Two hours later, the Germans occupied various important places in Algiers, including airports, ports, and provincial governments.

This is especially the airport, once the airport is controlled by the Germans, the German army's follow-up airborne troops, including the Italian "lightning division", do not need to be airborne, and their transport planes only need to land at the airport one by one.

Then the Zoaf Corps opened the Matray Line under the orders of Darlan, and then the German 36th Infantry Division and the 155th Infantry Division on the other side of the line smoothly entered Algeria and controlled one point after another along the way.

Pity the French officers, who at one time thought that the British had launched an airborne landing and landing on Algeria, so Algeria should be "liberated", but they did not expect to open the line to the Germans...... Although they did not know what was happening, they had to listen to orders from Darlan, so they had to let the Germans in and disarm them.

This immediately shook the entire European continent.

The British and American commanders on the Allied side, namely Montgomery and Eisenhower, couldn't help but stare at each other, and each saw the helplessness in each other's eyes.

"We're still a step late, Monty!" Eisenhower said, "The Germans struck first!" ”

"I said it!" Montgomery replied: "Our opponents are not simple, they are always ahead of us!" ”

"You mean Rommel?" Eisenhower said.

"No!" Montgomery shook his head: "I don't think Rommel had such sagacity, I'm not sure who it was, but they always seem to be able to guess what we're going to do and disrupt our plans!" ”

It is no wonder that Montgomery thought so, he was the commander of the Eighth Army, and during the months of open and secret battles with the German Afrika Korps, he subconsciously felt that there was an invisible hand pressing him in the enemy camp, such as the raid on Crete, the defeat of the "General Grant" tank and even the "Sherman" tank...... It is a bit strange that the Germans always happened to have the countermeasures or equipment to restrain themselves, and sometimes Montgomery even wondered if the Germans had a "super-secret" capable of deciphering the code of the British army, but this was obviously impossible.

"What do we do now?" Eisenhower asked.

Although Eisenhower was the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Army, he was a general who had never commanded a battle alone, and before that, his main job was civilian work such as drafting documents and writing reports, and the US military had just entered the war and lacked actual combat experience, so he needed Montgomery's advice more.

"We can't do anything!" Montgomery replied: "Two infantry divisions of the Germans plus a paratrooper division entered Algeria...... It means that they can successfully control it, and if they choose to parachute or land in Algeria, the risk will increase exponentially! ”

At this time, Montgomery regretted a little, why not implement the landing plan a few days in advance...... This was indeed Montgomery's mistake, the British and American forces actually had the conditions to land before the Germans, and even the landing force in Britain was ready.

It's just that Montgomery lacks confidence in parachuting...... The Airborne Forces of the Eighth Army were poorly prepared:

The 82nd Airborne Division and the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army have just been reorganized from the 82nd Motorized Division, and the airborne training is only in its sixth week, and only one paratrooper regiment, the 503rd Regiment, can be provided.

In fact, only one brigade of the 1st Airborne Division of the British Army has been trained, and the other two brigades are being formed, and what is worse is that this brigade has not yet become accustomed to the C47 transport aircraft of the US army...... Before that, they all parachuted with Wheatley bombers.

Montgomery ordered them to train urgently and wait until they were qualified before going into battle.

This training is a great opportunity to lose...... In fact, the French in Algeria are waiting for them, and they can easily "liberate" Algeria almost only if they know how to parachute.

Of course, Montgomery would not say all this, he could only sigh and say to Eisenhower: "General, in any case, I think that our airborne troops must continue to train, so that in the future there will be no such missed opportunities!" ”

"That's right!" Eisenhower set his sights on Crete: "I'm sure one day they'll come in handy!" ”

The news of the German invasion of Algeria undoubtedly caused even greater panic in the Vichy government, and Chancellor Petain was in a panic at his headquarters, and many people thought that Germany was going to completely tear up France.

Pétain pretended to send a telegram to Hitler in protest:

"Honorable Führer, I have just been informed that the German 36th and 155th Infantry Divisions have entered Algeria, and that they have even captured my Acting Chancellor (Darlan), and that we have signed an armistice for only a few months! I cannot tolerate such behavior, and I hope that the Führer will prevent such wrong behavior! ”

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister!" Hitler replied: "I believe that these rumors will be self-defeating after your further investigation, and we have no intention of tearing up the armistice, otherwise I would have let the German troops move south." The only problem with this was that French North Africa, instigated by the British and Americans, was interested in joining the Allied forces to attack Germany, which Germany had to do for its own safety! I believe this is just a self-made initiative of French North Africa, so our armistice is still in force. But I hope that Your Excellency the Prime Minister will prevent a similar situation from happening in France! ”

Petain could not help but breathe a sigh of relief when he received this telegram, because he knew that the Germans would not be going south for the time being.

So he hurriedly agreed to Hitler's request, that is, to investigate British and American spies and French officers who had contact with them in France.

It's ridiculous, pathetic, pathetic, but that's the fate of the puppet government, and they have no other choice.

On the other side, Qin Chuan and Colonel Slein found Zemamuche, the commander of the Zoaf Corps, as soon as possible...... To be precise, he was the nominal commander, and the command was always in the hands of the French.

"We will set you free!" Colonel Slane said.

"What kind of freedom?" Zemamouche asked rhetorically in English with a look of disdain: "Like the freedom that the French gave us?" ”

Zemamouche was an Algerian aristocrat who had studied in France since he was a child and knew several languages, which was one of the reasons why the French made him a titular commander: he could communicate better in French, and the nobleman made it easier for him to carry out his orders.

"No!" Colonel Slane replied: "True freedom, complete freedom." But before we can do that, you need to help us do something! ”