Iron Cross

"What should we do now?" At the operational meeting of the Cairo headquarters, General Alexander, the commander-in-chief of the Middle East Theater, looked at a circle of participants and spoke with a sad face. The general, who was famous for his ability to retreat, found himself standing on the edge of a cliff again. This time the situation was much more severe and cruel than what he had encountered before. Lieutenant General Montgomery, his most trusted subordinate, had become the German A member of the prisoner of war camp, and he led the last 60,000 people to huddle in Cairo. If he was not careful, he would be shattered to pieces.

Originally, he had a vague glimmer of hope for the war, believing that as long as the Operation Torch reinforcements landed successfully, the British Empire would not only be able to stabilize its position but also have the opportunity to launch a counterattack. However, when he received the full force of the rapid column commanded by General Cunningham, After the news that the US Army had been destroyed and that the US 2nd Armored Division and the British 78th Infantry Division, which planned to support the landing, lost contact, he only felt that his hands and feet were cold, and the world was spinning. Although London was still sparing no effort to cheer him up, he understood that the counterattack was in vain, and he would be happy to be able to escape unscathed now.

"Reconnaissance planes show that Guderian's large forces are on the way and will arrive near Cairo as early as the 27th and as late as the 28th."

"Isn't the Air Force trying to intercept?"

"Intercept? How to intercept?" Ted, who reported the news, looked depressed. "After continuous battles with the Germans, the Air Force aircraft continued to lose. Now the total number is less than 400, including less than 150 bombers. The Alexandria oil depot and the desert were lost. After establishing a large number of airports, fuel reserves and ground support were obviously insufficient. I thought that a large number of aircraft and fuel would arrive for this reinforcement, but as a result..."

Alexander was also puzzled: "Didn't you ask to allocate aircraft from each theater? Why are there so few?"

Ted rolled his eyes and spoke with stern fingers: "We have drawn everything we can: 49 from Iraq, 38 from Persia, 29 from Syria and Lebanon, and 47 from Ethiopia and Somalia. But the performance of the aircraft is not good. Most of the fighters are Hurricanes or Tomahawks, which cannot defeat the Germans' cutting-edge fighters. Only the Spitfire 9 can compete with the Fw-190A series, but the problem is in other areas. There is not a single Spitfire 9 left. There are less than 40 Spitfire 9s left in Egypt. There are only 37 of them, and three more were lost yesterday.”

Everyone's expressions were ugly. Although the German ground forces had not yet officially launched an offensive, the air offensive was already in full swing. Hundreds of aircraft came to fight every day. The territory that the Egyptian Air Force could control shrank again and again. The number of aircraft and pilots The number is also getting smaller and smaller.

"Even reconnaissance is very difficult now. For every three reconnaissance planes dispatched, one will be shot down. The pilots have begun to refuse to carry out such fatal orders. And the enemy has 1,500 planes. They are now capable of everything. There is no shortage...even the fuel is thrown to them by the infantry."

"Okay, okay, don't say that again..." Seeing that Ted was about to blame the Army for losing the port and oil depot so quickly, Alexander immediately stopped him and said in a serious tone, "Now is the time we must It’s time to make a decisive decision.”

Everyone knows what "prompt decision" means: after the fall of the port and canal zone, the admiral himself has been making two-way preparations: on the one hand, receiving torch reinforcements to prepare for a counterattack; on the other hand, he is thinking about deploying retreat. Many people could not understand his conservatism and caution at first, but now it seems that the Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East Theater has a much longer-term vision than others.

"But, domestically?" Major General Ramsden, the former commander of the Egyptian Army and now temporarily appointed commander of Cairo City Defense, asked, "What clear opinions do they have?"

Others couldn't help but slander him. What clear opinions could the country have? It must be a request to continue to hold on - London also sent a telegram this morning saying that American General Eisenhower has led an armored division and two infantry divisions on the way, and agreed to Alexander calling troops from Ethiopia, Somalia and even Kenya to defend Egypt. , but what’s the point?

Alexander did not explain the plan, only said: "In the past few days, Egyptian politicians and business people have come to persuade us to turn Cairo into an undefended city every day. Members of the parliament have also criticized us. After foreign aid is cut off, our military supplies will also be reduced." It’s becoming increasingly difficult.”

Of course, as the threat of the German army approached and the decline of the British army became apparent, especially after the news of the Japanese fleet's elimination of the fast column spread, the attitude of the Egyptian authorities changed very subtly. Wafer, who had always been opposed to the colonial authorities, The attitude towards quitting the party has become more intense. Even the attitude of those in power who have always cooperated with the British and have always been regarded as "pro-British people" has become very exciting: they are either threatening, forcing, begging, or luring. There is only one hope that the British troops in Cairo will retreat to Upper Egypt or even Ethiopia. As for Egypt's future status, in their words - strictly maintain neutrality!

joke! Hundreds of thousands of German troops have now entered Egypt. They have occupied Alexandria, controlled the oasis delta, and the canal zone. Now they are threatening Cairo, and they are sending out planes to bomb and straf every day. Admiral Alexander wanted to call these leading figures in front of him and question them: How does Egypt want to "strictly maintain neutrality"? In the end, he held back, as he really didn't deserve to be like this group of outsiders.

Everyone was silent. After the Axis controlled the Indian Ocean, shipping routes were cut off, and port supplies were seized, the impact of insufficient military supplies would gradually become apparent. Egypt was already short of food, which was not surprising.

Alexander had already prepared for the worst case scenario, but now he said "make a decisive decision" not to convince himself, but on the contrary, to speak to Ramsden - only he had been firmly opposed to retreating to the south and wanted a vigorous fight. In the defense battle of Cairo, it doesn't matter even if Cairo is beaten to pieces. This is why Churchill insisted on appointing Lumsden as commander of Cairo city defense.

"While the German encirclement has not yet been established, it is still too late for us to retreat. An hour ago, I had obtained the consent of London: first, to blow up the oil fields and facilities in the direction of Iraq; second, to allow us to retreat to East Africa." Alexander Looking at the map, he said slowly, "We can take the train to Aswan, then get off the train in Aswan and go to Ethiopia."

Everyone had expressions of relief, and Ramsden saw it in his eyes. He knew that these people were opposed to the war and advocated retreat, and he was the only one who was against them - he was now the target of public criticism.

The railways in Egypt form a Y-shape, and Cairo happens to be the node of the Y. One end branches off to connect Alexandria and Alamein, the other end branches off to go to Gaza and Beirut, and then go around to reach the Mosul oil fields and Basra. Oil field group.

"Is it safe to evacuate by train?"

"If we arrange it well, it is possible." Major General Kofi, chief of staff of the Middle East Theater, replied, "This line is 1,000 kilometers long. As long as we choose the right time, we can minimize the risk of exposure, such as starting secretly at dusk. The train can travel 400 kilometers overnight, and we dispatch fighter jets to fight with it early the next morning. Even if the German planes see through our actions and come, as long as they can survive 600 kilometers, the bombers will not be able to do anything to us because of their range. "

"But do we have enough carriages and wagons?" Ramsden asked. "Didn't you complain at the last meeting that a large number of locomotives and wagons fell into German hands?"

"This?" Alexander looked embarrassed and signaled Major General Coffey to answer with his eyes.

"We have collected some more wagons. We can carry 2 divisions and 30,000 people first - it is enough to carry only 30,000 people."

"Do you mean to abandon heavy equipment?" Ramsden's tone increased and he asked step by step.

"The Americans will give us equipment and stuff..." Coffey seemed to lack confidence and his tone softened. "The most important thing now is to maintain our strength, and then we can talk about other things."

"Then you plan to leave all the heavy equipment to the Germans." Ramsden sneered, "Do you think the Germans haven't captured enough?"

"That's not what I mean..." Alexander came out to smooth things over, "People are the most precious, and equipment and everything else can be obtained again. Didn't we also lose all our equipment during the Dunkirk retreat?"

"Okay." Lumsden didn't bother to dwell on the matter anymore and only asked what he was concerned about, "If we can only withdraw two divisions, who should we withdraw first?"

"Considering that the Australian 9th Division has a stronger fighting capacity than the New Zealand 2nd Division, I think they can hold on to their position, so..." Coffey spoke hesitantly.

Ramsden understood as soon as he heard this. His face turned red and he turned to Alexander: "Sir, is this your order?"

"Of course not, let's discuss it together..." General Alexander changed his tone to a pleasant tone, and then said after changing the subject, "The local people have great objections to the Eighth Army's arrangement to only arrange for the Dominion troops to withdraw from Tobruk. If we let the Dominion troops go first during this retreat, I'm afraid this opposition will be even stronger. Although they are all soldiers of the British Empire, but..."

It was only then that Lumsden suddenly realized why it was said to be a meeting but only a few people from the headquarters came, instead of the commanders of the New Zealand and Australian divisions. It turned out that the real foreshadowing was here!

"Okay!" He tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart, sighed and asked, "When are you going to get on the bus?"

"I want to set off tomorrow evening...tomorrow is the 24th. It will take us two days to arrive in Aswan, and then the train will return to Cairo on the evening of the 26th to support the retreat of the other two divisions." Alexander patted Lumsden on the shoulder. "I won't leave you alone, you just need to hold on for three more days."