Iron Cross

On the evening of December 12, the German-Italian joint fleet covered the huge second wave of landing troops from Crete to land at Mersa Matruh. During the day, the British Air Force had mustered up its remaining courage and tried its best to prevent the German landing and deployment, but was hit hard by the huge cover aircraft group. A large number of British planes were shot down in the cold Mediterranean before they even approached the target. For this desperate attack, the Royal Air Force lost more than 200 aircraft that day, and their achievements were only 2 transport ships sunk, 1 destroyer was silenced, and several Italian battleships were hit by near misses - at this moment, not attacking the transport ships but attacking the battleships is definitely a brain-wrecking game.

Although the British Army in Egypt received aircraft support from Syria, Iran, Iraq and other countries according to London's orders, and General Tedder also took back most of the main forces of the Desert Air Force (only pilots, aircraft and a small number of ground crew, the rest of the ground crew could only stay at the base and wait for the fate of the decision), the British Air Force in North Africa still fell to only more than 900 aircraft. Now the German Air Force not only surpassed the British Air Force in quality, but also far exceeded it in quantity.

Forced by the cruel situation and the need to defend Alexandria and Cairo, General Alexander, the commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Theater, had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​continuing to fight for air superiority and began to focus on air defense. The unfortunate Eighth Army not only had to accept the bombing of German aircraft after losing the air umbrella of the Desert Air Force, but even the bombers of the Italian Air Force came to beat the dog. The German African Army Group and the Canal Army Group first became one in the airspace.

On the morning of December 13, Rommel, who had landed successfully, did not wait for all the troops to land and deploy - he left all these tasks to Gauss, and immediately commanded part of the Canal Army to advance forward. He showed his usual charge spirit and ordered the Grossdeutschland Division and the SS Viking Division to send out an armored battalion and the 20th Motorized Infantry Division to send out an armored grenadiers battalion to form the "Suez" rapid strike group. With the cooperation of more than 200 aircraft, this rapid cluster built with the most elite armored forces brought the power of blitzkrieg to the limit. Its impact was simply not something that the Indian 4th Division and the 72nd Infantry Brigade, which had been repeatedly hit and had weak combat power, could resist. Their temporary defense line quickly collapsed, and large numbers of Indian officers and soldiers surrendered to the German army. The British soldiers who resisted stubbornly were ruthlessly eliminated by the tanks.

In the evening, the Suez Rapid Strike Group quickly occupied the Arab Fort, which was of great value. At this moment, they were less than 50 kilometers away from Alexandria. All the British troops in Egypt were in a panic, and Rommel's temporary headquarters, under the cover of a Tiger tank platoon, followed closely behind the Rapid Strike Group. At this time, some troops were unable to land smoothly from the Matruh Port. After a long period of silence, the reputation of the Desert Fox began to rise again.

At the same time, the Egyptian army, which had received a large amount of supplies and equipment from the Eighth Army, relied on a large number of trucks and armored vehicles to make a difficult detour from the south line. In the evening of the same day, they secretly moved to Siwa. They walked very carefully along the way, fearing that they would be discovered by German planes. Because the German and Italian air forces were busy attacking the British troops on the Tobruk front, Guderian did not realize that the enemy in front of him was less than 30,000, and he did not expect that the British would take the long road in the desert instead of the coastal highway. Therefore, Montgomery's detour strategy achieved early success. It was just that the long and circuitous route was not easy to take, as they were still more than 500 kilometers away from Cairo...

Alexandria was the most important port in Egypt. The British had not only operated it for many years, but also stockpiled a large amount of supplies, equipment and fuel. After the supply line of the Eighth Army was cut off, the supplies that had been transported from Britain, the United States, India, Canada, South Africa and Australia and were originally supposed to be transported to Montgomery were forced to be stockpiled in the warehouse at the port. A debate broke out among the British high-ranking officials in Egypt about whether to defend Alexandria:

After Harwood's death, Major General Andrew, Chief of Staff of the Mediterranean Fleet, temporarily took over the command. He believed that it should be defended, because Alexandria had an important position and value, extremely rich material reserves, and a relatively complete coastal defense system - he believed that it was impossible for the Germans to come from the sea and try to land. As long as the army was determined to hold on, Alexandria, which relied on the city defense fortifications, could be saved. If it could not be defended, it would also buy enough time for the defenders to transfer and destroy the supplies.

Admiral Alexander held a different view. He believed that after the collapse of the temporary defense line of Alamein, the Egyptian army, including some marines in Alexandria, had less than 28,000 troops. Aircraft reconnaissance showed that the German army had landed as many as 50,000 to 60,000 troops. The rapid strike group directly commanded by Rommel was particularly powerful. The defense force of Alexandria now had only more than 6,000 people, which was not enough to resist the German attack. It was militarily impossible to defend both Alexandria and Cairo. He insisted on giving up resolutely. Everything related to Alexandria should be taken away as much as possible, and if it could not be taken away, it should be destroyed on the spot - anyway, it could not be left to the Germans.

He also made a counter-proposal, asking Andrew to quickly lead the remaining ships in the port to move to Suez and sink the warships to block the canal if necessary. While Andrew was making the worst plan to move and destroy the materials, he argued on the other hand, hoping that Alexandria would agree to defend the port. The lawsuit between the army and the navy over this matter went all the way to London.

The atmosphere in the Prime Minister's Residence in Downing Street was dull and depressing at the moment. Churchill was no longer as high-spirited as when he inspected North Africa and negotiated with Stalin a few months ago. His old eyes were dim and dull. The situation was developing worse than he expected. The Eighth Army in the direction of Tobruk is committing suicide slowly, and Egypt's situation is in danger.

"Prime Minister, I think we should hold on to Alexandria. Needless to say, the importance and value of this port. Moreover, we have good sea defenses and large-caliber shore artillery. As long as we have air force cover, we can hold on for more than 10 days." —Only this time is enough to move or destroy the materials hoarded at the port.” First Lord of the Admiralty, Admiral Dudley Pound, known as “Churchill’s Anchor” in the cabinet, has always supported the Prime Minister’s ideas, and he can tell. Churchill intended to hold on, so he expressed his position first, and finally added, "With the arrival of the Torch Project support troops, there will also need to be a suitable port for them to land, and there is no more suitable place than Alexandria."

Churchill nodded. Pound's words were irreproachable. If such a large and important port was handed over to the Germans without fighting, what would be the dignity of the British Empire? How to explain to allies? Delaying time is also necessary to wait for reinforcements. Admiral Cunningham is currently rushing forward with a fast fleet and reinforcements. As long as there is time, he will be in time.

But Chief of General Staff Brook had a different opinion: "When the balance of power between the enemy and ourselves is obviously imbalanced, we should no longer divide our forces to defend the city that is destined to fall. We should concentrate on consolidating the defense of Cairo. As for the supplies in Alexandria, rapid destruction is... How much is destroyed?”

The rest of the cabinet members were divided into two groups, those who supported Pound and those who supported Brooke. However, there were a few who supported the persistence. Most people agreed with General Alexander's judgment and believed that limited troops could no longer be wasted and divided into defenses. Only Attlee finally said He made a fair statement: "I think both plans actually have some problems, but now is not the time for us to get hung up on the details. The most important thing for us is to make a quick decision. I think whichever one you choose will do, and let the Prime Minister decide for himself."

As a result, more than a dozen eyes were focused on Churchill. Just as he was about to express his position, suddenly the adjutant rushed over and handed him the latest telegram from the front. After reading it, he was ecstatic, as if a drowning man had grasped straw, and he was so happy. The voice said: "Everyone, the Eighth Army has temporarily formed an Egyptian army with the New Zealand 2nd Division and the Australian 9th Division as the core, including more than 30,000 personnel from the army headquarters, led by Major General Lumsden from the southern front. Retreat in a roundabout way, prepare to retreat to Cairo and defend Egypt."

Everyone was overjoyed when they heard this. Alexander had the upper hand in this matter, but Ramsden's telegram quickly changed everything, because the telegram clearly told Cairo that "I brought two divisions to bypass the German flank. After a long distance, After consumption, various supplies will be needed, and we hope to be ready to respond and make corresponding preparations." This stung Ma Feng's nest, and the position of everyone in the meeting was immediately shaken. The situation was obvious. If Alexandria was abandoned immediately, the German army would be able to advance quickly. It is likely that the Egyptian army would be found outflanking and intercepted. Now it has 3 The Egyptian army with more than 10,000 people and more than 300 tanks is essential to consolidate Egypt's defense.

"Where is General Montgomery?" Attlee asked, "Why is he not leading the team? He is injured?"

"No, he stayed in Tobruk and continued to deal with Guderian to cover the Egyptian army's retreat. He also gave Ramsden all the large amounts of equipment and supplies that the group army could collect." Churchill's voice deepened. "I'm sorry for him, he was a real general and I will apologize to him personally when he returns to London."

"This..." Everyone's expressions turned ugly.

Churchill, who was undecided just now, now has a very firm attitude: "I think these 30,000 reinforcements are enough to defend Egypt, at least until the reinforcements arrive, to cover their retreat, and to buy more time for the reinforcements and give Alexander The general sent a telegram requesting that the port and Cairo be used as the corner, and the west bank of the canal should be guarded as much as possible. "

Everyone exchanged looks and expressed their agreement with Churchill's decision.