"You don't have to think too much, even if Tigara controls the army of the southern faction, he can't afford to throw any big waves." When Liu Zunshan said this, he was obviously enlightening Ding Zhennan. "Our advance is not fast, and the 17th Panzer Division will soon be deployed. When the time comes, the Vatican army will have to defend Jaipur. In my personal opinion, Tigara has done so many things that in the end it has to give up the southern region. ”

As soon as Liu Zunshan's words fell, Ding Zhennan raised his head and looked at him with a shocked gaze.

feelings, as if I don't know the person who said this.

"This is just my own speculation, whether it is ...... or not" Liu Zunshan was obviously a little lacking in confidence, after all, analyzing the battlefield situation and judging the development of the battle situation was not his strong point.

"That's true."

"What?"

Ding Zhennan smiled before saying: "Although we know that Tigala is very shrewd and smart, and does not lack determination and courage, but judging from the current situation, we still don't know enough about him, and we can even say that we underestimated him, so we made a wrong judgment. ”

"Is he that good?"

"Like you said, you have to give up the South in the end. However, he will make all preparations before this to ensure that after abandoning the southern region, it will not have an impact on the overall war situation, especially the northwest battlefield, at least to a minimum. ”

Obviously, Ding Zhennan really didn't think of this possibility before this, that is, Tigala would break his arm and take the initiative to give up the southern region that he couldn't hold at all.

Liu Zunshan frowned, obviously not understanding what Ding Zhennan meant.

Is it possible to abandon the southern region, which occupies almost half of the country's land area, and it will not have an impact on the overall situation of the war?

Don't say that Tigara is a new generation of politicians who grew up after the war, even the founding father of the Van Luo Kingdom would not dare to do such a thing.

In addition, the fundamental purpose of the brutal interference in Silan's internal affairs, secretly supporting rebel armed groups, and providing support to the rebel army in the civil war was to strengthen its control over the southern region, so that the Liang Xia Empire could not use Silan to interfere in its internal affairs.

The point is that the princely states on the Deccan Plateau did not actively join the Van Luo Kingdom, but were conquered by the Van Luo army in the second wave of national movements. Even with the recognition of the Decheng regime, the more than a dozen states in the southern region still retained considerable autonomy. For example, many of them have their own official languages, and retain local armed forces that are no less effective than the regular army, as if they were a country within a state.

As long as the restrictions are relaxed, I am afraid that these states will become independent.

If it really came to this point, Tigala was the national sinner of the Brahma Kingdom.

Does he dare to do that?

Although he saw that Liu Zunshan had doubts, Ding Zhennan didn't explain much.

Whether or not Tigara was willing to risk becoming a national sinner and abandon the southern region in wartime was, fundamentally, not up to him.

Now, the battle situation is very obvious, and there are few choices in front of Tigala.

The 5th Marine Division marched wildly to the south of the western theater, clearly intent on cutting out Gujarat, avoiding the heavy forces deployed in Jaipur, and going around the rear of the Vatican line to pose a threat to Kota and cut off the southern and northern battlefields in one fell swoop.

Crucially, it also opened the door to march into the Gangaro Plain.

As long as Kota is captured, the Eastern Coalition will be able to move south along the Changbar River and pose a threat to the strategic town of Agra, southeast of Decheng.

Agra is located in the western part of the Gangaro Plain, and is also the southeastern gateway to the city, and is the transportation hub connecting the northwest and northern regions. Without Agra, the northwest will be left alone, and there will be no need to get supplies from the north, such as the vital grain.

There is no doubt that the strategic value of Agra militarily is not below Jaipur.

What's worse is that with the combat effectiveness of the Van army, especially those armies of the northern faction, not to mention holding Kota, it is a great luck to be able to retreat to Agra.

As long as the 5th Marine Division is riveting, it will have a great deal of confidence to take Kota and march to Agra.

At least, that's what Van Lo leaders, including Tigara, think.

The problem was that troops from the vicinity of Jaipur could not be sent to guard Kota.

In fact, this is also the key to Ding Zhennan's promise to Fu Weimin to let the 17th Armored Division go north in advance and prepare for an attack in Sukkur.

As long as the 50,000 officers and soldiers of the 17th Armored Division arrive in Sukkur, even if they don't do their right thing, basking in the sun, drinking beer, and eating barbecue in the barracks all day long, they can keep the leaders of Decheng Van Luo awake at night, after all, when these 50,000 troops are mobilized, it will be absolutely unstoppable.

During the Battle of Poshawan, the 17th Panzer Division set a record of assaulting more than 300 kilometers in one day.

Even if the road from Sukkur to Jaipur is less than 900 kilometers, it will only take 3 days to advance at the fastest assault speed.

Crucially, the 17th Panzer Division may not go to Jaipur.

If the 5th Marine Division has already opened up the situation in the south, such as capturing Kota, then the 17th Panzer Division is likely to make a strategic interlude and join forces with the 5th Panzer Division to encircle Jaipur. If the Vatican army collapses too quickly, it is even possible to include Agra.

As long as the Van forces deployed around Jaipur were encircled and annihilated, the Van Luo authorities had no choice but to surrender.

It can be seen that even if it is necessary to strengthen the defensive deployment in the direction of Kota and Agra, it can only draw troops from other directions, that is, from the southern battlefield.

Undoubtedly, this is also the reason why Tigara took the southern faction at this time.

If it's too late, I'm afraid it'll be too late.

Crucially, at the time of making this decision, Tigara must have known that as the Vatican strengthened its defenses in the direction of Kota, it was very likely that the 5th Marine Division, which had been killed from the west, would turn south, sweep through Gujarat, and march into Mumbai when the time came.

In addition, it is possible that the 5th Marine Division will advance inland along the Narmada River on its way south.

This offensive line was actually strategically interspersed from the north of the Tepra Mountains, passing through Bhopal and Jabalpur, advancing to the central part of the Gangaro Plain, and the troops were aimed at Patna in the eastern part of the Gangaro Plain, thus cutting the entire southern region.

However, the military value, or to be precise, the strategic value of this offensive line, is still to be discussed.

This is even more true from the standpoint of the Van Roe authorities.

The reason is that the premise of the Eastern Alliance's advance along this line is actually that the Van Luo authorities have abandoned the southern region and have no intention of fighting a decisive battle with the coalition forces in the southern region.

Then, the impact of cutting out the southern region is naturally minimal.

As for going north through this route, that is, the implementation of strategic encirclement of the north and northwest regions, it is also redundant.

The reason is also very simple: the naval blockade itself has the effect of strategic encirclement.

In addition, even if a strategic encirclement was achieved on the ground battlefield, it was still necessary to defeat the Van army in battle and capture major towns such as Decheng.

No matter how strong the Eastern Coalition is, it is impossible to capture the northern and northwestern regions with a population of more than 700 million in a few battles.

Since it needs to be advanced step by step, what is the value of implementing strategic encirclement?

In order to achieve strategic encirclement, they are burdened with heavy logistical support, which will inevitably turn into a nightmare for the Eastern Coalition in the end.

As for the occupation of Mumbai, it doesn't make much sense.

If the Eastern Coalition really intends to occupy the city, which has more than 20 million inhabitants, it will not need to attack from the ground at all, and launch an amphibious landing operation. Having the 5th Marine Division come ashore near Bompai would also save the trouble of maintaining thousands of kilometers of logistical supply lines.

From this point of view, Tigara has every reason to believe that even if he draws troops from the south, there will not be much trouble in the short term. Even if the Eastern Coalition Army conquered the city in the southern region, it was only a temporary pride, and the impact on the overall battle situation was actually very limited.

Then, Tigara has enough reason to strengthen the deployment of troops in the northwest theater.

In addition, that is, to stick to Kota.

Still from the point of view of the Vatican army, if the Fifth Marine Division can be held back in Kota, the Eastern Coalition forces can be forced to exert force in the west, and the combat burden of the 17th Panzer Division will be increased, for example, if the troops can be divided south to assist the Fifth Marine Division in the battle, there is hope for a war of annihilation to the west of Jaipur.

That's right, the object of annihilation was the 17th Panzer Division.

As long as this battle is completed, the Vatican army has great hope of holding the northwest region, at least revitalizing the battle situation and gaining room for maneuver and reversal.

Don't forget that the northwest is the main battlefield, and the main direction of operations in the northwest theater is in the north.

Don't look at the hundreds of thousands of troops deployed near Jaipur, several armored divisions and infantry divisions are from the Central Army, but most of the main forces of the Central Army are north of Decheng, facing the Northwest Frontier Force of the Empire. For decades, the Van Rowe authorities have prioritized the threat from the north.

Clearly, Tigara was also thinking about the threat from the north first.

What he was most worried about was that when the 17th Panzer Division and the 5th Marine Division stormed Jaipur, the Empire's Northwest Frontier Army rushed down from the Wuji Plateau. If Pakistan and Tie launch an attack in the northwest at the same time, even if it is a counterattack to contain the Van army in that direction, perhaps in a few days, the battle flag of the Eastern Alliance Army will appear in the sky above Decheng, and the Van Luo Kingdom will also be wiped out with the fall of Decheng.

In this situation, the only chance is to destroy the 17th Panzer Division before Jaipur is besieged, and at least the main force of the 17th Panzer Division.

Fundamentally, it is to avoid the siege of Jaipur and to remove the threat to Jaipur.

The reason is also very simple, the main force of the Vatican army deployed in Jaipur is not only responsible for guarding the southern gate of Decheng, but also a strategic reserve.

Combining these factors, it is not difficult to understand why Tigara is in a hurry to take advantage of the southern faction.

After thinking about this, it can be found that the key to this battle is actually to consume as much of the Van army's vital strength as possible before storming Jaipur, forcing the Van army to transfer the main forces deployed in Jaipur, and the idea of encircling and annihilating the 17th Panzer Division has become empty talk.

It's just not a smart move.

The reason is that the southwest battlefield itself is not the main direction of attack, and even if two main forces are invested, it is only to deceive the enemy.

In addition, it was planned that after the start of the main offensive operation, the 5th Marine Division would have to move to the east coast.

In other words, the only one who supported the field here in the end was the 17th Panzer Division.

Without the assistance of the Fifth Marine Division, the 17th Armored Division may not need to make a large-scale adjustment to the Van army after penetrating deep into the territory of the Van Luo Kingdom, but the few armored divisions and mechanized infantry divisions deployed in Jaipur can cause huge trouble, and the tide of the battle may even be reversed.

It's not that Ding Zhennan doesn't believe in the combat effectiveness of the 17th Armored Division, but when the time comes, the forces that can be used to support the 17th Armored Division are very limited. Take tactical aviation as an example, it must be used in the main direction of attack, and several air forces on the Pakistani railway side still have to take care of the northwest battlefield.

For Ding Zhennan, the problem now is to ensure that the 17th Panzer Division can hold back the main force of the Van army without making too many adjustments to the operational deployment, so that the Van Luo authorities can firmly believe that the main direction of attack of the Eastern Group has always been here, and the operation on the east coast is a feint.

When thinking about this problem, Ding Zhennan had unconsciously walked to the side of the sand table.

Although there has long been an electronic map, which can be directly projected on the big screen, in order to take care of the "older generation" generals Fu Weimin and Hou Chensheng, Ding Zhennan asked the staff officers to set up a battlefield sand table and mark out the detailed data of the main locations, especially the big cities.

Relatively speaking, the situation on the battlefield is clear at a glance on the sand table.

"Looks like we still have to fight a good fight."

"How?"

Glancing at Liu Zunshan, Ding Zhennan's gaze returned to the sand table, and he rubbed his forehead vigorously, his expression was still extremely grim.

Liu Zunshan is a fierce general who is good at charging into battle, and it is not his ability to strategize.

"If you want me to say, 'dry' is just one word, why do you need ......"

"Even if you do it, you have to think clearly before you do it."

Liu Zunshan rolled his eyes, but also closed his mouth. Walking all the way from Poshawan, he had long lost his temper in front of Ding Zhennan.

If it weren't for Ding Zhenna's personal name, Liu Zunshan would not have been able to rise to the level of a battlefield commander.

Of course, Liu Zunshan has more admiration and respect for Ding Zhennan.

Looking at the whole world, in just a few months, with less than 100,000 troops, the enemy's million-strong army can be wiped out, except for Ding Zhenna, there is really no second person.

After pondering for a while, Ding Zhennan spoke: "As you said, you really have to do it, and it has to be done by the Fifth Marine Division." ”

"No problem, don't talk about the whole division, give me ...... again"

Glared at by Ding Zhennan, Liu Zunshan closed his mouth again.

"Let me think again. If you don't have anything else, go to the division headquarters and ask Division Commander Hou to come over, and say that you will go back to the headquarters to report on your work and have a meal together. ”

"You're going too?"

Ding Zhennan was speechless, and couldn't help but roll his eyes. If he doesn't go, he needs to make these arrangements?

Fortunately, Liu Zunshan immediately understood.

Ding Zhennan made this arrangement, in fact, he wanted to have a good talk with Hou Chensheng through him, after all, Liu Zunshan and Hou Chensheng are both from the Marine Corps.

"Okay, I'll go to the division headquarters now. Come over early, I still have a bottle of good wine from China, and my brother and I will have a few drinks. ”

Ding Zhennan didn't say much, just nodded and agreed.

After Liu Zunshan turned to leave, his gaze returned to the sand table, wandering several times on the icons of several major cities in the western battlefield, and finally stopped at a less obvious but geographically important icon, and he did not move away for a long time.