Zhuo Fei was not very interested in such a place because of Indonesia's earthquake-prone location, but because of the follow-up plan he had developed, Sumatra had to be stripped from the Japanese army. Zhuo Fei can't look down on Indonesia, but the vast and sparsely populated Australian mainland on the other side of the ocean makes Zhuo Fei covet it very much, occupying Sumatra Island, and then south to Java Island and Timor-Leste, the Australian mainland is close at hand.

Zhuo Fei originally wanted to send troops to South Asia, and while containing the Japanese army, he forced the Japanese army to send troops to the American continent and Australia. It's just that the situation has changed so quickly that Zhuo Fei expected, the arrogant Japanese have pressed the treasure capital on the American continent, and the relatively barren Australian continent has long been out of the eyes of the Japanese cabinet, so Zhuo Fei had to send troops to the Australian continent by himself to seek a permanent foundation for the umbrella company in the future.

Australia is still a British colony, and Zhuo Fei's desire to seize Australia naturally cannot be revealed openly, but with Japan as a shield, Zhuo Fei can at least make some preparations in advance. The Independence Army suddenly crossed the Strait of Malacca and attacked Sumatra, once again demonstrating to the world the bravery of the Independence Army, and the Japanese troops stationed on Sumatra were defeated by the Independence Army's powerful firepower attack, and in just a few days, they had lost most of Sumatra Island.

Sumatra is different from Western Malaysia, and after the Southern Advance Corps under the command of Yamashita Fengwen took it, it once massacred the local Chinese with the help of the local natives. If the Independence Army wanted to rely on the strength of the local Chinese to control Sumatra, it was obviously unlikely, so Zhuo Fei had to send those indigenous servants who were envious of the friendly army to Sumatra, and their only task was to encircle and suppress the local natives on Sumatra.

Encirclement and suppression is different from purging, clearing and suppressing is to kill and rob everything, and encirclement and suppression is only to arrest people and not hurt people, the umbrella company has too many mines in five South Asian countries that need manpower, and these Indonesian natives are excellent candidates. Zhuo Fei didn't know how long it took for the Southern Advance Corps under the command of Yamashita Fengwen to take Sumatra, he only knew that it would not take half a month for the Independence Army to take the entire Sumatra Island, and the reason why the battle was not over for a long time was because the Japanese troops stationed on Sumatra took the large number of Anglo-Australian prisoners of war they detained on the island as bargaining chips for their lives.

Known as the Malay Tiger, Yamashita Fumi commanded his Southern Advance Corps to move to Southeast Asia, and in the areas under his control, there were many large prisoner of war camps, and a large number of British and Australian prisoners of war defeated by the Southern Advance Corps were interned in these prisoner of war camps. In several concentration camps established by the Japanese army on the island of Sumatra, more than 30,000 Anglo-Australian prisoners of war have been detained, and the Japanese army originally wanted to force these prisoners of war to work as laborers for Japan in Southeast Asia, but for unknown reasons, this plan has not been implemented.

Faced with the sudden emergence of new situations, the Independence Army, which was advancing by leap and bound, directly chose to bypass these concentration camps first, first concentrate its forces to clear other areas controlled by the Japanese army, and finally turn back to deal with these Japanese troops who used prisoners of war as bargaining chips for their lives. "Taylor, do you think it's possible for us to convince these poor wretches abandoned by the British government to join us?" After reading the battle reports sent back from the front, Zhuo Fei, who was very interested in these British and Australian prisoners of war, asked his combat staff officer Taylor Waedman.

Born into a dilapidated aristocratic family in England, Taylor did not receive the aristocratic education that should be expected of the upper class, but this did not prevent him from becoming a qualified soldier and combat staff officer, facing Zhuo Fei's question, Taylor pondered for a moment before answering. "Boss, among the more than 30,000 Anglo-Australian prisoners of war on the island of Sumatra, there are less than 10,000 real British, and the rest are all Australian soldiers. If the umbrella wants to recruit them, I don't think it will be difficult for those Australian troops to get it, but those British troops, I'm afraid it's not easy to say. ”

The British were notoriously rigid, even in their army, and Taylor feared that senior officers would get in the way of the British prisoners of war. From the hesitation in Taylor's expression, Zhuo Fei vaguely understood what his personal combat staff officer was worried about, and then smiled, "Taylor, don't worry, you must know that Sumatra is now almost the territory of our umbrella." If what you are worried about becomes true, I don't think we need to feed some people who can't help us in vain. ”

What Zhuo Fei said is reasonable, the Independence Army does not belong to any country, and it is not invited by the British government to rescue these prisoners of war, so whether it is morally or otherwise, it is impossible for the Independence Army to raise these unlucky people who were captured by the Japanese army in vain. The remnants of the Japanese army, who used prisoners of war as bargaining chips, mistakenly thought that the army attacking them was British or American, because most of the enemy soldiers they saw were blond and blue-eyed European faces, but they did not want these enemy troops to care about the lives of the prisoners of war in their hands.

The Japanese tried their best to repel several enemy attacks, and when they ran out of ammunition and food, they finally waited for the cabinet envoy Kazuo Suzuki, who had arrived in a hurry from the Philippines. This is the third time that Kazuo Suzuki has come to have a secret meeting with Zhuo Fei, and the first two meetings have successfully made Kazuo Suzuki a capable leader in the cabinet hierarchy, so after learning that the Independence Army crossed the sea to attack Sumatra, Kazuo Suzuki was sent to meet with Zhuo Fei again.

"General Zhuo, why did your army suddenly attack Sumatra? It's only been half a month since our last meeting in Kuala Lumpur, so why did your army tear up the secret agreement between us? Kazuo Suzuki, who already knew Zhuo Fei's temper, did not make a big accusation, but tried to communicate with Zhuo Fei calmly.

"Mr. Suzuki, you know, our umbrella company is nothing more than a mercenary company, whoever pays for it, we will do things for others. I'm afraid I'm sorry to say to you about this incident, but the British government paid a lot of money for our umbrella to help them rescue the prisoners of war in your custody. Although I am the boss of the umbrella company, I can't look at the benefits that have already been obtained, and besides, there are many employees in the umbrella, and I, as the boss, should also think about them. ”

Zhuo Fei believed that the Japanese must have known about Sir James going to Kuala Lumpur to find him, so the matter of the Independence Army's dispatch to Sumatra was forced on the British government by Zhuo Fei. "Mr. Suzuki, although our umbrella company is not under the command of any country, we cannot ignore the coercion of the British government, and once their garrison in India attacks our rear route, the umbrella may become a piece of duckweed blocked in Southeast Asia."

"We want to avoid conflict with you, and we want to avoid conflict with the British, but to do so will make things more difficult for our umbrella company. If we could, our umbrella company would not choose to attack Sumatra, but since you are here, it is better for us to sit down and discuss a suitable way out for the umbrella company. Not caring about the hesitation in Kazuo Suzuki's eyes, Zhuo Fei motioned for Taylor to take out a map and open it on the table.

"Mr. Suzuki, come and see, here are the five South Asian countries bordering China, here is West Malaysia, and this is Sumatra, and so far, these places have been controlled by our umbrella. If I connect these places together with a red line, and you follow the red line across Java and look all the way down, what do you see? As Zhuo Fei spoke, he took the red pen handed by Taylor and connected these places into a line, and Kazuo Suzuki's gaze involuntarily moved in the direction that Zhuo Fei pointed out on the map, until he suddenly stood up with a shocked face.

"Australia? Is the real purpose of the Independence Army going south for Australia? Kazuo Suzuki stretched out his hand and pointed to the map on the table, looking at Zhuo Fei with a shocked face. The fact that the Independence Army was able to control the entire five countries of South Asia, that it was able to defeat the 5th and 18th Divisions in West Malaysia, and that it was now suddenly crossing the strait to attack Sumatra, and that the map on the table with a red line on the table just proved what Zhuo Fei had just said, and this was the reason why Kazuo Suzuki was shocked.

After becoming the right-hand man of the Cabinet, Kazuo Suzuki was also fortunate to have access to some so-called secrets of the Cabinet, and he naturally knew that before the Imperial Navy took the initiative to attack Hawaii and Midway and pointed the spearhead of war at the American continent, the top echelons of the Empire were originally interested in Australia. It's just that no one would have imagined that the war in the Americas would go so smoothly, and the Imperial Navy not only took the bridgeheads in Hawaii and Midway, but also successfully sent the army to the west coast of the United States. In such a strong situation, the top cabinet members seem to have forgotten about Australia, and Kazuo Suzuki had no idea that the umbrella company was targeting Australia.

"That's right, Mr. Suzuki, it's Australia. The real purpose of our Umbrella Company to help the British government is for Australia, and the Umbrella Company needs a continent as a rear base. The Australian continent, far away from the strife, is very suitable for becoming the base camp of the umbrella company, and we do not want to be an enemy with you Japan, and we also do not want to be an enemy with the British, so we have to stay away from the war, and I believe that Australia will be a good choice. ”

Kazuo Suzuki, who was fooled by Zhuo Fei, didn't know how he returned to the Philippines, and after listening to Kazuo Suzuki's account, Yamashita Fengwen was furious, because Yamashita Fengwen didn't believe what Zhuo Fei said at all. The Australian continent is a colony of the British, but it only helped the British government to rescue more than 10,000 prisoners of war, not enough to make the British give up the entire Australian continent, and the area of the Australian continent is not small, how can the greedy and arrogant British give up the umbrella in vain.

"Of course I lied to that Kazuo Suzuki, but the Umbrella Company must be prepared to move to the Australian mainland, and our maritime power is almost negligible, and it will be difficult to protect the territory we control in Southeast Asia. Compared with South Asia and even Southeast Asia, the geographical location and environment of the Australian continent are much better, and the British are now taking care of themselves, which is a good time for us to penetrate into the Australian continent. ”