The second battalion went directly to T4, where the persistent pressure of the 46th Division had slowly forced back the more lightly armed mountain troops. That battle would rage in and around the valuable pumping station all afternoon, with Guderian feeding in additional reserves he had held back from 3rd Panzer. He looked at his watch, shaking his head.
“In another two hours they will realize this is useless. Beckerman has Hadithah!”
In spite of its short term tactical success, Alexander was much disheartened when he got the latest report from Kingstone. T1 had been held, along with H1, but the German could not be prevented from bypassing both pump stations and simply cutting the line at Hadithah.
“Well gentlemen,” he said. “ The blood is no longer flowing in those steel veins out there. It now matters very little whether we take back the T4 station, or even Palmyra. Jerry will be re-routing his lines of communication along the Euphrates now, and there doesn’t seem to be anything we can do about it. Now the real show will be in Iraq. It’s up to the Auck now, and Mosley Mayne. Yet we must still do all in our power here to keep the pressure on, and force the enemy to heavily garrison his lines in this sector. I can tell you all one thing. He’s not going to Damascus, and certainly not on down to Suez—not on my watch.”
The question now was what to do about Iraq? It was presently defended by only two backwaters divisions, General Mayne’s 21st Indian Corps, which in this history was composed of the 6th and 8th Indian Infantry Divisions. The former was at Baghdad, the latter in the south near Abadan and Bashah. Forewarned of the disaster on the Euphrates, General Mayne was now rushing 8th Infantry north to Baghdad by rail, while the remnants of both 5th and 10th Indian Divisions, so soundly beaten by the Brandenburgers, found ways to retreat back into Iraq.
10th Indian had to fall back to the south, through the open desert to try and reach Karbala and Hillah, where they would finally arrive on January 24th, tired, bedraggled, and out of fuel. In this move, Glubb Pasha and his Arab Legion was instrumental in pathfinding the best ground for the vehicles, and a chastened and simmering Brigadier Kingstone also took what was left of his detachment along with Blaxland’s division.
5th Indian had been unable to reach Hadithah from the north when the Germans took the bridge at Rawa, so they followed a thin track that took them above the massive marshland lake of Tharthar, eventually reaching Tikrit north of Baghdad, in a position to block any immediate German advance on Kirkuk. It was then that the British learned that Northern Iraq was far from secure as well.
“Ivan Volkov,” said Alexander as he continued his meeting with Generals Wilson and Quinan. “As you know, he controls this whole area around Baku, the province of Azerbaijan. Hitler has a big push on in the Kuban trying to clear out the last Soviet resistance there. Our agents in place in Northern Iran have been trying to scout into Armenia and Georgia to see what’s up, but they’ve uncovered what looks to be a buildup of some concern. Now Bletchley Park confirms it with signals intercepts. Orenburg is assembling their 2nd Turkomen Army under a General Buzul, and it has already moved into Northern Iran from Baku.”
“Turkomen Army?” said General Maitland Wilson, known as “Jumbo.” A veteran of the Boer War and Passchendaele in the First War, he had commanded forces in Egypt under Wavell for a time, helped organize and direct Operation Scimitar and was now Deputy Commander, Middle East, under Alexander.
“Here’s the list,” said Alexander, reading from his notes. “It looks to be no more than a small Corps, just two divisions. The first we’re calling the K Division, 1st Turkomen, composed of three Brigades, the Karakum Guards, Khiva and Kranitau Rifles. 2nd Turkomen Division has three more brigades, the Tulu Rifles, Shakaman Horse, and Belek Rifles. There’s a Dervish Cavalry Brigade serving as division troops.”
“Armor?”
“None to speak of. These are light horse and mountain troops for the most part, but they will pose a direct threat to Kirkuk and Baba Gurgur, and very soon. We shall have to send 5th Indian back there at once.”
“They’re worn out,” said General Quinan, British 10th Army Commander in Palestine and Syria.
“Well, they’ll have to be fleshed out with recruits from Kurdish levees. It’s all we can do for the moment. Yet if we do move them to Kirkuk, I should think one of Sir Mosley’s divisions will have to move north to Tikrit as a blocking force. The Germans are worn out too, gentlemen. They’ve run about 300 miles in three weeks, and they now seem to be pausing at Haditha to collect themselves and bring up fuel. That gives us a window of time to get our own house in order, and we’d better be quick about it. Now…. I’ve spoken with Auchinlek, and we’re both in agreement that General Mayne’s troops, even with the 5th and 10th Indian Divisions back, are simply not adequate. First off, he has no armor to speak of, and we know that at least one full panzer division has already reached the T1 Pump Station behind the Brandenburgers.”
“Isn’t 7th Armored Brigade due in at Alexandria from Benghazi?” Jumbo Wilson was shuffling through some reports on his clipboard.
“True enough,” said Alexander. “I was thinking to bring it up here and join the fight, but under the circumstances, we’re a long way from either Kirkuk or Basra. So 7th Armored will stay right on the boats, transit the Suez, and continue on through the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and into the Persian Gulf. It will join 9 Armored Brigade down near Basra, where it’s been posted to watch over the oil facilities.”
“Will there be any difficulties getting troops and equipment into the Gulf?” Wilson was looking to their lines of communications.
“Somerville says he can sortie with his carrier force from Madagascar to cover things, as he has been for convoys these last months. Old Ark Royal is on the watch there now. Tovey says it’s the best damn aircraft carrier, pound for pound, in the whole world, and the Japanese have made no move to challenge him since they took Ceylon.
“Good,” said Wilson. “That will give us something to start with in Iraq. But it may take a little more. The Germans already have three divisions on the central Euphrates bend, 3rd Panzer, their 22nd Luftland, and the Brandenburg Division. The latter certainly made short work of the Indian divisions.”
“We might do better with the Indian Infantry if we fight for Baghdad. Do you think Jerry wants it?” asked Quinan.
“I don’t see how he can contemplate a move either north or south without first controlling Baghdad,” said Alexander. “It sits right astride his lines of communication in either event. Yes, he’ll have to take it.”
“Then we fight for the city, where the infantry might better acquit itself.” Quinan folded his arms, as if settling on that premise as a given.
“At present,” said Alexander, “Jerry is regrouping at Hadithah, about 120 miles from Baghdad. If he goes south for Basra from Baghdad, he’s looking at another 300 mile jaunt. It would be half that distance up to Kirkuk.”
“Basra may be a far reach for them,” said Wilson, “and I don’t think they can do both at the same time. Surely they can’t think those Turkomen divisions will do the job for them, not against British Indian troops.”