Iron Cross

General Wilson, commander of the British 10th Army, finally witnessed the legendary "crushing defeat". Unfortunately, he was now the protagonist of this scene:

On December 31, 1942, he lost control of Mosul and the surrounding oil fields in Iraq.

On January 1, 1943, he lost the Iraqi capital Baghdad and the nearby air force base. Nearly 4,000 British soldiers who were responsible for the defense mission in the area were either killed in battle or captured by the SS Viking Division.

On January 2, the 10th Indian Division he sent out from Basra to rescue was defeated by the Grossdeutschland Division in Nasiriyah. The fleeing troops passed the panic atmosphere to Basra and other troops from Ahwaz. The 6th Indian Division, which had just crossed the border, retreated in a hurry, and the 5th Infantry Division (minus the 13th Infantry Brigade, which was destroyed or captured in Baghdad) that had been defending in Basra was in chaos under the impact of the fleeing soldiers.

On January 3, the Great German Division attacked Basra fiercely. With the cooperation of the German Air Force, the majestic armored forces were unstoppable, especially the Tiger tanks in the front, which ignored all anti-tank weapons and rushed forward, causing the British infantry to collapse. After the German heavy self-propelled rocket company launched an overwhelming coverage of the Basra frontline command, this second-line infantry division with nearly 10,000 people lost its will to fight and declared surrender. More than 20 tankers and more than 400,000 tons of crude oil that had taken refuge in the port of Basra due to fear of the statement of the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, Hori Teikichi, about the blockade of the North Indian Ocean became the spoils of the German army.

On January 4, the German army arrived at the border between Iraq and Kuwait. Frightened by the fierce offensive of the German army, the Kuwaiti government hurriedly issued a notice announcing the cancellation of all treaties with Britain and chose to become a German protectorate. Just two hours after Kuwait was electrified, the Emirate of Qatar also declared independence and requested the German army to enter. Under the influence of the above two countries, undercurrents surged in the Aden Protectorate (Yemen and Oman), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Almost at the same time as Kuwait sent out the telegram, the German-Italian joint fleet sailed south from the mouth of the Suez Canal to bombard Sudan's Port and forcibly landed. The German "Flying Fortress" armored brigade immediately deployed after landing, on the one hand urgently building an airport, and on the other hand, preparing to march towards Sudan's capital Khartoum and Eritrea.

Admiral Alexander, the commander of the British Middle East Theater, who had been hiding near Aswan, was frightened by the German armored forces from Port Sudan. He ordered his troops to retreat into Sudan and move to Ethiopia as soon as possible, regardless of the fact that the two divisions in Cairo had not yet completely retreated. As a result, his troops mutinied. Lieutenant General Freiberg of New Zealand, who had a bad temper and hated Alexander for a long time, refused to execute the order and instead asked the British troops who had arrived in Aswan to obey his command and wait until the Australian and New Zealand divisions were fully assembled before retreating. The soldiers of the two dominions of Australia and New Zealand almost fought with the British mainland army. Fortunately, both sides had lost all their heavy weapons. The only weapons they could show off were rifles, Bren light machine guns and 50mm mortars. Even the Egyptian troops watching the excitement nearby were better equipped than them.

Freiberg was furious at the British soldiers' eagerness to escape, and ordered the New Zealand troops to put on bayonets, surround the British soldiers, and prepare for a hand-to-hand charge - this guy's mind was full of hand-to-hand combat. Although the New Zealand soldiers were slightly fewer in number, their fierce aura frightened the British. Fortunately, most of the officers on the scene were still relatively clear-headed and knew that they could not take action anyway. Once they opened fire, the situation would be irreversible. At the critical moment, a telegram came from Cairo, informing the news that Lieutenant General Montgomery committed suicide and died for his country. Freiberg was moved by Montgomery's kindness and decided to let the British go under the mediation of the Australian troops - let them do whatever they want.

But Freiberg's other decision was chilling: he ordered the New Zealand Division Military Police to set up a bayonet array and ordered Alexander and Ted, who were secretly escaping from Cairo by plane, to pass under the bayonet array before it would be over. In order to avoid affecting the overall situation and delaying time, Alexander and Ted, under the encouragement of many Australian and New Zealand soldiers, endured the humiliation and passed the New Zealanders' bayonet array, and led the troops to retreat to Sudan first.

Officials, journalists, businessmen, expatriates and their families who escaped from Egypt witnessed this heartbreaking scene. Some journalists even took photos secretly. Everyone had such a thought in their hearts: the global hegemony of the British Empire is over!

For this matter, the New Zealanders and the British had a muddled lawsuit all the way to Washington, but it ended with the mediation of the Americans.

Now, the situation facing Wilson was very bad. He originally thought that he could completely stop the Germans with his 10th Army, which had 2 British divisions and 5 Indian divisions, but it was completely vulnerable to the fierce attack of the German armored forces. This was just the prestige of Rommel's 2 armored divisions and 2 airborne brigades. When the problem of Cairo was solved, there would be 3 armored divisions and 1 infantry division over there. How to deal with it? Now he finally understood the pain of Montgomery who was still complaining about insufficient troops and needed at least 5 armored divisions to support him when he had 300,000 soldiers and more than 1,000 tanks. The combat effectiveness of the British and German troops was not at the same level with the same strength.

Some military observers in neutral countries believed that the Great German Division could easily defeat 3 British armored divisions. Some people asked: "What if we use the Indian Division?"

"Then..." the observer was at a loss for words, "Maybe 6-8." In fact, there are not so many armored units in all of India.

Wilson estimated that London was thinking the same thing: because he received a notification that the Soviet Red Army was preparing to send 150,000 troops to Persia. This was simply unimaginable a month ago. The famous Churchill reluctantly agreed to the Americans' suggestions and even had to express his gratitude to Stalin for his actions. But water from afar cannot quench the thirst for nearness. It will take at least half a month for the Red Army to arrive. Until then, Wilson can only struggle to support himself.

Late at night on January 4, in a church in Egypt, Ramsden finally met Montgomery, who had been separated for a long time. The latter was dressed in full lieutenant general uniform, with a peaceful face and his eyes closed, as if he was asleep. However, Ramsden knew that this was just an illusion. In fact, his respected commander had a large wound on his right temple. This bullet eventually killed him. After bandaging and processing, the German military doctor cleverly used a military cap to Covered the wound.

Looking at the commander who could not be awakened no matter what, Ramsden couldn't help but feel sad and unable to control himself: Just a month ago, the commander was leading the troops and commanding the battle with high spirits. A month later, he turned into a cold corpse. corpse. He believed that Montgomery committed suicide - there was no need for the Germans to attack a surrendered lieutenant general, and the suicide note left by the commander fully demonstrated this.

The suicide note was very long, and it could be seen that it took a long time to write. Ramsden knew it was Montgomery's handwriting after reading it. The suicide note said a total of 4 things:

The first was to criticize the cabinet for its stupid and short-sighted military deployment. He asked for reinforcements from five armored divisions but failed, but the cabinet insisted on using other troops to launch the Torch plan for landing in Morocco and Algeria. If these were originally intended for use in Northwest Africa If the troops reinforce him, the situation will be completely different.

The second thing is to explain the motives and reasons why he led his troops to surrender: with the army supply base being taken away, the logistics lines being cut off, and the naval reinforcements being eliminated, it was no longer possible for him to lead all his troops to retreat unscathed. On the basis of this consideration he selected two divisions, the Australian and the New Zealand, for retreat. Seeing this, Ramsden's eyes became moist again. Montgomery wrote: "...I will not regret this decision. If I have to say regret, it is that I can't let more people escape the encirclement."

The third thing is his explanation to his family and relatives.

Finally, he explained the reason for his suicide: "...I had the opportunity to retreat with the Australian and New Zealand Division. I had the ability to escape from danger by plane, but I did not choose to do so because there were nearly 100,000 officers and soldiers and thousands more in front of me. The wounded were in a precarious situation, and I couldn't safely retreat without putting them in a safe place - this was my responsibility and mission. Now, the vast majority of them have survived and entered the prisoner of war camps. Although it is difficult, they can survive. , their parents and children will still have the opportunity to see them again after the war. They have fulfilled all their responsibilities for the country. It is time to think about themselves and their families. I am tired... My mission is completed, I have suffered. The education, honors and status I have obtained in the past make it impossible for me to live in this world anymore. I hope that my death will inspire all British people to unite and work hard to finally defeat fascist Germany.”

After reading this suicide note and stroking Montgomery's thin and atrophied hands, Ramsden couldn't help crying.

"General, there is no resurrection for the dead. I hope you will take care of yourself."

"It was you...it was you who killed General Montgomery." Ramsden looked like a mad tiger. He rushed forward and strangled Guderian, who had accompanied him to express his condolences, by the neck. Fortunately, the pistol had already disappeared when he entered the church. He was untied, otherwise he didn't know what would happen. He was soon forcibly removed by several guards. Guderian fearfully touched his neck and let out a long sigh of relief.

"The German head of state has arrived, and the Italian leader has arrived."

Following the orders of the Guardsmen, and surrounded by many officers, Hoffmann and Mussolini also entered the church. He saw Ramsden being held by the guards at a glance, and quickly asked: "What's going on? thing?"

"He was a little emotional, so I asked him to calm down."

A guard whispered in Hoffman's ear the whole process.

"General Lumsden is an old subordinate of General Montgomery. His mood is understandable. Let go and let him calm down."