Iron Cross

On December 15, the Canal Army took complete control of the entire Alexandria. Although sporadic exchanges of fire continued, it was obviously no longer the mainstream. Many Egyptians took the initiative to guide the German troops to the hiding places of the British troops, so that they were discovered and captured one by one. Disarm.

While the battle was fierce at the port, Kesselring and Iakino led the main force of the German and Italian fleets to rush towards Alexandria overnight. Soon, according to Rommel's instructions, they captured the slow-moving and large team that had just left the port. Transport fleet. Facing the approaching Axis fleet, Andrew, who was fleeing with his troops, was ashen-faced. Only the Mediterranean fleet in its heyday could fight such a huge force. Now he only has a few small sampans in his hand, let alone fighting with him. The battleships competed, and two more heavy cruisers couldn't stand it. Faced with the situation of being unable to escape and unable to fight, all the naval officers were at a loss, and the sailors on the transport ship were even more panicked.

"Invent a coded telegram, raise a flag, and order them all to surrender." Kesselring, who knew the British character well, also added a message at the end of the telegram, "It is not allowed to sink a ship, otherwise it will be regarded as resistance, and all personnel on the ship will be killed. "

With such a clear message and the black muzzle of the gun, Andrew had no choice but to order the ships to raise the white flag and declare surrender. The captains or captains of several ships were unwilling to fail and tried to order their men to open the sea valves and sink themselves, but were stopped by the angry The sailors and soldiers were beaten until their noses were black and their eyes were swollen - you want to die and we don't want to die?

Only one destroyer chose to sink itself as if it was death. As a result, the Germans fulfilled their promise murderously: they first used 12 203mm naval guns to approach and bombard the slowly sinking hull, and then used 20mm machine guns to sweep the sea and hit the sea water. It was a bright red scene and no one alive escaped. This scene made everyone's heart twitch.

Probably frightened by the murderous intent of the Germans, the escape fleet was eventually escorted back to Alexandria, acting more submissive than a sheep.

In fact, Britain and the United States lied to Stalin. The materials shipped to the Red Army were not along the African route but had already arrived in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Because the Eighth Army had been requesting material support, it temporarily changed direction and went to Egypt. Churchill originally planned to let the Red Army take it. The next batch of supplies - supplies originally intended for the British Army in North Africa. The United States approved this temporary adjustment. These items were all on the transport ship. Many of the goods fell directly into the hands of the Germans, including the ship and the goods, before they even had time to be counted and unloaded. inside.

Iakino detached part of the fleet to escort the fleet back to the port, while he led the rest of the fleet towards Port Said at the mouth of the canal as quickly as possible. On land, Rommel ignored the sporadic resistance in the city and directly ordered the Suez strike group to quickly attack the canal zone - everyone was worried that the British would jump over the wall and destroy the canal. As for the 128th Brigade sent by Alexander from Cairo for reinforcements, after hearing the news from the defeated troops that the port had fallen, they simply turned back to Cairo without even meeting each other.

From the afternoon of that day to the evening of the next day, the forces of the Canal Group Army were deployed across the board. Except for the more than 2,000 troops who were left to defend Alexandria, the rest of the troops rushed and fought like clockwork. The entire army moved along Rashid, Bati The coastal roads of Tomb and Damietta surged forward for more than 200 kilometers until they occupied Port Said at the mouth of the canal. Three divisions and one brigade, totaling 60,000 people, stretched into a team of more than 300 kilometers. It seems that he has found the passion that he had when he fought all the way from Tobruk to Alamein.

Both Gauss and Balck were worried that the British Egyptian army would seize this opportunity to attack their flanks. They repeatedly reminded Rommel to pay attention to safety and not to let the British take advantage of the loopholes. However, the latter firmly stated that they should continue to move forward and not worry about attacks from the flanks. He comforted several of his men: "I fought with the British during the French campaign, and fought with them in North Africa for one and a half years. I know very well what kind of character they are - don't be afraid, they don't dare to come! Don't say Their current strength is only half of ours. Even if their strength is the same as ours or even half more than mine, Alexander does not dare to attack. The British do not have three times as many tanks and troops as me, and they do not dare to attack without sufficient aircraft support. If they dare to attack, it means I can clear them out faster."

Although Balke was doubtful, the development of facts proved that what Rommel said was true. In the face of the terrifying momentum of planes in the sky covering the sky and tanks on the ground roaring, the British security forces stationed in various places either surrendered obediently or walked towards Cairo. They ran away without anyone trying to resist. The British troops in Cairo were trembling with fear, and even fled in a swarm due to the arrival of some German planes for air strikes. It was all thanks to the efforts of officers at all levels to maintain the situation. In such a state of unrest, General Alexander, who was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, could not even take the initiative to attack the Canal Army, but could actually control the order of the troops.

At this time, we can see Pound's clear understanding of the unfeasibility of the plan to destroy the canal: it is simply impossible to block the canal without a plan and preparation. Instead of wasting efforts, it is better to strengthen the defense of Cairo.

Alexander sent three consecutive telegrams to London reporting that the port had been lost and Cairo's defense system was incomplete and suggested retreat. However, because the Egyptian army led by Ramsden had not yet arrived, Churchill not only refused to approve his request for retreat, but instead demanded It reorganized the city defense and cooperated with the incoming Egyptian army to defend Cairo to buy time for the arrival of sea reinforcements. Finally, in the early morning of the 17th, he received a rare piece of good news: Ramsden sent a telegram telling him that the Egyptian army only had the last 100 kilometers or so to leave Luo, and was expected to arrive early tomorrow morning.

Ted reported the results of the air force reconnaissance to Alexander in a worried tone: the German Canal Army's semicircular arc encirclement of Cairo had also begun to be constructed. Especially at noon that day, after the German vanguard took control of the Suez Canal entrance, Cairo's west and north German troops appeared in three directions, east and west, and the main force of the German-Italian combined fleet also began to enter the canal area. Now, let alone destroying the canal area, the British may be attacked by ground, water, and air firepower even if they appear near the canal area. Triple attack.

Alexander hoped that the Air Force could launch an air attack on the German and Italian fleets, but Ted replied with a wry smile that this was impossible: not only because the number of Air Force aircraft had dropped to a terrible level, but also because of the hasty retreat, and now even skilled ground handling and supporting equipment The maintenance manpower was insufficient, a situation aggravated by the loss of Alexandria, but he promised to do his best to detect and grasp the enemy's movements while defending Cairo as much as possible. Alexander was stunned for a moment and could only agree reluctantly.

Only the southbound road in Cairo was still open. Rommel used the method of "encircling three and missing one" in an attempt to force Alexander to escape from Cairo. Hoffman repeatedly told him to avoid street fighting with the British army as much as possible. In fact, Alexander did not want to defend, but he still shouldered the important task of supporting the Egyptian army. Even in the face of the Germans' tightening encirclement, he could only bite the bullet and continue to resist. Finally, late that night, Ramsden's Egyptian army went through untold hardships, bypassed the German defense lines, evaded the pursuit of the German Air Force, and entered Cairo one after another.

This large force of more than 30,000 people trekked in the desert for a week. The physical strength and endurance of the officers and soldiers were completely stretched to the extreme. Without Montgomery's deployment of numerous vehicles and supplies, there would be no line drawn for the troops. Although it was a long and roundabout way, it was absolutely safe. Ramsden didn't dare to imagine whether he would be able to grit his teeth and return to Cairo again. Including him, many officers and soldiers generally lost 10-15 pounds in weight, which was supported entirely by perseverance and fighting spirit.

The moment they arrived in Cairo, everyone felt that they had collapsed. The officers and soldiers of the British Empire who usually cared about their grace and image were so exhausted that they even found an open space on the road and lay down on the ground. Although they were in such a mess, it was a shot in the arm for the defenders - with more than 60,000 people in their hands, Admiral Alexander felt that he could finally sleep peacefully at night.

But this good mood only lasted for just over five hours. In the early morning, he received a telegram from Admiral Cunningham, and his face became ugly again.

Cunningham told him in the telegram that the rapid support force was traveling at the fastest speed and had now crossed the line between Mogadishu, Somalia and the Seychelles Islands. However, due to the high-speed travel time along the way, ships had mechanical accidents from time to time. Failure, and due to bad weather and other reasons, the center of the fleet is still in the sea about 500 kilometers east-northeast of Mogadishu, and at least 2,000 nautical miles away from Egypt. In other words, it is no longer possible for him to sail Arrival on the night of the 20th may be 3-4 days later than planned.

Alexander, who had no choice but to continue waiting - after the Germans occupied the canal zone and pressed forward step by step, his troops had lost the conditions to retreat across the canal to the Sinai Peninsula and Persia. He now only has two options:

First, hold on to Cairo and wait for Cunningham's reinforcements to come up to counterattack;

Second, wait for Cunningham's fleet to arrive to pick up his troops.

No matter which option he chose, he had to wait for the arrival of Cunningham's fleet. As for the third method, he had never thought of it - to abandon Cairo and retreat to Upper Egypt and wait for an opportunity to retreat to Ethiopia and East Africa. He believed that the supplies and materials of the troops were simply insufficient. In order to support such a long-distance march, and the German and Italian fleets had already entered the canal area, they had every means to pursue the retreating troops down the river. He called this road a "dead end!"

He told Cunningham that Alexandria and the Canal Zone had been lost, and suggested that the fleet land at Sefaj Port, about 500 kilometers southeast of Cairo - I will hold on until you arrive!