The clear sky was blue, and a stream of hot air rose like water ripples on the horizon in the desert of the Arabian Peninsula. More than 1,800 motor vehicles of the 9th Armored Division broke the silence on the desert, rolling up yellow smoke.
sand, advancing towards the Red Sea coastal areas.
In January 1940, after more than a year of preparation, the Republican Army divided into three groups and launched an attack on Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula. General Zhang Tingfu served as the overall commander of the entire Middle East campaign, and the Republican Army dispatched a total of 4
The strength of the Army Group and 2 Marine Divisions, and the Indian Ocean Fleet commanded by Admiral Wei Zihao are responsible for maritime support.
As a hero during the First Uprising in Wuchang during the Xinhai Period, General Zhang Tingfu was the only one who could serve as the chief officer of the front army. This was due to his devotion to the big tree of Lin Shuo at the beginning of that turbulent era. This made him popular among the people.
In the early Beiyang period, he was still able to control the military power and became a unique faction in Lin Shuo's military system.
With the continuous development of the Republican Army, the sources of its ingredients have become more complex, and several major factions have gradually formed: the Yuandong Military Faction, headed by Lin Jianfan, whose main members include Generals Jiang Shaowu and Zheng Yijing, and Dong Yuntang,
The Jiangsu and Zhejiang Non-commissioned Officer Department, also known as the Old Guangfuhui Department, has the main figures including General Dong Yuntang, General Jiang Chengyu and Luo Bingnan
Generals, the Wuhu Non-Commissioned Officers Department headed by Li Zhiliang and Zhuang Yi, the Beiyang Non-Commissioned Officers Department led by Xu Shuzheng and Yang Yuting, the Beiyang Department led by General Wu Peifu and the late Military Commander General Li Chun, the Northwest Department composed of Generals Jiang Chengyue and General Zhang Weicheng, General Li Hanming
The Southwest Clique headed by Zhang Tingfu, the Wuchang Clique composed of generals Jiang Zuobin, etc.
The situation in the navy is similar. The major fleets are independent of each other and are not convinced by each other.
For this situation, Lin Shuo had no good solution. He had no choice but to be impartial among the various factions and maintain a delicate balance. The same is true for the Republican Army's combat command. Every major battle will always be led by various factions.
Taking turns to fight, it was General Zhang's turn to take command of this Middle East campaign.
When the General Staff was formulating the plan, they considered landing in North Africa. However, since they had not yet negotiated good terms with the Italians, they decided to launch a Middle East campaign first. This was mainly because the aviation units could provide sufficient air support for future operations in North Africa.
support.
Due to the limitations of food and supplies, it was impossible to station a large number of troops in the Middle East for a long time. After the British army withdrew from India, they gradually withdrew their main force to North Africa and had no intention of holding on to the barren land of the Middle East. In this era, the Middle East was not very
An important strategic location with only 1.5 million tons of oil production per year, its value is far less important than that of future generations.
Nowadays, the world's oil production is about 350 million tons per year, and the United States accounts for more than half, with a total output of 180 million tons per year. The second place is the Soviet Union, with 50 million tons per year, and the Republic of China with 16 million tons per year.
tons, Central Asia
The area produces 8 million tons per year, the Lanyin area produces 7 million tons per year, Venezuela 6.5 million tons per year, Romania 6 million tons per year, and the Republic of Siberia 5 million tons per year. All other oil-producing areas add up to less than 70 million tons.
Contrary to what Zhang Tingfu originally imagined, the British army was heavily guarded and there were many barriers, and the Republican Army had to pay a lot of money to successfully land. The Republican Army successfully occupied the almost undefended area without encountering any resistance.
The port city of Muscat and the Fao peninsula of Mesopotamia.
The only obstacle hindering the advance of the Republican Army is the loading and unloading capacity of the ports on the Arabian Peninsula. Except for Muscat Port, the port facilities in the entire Persian Gulf appear to be very backward.
The original unified Persian Kingdom was dismembered into four parts before King Pahlavi agreed to the "peaceful entry" of the Republican Army. The northern foothills of the Alborz Mountains to the coast of the Caspian Sea were assigned to the Turkmen Khanate, and the Azerbaijan and Kurds in the northwest
"Autonomy" was achieved with the support of the Republican Army. King Ahmed of the overthrown Qajar dynasty established a new regime in Bandar Abbas that was opposed to the north.
The divided Persians all wanted to gain the support of the Republican Army to maintain their rule.
The Arabs watched the arrival of new conquerors on this land with indifferent expressions. The last time the yellow race appeared here as a conqueror could be traced back hundreds of years ago, when the Mongolian cavalry led by Hulagu came to this land.
The massacres were rampant and corpses were strewn all over Damascus, leaving too many horrific memories for the Arabs.
Later, Westerners began to conquer this land, the Portuguese, Ottomans, Spanish, French and British. For hundreds of years, the Arabs had never ruled the land where they lived.
Chamberlain announced his resignation, and Churchill became the new Prime Minister of the British Empire. When he first took office, the Prime Minister ran to Washington for help.
The British hope that the Americans can give them more support. The Prime Minister is not very worried about the French front. He feels that the British and French coalition forces are capable of holding France, just like they did during World War I. Churchill hopes that the Americans can take on the responsibility
They have the important task of defending Australia, and they are also very worried about the situation in North Africa.
Chief of Staff Marshall told Roosevelt that the United States was not ready at all. Compared with China, the strength of the U.S. Army was not worth mentioning. However, he advocated providing the British with the tanks and armored vehicles requested by Churchill and allowing the British to experiment on the battlefield.
The performance of these equipments will be improved so that the U.S. side can improve the defects in a timely manner.
Due to the excellent performance of Republican Army tanks, in this world, the M4 Sherman tank equipped by the US military was developed in July 1939 and began mass production.
Whether it was due to racial prejudice or economic reasons, Roosevelt was an active militant. He single-handedly pushed Congress to pass the Lend-Lease Act, which allowed American workers to provide sufficient material support to Britain and France. In fact, it had
The United States was tied onto the chariot. From that moment on, the United States' huge war machine began to operate.
"The British have lost Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East. Without the military support of the United States, the British will soon lose Australia and North Africa. This will be a devastating blow to the free world." Roosevelt said to his president.
The chief of staff said: "We want to meet the British requirements as much as possible so that they can support us until the moment we are ready."
Roosevelt seemed helpless. Although the U.S. Army was accelerating its recovery, its total number was now less than 800,000, and its tanks and armored vehicles were only enough to equip 10 armored divisions. This was compared to the 6.5 million-strong Army of the Republic of China.
On the other hand, Roosevelt also had to deal with the presidential election at the end of the year, and it was impossible to carry out large-scale military expansion without any scruples.
Now we can only use orders from Britain, France and other countries to get U.S. military production into wartime status ahead of schedule.
Churchill's trip to the United States was finally worthwhile. Although the Americans did not agree to his request to join the war, they agreed to provide Britain with 400 tanks and at least 500 combat aircraft every month, especially a large amount of urgently needed military supplies. Indeed,
This allowed the poorly equipped British army to temporarily breathe a sigh of relief.