Iron Cross

Lake Urmia, also known as Lake Urmia, is a saltwater lake shaped like a seahorse (similar to the Caspian Sea). It is 140 kilometers long at its longest end, 55 kilometers wide, less than 20 kilometers at its narrowest point, and about 16 meters deep. It once covered an area of ​​4,500 square kilometers. It is one of the largest lakes in the Middle East and the third largest saltwater lake in the world. By the 21st century, the area of ​​the lake had been greatly reduced, only 120 kilometers from north to south, and only a little more than 10 kilometers at its narrowest point, but in 1943, it was still relatively large.

Now, even the most slow-witted people have realized what the German army's seemingly aimless and unclear aerial reconnaissance some time ago was doing - no matter how German reconnaissance planes went to North Persia and the Caucasus for reconnaissance, on the way back, they would always intentionally or unintentionally pass around Lake Urmia. The fixed mindset will make people only pay attention to where the reconnaissance planes went, but they don't understand that they can also conduct reconnaissance when they come back.

After taking Urmia, Tabriz was under direct threat from the German front. The Persian Army of the Red Army, which was rushing to Tehran, immediately changed its combat deployment. Except for a small number of troops that continued to go to Tehran, the rest of the troops consciously retreated to prepare to defend Tabriz and keep the Persian Army's rear route open. The cautious Chulenev repeatedly asked Lieutenant General Mezhov to keep the Tabriz defense system intact and the rear consolidated.

After the Red Army urgently adjusted its deployment, the German army in the west of Lake Urmia stopped to gather troops and build fortifications, and seemed to have no intention of launching further attacks. Just when everyone was unsure of what Rommel wanted to do, the Middle East Army gave an order, and the main forces of the 15th Armored Division and the Great German Division in Isfahan quickly advanced northward, marching more than 200 kilometers in four days and three nights, and captured Qom and Kashan in the south of Tehran, which were only more than 120 kilometers away from Tehran. But strangely, he did not choose to attack in one go. Instead, he stopped after taking Qom, allowing the troops to slowly gather and receive supplies from the rear. One thing about fighting in Persia is much better than fighting in the North African desert. The required fuel is basically available. Not only did the German army seize a fleet of refined oil, but the Abadan refinery destroyed by the British still maintained a refining capacity of about 1 million tons. Currently, technical and engineering experts are rushing to repair it. Speer has optimistically predicted that the refinery can be restored to a refining capacity of 3 million tons before June.

After this series of dazzling offensive actions, everyone's vision was once again confused, but everyone had to admit that although Rommel's tricks seemed to be messy, like a trainee officer who had just graduated from a military academy and had little practical experience, it was really difficult to deal with:

What was the real purpose of the German army? Baku? Tabriz? Tehran? Each of them is very similar, but it seems that each of them is different. Even Keitel and Jodl can't see through Rommel's thoughts - they just think he is too imaginative and completely unsystematic.

"Führer, to be honest, I am still surprised by Erwin's action of letting the British go."

The Middle East Army Group let the remnants of the British 10th Army go with Hoffman's consent. Although Keitel, Jodl and Kesselring did not understand, Hoffman still gave great trust and support and decided to let him do it.

"It's nothing, just General Wilson's remnants, even if they retreat to India and Afghanistan, what can they do? If they don't fight this time, there will be people to deal with them next time - by the way, these surviving soldiers can also publicize our army's wisdom and bravery in India!"

"Will it?" Keitel and Jodl were both suspicious.

"Of course." Hoffman smiled, "How can we cover up their failure without exaggerating the sharpness of our attack and the strength of our combat effectiveness? If we say we are useless, then aren't they even worse than useless?"

The two immediately laughed knowingly.

"I don't understand Erwin's current actions, and his report is vague, but it doesn't matter. I believe he can do a good job. Commanding an army group is the job of the marshal, not the job of the army commander-in-chief. I am only responsible for giving him what he needs." Hoffman asked, "Has Prince Eugen's division gone up?"

"It has set off. This time it will take the Balkans, Greece, and Haifa. It will start landing in 3 days, and the entire army will be deployed in 10-15 days."

"Very good, how is Guderian?"

"Yesterday's report said that Khartoum had been captured, but not many enemy troops were eliminated. Only more than 2,000 prisoners were captured, and the rest of the British troops are still fleeing. He left an Egyptian division Hold on in Khartoum, and then lead the rest of the troops to continue the attack southwards, and it is expected to cross the Sudan-Ethiopia border in three days. The Flying Fortress Armored Brigade has already entered French Somaliland (Djibouti) in the early stage, and is currently staying on the border. It will launch a centripetal attack with the main force of the African Army Group, and strive to take Addis Ababa as quickly as possible. "Yodel talked about the combat situation map, "From what we know, the total strength of the Australian, New Zealand coalition forces and British forces led by Ramsden is close to 40,000. After chasing all the way from Aswan, we have killed, wounded, and captured more than 20,000 people. The remaining forces are gradually retreating to Addis Ababa-I guess they can't escape this time."

"The Italian leader is probably thinking about how to enter the city again?" Hoffman said jokingly, "I won't run all the way there this time. You can go for me. On other occasions, let him steal the show. What do you think? This is a way to remind the Italians in a tactful way that those captured Italian soldiers should no longer be organized into the army. I am really not optimistic about their fighting will and combat effectiveness. They should return home and demobilize to make a greater contribution to Italy. "

Several people looked at me and I looked at you. It was obvious that they were holding back their laughter, but they really couldn't.

"After the war in the Horn of Africa, a group of British and American troops successfully landed on the beach. Their traces were finally found through aircraft reconnaissance. The situation showed that the opponent had more than 20,000 troops and was retreating towards Kenya. During the Kenyan campaign, the Americans deployed many aircraft Airdrop supplies to it..."

"Airdropping supplies? Interesting, interesting." Hoffman said with a smile on his face, "I like Eisenhower more and more. Let the Air Force bomb them, but don't have to do it in a hurry, just drive them slowly towards Mombasa. I'm very happy I want to see how Americans maintain the transportation of materials and supplies after the sea transportation is interrupted.”