Hou Chensheng stayed in Silan for two days and returned to Gugibang on the night of December 5.

It was said that it was an inspection, but in fact, it was a meeting with the officers of the 13th Marine Division to determine the subsequent handover work.

Don't look at the division-level troops, the Fifth Marine Division is the main force in the formation, and the Thirteenth Marine Division is the reserve, and the two are not at the same level at all. If the establishment of the Marine Corps is to be expanded, it will also be based on the Fifth Marine Division and will be achieved by adding reserve divisions such as the 13th Marine Division. As a matter of fact, the division headquarters of the Fifth Marine Division has long been expanded and can be upgraded to a corps-level command headquarters at any time.

Hou Chensheng hurried back, mainly because the marines who went north took more than 10 hours to attack, and the southern cluster of the Vatican army south of Deogle was also about to collapse.

The situation is changing too quickly, and there are many important things waiting for Hou Chensheng to go back and deal with.

For example, how to settle the growing number of prisoners of war.

Before the 5th Marine Division launched its attack, it had already taken in tens of thousands of prisoners of war, and all of them were sent by support forces to the rear, that is, to the temporary prisoner of war camp in Palumpur. After carrying out the necessary inspections and reorganizations, they were sent to the rear and handed over to the coalition forces dedicated to the reception and management of prisoners of war. Under normal circumstances, all the Vatican prisoners of war were sent to prisoner of war camps in the desert west of Pakistan, where they were under the unified care of the Pakistani army. If nothing happens, the Vatican POWs will not be repatriated until after the end of the war.

The problem now is that there are simply too many prisoners of war.

On the night of December 5 alone, or before dawn on the 6th to be exact, the assault combat unit contained more than 30,000 prisoners of war.

This number is still increasing at a rate of more than 2,000 people per hour!

Because there were so many prisoners of war to settle in, and due to road traffic conditions, the support troops behind could not keep up, so the assault force slowed down its advance before dawn, and even stopped after dawn, waiting for the support force to take over the prisoners.

Even so, there were still groups of Vatican officers and soldiers who came from across the battle line to surrender to the assault troops.

Almost all of them were wounded, and many of them were already dying, and they were carried to the front of the assault line by their colleagues, and they had no combat effectiveness at all.

Obviously, these Vatican officers and soldiers who were hanging by a thread regarded surrender as a way to save their lives, believing that as long as they laid down their arms and surrendered to the Eastern Coalition forces, they would definitely be able to obtain humanitarian assistance. At least in the past, the Eastern Coalition was indeed selflessly helping the wounded of the Vatican army who surrendered.

But the problem is that the assault force has only a few thousand officers and soldiers in total, and only field doctors accompany them.

As for the field hospital, on the outskirts of Palampur.

If a Marine officer or soldier is wounded, especially if he is seriously wounded, the front-line commander will certainly call a medical helicopter to take the wounded directly to the field hospital.

Obviously, prisoners of war certainly did not enjoy such special treatment.

Besides, the entire Fifth Marine Division only had a dozen or so medical helicopters that could be used to transport the wounded, and it was not their turn to help prisoners of war.

As a result, the front-line commander had to order a ban on the reception of the seriously wounded of the Van army on the morning of December 6.

After Hou Chensheng returned to Gujibang, his first order was to stop the advance of the assault troops and set up a temporary prisoner of war camp on the spot.

Subsequently, he also arranged for helicopters to send dozens of medical workers and a large number of medical equipment to the front line.

Although it is excusable not to admit the seriously wounded of the Vatican army, if you really want to do so, it is tantamount to forcing the hundreds of thousands of Vatican officers and soldiers on the other side of the battle line into a desperate situation. Even if it was a very troublesome thing to contain prisoners of war and treat the wounded, it was much better than fighting a bloody battle with hundreds of thousands of Vatican soldiers.

Besides, there are not many seriously injured people who can really be saved.

Many seriously wounded people were about to die when they were sent to the field hospital, and what the military doctor could do was to inject them with a morphine and let them die peacefully.

In fact, most of the prisoners of war were lightly wounded and did not need to be rescued, and were sent to prisoner of war camps after a simple bandage.

Of course, the key is to show humanitarian care and give desperate Vatican officers and soldiers a little hope, so as to make the right choice under the guidance of hope.

It was not until December 8 that the assault force set off again.

At this time, there were more than 60,000 prisoners of war!

Obviously, it was only a matter of time before the southern cluster fell, and perhaps in two or three days, the fighting south of Deogle would be over.

It's just that the tasks of the 5th Marine Division have not yet been completed.

Hou Chensheng went to Ahmedabad on the afternoon of the 6th to deal with a matter related to the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division.

According to the arrangement made by Ding Zhennan before, after taking Ahmedabad, the two brigades of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division will move south to attack Vadodara, and the Fifth Marine Division will arrange one reinforced regiment to occupy Ahmedabad. If necessary, the 5th Marine Division would have to send troops north to attack Udaipur.

The problem now is that the 24th Infantry Division did not take Ahmedabad as planned.

Of course, the reasons are complex.

For example, the quality of the officers and men of the two additional brigades of the 24 th Mechanized Infantry Division is very average, and the borrowed main battle equipment is not very handy.

Take the main battle tanks as an example, all of them are ZT-80s, and some of them are old models that have been decommissioned for more than 20 years.

Ahmedabad is not only a military hub in Gujibang, but also a transshipment center for war materiel. Before the arrival of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division, more than 500,000 tons of various materials were hoarded in the area, including 200,000 tons of ammunition alone, and food and other daily necessities were enough for the defenders and residents to consume for several months.

It was in this way that the Van army guarding Ahmedabad fought extremely stubbornly.

The 24th Panzer Division made several strong attacks, all of which were thwarted by the Van army after entering the city.

Although reinforcements from the 5th Marine Division were in place, there was only one reinforced regiment, which was about the size of a brigade-sized unit in the Army.

As a result, Ahmedabad can only be surrounded.

Strictly speaking, it only occupied the main transportation routes outside the city, so that the Vatican army in the city could not break through on a large scale and prevent small-scale infiltration.

As for the assault, it cannot be done for the time being, and there is no need for it.

According to the feedback from the combat troops, the Vatican army is very tenacious, but it is seriously lacking in heavy equipment, such as heavy artillery with a huge threat, so it can only retreat in the urban area, relying on the dense buildings in the urban area for defensive operations, and does not have the ability to launch a large-scale counterattack.

For this, a long-term encirclement is sufficient.

Crucially, in the orders issued by the command, there was no requirement to capture the city.

It was for this that the front commander of the 24th Panzer Division proposed that the marines continue to encircle Ahmedabad while they went south as planned.

Moreover, the front-line commander of the 5th Marine Division also thought so.

Not to mention that the troops are not enough, even if there are enough troops, there is no need to go to the city to fight the Vatican army.

Staying in the camp on the outskirts to bask in the sun, from time to time firing a few shots at the city, at most, sending out scouts to guide the targets of the air force attack planes.

What's so bad about it?

After a few months, when the ammunition and food are exhausted, the Vatican army will naturally go out of the city and surrender.

After Hou Chensheng arrived at the front line and grasped the situation, he approved the battle plan provided by the front line commander, but only made adjustments to the battle plan.

Attacking Baroda to the south, there was only 1 brigade instead of the planned 2.

Hou Chensheng clearly told the front-line commander of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division that there was only one infantry division in Baroda at most, and it was very likely that it was a reserve force, with a total strength of no more than 8,000 people, and perhaps less than 5,000 combatants, not even a brigade of the Imperial Army.

With such a small number of troops, it is enough for the enemy to dispatch 1 brigade.

The point is also that the landing fleet has reached the bay of Chobe.

In other words, before the withdrawal of the 5th Marine Division, the landing fleet could provide support to the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division moving south, including the bombardment and bombardment of the Vatican forces in Baroda.

If this is the case, I'm afraid that not even one brigade will need it.

Of course, Hou Chensheng also mentioned one thing.

After the capture of Vadodara, it was necessary to move south to occupy the delta of the mouth of the Narmada River, establish a stronghold on the south bank, and advance upstream.

At that time, the Marines will arrange for an engineering unit to dredge the river and build a temporary pier in the estuary area.

To put it simply, it is to take a pose along the Narmada River.

Actually, this is also part of the battle plan.

The difference is that the necessary actions need to be taken, such as the creation of a bridgehead on the south bank of the Narmada River and the construction of the necessary infrastructure.

Fortunately, the strength of 1 brigade is basically sufficient.

The other brigade will not remain in Ahmedabad either.

According to Hou Chensheng's intentions, the brigade replaced the reinforced regiment of the Fifth Marine Division and went north to attack Udaipur, to be precise, to assist the main force of the Fifth Marine Division in besieging Udaipur, and strive to take this important military town as quickly as possible, so that the Fifth Marine Division could withdraw from this side.

Actually, this is also what Ding Zhennan meant.

The two brigades of the 24th Infantry Division were definitely going north to fight, and after the departure of the 5th Marine Division, they were tasked with assisting the 17th Panzer Division.

In other words, even if Hou Chensheng does not come back, Ding Zhennan will make similar arrangements.

It was precisely for this reason that the front-line commander of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division did not raise objections, but only mentioned the need to strengthen logistical support.

After all, there were no plans to attack Udaipur north from Ahmedabad.

Hou Chensheng also gave a clear answer to this question.

Reinforcements from the Marine Corps, or replacement units, will arrive soon, and the problem of support will be solved by then, and it will only be a matter of days.

Obviously, the combat troops going north to attack Udaipur had to carry a few days' worth of provisions.

In fact, the key is whether the two reinforced regiments of the 13th Marine Division can arrive on time.

It is precisely because of this that after arranging a mission for the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division, Hou Chensheng did not leave Ahmedabad, but went to Baunagar in the south.

This is a port city on the west shore of Chobe Bay and the largest port north of Mumbai.

For this reason, before attacking Ahmedabad, Hou Chensheng arranged for the combat troops to occupy Rajkot to attack Nagar. Because the main force of the Vatican army was all in Ahmedabad, and it was only the local militia that guarded Baunagar, the marines captured the port city at the end of November, and by the way, they cleared the harbor and waterways, and prepared for the convoy and landing fleet.

However, only ships with a displacement of less than 20,000 tons and a blowing depth of no more than 7 meters can enter the port.

This can't be helped, at low tide, the water depth of the port of Baunagar is less than 8 meters, and the main channel is only 10 meters, which is not suitable for large ships to enter and exit.

After all, Baunagarh is just a port in Gujibang, and there is no way to compare it to Mumbai in the south.

Otherwise, Hou Chensheng would not have allowed the Marines to build a temporary wharf at the mouth of the Narmada River.

Arrange for the Fifth Marine Division to leave Gujibang and fight in the east coast area, which is the number one major event for Hou Chensheng's return.

He stayed in Baunagar for 2 days and only went to the front on 11 December.

The front line of the 24th Panzer Division, on the side of Vadodara.

Hou Chensheng didn't say nonsense, the Vatican army in Baroda only had 1 infantry division, with a total of only a few thousand officers and soldiers, not to mention heavy weapons, not even light weapons.

As a result, the 24th Panzer Division launched only one attack, taking the city on 10 December.

To be precise, it was the Vatican army that surrendered on its own initiative.

When Hou Chensheng arrived, the engineering unit of the Fifth Marine Division had already followed the vanguard of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division to the south bank of the Nermada River.

While the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division was building a bridgehead, the engineers of the 5th Marine Division began to build a temporary dock.

Comparatively speaking, the conditions on this side of the Narmada are much better, for example, the water depth of the main channel is more than 20 meters, and the average width is more than 500 meters.

According to the estimation of the engineering troops, five trestle piers can be built in three days.

In this way, it is possible to dock 10 large ships at the same time.

Even if the main battle equipment is included, it will only take five days to send all the combat units of the Fifth Marine Division to the landing ships.

This was two days faster than expected.

It was precisely in this way that on the night of December 13, that is, after the completion of the first trestle test pier, Hou Chensheng sent a telegram to Ding Zhennan.

At this time, the southern cluster of the Vatican army had been completely annihilated.

Although the combat units of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division had not yet arrived, the combat units of the 5th Marine Division had already been withdrawn from the front line after the large-scale combat operations were over. According to Ding Zhennan's arrangement, the Allied support force was responsible for accommodating prisoners of war and clearing the battlefield.

In fact, it was only a matter of holding Deogle and sending the prisoners of war to the rear.

On 12 December, two reinforced regiments of the 5th Marine Division had moved south from Deogle and returned to Palampur along the offensive route.

On the Udaipur side, the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division launched an attack only on the night of 11 December.

In accordance with the requirements of the front-line commanders, the 5th Marine Division did not send troops over, and the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division alone undertook the combat operation of attacking Udaipur.

Although the offensive operation did not go well and encountered some troubles, the overall situation was within the controllable range, and it was mainly its own problems.

In Hou Chensheng's words, these 2 additional brigades of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division have never been normal!

As a matter of fact, this also reflects the problems existing in the combat capability of the additional troops.

Thankfully, it's not a big deal.

The Southern Cluster has fallen, the Vatican Southern Battlefield Command has gone to Kota, and what remains in Udaipur is actually a rabble.

Mainly the rout troops withdrawn from Deogle.

Obviously, it is only a matter of time before Udaipur is taken, and even if it drags on for a while, it will not have much impact on the situation of the battle.

At that time, the main battlefield was Jodhpur in the north.