Iron Cross

Lumsden sent a telegram to Montgomery almost in tears: on the one hand, he reported that he had completed his mission, and on the other hand, he hoped that the officer could withdraw as soon as possible-as much as possible.

But Montgomery could no longer hold on. The Eighth Army, which had lost hope, morale, supplies and materials, had reached the point where it was at the end of its rope and struggling to survive. In the last few days, they fought so fiercely to cover the retreat of the Egyptian army. When the news of the safe arrival of the Egyptian army came out, everyone felt that they had collapsed - the last belief and mission that supported them finally collapsed.

it's all over!

When Rommel sent the news to Guderian that the Egyptian army had escaped and joined the Cairo defenders, the latter understood why Montgomery still fought so fiercely at a moment of complete despair - it was not the African Army that entangled the Eighth Route Army. Instead of the Eighth Army, it was the African Army that clung to the African Army. Not only did it not give it a chance to deal with the only remaining Egyptian Army, it also caused more than 3,000 new casualties to the African Army. But now the Eighth Army is on the verge of collapse. .

In the early morning of December 19, the Eighth Army received the field envoy sent by the African Army to negotiate surrender for the third time. This time Montgomery did not flatly refuse as before, but agreed, but put forward preconditions in the hope that the Germans would surrender. Can agree and ask for a 2-hour ceasefire first. The special envoy agreed to the ceasefire request, but he could not answer the conditions proposed by Montgomery and could only ask Guderian to make a decision.

Alexander, Ted, and Lumsden were all very worried about Montgomery's safety and sent telegrams continuously to tell him that they would send planes to pick him up. In view of the strong air supremacy of German aircraft during the day, they said that they would send out 4-engine heavy bombers to pick him up - because they could pick him up at night. Flying can effectively ensure safety. But this kindness was rejected by Montgomery. He took the pilots who came to persuade him to leave to the field hospital, pointed at the wounded soldiers on the ground and said sadly: "I made a promise to them, and I will not leave until they are settled." , Now they are all struggling here, how can I just leave? If you must transport people, please transport some wounded people."

As a result, this temporarily modified bomber did not pick up any officers, but only carried away a dozen seriously injured people.

Guderian finally readily agreed to Montgomery's surrender terms, which were the only conditions the British had. According to the agreement, under the supervision of the German army, Egypt can send 10 more transport planes to pick up the seriously injured, provided that the fuselage is painted with a red cross logo and does not carry any weapons. The German Air Force will send aircraft to escort and pick up the seriously injured. Ensure safe flight and freedom of movement of aircraft.

The Eighth Army's Seriously Wounded Corps retreated to Cairo through this special air channel. A healthy colonel secretly tried to slip into the camp of wounded soldiers, but was found out by the Germans and detained aside. The military police who maintained order Ask Montgomery for instructions on what to do.

"Disobeying orders during wartime has serious consequences and adverse effects. What is the maximum possible punishment?"

"Death penalty!" The military police lieutenant's Adam's apple twitched, "You can enforce battlefield discipline and shoot on the spot."

"You can't do this to me. I have shed blood and been injured for the British Empire. I have made meritorious service for the 7th Armored Division... I am still a noble... I have a title..." The colonel struggled and howled at the top of his lungs.

"Not only can you not live and die with your men, but you also have to seize the escape route of the wounded soldiers. The British Empire does not have such a greedy and shameless officer as you." Montgomery didn't even look at the colonel, and said coldly. He said coldly, "Strictly enforce military law and shoot him immediately!"

Although the colonel was still struggling to free himself and begging for mercy, the gendarmerie dragged him out like a dead dog and then shot him with a bang.

This episode shocked everyone present. Everyone felt that the commander at this moment was still as majestic as a majestic lion, inviolable. The German officer who watched the whole process only hesitated for a moment but did not stop him, and finally decided to report the incident to the police.

That afternoon, more than 10 trucks with loudspeakers rushed to various areas of the defense line, playing Montgomery's final speech at the highest volume:

"Commanders of the Eighth Army, I am Bernard Montgomery, Commander of our Army! In this battle, we fought bravely and fearlessly for the British Empire to the last breath, and gloriously fulfilled our responsibilities as a soldier. Now all of us are The group army has run out of ammunition and food and has no reinforcements. In order to avoid unnecessary killings and sacrifices, the commander has made the following decision after considering the situation - I hope you will obey my last order and surrender honorably to the German Wehrmacht!"

In the evening, Guderian finally met the opponent with whom he had fought for several months, fighting each other to the death - he was wearing a straight lieutenant general uniform, clean shaven, and although his eye sockets were sunken, he had a pair of The piercing eyes are still impressive.

"General Guderian, the defeated General Montgomery led the Eighth Army of Great Britain to surrender to you. I hope you can fulfill your obligations under relevant international conventions and treat them decently and kindly."

"General Montgomery, thank you for your wise decision. My subordinates and I promise to treat prisoners fairly, justly and reasonably in accordance with the standards of the Geneva Convention." Guderian shook hands with Montgomery and quickly took the hand from the other party. The officer's sword and pistol, which symbolized power and status, were handed over to Bayerlein behind him without a second glance - he did not want to humiliate his opponent on this occasion.

"Give General Montgomery a decent place and provide him with treatment commensurate with his status." Guderian was still very grateful to Montgomery for his timely surrender. If the battle continued, he would be sure to eliminate this army group, but many more people would definitely die. He was even more convinced of this after seeing Churchill send a telegram to Montgomery asking the army to fight to the last man. When the battle is about to be won, there is no need to make such a big sacrifice.

"They surrendered, ha... they actually surrendered. I thought they would fight until the last moment!" In London, Churchill took the telegram, jumped to his feet and cursed hysterically, "The British Empire gave him 300,000 troops. , in the end, except for the more than 30,000 Egyptian troops and the nearly 1,000 defeated and injured soldiers of the 4th Indian Division, the others either died in battle or became prisoners of the Germans... The lieutenant general actually led the troops to surrender! What a fucking bastard!"

Churchill, who was furious, had completely forgotten the words he said a few days ago to apologize to Montgomery. Although politicians' statements can only be counted after they have been heard, this gaffe still made others frown.

Attlee persuaded: "Winston...General Montgomery has fulfilled his responsibility and gave up the opportunity to escape alone - he refused the plane we sent him. So we can't be too demanding."

"He didn't dare to come back, for fear that I would send him to a military court when he came back, so he would rather walk into a German prisoner of war camp. I want to sentence him to death - trial in absentia!" Churchill roared, his voice so loud that it almost broke the roof. , "Tell Alexander that Montgomery surrendered shamefully, but he must hold Egypt! Cunningham's fleet will arrive in a few days, please hold on!"

Everyone's face was covered with a layer of gloom, but in the end no one spoke. Everyone was not optimistic about the prospect of defending Egypt, but they could not say it directly - should they give up the entire Egypt without fighting?

"How should Parliament and public opinion respond?" Attlee said with a gloomy face. "This is an unprecedented defeat. Originally, public opinion and the people thought that we had the advantage, especially after the Eighth Army surrounded the German army in Tobruk. Emotions have flooded the newspapers again, and now the sudden failure to report and the loss of more than 200,000 people will cause people to be shocked - or they will doubt that our original news was false, or they will doubt our subsequent command and response. This will have a great impact on the government and cabinet. The credibility is very bad.”

Churchill scratched his hair in distress and didn't know what to do. The final result of the battle had not yet been announced, but the senior people basically knew that the situation on the front line was not good. Even some reporters with powerful skills got what they wanted to know - this time in North Africa The battle was even worse than the defeat at Dunkirk. At least we were able to rescue people that time, but this time they either died in the battle or were all sent to German prisoner-of-war camps. The combat effectiveness of the expeditionary force during Dunkirk can only be said to be average. The Eighth Army lost this time was the most powerful and largest army in the United Kingdom. There were a full 4 armored divisions, but now they were all in vain. Troops like the 51st Highland Division were almost completely rebuilt during the French campaign, and it seems that they will be rebuilt again this time.

What is also unspeakable is that in the end, the Eighth Army gave up the opportunity to retreat to the New Zealanders and Australians. This is irreproachable in terms of military deployment, and politically it is also conducive to uniting the various dominions and colonies, but in the face of The hysterical feelings of the people at the bottom are difficult to explain - why not prioritize the withdrawal of the British mainland troops? Once this issue is not handled well, it will trigger strong emotional opposition between the Dominion and the British Isles.

Fortunately, the control of news and public opinion during wartime was very strict. In recent days, the mainstream media has been slowly cooperating with the cabinet in releasing news that the war in North Africa is not going well. It is difficult to change the sentiment of public opinion at once, and they can only slowly change their tone. But in this way It didn't help that many people anxiously called newspapers and radio stations to ask everything they wanted to know, which made the media overwhelmed.

After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't find a way to get the best of both worlds. In the end, he could only say dejectedly: "Let's wait until there are obvious changes in the war situation in Cairo before announcing it to the media. Maybe I need to give a public speech. This time the British Empire has been attacked. "It's a setback, but we are far from reaching the end of our rope and we will fight the Germans to the end."

Everyone shook their heads and sighed, no one could think of a better way.