Early the next morning, Tan Renhao came to the naval headquarters and went directly to Gan Yongxing. What surprised him a little was that Gan Yongxing came earlier than him, and when he rushed over, Gan Yongxing had already eaten breakfast, and the secretary was putting away the plates.

"Have you had breakfast?"

"Ate it on the way." Tan Renhao was not polite, after he hung his hat on the coat rack, he went directly to the sofa and sat down. "Do you know about Gu Xunlei's coming to the Navy Headquarters?"

"I heard about it two days ago, Yan Dingyu arranged for him to come, right?" Gan Yongxing also walked over, "The army has begun to prepare for the invasion of the Australian mainland, and we have also sent liaison officers to the army headquarters to coordinate the actions of the two armies. If Yan Guozhong can conquer the New Hebrides and New Caledonia as planned, then we can successfully land in Australia. ”

"Early next year?" Tan Renhao took the teacup from the secretary.

"Yes, at the beginning of next year, there is no change in the plan now." Gan Yongxing took out a cigarette, "The army is also making troop deployments, and the preparation will take several months, or even half a year." Therefore, it is also very reasonable for Yan Dingyu to arrange Gu Xunlei to come over at this time. ”

"But Gu Xunlei is not in charge of logistics, and he is the commander of the armored corps, is it possible that the troops sent by the army to Australia are mainly armored troops?" Tan Renhao frowned slightly, this doesn't make sense at all.

On the Australian continent, the U.S. army does not have many armored troops, although the southeast of the Australian continent is flat, which is very suitable for rapid armored assaults, but the problem is. The requirements for logistical support in armored forces are several times greater than those of infantry. Judging from the summary of the battlefield on the mainland, the demand for combat materials for armored troops is five times or even more than ten times that of infantry. Especially in terms of fuel, ammunition. The cost of armoured land is staggering. The focus of this attack on Australia was not actually ground operations, but material supplies, all of which needed to be secured by sea, and the routes were thousands of nautical miles.

The convoy made a round trip, including the time it took to load and unload supplies. It takes at least two months. That is, the logistical support is quite difficult. In the absence of much armored troops in the US army, there is no need to invest too many armored troops on the Australian continent, and the attacking troops will be mainly infantry, and the armored troops will at most assume the task of vanguard. Then, the army should arrange an infantry commander to command the ground operation, instead of arranging the commander-in-chief of the empire's armored corps to come to the Australian side, in the mainland battlefield, Gu Xunlei has more room to play.

"This is impossible, we have agreed with the Army. A maximum of five armoured divisions were committed to the Australian mainland, while the rest were infantry. Gan Yongxing immediately replied, "Have you met Gu Xunlei?" ”

Tan Renhao nodded. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked the question.

"You should also know about Gu Xunlei's affairs on the battlefield in Europe, right? In fact, Yan Dingyu sent him over this time, most likely to let him avoid the limelight here, and the German side was already very annoyed. ”

Gan Yongxing sighed. Then he said, "The armored expeditionary force under the command of Gu Xunlei was supposed to cover Guderian's right flank, but as a result, Gu Xunlei did not let the troops go south at all. Judging from the situation in our possession now, he did not have much supplies at that time, and the Germans gave Guderian a batch of fuel that should have been allocated to him, and as a result, he had no way to go south. However, the German side believed that Gu Xunlei deliberately let go of De Gaulle's troops, and he had to be held responsible. ”

"What the hell is going on?" Tan Renhao was a little puzzled, this was not exactly the same as what Gu Xunlei himself said.

"We don't know, we can't say right and who's wrong, and it doesn't matter. De Gaulle's troops had withdrawn, and had already caused considerable trouble for the Germans. The problem now is that Gu Xunlei will definitely not be able to stay in Europe, and Yan Dingyu probably took this into account, so he withdrew him. ”

"Are the Germans ready to pursue it to the end? But the problem is, they are also responsible. ”

"That being said, the problem is, it's not good for either of us, is it?"

Gan Yongxing smiled bitterly, "The prime minister has arranged for someone to go to Germany to meet with the German chancellor, no matter what, France is about to be defeated, and according to the previous agreement, after solving France, Germany will focus on the Eastern Front battlefield, and we will also take corresponding attacks on the mainland battlefield and work together to solve Russia." ”

"So, the German side shouldn't have any problems on this issue, right?"

"It's not something we can care about, it's an army operation, we don't have much information, but, judging from the current situation, Germany is also gathering troops on the Eastern Front, and it will be ready by the end of the year, and if everything goes well, then we will attack in the spring of next year."

Tan Renhao pondered, and the problem was here. The original plan of Germany was to settle France in a year, that is, the war on the Western Front in Europe would probably last until the summer of 26, or even the autumn.

It took several months for the German army and the Imperial Army to adjust their troop deployment, and then launch a strategic offensive against Russia in the spring of '27. And now, France did not hold out for half a year, it was about to be defeated, and the time to attack Russia was advanced to the spring of 26. But the previous plan was that in the spring of 26 (autumn in the southern hemisphere), the army would send troops to attack the Australian mainland, first complete the operation of capturing the Australian continent, and then go all out to deal with Russia. If the attack on Russia is advanced to the spring of 26, will it affect the combat operations on the Australian continent?

The two chatted for a while, and Gan Yongxing did not dare to guarantee that the army would be able to launch a large-scale attack in two directions at the same time, so the navy was also making preparations, and expanding the strength of the Marine Corps by another 30 divisions was the most important backup plan. At that time, if the army is unable to commit a large number of troops on the Australian continent, the Marine Corps will take on the heavy responsibility of attacking. In order to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps, the Navy has also ordered a number of tanks and armored vehicles, and some elite Marine Divisions are equipped with independent armored brigades to strengthen the armored assault force of the Marine Corps. Do a good job of large-scale ground battlefield preparations. In other words, in order to adapt to the needs, the Marine Corps began to transform into a regular ground force.

Other than that. The Navy has also strengthened the establishment of shore-based aviation, when the time comes. It is very likely that the army aviation will not be able to invest too many troops in the Australian direction, so it will have to rely on the strength of the Hainan Airlines to open the way for the ground forces. And the key point of this is that at the beginning of 26, all front-line units in the naval aviation will be equipped with new fighters, and the new tactical bombers will first meet the fleet aviation. Only those with a surplus will be allocated to shore-based aviation.

A newly formed Strategic Strike Force was also retained, originally planned to be deployed to Europe to strengthen Luo Yunchong's forces, but in the end the Navy left the Strategic Strike Fifth Army in the Pacific theater, and now the unit is training in the Ryukyu Islands, and is planned to be deployed to Port Moresby and several airfields in the New Hebrides at the beginning of 26. The Fourth Strategic Strike Army, which had been fighting here, would be transferred to the Central Pacific Theater under the personal command of Liao Hanxiang.

Judging from the various deployments of the Navy, even if there is no participation of the Army, the combat operation to land in Australia will still proceed according to plan. In other words, the Navy is already preparing for a separate attack on the Australian continent. Although this is a backup plan, it shows the determination of the Navy to attack the Australian mainland.

Not much. The secretary came in to report that General Gu Xunlei had arrived. Gan Yongxing didn't let Tan Renhao avoid it, and then asked the secretary to invite Gu Xunlei in.

"General Gan!" Gu Xunlei greeted Gan Yongxing first, and then nodded to Tan Renhao. "Xiaguan is on the order of Marshal Yan Dingyu this time, and he has come to coordinate with the navy to attack the combat operations on the Australian mainland."

"We've already received the news, General Gu arrived yesterday, right?" Gan Yongxing handed a cigarette to Gu Xunlei.

"Yes, it was there yesterday afternoon." Gu Xunlei was also very polite, took the cigarette and lit it, "Yesterday, Xia Guan chatted with General Tan, and I heard that the navy is already preparing for an attack on the Australian mainland?" ”

"Of course, we have been preparing, and in the past few years, the purpose of all the Navy's operations has been to take down the Australian continent." Gan Yongxing said very tactfully, "Now, the time is ripe, as long as we conquer the New Hebrides and New Caledonia, we will be able to land on the Australian mainland." The relevant landing fleets and transport fleets are being mobilized, the marines are also being deployed one after another, and the support forces such as the Navy are also rapidly being assembled......"

"So, when will the New Hebrides and New Caledonia be conquered?"

Gu Xunlei asked a very direct question.

"At the end of the year, maybe the beginning of next year, now the offense is playing well." Gan Yongxing stood up as he spoke, "General Gu, I will send someone to send you the information you need, your office is next door to General Tan Renhao, if you have free time, you can contact General Tan Renhao more, I will entrust most of the work to General Tan Renhao to deal with, he is the representative of our navy." ”

Tan Renhao glanced at Gan Yongxing in surprise, not understanding when he had such a title again.

"No problem, I'll send the army's materials as soon as possible." Gu Xunlei also stood up, "General Gan, then I won't bother much, I hope we can cooperate happily in the future." ”

"Of course, we are all fighting for one purpose, and we will definitely be able to work together happily this time." Gan Yongxing looked at Tan Renhao, "Renhao, you send General Gu to his office, and you can come over in the afternoon." ”

"Okay, then I'll come over around three o'clock in the afternoon." Tan Renhao secretly smiled bitterly, he had quite a lot of tasks as a temporary staff officer, and he had become a "jack-of-all-trades".

After walking out of Gan Yongxing's office, Gu Xunlei laughed first. "General Tan, it seems that I have been underestimating you."

"Old Gu, don't laugh at me." Tan Renhao smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Your office is over there, I'll take you over to have a look." I'll arrange for someone to come over and help you decorate it according to your needs. ”

"There's no need for that, is it?" Gu Xunlei is still a little unsuitable for the style of the navy.

"It's okay, we're all like this, each general has his own characteristics, you can't accommodate everything, and a good office location can also improve efficiency, isn't it?" Tan Renhao took Gu Xunlei into the office that had just been cleaned up, "The place is not very big, you can take a look first, my office is next door, if you have anything, you can come to me immediately." ”

In Gu Xunlei's eyes, this office is already very large. His office in the Army Headquarters is only more than 20 square meters, but this office, which Tan Renhao said is "very small", has nearly 50 square meters, which can accommodate several people to work in it, which makes Gu Xunlei feel a little luxurious.

And this also proves those rumors. The army has always pursued a style of hard work and simplicity, while the navy is more extravagant, in all aspects, the navy is more luxurious than the army, the treatment of soldiers, the food of the troops, and even the generals' clothing, etc., the navy is mainly gorgeous and precious, and everywhere reflects the taste of the aristocratic legion, while the army is much simpler.

"Ren Hao, you are now a senior staff officer of the Navy Command?" Gu Xunlei asked a question that was not quite appropriate.

"Sort of, it's only temporary." Tan Renhao shrugged his shoulders, "The official title is still the commander of the first task force, but now the fleet has nothing to do, so I was transferred back to work in the headquarters." ”

"So, you're a jack of all trades."

Tan Renhao shook his head and laughed, he really didn't know how to answer.

"However, it seems that General Gan values you very much." Gu Xunlei nodded as he spoke, "This is also normal, with your talent, the fleet commander seems a little condescending." ”

"Old Gu, you're laughing at me." Tan Renhao didn't know what to say, "Let's have dinner together in the evening, Dongjue is going to the Second Task Force tonight, call him up, it can be regarded as seeing him off." ”

"Then you come to call me in the afternoon, let's go to the city for dinner, it's time for me to treat me today."

Tan Renhao smiled and nodded. "Then I'll call you in the afternoon. By the way, the cafeteria is at the back of the headquarters, and it starts at twelve o'clock at noon, so don't go too early. ”

After settling Gu Xunlei down, Tan Renhao finally breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, he also realized that the chief of staff arranged for him to deal with Gu Xunlei, obviously because he didn't want the army to know too much about the navy's preparations, otherwise, this task could be completely entrusted to an ordinary staff officer.