"Persia is very inconvenient in terms of transportation, but the country has a vast strategic depth, more than 1,500,000 square kilometers of territory is larger than the current Germany, and the capital is landlocked, if we want to attack with the army, it will be very difficult, the real enemy is not the Qajar troops, but the long supply lines and the British reinforcements at any time. If we are unable to destroy the opponent's defenses in a short period of time and take the center of the Qajar dynasty under control, then we will be mired in war, which will be very detrimental to our future plans. Moltke Jr. said at an Army Operations Conference.

The Germans wanted to acquire Persia, not only because of its oil fields, but more importantly as a springboard for an attack on India, so the Germans demanded not only to occupy it, but also to make it a suitable base for attack, and as a base for attack, it was necessary to build a network of roads, railways, airfields, and other transportation hubs, and, if necessary, appropriate industry. And if you don't rule the place, it will be more difficult to build these facilities. And the most important thing to stabilize the rule of Dìng is to reduce the resistance of the local population. And the best way to lower the revolt is to prop up a puppet government to help the Germans rule, not Germany itself.

In order to achieve this, the Germans needed to find a suitable person to act as a puppet, and at the same time they needed to support this puppet to ascend to the throne of Persia. As for who to find as a puppet, this is not something that the German Army can manage, what the German Army needs to manage is how to clear the way for this puppet to ascend to the top! And the tragic terrain of Persia was a headache for the German Army. To the west and southwest of Iran is the broad Zagros mountain system. Only near the Persian Gulf was an alluvial plain, known as Khuzestan that the German Army would have to use as a breakthrough if it wanted to enter Iran. If you choose the west, it is estimated that the only force that can be used is the mountain infantry, and it is obviously unrealistic to rely on the mountain infantry to run the moral black orchid.

As for the use of armored forces to intersperse all the way through, this is the most realistic way, and the German army is also sure to crush the army of the Qajar dynasty and the possible British army into slag, after all, the British army in India can only be described as a second-rate, and there are certainly not many troops that can be mobilized in a hurry. But the key problem is that no matter how fast the tanks run, there is no guarantee that they will be able to catch the leaders of the Qajar dynasty in Tehran. If the other side fled to India, Germany would inevitably fall into a passive position in politics. And if you push it all the way like this. There would certainly be damage to Persian cities and lines of communication, which was bound to inspire the locals to revolt. So this method is feasible, but it brings a lot of sequelae. After debriefing the Kaiser, Wilhelm II decided that Germany should use a "more moderate one." A more efficient way to solve this problem! And this one put the top brass of the German War Ministry in a tangle. This time it was the political needs that overwhelmed the military needs!

"The level of training of the army of the Qajar dynasty was not very high, and the scale was not very large. By European standards, they were at best equivalent to the equipment of the German Army in 1906, and this was only at the level of light weapons and medium artillery, and they lacked heavy artillery, not only because of financial problems, but also because of the fact that Iranian traffic conditions made it difficult for these big guys to maneuver quickly. So the enemy we are facing is not strong. The key question is how to send troops directly over! Even if we can only transport some light infantry, with the cooperation of the inner line, we will definitely be able to wipe out the defenders of Tehran! Hindenburg further analyzed the situation facing the German Army and the strength of the Iranian army.

"You are biased in saying that. The army of the Qajar dynasty was relatively weak, though. But the British troops stationed in India can still support the past, don't forget. The army of the Qajar dynasty was trained by the British. Although the British troops stationed in the colonies could not compete with our armored forces, it was enough to destroy the light infantry, and as long as the other side could control the airfield troops for four days, the British troops could reach Tehran in a steady stream of planes, and finally crush us with their numerical superiority. And more importantly, how do we project the elite infantry over? Mackenson asked rhetorically.

"Impossible, Tehran is too far from India. The British could not deploy as many 4-engine aircraft in India. Hindenburg retorted.

"But the British have air bases in Dhamgan and Neshapur, and the British have been operating in Persia for more than ten years, and they can fly through the airfield relay in the middle of Guò. Pure light infantry will definitely not work. And even if we attack from the Caspian Sea, occupy Surrey and other places to attack Tehran, there is still no guarantee of timeliness, what if the royal family of the Qajar dynasty flees to the south or into India? Mackensen was really not at ease with Hindenburg's use of light infantry for a quick assault, not only because they lacked the necessary firepower, but more importantly, despite the fact that Surrey and other places were not far from Tehran, but they were separated by the Alborz Mountains, and there were only a few passes and the Astara lowland corridor that could lead to Guò, and the light infantry could not meet the requirements of the Germans in terms of firepower and timeliness from these places. Mackensen believed that Hindenburg only valued the mobility of the lightly armed troops, and neglected the terrain and timeliness they had to face.

"The British can use airplanes, why can't we use airplanes?" Ludendorff interjected.

"You need to use an airplane." Mackenson said angrily.

"I mean, without using an airfield, just drop the elite infantry and equipment into the air, and then occupy Tehran in a short time with the cooperation of the inner line, control the center of the Khazar dynasty, and hold on to the reinforcements, if the reinforcements from the direction of the Caspian Sea and from the Turkish direction can arrive within 5 days, then it will not be a problem. And if we can destroy or occupy the airfield, the British reinforcements will not be able to resist it. Ludendorff's eyes lit up and he continued.

"You mean with paratroopers? However, paratroopers can hardly carry equipment other than rifles, submachine guns and light mortars, and the ammunition base is very limited. What's more, we lack enough transport aircraft. Moltke was stunned for a moment, surprised by Ludendorff's point, but at the same time admitted that the other party's opinion had merit.

"Anyway, it's just a plan and not an immediate execution, and we have plenty of time to fix it. And there was a man in the German army who was studying paratroopers. So far, the guy seems to have done a platoon-sized parachute jump, and they're still armed with them. Speaking of this, Ludendorff was a little embarrassed, because the gap between the ideal and the reality is really a bit big!

"It's very costly, if you take 50 soldiers per plane and the ammunition he needs, we need about 80 planes to send 4,000 paratroopers over, and this is only the first wave. At the same time, we need long-range fighters to escort these transport aircraft. Because the British stationed an aviation brigade near Tehran. It is said to have been used to train the Persian Air Force. We will then continue to transport the remaining troops to Tehran. Isn't this transportation pressure a bit too much? Moltke asked.

"But this is the only way to wipe out the center of the Qajar dynasty in a short period of time, and the only way to avoid the expansion of the war beyond geographical constraints, as long as we can gain a foothold in Tehran and the army can quickly land in the direction of the Caspian Sea and launch an offensive, we can win." The restricted Transcaucasia is an important oil field that can provide enough fuel, and that is still Turkish territory, so we can easily concentrate a large number of troops. Isn't it better than slowly pushing Tehran in tanks from the two river basins? Ludendorff said.

The Army can support this plan, but whether German aircraft manufacturers can build transport planes and fighter jets that can meet the needs of long-range raids is a question. The Air Force is preparing tenders for various aircraft, and we can inform the Air Force of this need, and then have them prepare fighters and bombers suitable for long-range operations. We can also prepare the corresponding personnel and weapons, and then train them, but whether we can implement them depends on the decision of His Majesty the Emperor and the German aircraft factories! In the end, Moltke was a little helpless.

To Moltke's surprise, the Kaiser admired this somewhat chatty plan, and personally summoned the Red Baron and asked him to build an air force "capable of long-range delivery and combat", of course, the Kaiser would not tell him that this air force would be used for attacks on Persia. Subsequently, the German Army began to prepare for the operation of the Guò Airborne Forces to attack Tehran, which was called Plan K. At the same time, the paratroopers under the German Army also began to prepare for the construction. The demon's wings began to slowly open.

Just as the German army and navy are continuing to strengthen their strength and prepare for possible major wars in the future, the Luftwaffe obviously needs to accomplish more work than the already powerful German army and navy, because in World War 1, the air force was only a non-very important role, and more only carried out tactical tasks. Now, with the development of science and technology, and the relevant theoretical support, the air force has begun to enter the arena of war as a force on a par with the army and navy, and the Germans have a deep understanding of the importance of the air force as they have historically. What will happen to the Luftwaffe, which was once arrogant on another plane, in this plane? Only time will tell!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the reward~~~, and the book friend Uncle Dongpo's monthly pass support ~~~. (To be continued......)