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Text Chapter 1071 Arrogant!

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    Soviet Union forms alliance!

    The Black Sea Fleet attacks the port of Ereli!  Tš¹rkiye declares war on Soviet Germany!  Ankara announces it will join the Allied Forces!  British troops enter Tš¹rkiye!  US troops enter Tš¹rkiye!

    Roosevelt declared war on the Soviet Union!

    The word "Pan-European Socialism" has just spread around the world, and the news from the Asia Minor Peninsula has shocked the world!  The arrogant German tanks, with the help of the Soviets, officially crossed the Eurasian dividing line!

    In the early morning of March 7, 1942, shrill sirens rang across Turkey.  Stalin and the Soviet Army, who sacrificed huge political interests in exchange for an alliance, unexpectedly kicked off the war with a sea and air raid that they were not good at. The Soviet Black Sea Fleet's battleship "Paris Commune" and five light and heavy cruisers were sunk in a very short time.  A large number of ships, including the Turkish Navy battlecruiser "Stern".  Subsequently, 220 patented imitation JU52 transport aircraft and 300 TB-3 and Pe-8 bombers (all of which can be used as transport) from Sevastopol and other places quickly dropped 9,200 paratroopers to the ports of Ereli and Egypt.  Erzurum opened the Turkish army's defense line in one fell swoop.

    The Soviet Union lacked transport aircraft, but the Soviet army was one of the first countries in the world to organize airborne troops. It also experienced China's airborne tactics many times in Central Asia.  Although some of their subsequent small-scale airborne operations were unsuccessful, what they lacked was only the capabilities of air cover, organization and follow-up delivery.  Now these abilities are well compensated by the German army!  At the same time as the Soviet paratroopers were airborne, 1,300 German aircraft departed from Greece, Romania and other places, using a large number of new aviation weapons such as SD2 "Devil's Egg" and SD10 cluster bombs to violently bomb the Turkish army's front-line airports and military facilities.  Almost before the Turkish army could react, hundreds of fighter jets and bombers deployed by the Turkish Army Aviation Force on the front line were destroyed on the ground.

    ? ?Everyone found out after the fact.  It was Rundstedt who was idle in Berlin and Zhukov who almost served as a sentinel in Poland who made the plan for this raid.  The two men joined forces to open the door to Turkey for the Axis powers.

    Because of the unfamiliarity with the Soviet army, the Turkish army and Allied intelligence departments suffered a big loss.  The 600,000-strong German Southeast Army, which was already ready to go, also crossed the border at 8 a.m. and launched a fierce attack on the Turkish army's European defense line.

    After hearing the news of the attack, the British and American Allied Forces stationed in Iraq, Cyprus and Syria immediately organized more than 800 fighter jets to intercept the German bomber group.  But due to the problem of voyage.  The main P40 "Prisoner of War" and "Hurricane" fighter jets are unable to engage in long-distance air combat. There are only a small number of P38 "Thunderbirds" (the lightning nickname was registered by a shameful country, haha), P43 "Civet Cat" and F4U "Pirates".  Relying on its long range, it intercepted the German fleet.

    The air battle on the first day was not fierce. Both sides hastily retreated after losing more than a dozen aircraft.  But early the next morning, the German bombers had not yet returned.  The Allies finally demonstrated strong air power.  1,100 British H-6, Halifax, and US B17, B24, and B25 bombers took off from Cyprus and other places to carry out fierce air attacks on the Soviet and German troops entering Turkey. They also damaged three warships of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, forcing them to  Evacuate the coastline.  12 "Halifax" bombers and 110 B17 bombers also carried out destructive bombings on railways and bridges in western Turkey, especially the British "Halifax" squadron, using giant "Goblet" bombs  Blow up the Eurasian Bridge across the Bosporus in one fell swoop.  This cut off the German Southeast Army's dream of a rapid eastward advance.

    After the Allied forces implemented an air interdiction against the Soviet-German-Italian coalition forces, they used hundreds of transport aircraft and the railway network in southwestern Turkey to quickly move into important cities such as Ankara. Turkish President Inonu also issued a national mobilization order that afternoon and took the initiative to hand over the command.  U.S. Army Lieutenant General McNerney, commander of the Allied Forces in the Middle East, is under unified command.  After receiving the coveted command, McNerney immediately ordered the most elite Turkish 3rd Armored Division to move towards the port of Ereli.  Trying to flank Soviet paratroopers to regain control of the harbor.  But his order was still too late. In the evening of that day, Zhukov led 3 armored brigades with a total of 212 T34/76, T34/85 and SU122 armored vehicles, 5 air defense regiments and 2 infantry divisions under the protection of the returning fleet.  Get off and board a cargo ship to disembark from the port of Ereli.

    At ten o'clock in the evening, the port of Ereli fell, and the gate to the Black Sea of ??the Asia Minor Peninsula was opened.  After learning the news, Army Group B led by Guderian immediately set off from Romania.  Although the heavy losses in the Battle of Crete left Hitler fearful of airborne operations, the port of Ereli has a complete airport.  Therefore, the German army still dispatched nearly 400 JU52s to transport troops to and from both sides of the Black Sea.  By the morning of the third day, the first two armored divisions and three infantry divisions boarded Turkish territory by plane and ship.

    At noon on March 10, the Turkish 3rd Armored Division encountered Zhukov's leading troops. 117 Type 31 tanks and the Soviet armored brigade launched a desperate battle.  In the end, 37 T34/76s were destroyed in one fell swoop.  When it seemed that they could win a victory, the Turkish division commander showed a lack of experience and thought that he could completely annihilate this army with the performance of tanks.The Soviet tank brigade was ambushed by a large number of IL-2 attack aircraft coming from Ereli.  The roaring "Black Death" was beaten to disgrace in Central Asia, but in the face of the Turkish army, which had lost air supremacy, it showed its super ground attack capabilities. Weapons such as aircraft-carrier armor-piercing bombs imitated by the Chinese Air Force made the lack of  The experienced Turkish 3rd Armored Division suffered heavy losses, and in the end only 57 tanks successfully escaped and retreated to Ankara.

    McNerney knew that the army was not as powerful as the Axis, so he did not adopt the offensive tactics of Spain and North Africa. Instead, he increased his troops while using superior air power to bombard the enemy indiscriminately in the hope of slowing down the enemy's advance.  The German and Italian Air Force and the Soviet aviation did not show any weakness, and continued to take off to fight in kind.  In the first five days alone, both sides conducted a total of 12,000 sorties, dropped 150,000 tons of bombs, and more than 600 fighter planes were shot down.  What is surprising is that the most popular one in this air battle was not the FW190 "Butcher Bird", nor the "Civet" and "Pirate", but the Soviet IL-2 attack aircraft.  This simple but extremely sturdy attack aircraft is not afraid of the 12.7mm aviation machine guns commonly used by the United Kingdom and the United States, and it actually shot down 41 British and American aircraft in one go.  It also destroyed 400 Allied fortifications, hundreds of anti-aircraft artillery positions, and large military vehicles including 300 tanks, giving Britain and the United States their first taste of the hardships and difficulties of the battle in Central Asia.

    But no matter how powerful the "Black Death" is, it cannot compare with the supplementary capabilities of the United States. On March 12 alone, 180 B24 bombers and 112 P43 "Civets" flew to Cyprus after a long journey.  China sold a total of 800 Y-8 long-range transport aircraft and 600 C47 transport aircraft to Britain and the United States within five days and five nights.  Thirty-five thousand soldiers were sent to Beirut in a relay.

    The U.S. Navy has also packed up supplies including 1,200 fighter jets and 4,500 tanks and armored vehicles into the fleet as quickly as possible.

    Due to the absence of the Pacific battlefield, the Navy's transformation of large warships and landing ships has been reduced, and the shipbuilding capabilities of the United States have been completely released. In 41 years alone, 737 Liberty Ships and 25 escort aircraft carriers were produced.  So when the Turkish campaign started.  In just a few days, the U.S. Navy sent six batches of 377 merchant ships to the Red Sea, transporting 2.1 million tons of supplies, including 1,600 fighter jets and 15,000 tanks and armored vehicles, to the Middle East war zone!

    Fighter planes roar across the Asia Minor peninsula, and the Eastern Mediterranean is also rife with murderous intent.

    At seven o'clock in the morning on March 12, the Italian fleet encountered a British naval cruiser formation off the coast of Crete. Admiral Aquino, who had originally lured the enemy, immediately attacked.  The 18 318mm main guns of the two "Veneto" class battleships sent two British cruisers and three destroyers to the bottom of the sea with lightning speed within half an hour!

    But this was also the last glory of the Italian Navy. Then Cunningham deployed hundreds of attack aircraft to launch a fierce attack on the Italian fleet. Although the German Air Force stationed in Crete took off dozens of fighter jets to intercept and shoot down dozens of British attacks.  However, the "Veneto" and the "Littorio" still received several bombs and torpedoes respectively. The poor protection capabilities of the Italian warships caused a large amount of water to enter the two ships.  Just as the British attack fleet left.  When Aquino breathed a sigh of relief, at 11 a.m., the sudden appearance of a group of U.S. Navy attack aircraft ruined all the efforts of the Italian sailors.

    At 11:15, the battleship "Littorio" was surrounded by 16 SBDs. Three thousand-pound bombs penetrated the weak horizontal armor and exploded. Finally, it sank west of Crete at 1 p.m.  The battleship "Veneto" also suffered two bombs and one torpedo. Fortunately, the Italian sailors fought bravely to save it. They regained their balance at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and returned to the Adriatic Sea safely under the protection of German fighter jets. However,  This injury put the "Veneto" out of action for more than a year.

    In order to completely annihilate the remaining ten Italian warships.  The unforgiving Cunningham ordered the attack to continue, but at this time, bad news came!  Just as Mitchell was bombing the Italian fleet, the German 10th Bomb Group, which set out from Crete to attack Cunningham, ran in the wrong direction and accidentally flew into Mitchell's "Nassau" and "Cole".  " over the two Borg-class escort aircraft carriers.  Unfortunately, Mitchell had just released all the attack aircraft.  There were only 24 escorting F4F fighter jets overhead.  Although American pilots stubbornly shot down dozens of German bombers, and the escort ships also formed a circular defense circle to protect the aircraft carrier with intensive anti-aircraft fire, they still missed two D0-217s carrying Fritz-X radio-guided bombs.  bomber.

    At 12:20 noon, the two Borg-class escort aircraft carriers of the Sixth Task Force of the U.S. Navy became victims of the German guidance era. The targets on the huge and wide deck were obvious, and the 1,400 kilogram Fritz-X guided bomb company roared down the battleship.  Even the horizontal armor can't stop it, let alone an escort aircraft carrier.  The "Nassau" was the first to be hit. The bomb instantly penetrated the five decks and exploded after penetrating the ammunition depot.  The more than 10,000-ton Nassau was immediately broken into two pieces, and 730 officers and soldiers died!  Two minutes later, the "Cole" was also hit on the bow, and the explosion completely cut open the 2,000-ton bow section!  "Cole" andAbandoned after an hour, she was sunk by her own torpedoes.

    After learning that Mitchell¡¯s two aircraft carriers were destroyed, Cunningham decided to use the radar advantage to pursue the Italian fleet.  But the problem is, he didn't know that there were German submarines in the Mediterranean.

    In the early morning of March 13, 15 Type VII submarines led by German Navy ace captain Wolfgang Roos, who was lurking in the waters of Rhodes Island, quietly sailed into the waters of Cyprus Island.  This batch of submarines was built by Old Hakan using the segmented construction method to build standard parts throughout Germany and then transported them by rail to the Yugoslav Trieste shipyard under German control for assembly.

    Originally, Russ didn¡¯t have a good chance because there were dozens of British and American destroyers and four aircraft carriers protecting the sea area, but oxygen torpedoes appeared.  But it changed the principle that German submarines need to risk sneaking within two kilometers of the escort ship to launch an attack.  "It's time to carry out a lightning strike attack! Set the maximum speed of 5 meters, concentrate them all, aim at the front and strike them all out!" In the submarine, the first major of the Japanese Navy Kiriichi saw through the periscope a dozen stern ships five kilometers away.  The movie queen turned her head and spoke half-familiar German.  He gestured to Russ to fire collectively.

    Ichiichi Kiri is recognized as an excellent captain in the Japanese Navy, but because he sent Hakan back to Japan, he missed the Kerama naval battle that decided the fate of China and Japan.  Originally, he wanted to drive a submarine back to China, but due to the British and American blockade, he finally agreed to temporarily join the German Navy with the approval of the base camp.  After Russ learned of this, he immediately sent him, who was proficient in oxygen torpedo tactics, to his own boat as the torpedo commander.

    "Then let's try." Ruth did not refuse the suggestion and raised two fingers to the telegraph operator: "Send the signal. Two minutes."

    After the telegraph operator sent the telegram, the U.S. fleet in the distance immediately changed its formation. It was clearly an evasive action after detecting the source of the unknown radio signal.  At this moment, two Avengers-class escort aircraft carriers also revealed their figures, and Russ quickly aimed all six torpedoes in the direction of the aircraft carriers.  "Launch! Dive 70 meters! Calculate the time"

    After the last torpedo left the launch tube, Russ, which had effectively sunk up to 150,000 tons, immediately dived.  The ace captain and his men, who were awarded the Oak Leaf Knighthood, were like a precise clock.  Operate complex and dangerous submarines quickly and accurately.  In less than a minute, continuous explosion sound waves reached everyone's ears, and both Russ and Kiriichi clenched their fists.

    A few hours later, the results of the victory were confirmed by another U-boat lurking nearby. This siege involving six submarines added salt to Mitchell's wounds.  Not only did it sink an Avenger-class escort aircraft carrier, but it also sank two troop transport ships, causing more than 3,000 soldier casualties.  To know.  At that time, the nearest troop transport ship was eight kilometers away from the submarine!

    With three aircraft carriers sunk in one day and one night, Mitchell and the U.S. Sixth Task Force suddenly became the unluckiest people that day.  But Rommel became the happiest. Mitchell lost three aircraft carriers, Cunningham went to pursue the Italian fleet, and the sea and air pressure on Tobruk dropped sharply.  Rommel accurately seized this gap and launched another fierce attack on the fortress.  Auchinleck knew that it would be difficult to defend without a fleet, so he decided to abandon the fortress and retreat toward the Nile.  In the end, with the help of the navy, 35,000 of the 55,000 Allied troops stationed in Tobruk successfully retreated to Alexandria, and the rest surrendered.

    However, Ruth and Rommel were not happy for long. A week later, they were ordered to be transferred to the USS "Wasp" aircraft carrier in the Eastern Mediterranean.  Along with 5 Borg-class escort aircraft carriers, 2 cruisers, and 27 destroyers, they stationed on Cyprus Island to join the Sixth Task Force.

    In the early morning of March 15, the German army finally entered the Tobruk Fortress, which had been surrounded for several months.  Although he captured the fortress, Rommel paid a total of 88,000 casualties, which made this victory eclipse.

    But in any case, the Nile River opened its door to the North African Army for the first time!

    March 16th.  Under the protection of more than a thousand tanks, 150,000 German and Italian troops advanced toward the Nile River in a mighty manner. After learning about it, Auchinleck immediately ordered to defend Alexandria and the Nile River, and issued a stern order: "Any soldier who surrenders and retreats"  , will be shot immediately!"

    On March 20, the German-Italian forces captured the European region of Turkey, and 400,000 Turkish troops surrendered!

    On March 21, Zhukov occupied Izmit and Istanbul fell!

    On March 23, the Soviet army occupied Erzurum!

    On March 25, Guderian¡¯s 15 divisions approached Ankara, and Turkish President Inonu and the Turkish government temporarily took refuge in Adana.  The longest Battle of Ankara in Asia Minor broke out. In the following six months, due to the delay in cutting off the supply channel from Cyprus to Ankara and the inability to resolve the Allies' strong air superiority, Germany and Italy paid a price of 470,000 casualties before the battle in early October.  Seize Ankara completely.

    On March 28, the German army launched the spring offensive on the Iberian Peninsula. Hitler shipped a large number of heavy weapons, including K5 and "Karl" self-propelled mortars, in an attempt to capture Gibraltar in one fell swoop.  But at this time, the total number of Allied troops on the peninsula had reached??Breaked through 3.7 million. With the support of the huge sea and air force of 16 aircraft carriers and 2,500 fighter planes, the German army only broke through less than 30 kilometers forward during the five-month offensive, but paid a heavy price of 730,000 casualties.

    After learning the news of the occupation of Istanbul, Hitler happily declared in Berlin: "This is a testimony of the friendship between two great socialist countries and a victory for the German people!"

    Stalin also delivered a speech in Moscow on the same day: "We have gained a strong and tenacious ally that we can rely on. Long live the Soviets! Long live Germany! Long live socialism!"

    The fall of Istanbul also meant that the power of the Third Reich had reached its peak. Its territory spanned from the Iberian Peninsula and the Asia Minor Peninsula, and also occupied most of North Africa from the west of the Nile River to Tunisia!

    The Grand Mediterranean Plan to encircle Gibraltar and the Suez Canal seems to be the last step left.

    The power of the Axis is unparalleled!
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