"How about transferring the Air Force to delay the enemy's attack?" In a meeting, Gudlin asked whether the Air Force could slow down the enemy's attack by continuing to bomb them. After all, judging from the current situation, if Guderian's Ministry does not take offensive actions, then the Air Force can transfer the bombers originally used to support Guderian to the Western Front. Even Gudelin wanted Guderian to choose to hold on, and then transfer part of the armored forces and anti-aircraft artillery originally allocated to Guderian to strengthen the defense of the Western Front.

"This, I'm afraid it's difficult. Although we have a numerical advantage, the Huaxia Air Force is also gradually strengthening, and because of the high proportion of fighters, the loss rate of our bomber forces remains high. In particular, in order to rescue the 6th Panzer Division, we were shot down and permanently lost hundreds of aircraft. Even more precious than airplanes are pilots. The loss of the latter makes it even more difficult for us to provide adequate support in a short period of time. An Air Force general replied.

"But the Air Force on the Western Front and the Air Force supporting Guderian together had only 1,500 aircraft. So what are the remaining 2,000-odd planes doing? Even if it weren't possible to attack all of them, at least two or so air wings could be drawn to support the Western Front, right? Gu Delin said unrelentingly.

"You're going to have to talk to General Manstein about this. He should have a good idea of our situation, Guderian's department was not far from our rear, but in order to break through the British line, General Manstein's line was stretched too long, and the lack of troops led to the entire line of defense and communication line full of holes. The opposing partisans and air forces could strike at any point of our army at any time, and General Guderian's flank was safe, but General Manstein's front and right sides were flanked by the British at the same time. Our air force will not only have to meet the RAF on the northern front, but also provide air defense for the transport lines. Don't forget, the bomber forces deployed by the British in southeastern Iran are not just for people to see! ”

"As a result, we can only use BF109 fighters with a small range to ensure the safety of the right flank through high-frequency take-off and landing. This made the pilot very tired. And our liquid-cooled engines are not suitable for the Iranian environment and high frequency use. We have a lot of planes, but the attendance rate is plummeting. But even then, our bombers suffered heavy losses, and we did not have a very good way against the Mosquito aircraft of the British. They're so fast, and they're unusually strong. Little Richthofen complained.

If it is said that the battle between the Chinese troops and the Germans can be described as cutting through the mess with a quick knife. Then Manstein's fight with the British can be described as long. The former is the attack. Winners and losers can be determined in a short period of time. Then everyone gathers up the strength to fight again. Supply lines on both sides were short and well supplied for a large-scale offensive. But Manstein's fight against the British was the opposite. The British drew part of their forces to threaten Manstein's flank. And Manstein also needs to draw up a considerable amount of troops to counter the harassment. The ground is like this. This is even more true of the Air Force. There are not a few shells per day, but aviation fuel definitely burns a lot. Some squadron planes even flew more than twice a day for a week! Such a high-frequency sortie, not to mention the planes, people can't stand it. This, combined with climatic and environmental factors, has led to a skyrocketing of aircraft uptime and accident rates.

However, even so, the Air Force is not unable to draw troops. It's just that the Air Force now has a big plan, and if part of the forces are withdrawn, I am afraid that it will be very unfavorable to the development of the future plan. Everyone will have their own little abacus, and as an air force boss, he cannot completely follow the baton of the army. What's more, Richthofen believed that it was unnecessary for the army to be obsessed with fighting to the death with the Chinese army. Because in his opinion, the purpose of this war is actually to obtain a forward base for attacking India. The key is to create a route to the east, not to the north to capture Tehran. And even if the whole of Iran is to be taken down, wouldn't it be better to cut off the direct ties between India and Iran first, and then concentrate on dealing with China? Why bother with the toughest opponent in the first place?

Of course, Richthofen also had to consider the German Army's request for help. What the Allied Army needed most was anti-armor firepower, so the Air Force could allocate some anti-aircraft artillery to the Army. This included two anti-aircraft artillery trains. At the same time, some of the shorter-range bombers and land-attack aircraft could be redeployed to the Western Front, since they would not be needed in Richthofen's strategic bombing of southeastern Iran. Meantime. It is also possible to send some fighter units in order to better drain the opponent's air power. However, with these allocated air forces, it was unrealistic for the Germans to continue to suppress the logistics and transportation lines of the Chinese offensive forces. The number of single-engine aircraft is predominant, and the tactical support is so-so, and it may be impossible to suppress the entire transport line. A large number of medium and strategic bombers were reserved for use against the British.

Looking at the list of support units submitted by the Air Force, although the German Army was a little dissatisfied, it was reasonable, as Hindenburg said back then, the German Army needed to resist the sharp front of the Chinese Army by itself. Although the Tiger is strong, it is still in the test field. Now the best anti-tank weapon that the German Army can come up with is the Tank Destroyer No. 4. ALTHOUGH SO FAR IT IS ALSO A REDUCED VERSION, THERE IS ONLY 75MML60 ANTI-TANK GUN. Whether it works or not, let's talk about it first. COUPLED WITH THE 105MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS THAT THE AIR FORCE HAS JUST ALLOCATED AND ALL KINDS OF OBSTACLES AND BUNKERS, IT SHOULD BE ABOUT THE SAME.

"WHY DON'T YOU PULL THE NAVY'S 105MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS AND 128MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS OVER AND USE THEM FIRST?" What the Admirals such as Count Spee did not expect was that there was nothing to do with the navy on the land battlefield. As a result, the Navy will also bleed. IN TERMS OF PERFORMANCE, THE 88MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN CAN ATTACK ALMOST MOST AIR TARGETS, AND THE 105MM GUN CAN COVER ALL FIGHTER HEIGHTS. THE AIR FORCE HAS ALWAYS HAD NO INTEREST IN LARGER CALIBER ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS, AND AS FOR THE NAVY'S 128MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS, THEY ARE ACTUALLY HIGH-LEVEL DUAL-PURPOSE GUNS ON DESTROYERS, WHICH HIT BATTLESHIPS MORE THAN AIRPLANES. It seems that the naval forces currently stationed in the Indian Ocean have nothing to do. IF YOU CONTRIBUTE THESE 128MM AND 105MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS, YOU WILL DEFINITELY BE ABLE TO SOLVE THE URGENT NEED.

"That's it, they can ask for those artillery in stock, as long as they don't have planes, they will promise them." It's not good for anyone to let others take their own things. However, fortunately, the army also knew how to be proportionate, and did not take away the navy's land-based air force and carrier-based aircraft. This time Count Spee and Richthofen have the same opinion, whether they can knock down Tehran for the time being, let's not talk about it, first sweep the RAF base in northeastern Iran! If the British Air Force brought only trouble to the Luftwaffe, then for the German Navy it was equivalent to a sharp knife in the throat.

"Can you imagine when our fleet passes through the Persian Gulf, the other side deploys mines in our shipping lanes and ambushes submarines in the sea. And scenes of various bombers circling in the air? The Persian Gulf was the most important base of the Imperial Navy in Asia, and if the British had gained a foothold in northeastern Iran, the entire German Indian Ocean Fleet would be like a tiger in a cage! And the British planes and submarines are the jailers who guard this cage! Mine arrays are chains! Our situation will be even more difficult than in the North Sea! Richthofen did not tell the truth to the army and the higher-ups, and Count Spee, who was an accomplice, also concealed the actions of the navy. When questioned whether it was appropriate to do so, Count Spee's answer was unusually crisp. He also thought that it was not appropriate to fight with China at the beginning of the war. Anyone can see that the United States and Britain do not care about Iran, they are soft persimmons. And the area controlled by the British was more important than the northern part of Iran, which was controlled by the Chinese. In this case, why don't you pinch the soft persimmon first, and have to fight with the stone?

Leave aside the Army. The Air Force and Navy decided to go it alone. One may ask, how can the air force and navy be able to suppress the air force deployed by the British air force in northeastern Iran? It is still necessary for land forces to occupy and control. This is very reasonable, but the Air Force has Airborne Forces, and the Navy has Marines. It was not difficult to deal with non-heavy units with the support of bombers and naval guns of the Air Force. Therefore, in the case that neither the British nor the German General Staff were clear, the two bigwigs of the Navy and Air Force had already discussed the first step in removing the British forces in India, of course, in addition to the strategy formulated in advance and the position of the British, the British had indeed gone a little too far recently. Let the Count of Spee feel a real crisis! Otherwise, the Navy and Air Force would not be in a hurry to share their rivalry with the British!

If the army took the initiative in attacking, then the air force was the British who took the initiative. Originally, according to the British meaning, it was enough to control the southeast of Iran. However, as the campaign unfolded, the strength of the Chinese Army was used to take the initiative to attack and help the American army, so the British army defending the Arak area lacked support. Facing the attack of the German Army led by Manstein. The British defenses were stretched, but fortunately, the German supply lines were too long and there were not enough troops to defend them, so the British desert rangers put a lot of pressure on the German supply lines. The Germans made a statistic that in one day at the worst time, the German Army received more than 30% less supplies and supplies than planned! Of course, this does not mean that the supplies have been destroyed, and it is also possible that there is a delay on the way.

Manstein did not have enough troops to play hide-and-seek with the British in the wasteland, so he had to ask the air force. It was not easy to find the fast vehicles in unfamiliar territory, and it was not easy to find the accuracy of machine gun and bomb attacks alone. Therefore, in addition to setting up ambushes in advance and cooperating with aerial reconnaissance, the Germans could only send a large number of infantry fighting vehicles to maneuver and patrol the supply lines. And this, naturally, reduces the combat effectiveness of front-line troops. If only that's all. The Germans were able to make do with continuing the attack. After all, although the current British attack is uncomfortable, it is far from the level of collapse, but what is unexpected is when the British find that their Ranger offensive is hindered. Montgomery decisively pulled the Air Force to make up for it!

The Germans were not stupid, since they could not completely clear out those maggot-like guerrillas, then the best way was to strengthen the defense of the camp, as the British attacked more and more fiercely, the German defense line also evolved from the initial sandbags and machine guns, to anti-aircraft artillery and civil fortifications. Bofors machine guns, bunkers, minefields, trenches, mortars, all these things mixed together were enough to give the British a headache. Plus all sorts of armored vehicles and even tanks that maneuver around the lines of communication. It makes it more difficult for the British. Under the guidance of the Air Force aircraft, there were even several incidents of the Germans in turn sneaking up on the British.

The enemy situation is changing, and so are the tactics of the rangers. If you can't break through the fire net of the Germans yourself, then let someone else rush it! Under Montgomery's coordination, the RAF sent a number of Mosquito and Hampton light bombers from bases in the northeast to southern Iran. Together with a number of Spitfire and Hurricane fighters, the British concentrated a not weak air force on the flanks of the Germans. With the addition of aerial reconnaissance and bombers, the British ranger tactics finally turned into three-dimensional strikes!

Not only at fixed supply points and depots, but also at convoys. ALTHOUGH THEORETICALLY, THE CONVOY WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH A SMALL NUMBER OF 20MM MACHINE GUNS, BUT IN THE ABSENCE OF SUFFICIENT NUMBERS AND EFFECTIVE FIRE CONTROL, IN THE FACE OF THE ATTACK OF RANGER TANKS AND AIRCRAFT, THE SELF-DEFENSE FIREPOWER OF THE CONVOY CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS BETTER THAN NOTHING, BUT THE MOSQUITO AND HAMPTON BOMBERS ARE ALSO TWIN-ENGINE AIRCRAFT, WHICH ARE NOT SO EASY TO DESTROY. Faced with leaky transport lines, Manstein could only ask the air force for support, but neither the BF109 nor the BF110 posed a big threat to the mosquitoes that came and went! The latter saw that the situation was not good, and it was a big deal to throw bombs and auxiliary fuel tanks, and the German fighters were not enough to compete with mosquitoes in terms of performance and fuel. This resulted in a situation in which the aviation units allocated to Manstein were exhausted, as mentioned above.

The logistics line was riddled with holes, and Manstein's front-line troops were like tigers that could not get enough to eat, and they were never able to deal a fatal blow to the British troops who were waiting for work, and the battle situation fell into a stalemate. The British Air Force, on the flanks, became more and more active, even bombing German field airfields with the help of night navigation equipment. Pull out the Luftwaffe airfields along the way, one by one. Although the actual exchange was even a little worse than that of the British, this action undoubtedly angered the Germans. Richthofen finally couldn't take it anymore! The idea of a complete solution to the British aviation power in Iran was born! Just because the Germans are not moving now does not mean that they are not capable of doing it! And it was at this time that the British aviation deployed in the coastal zone again came into trouble with the German Navy.

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976, hukaikaka for the tip~~~. As well as book friends zzz202129, monthly pass support for old students ~~~. (To be continued.) )