The gardens of Fort St. George are filled with flowers.
Although it is January when the Central Plains is frozen for thousands of miles, Mumbai is located in the south-central region of India and is close to the sea. Even though it is the coldest month of the year, the daytime temperature remains at around 20 degrees. It can be said that it is like summer all year round.
Therefore, all kinds of flowers are blooming, and there is no hint of winter at all.
In order to ensure the safety of the royal family members who settled in the castle, the British-Indian colonial government artificially built a 60- to 70-meter-high hill when building the castle. The castle is condescending, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and is majestic. The side effect of this is that the castle faces the east.
You can see the sparkling sea from everywhere.
An Yi stood under a huge Indian rosewood tree, facing the sea, thinking silently.
Entering this era, sixteen years have passed without realizing it.
During these sixteen years, he had ambitions, passion, and the urge to devote himself to his ideals, but all of them disappeared in the face of the cruel reality.
Looking at the rough waves on the sea in the distance, An Yi's thoughts surged, and he couldn't help but think of the first time he saw Nalan Piaoxue.
At that time, after the victory of the Second Northern Expedition, the four new warlords, Chiang, Feng, Li, and Yan, gathered in Peiping, and he was ordered to give lectures on a lecture tour in colleges and universities in Peiping on behalf of President Chiang, the revolutionary army, and the central government.
At the first meeting with young students, five major universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Peking Normal University, Tianjin Beiyang University, and Peking Union Medical College, drew lots to determine the order of speeches. Among them, the one who drew lots representing Beiping Normal University was Na
Orchids are falling in the snow.
Nalan Piaoxue, who was seventeen years old at the time and had only served as the president of the Beijing Normal University Student Union for less than three months, got the first pick. At that time, she excitedly hugged each other with the Propaganda Minister Tong Qianping and jumped up and down.
She was a beautiful woman, full of youth and vitality, which left a very deep impression on me.
It was an era full of blood and passion. Revolutionary slogans were overwhelming, and various ideas of saving the country and the people were quietly passed on among universities.
According to subsequent repeated investigations by the intelligence department, and even several people involved were found for verification, it was basically confirmed that Tong Qianping and Nalan Piaoxue had been influenced by left-wing ideas at that time, were in the party inspection stage, and held high the banner of anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism
The independent division and themselves are the main targets they are responsible for wooing.
Unfortunately, when he was giving a speech at Union Medical College, he was assassinated by Japanese agents, and Nalan Piaoxue and the others' efforts came to nothing.
I can’t remember exactly how many times we met. Anyway, I recovered from my injuries. When I saw Nalan Piaoxue again, it was already after the Shanghai Incident. At that time, I led troops on the front line of Songhu to fight the Japanese army. Here.
Before, I had heard about Nalan Piaoxue's whereabouts from some people intermittently. Although I occasionally missed this beautiful girl, we didn't have a close relationship with each other and didn't pay much attention to her.
That day, Dai Li came to him and said that among the people arrested by the military commander, there was a girl named Nalan Piaoxue. She had close contacts with the left-wing cultural alliance organized by Gao Yuhan, a former instructor of the Whampoa Military Academy and others, and was also suspected.
She was the mastermind behind spontaneous organizations such as the Anti-Japanese Vanguard Team and Anti-Japanese Team in Shanghai universities. Dai Li knew that she had a relationship with him, so he betrayed himself and sent her to Yiyuan to be punished by himself.
Nalan Piaoxue is a very attractive and beautiful girl. An Yi was not too surprised that such a weak Manchu girl would be a mysterious underground party. In fact, at that time, he already knew Wang Chengjun, Xu Fengqi and others
They are all underground party members and have helped many times.
They were out of danger. However, it happened to be the first Battle of Songhu and he was leading the troops to fight. It was impossible to put a time bomb around him, so he sent someone to take Nalan Piaoxue to the former enemy headquarters and let her temporarily
After leaving Shanghai, it doesn't matter whether you go to Nanjing or return to North China.
An Yi still vaguely remembers what he said to her: he respects her choice and admires her spirit, but does not agree with her approach. You and I each have our own ideals, and the distance has become wider and wider.
At that time, Nalan Piaoxue said something back to him, which stirred up An Yi's heart and created an inexplicable ambiguity between the two:
"I am grateful to you, Qianping is grateful to you, and many of our brothers and sisters are grateful to you, but you, why do you always wear such an insincere smile, making the distance between our hearts farther and farther? Why...
Why don't you ask me, besides choosing to stay or go back, what other options are there? Why don't you want to say a few more words to me? Is it hard to believe that I am really so unattractive?"
It has to be said that An Yi was tempted at that time. After all, Nalan Piaoxue is one of those stunning beauties who can be chosen one out of ten thousand. As long as he is a normal man, it is impossible not to have ripples in his heart when he hears such words.
However, the situation at that time was that the Japanese army might violate the armistice agreement and launch a new offensive at any time, which did not allow him to consider the personal relationship between his children. Moreover, at that time, he had already fallen into the love triangle of Ou Chuer, Feng Jieyun, Ye Qing and Gong Qian.
He didn't dare to provoke a new relationship, so he could only watch Nalan Piaoxue leave in tears.
After listening to Zhang Yang's report afterwards, Nalan Piaoxue cried sadly for a long time in the car, causing him to be in a hurry and almost being bombed by Japanese fighter planes. An Yi felt sad, but he was soon involved in the war.
Kizuna, this feeling will remain in the bottom of my heart.
The next time I saw Nalan Piaoxue was during the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War.
At that time, a terrifying wave of counter-revolutionary suppression was launched in the Soviet area, and many people were implicated.
At that time, Nalan Piaoxue accompanied Wang Chengjun to Zhang Xueliang's residence to meet with himself, who was the special commissioner of the Military Commission, to inquire about the trends of the war against Japan. When he heard that Tong Qianping, whom he had worked so hard to rescue, was suspected of betrayal and was persecuted to death by his own people.
, unable to control his anger anymore, he drove the two of them away without mercy.
Later, Nalan Piaoxue met with her alone and narrated what happened to Tong Qianping. At the same time, she said that she had been stopped from all work due to her association with herself. An Yi could no longer suppress the anger and fear in her heart. Until now.
, he still clearly remembered the suffering that the originally beautiful girl suffered when he rescued Tong Qianping:
The straw-covered single-person special cell exuded a strong smell of blood and musty smell. Tong Qianping's petite body was huddled in the corner. When she heard the sound, she slowly turned around, covered by long scabbed hair.
He deformed his face and tried to open his swollen eyes to look at himself.
At that time, I could hardly recognize this woman in ragged clothes, wet body, and swollen face and body. She was the lovely girl in my memory with bright eyes and white teeth and a laughter like silver bells. Due to bruises and hematomas on her cheeks, her lips could not be closed.
As for her, she couldn't even speak clearly.
It was such a girl in her teens and twenties who persisted in not revealing the information under such torture. However, after she was safe, she was even more ruthlessly tortured and beaten by her own people, and finally died in humiliation. There is nothing more shocking than this.
Is it? An Yi asked himself, if he endured such suffering and still could not get the understanding of the organization in the end, his character would definitely do something extreme, and he would probably end up even more miserable than Tong Qianping.
Because he was worried that Nalan Piaoxue would take the same path as Tong Qianping sooner or later, he decisively suggested that she drop everything and go to the United States to study. At that time, Nalan Piaoxue finally couldn't restrain the emotions in her heart and threw herself into his arms.
I cried uncontrollably, and I still seem to be able to experience the warm and fragrant feeling of nephrite. Later, I personally sent her to the ship at Tianjin Port, and finally got rid of all ties.
In the blink of an eye, more than six years have passed, and I have long lost the passion and impulsiveness I had before. When I calm down, I will also think about what kind of ending I would have had if I had made the same choice as Tong Qianping and Huang Han.
Every time I think about it, a kind of panic from the heart will fill my heart, making people panic and uneasy.
Today, as a leader who controls the future and orders of hundreds of millions of people, An Yi has a deeper understanding of such a large-scale political movement as "elimination of counterrevolutionaries."
It is undeniable that political movements are extremely beneficial in purging cadres and eliminating unsteady and corrupt elements. They can unite and strengthen the team, condense ideas, and make the entire organization think in one place and work hard in one place. But for
Personally, it is too cruel!
However, if we do not set off a large-scale political storm, carry out widespread criticism and self-criticism, and allow ordinary people to supervise the government and the military, then officials and generals will have a arrogant and bureaucratic style, which will lead to problems in work and life.
Corruption, inactivity, political decadence, lawlessness and discipline, etc.
For Chinese people who are deeply influenced by the Confucian "official-oriented" culture, it is necessary to carry out some movements, at least until the legal system is improved. Otherwise, it will be like the current National Government, sluggish and full of all kinds of
Political scandals emerge one after another, power-for-money trading, power-sex trading, corruption and bribery are common, and hidden dangers abound.
If you want to escape from the fate of political manipulation, you can only become a rule maker. Now An Yi is doing this. In fact, he is more like a dictatorship dominated by the party, government and military.
Of course, knowing the consequences of the expansion of the suppression of counter-revolutionaries
In terms of consequences and harm, the current rectification movement launched in Nanhua is mainly to avoid past mistakes and avoid future mistakes, treat illnesses and save lives, and will never allow torture and extortion of confessions against one's own people, and the establishment of connections, let alone unjust, false and wrong cases, otherwise the relevant responsible persons will be severely dealt with.
Just when An Yi was deep in thought, Nalan Piaoxue quietly appeared behind a cluster of yellow cicada flowers more than 60 meters away from the Indian red sandalwood tree.
Absently listening to Zhou Chongan's report in the large conference hall, Nalan Piaoxue asked for leave from the staff on duty after being informed by the staff, and followed the captain of the guard Li Tao to the garden gate. Li Tao did not enter.
Smiling, Nalan Piaoxue went to see An Yi by himself.
Walking through the path among the flowers and seeing An Yi's back in the distance, Nalan Piaoxue's heart beat faster and her breathing became faster.
An Yi, who has keen ears and eyes, heard the sound of footsteps, turned around, looked at Nalan Piaoxue, and asked with a smile on his face: "Nalan, how have you been in the past few years?"
Nalan Piaoxue did not answer, but stood two or three meters in front of An Yi, with crystal tears rolling down her eyes. She looked at An Yi for a long time, and then suddenly threw herself into his arms, using her delicate hands to exert all her strength.
She hugged his strong waist, as if she wanted to pull him into her arms.
Feeling the temptation of the exquisite body, An Yi stiffened, then slowly relaxed, raised his hand and gently patted Nalan Piaoxue's twitching back, sniffing the faint girl's body fragrance with the tip of his nose, and comforted:
"Okay, it'll be good to be back...Have you gone home to see your uncle and aunt?"
"Um!"
Nalan Piaoxue replied inaudibly, and Zhenshou tapped An Yi's chest. An Yi, who was in a somewhat agitated mood, was about to comfort him when he suddenly saw dark clouds rolling in from the sky in the distance.
, the sea breeze began to become rapid, and the leaves above the head made a "swish" sound.
An Yi was slightly surprised and found that the wind was getting stronger and stronger. After thinking for a while, he leaned closer to Nalan Piaoxue's ear: "Nalan, this time you come back, I won't allow you to leave my side..."
"
Suddenly realizing that this sentence could easily cause misunderstanding, An Yi changed his words and said: "What I mean is that your job does not allow you to leave hastily... I believe that Chongan has already conveyed to you the responsibilities you have to shoulder."
I explained it in detail. In one sentence, the department you are responsible for represents me and has the right to investigate any department such as military industry and civilians, and conduct final arbitration on the deployment of military and civilian materials..."
During the conversation, the wind became louder and louder, the big trees made a "whooshing" sound, and the waves in the distance had evolved from gentle sheep to violent beasts. The waves hit the breakwater and made a violent sound.
An Yi looked stern, knowing that he could not delay any longer, he quickly straightened Nalan Piaoxue's shoulders and said solemnly:
"Nalan, there's something wrong with the weather. It seems to be a precursor to a tropical storm... The aircraft carrier formation of our Indian Ocean Fleet is going on a mission today, but looking at the weather, a storm is coming soon. I have to go
I'll rest assured if I ask in person..." Facing Nalan Piaoxue's slightly resentful eyes, An Yi thought for a while and suggested: "How about you go to the telecommunications room with me? Finally, let's go to the concert hall.
How about sitting for a while, listening to music and drinking coffee?"
Nalan Piaoxue heard An Yi's gentle tone for the first time, and looked at him in surprise. Seeing his frank and natural eyes, her heart felt like a deer, and she shouted in her heart: "He accepts me, I accept me."
..."
...
Tours, a city in southern France.
After meeting with Spanish dictator Franco for two days in Madrid and reaching an agreement on Spain sending troops to participate in the Axis Militia, Hitler left Spain with some regrets and returned to Germany by special train.
During this meeting, Franco once again insisted that he would not participate in the war for the time being, but he could form three divisions in the name of the "Volunteers" to fight with the German army. For the Strait of Gibraltar, in principle, the German army should cut off the Suez Canal.
, after completely expelling British power from the Mediterranean.
Now the German army needs to deploy a large number of troops on the western front to prevent the Soviet army from turning against them. It also needs to deploy troops on the eastern front to threaten landing on the British Isles at any time, forcing the British army to focus more on home defense. In addition, in
A powerful strike force was deployed on the border between Greece and Turkey in the Balkans, threatening Turkey with war and coercing it to surrender. Finally, in North Africa, Rommel was trapped by logistical pressure, stalled, and needed support.
Therefore, Hitler could not force Franco to make more concessions and had to return in frustration.
At the train station in Tours, Hitler met with the head of the French Vichy government, Pétain, and his Prime Minister Laval.
In order to completely drag France onto the German chariot, Hitler did not show the arrogance of a conqueror to the French. Instead, he warmly received Pétain who came to see him and treated Laval like an ally.
After accompanying the French guests to review the majestic guard of honor, the talks took place in Hitler's box on the train. The meeting focused on how to integrate the entire French industry into Germany's war potential and how the Pétain government could support Germany in the war. The talks were conducted in total.
Two hours.
Afterwards, Pétain, Laval and Hitler reviewed the guard of honor again. Hitler held Pétain's hand for a long time when bidding farewell, and a friendly smile appeared on Laval's face.
After separation, Hitler returned to the carriage and said that the French had completely surrendered. He expressed that he would unconditionally support Germany and would form fifteen infantry divisions under the guidance of German military officers to fight with Germany. Hitler's military adjutant Schmont
He, Naval Adjutant Erwin, and Chief of Operations Alfred Jodl of the High Command all congratulated Hitler and said that his achievements were greater than Napoleon's in history.
When Hitler was satisfied, he received a telegram from Berlin - the South China Army sent troops to the Khuzestan region of Persia and Iraq, and the Japanese defense line had been breached. Hitler's face suddenly turned cloudy, and when he received another message from the Ambassador of ***
When the army and navy attaches requested Germany to launch an attack on Turkey as soon as possible to rescue the Japanese army, the clouds turned from cloudy to overcast, and then turned into a storm.
"asshole!"
Hitler waved his trademark fist and roared angrily:
"In Africa and Greece, Mussolini needs us to wipe his butt. Now the Nazis also want the Imperial Army to find a way for their troops stranded in the Middle East to survive. Where do we have so many troops?
Are you preparing for these muds that cannot hold up the wall? There is also that insidious guy in Nanhua who has been hiding behind the scenes to make profits. He has quietly occupied Afghanistan, southern Persia and the wealthy West Indies, and obtained a large amount for his development.
living space!
"Originally, we expected the Japanese army to annihilate all the Allied forces in the Middle East and achieve the final victory in the Syrian operation. At that time, the Turkish government would be shaken and completely fall to us! Now that Nanhua's army has intervened, the situation has become complicated again! What happens next?
What should we do? Do we really want to declare war on Turkey?"
Most people were silent. Yodel thought for a while and said: "Marshal Keitel's opinion is correct. The Turks are by no means an ally that the empire can rely on. Even if they reluctantly join our camp, once the battle fails, they will defect quickly."
I'm afraid it will be faster than France and Italy! Rather than being passive when the time comes, it is better to follow the advice of the Japanese allies and solve the problem once and for all!
"Currently, we have assembled nearly 80 divisions and about two million troops on the Turkish border. As long as the head of state gives an order, we can cross the strait and invade the Turkish mainland! No matter how powerful the Turkish army is, it can be better than the Yugoslav and Greek armies.
Is it twice as strong? With three times the enemy's strength, there is no reason why we can't defeat the Turkish resistance! Head of state, just think that attacking Turkey is a preview of our attack on the Soviet Union. No matter what, taking Turkey will be a big deal for Germany.
, is of great benefit!”
Hitler sat back down, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then ordered: "Send a telegram to Berlin immediately and ask Reinhard what he thinks of this problem? Tell them to move faster, I want to get a reply as soon as possible!"
Half an hour later, Hitler received a personal reply from Heydrich.
Heydrich said in the telegram: The Turkish Peninsula connects the Eurasian continent and is the best channel for material transportation between the East and the West. By occupying Turkey, that is, controlling the Dardanelles Strait and the Bosporus Strait that connect the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, the Soviet Union will
Completely cut off foreign aid channels. At the same time, the empire will also obtain resources from the East via land and will no longer be afraid of sea attacks by the United States and the British.
Moreover, the railway connecting Eurasia is in Turkey, and it is extremely convenient to mobilize troops. If you want to flank the Soviet Union in the future, breaking in from the Georgian border in northeastern Turkey and occupying the Baku oil fields is the best choice. Therefore, Whether it is for the needs of allies or to consolidate the empire's advantages on the European continent, it is necessary to capture Türkiye.
"Let me think about this again..."
Faced with the rugged and steep mountains in Turkey, the sturdy folk customs, and the possible support of the Soviet Union, Hitler still could not make up his mind. After pondering for a while, he got up and went to the map of North Africa hanging on the side of the carriage, hoping that Longmei
I can solve this problem for him.
As long as Rommel breaks through the British Egyptian defense line and marches into the Middle East, the Turkish government, which is besieged from both sides, will have no choice but to join the Axis Powers. In this way, it can achieve the goal of defeating the enemy without fighting.
However, Hitler did not know that Rommel was now in great trouble.
Stretching from the coast near Tobruk to the south is a defense line covered with a large number of mines. Taking advantage of the unsustainable logistical difficulties of the German-Italian coalition, the British army quickly added two British-Indian divisions and a Greek division.
, so that the defensive strength of Tobruk reached five divisions, and the British suddenly became hardened.
At the southeastern end of this defense line, there is a deep mine zone that extends to Salum.
This is the core of the British army's defense line on the Libyan Plateau, which has already formed a fortress area. After the German-Italian coalition forces advanced to the border area between Libya and Egypt, the British army laid mines along the coastal road. The poor Libyans and Egyptians
, have to live in the shadow of landmines all day long.
The German-Italian forces occupied the seaside thirty kilometers west of Tobruk and the desert area to the south. Except for some quicksand areas near Tobruk, most of the area was dry Gobi Desert.
The German-Italian coalition forces had sufficient ammunition. By occupying the islands of Malta and Crete in the Mediterranean, they ensured the safety of the sea route from the Italian mainland to North Africa. Food and supplies arrived from Benghazi, Port Brega, Port Ras and Tripoli.
There are no problems with ammunition and supplies. In addition, the Jialu Oasis area has already produced a large amount of oil. The several oil refineries that have been built have seized the time to refine the oil, but they cannot use up the oil that has been extruded by the pressure of the earth's crust. There is no problem with the fuel supply. The only problem that troubles the troops is
Yes, it's a lack of water.
There is no water source in the area west of Tobruk. Fresh water can only be transported from Benghazi over the Green Mountains. It has to supply more than 100,000 troops. Even if hundreds of trucks keep transporting it, it is quite difficult in North Africa, which is extremely short of water.
It feels like a drop in the bucket.
Tobruk was originally the focus of the British army's defense. Going there to find water was undoubtedly asking for death. Therefore, the only option was to look for water in the Jagob Oasis in the south. If possible, Rommel was prepared to launch an offensive from the south and bypass it.
Attack the flank of the British army and advance towards the Nile River from the Siwa Oasis, completely disrupting the deployment of the British army.
Under this circumstance, Rommel organized a large water-seeking team and personally led the team to the south.
Along the way, not a single dwelling can be seen in the vast desert. Even short and pitiful salix, pine and poplar trees are rare. The thorny shrubs are naked and struggling, dying under the scorching sun.
The water-seeking troops led by Rommel trudged arduously through the desert, through the flickering heat waves.
The sun at noon almost ignited the dry air, and the temperature instantly rose to more than 40 degrees. We started at 6 a.m. and walked 50 kilometers to 12 noon. Everyone was hungry and thirsty, with chapped lips and a sore throat.
Smoke, but they dare not drink water, because the car's water tank is steaming. People can tolerate it for a while, but machines will not tolerate it for a moment. Without water to cool down, when the temperature rises, whether it is a car, an armored vehicle or a tank, it will fall down on its own.
Just when Rommel looked through the telescope and found that there was still a patch of yellow sand in front of him, the Arab guide hired from the local place to lead the way stretched out his nose, sniffed the air a few times, quickly asked Rommel for the telescope, and looked to the west.
, his face changed drastically, and he shouted in horror, "The sandstorm is coming." Then the water-seeking troops became a mess and began to look for a place to escape.
But at this point, where is the time?
When the storm first started, it was just a small weird whirlwind, spinning among the sand piles and gravel bushes. In an instant, it turned into a hurricane with a speed of 100 kilometers per hour, stirring up millions of tons of hot, fine red sand.
, rolling across the desert in overwhelming force, the truck was blown away by the wind
Advancing in a zigzag pattern, the driver tried his best to look ahead, but found that the eyes in front of him sometimes lit up, and sometimes turned black and red. So Rommel had to order all the lights to be turned on, and used tanks and armored vehicles to string the trucks together as much as possible.
Connect vehicles to each other.
Not long after, hundreds of trucks were sunk into the sand with almost their axles. Tanks and half-track armored vehicles had to be dragged out in the dark ahead one by one. For the rest of the time, the water-finding team members were at the mercy of the storm.
.Soon, the desert trail disappeared before their eyes.
The most pitiful thing was the motorcycle unit. Almost all of the dozens of motorcycles were buried in the wind and sand. The riders and soldiers on them buried their heads, and their necks were filled with fine sand.
At this time, a gust of wind hit a motorcycle that was too far away from the team. The towing iron rope suddenly broke and the motorcycle flew into the air. The fire lit up the sky. The riders and soldiers on the car were in a hurry.
Somehow, the grenade he was carrying was triggered, and the motorcycle flying in the air exploded into a shower of sparks.
"No way! We have to set up camp as soon as possible, otherwise the whole army will be annihilated!"
When Rommel saw the power of nature, he had to give in and urgently ordered to dig holes to save himself. Subsequently, thousands of German soldiers dug holes in the sand like crazy and covered their vehicles with tarpaulins.
The sandstorm lasted all night, and the cold air at night could actually drop the temperature to more than ten degrees below zero within an hour. Amidst the raging wind, screams were heard from time to time. Venomous snakes and scorpions took this opportunity to cause trouble and crawled into the arms of the soldiers.
In my neck and crotch, it was truly a miserable day that I couldn’t bear to look back on.
~~~~~~
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