Chapter 1008: The Defeat of the Axis Powers

Even the Americans themselves might not have realized that the thoughts in their minds were quietly changing. A year ago, their thoughts were mostly on how to balance the various powers in Europe, to find a way to strangle that damned Soviet Union in its cradle. But now, they followed a new pattern when thinking about problems—avoid a direct confrontation with Germany, and then… figure out the rest.

Among the upper echelons of America, a shadow had inexplicably grown in their hearts. They no longer dared to casually provoke the German Third Reich. At least in the military sphere, these North American politicians lacked the confidence to defeat their opponent. However, they had shifted their confidence elsewhere—to production, for example. In the entire month of April, the United States had produced a greater quantity of weapons, ammunition, equipment, and ships than the Germans. This, to a certain extent, satisfied the fragile vanity of the American high command. At least when they looked at their own production reports, they were still full of illusions of victory.

The efficiency of wartime is always astonishing. On the fifth day after the American high command made its decision, General Patton secretly arrived in Baghdad. From there, he switched to a car, hurried to Mosul, and set up his forward command post. Disguised as an Arab merchant, he evaded the surveillance of local German spies and successfully completed his preliminary preparations.

After meticulous preparation by the Allies, the heavy weaponry of the American forces on the northern front of the Middle East was increased to 100 tanks of various models, including 20 new Sherman tanks, 40 old M3s, and 40 of the Brits’ dilapidated Matildas.

Although this tank force was nothing to be afraid of in the eyes of the main German army, on the Turkish front, this armored force of about a regiment was enough to change the balance of power on the entire battlefield. Moreover, the Anglo-American forces had also prepared over 100 armored cars and a terrifying 170-plus large-caliber artillery pieces.

Such a force, for targeting Turkey, was absolute overkill. The reason the Allies had mobilized so many troops was entirely out of fear of the German infantry divisions behind the Turks. Although Germany only had three infantry divisions deployed in Turkey, a fact the Allies had repeatedly confirmed with spies, Patton had still prepared a “surprise” of a full armored regiment and four infantry divisions for them.

At dawn on June 2nd, at almost the same time as the Soviet Red Army in the Tver encirclement lost its last hope of breaking out, the prepared American forces crossed the Turkish border and launched a fierce offensive against the Axis member, Turkey. Unlike the cramped anxiety they felt when fighting Germany, the American and British soldiers fought with the basic composure of a world power.

A little over an hour into the battle, the two Turkish divisions deployed on the border were routed by the American forces. Neither of their divisional headquarters managed to escape the pursuit of the tanks and armored cars; their battle flags became trophies for the lenses of American journalists. The American troops, riding in their vehicles, drove deep into enemy territory and, a few hours later, captured the important border town of Cizre. On the other flank, the British army’s speed was not slow either, having already neared Hakkâri.

On June 3rd, just as news of the German army’s complete victory at Tver reached the Middle East, the United States had likewise, in the region south of Batman, completely annihilated 50,000 of Turkey’s elite, winning a truly great victory in the Battle for the Middle East. At the same time, the British captured the important town of Hakkâri and began to attack towards Van.

The news of the rout at the front sent shockwaves throughout Turkey, from the government to the public. The Turkish ambassador to Germany immediately requested a meeting with the German Foreign Minister, Ribbentrop, to convey Turkey’s hope for German military aid. However, at this time, Germany truly had no spare forces to detach to help the distant Turkey.

After all, to withdraw troops from the distant Eastern Front to Turkey was impossible. The Atlantic Wall had just had a problem, so they didn’t dare to rashly reassign its forces. J Army Group, commanded by General Hoth, which was closest to Turkey, had the primary mission of keeping an eye on Italy and also couldn’t be easily moved. The unanimous thought in the German high command was to let Turkey fend for itself.

It wasn’t that Germany didn’t want to help Turkey through this difficult time, but to actually send troops to help Turkey win this war… Germany’s de facto Ministry of Defense had estimated it would take 100,000 men to repulse the American attack, and some generals also felt it would take at least 40,000 to 50,000 men to stabilize the situation.

If these troops were thrown into the Eastern Front, they might get an immediate return of large territorial gains. But to throw them into Turkey, apart from stabilizing the two-faced Turks, the Germans would get no other benefits.

“You know, Mr. Ambassador, the German-Soviet war is now at its most critical juncture. At this time, the Third Reich simply does not have the forces to go to the far south of Turkey to fight a long-term war of attrition.” Ribbentrop politely refused the Turkish envoy’s request.

In fact, based on Turkey’s performance within the Axis, this was all the sincerity Germany was willing to show. Apart from aligning itself, making its position clear, and tying down a portion of the Anglo-American forces with its silent posture, Turkey’s contribution to the Axis was indeed better than nothing, but not by much.

“I must remind you, Mr. Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, Turkey’s position within the Axis is not that of one of the Third Reich’s vassal states. We are under attack! A fierce attack from a hostile country!” the Turkish envoy demanded, looking at Ribbentrop’s face, his voice tinged with anger.

Ribbentrop had long since discussed these matters with Führer Akado. The Third Reich, apart from the three infantry divisions already in Turkey, could at most only provide some weapons assistance. Unfortunately, these “weapons” only referred to small items like rifles and ammunition.

“We will mobilize all German troops already within Turkey to do their best to halt the Allied advance. We will also do our best to provide military weapons assistance to Turkey, an area I believe your country will be very interested in,” Ribbentrop replied calmly, completely ignoring the Turkish ambassador’s anger and threats.

The Turkish ambassador stared at Ribbentrop and finally, through clenched teeth, issued a real threat: “This is the Third Reich’s answer to its ally? Aren’t you afraid of breaking the hearts of your allies within the Axis!”

“Mr. Ambassador! Please watch your tone when you speak.” Ribbentrop gave a cold laugh and retorted, “It was you who refused to listen to our advice and arbitrarily launched an invasion of Iraq and Syria, and as a result, you exposed your own military strength! Is this something you’re going to blame on the Third Reich as well?”

Knowing that he would get nothing by continuing this standoff, the Turkish ambassador finally softened. He sighed helplessly and began to play the sympathy card: “Minister Ribbentrop, Turkey has already lost a large swath of its territory. As the undisputed leader of the Axis, the Third Reich cannot just stand by and watch! Just five divisions! If you can just spare five divisions, we can crush the Americans and the British and attack the Middle East from the north!”

Five divisions? Nearly 100,000 men? You Turks really have a lion’s appetite! Why don’t you just say that if we send J Army Group, you’ll definitely be able to crush the Americans? Ribbentrop cursed inwardly.

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t explode on the spot. He understood the situation perfectly: ‘We’ can crush the Americans and the British? You mean ‘we’ Germans bleed and die, and ‘you’ Turks occupy the Middle East and pick up the spoils, right?

He understood everything, but as a diplomat, he couldn’t just rip away the last fig leaf. No matter how dirty things were behind the scenes, everyone still had to maintain some semblance of dignity.

So Ribbentrop shrugged and played his trump card—pleading poverty. He fobbed off the Turkish ambassador: “We simply have no forces to spare. If Turkey is in such dire need of support, then I suggest you go and ask Italy for help. Leader Mussolini might have some extra troops to support Turkey’s war of resistance.”

What kind of joke is this? the Turkish ambassador cursed inwardly. What do I want with a bunch of Italian soldiers? If it’s surrendering, we Turks can do that ourselves! We don’t need anyone to do it for us! Those bastards have no fighting strength. If they come, besides demanding a ton of food and supplies, it would be a miracle if they could actually hold off an American attack!

Besides, Turkey and Italy were always fighting for the so-called number two spot within the Axis, and they had serious disagreements over the Balkans. If it weren’t for the Third Reich holding them down, a war might have already broken out between them… To go and borrow troops from Italy in this situation? Had he been drinking expired, fake wine?

And so, the Turkish ambassador stood up, gave Ribbentrop a strange look, and, without even taking his hat, turned and stormed out of the conference room. He left without a backward glance, ignoring the German attendant who was calling out to him from behind.

Only after he had reached the stairs at the end of the corridor and had disappeared around the corner did Ribbentrop walk back into the conference room, open another door, cross an empty room, and knock on the door opposite.

After being granted entry, he walked into the room, stood respectfully at attention, saluted, and greeted the man before him: “My Führer! The talks did not go well. It is clear that Turkey’s fence-sitting nature is acting up again.”

Akado nodded, put down the document he was halfway through reading, stood up, and walked over to pat Ribbentrop on the shoulder. “Some countries,” he said, “you can’t hold onto, even if you try. And some friends, you don’t need to hold onto, and they will always be on your side. We just need to prepare fine wine for our friends. As for the countries that betray us… the Third Reich has never been short of cannons and tanks.”

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