alternatehistory.com

The year 1943 has begun, it's the fourth year of the war.

After being replaced by the Americans, British troops (including many Indians) have been redeployed to the Persian front. The mountainous terrain makes the reconquest difficult, though, despite the fact that the Brits have gained numerical advantage against Generalfeldmarschall Rommel.

Churchill decides it's time for a strategical diversion. The right place is found soon: Trucial Oman (today known as the United Arab Emirates) with its rich oil resources.
In March 43, the British army starts to attack from Oman, with support from the sea side. The offensive starts with a success: The relatively weak German troops have to retreat, the fortress Masqat that was besieged for several months is free again.
Hitler, of course, is furious and demands from Rommel to regain the territory, no matter what. Rommel is in trouble, but does his best. Switching to pure defensive in Persia, he relocates all available troops to the South and attacks. A few weeks later, the Brits are driven back again to Oman, and the situation is basically the same as a few months before.

With one difference, however. Now that most of the Wehrmacht has to fight Russia, Rommel can't get as many troops as he demands as he did in 1941. In fact, now the Wehrmacht is pretty strained on all fronts and can only hope that noone has the idea to attack them at an untimely moment.

Since the Allies have Alan Turing and other scientists working on deciphering the German codes, they can't hope for that. Knowing the situation as good as one can wish, the British decide that it's time for real real counterstrike. Without control over the Suez canal, it's been relatively difficult, but now they have moved enough troops to Upper Egypt, including the troops that defeated the Italians in Ethiopia, many South Africans and a few Free French.

In June, the operation begins. The attack of the Allies breaks through the Axis' lines, throws them back to Cairo (which they can't take at the moment lacking powers, since the nazis have organised a lot of Arabs willing to fight against the Brits - at least their propaganda says so), and is continued North-East, targeted at the Suez canal. This is the worst hit that Hitler got so far in the war, but he can't do anything now. Having control over the Red Sea, the Brits manage to land some troops at the Sinai, attacking the canal from two sides. Hitler has to defend the connection between his troops in Egypt and the Middle East respectively and orders some troops from the Palestine front (where the Jewish freedom fighters still defend their pocket on the Med) down South, calculating that the Jews are too worn out for an attack. When they break through the German lines between Jerusalem and Gaza and meet the Brits in the Negev, he learns that he was wrong.

When the Americans return from their summer holidays, strange news wait for them: All US radio and TV stations report from the Middle East, where the biggest story since long has happened: At first unable to believe it, but then getting more and more angry, the Americans listen to the stories about British officers telling live about the nazi slave trade with Jews, some Western European Jews who tell stories of their month-long suffering, like Mr. Blau serving as a secretary for some illiterate Arab slave trader, or Mrs. Grün forced to become the third wife of some emir. Some nazi sympathizers in the world try to play it down, speaking of propaganda, but generally people agree that Hitler has gone too far.

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