Imperial Overlord

Montgomery has been depressed recently, and the problems he faces are so intractable that he is a little indecisive.

The problem comes from defense in the Middle East, and the war in the Balkans. As the only theater commander who can support the Balkans today, he is really not sure how he should respond.

If he reinforces the Balkans, it means that he can only weaken the troops in the Middle East theater, which is equivalent to putting the Middle East oil fields at risk.

But if he doesn't reinforce the Balkans, the situation there will eventually collapse, turning the Balkans into German territory.

The United Kingdom completely lost its forward base for air raids on Romania, and at the same time was completely driven out of the European continent.

The above two options are not so perfect, so the plan that Montgomery supports most is to withdraw from the Balkans.

Assuming that it is possible to withdraw from the Balkans, it is possible to withdraw 40,000 combat-experienced troops and strengthen the defense of the Middle East.

Doing so is equivalent to saying that it has strengthened the military strength in the Middle East and shortened the defense line that needs to be garrisoned, which is equivalent to killing two birds with one stone.

But doing so would mean betraying Greece and Yugoslavia, and it would mean giving up the Balkans.

Churchill disapproved of giving up the Balkans. In Churchill's view, it was the weakness of the Third Reich, from which the Third Reich could be easily defeated!

If the Balkans were still in British hands, bombers taking off from there could fly over Romania and attack the precious oil resources of the Axis powers.

On the other hand, retreating loses allies like Greece, and also loses Naslavia, a volatile neutral region, which is a huge loss for Britain today.

And, retreating from the Balkans represented yet another tragic defeat, one Churchill had had enough of.

"Mr. Prime Minister is not allowed to retreat from the Balkans, saying that retreating is an admission of failure." Sitting in his tent, Montgomery looked helpless when he spoke.

"If you can't command and mobilize the troops according to the most reasonable plan, what do you need me to do as a commander?" Beneath the helpless appearance, there is more annoyance.

Montgomery knew that if he wasted his time like this, when Rommel attacked, he would not even be able to prepare well.

As a frontline commander, the best plan he planned was rejected by the rear. This is definitely not good news.

Auchinleck, the former commander of the 8th Army who was sitting beside him, sneered and said, "You know now, the feeling of knowing everything but not being able to do anything?"

In real history, Auchinleck is also a relatively unjust figure. He fought hard in North Africa without earning the respect he deserved.

In the real history, it was Auchinleck who stopped Rommel's attack in Alamein, stabilized the North African front, and formulated a plan for the subsequent counterattack.

It was only because Churchill disliked his slow action and was unwilling to fight back immediately that he replaced the poor general with Montgomery.

Of course, everyone knows what happened later. Auchinleck became an unknown British general, and Montgomery became the hero who defeated Rommel.

Now, Auchinleck is also a tragic figure. When he took over command of the North African army from General Cunningham, the North African war was in complete chaos.

Cunningham lost 50 percent of his ordnance, lost a lot of personnel and materials, and lost a vital line of defense. Whoever fought this battle would lose.

Therefore, Auchinleck has no chance of winning at all, and he also tried his best to make the losing scene look much better. In terms of ability, he is also a formidable commander.

Unfortunately, Churchill did not have the patience to wait for him to organize a counterattack in the Middle East and sent another general, Montgomery.

Montgomery looked at Auchinleck, who was sitting beside him, and knew how uncomfortable it was to be interfered. He said, "Always find a way to withdraw our troops from the Balkans!"

According to Montgomery, now is the best time to retreat. They had just helped Greece defeat the Italian invasion, and the pressure on the lines had eased, just in time for retreat.

"If we wait for the Germans to enter the Balkans, it will be too late for us to leave." Montgomery said while looking at Auchinleck.

The German armored forces are famous for their blitzkrieg, and their speed of attack is obvious to all. It is obviously not a good choice to retreat the troops until the Germans start.

Once the German forces moved forward, it was possible to advance a distance of more than 200 kilometers in a period of 5 days.

If the 40,000 British soldiers in the Balkans became prisoners, it would be a lot of fun for Churchill and Montgomery.

Originally in the Middle East, the British defenders were stretched thin, but now they have lost 40,000 soldiers in the Balkans, which is simply a disaster.

"Retreat now, Churchill will not agree to you." Auchinleck shook his head and said to Montgomery: "Once we retreat, Greece and Yugoslavia will surrender to Germany."

You must know that there is no world anti-fascist alliance, and there is no so-called allied army.

Poland has been divided up, the three Low Countries have been occupied by Germany, France has been defeated, and the United States and the Soviet Union have not yet joined the war. Now is not the rhythm of the whole world beating Germany, but Germany, Italy, and even Vichy France, when the group is beating the United Kingdom.

If Greece and other countries in the Balkans were lost again, Britain would be almost alone, fighting Germany and Italy alone.

Although the United States assisted the United Kingdom from behind, and although Germany had to beware of the Soviet Union's attack, it could only spread its forces, but in the end, it was the United Kingdom that fell into unprecedented isolation.

Under such preconditions, how could Churchill allow the withdrawal of troops from the Balkans? He was even thinking about how to stabilize the defense line in the Balkans and turn it into an outpost for defeating Germany!

"We must find a way to make Mr. Prime Minister aware of the dangers of the war in the Middle East." Montgomery frowned, and expressed his heart to Auchinleck worriedly.

"Rather than letting Mr. Prime Minister, who has no way out for a long time, realize that failure has become inevitable, it is better to hide his actions from him and rush to transport the troops back to the Middle East." Auchinleck has already done a disobedience thing, so for this The choice is a little addicting.

He said this, looked at Montgomery and said, "Commander, if we don't act immediately, within a few days, Rommel will use action to teach us a lesson and let us know that wasting time is the most stupid thing."

When it comes to Rommel, who is about to move on the west bank of the Suez Canal, Montgomery is even more depressed. Look at other people, and look at yourself, you can't compare!

Rommel received a large amount of material supplies from Germany and Italy. Because of the distance, such supplies were timely and in large quantities.

But what about Montgomery? In addition to receiving a batch of weapons and equipment from the United States, the most supply he received was production

Fuel from Iraq is gone.

At this moment, Montgomery has indeed surpassed Rommel in military strength, but everyone knows that this kind of data is meaningless.

Rommel had an advantage in tanks, planes, cannons, and ammunition, and Montgomery slightly outnumbered infantry and fuel.

However, most of the infantry in Montgomery's hands were troops transferred from India and South Africa, and some came from New Zealand and Australia.

This uneven combat effectiveness made Montgomery's numerical superiority meaningless. Lack of tanks and anti-tank guns, he could not even prevent Rommel's troops from crossing the Suez Canal.

Recently, Rommel's troops are resting, and some non-main Italian troops are attacking Sudan in the south, driving out the scattered British troops near Egypt.

If it weren't for the safety of the flanks, waiting for supplies, and hoarding supplies to continue the attack, Rommel would have crossed the Suez Canal long ago and hit the Middle East.

Because of this, both Montgomery and Auchinleck knew that their defense line was like a blank sheet of paper, and the reason why Rommel has not pierced it so far is just because Rommel did not mean to pierce the blank sheet.

In addition, the thing that Montgomery is most worried about is the field airfield built by the Germans near Port Said. If the Germans really bring planes like the he111 to Africa~www.wuxiaspot.com~ What should we do about the important Iraqi oil field? just fine?

"I sent a telegram to the country last week, saying that we need a lot of new fighter jets." Montgomery thought of this and complained: "What happened?"

As he spoke, he picked up a document, slapped it twice and said to Auchinleck: "As a result, the Royal Air Force gave me 20 hurricanes! Damn it! 20 hurricanes!"

Without waiting for Auchinleck to speak, he threw the telegram back on the table: "If the Germans really bomb the oil fields in Iraq and Iran, there are only a hundred or ten planes that I can use to defend against those bombers!"

In fact, a large part of the British Army's series of defeats in North Africa was due to the loss of air superiority on the battlefield.

Germany has Stuka roaring overhead, and the e109e combat mechanism dominates the sky, but Britain has nothing and can only be beaten passively.

The homeland was attacked by the Luftwaffe, and a series of highly targeted bombings cost Britain most of the factories that produced fighter jets. The local air defense is stretched, and there is no ability to support Africa at all.

At present, the British fighter jets in the Middle East include 40 P40d fighter jets assisted by the United States, and 20 domestically produced Hurricane fighter jets that are still on the road. The rest are just scraps.

Relying on such an air force to fight against Germany's excellent Afrika Korps air force, there is no suspense of victory or defeat.