Seven Hundred and Twenty Eight Good News Bad News
In mid-January 1939, two good news came from the distant battlefield. The first good news was that Rommel captured Cairo, the capital of Egypt, after a 20-day siege in North Africa. In the mysterious and ancient kingdom of Egypt, the German swastika flag was flying almost all over the country on this day.
This good news has a lot of direct impact on Germany. For example, as the head of state, Akado must fulfill the promise he said and confer the rank of field marshal to the third general of the German Army. A telegram was sent back to Germany.
The only difference is that because the war on the Eastern Front was very tense, Rommel was ordered to fly to the Xingyuan Wolf Lair where the head of state was, instead of Berlin, to receive his first-class army command medal and the marshal's cane that represented the supreme power of the army .
When he was on the plane, Rommel heard the Third Reich's foreign radio station about his personal show off through the radio. The endless music was repeated over and over again in the loudspeaker, and a sweet female voice used a well-regulated voice. The exploits of the third Field Marshal Rommel.
It seems that nothing about him has been forgotten by the world. On the contrary, every achievement of his has become a heroic legend that everyone talks about after dinner. For example, Rommel showed his head and feet in the blitzkrieg battle of Poland. His armored forces captured several cities in the north in one go, and the Polish defense line collapsed instantly because of his attack.
And the battlefield where he really became famous all over the world was in France, where he advanced dozens of kilometers a day, defeated the main French armored force in one fell swoop, kept pace with Guderian, encircled the main force of the British and French coalition forces in Dunkirk, and won for Germany France created the most favorable conditions.
Then he fought in North Africa, fought all the way through ups and downs, and finally established the victory of the German-Italian coalition forces in North Africa. He entered Alexandria and fulfilled the entrustment of the head of state to him. Now the German flag has been flying over Cairo, and the war situation in North Africa has stabilized. The rest is nothing more than capturing Suez.
Unsurprisingly, when Rommel got off the plane, the airport in Wolf's Cave was already full of people who came to greet him. Some were reporters from the empire, and some were entourages sent by the military to receive him. The general and the school officer stood out of the 100-meter long queue, and the hanging ladder under Rommel's feet was facing the red carpet that was laid all the way to the car.
"Stand at attention! Head of State Akado? Long live Rudolph!" Everyone stood upright amidst the shouts. Although the German army secretly divided itself into two forces, the Führer faction and the traditional faction, all the commanders showed their sincerity to the procedure of the head of state to promote the marshal. Akado is not the same as Hitler. It is different from Hitler's promotion to Marshal to buy people's hearts. Akado, who came from a military background, does not need to do this. He formulated very strict rules for the promotion of marshals, and rarely nominated generals for promotion.
So every soldier who won the rank of marshal convinced everyone. The scepter representing the highest power of the Germans was enough to make soldiers of all factions worship.
These people are the real gods of war, military bosses who are on their own.
Because of this, everyone stood upright, raised their right hands to Rommel, and performed a standard German salute. Rommel walked down the hanging ladder and waved to the people who came to greet him. His military uniform was still full of sand, which made him look a bit sloppy. However, he was in a very good mood. He smiled and nodded to everyone, walked through the crowd, and boarded the car heading to the wolf den.
"My marshal! You have lived up to my expectations, so I have been waiting for this moment since I heard that you captured Cairo!" Akado stood at the entrance of the wolf den, he could come out to meet Rommel in person, It is already a very rare courtesy, at least in Rommel's view, he himself is the God of War created by Akado, and even the God of War is only the God of War under Akado's command.
He walked towards Akado, patting his military uniform as he walked. Along the way, no one asked him to tidy up his appearance, and at this time, no one reminded him, so he slapped the dust on his body anxiously, like a young man who was about to meet his sweetheart, his face was full of anxiety.
Walking in front of Akado, his legs were close together. When standing at attention, the heels of his shoes collided with each other, making a crisp sound. Then, the commander-in-chief of the German-Italian Afrika Korps in North Africa, raised his The right hand performed a German salute so standard that it could no longer be standard. His piety made the people around him a little ashamed, and felt that his salute was as perfunctory in front of this standard.
"My head of state! Erwin Rommel, the commander-in-chief of the African Legion, reports to you!" Rommel stood in front of Akado and sang loudly.
"My Marshal! You can now call yourself a Marshal. Although my awarding ceremony has not yet started, the broadcast has been broadcast all over the world. You are already the Marshal of the Third Reich." Akado patted Rommel's face with a smile. shoulder, said happily.
"My head of state, in front of you, Rommel will always be the loyal subordinate, whether it is a colonel, major general, lieutenant general, general, or field marshal. I will always be the same as when I took over and formed the 26th Cavalry Division. I am your most loyal Erwin." Rommel replied with his head held high.
Akado was taken aback for a moment, and then he sighed with some embarrassment: "Time, in an instant, ten years have passed. We are not young anymore. There are many brave and loyal fighters around me, but I really don't have many friends. You count as one..."
The ceremony was not very grand because of the location, but Marshal Brauchitsch attended the awarding ceremony as a military representative. At the same time, 4 generals, 11 lieutenant generals and 19 major generals also participated in the ceremony. When Rommel took over the marshal's scepter representing power and honor from Akado, applause broke out.
The second news that reached the German Wolf's Lair was not very exciting for the empire. The news was that after a fierce battle, the Japanese navy had lost its strategic initiative in the Pacific battlefield. The battle for Kauai finally ended with the victory of the US Navy and Army, and the Japanese Navy and Army eventually withdrew from the area.
Marshal Yamamoto Fifty-Six did his best, but he could only take the remnants of the United Fleet back to the waters of Midway Island. Although the loss of the fleet's main ships was not much, the loss of the pilots of the carrier-based fighter jets made this already felt The admiral of the Japanese Navy, who was weak in succession, saw his own doom.
The Zero fighter has already made Japanese pilots pay a heavy price for the extreme design. This kind of aircraft, which has a high probability of catching fire and exploding in the air once it is hit, is no different from a lighter. The method of compromising the structural strength of the aircraft has brought Japan's precious pilot resources to the brink of exhaustion and collapse.
At the beginning of the war, the Japanese navy had about 1,400 pilots with rich combat experience. At this time, due to the confrontation with the United States, it had lost more than 500 people. dropped to a worrying level.
Although Yamamoto Fifty-Six preserved the flesh and blood of the United Fleet, he lost a lot of blood. This made the United Fleet suddenly realize that its strongest trump card, that is, the naval aviation, could no longer be used. Proud battleship fleet too. At this time, Japanese battleships still have a certain advantage over the United States, but Yamamoto himself knows that this advantage is not very safe to use.
The good news is that the Japanese Army finally realized the importance of Midway Island, and deployed about 200 Army aviation fighters and bombers to try to cooperate with the Navy in a defensive counterattack on Midway Island, consuming the strength of the US Navy. The helpless thing is that the cooperation experience between Army Aviation and Hainan Airlines is basically zero, so it is easier to fight each other in the final research decision.
The battlefield can be silenced, and the front line can be stabilized, but it takes time to make up for the lost troops, and what the Japanese navy lacks now is time. The precious pilot trainees of the Japanese Naval Air Force were rushed to the battlefield before they finished their studies. These pilots could only complete basic flying maneuvers, and their overall strength was similar to that of Soviet pilots. Can be regarded as a rookie, the target of being slaughtered by the Americans.
But the Japanese did not lack the courage to die, nor did they lack the reasons to die, so these few trainees were transferred to the battlefield and supplemented by Marshal Yamamoto, who lacked fighter pilots. Looking at the immature faces of those who had just arrived in Midway, Yamamoto felt that his war was over, completely over.
It is a pity that the war will not end because of Yamamoto's will. It must be said by the Americans that it is really over. In desperation, Yamamoto could only allocate a batch of precious aviation gasoline to allow these new trainees to train a few more times before the war, so as to save their young lives in the cruel war.
"Satou-kun, do you think these pilots can play a role in turning things around in the upcoming decisive battle?" General Nagumo Chuichi pressed his hands on the handle of the command saber and asked standing beside him, with bandages on his arms ace pilot Sato.
Sato was injured in the last air battle, that is, the last air battle on Kauai Island. Fortunately, the bullet that hit his plane did not hit any load-bearing structure, but only pierced his arm, so although he was injured, he still drove His plane escaped from the battlefield, and he was lucky enough to recover his life.