Three hours later, several reconnaissance planes sent back the news that they had searched for thousands of nautical miles, but they found no trace of the East India Fleet, and they seemed to have disappeared out of thin air.

"That's weird, did they withdraw? Are the British really going to give up like that? Chen Shaokuan said suspiciously.

Jiang Haoran said: "This is not necessarily, in such a large sea area, there is always a place where the plane can't see, maybe it is possible for them to hide somewhere, I suspect that this possibility is relatively large, and it is a bit unrealistic for them to give up like this." ”

"Is it necessary for them to hide from us?"

"Maybe they're not hiding from us, they're waiting for reinforcements in a harbor, and don't forget, they've sent out three landing divisions, and it will take some time to get from Egypt to the Indian Ocean."

Chen Shaokuan nodded, seemed to agree with Jiang Haoran's statement, and said, "Then what should we do now, are we still fighting Singapore?" ”

"Of course we fight, whether they participate or not, we have to fight Singapore, I prefer if they don't come."

"Aren't you afraid that we will take Singapore, but they will run out to share the fruit?"

"Hmph, this is fresh, I have never heard of anyone who dares to snatch food in Lao Tzu's mouth."

"And what if they show up while we're attacking and start a robbery with us?"

"Then it depends on who has the longer hand and the higher skill."

Chen Shaokuan was speechless, but Lin Long on the side covered his mouth and smiled, and said, "Commander Chen, you can't win a war of words?" ”

Chen Shaokuan smiled awkwardly and said, "It's not just a verbal battle, I'm afraid I can't win the general seat." ”

"Not necessarily!" Lin Long said quickly.

"Oh, what does Adjutant Lin have to say?"

"Age, the sojo will never be able to beat you in age."

"Hahaha......"

The command headquarters suddenly ushered in a burst of laughter, if it weren't for the tense wartime and serious meetings, Jiang Haoran liked this atmosphere very much, and he would never put an official in front of his subordinates, and there was no need for this, the reason why he was able to convince the public was because of his ability, and no one could do it, so in his spare time, the atmosphere in the headquarters was never too depressing, and even Jiang Haoran himself would sometimes take the initiative to gag with them for a while, not that he wanted to use this method to take the pro-people line, It's that he was originally such a person in his bones.

Because of this, no matter what command he was in, he would quickly get along with the junior officers.

After a joking, Chen Shaokuan asked the most crucial question, how should they fight Singapore?

After the end of World War I, Britain spent 500 million yuan in Singapore to build a fortress-like naval base over a period of twenty or thirty years, and Winston Churchill, then British Prime Minister, called Singapore "the Gibraltar of the East". It is a pity that this naval base does not have any warships.

The British strategy was to station the Royal Navy in Europe and send Singapore over when necessary, but it gave the island army an opportunity to land on the Malay Peninsula and enter from the rear, easily capturing Singapore.

Therefore, Singapore's defense capability is absolutely first-class, and a frontal attack may not be easy, and the number of troops and firepower to be invested will be a huge number.

Moreover, according to the information obtained, the garrisons of the island forces in Singapore and Malaya have a transport fleet, an aircraft carrier squadron, including three aircraft carriers, one light and two heavy, and an escort fleet consisting of more than 40 cruisers and destroyers.

The airports in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore have more than 500 aircraft of various types.

The two armies have a total of four divisions and regiments, with nearly 100,000 troops.

With such protection, firepower and troops, it is not easy to choose a frontal attack or a rear surprise attack.

After Chen Shaokuan finished speaking, a room full of generals began to look serious, obviously, they all felt that this Singapore was not easy to fight, and it would usher in a fierce battle.

Who knew that Jiang Haoran chuckled lightly and said: "You don't need to be so nervous, maybe Singapore is solid in the eyes of others, but for me, it's as simple as picking up things." ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the room looked at Jiang Haoran dumbfounded, and no one even remembered to answer him.

Jiang Haoran said lightly: "I can get it with a set of vole tactics." ”

"Vole tactics?"

There was an exclamation in the command headquarters, Jiang Haoran did not know how many tactics he had used, and everyone in the column could count them, but this vole tactic was unheard of and unseen, and someone immediately exclaimed: "Is it still possible to drill holes in the water?" ”

"Why, do rats only have the ability to make holes?" Jiang Haoran replied with a smile, his eyes swept the audience, but no one could take his words, and no one could figure out what medicine he was selling in his gourd.

But Jiang Haoran did not dispel this doubt for everyone in the end, only said that it would be known soon, and ordered them to enter a state of combat readiness and mobilize all the troop transport ships that could be mobilized in the military port to go to the port of Mengdu.

The three aircraft carrier fleets in front were ordered, except for the First Fleet, which continued to cooperate with the Marines on Sumatra, and the other Second and Third Fleets immediately returned to their homes and stood by in the area of the Gretel Strait and the Tenth Degree Strait.

At the same time, Lin Long was ordered to send a telegram to Huang Jieluo Zhuoying, urging all troops to speed up the march, especially the attack on Pingmanna.

……

The next day, the headquarters of the expeditionary force sent a telegram saying that all units had arrived at their designated positions as scheduled in accordance with Jiang Haoran's instructions, that all units of the Yuanyi Group Army had been in place to launch an attack on Pingmanna, that the heavy artillery division had carried out a large-scale bombardment in the early hours of the morning, and that the tank division and infantry division would immediately carry out a crushing attack.

On the third day, the second and third aircraft carrier flotillas arrived at the designated positions.

Jiang Haoran immediately sent a telegram to Yang Honglie, ordering all fighters and bombers on the aircraft carrier to take off and launch intensive bombing of Singapore and the entire territory of the Malay Peninsula, focusing on destroying the enemy's airfields and fortifications, and seizing air supremacy within three days.

According to the current position of the aircraft carriers, all eight aircraft carriers have entered the optimal combat radius of Singapore and the Malay Peninsula for attack.

Of the eight aircraft carriers, except for one light aircraft carrier in the task force, all of which are helicopters, the other seven are all conventional equipment, and each aircraft carrier can carry 60 or 70 aircraft of various types.

The reason why Jiang Haoran transferred the aircraft carrier to the area of the Gretel Strait and the Shidu Strait before launching the attack was to shorten the distance between the aircraft carrier and Chittagong, so that no matter how serious the battle damage in front was, the rear reinforcement would continue to drive to the battlefield, so as to ensure that the attack strength would not be weakened because of the battle damage.