Chapter 1009: Plotting in the Middle East

“Then, my Führer… the three infantry divisions deployed in Turkey. Should we recall them?” Ribbentrop had heard this and now understood Akado’s plan. The Führer hoped that Turkey could withstand the Allied attack on its own. At least until the fighting on the Eastern Front was over, Germany would not detach any extra forces to support Turkey.

Akado seemed not to have heard Ribbentrop’s question and was silent for a long time. But he had heard, and so after a long while, he finally answered his subordinate’s question. “Sometimes, for the good of the Reich, it is worth sacrificing some people.”

It was as if he were trying to convince himself, or as if he were making an explanation. In any case, after saying this, Akado added, “I have already ordered Schörner to recall all commanders at the company level and above from those three infantry divisions. I hope this order is not too late.”

He was, in the end, not one of those cold-blooded politicians, and was unwilling to just casually throw away so many young lives on the battlefield. But he was also no longer that fledgling university assistant. So he had chosen to use a sacrifice to exchange for a greater victory.

Unfortunately, his decision had come too late. On June 4th, the Allies had broken through the Turkish defense line and had encircled the three German infantry divisions from the flank. The battle had been exceptionally fierce, to the point that the Americans had at one time considered abandoning the encirclement and letting these German troops leave. Fighting until they had exhausted all their ammunition and food, the German troops had never truly considered the option of surrender. They were trying to tie down the American armored forces to buy a chance of victory for their Turkish allies. Unfortunately, their Turkish allies had routed for a thousand miles and had no intention of a pincer movement.

Siirt was captured by the Americans a few days later. Turkey, with no strength left to fight back, had just handed over a large swath of its territory east of Lake Van to the American and British forces. Along with it, they had also lost three German light infantry divisions, nearly 25,000 soldiers.

In the end, more than 17,000 German soldiers had surrendered to the American army. They had fired off most of their ammunition, then had burned their battle flags before walking out of their ruined shelters and honorably handing over their weapons to the American army. And they had also received the treatment they deserved. These prisoners were guarded separately by the Americans, distinguished from the nearly one hundred thousand local Turkish prisoners of war.

The Americans immediately, on the battlefield, showed off the German weapons they had captured to the war photographers, including a car used by a German division commander, dozens of warhorses, over 100 MP-44 assault rifles, and the MG42 general-purpose machine gun, known as “Akado’s Saw.”

This was the first time since the beginning of the war that the Allies had annihilated a German unit of this size, and also the first time they had captured more than 10,000 German troops in a single engagement. The defeat in Turkey had begun to expose the sharp contradictions within the Axis, and for a time, the sound of mutual recrimination was everywhere.

The German military accused the Turkish army of selling out its allies, leading to the disastrous defeat at Siirt. The Turks, on the other hand, cursed the Germans for being ungrateful, for not reinforcing Turkey, which had led to them losing so much territory. Italy, fearing the world was not in enough chaos, had brought up the issue of the partition of the Balkans again, accusing both Germany and Turkey of being no-good.

Subsequently, Turkey, ignoring German advice, began to plan a new round of counter-attacks on its own. They threw in almost all of their mobile forces, hoping to use numbers to make up for their lack of quality, and to launch a full-scale counter-attack against the United States and Britain.

Holding this vague operational plan, not a single one of the staff officers in the German High Command was optimistic about this offensive. Field Marshal von Brauchitsch, who had hurried back to Berlin from the Wolf’s Lair, studied it for a long time before he looked up at the Führer, Akado, who was waiting opposite him. “I have been your general for some years now. From the beginning of the war, we have always used our command and technological advantages to defeat an enemy that is superior in numbers… So I personally do not have a good feeling about this plan. If possible, I will do everything in my power to stop Turkey from committing suicide.”

“It’s too late! In this situation, Turkey will not listen to our advice. The anti-German sentiment within their country is rampant. The more we oppose a plan, the more likely they are to implement it,” Akado said with a helpless sigh. He then asked Brauchitsch, “If Turkey is defeated, or if they withdraw from the Axis… do we have any way to expand our own interests?”

“I will immediately order General Hoth to move his tanks into Greece, to at least occupy Istanbul and the surrounding areas, to ensure that the shipping in the Sea of Marmara is unobstructed,” Brauchitsch said coldly. “The plan has long been drawn up. It is just that its implementation will tie down the forces of J Army Group.”

“If, and I am just making a hypothesis… if Italy and Turkey were to have problems at the same time, what is the probability that we could stabilize the situation?” Akado asked, leaning back in his chair, a hint of fatigue in his voice.

He suddenly thought of the old man who had left him not long ago, of the old Chancellor August, who had handled all of Germany’s affairs so methodically. If this wise old gentleman were still here, then Germany’s situation would be much better than it was now, wouldn’t it? If that old gentleman were still here, then perhaps Turkey and Italy wouldn’t even dare to have such a lucky thought, right?

“My Führer!” Brauchitsch stood up from his chair, stood in front of Akado, and said solemnly, “I have followed you all this way. Although I may have had some disagreements with you on the issue of army autonomy, I have always seen you as the one I am loyal to and the one I follow.”

He stood ramrod straight, his tall and slender frame having the bearing and style that a Prussian aristocratic officer should have. The Field Marshal looked at Akado and continued in a steady, unhurried voice, “Marching into the Rhineland, occupying Czechoslovakia, attacking Poland, defeating France, landing in Britain, counter-attacking the Soviet Union. Which of these wars did we launch with an absolute certainty of victory?”

“You have led us from one victory to another. This is the pride we, the soldiers of the Third Reich, have built with countless victories! I just want to say one thing to you: fortunately, we have not lost yet!” Field Marshal von Brauchitsch said, and with that, he saluted at attention, ending his speech.

Yes, this was the pride of the German army. They had followed their Führer all the way from Poland. From a purely military perspective, they seemed to have never really lost. Although there had been setbacks at Kursk, in Norway, and in Turkey, these defeats were all on enemy territory.

Akado nodded and said softly to his Field Marshal, “I know. Thank you, my Field Marshal.”

He said no more, because Brauchitsch had already given him the answer he wanted. The German army had more than 600,000 troops in the entire Balkan region. If they were to just detach 100,000 of these troops, they could, like the United States and Britain, cut a devastating path all the way to Istanbul. And Akado had full confidence in Hoth. At the very least, Hoth’s J Army Group was far, far stronger in combat effectiveness than that 100,000-strong rabble of the Americans and the British.

After Brauchitsch had left, Akado, as if resting with his eyes closed, suddenly instructed Anna, who was massaging his shoulders, “Anna, draw up a telegram in my name. Send it to the High Command to be relayed to Field Marshal Rommel. The content is as follows: Immediately find a way to launch an offensive, to sweep through some of the more important cities, and then to stabilize the defense line. Hurry back to Alexandria and receive the Jewish delegation I am sending.”

Ever since the Germans had entered the Middle East, the Jewish merchants in the homeland had become a little restless. They were eagerly hoping that the Germans could immediately fulfill their promise and find them a promised land to found a nation in their original homeland.

Akado had no intention of going back on his word. He was also very willing to help the Jews establish a state in the Middle East. It was not that this Führer was so charitable, but that to do so was in line with the fundamental interests of the entire Third Reich.

Once he had helped the Jews to truly establish a foothold in the Middle East, then at the very least, Akado could immediately get two “deposits” as benefits. The first was that the Jews in the United States would be divided, which would cause the American president’s approval rating to drop. This was clearly good news for the Germans. The second was a large number of industrial products in Germany from the Jews, as well as their previous loans—this massive deficit would automatically disappear without needing to be filled.

It had been mentioned before that a large part of the funds for Germany to wage war and expand its armaments had been raised by borrowing money or by dividing the spoils in advance, as well as through methods like the MEFO bills. Now, a portion of the borrowed money and the divided spoils no longer needed to be repaid. This was undoubtedly good news for the German economy, which was in a vicious cycle.

So Akado had agreed to the Jewish delegation’s request to go to Egypt and then to the front to investigate. This matter had to be handed over to Marshal Rommel, which also made the German side look more formal.

And the reason for ordering Rommel to find a way to launch a local attack was to, as much as possible, help to share some of the pressure on Turkey. After all, Turkey was an important Axis ally. To directly push it to the Allied side was clearly an extremely unwise choice. Akado hoped to be able to slightly stabilize Turkey, to delay its search for another way out for as long as possible.

As for Akado asking Brauchitsch if Germany could cope if Turkey and Italy had problems at the same time, that was purely a matter of preparing for the worst. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Germany did not want to lose two of its major allies within the Axis at the same time.

“I understand, my dear. I’ll go and prepare this document right away,” Anna said, stopping her massage of Akado’s shoulders. This kind of thing was not something she, as a secretary, needed to do. Of course, her relationship with Akado was not just that of a secretary and a superior.

Advance chapters at Nightjar Reads · nightjarreads.com