Before leaving for India, Goering proposed that in recognition of Chen Dao's contribution to the development of the Air Force's new weapons and the establishment of the Air Force Field Division, Chen Dao should be promoted to Luftwaffe general, and strongly recommended that Chen Dao become the commander of the German Indian Expeditionary Force as an air force general. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Hitler did not take a stand on Goering's suggestion, but conveyed Goering's proposal to the new commander-in-chief of the army, Field Marshal Reichenau.

Marshal Reichenau immediately remembered that when Hitler asked Chen Dao who would be the new commander-in-chief of the army, Chen Dao did not hesitate to recommend himself.

People should know gratitude, and they must understand the hints of their superiors.

Field Marshal Reichenau immediately issued an order to promote General Rosen to the rank of General of the German Army and award him the Knight's Iron Cross with oak leaves in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Battle of Leningrad.

Hitler readily agreed, and rejected Goering's request to make Chen Dao commander-in-chief of the Indian Expeditionary Force as a German army general.

Coincidentally, something similar happened in the United States.

At the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower had only the rank of brigadier general.

After the United States declared war on Japan, Marshall urgently transferred Eisenhower to Washington, D.C., where he served as Chief of Army Operations and was promoted to Major General.

After the decision was made to send troops to India to fight, Eisenhower, who was politically savvy, was appointed commander of the expeditionary force and was urgently promoted to four-star general in order to deal with the complex political and military relations between the Indian coalition forces.

In one year, Eisenhower was promoted from brigadier general to four-star general, which can be said to be a rocket-like promotion speed.

On December 12, on the eve of the arrival of Chen Dao and Eisenhower in Calcutta, Sir Wavell, Viceroy of India of the British Empire, also ushered in a momentous moment in his life.

In the presence of the commander of the Italian Expeditionary Force, Admiral Batista, he was promoted to the rank of British Field Marshal.

When Chen Dao and Eisenhower stepped off the train and stood on the platform of the Calcutta railway station, they were surprised to find that the former General Wavell had become Field Marshal Wavell.

On the same day, Wavell hosted a welcome dinner to entertain Chen Dao and Eisenhower.

At the dinner, Chen Dao first toasted frequently with his old subordinate Hasso von Mandolfel.

After deciding to leave for India, Chen Dao decisively made personnel adjustments, promoted Colonel Schumacher, the former commander of the armored regiment of the Imperial Marshal Division, to major general, and became the new division commander.

Mandolfer was promoted to Luftwaffe general and became deputy commander-in-chief of the German Expeditionary Force and chief of staff.

After the appointment was issued, Mandol took the members of the staff and the engineer unit to India to conduct battlefield research and find a suitable place to build a military camp.

After Mandolfir, Chen Dao warmly toasted with his old friend in North Africa, Admiral Batista, commander of the Italian Expeditionary Force, reminiscing about the glorious days when the two sides fought and chased Wavell together in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

In addition to his old subordinates and comrades-in-arms, Chen Dao also made new friends at the dinner, General Stilwell, commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and General Zheng Dong (Harmony), deputy commander-in-chief.

After the dinner, Chen Dao rested for the night in a luxurious suite that had been prepared, and got up early in the early morning of the next day to attend the first joint military meeting held in the hotel conference room.

Marshal Wavell undoubtedly took the lead at the conference table, and after some modesty, Chen Dao sat down in the first position to the right of Marshal Wavell, and the following were Battista Mandolfer and others.

Eisenhower sat in the first position on the left hand side of Marshal Wavell, and here were Stilwell and Zheng Dongguo.

Marshal Wavell saw that the personnel had arrived, and said: "Gentlemen, we will now begin to discuss the next battle plan of the coalition forces. ”

Chen Dao raised his head and looked directly at Eisenhower, who was sitting opposite, Admiral Batista had already hooked up with Chen Dao, and also looked at Eisenhower without speaking.

Eisenhower and Chen Dao met their eyes, and then said: "As for the next battle, my plan is this. ”

Eisenhower got up and walked to the map, pointed to the map and said his battle plan, which he had discussed with Chen Dao on the train.

When Eisenhower had finished, Field Marshal Wavell said, "What do you think of General Eisenhower's proposal?" ”

Chen Dao was the first to speak.

"I agree with General Eisenhower's suggestion that for the time being, this is the most suitable battle plan for the current situation."

Admiral Batista followed suit.

"I also agree with General Eisenhower's plan."

Stilwell and the others naturally did not oppose this battle plan, and everyone's eyes returned to Wavell.

Under the gaze of everyone, Marshal Wavell's only remaining right eye blinked, and a wave of emotion brewed at first.

"I don't think this plan is a bit appropriate, first of all, to land in Yangon from the sea, and first to seize the sea control of the Bay of Bengal. The German Navy was able to supply only two aircraft carriers, which was not at all an opponent of the Japanese Navy, and we could not guarantee the safety of the landing force. ”

"The Italian Navy can also supply two aircraft carriers." Admiral Batista said.

"Can the two merchant converted aircraft carriers be put into service?" Chen Dao asked.

Admiral Battista said: "Yes, the aircraft carriers Eagle and Sparrowhawk, converted by our Navy from the ocean liners Roma and Augustus, have been completed and are ready for battle. ”

"Even with the addition of these two aircraft carriers, our navy operating in the Indian Ocean region has only four aircraft carriers, which is less than half the number of aircraft carriers of the Japanese Navy," Marshal Wavell said. The seizure of sea supremacy remains a daunting task. ”

General Joseph Stilwell, a soldier with a wrinkled face and large gold-rimmed glasses, first frowned when he heard Marshal Wavell's explanation, and then said: "Mr. Marshal, the Japanese have more aircraft carriers than us, but please don't forget that our counteroffensive plan is to be carried out in March next year. At that time, the U.S. Pacific Fleet and the British Pacific Fleet would attack from Hawaii or Australia, and the Japanese Navy would have to deal with two fronts, and would not send all its navies to the Indian Ocean. ”

Marshal Wavell said: "But even if the Japanese send only half of their naval forces, it is enough to threaten us, and we still cannot guarantee sea supremacy in the Bay of Bengal." ”

Chen Dao interjected: "It is too early to say whether the Japanese navy will threaten us, and it is too arbitrary to deny the plan on this ground, and we still have two and a half months to prepare." What if we seize the sea supremacy of the Bay of Bengal in two and a half months? ”

"There are no ifs in war." Marshal Wavell said.

Chen Dao said: "Mr. Marshal is right, there is no if in war. Let's assume that, as Mr. Marshal insisted, if we are unable to seize sea supremacy, we can modify the plan and cancel the landing operation on Rangoon. With only two other ground forces, the task of recovering Burma can be accomplished. ”

"We think that this can happen, so we have a backup plan," Eisenhower said. That is, to cancel the landing battle on Rangoon, and at the same time, to reduce the original operational goal of recovering all of Burma to open up the Sino-Indian communication line.

The specific plan was for the troops to march from Assam, India, through the Hukang Valley, to Myitkyina, and join forces with the expeditionary force from China at Myitkyina. Our troops were followed by a road construction team to build the road all the way to Myitkyina and connect it with the Yunnan-Burma Highway, so that supplies could be transported to China by land and accumulate strength for China's counteroffensive. ”

Chen Dao said: "This plan is more conservative, but it sounds shorter and more feasible. Do you have any other options? ”

Eisenhower said: "There are only two options at the moment. ”

"The Japanese have troops to defend the Hukang River Valley, and you will not be able to cross the Hukang River Valley. In the language of the locals, it is where the devil lives, and the terrain there is a disaster for the attacking side. Marshal Wavell said.

Chen Dao keenly saw a trace of disgust flashing in Eisenhower's eyes, and said with a smile: "As far as I know, the Hukang Valley was originally in our hands, and when the Japanese seized it, why didn't disaster below them?" ”

The faces of Wavell, Stilwell and the others suddenly became cloudy, and without waiting for Wavell to explain, Chen Dao continued: "General Eisenhower has already stated his plan, and I very much agree with his plan, but Mr. Marshal seems to be not very satisfied with these two plans. We can do this, Mr. Marshal, you come up with a battle plan, and we will study it together. ”

Wavell's right eye swept up and down Chen Dao's body several times, and then said, "Of course I have my own battle plan. My plan of operations is not to attack this spring and summer, but to wait until after the rainy season. There are only two seasons, the rainy season and the dry season, and if we attack in March, we will soon enter the rainy season. At that point, it will be difficult for the troops on the front line to get supplies, which will be very dangerous. ”

Eisenhower asked, "What month is the rainy season after that?" ”

"At least until next October." Stilwell said.

Marshal Wavell said: "Yes, it is next October. Nine months of preparation time will allow us to accumulate supplies, train our troops, and most importantly we will build enough ships and have plenty of time to seize sea supremacy, and then we will have the strength to carry out whatever Admiral Dwight D. Eisenhower calls for a counteroffensive. ”

Chen Dao snickered in his heart, but lowered his head and put on a pensive look.

Of the five countries participating in the meeting, apart from Britain, Marshal Wavell's plan to postpone the counteroffensive can be said to have offended at least three countries.

First of all, China, at this time China was still an agricultural country, its military industry simply could not support a long-term national war, and the transportation volume of the Hump Route was simply not enough to maintain the logistics supply of the national army.

The Chinese expeditionary force stranded in India was homesick and must have been in a hurry to return home.

Marshal Wavell's bad idea will certainly arouse collective opposition from President Chiang Kai-shek and the officers and men of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

Speaking of the United States, in 1943, the Pacific theater will be the year of the Allied counteroffensive.

Whether it is from Hawaii or Australia, the United States Navy and Marine Corps are the main force, and only the troops from India are mainly land forces.

For the United States, victory is victory, and there is no difference, but for the generals of the various branches of the United States, the meaning of victory under the leadership of which service is completely different.

In particular, when the US Army and Navy have been defeated in successive battles, it will be a great honor that cannot be measured in money if any branch of the US military can take the lead in winning a major victory in a war against Japan.

Dwight D. Eisenhower said that we need a win so badly.

Chen Dao knew that there was a subtext hidden underneath.

If this great victory had been achieved under the command of General Eisenhower of the US Army, it would have been flawless.

The third country offended by Marshal Wavell was, naturally, Germany.

Germany, like Italy, was a secondary player in the Indian theater, but because of the presence of two people, Germany also needed to urgently open up ground ties with China.

The first person is naturally Chen Dao, who has a special relationship with China, and the other person is Mr. Ge.

After the German and Japanese turned against each other, Japan soon occupied Burma in full.

China's connection with the outside world can only rely on the Hump route.

As a result, the "scrap steel business" between Germany and China has been completely disrupted.

With the successive victories of the Soviet-German battlefield, Germany captured a large amount of arms at the hands of the Soviet army, which was conservatively estimated to arm five million people.

With the general mobilization of German industry and the large-scale upgrading and replacement of troops, the obsolete weapons were piled up in warehouses, and there were tens of millions of Mauser 98K rifles alone, plus the previous backlog of Czech equipment, French equipment, Polish equipment and Belgian equipment, etc., a total of more than 20 million people could be armed.

Chen Dao went to India, in addition to his personal feelings, that is, he was entrusted by President Ge to open up trade routes with China, and seize the market with the German version of the Lend-Lease Act and the American version of the Lend-Lease Act.

In addition, Chen Dao, as the boss of Abwehr, opened a business welfare office for his subordinates, and raised funds within the organization, and the use of the raised funds was the arms trade.

Now, Marshal Wavell has proposed that the counteroffensive be postponed to October next year, which is an act of naked-naked-naked cutting off people's money.

China can tolerate this kind of immoral behavior, the United States cannot tolerate it, the United States can tolerate it, but Germany cannot tolerate it.

Wavell, an old fellow, doesn't you know that there is an old Chinese saying that "cutting off people's wealth is equivalent to killing parents"?

Wavell, an old fellow, don't you know that there is an old Chinese saying that "if you cut off my wealth, I will cut off your life"?

Chen Dao raised his head and looked at everyone's reactions, and sure enough, he saw Eisenhower and Stilwell frowning, and General Zheng even glared at Wavell with cross-eyebrows.

As for Admiral Battista beside him, he was heartless.

Chen Dao made up his mind in an instant, since Marshal Wavell cut himself off from the people, he would push him and be a good person.

Chen Dao said: "General Eisenhower and I have just arrived in India, and we are not familiar with the geographical environment here and the combat style of the Japanese army, and the troops have not yet arrived. Each of them went back to do battlefield research, reorganized the troops, stockpiled all kinds of war materials, and after Christmas, before the New Year, we had another meeting. ”

Marshal Wavell said happily: "I agree, you don't know anything about the situation here, and you need to do an investigation. ”

Eisenhower hesitated for a moment, then said, "Okay, let's go back and train the troops and do a battlefield survey first." ”

After the meeting was adjourned, Eisenhower and others stopped Chen Dao.

Stilwell said, "General Rosen, have our weapons arrived?" We are now in dire need of weapons to train the army. ”

According to the agreement between Germany and the United States, in order to reduce logistical pressure, the German marines, after arriving in the United States, will receive American equipment and then go to war.

The Chinese Expeditionary Force was supposed to be armed by the United States, but for the same reason, Germany provided weapons instead.

Specifically, the new 22nd and 38th divisions under the expeditionary force have completed training in American-style equipment.

Only the newly arrived 30 divisions, as well as follow-on units, received German weapons.

After this exchange, the debts of Germany and the United States on this batch of weapons were offset against each other.

Chen Dao nodded and said: "The first batch of weapons has arrived in India with me, you can send someone to the German military camp the morning after tomorrow to get it, as well as the new military uniform." ”