Chapter 968: Arabia

To have never witnessed hundreds of aircraft blotting out the sky as they flew towards their target is to be unable to imagine the despairing grandeur of the sight. Human civilization had finally acquired the power to destroy, with devastating force, the glorious past they had built for each other.

The simultaneous roar of hundreds of German bomber engines could be heard clearly even on the ground. Allied soldiers squinted, shielding their eyes from the sun as they looked up, watching the locust-like swarm of enemy planes pass overhead, a bitter taste in their mouths.

BOOM! An anti-aircraft gun not far away began to roar, its long barrel pointing high into the sky. The soldiers struggled to haul shells from the ammunition boxes to the side of the gun, the powerful backblast making the camouflage netting flap and sway. But the number of Allied anti-aircraft guns was simply too few. Faced with the absolute numerical superiority of the German Air Force, their return fire seemed feeble and powerless.

Even so, the German Air Force had no intention of letting these guns, which were firing incessantly at the sky, go. The high-altitude DO-217s continued on their course, while the Stuka dive bombers, which were accompanying the medium bombers, began to scream as they accelerated into a dive.

The vanguard of the blitzkrieg, the German Air Force was, in name and in fact, the world’s number one. Whether in the struggle for air superiority or in ground attack, they possessed highly mature tactical methods. Soon, the anti-aircraft gun positions that were firing on the ground were suppressed by the Stuka bombers.

Thick smoke billowed from the ground, and flames engulfed the anti-aircraft positions. The soldiers, busy rescuing the wounded, had no time to spare for the destroyed cannons, only shouting to carry the men lying on the ground away from the danger.

Faced with such a massive German air force, the Anglo-American ground forces in the Middle East, lacking anti-aircraft artillery, were helpless. They only had a few anti-aircraft guns that had been hastily evacuated from places like Egypt. It was simply not enough to stop the German Air Force from running rampant in the sky above them.

“Confirm landmarks! All squadrons, confirm ground markers!” Inside the roaring cabin of a plane in the German formation, the frontline commander of the German Air Force looked at the aerial map in his hand and checked his flight direction on the compass. His body swayed slightly with the bumping of the plane. Outside the window, one after another, were bombers with the Iron Cross painted on their wings.

“Disperse and confirm your attack targets! 1st Squadron, your target is the oil transport pier designated Alpha. 2nd Squadron, your target is the oil pipelines and storage tanks! 3rd Squadron, destroy the nearby refining equipment!” the commander ordered, pressing the switch on his intercom.

And so, a chorus of acknowledgements came through his headset: “1st Squadron, roger! We are breaking formation!” “2nd Squadron, roger! We are breaking formation!” “3rd Squadron, maintaining course! Target, the refinery complex!”

In fact, the DO-217 medium bomber could not reach the Saudi oil fields across the Persian Gulf to carry out a bombing raid. However, at the time, Britain and the United States, for the convenience of transport and management, had built oil pipelines across Saudi Arabia and, to cut costs, had built the refineries and oil storage facilities on the coast of the Red Sea. This was what had given the German Air Force its opportunity.

But who could have imagined that in just a few short years, the German army would have the ability to fight its way from Europe to Egypt? So large swaths of factories and storage tanks were exposed to the attack of the German Air Force, which also made Britain and the United States feel a sharp pang of pain.

Abdullah Aziz ibn Saud was the de facto ruler of the entire Saudi Arabian region, and he was also the king here. This capable and warlike Saudi leader was at this very moment knocking on General Mountbatten’s door.

When the Saudi Arabian representative, with a white headdress, walked into Mountbatten’s office, he got straight to the point without any pleasantries. “Your Excellency, General, I have received news that you have ordered the ignition of a large amount of reserve oil, plunging the entire eastern bank of the Suez Canal into a sea of fire?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Mountbatten said. He also had no time to haggle with the Saudi representative, so he nodded and admitted his actions. After all, Saudi Arabia was the local power here. Without the support of the Saudis, Mountbatten’s Middle East strategy could completely fail. So he told the truth, without playing any unnecessary clever tricks.

After 1925, Saudi Arabia, which had originally been somewhat pro-British, had turned pro-German. In the end, King Abdullah Aziz ibn Saud, who had unified Saudi Arabia, had come to power with the support of the Germans. From another perspective, it was also the Germans who had first discovered the Middle Eastern oil fields, turning Saudi Arabia from a poor country into a rich oil power.

And Germany had ultimately been kicked out of the Middle East by the joint efforts of Britain and America. Germany and Italy’s thirty percent share of the Middle Eastern oil had been greedily divided up by Britain and America, without a single bit left for the Saudi royal family. So, from top to bottom, Saudi Arabia was not very fond of Iceland Britain and the United States.

It was for this reason that after hearing Mountbatten’s reply, the Saudi envoy, after a moment’s thought, said, “Your country, with this attitude, burning oil in Saudi Arabia, has caused incalculable losses to the local area. Are you declaring war on Saudi Arabia?”

Mountbatten smiled and then, according to a pre-prepared speech, began to analyze reasonably, “The German army has broken through the Suez Canal defense line and is about to reach us. If we…”

“These are all matters between you British and the Germans. Our request is simple: no one is allowed to act recklessly on our land! Do you understand?” the special envoy said coldly, looking at Mountbatten. “Saudi Arabia cannot be the site of a war between your countries. The King’s meaning is very clear. If you cannot hold this land, then leave it as soon as possible!”

Clearly, the Saudis had realized the seriousness of the situation. The United States and Britain were planning a war of destruction in Saudi territory at all costs. After the war, regardless of who won or lost, the final result would have to be paid for by the Saudis themselves—this was clearly an unfair matter, and Saudi Arabia, as the local power in the Middle East, was of course unwilling to accept it.

And this unwillingness to accept, for Britain and America, was just that, an unwillingness to accept. A strong country has never been obligated to care about the life and death of a weak country. This had been the glorious tradition of the great powers for a hundred years and had never changed. So Mountbatten shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly to the Saudi special envoy, “For the specific negotiations, our government will send a special person to negotiate with your country. I am just a soldier and can only obey orders.”

“Then! You will regret it sooner or later!” The Saudi special envoy was no ordinary person, and he had come with a great deal of confidence. As a regime that was psychologically pro-German, the Saudi government had always been secretly exchanging glances with the Germans, and the two sides had maintained an almost uninterrupted contact. For Saudi Arabia, since the British were not buying it, then they would just have to let the Germans buy it.

Mountbatten saw the Saudi special envoy off and sat back down in his chair. He thought for a moment and then called for his aide. “It’s only a matter of time before the Saudis side with Germany. Instead of cooperating with us, it’s better for them to curry favor with the Germans, who are destined to occupy this place.”

He glanced at his pale-faced aide and continued with a smile, “It seems we must be prepared to deal with the most special of situations. Saudi Arabia has about twenty percent of the oil wells. We must also place explosives on these wells and be prepared to completely destroy them!”

“I understand, sir! I will arrange for the assault troops as soon as possible. If the Germans approach the oil-producing areas, these troops will immediately occupy them and blow up all the facilities inside!” the aide replied, standing at attention.

Mountbatten nodded, which was his agreement to this decision. But he still knew that this decision of his was not the best choice. Once the entire plan was implemented, then Saudi Arabia would undoubtedly end up on the side of Britain’s enemy—the Third Reich.

“What the final outcome will be, let’s just wait and see,” Mountbatten sighed, and then closed his eyes. He did not know what the British Empire would be like in a year, nor did he know what impact this decision of his would have on the entire war situation.

“Report!” An officer walked into Mountbatten’s office and, after standing at attention, placed a document on Mountbatten’s desk. “General! A message just came from the frontline troops. The oil storage facilities, pipelines, and crude oil processing equipment that we control on the Red Sea coast have been subjected to a dense bombing by German aircraft, and the losses are quite serious.”

“So soon?” Mountbatten was taken aback for a moment, then nodded, as if accepting this result. “That’s right! That’s right! Since he’s the Desert Fox who defeated Montgomery, then he should be able to figure out our plan… Order the troops, since Rommel wants to blow up these facilities, then we’ll follow suit! Blow them all up! We don’t want any of them!”

The officer, having heard this order, seemed a little uncertain and asked in a low voice, “But… General, if we blow them all up, won’t that make the Saudi side break with us? The German ground forces’ offensive has been temporarily stopped. There’s no need to be in such a hurry to blow up these facilities, is there?”

Mountbatten struggled for a moment and finally made up his mind. He waved his hand and ordered the officer, “It’s nothing to be sorry about. Instead of letting the Germans covet them, and us having to guard them with fear and trepidation, it’s better to just blow them up first!”

He walked to the side of the map, looked at the Red Sea coastline, and then turned and called out, “Secretary! Secretary! Contact the American army. Have all troops retreat towards the desert! We will shift the focus of our defense to the Persian Gulf region!”

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