The Rise of the Third Reich

While Hersman was busy establishing the Greater Middle East Co-Prosperity Sphere, the Soviet Red Army, singing the Internationale, marched into Khorasan, Iran, with great vigor and high spirits under the command of Marshal Kulik, commander of the Central Asian Front. region and Afghanistan.

When this news reached London, the British reactionaries headed by Winston Churchill immediately became nervous.

Stalin is extending his claws to India!

The British Empire has been in such a miserable state. It has lost its sea power in the Mediterranean and lost its oil in the Middle East. Gibraltar may not be guaranteed, and the fleets of Italy and France are about to arrive in the Atlantic Ocean.

If India is lost to the Soviet Union again, what will the British Empire be able to do? Even if the wartime cabinet were to fight, British public opinion would turn to compromise - aren't the good lives of the subjects of the British Empire based on the three treasures of Middle East oil, South African gold and Indian Asan?

The Middle East seems to be gone. Indian Asan is lost again and again. What else does the British Empire have? Why are you guys risking your lives not to fight the Germans?

Moreover, once the Soviet Union attacks India, it means that they completely stand with Germany. So what hope did the British Empire have?

"No, we must not let the Soviets take over Afghanistan easily!"

Prime Minister Churchill roared angrily: "These damn Bolsheviks must suffer more in Afghanistan."

"Mr. Prime Minister, do you mean that we want troops to enter Afghanistan?" Lord Dill, the Imperial Chief of Staff, asked with some uncertainty.

"No!" Churchill took a deep breath of his cigar, shook his fat head vigorously, and said, "We cannot go to war with the Soviet Union now...at least we must take the initiative to avoid such a situation."

He thought for a while and then said: "But once the Soviet Union invades India, we have to make any resistance. Sir Dill, transfer all our troops on the east bank of the Suez Canal and East Africa to India... In addition, let Okin General Lake became the commander-in-chief of the British-Indian Army and ordered him to rebuild the Gorkha troops lost in North Africa as soon as possible. We now need a lot of Gurkha mercenaries."

"Prime Minister, the Middle East has just given up?" Sir Dill asked.

"Give up!" Churchill sighed.

If Stalin did not march into Afghanistan, Britain might still be able to persist in the Middle East for some time. But now that India is in danger, the British Empire needs to use the remaining divisions in the Middle East and East Africa to defend India.

"However, the Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf must still be blocked as much as possible." Churchill then told Admiral Alexander and First Sea Lord Pound.

The Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf are the only way for Iranian crude oil to be transported to Europe. Oil fields have been discovered in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia near the Persian Gulf in recent years. Although they have not been exploited, according to reports, the oil fields there are very shallow. , development is not difficult. If the Germans work hard to develop it, it will soon become a large oil field like the Khuzestan oil production area in Iran. By then, the amount of crude oil the Germans will obtain from the Middle East in a year will be an astronomical figure!

If the UK can blockade the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden, then the rich oil resources of Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will not be able to help Germany for the time being.

"Prime Minister, we are building large airports on Socotra and Muscat, and have deployed ground troops, anti-aircraft guns and radar stations there." Sir Pound replied, "However, the Eastern Fleet and the British and Indian forces are very short of aircraft, especially It’s a lack of high-performance aircraft.”

At the mention of airplanes, Churchill's brain ached. Isn't it because the British Empire is in its current state because of the lack of good airplanes? But now that the Mediterranean Sea is missing, it will be very difficult for British planes to transfer to the Indian Ocean. Separated by five or six thousand kilometers, the whole way is still German territory. It's impossible to fly over. If you can't fly there, you can only slowly transport it by sea.

"What high-performance aircraft do we have that we can deploy now?" Churchill asked with a frown.

"We have better-performing fighter jets such as the Spitfire, P-40 and the P-51 that were recently introduced from the United States. As for bombers and attack aircraft, in addition to our Blenheim, Wellington, Swordfish and In addition to the Big Mackerel, we also got the American A-20, which we call the 'Boston' 3 aircraft, which is a twin-engine bomber with very good performance."

"Okay, then deploy the aircraft as soon as possible. In addition, the Royal Navy can also consider introducing American carrier-based dive bombers and carrier-based torpedo attack aircraft."

Churchill paused and then brought the topic back to Afghanistan. He said: "But Afghanistan...it used to be a difficult country to deal with, wasn't it?"

Britain suffered a lot in Afghanistan in history. From the late 1830s to 1921, Britain fought in Afghanistan three times, but was defeated each time.

"Yes, Afghanistan is difficult to deal with. The terrain there is complex, the people are fierce and aggressive, and there are many armed tribes, which are difficult to eradicate." Sir Dill frowned, "But they may not be able to deal with the Russians. After all, the Russians are Very brutal."

"Then we should help the Afghan people resist the Soviet Union, but not openly." Churchill chewed the butt of his cigar and said thoughtfully, "We cannot let the Soviet Union eat Afghanistan safely, otherwise Stalin will rush into India anytime and anywhere. But we don’t want to give the Afghans our own equipment...give them some American-made weapons and equipment. Does India have such equipment?”

"A few, but not a lot," Sir Dill told Churchill.

After the defeat in the Battle of France, Britain urgently purchased many small arms from the United States, part of which had been sent to India.

"Okay, that's it!" When Churchill was making his decision, a secretary from No. 10 Downing Street walked in quickly and reported the good news: the American cruise ship "Mississippi Concern" was attacked by a German submarine in the waters near the Azores Islands. Wounded.

"I think this is a sign that the Germans are getting carried away!" Churchill took two puffs of cigarette and came to the conclusion, "Perhaps they will soon attack neutral merchant ships sailing at sea like they did at the end of the last war. And this will prompt the United States to accelerate its participation in the war.”

…

"What? One of our cruise ships was damaged?"

Almost at the same time, President Roosevelt, who was studying the Afghan issue with Secretary of State Hull and Secretary of Commerce Hopkins, also received news of the attack on the Mississippi Princess.

"President, I think this is an opportunity." Hopkins reminded, "We can immediately announce our presence in Iceland and the Azores to protect the freedom of navigation of the United States!"

After the battle in the Mediterranean was decided, Roosevelt decided to station the U.S. military in Iceland, the Azores, and the Canary Islands. However, the United States is not yet the world's military policeman in future generations. It is still relatively cautious when it comes to sending troops overseas, especially to the European sphere of influence. Fortunately, Iceland has been occupied by the British after all, and the US military is just here to take over. Now a small number of US troops from the front station have moved in, but they have not been announced yet.

As for the entry into the Azores and Canary Islands, they encountered some troubles. Portugal and Spain both rejected the United States' request.

Spain even deployed a small number of BF-109 fighter jets, He-112 fighter jets and Ju88 bombers to the Canary Islands in a posture of preparation for resistance. Although Spain's current military strength is very weak, both BF-109 and Ju88 are showing their glory on the European battlefield. With these aircraft in the Canary Islands, the U.S. Navy has to bear the risk of large surface ships being sunk if it wants to take the islands. Therefore, the plan to enter the Canary Islands can only be temporarily shelved.

Portugal's military strength was weaker than Spain's, and the Salazar government followed a pro-British line, so its rejection of the United States was only verbal and no additional troops were sent to the Azores. Therefore, the U.S. Navy decided to wait for an opportunity to "enter" the Azores Islands, which was nothing more than an excuse.

"This is indeed a good excuse, so let's do it." Roosevelt thought for a moment and then made the decision, and then the topic returned to Afghanistan.

"Our British friends seem to be very dissatisfied with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan," Roosevelt said. "It seems they are not willing to give up India."

"President, if India is lost, the British may no longer have the idea of ​​​​confronting Germany," Secretary of State Hull said, "Now the Soviets are challenging the British bottom line."

"So what do we do? Just tell Stalin to pull out of Afghanistan?"

Hopkins shook his head and said: "President, we can't do this. Because in Stalin's plan, India must be the reward for the Soviet Union's war against Germany."

"But the British would not agree." Roosevelt shrugged. "It seems that we are in a very awkward position when it comes to the Indian issue."

“We could advise Stalin not to try to enter India before defeating Germany,” Hopkins mused. "The Indian problem should be solved after the war."

"So can we provide some secret help to the Afghan government?" Roosevelt thought for a while and asked again.

"Of course, but it must be secret." Secretary of State Hull said thoughtfully. "We can provide Afghanistan with some weapons and equipment produced by Germany. This is easy to get, because the Germans have been selling them after they restored their armaments. Arms, many countries in South America have purchased German weapons and equipment, and we have ways to get a lot of them.”

"Okay, let's do it quickly!" President Roosevelt nodded and said with a smile, "I heard that Afghanistan is a difficult country to deal with. The British suffered a lot there, and maybe the Soviets will also encounter some. Troublesome.”