Iron Cross

Halfway through the meeting, Ramsden, who was upset, left on the pretext of inspecting the city defenses and adjusting the new defense system after the troops retreated. Before leaving, Alexander comforted him and told him not to worry about the second batch. The retreat thing.

Looking at Lumsden's retreating back, Major General Coffey said with a guilty conscience: "Is it okay for us to do this?"

"What's the problem?" Brown, the King of Egypt and the British Consul General in Egypt, glared at him. "It is the duty of soldiers to obey orders. General Alexander, as the highest official in the Middle East, has the right to arrange which troops will retreat first. Besides, what rights does he have? Expressing dissatisfaction? He was able to withdraw to Cairo only because of General Montgomery's decisive decision and our armed support. Was it right to let him withdraw first, but was it wrong for us to arrange for other troops to withdraw first this time? Could it be that Ramsden would never do it? Want to retreat first?”

Kofi said sarcastically: "That's not what I meant. I meant the order to retreat."

In fact, Alexander lied to Lumsden. He received a telegram from London this afternoon. However, the telegram did not directly agree with him to retreat, but a vague instruction, "...unless nothing can be done, otherwise Try to hold on to Cairo until reinforcements arrive."

Everyone knew that Lumsden wanted to open the defense of Luo, but no one agreed with it. After discussion, they believed that the original situation of the telegram could not be told to him.

Alexander shook his head: "I did nothing wrong! When the fleet led by Admiral Cunningham failed and the landing force could no longer be counted on, the situation in Cairo and even Egypt had indeed reached a point where nothing could be done. I arranged a complete retreat. We are following the advice of the telegram. Can't we judge the local situation instead of asking the London authorities thousands of kilometers away to make decisions for us? We have suffered such a loss once: Montgomery said that five armored divisions were needed, but London would not give them. . Okay, now 300,000 troops have been lost - the people sitting in certain positions in the cabinet are really a bunch of pigs!"

Everyone is convinced of this.

"Only a fool like Ramsden can win the favor of the Prime Minister. Now he still wants to hold on to Cairo and wait for the Americans to come to rescue us after they land in Kenya. Damn! When they get to Egypt, they should go to the German prisoner of war camps. We are gone." Alexander was about to get angry. "If you had listened to me, you would have pulled the troops back across the Sinai Peninsula into Iraq and Syria in time, and directly connected with the commander of the 10th Army of General Henry Maitland Wilson. (Responsible for the defense of Persia, Iraq, Syria and other places), why are there so many things now?”

Once again, everyone nodded in agreement, and for a while there were complaints about the cabinet.

"Admiral, are there no problems with the retreat route and method?" Brown asked worriedly.

"No problem! I have made thorough and careful preparations to minimize the risk." Alexander is indeed a veteran who has been working on retreat for many years. The so-called retreat of two divisions by train is completely a smoke screen. The real retreat plan is far more complicated than what was just described: He had already arranged for a large number of river boats to be transported all the way upstream through the Nile River. That was the main route of retreat. Not only would the train retreat be later than Retreating by water is not mainstream in terms of method. Of course, this was not because he was trying to fool Lumsden, it was because of the need for confidentiality.

Of the more than 30,000 British troops who retreated in the first batch, at least 25,000 had to retreat through waterways. In addition, they also included some official personnel of the British agencies in Egypt and their families. Of course, some powerful British and Egyptian troops were also inevitable. merchant. Only less than 7,000 British troops actually retreated through the railway. They will be mixed with Egyptian residents and ordinary British expatriates to retreat south. Because of the threat of the German army, a large number of residents fled south through the railway every day. The Egyptian government appealed to the Germans through a note, hoping that the German army would not attack these trains. Kesselring agreed to the request on behalf of the German side, provided that the British troops could not be transported.

Alexander was determined to break this tacit understanding between the Egyptian authorities and the German army. He wanted to arrange for the troops to leave by train because he believed that many Egyptians would be tempted to tip off the Germans.

He laughed and said: "Let our soldiers take a train with the Egyptian people and expatriates who are fleeing south, and then let those conspirators collude with the Germans. I want to see if the Germans dare to blow up these trains." …”

Everyone showed a knowing smile and thought that General Alexander had made a good move: if it exploded, it would destroy the tacit relationship between the German army and the Egyptian property class. Even if the Germans finally occupied Egypt, they would not be able to stabilize it quickly. Come down, let alone expect the Egyptians to cooperate sincerely with the Germans; not explode? Even better, these more than 7,000 people can retreat safely, but he doesn't mind the large number of retreating troops.

"Gentlemen, go get ready immediately. You will leave after 12 o'clock at night."

"What about you, sir?"

"I can't leave! I have to see off the troops tomorrow, and I have to appear in the city to reassure people." Alexander comforted everyone, "Don't worry, the Germans won't arrive so soon."

"Yes! Sir!" Coffey looked at the Middle East theater commander with reverence.

"General, please take care of yourself." Consul General Brown was also moved and warmly hugged Alexander and said goodbye.

Only Ted was dissatisfied in his heart: Even though the commander said so well now, he had actually asked him to prepare a B-24 bomber in the best condition and capable of flying at night to stay on standby at a secret airport in the suburbs. In order to win over him, he also suggested The two of them walked together.

Just as Alexander and others were making arrangements to retreat, at the German secret command post outside Cairo, Marshal Kesselring met with two representatives of the secret organization of Egyptian military officers. One of them, a young officer with thick eyebrows and big eyes, said: " Your Excellency, Marshal, according to reliable information, the British plan to withdraw part of their troops from the railway tomorrow evening. At the same time, many British expatriates and Egyptian civilians will be withdrawn.”

Kesselring frowned instinctively: "Didn't your authorities promise not to transport British troops?"

"If their promise works, how could the country of Egypt become like this?"

Kesselring was stunned for a moment. He detected other emotions in the young officer - a very dangerous emotion.

"What's your name?" A voice suddenly came from elsewhere, and the translator quickly translated it into English.

"My name is Gamal Abdul Nasser. Next to me is my important assistant Mohammad Anwar Sadat. He is our liaison officer. Our leader is Mohammad Najib." Nasser said in an orderly manner Introducing him, he turned around to see clearly who was asking the question. At first he thought it would be Marshal Rommel, but when he saw the person's face clearly, he stood up in surprise and stammered: "The... head of state!"

Sadat also stood up helplessly, dumbfounded and didn't know what to say. Finally he reacted and saluted hurriedly.

"Sit down, don't be nervous, just be casual."

Kesselring was obviously not mentally prepared. He originally thought that the head of state would not come out if he stayed inside. For safety reasons, several generals repeatedly persuaded Hoffman to return to the country or stay in Alexandria, but Hoffman still insisted on coming to the front line. , I only promised not to show up in public, but I didn’t expect that I was exposed after persisting for two days.

"Albert, don't be nervous, I'll leave after I say these few words." Hoffman knew what Kesselring was thinking, "My life is very valuable, and Churchill would rather kill me now, right?"

This joke made everyone laugh.

Nasser flattered him without any trace: "Now I understand why the British will lose and the Germans will win. While Churchill was still dictating the outcome of the war thousands of kilometers away in London, the German head of state had personally come to the front line. strategizing.”

"No, no! The battles were fought by the marshals and generals. I just came over to take a look at the situation. To be honest, I am more interested in maintaining the stability and unity of Egypt than capturing tens of thousands of British prisoners. If they want to escape, let them escape. Well." To everyone's surprise, the head of state was very polite to the two of them.

"Dear head of state, we are very envious and longing for Germany. We are inspired by Germany's declaration on the liberation of the Arab nation. We look forward to building national socialism in Egypt."

"You will have such an opportunity. Egypt's future cannot be achieved by corrupt politicians or reactionary monarchs. It must rely on young and ambitious officers like you, Mr. Nasser, and you, Mr. Sadat. I know your After this incident, I feel that Egypt has a bright future and the Egyptian people have a bright future.”

"Dear Head of State..." Nasser was very excited when he heard that Hoffman remembered his name at once. "Can I understand that our German friends will help us realize our wishes?"

"Of course, we will help you as much as possible." Hoffman smiled slightly, "We have captured a large number of British weapons in Alexandria. If you need them, we can provide them to you. We can also provide instructors. I look forward to Egypt being able to Establish a defense force of 200,000 people, and we ask for much less than the British."

Nasser nodded: "Thank you to the head of state and marshal for their heartfelt help, and also to our German friends for their candor. Our organization will do our best to cooperate with your military operations."

After the two left, Kesselin asked strangely: "Führer, these are just two young officers. The big shots behind them haven't come forward yet. Why would you?"

Hoffman shook his head: "Albert, you are wrong. These two are the big shots, and they will become the leaders of this country in the future. The friendship you establish now is far more useful than any friendship in the future."

Kesselring was a little skeptical about this.

"Do you think they are difficult to control? They are not as submissive and flattering as those political representatives?" Hoffman said contemptuously, "The future can easily fall to our enemies, and we need to be truly rooted in the Egyptian people. Powerful people. In addition, arming the Egyptians also has the advantage of reminding some Italian politicians who do not know the heights of the sky..."

Kesselring smiled knowingly.

Hoffman thought to himself: Two Egyptian presidents are here. If this relationship is not closed now, when will it be closed again?