On the evening of the day when Alexander ran away, Guderian sent a special envoy to the chaotic city of Cairo with a white flag, which brought a huge impact to Ramsden and others: at 5 pm, the canal army commanded by Marshal Rommel had rushed into Lebanon and Syria, fully utilizing the ability of the desert fox to rush thousands of miles, and it was lightning-proof. Two armored divisions under his command set off the left and right. The Great German Division occupied Beirut, the Vikings occupied Damascus, and the resistance of the British and Free France in the local area was insignificant. In total, there were less than 5,000 people in total. They were not opponents of elite German troops. They were beaten to pieces in a few seconds. Many people chose to surrender, and some of the remaining defeated generals retreated south to Transjordan - but Ramsden knew that they were just surviving.

It was only then that he understood why the German army had only besieged northern Cairo in recent days and had not launched an attack, because the German army had only arranged a 20th motorized infantry division in Cairo, and the troops were not sufficient. The reason why it seemed that there were still a large number was entirely composed of newly liberated Italian prisoners, and the forces used to bluff were supporting the scene. However, now that Guderian commanded three armored divisions of the African Army to set off, the weakness of the German army's insufficient strength had been overcome.

Earlier, he received news of the fall of Cyprus Island. There were less than 2 companies on the island, and he was no match for the German and Italian fleet and landing forces at all. Now Germany has an absolute advantage in the Middle East.

Te told Ramsden with a relaxed and pleasant expression that Germany's full victory in the Middle East is just around the corner. The surrendered Eighth Army officers and soldiers were also properly placed - they were on a transport ship to the Italian prisoner-of-war camp at the Port of Tobrook, and he brought General Guderian's handwritten letter. He hoped that Ramsden could follow Lieutenant General Montgomery to lead the British army in Cairo to surrender.

Ramsden did not directly reject the special envoy's request, but simply made three counter-requests: "First, give him 48 hours of internal consideration and negotiation time; Second, during this period, the two sides ceased fire, and the German army shall not attack Cairo in any way; Third, there are now a large number of British wounded hospitals in Cairo. I hope they can be properly resettled in the future."

The envoy agreed with all the above three points. It was proposed to use midnight tonight as the effective time of the ceasefire - this would give Ramsden more time to consider, but he also guaranteed that the German troops would not launch any offensive operations from now to zero - unless they were forced to fight back due to attack.

After the German envoy left, Moshead and Freiberg both looked at Ramsden nervously. This time, the two of them unexpectedly did not lose their temper, just frowned, and asked in a not very certain tone: "Do you want to consider surrender? Don't stick to the end?"

Ramsden shook his head firmly.

"Then continue fighting? But where is the way out? You just promised the Egyptians not to exchange large-scale fire in Cairo."

Ramsden shook his head, too.

The two were confused by his attitude: Is there any other way out for neither fighting nor surrender? The way to break through was just rejected by Ramsden in the morning.

"Do you dare to fight north?"

"Going north?" The two were shocked.

"Going north." Ramsden pointed to the map and said, "Just just now, the envoy proudly claimed that they were progressing smoothly in Syria, Lebanon and Jerusalem, and they were blooming in multiple directions. He also said that they had organized the Italian captives again. I think this is not our opportunity. We now have two divisions, at least one of them is an armored division."

"What do you mean to hit the port?"

"We'll go around Rommel's retreat."

"It's too late..." Moshead sighed, "Romer has at least one German division north of Cairo. There are probably 1-2 Italian divisions. If we leave one division to defend the city, we can't take it down just by dispatching one division. But if all two divisions are dispatched, we will leave the city with our front feet and the Egyptians will be able to put Guderian in the south. Before we can capture the port, we will fall into an encirclement of enemies from both sides."

Freiberg said hatefully: "If Alexander, a bastard, did not allow more than 30,000 other people to retreat two days ago, we now have a chance to retake the port and block Rommel's retreat."

Ramsden sighed: "What a great opportunity. We had a chance to turn the tables."

"It can't be overturned." Moshead shook his head, "Even if the 30,000 people don't leave, what can we do if we take back the port? The German army will soon counterattack. They are more people than us and have control over the sea. They can completely mobilize troops continuously. We will inevitably fail in the end - the difference is that they can delay for a long time before failure."

"This is not necessarily the case. If the 10th Army is pressing forward, you can be connected with us." But when Ramsden said this, he felt that he was not confident enough - the main force of the 10th Army was still in the Persian area, at least 1,500 kilometers away from Egypt. When they were transferred up, it was estimated that the Egyptian officers and soldiers would have died in battle long ago. After they were transferred, the key to the problem is that Egypt is the gateway to the Middle East and the key hub of the British Empire in the region. Once the enemy opens this gateway, there is no other force to resist their attack.

"Then use the ceasefire time to buy some time for friendly forces... Alexander doesn't need to count on it, but I hope that the garrison troops in Mosul and Basra will have the opportunity to blow up the oil fields."

"All this is up, why are you still worried about the oil field? That's what the 10th Army should consider. We just want our own way out."

"No!" Ramsden said firmly, "We are a whole, and should not be divided into yours, mine; and even more, into Great Britain, dominant, colonial. If we always adhere to the principle of different treatment, and eventually lead to the disintegration between the members of the empire and the local people, this war will definitely not be won."

The other two sighed and said nothing: Alexander's behavior really hurt their hearts. Fortunately, there are senior officers like Montgomery and Ramsden in the British Empire. If they are all like Alexander, what else can they fight in the future? Isn't it better for each dominant lord to take charge of themselves? Why come to Europe to wade into this muddy water?

The instructions to blow up the oil field were directly issued by London to the Middle East War Zone after the German army occupied Alexandria and eliminated the Cunningham Express Column, but the order must be issued by Alexander in the name of the commander of the Middle East War Zone. Before Alexander ran away, he asked the 10th Army to prepare for all destruction and only wait for the final order. However, due to the wide distribution of the oil field and the large number of facilities, the British never expected that one day they would blow up these hard-built facilities, so there was no preparation before the war. Now they are still busy ordering the engineer troops to be placed and arrange an overall destruction plan.

Until the afternoon of the 26th, the 10th Army telegraphed the command center that the overall destruction work was not fully ready, and everything took time. Ramsden was anxious and asked how long it would take. Half an hour later, Fang replied that it would take at least 5-7 days. At that time, Ramsden thought that the Germans would give him at least this time, and felt that it would be too late to order the oil field to blow up after Cairo fell. Unexpectedly, the German army did not come to open Ronaldo at all, but pointed the front of the troops in Iraq first, which disrupted his plan.

After occupying Beirut and Damascus, the German troops were still 700 kilometers away from Mosul and the railway mileage was less than 1,000 kilometers, which was already in a very dangerous situation. Although the southern Basra was a little further away from the German threat, Ramsden could imagine that they were also the next target of the enemy's urgent attack.

"On the one hand, I have to make time for the blow-up of the oil field, and on the other hand, I have to make time for General Wilson to adjust the deployment of the 10th Army. His troops were deployed in groups of 1,000 kilometers long and more than 700 kilometers wide. Inappropriate shrinkage and adjustment will only allow the Germans to defeat each other. If Guderian's troops were forced over, I am afraid he would not be able to bear it immediately.

"Then you finally decide how to answer the Germans? It can only be delayed for 2 days now."

Ramsden smiled and said, "Reply I have already thought about it: the British Empire respects Egypt and its independence. Given the importance of Cairo's geographical location and historical value, our army decided to withdraw from Cairo and Egypt, retreat southward into Ethiopia, and not fight with the Germans. If they wish, the Germans can fight with us in Ethiopia."

"That's fine?" Moshead almost laughed, "What should the Germans be stupid enough to agree to this condition?"

"They will definitely not agree to such a condition."

"If they don't agree, they will put forward counter-opinions, and we can also make corrections and considerations - this is the most suitable for procrastination." Ramsden smiled. "If you want to delay time, you can't just say it to death. At least you have to give the Germans some thoughts, so that they feel that we are really considering it. It's just that there are many differences in internal opinions and the asking price is relatively high."

"That can only be delayed for 2 days, what should I do later?"

"Give the Germans some more sweetness." Ramsden looked at it, "and gave the three defensive strongholds outside the city north and the airports in the south to the Germans, and retracted the troops back to the city to defend."

"That's fine?"

"Why can't it be? I can't hold it anyway. Besides, the planes have all run away. Why do you want the airport? Are you keeping it for the officers to escape?"

"What if the Germans don't agree?"

"I have expressed our sincerity... The Germans should also show some sincerity." Ramsden smiled. "The Germans will not come hard. They are now very careful about their people's hearts and reputation in Egypt. They hardly send bombers to deal with Cairo targets, and they don't even have artillery bombardment. This fully shows that they don't want to fight - this is their weakness and the only place we can use."

The two admired Ramsden's wit and rushed back to the troops to deploy, preparing to delay time as much as possible.

...
Chapter completed!