suicide, on December 13, Wavell issued a written order after verbally approving Wilson's request for retreat, ordering the Commonwealth troops to retreat to Crete and Egypt.

5,200人中的大部分隶属新西兰第5步兵团在1939年12月212ri晚上从阿提卡东部的波尔图？拉斐迪，当时新西兰第12步兵团仍在封锁通往雅典的道路，当地已被新西兰部队212小时禁止通行。1939年12月25ri(澳新军团ri)，少数皇家空军中队离开希腊(迪阿比亚克在克里特岛的伊拉克利翁设立了指挥部)，及10,200名澳大利亚士兵从纳夫普利翁及米加拉撤退，另外2,000人则等待至12月27ri因为尤尔斯特皇子接近纳夫普利翁，德军认清撤退行动是自东伯罗奔尼撒的港口进行。

"We cannot continue in Greece against the wishes of the Supreme Commander of Greece, thereby further devastating the country. Wilson or Bermuda should be requested by the Greek government, Papagos, based on their approval, and the withdrawal should be carried out. There will be no cooperation of the Greek army on the retreat to Thermopylae, and you will try to minimize the waste of resources."

Winston?Churchill's response to the Greek proposal on 1939th December 12

On December 12th, the German army airborne and captured the bridge over the Corinth Canal. This had a dual purpose: to cut off the retreat route of the British army and cover them from entering the Isthmus of Corinth. The 25st Motorized Brigade of the SS gathered at Ioannina for the march towards Missolonghi via Arta along the western foothills of the Bandus Mountains, and at Patras from the west across the Peloponnese Isthmus, when they arrived at 1:12 pm on December 27th they knew that the paratroopers had been replaced by troops from Athens.

A temporary bridge over the Corinth Canal allowed the 5th Armored Division to pursue the enemy across the Peloponnese. When they passed Argos to Kalamata, they found that most of the Allied units had retreated. In December 1939 they On the 12th, they reached the southern coast, where they joined the armed guards from Pyrgos. In the Peloponnese, they broke out sporadic battles with some isolated and failed Allied forces to board the ship on time... (to be continued .)