Iron Cross

While Berlin and Tokyo were busy working on large-scale deal packages, Kesselring was also conducting a number of sizable and important transactions in North Africa and the Middle East.

Farouk I was very cheerful, or very aware of current affairs. On the day when the British troops in Cairo moved south and the African Army entered the city, he signed a large number of treaties and orders. On the one hand, he abrogated all treaties with the United Kingdom, and at the same time, he used British colonial rule to He confiscated all British official and private property in Egypt on the grounds that Egypt had caused massive losses, and also made an appalling claim for "10 billion pounds" in compensation; on the other hand, he readily issued a statement indicating that Egypt was completely independent and had joined the In the Axis camp, the most important rights of the British in Egypt before the war, including control of the canal, garrison power, and control of major ports, were all handed over to the Germans.

Even Egyptian Prime Minister Maher did not expect this. He originally thought that Egypt would still have a chance to "strictly maintain" neutrality in the storm, but now that the king has signed, he can only be forced to reluctantly agree on the terms. countersign.

Faced with Maher's complaint, the Fat King was not upset and only told his own reasons: "Teacher, the British will not be able to come back in the short term, but the Germans will stay here for a long time. At best, they are only a little better than the British. , if we don’t express our position readily, do you think they will have a lot of patience? Will someone else come up? There are always a lot of rebels and rebels who want to kill me. The Germans can do it for any reason. Don’t do this anymore? I’m not that naive. This kind of thing is like life, if you can’t resist it, just enjoy it.”

The words left Maher speechless.

Under such favorable circumstances, an agreement between Germany and Egypt was quickly reached. In fact, the Egyptian government made a lot of money from it. After confiscating a large number of British properties, they took the opportunity to sell them to powerful people in the country who were closely related to the government. Only a few unlucky people failed in the struggle and were regarded as The "traitors" were dealt with, and the Egyptian government's original debt-ridden situation was immediately relieved a lot, and the trading prices of public bonds and the stock prices of Egyptian domestic companies also increased a lot - at least the situation is stable now, and Egypt is in such a situation We didn't suffer much damage during the storm, it was simply God's blessing.

The big bourgeoisie are very satisfied with everything, not only because they have achieved their wish to control many industries and land that were originally controlled by the British and they could not get involved, but also because the cotton that has been accumulated in their hands for a long time has finally found a market-all controlled by the government and Purchased by issuing public bonds. Cotton is Egypt's largest output material. Germany and the Axis countries were once very important buyers of Egyptian cotton. However, because the United Kingdom has cheaper Indian cotton and American cotton supplies, Egyptian cotton is not in urgent need.

After the war began, at the request of the British, Egyptian cotton was gradually cut off from the channels for selling to the Axis powers, but the British side only purchased some of the extra share in a symbolic manner. The Egyptian government and the big bourgeoisie repeatedly asked the British to underwrite the sales, but the British were only willing to The price of American cotton - the price index is less than 70% of that of Egyptian cotton. How can businessmen who have suffered losses be willing to do this? After going back and forth, there was actually a backlog of 420,000 tons of cotton, which increasingly became a serious social and economic problem.

Now, not only did the backlog of cotton immediately have a market, but the subsequent production was also scheduled in advance. Kesselring told these capitalists to release the production of agricultural products as soon as possible, and Germany would take care of it all. According to the agreement reached by the two parties, Egypt purchased cotton through the issuance of public bonds, and then conducted arms transactions with Germany - the two parties gave each other a 20% discount on the sales price. Egypt has always used British weapons. After the establishment of the Independent Defense Force, it was still prepared to use British equipment to match the original weapons. This gave the Germans an immediate market for the captured equipment in Alexandria and Cairo, except for some equipment in short supply (such as Sherman tanks). , trucks, jeeps, etc.) were confiscated by the German army for their own use, Kesselring said that the rest could be sold to Egypt at a 10% discount and then a 20% discount based on the price that Britain sold to Egypt.

The Egyptians accepted the German offer without hesitation, and even enjoyed taking advantage of it. The young soldiers greatly supported the king's generous agreement to expand the army and replenish equipment. They were unable to figure it out when the British were in power. To the side of the tank, let alone the position of senior officers, the Germans look much better than the British. At least they will not forcefully insert officers to control the army. Even advisers and instructors are only assigned one per battalion. After the Egyptian army expanded to 5 divisions like a balloon, the prestige of Farouk I also increased a little.

Kesselring knew very well that the arms that Britain had sold to Egypt over the years were not only of poor quality but also of high price. Even with such a discount, the price was still artificially high. After the discount, the cotton was only a little more expensive than the fair market price. In fact, the German side Only then did they get enough bargains, not to mention that these arms were obtained from no-cost transactions, which was equivalent to Germany getting 420,000 tons of cotton for free. Of course, low-level industries such as the cotton spinning industry have been emptied out in Germany for a long time. The cotton is simply going to France, Italy and some Western European countries and then turned into clothing and then returned to Germany. However, it is very important to solve the unemployment problem in these countries. It helps - the European Union will become more attractive once society settles down.

Kesselring also paid special attention to the performance of the Egyptian Free Officers. The more senior Mohammed Naguib served as the commander of the Egyptian 5th Division. The young Nasser and Sadat became the battalion commander and company commander respectively. Although his position was unremarkable, he knew that this was an opportunity for a hero to stand out - Rommel was just a battalion commander at the beginning.

According to the secret agreement reached between Germany and Egypt, after Egypt joins the Axis and declares war on Britain and the United States, it will cooperate with the German army in marching into Sudan. Kesselring promised that they would only fight within Africa and not intervene in other wars. He was scheduled to cooperate with the war. There are three Egyptian divisions: 3rd, 4th, and 5th. According to the agreement that northern Sudan was assigned to Egypt, the two sides are ready to make a formal announcement at the appropriate time.

After settling things in Egypt, Kesselring headed to Baghdad without stopping.

When the Egyptian ruling class faced the British, although they tried their best to look like they were gnashing their teeth and hating them, they were still a little timid and fearful. However, the Iraqi side obviously did not have such concerns. More than a year ago, Iraq had After a good battle with the British, although they lost, when Germany expelled the British forces, the whole country was basically in joy, and there was no thought of disconnection. And Rashid himself had the experience of escaping to Germany and Italy and fighting side by side with the German and Italian troops, so he was even more merciless towards the British - the British in Egypt were sent out of the country as gifts, and the British in Iraq were all pulled away. Sid was thrown into prisons and prison camps, and all pro-British factions were wiped out with blood - just as the pro-British faction purged pro-German factions after his failure.

But what troubles Kesselring is that the Iraqis' desire for war is obviously stronger. The Iraqi government represented by Rashid not only promised to hand over all oil fields and facilities to Germany, but even generously stated that any plot of land in Iraq that Germany likes can be developed immediately for a period of 100 years, and Iraq will only receive half of the output. Or a discount - even if the Germans offset it with equipment or industrial equipment, Iraq has a modest request: if Kuwait cannot be incorporated into Iraq, then at least some territory must be obtained from Saudi Arabia. In order to express his sincerity, he not only quickly adopted a declaration of war against Britain and the United States, but also took the initiative to submit an application to join the axis - at this time, the two sides had not even fully negotiated the subsequent major conditions.

In order to make this matter seem reasonable, Rashid not only launched a massive public opinion offensive in the Iraqi media, but even prepared ready-made reasons for Kesselin:

First, the King of Saudi Arabia hugs the thighs of the United Kingdom and the United States the tightest. There are a large number of industries and exploration blocks owned by the American Mobil Company in the territory. When Germany has swept the Middle East, he still arrogantly refuses to come closer and uses Rashi. De said, let them sober up;

Second, there is a border dispute between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. There are disputes between the two sides. The British have always favored the Saudis and he hopes that Germany will uphold justice;

Third, Saudi Arabia was originally composed of multiple countries. It was Abdul Aziz (also known as Ibn Saud) who seized the highest power from the hostile Rashid family in one fell swoop and annexed surrounding countries. He used his As the saying goes - it is not right to win the country.

Strictly speaking, the Iraqis have not lied about the relevant issues. There is no constraint on territorial boundaries in the minds of the nomads. Now all national borders are drawn by the British. There are bound to be "problems" in this. Therefore, Iraq is not only with Saudi Arabia. There are disputes with Syria, Kuwait, and Persia, but Rashid is very smart. He knows that Syria and Kuwait are now the established results of Germany's war. Taking food from the German population is not ideal. Although Persia has not won it, The Persians are known as the Aryans on the plateau - Germany attaches great importance to race. Only Saudi Arabia is disobedient and close at hand, so he is ready to attack Saudi Arabia.

Of course, the current Iraqi army cannot defeat the Saudi army. It must have the support of Germany. To obtain support, one must first pay homage to Germany. This he believes is completely necessary - giving Germany nothing more than economic benefits. Once he can He is a national hero to the Iraqis for opening up territory for Iraq.

He has been in Germany and has many friends in German politics. He also knows enough about German politics and economy. Those huge coal-to-liquid projects alone can show how hungry Germany is for oil. He believes that he can definitely use it. The favorable conditions impressed Kesselring and the heads of state behind him.

When he heard that the Germans intended to build an oil pipeline in Iraq, a smile appeared on his lips unconsciously. He felt that he was very close to success.