“… Tactically, General Patton's adventure in the Arabian Valley was clearly a great success. But this success also had the unintended consequence of ending the Desert Gale Project, which would have been our victory in the Middle East War. According to the plan, the U.S. and British allies were supposed to seek decisive battles in Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula. In fact, before General Patton ventured into the Arabian Valley, a heavy group of Indian Red Army troops had been deployed along the Arabian Valley-Dead Sea-Jordan-Golan Heights. If General Patton can act strictly according to the battle plan, we will have a good chance of annihilating this Indian army cluster, and may even attract more Indian troops to Palestine, Transjordan and Syria. Unfortunately, Patton's success disrupted the Indian Red Army's decisive battle and allowed them to flee, but it also greatly boosted our confidence and that of the British. We gave up the more stable desert gale and took a more active course of action... In fact, to put it more accurately, after abandoning the desert gale, we no longer have an overall plan of action that can be called a battle plan. We and the British are like two mad herds of bison, rampage through the deserts of the Middle East.

So, Patton's tactical success was the beginning of the strategic defeat of the Anglo-American Allied forces in the Middle East! - The above is an excerpt from Lieutenant General Stilwell's memoir "The Wrong War".

In fact, Stilwell's memoirs left out an event that may be very important. It was in mid-March 1935, after Patton's victory in the Arabian Valley Campaign, that when the Anglo-American Allied forces began to storm in an orderly manner, the Allied General Headquarters in Berlin had realized that the Anglo-American-dominated Middle East theater was facing great dangers. On March 13, Ludendorff's representative, head of the Operations Department of the Allied General Command, Erwin . Lieutenant General Rommel arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, where the Anglo-American Allied Middle East Theater Command was located.

"Danger? How can it be dangerous? Does Marshal Ludendorff have any specific recommendations? Sir Massingbent had to take a moment out of his busy schedule to deal with the Lieutenant General of the Wehrmacht, who was not tall and had the face of a somewhat dull Prussian officer.

"The marshal noted the situation reported by the Middle East theater of operations very ... ・・・It is very chaotic, as if there is no overall plan of action, and there seems to be no unified command. The marshal sent me to Alexander to remind you that the Battle of the Middle East is a crucial battle that will affect the course of the World Anti-Soviet War and must be taken seriously! Rommel looked a little haughty, and there was a skeptical look in his triangular eyes—it was clear that he was doubting the professionalism of the senior British and American military commanders. He paused slightly, and then said: "The Allied General Command has established a temporary suspension of offensive operations in the Middle East Theater, and has taken a moment to find out the enemy's situation, and on this basis, has formulated a whole combat plan that can be executed. In addition, this new combat plan should also include military operations to be taken by the caliphate. The Allied General Command believed that the Caliphate was an important force on the Middle East theater and not an inconsequential spectator. ”

Sir Massingbent, of course, was also an experienced military commander, and he had already noticed that the command of the Middle East theater had fallen into disarray, and that the British and American armies had begun to act on their own after breaking through the Arabian Valley.

The main goal of the U.S. military is to seize Amman, Damascus, and Beirut in order to open the eastern gateway to Iraq. After passing through the Guò Arabian Valley, the British turned southward, swept away the remnants of the Indian Red Army and the Transjordan People's Army in the Suwan Plain, built military stations and airfields, and stockpiled supplies in the Suvan Plain, apparently in preparation for the crossing of the Nedev and Hijara deserts. If there was any cooperation between the British and American allies, it was probably that they had organized a campaign cluster of eight dissatisfied infantry divisions to enter the Hejaz region south, but the commander of this campaign cluster was not the planned Bradley, who was commanding his 82nd Division and three other American infantry divisions to besiege Amman, the capital of Transjordan. Yakil left behind three divisions of the Indian Red Army, relying on the strong fortifications that had been built long ago, causing Bradley great trouble. The same happened in Damascus, the ancient capital of the Arab Empire, where several Indian divisions were on guard, and the Americans had to send a mixed force of the 7th Army to besiege it.

Incidentally, the four American divisions besieging Amman under Bradley's command were the four divisions that were planned to attack the Hejaz with the British. But now that they couldn't get out, Stilwell, who had just been promoted to lieutenant general, had no choice but to personally command four divisions that had originally served as reserves and four British and Indian divisions to go south together.

Originally, in the face of such a separate situation, Sir Massin Bent also felt that something was wrong, and these days he was hesitating to strengthen the coordination with the American army, but as soon as Kolommel mentioned the caliphate, Sir immediately became angry.

He was keenly aware that the Germans were likely to have reached some secret agreement with the Chinese, wanting to use the caliphate's huge influence in the Middle East to get their hands on the oil in the Persian Gulf! Once China and Germany are allowed to squeeze in, the little oil in the Persian Gulf will be divided into four parts! How much oil and water can the British Empire leave behind?

"Mr. Lieutenant General, do you know how many troops the caliph is going to send to the Arabian Peninsula?" Sir Massin Bent asked tentatively.

"300,000 to 400,000," Lommel said openly, "His Majesty the Caliph has a very high prestige among the Middle East, and if the British Empire can provide some convenience, I believe that more troops can be gathered, and then the casualties of the British and American troops will be greatly reduced." ”

Massin Bent pouted slightly, more troops? Your wishful thinking with the Chinese is really good, put the British and American troops in front of the Indians, and let the caliph recruit troops on the side. Wait until Britain and the United States defeat India's Asan, and then you let Harry send out to snatch the fruits of victory... ・・・

"I think so, in order to show cooperation between the allies, Germany and Italy can send a few divisions to the Middle East." Masin Bent frowned and said, "As for Chinese・・・・・・ I don't think this is the place they should meddle in, this is our Caucasian territory, and it always has been!" ”

Lommel was stunned for a moment, staring at the British Marshal in front of him with triangular eyes, as if he was looking at some monster, and after a long while, he grinned bitterly: "Sir, in fact, the situation is not what you imagined, Marshal Ludendorff and the Allied General Headquarters are just doing their duty. We have noticed that the Middle East battlefield is facing serious dangers, so it is our responsibility to do something. If you don't want to adopt it, then just let me say nothing. ”

Saying that, Lommel stood up, the German-style military uniform was straight on the not tall body, and a knight's iron cross was hung in the middle of the collar badge, he snapped upright, and gave a military salute to Massingbent: "Sir, now I want to go to the Palestinian front line, and by the way, I will meet with General Marshall, the commander-in-chief of the US forces in the Middle East." ”

"Okay, I'll arrange for a plane to take you to Haifa." Although he did not want the Germans to intervene in the Middle East theater again, after all, in the name of the head of the operations department of the Allied General Headquarters, Sir Massingbent could only arrange for him to fly him to see Marshall, although he knew that Rommel's intention was not so simple......

At the same time as Rommel was visiting the Allied Middle East theater, Prince Ali, the representative of Caliph Hussein, accompanied by Chinese Ambassador Nie Rzhen, came to Lin Zuoda's headquarters in the port of Jeddah. On behalf of his father, Prince Ali urged Lin Zuo to seize Mecca and Medina. The caliph already knew the news that the Anglo-American allies had sent troops south to the Hejaz, and also knew that the Anglo-American military operations in the Middle East were going well, so he was very anxious, but Lin Zuoda resolutely refused the caliph's request.

"However, Brother Yang Chūn Caliph is the commander-in-chief of the Caliphate after all." After settling Prince Ali, who had touched a gray nose, Nie Rzhen returned to Lin Zuoda's headquarters. He felt a little embarrassed, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called a few times ago asking the Chinese personnel to fully respect the status and face of the caliph and the members of the Hashemite family, and to let them fully appreciate the goodwill of the Chinese side.

"Our first task now is to gain a foothold in the Arabian Peninsula, and the Middle East war has just begun, and the Soviet Union and India will not give up the Middle East lightly, so Britain and the United States will soon be locked in a bitter war. Brother Fu Piao, if you explain the situation to Prince Ali and the Caliph, they will naturally understand. Lin Zuo frowned and said, he didn't like others to interfere with his command, especially by a layman like the caliph, but just like Nie Rzhen said, the caliph is the master of the army, and if he has a stalemate with the caliph, he will definitely be transferred out of the Middle East in the end.

He thought for a moment, and then said: "It's better to do this, Brother Fu Yu, I'll write a report, please take this report back to Nanjing, and hand it over to the prime minister in person, and he will have a way to solve it." ”

"And what is the answer from Prince Ali?" Nie Rzhen asked.

"You take him to Nanjing." Lin Zuo hesitated and said, he didn't want Prince Ali to stay in Jeddah to interfere with him, and he didn't want the prince to chew his tongue in his Lao Tzu's ear after returning to Port Sudan, so he simply sent the prince to China.

Just as Nie Rzhen was about to leave, Lin Zuoda suddenly received a telegram from the staff officer, and after reading it, he stopped Nie Rzhen: "Brother Fu, there is another message to help me bring back to Nanjing." The Germans sent a lieutenant named Lommel to the Middle East, who was active in Palestine for the past two days, and he sent a telegram to our military delegation in Port Sudan saying that he wanted to come to us in a few days. ”

After Nie Rzhen left, Lin Zuo's thick eyebrows suddenly twisted into a ball, and Ma Zhongying, who was next to him, saw it and asked in a low voice, "Chief Chief, what's wrong?" ”

"Trouble is coming!" General Lin Zuo handed the telegram to Ma Zhongying, shook his head and said: "That Lommel told us in the telegram that Britain and the United States have dispatched 8 infantry divisions and are marching towards the Hejaz!" ”

"What! Here we are! What are they going to do? ”

The Kingdom of the Hejaz is the ancestral property of Ma Zhongying's father-in-law, Caliph Hussein, and in addition to the two religious holy cities of Mecca and Medina, there are mountains and deserts, and there is really no oil and water, but why did Britain and the United States march to the Hejaz?

"Of course it's trouble for us!" Lin Zuoda smiled bitterly and shook his head: "It's just that the Americans just went to the battlefield and don't know how powerful they are, but the British have been fighting with the Soviets for more than two years, how can they be so confused?" Now where are they fighting, how can they fight like this! The Indian Red Army has 3 million troops in the Middle East! ”

"I'm afraid the problem lies with the Indian Red Army!" Ma Zhongying sighed and said: "If the opponent is the Soviet Red Army, they won't dare to toss so blindly." He paused and looked at Lin Zuoda again: "Chief, how are we going to deal with it?" ”

"What else can I do? Medina must not fall into their hands under any circumstances, otherwise there will really be no way for the caliph to give an account. Lin Zuo frowned and said, "Zhong Ying, you take the Guards Cavalry Division and immediately set off north to take Medina." ”

"But the Indian Red Army may be ・・・・・・ambushing in the Northern Hejaz Mountains," Ma hesitated.

"It doesn't matter." Lin Zuo waved his hand and said, "Their target is not your cavalry division, but after you arrive in Medina, you must closely monitor the direction of the Northern Hejaz Mountains, and be ready to retreat back to the port of Jeddah at any time." ”

Ma Zhongying understood that this deployment was obviously to deal with the caliphate, but he had another concern. "Commander-in-chief, you just said that Britain and the United States have 8 divisions, and we only have 1 cavalry division, what should we do if we have a conflict with Britain and the United States?"

Lin Zuoda doesn't know what to do now, he is just a lieutenant general of the Chinese National Defense Forces, although the official is not small, but he is not in charge of major matters involving the relations between China, the United States and Britain. He groaned and said, "Shenying, you take your troops to Medina first, and as for the question of your possible conflict with Britain and the United States, I will send a telegram to Nanjing." ”

"Prime Minister, the ambassadors of Britain and the United States are here."

Lin Zuoda's telegram was only delivered to Chang Ruiqing, and before he had time to take a closer look, British Ambassador Judgan and American Ambassador Jensen came to visit together.

"Sir Judgan, Mr. Jensen, you must have come for the caliphate again, right?"

As soon as he entered the living room, Chang Ruiqing went straight to the topic. He guessed correctly, the British and American ambassadors came for the "caliphate issue", and it was not the first time that they had come to the Tangshan official residence because of the caliphate. During this period, the Anglo-American Allied forces in the Middle East battlefield were in great shape, and successively won a series of victories such as the Battle of Palestine, the Battle of Suez, the Battle of the Arabian Valley, the Battle of the Golan Heights, and the Battle of Beirut, and now they have controlled the whole of Palestine, most of the Sinai Peninsula, most of Transjordan, the whole of Lebanon and southwestern Syria. It also encircled three Indian army groups (in fact, two army groups) in Amman, Damascus and southern Sinai.

And the successive victories on the battlefield have also hardened the waist of the British and American ambassadors, and their attitude towards Chang Ruiqing, the leader of the Eastern military power, is not as respectful as in the past. There was even a strong protest against China's support for Caliph Hussein.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I would like to remind you once again that the Second Berlin Conference has already reached agreement on the Middle East battlefield. This battlefield will be under the responsibility of our country and the United States, and the commander-in-chief of the Allied Middle East Theater will also be our Field Marshal Sir Masin Bent・・・・・・ so all Allied forces in the Middle East should be under the unified command of Sir Masin Bent, and all armed forces that do not obey the orders of the Allied Middle East Theater and Sir Masin Bent will be regarded as a pro-Soviet side and will be severely attacked by the Allies. And we note that among these pro-Soviet military forces is the so-called caliphate, which your country supports! The mission of Mr. Jensen and I is to demand that China immediately cease all assistance to the Caliphate, and hope that His Excellency the Prime Minister will consider the issue from the perspective of maintaining the unity of the Central Powers and give us a satisfactory answer. Sir Judgan protested to Chang Ruiqing again with a stern expression, and although he knew that nothing would come of it, he still dutifully fulfilled his duties as a diplomat.

Chang Ruiqing also listened with a calm expression, but he knew very well in his heart that the protests of Britain and the United States were by no means like some countries in later generations.

These two countries are real imperialism, although they dare not make a move against the current China, but the caliphate supported by China is not in their eyes! The reason why they have protested to themselves again and again is that they are taking preventive vaccinations, so that they can be mentally prepared for the Anglo-American solution to the caliphate issue・・・・・・ and those who should be evacuated from the Middle East should also be evacuated as much as possible, so as not to be accidentally injured and killed in the conflict between Britain and the United States and the caliphate! Moreover, Britain and the United States also know that under the current circumstances, it is impossible for China to turn the other cheek with Britain and the United States for the sake of the caliphate. It can be said that they did choose a good time to solve the problem of the caliphate, which is a security security in the Middle East. But the problem is that the Indian Red Army in the Middle East has not yet been defeated!

Thinking of this, Chang Ruiqing sighed softly in a rather helpless tone: "Sir and Mr. Jensen, please tell Prime Minister Chamberlain and President Roosevelt for me that the main enemy in the Middle East at present is still the Indian Red Army under the control of the Soviet Union, and I hope that the British and American allies will not create new enemies before the Indian Red Army is completely expelled from the Middle East!" ”

Judgan and Jensen glanced at each other, their faces beaming. This is the first time that a Chinese premier has made concessions to Britain and the United States on the issue of the caliphate! Jensen nodded heavily: "That's natural, we also know the priorities, of course the caliphate issue will be placed after the Indian Red Army." As he spoke, he suddenly lowered his tone again: "However, if Caliph Hussein's army takes the initiative to provoke the Anglo-American allies, then it cannot be ruled out that we will solve this biggest hidden danger to Middle East security in advance!" ”