"When will the guys who Mussolini invited to the theater get to Rome?"

When Sir Deere, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and Sir Pound, First Lord of the Admiralty, came to 10 Downing Street to report on the battle plan, Winston. Churchill suddenly asked when the "audience" would arrive. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Because the "Battle of Crete" has now turned into an international political struggle. And in this struggle, the gains and losses of Crete are not the most important, the most important thing is the opinion of the European countries, including Turkey, on the future of the war.

If everyone thinks that the British Empire wants to play, then the British Empire really wants to play, and it is useless to hold Crete. Because as long as Turkey falls to Germany, hundreds of thousands of German troops can enter the Middle East through the Turkish railway, and the little army in Wavell's hands will definitely not be able to resist.

If everyone thinks that the British Empire will not fall all at once, then the British Empire will be able to continue to maintain the situation, even if it loses Crete.

"From the 10th to the 15th of February," replied Sir Deere, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, as he had prepared for it, "according to the information we have, most of the Observation Mission will arrive by the 15th of next month." ”

"So when will the B-17 bomber and the Lancaster bomber be ready?" Churchill asked again.

Preparing a heavy bomber is naturally going to slap the face, although Mussolini is cheeky and not afraid to fight at all. But as long as the military observer teams arriving in Rome could see what would happen to angering the British Empire, the goal would be achieved.

But the problem is that there are not many B-17 bombers and Lancaster bombers that are ready now, and the B-17 bombers have just begun to be equipped on the American side, and there are only 37 B-17Cs (the first B-17 model with turbocharged engines) officially delivered by Boeing to the military. President Roosevelt and Admiral Marshall gave the death order to force the U.S. Army Air Corps to hand over 20 of them to Britain.

And the Lancaster bomber has just entered trial production, equipped with only one bomber squadron (12 units). Moreover, this four-engine heavy bomber produced by the British themselves is not a high-altitude bomber, and the ceiling of use is only 5793 meters. So you can only slap Mussolini in the face at night while he is sleeping, and the effect will not be too good-looking.

So all Churchill could really count on was 20 B-17C bombers, which could fly very high and avoid ground artillery and most fighters. However, this aircraft has just been delivered to the British, and although the Royal Air Force has drawn the most experienced crew members to train under the guidance of American instructors, it is still a bit difficult to fully master the B-17C in less than one month.

"Twenty B-17s and 12 Lancasters will be ready by 15 February," replied Sir Deere, "and there will be 10 squadrons of Wellington bombers and 3 squadrons of Blenheim night fighters from Greece." ”

The Wellington bombers, the Blenheim night fighters, and the Lancaster heavy bombers, like the Lancaster heavy bombers, could only bomb Rome by night raids.

"Then start the air raids on the Italian capital on February 15, which should let the French and Spaniards know how powerful."

Paris and Madrid are relatively close to the British mainland and can be scarened with bombing. However, Turkey is too far away, more than 2,500 kilometers, and the existing bombers will definitely not be able to reach it.

Churchill took a few puffs of his cigar and then asked, "If we fail at Crete or Tubruk, will we be able to stop the Germans from rushing into the Middle East?" ”

"It's hard," Sir Dill sighed, "Admiral Wavell and Admiral Cunningham will fight as hard as they can, and if they can't win, then the fleet must withdraw from the Mediterranean, and then take on the mission of defending Egypt and the Suez Canal with the Army and Royal Air Force." ”

"What if it fails again?"

"Then we'll lose the Middle East." "And the Germans will have enough crude oil," said Sir Deere, helplessly, "and France, Turkey, and Spain will all fall to Germany...... There is also a chance that Gibraltar will be lost, and then the Italian and French fleets will rush out of the Mediterranean! ”

What will happen after rushing out of the Mediterranean, Sir Dill will not say...... Everyone knew that if the Mediterranean was to be defeated, the British Empire would have to sue for peace. Strive to surrender and lose half, and in the future, more than 40 million British people will guard the other half of the empire to live a peaceful life.

"Sir," said Churchill, smoking a cigar cigarette and in a calm tone, "if we lose the Middle East, then who will get there?" ”

"Germany, of course." Sir Dill replied.

"Why not the USSR?" Churchill's words took both Sir Deere and Sir Pound by surprise.

Churchill, on the other hand, said to himself: "It is good for us to at least give the Soviet Union access to the entire oil-producing areas of Iran and Iraq." ”

What are the benefits? Could it be that the Soviet Union would go to war with Germany just because it had Iran and Iraq? This is obviously impossible. The Soviet Union would only negotiate with Germany to save some oil and water, and it was impossible to put its life on the line for the untenable oil-producing areas of the Middle East......

"It's good for us, it's good for us!" Churchill was still saying to himself, "The loss of the Mediterranean is not the end of the British Empire, we can still fight...... We must not allow Germany to become the hegemon of the world, this is not allowed. Not only I will not agree, but neither will Roosevelt and Stalin, if we are defeated in the Mediterranean, then it is time for them to join! ”

……

"Admiral Yamamoto, welcome to Europe!"

Yamamoto Isoroku really came, and took his "immortal staff" Kuroshima Kameto Osaku on a Zero transport plane produced by the Japanese Nakajima Aircraft Company (a Japanese copycat version of the American DC-3), and set off from Kurejun Port, passing through China, the Soviet Union, and Germany, and flew to Rome, the capital of Italy, on the morning of February 15.

At the airport, General Yamamoto met Field Marshal Hersmann, who had come to greet him. Yamamoto and Hirschmann met more than a decade ago, when Hirschmann traveled to Japan to promote technical cooperation between Japan and Germany, and Yamamoto happened to be involved in the meeting.

"Your Excellency, it is a great honor to meet you again in Europe." Yamamoto Fifty-six shook hands with Hersman very politely and said with a smile on his face. "I was in Japan during this time, and every day I studied the naval battle in the Eastern Mediterranean under your command, and it was an epic victory!"

Hersman smiled and said, "It's just half a game, if you don't lose those two aircraft carriers." ”

"Your Excellency Marshal, even if you lose those two motherships, the Battle of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea is still a victory that changes history!" Kuroshima Kameto, who was following Yamamoto Isoroku, interjected at this time, "This is the most painful defeat ever suffered by the British Royal Navy, and it is also decisive!" ”

"This is the chief staff officer of the Combined Fleet, Kuroshima Kametosa." Yamamoto Fifty-six hurriedly introduced his henchmen to Hersman.

"Oh, I've heard of you." Hersman nodded and shook his hand, "You're welcome to Europe too...... Let's go, let's go to the Medici villa first. My headquarters is there, and you can live there, it's big and beautiful. ”

A general of Yamamoto Fifty-six's level naturally would not risk going to the front line to watch the battle, and this opportunity belonged to the Black Island Turtle and several other staff officers. And Hersmann's invitation to Yamamoto to stay at the Medici Villa allowed him to understand the course of the war in the Mediterranean on the front line.

Of course, Hersman did not do this to facilitate Yamamoto's visit to the war, but to discuss with him the future war against the United States.

……

Located in the center of Rome, the Medici Villa was built by the Medici family, the ruling family of Florence, and occupies a large area that is more than enough to fit the entire German-Italian headquarters in the Mediterranean.

Although the Allied Command was a high-level military institution, it did not have that kind of heavily guarded atmosphere, and there were only two Italian Blackshirt soldiers standing upright at the door. Hersmann's motorcade stopped at the gate, and the adjutant, Colonel Schnetz, showed his documents according to the regulations, and then the motorcade drove straight in, stopping at the door of the villa building.

When Hersmann and Yamamoto walked into the villa together, Deputy Chief of Staff Hans. Admiral Jeshunek suddenly walked out of a war room belonging to the Air Force (including the Naval Aviation) in a hurry, and when he saw Hersman with two Eastern soldiers, he looked a little anxious.

"Hans, what's wrong?" Hersman didn't want to avoid Yamamoto Fifty-six, and asked the question in English.

"Marshal, our radar station on Sardinia reported the detection of at least 10 planes coming from the southwest, heading towards Rome."

"Southwest?" Hersman frowned, "Gibraltar? Or did it take off from an aircraft carrier? ”

"It should be Gibraltar." Hans. Jeshunek said.

"How so?"

"Because the flight altitude of the aircraft remains above 9000 meters!"

"More than 9,000 meters?" Hersman was stunned, and suddenly laughed, "This is the B-17, I thought they were going to bomb Berlin, but I didn't expect to fly to Rome to make trouble." ”

In this era, there are not many aircraft that can fly long distances at an altitude of 9,000 meters, and many planes will not stay long even if they can fly up. So Hersman immediately thought of the high-altitude heavy bomber B-17, which the Americans lent to the British.

"Marshal, we don't have a fighter near Rome that can fly that high." Hans. Jeshunek said with some anxiety, "The nearest BF-109H squadron is in Cologne, and it can't catch up at all......"

"Nothing," Hirschman waved his hand indifferently, "at most 2-30 B-17s, not much bombs, not to bomb the Roman ...... Hans, you immediately go and call Marshal Kesselring and ask him to dial 5 squadrons of BF-109H to Italy. ”

As he spoke, Hersman turned his head and smiled at Yamamoto Isoroku again, and said, "Britain and the United States are not opponents without the ability to parry, and if you want to participate in the war, then you must also be prepared for a bomb in Tokyo!" But don't worry, we will provide you with the necessary anti-aircraft technical equipment. Including radar and high-altitude interceptors. (To be continued.) )