December 1940, Alexander, Egypt.

This famous city under the protection of the British Empire has now completely emerged from the shadow of the "Roman Legion" invasion.

When the Italians had just begun to march across the border towards Alexander and Cairo in September, the Arabs and Westerners in Egypt thought of Caesar, Octavian and their invincible Roman legions. The history of the Roman Empire conquering Egypt seemed to be about to repeat itself. Faced with a number of "Roman warriors", a mere tens of thousands of British and Indian Assassin were obviously unable to stop it.

All Arabs once believed that the Roman Empire's New Caesar seemed to be the master of Egypt soon, and they needed to make changes quickly to adapt to this unstoppable historical trend! The Egyptian king Farouk I, who loves food and beauty, even prepared a dozen "Cleopatra" for the 20th century Caesar.

But by December, Farouk I had turned these "Cleopatra" into his mistresses. Because the Italian army was obviously different from the ancient Roman legions, they were too slow to move, and they would have to rest for a few days to fight for several months.

The Italians started the attack on September 13, and by September 16, they stopped in Xidibalani, an Egyptian city. It was 130 kilometers away from the main British forces assembled. This pause lasted almost three months. Until December, the Italians did not attack again. Instead, they built fortifications in a place called Maktila 16 kilometers east of Xidibalani, and posed fortifications as if they were ready to stay for a long time.

Did these Romans in the 20th century travel all the way to Africa to seize a desert with no value? Just when the people of Alexander and Cairo were confused, the "Emperor Caesar" suddenly invaded Greece under the control of pro-German factions for no reason.

Then something happened that surprised everyone. Mussolini's Roman legion was defeated by the "vulnerable" Greeks. With the support of a small number of air forces sent by Britain, the Italians were shattered from the attack on October 28 to November 3. On November 14, the Greeks gathered 12 infantry divisions, 2 cavalry divisions and 3 infantry brigades to launch a counterattack, defeating the 11th Italian Army, and on the 21st they invaded Italian Albania, and also occupied the important town of Korca, southeastern Albania!

Seeing that the Roman Empire in the 20th century was defeated by the Greeks, all the leading figures of the Egyptian Kingdom dispelled the doubts that the British Empire might have to finish it. They started to run to Alexandria if they had anything to do, and brought various condolences to flatter the British men.

On the morning of December 8, His Majesty King Farouk personally brought his mistress and senior officials to Alexander from Cairo. He first watched a football match with Commander-in-Chief Wewell and Commander-in-Cunningham. In the evening, he participated in the reception party held by the British side to welcome his arrival. He was very happy until it was almost the early morning of December 9 that they each dispersed drunk.

King Farouk returned to his palace in Alexandria and went to sleep with his mistress. The half-drunk commander-in-chief of the British Army in the Middle East went straight back to his headquarters to prepare for the war. In a few hours, a counterattack code-named "Operation Compass" would start.

In Admiral Wevel's plan, Operation Compass was just a limited-scale counterattack, with the purpose of simply driving the annoying Italians away from Egyptian land. Because in the imagination of British Prime Minister Churchill, the Balkans were the best route for Germany to go south to the Middle East. So Admiral Wevel did not get enough ground troops to defeat the Italians at least that's what he himself thought.

Churchill's view is not unreasonable. Once Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece all fall into the hands of Germany, then the German bombers and Folk Zero fighters deployed on Crete can fly to Alexandria and the Suez Canal to drop bombs at any time. By then, the British Royal Navy will have no place to gain a foothold in the Eastern Mediterranean!

In addition, as long as the Germans deployed enough aircraft on Greece and Crete, they could cover the useless Italian fleet from the air to capture Cyprus.

Once Cyprus is controlled by the Germans, Turkey may turn to Germany. Even if Turkey does not change for the time being, the Germans and Italians can land in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine in the cover of Cyprus' air force. The British Empire will lose the entire Middle East! The oil bottleneck that stuck Germany's progress will be completely resolved.

With sufficient oil supply, Germany's rule on the European continent will be strengthened. France, which is barely neutral, is likely to completely devote itself to Germany's arms, and the powerful French navy will become an accomplice of the German Empire like the Italian navy.

By then, the British Empire would be completely finished, and Mr. Winston Churchill is likely to be famous as the "Last British Prime Minister"!

"Anthony, John." In the early morning of December 9, 1940, when the British army in the Middle East had already begun to carry out the "Compass Operation". Churchill was talking to his two most important assistants, the Army Secretary Anthony Aiden, and General John Deere, Chief of Staff. However, the content of the conversation had little to do with "Compass Operation".

"I don't need to emphasize the importance of the Balkan front. It's a front that concerns whether our empire can continue to survive." Churchill said and threw a cigar butt into a shiny copper jar filled with sand, and then lit another cigar.

"And your mission is to establish the Balkan front, and now is the best opportunity. Admiral Vevere will soon drive Mussolini's Roman legion out of Egypt. This will greatly inspire the courage of the Greeks, Serbs and Turks to resist the Nazi and fascist invasion."

Churchill continued his plan. His vision was to pull Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey into British chariots. This way Britain could use a small number of troops to block the Germans' pace of going south on the densely dense Balkans.

"The Germans now bear most of the oil supply in Europe," Churchill said. "Every month, millions of tons of oil have to be taken out of their limited reserves to supply countries like France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Norway. Soon, their oil depots will be empty. By then, the strategic bombing of Germany will begin! The United States and the Soviet Union will also join the war because of the inevitable failure of Germany, so that we can achieve the final victory!"

It has to be admitted that Churchill is still very good at finding unlucky guys who can shed blood for the British Empire. When France and Belgium were defeated by Germany and the Soviet Union asked for too high prices, he found Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey.

"Prime Minister, but what do we want to impress Türkiye?" asked Army Secretary Aiden.

Turkey is obviously the most important and critical link in the Balkan front. Because Yugoslavia seems to be difficult to resist Germany's attack, it can only rely on the vital Isthmus of Corinth and Crete to resist. Without Turkey's accession, Germany and Italy would have to concentrate their troops to attack, and the Balkans' advance would still be bad.

"French Syria and Lebanon," Churchill smoked a cigar. "I will return it to Türkiye as long as they are willing to join."

This is the best condition he can give. It is impossible to hand over Iraq and Saudi Arabia to Türkiye, and Türkiye now cannot eat it.

"Put it together with the Italian Albania," Aiden said. "The Turks always miss the land of Europe."

Churchill nodded, "Well, Albania can be added, but it can only exist as a Turkish enclave."

Albania and Turkey are not bordered by Turkey, and they are also separated by the land of Greece and Yugoslavia. They were conquered by Turkey in history, and later became independent because of Turkey's decline. If Britain allowed Turkey to re-enter those territory, it would probably fall into the Balkan quagmire.

"Also," Churchill thought for a while and said, "Anthony, you must convince the Turks that they cannot stay out of the matter! If the British Empire was defeated in the Mediterranean, then Turkey would become the object of division between Germany and the Soviet Union. In fact, Stalin had proposed to regain Constantinople, which was not implemented because of our opposition."

Taking Constantinople was a condition for Stalin to consider joining the United Kingdom and the United States! Because in Stalin's view, this is the debt owed to Russia by Britain, and it must be paid off first before discussing other things.

Of course Churchill would not agree with Stalin's request. If Stalincoln declares war on Germany and marchs into Poland, Constantinople and even the entire Turkey could be handed over to the Soviet Union. But the British Empire, which paid off debts and other debts, owed too much people, how could it be possible to pay it back?

"Prime Minister, if we inform Türkiye of the Soviet ambitions, will it cause Türkiye to surrender to Germany?" said General Dier, chief of the Imperial General Staff.

"No," Churchill said with great certainty, "Turkey fears us, and was afraid before the last World War. Unless our fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean no longer exists, Turkey will never fall to Germany." He paused, "As long as our advantage in the Eastern Mediterranean still exists, Turkey will only consider when and on what conditions to join us."

"But the Mediterranean Fleet may also encounter setbacks," Admiral John Deere whispered, "The Luftwaffe has moved to Sicily, and has paralyzed Malta with indiscriminate bombing."
Chapter completed!