Not only did the Austrians cry out that they could not fight anymore, but even the Germans were shaken after seeing the terrible losses. The Germans shuddered when they looked at the distance between the Chinese soldiers and Kirkuk, an oil town in the valley of the two rivers, and the distance to the Eastern Railway. The Germans had no doubt that the targets of the next Chinese offensive would be these two places. "The Chinese Army didn't even have to attack the city, just bombed the oil fields and factories inside and outside the city with artillery and bombers, and it would take us years to rebuild. We will lose one of the most important fuel bases to go south to India. What can we do even if we take down Iran? The Iranians will destroy their oil fields, and Iran's refining capacity is not enough to support our operations in terms of production and quality, "In the face of the aggressive offensive of the Chinese Army, even the most belligerent Ludendorff realized that it would be Germany that would suffer if it continued to fight."

"Are we just throwing in the towel? Just because of a defeat in a campaign, we abandoned a plan we had been planning for years? Could it be that a few divisions of Chinese troops are helpless for the nearly 200,000 troops of our allies? Where is the German Iron Army, which once roamed Europe and fought against Britain, France, Russia, and the United States? We have defeated one strong enemy after another, do we have to admit defeat in front of Huaxia? The Kaiser's angry roar resounded throughout the hall. The king's anger made everyone present shudder.

"Actually, we didn't lose, strategically we achieved our goal. Thanks to the efforts of the Imperial Team, we have built a road to India. The border between British India and Iran was under our control, while China controlled only the northern part of Iran, and we, together with Turkey, surrounded the remaining territories of Iran from both north and south. Strategically, we are at an advantage. "Looking at Ludendorff, who had been giving him a look, Hindenburg finally came forward." It is a fait accompli that we occupy most of Iran's territory, and China should have no intention of recovering the lost territory for Iran, otherwise they should have fought us in Iran instead of in the two river valleys, and the other side's coercion is just to exchange for a slightly more decent ending. ”

"The situation was the same as in the Italian war, both sides were exhausted on the battlefield, and now all they needed was an opportunity. An opportunity to end this war with dignity. Looking at the Kaiser's slightly furrowed brow, Hindenburg continued. He could sense that the Kaiser didn't want to fight anymore. The huge casualties and losses seriously affected the construction of the German ** team, and the loss of equipment was not very important, but it was only a few months of production capacity. And that's without mobilization. What really hurt the Germans was the loss of a large number of experienced junior commanders and veterans, especially the Air Force, and the loss of pilots gave Richthofen a straight twitch of heartache. This is not something that can be achieved quickly, and even individual ace pilots cannot be trained by training, it depends on talent! So at this meeting. The Luftwaffe and the Army had the same opinion, that is, they would accept it when they saw it, end the war as soon as possible, and talk about the humiliation brought by China to Germany later. Anyway, Germany has already achieved the minimum goal. The gain of continuing to fight is small, and the cost will be great.

"How's the case with you, Count Spee? If I'm not mistaken, you just told me three days ago that that Iranian fleet would be annihilated within a week. Is that so? While Hindenburg was thinking about how to continue to "fool" the Kaiser in order to take over the proposal for an armistice, the Kaiser turned his attention to Count Spee, the commander of the German navy, who had been silent.

"That's right, we'll see it in four days. General Luknar has already bitten his opponent in the South Atlantic. Only the final blow was missing. The other party will definitely not be able to escape. We will be victorious in the end, Your Majesty. Count Spee bent slightly and said solemnly.

"Shhh What do you mean by this at this time?! "Count Spee's statement surprised and dissatisfied Hindenburg, who had just proposed an armistice! When everyone says that the situation of the war is unfavorable and you are ready to take it when you see it, you suddenly jump out and say that the navy is about to win a big victory. Isn't this a demolition of everyone's platform?! Where do you put the face of the Army and the Air Force?! Emotional people don't know how hungry people are hungry. Iran's land fighting has nothing to do with your navy, so you're here to advocate and keep fighting?! Hindenburg sneered with great dissatisfaction. He could already imagine that the Kaiser would most likely let the battle continue because of this victory at sea.

"But victory at sea could not fundamentally change the disadvantage of the German army in Iran. The Air Force and Army stationed in Iran are exhausted, and we have spent years preparing for this war. Even if our sea traffic is smooth, the replenishment rate will be very slow, and our convoy will have to sail from the Mediterranean Sea or even the North Sea to reach the Persian Gulf after a long voyage, and the capacity of the port of Basra is very limited. This bottleneck is difficult to overcome. "God turns! To the surprise of almost everyone here, Count Spee had just said that the German navy had the hope of a big victory in the near future. In less than five minutes, they also began to side with the army and air force to express their support for the truce. It was a little strange to almost everyone.

"The war has already tended to expand in size, and General Schrager was attacked by the Huaxia Strategic Air Force, according to our estimates. At least 4 strategic bomber wings were concentrated in China, and more than 800 heavy bombers took turns attacking the Austro-Hungarian Corps. They certainly have more bombers on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, and our largest oil-producing base is separated only by a narrow Caspian Sea from the deployment area of the opposing side's strategic air force. If the other side launches an attack on our oil fields, then the scale of this war is likely to be completely expanded. Richthofen then added a fire.

"Huaxia wouldn't do that. They were also unprepared for war. There was also a sense of uncertainty in Wilhelm II's words. From the bottom of his heart, Wilhelm II thinks that Xu Jie wants to be very much with himself, and he is a person who will not be easily subdued. Judging from Xu Jie's performance in the past few decades, Huaxia has never succumbed to the pressure of external forces. Even for Saipan. Huaxia can also fight with the American fleet. The decisiveness and courage of this made Wilhelm II have to admire. Although Wilhelm II was arrogant, he was definitely not stupid, and he could tell when it was more advantageous to go to war.

"It is precisely because they are not prepared that there is a possibility of reconciliation between us, even if this is temporary, in the future, the first target we have to deal with is France, even if we can defeat China in the next battle, we cannot deploy too many troops in the Middle East, in order to deal with France. We must do our best! That being the case, we can now slow down now that we have opened the road to India. "Richthofen was a rare occasion to be stiff in front of the Kaiser.

"If we now send a strategic bomber force to attack the Huaxia Air Base on the east coast of the Caspian Sea, will we be able to contain the other side's strategic air strikes?" Wilhelm II's words startled Richthofen.

"It's impossible. Our strategic bombers in the Middle East are deployed in the southern part of the two river basins, and the combat distance is too long. Fighters could not accompany the escort. And to fly over the defense zone of the opposing air force, I am afraid that we will lose quite a lot of aircraft before we reach the sky over the Caspian Sea. China has established a very complete radar network and ground guidance and command system in northern Iran, and we cannot take advantage of it now. It is also impossible to strike from the Caucasus oil fields, where we have all fighter units deployed. Used to defend against bombardment by the opposing side. Even if we immediately transfer the indigenous strategic bomber forces over now. The airfield and maintenance situation also made it difficult to support large-scale strategic bombing. And it is easy to let the war develop in an unpredictable direction. ”

"However, with the improvement of the logistics and transportation situation, we can completely deploy more aircraft in the two river valleys, and if we can really have a thorough understanding of the threat from the sea as the earl said, then we can increase the strength of at least three aviation wings, which will greatly improve the situation on the battlefield." Richthofen said. The size of the Luftwaffe corps in the Middle East has always been limited by logistical supplies, all kinds of supplies, including high-grade aviation gasoline, are transported from the mainland, if there is no maritime threat, then the supplies transported from the mainland can support a larger fleet, and the increase in various accessories is also conducive to improving the attendance of aircraft.

"Okay. Still, I wonder what the so-called decent ending is. The Navy gave me the answer to destroy the Iranian fleet. And what about the Air Force and Army? What about your answers? Wilhelm II asked. In fact, Wilhelm II would have preferred that the army would say that the air force's planes could quickly transfer and fly over as long as the supplies were in place. But the Army is different. The transportation of a large number of soldiers and tank vehicles was a difficult process, and at the moment the German front-line troops suffered heavy losses. It will probably be a long process to regain the strength that existed before the Hanging Garden.

"With the standards of unloading at the port of Basra, it is difficult for us to get enough supplies. I am afraid that the equipment and personnel coming from land and sea will only make up for part of our losses in the previous battle. It would be much better if we could get some equipment from Turkey, which uses the same weapons as we do, and many of its troops are stationed in the northern part of the two river basins. They lack experienced and highly qualified troops, and if we transport the fighters over, and then requisition the equipment of the Turks. It will achieve twice the result with half the effort. Although the German army top brass has agreed to an armistice, they are obviously not satisfied with the performance of the German army on the battlefield this time, so Hindenburg and others plan to try to save some face.

"The two armored divisions we now have on the Northern Front are ready to be completed, if the Turks cooperate. We can also muster at least two mechanized infantry divisions, so that the combat effectiveness of one is already very considerable, and in three weeks, we can restore the four divisions on the southern front to 70% of the combat effectiveness before the war. In this way, we will regain the advantage, with the troops on the northern front and the defenders of Kirkuk blocking the opponent, while the troops on the southern front can threaten the flank. We have already figured out the strength of the Huaxia Legion. Counting the units that will meet later, they will have 5 divisional combat units and 1 separate brigade, as well as a number of separate armored units. If you don't count the strategic bombers, the Huaxia Air Force will not be able to use more than 600 aircraft. We will still have the advantage in our forces, and we will be at least 70% sure that we will block the opponent. Hindenburg replied.

If Hindenburg's plan had come to fruition, the German Army would have been in a perfect position to engage in battle, with Kirkuk surrounded by permanent fortifications on the front. Although Schrager lost most of his equipment and his field combat ability decreased a lot, he could at least hold out for a long time if he relied on fortifications, after all, there were 100,000 garrisons, and even if he was in line to kill, he needed to kill for a while! To the north of Kirkuk were 4 German divisions, which had not yet entered the battle and were in good shape to threaten the opponent from the flank. As for the remnants of the German troops on the original southern front, although they could not return to the pre-war level after resting, they did not have to face the main force of the Chinese troops as they did before the war, and in the next battle, they only had to face the ever-extending supply lines of the Chinese. The total strength of Huaxia is limited, and there will not be many troops to cover the supply lines. If Huaxia dares to continue to go deeper, then what awaits Huaxia will be an all-round attack from the ** League of Nations!

The Air Force has said it will increase the strength of at least three wings. Then with the existing available crews, the number of aircraft will definitely exceed that of Huaxia. Although it may not be guaranteed to get air supremacy, it is still no problem to divide equally. Although Hindenburg admitted that the quality of the Chinese armored forces was higher than that of its own, it did not believe that the gap between the two engines was too large to be compared. According to the deduction of the German General Staff, if the Chinese Air Force is suppressed, the German Army's 4 divisions and 1 brigade will at least be tied against the 3 divisions of the Chinese Army. Don't forget, the Huaxia division is larger.

The request of the German General Staff was simple, to stop Huaxia west of Kirkuk. Then hit the opponent so hard that the opponent had to evacuate. As long as China eventually retreats to Iran, then Germany at least does not lose on the battlefield. In the event of negotiations under these circumstances, Germany could at least guarantee the fruits of the existing victory. Of course, it all depends on whether the German Navy can completely destroy the Iranian fleet. If none of the sea lines are guaranteed, then everything will be in vain. At this time, in the Atlantic Ocean far from Germany, the siege of the German fleet under the command of Admiral Luknal had reached its final moment, and as Count Spay said, it would be known in a few days!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the reward~~~, as well as the book friend old students, Harvard Street monthly pass support ~~~~~. (To be continued.) )