"Yes, I know!" Shulka pretended to be helpless: "I'm sorry, John! No one wants to see something like this happen!"
"Yes!" John replied anxiously: "If it was just the task itself, maybe it wouldn't be a big deal..."
"Are you worried that this 'small plane' will threaten Britain's security?" Shulka spread his hands and replied: "I think... if you can't destroy it, you should have made preparations early!"
This is actually what Shulka wants to see.
Because the Germans had "V1 missiles" that could threaten the security of the British mainland, the British could not sit back and watch the Soviet-German war and reap the benefits.
Obviously, the best way to avoid being bombed by "small planes" like the Germans is to land in France as early as possible so that Germany loses its base for bombing the British mainland.
Of course, Shulka would not directly say: "You attack France in advance to open a second battlefield!" If he said this, the purpose would be too obvious, and it would be easy for these British guys to see the flaw.
"I know, Comrade Shulka!" John shook his head and said distressedly: "The problem is that something went wrong on the African battlefield, and we are already at a loss to deal with it..."
"What? Something went wrong on the African battlefield?" Shulka couldn't help being surprised when he heard this.
"Yes!" John replied: "The German Afrika Korps are attacking the Alamein defense line with all their strength, and the Alamein defense line may not be able to hold it!"
"How could this happen?" Shurka was a little confused. Historically, the Alamein line of defense had never been in crisis. When Rommel reached this point, he was at the end of his tether due to a long supply of supplies and a serious shortage of equipment and troops.
"Speaking of it, it is also related to this operation!" John replied: "In order to obtain information about this operation, we exchanged a large amount of supplies... and even provided some fighter planes that were originally supposed to be deployed on the island of Malta. This not only replenished the Alamein defense line
Not enough, it also weakened the island of Malta’s stranglehold on the German supply lines!”
Shulka understood after hearing this.
Although the supplies used by the British to exchange intelligence were originally sent to the Soviet Union by the United States, they were intercepted by the British and sent to the Alamein line of defense.
But if the supply is too much, it is too much, and if there is too little, it is too little.
The British are not good at fighting. Historically, the reason why they blocked Rommel's Afrika Korps at the El Alamein line was more because of sufficient supplies... When the Germans' lips were chapped due to lack of water and thirst, the British had already repaired the water pipes.
At the Alamein line of defense, the British could even bathe in fresh water, and several railways were built to continuously transport supplies and materials to the front line.
It was under such a completely disproportionate situation of troops, equipment, supplies, etc. that could almost be called luxury, that the British defeated the Germans.
But now, in order to exchange intelligence, the British handed over a large amount of US aid to the Soviet army, including fighter planes that were originally supposed to be deployed on the island of Malta... This directly led to a reduction in supplies for the British army and an increase in supplies for the German army.
As one goes and the other goes, the gap between the enemy and our armies is not that big, so a crisis appears in the Alamein defense line.
This was no small matter. Shulka immediately asked Andrianka to pull out the map of Africa... The Soviet army was mainly concerned about the war in their own country, so it took some time to find this map.
"You know..." John pointed to the map and said: "If we fail completely in Africa, it will have a great impact on the Soviet Union, because the Germans will occupy Egypt and completely control the Suez Canal, and the supply channels in the direction of the Caucasus will be destroyed.
to blockade. In addition, this may even cause Turkey to turn towards Germany, and then I’m afraid..."
John's analysis is correct.
Although Turkey declared neutrality at this time, it was actually more on the side of Germany... This was the case for many countries during World War II. On the surface, they declared neutrality but in fact they were acting as Germany's puppets.
For example, there have been rumors on the Internet for a long time that although Switzerland and Sweden were neutral countries, they actually helped Germany in every possible way during World War II: transporting supplies for the German army, providing intelligence and transportation channels, producing weapons, laundering counterfeit money, etc.
This is actually the way of survival for small countries: help whoever is strong, and do your best to help.
In this way, Germany will make a calculation in its mind... If I can get so many benefits, including money and materials, without attacking them, and then have unimpeded traffic, wouldn't it be unnecessary to attack them?
Not only is it unnecessary, but hitting them will cause them to resist and destroy. For example, if the guerrillas blow up tunnels or railways, or conduct sneak attacks, they will cause trouble.
So it became a situation where there would be more benefits not to fight than to fight.
War is for profit. If the benefit has been obtained, of course there is no reason to start a war.
Therefore, these so-called neutral countries can be "neutral".
Turkey is no exception. This country is also famous as a wallflower. The Soviet Union, Germany, Britain and the United States are not willing to offend them. They are even "stupid" because it was still a wallflower until the eve of Germany's surrender in 1945.
Several countries were hesitant... At this time, even an idiot knew that Germany was powerless, but still couldn't make up its mind.
Until Churchill lost his temper and said to Turkey: "Give you one last chance, don't try to eat both ends, and in the end you won't be able to eat either end!"
So Türkiye quickly declared war on Germany on January 1, 1945.
In addition, Turkey and the Soviet Union were neighboring countries, and conflicts over territorial issues were inevitable in history, so of course they hoped that Germany would gain the upper hand.
In this case, as long as Germany defeated the British in Egypt and the British army was completely driven out of Africa, Turkey would open ports and transportation channels for the German army.
At that time, the German army can cross the Mediterranean from Egypt to Turkey, and then Turkey can directly attack the Caucasus region of the Soviet Union from the south without facing the natural dangers of the Caucasus... Then the Baku oil fields will be really dangerous.
Of course, this is also very detrimental to Britain, which means that Britain is completely isolated from its colonies, which will make Britain's already extremely difficult situation under the German submarine blockade even worse.
Therefore, the UK has no time to worry about "small planes".
"Do you have a backup plan?" Shulka asked.
"Of course!" John replied: "We urgently mobilized additional troops from India and Australia to reinforce Egypt, and also sought help from the United States in supplies and equipment. However, this does not seem to have any effect!"
This really won't work, because what the British troops stationed on the Alamein line lack is not troops and supplies... If morale is low to a certain level, no matter how many troops and supplies they have, they will serve as the enemy's transportation brigade. (To be continued)