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Chapter 1731 Germany and France go to war

On the afternoon of 9 May, after conducting a thorough geological survey of Lake Gobudoi in the upper reaches of the Gornopuri River, the Japanese army used nearly 50 tons of explosives to blast four key rivers in the Kilagori Mountains. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

The Japanese troops, who had already retreated to the mountainous areas upstream, did not stop their advance, but accelerated towards the city of Feni at the mouth of the Finney River, and the Japanese army had to take advantage of the arrival of the rainy season in late May to open up the railway transportation line with Assam and the Imphal and Nagaland regions in northern India, otherwise what awaited the Japanese Burmese and Indian Right Wing Army would be an unprecedented defeat.

True, at this time the right wing army of the Burmese and Indian army encountered a huge crisis.

Although there are four Lanyin divisions in charge of logistics, from Mandalay to Assam, only one section of Burma passes by railway and road, and most of the other places are mountains and forests with an altitude of 1,000 to 2,000 meters, and only the ancient tea and horse road is connected, and the logistics troops can only rely on their backs and shoulders to carry them, and use mules, horses, and even elephants to cross rivers, mountains, and primeval jungles, overcome the high temperature of 40 or 50 degrees, and it takes a month to make a round trip of 1,000 kilometers, and the amount of supplies is extremely limited.

After the Japanese army occupied the Assam Plains, the food crisis was alleviated to a certain extent by frantically grabbing the food rations of the local residents.

Assam is not India's grain producing area, in the sixties of the last century, British capitalists began to grow tea on a large scale in the Assam region, by the end of the seventies it has become the largest tea producing area in India, Assam is rich in tea, flooding the international market, Chinese tea monopoly in the global tea market, quickly replaced by cheap Indian tea.

Britain has several major crop producing regions, Assam and Bengal produce tea and jute, Orissa grows rice, Punjabi provides wheat in the Ganges region, Gijarat and the Central Province are rich in cotton, Sri Lanka and southern India are rubber and spice producing areas, and highly colonized India provides Britain with an endless supply of abundant products.

Tea is a good thing, after the pacification of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Qing government relied on tea and raw silk, under the impact of industrial products of European and American powers, it maintained a super position for a long time, and later tea was replaced by India and raw silk before it went to the final decline. Under the colonial system, tea farmers in Assam sold tea in exchange for pounds or rupees to buy grain, but now the Japanese army is like a hungry tiger, more than 300,000 mouths need to eat, tea is naturally unable to meet the needs of the hungry Japanese army, the Japanese army has no care to maintain the image of "liberators", the first thing to do in every place is to raise grain, loot the food in the homes of Indians, the whole Assam is full of weeping and wailing.

The Japanese army sent troops from March 1 to occupy Assam in April, during which they experienced continuous battles with the British army, and the ammunition carried by the troops was basically exhausted, and they originally expected to get supplies from the British, but the British troops in the Imphal area fought to the death, and the weapons and ammunition were exhausted, and the British army in Kohima had run out of ammunition and food before surrendering, and the Japanese capture could be said to be negligible.

Entering April, the British launched a counterattack. The British, Anglo-Indian and Bengal armies, reinforced by rail and road from the Bengal region, launched a fierce attack on the city of Guwahati from Shillong, Meghalaya.

On 12 April, Guwahati was lost, and the 31st and 33rd Divisions of the 15th Army of the Japanese Army defending the city were forced to retreat to Nagong. On the 16th, the city of Naugon was lost and retreated again to Dimapur.

On the 18th, the 15th and 29th Divisions stationed in Maiben and Lunding in southern Assam, and the 18th, 53rd, and 56th Divisions scattered in the north and northeast were also forced to withdraw to Dimapur for fear of being divided and surrounded by the British army.

On 29 April, the British approached Dimapur, and although there were seven divisions, the Japanese, who were severely short of ammunition, had to retreat to the Kohima mountains. On 6 May, the night before the victorious British approached the city of Kohima, the Japanese received a shipment of ammunition from Mandalay in time, and if it rained in time, it was quickly distributed to the troops. Depressed for a month, Iida Shojiro was in high spirits, and immediately commanded his troops to launch a counterattack, defeating the British army who had carried away, capturing countless people, covering all the way to Dimapur, and conquering the city that had changed hands several times on May 8.

......

May 10, South China.

Xinjing Xiaonanhai, the conference hall of the Xuanwu Building of the Zhizheng Hall, and the joint meeting of the Anjia Army Command is underway.

The meeting began at 9 o'clock in the morning, first introduced the possible outbreak of war in Europe today, and randomly selected two people to conduct a rehearsal on the sand table. As a result, Xia Jian, who represented the German attack, was surrounded by the superior British and French forces after entering Sedang, and was forced to retreat, and was finally defeated by Gu Changfeng, the commander of the British and French forces with superior forces and a strong defensive line.

Seeing Gu Changfeng's arrogant and arrogant appearance, Yang Fei, Deng Bin, Zhang Tianyi, Han Yaoxian, Zhang Zhongkang and other generals who participated in the European inspection mission said that Gu Changfeng cheated, and that the command system of the British and French forces was rigid, and it was impossible for Gu Changfeng to react as quickly as Gu Changfeng, and the real war would inevitably end with the rapid victory of the flexible and active German army.

Gu Changfeng smiled but did not answer, and then listened to Yang Jie's detailed explanation of the deployment of troops and response plans of the two sides, shook his head and sighed, saying that the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Gan Merlin, arranged the battle line in a mess, which was completely incomprehensible! However, if the Anglo-French air force, which has a certain advantage, can successfully resist the first wave of German bomber bombing, it may be able to gradually regain its disadvantage by virtue of its air supremacy.

You must know that from October last year to April this year, Britain and France have transported back 2,500 fighters of all kinds and 500 tanks from South China at no cost, which is a huge force.

An Yi commented on both sides of the sand table deduction, and made a detailed demonstration according to the actual deployment of the French army and the possible response.

This was a prediction based on the written report submitted by the members of the European Observer Mission and the analysis of the progress of the war made by the General Staff and the National Defense University at a tactical seminar held on 5 May -- that the Germans would destroy the British and French fighters on the airfield at the first opportunity, and the main force would drive straight into the Sedan area, and then the powerful mechanized troops would turn northwest and advance at high speed along the north bank of the Songm River, encircling and annihilating the Anglo-French forces that had penetrated deep into Belgium in the southern part of Belgium and the northern border area of France.

After reading this, Gu Changfeng, Zhang Chengzhu, Xia Jian, Ding Zhicheng, Yang Guan, An Jin, Jiao Guangxu and other generals who led the troops all sighed, saying that the British and French coalition forces had such a big advantage, and they were fighting on the inside line, and if the results really developed according to the sand table deduction, the leaders of the French army could be prosecuted for dereliction of duty.

"Stop arguing, everyone!"

An Yi smiled and waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet: "Last night, we arranged for the intelligence officers at the top of the Nazis to pass back the news that Hitler had left Berlin accompanied by his trusted general Heydrich, the head of the Supreme Command Keitel, and the adjutants Schmunt, Schaub and Ringer, and took the train to the base camp called "Rock Nest" on a hill near Oyskichen in the Rhineland, and the war between Germany and Britain and France was on the verge of breaking out.

"I believe that it won't be long before we can know whether our judgment is correct, so let's listen to Liu Qing's explanation of the war in India first...... At three o'clock yesterday afternoon, the Japanese army blew up the dam of Lake Gobudoi in the upper reaches of the Gornopuri River, and hundreds of millions of cubic meters of flood water rushed to the lower plains, bringing terrible disasters and the British defenses in Bengal collapsed. ”

A group of people returned to the conference table and sat down, and Liu Qing, the intelligence arrangement of the General Staff, went straight to the large map of India spread out on the display board, holding a baton in his hand, and his expression was extremely solemn:

“...... Originally, the entire war in India was confusing, and the British army unexpectedly fought with the menacing Japanese army. Originally, we thought that before the rainy season, it would be very difficult for the Japanese army to change the current unfavorable situation, but no one expected that the Japanese army, which was blocked by the Chittagong and Gornopuri rivers, would come up with such a desperate plan to blow up the mountain lakes hanging high on the plains, and it was expected that after this flood, the British, Indian and Bengal troops assembled in the area around Chittagong would lose all the losses, including civilians, and at least more than 5 million people.

"With the disappearance of the living forces of the British army in the area around Chittagong, the obstacles that stood in the way of the Japanese advance disappeared at once, and the newly formed Muslim army of the British army in Bengal could only fight on its own, and in the face of the Japanese army with superior land, sea and air forces, the stubborn resistance of the British would gradually collapse, and this tug-of-war, which had lasted for more than two months, would end in the final victory of the Japanese army.

"At present, the only thing the Japanese army needs to do is to march, keep marching, while dividing the troops to uproot the coastal defense fortresses set up by the British along the coastline, and on the other hand, to fight northward and join the Japanese army in the Assam area. As long as they occupied the port cities along the Mekna River, the Japanese army's supply lines could stretch from the Brahmaputra River (the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River in China), the Ganges River, all the way to the interior of India, and even as far as Delhi if the forces permitted.

"Of course, this is only the ideal situation, and after the rainy season in India and Bangladesh in late May, the roads are muddy and the march is extremely difficult. Therefore, it is expected that before the end of the rainy season, the Japanese army will most likely completely occupy and consolidate the Bengal and Assam regions of eastern India, and occupy Kolkata, the largest city in India.

"For one hundred and forty years from 1772 to 1911, Calcutta was the capital of British India, the center of modern education, science, culture and politics in India, and it was a megacity comparable to Shanghai, China, and its industrial base was second only to Mumbai.

Gu Changfeng asked a little strangely after hearing this, "Do you know the movements of the Indian rebels?" Why did the Japanese army attack for so long, and the rebels, who had been shouting to welcome the Japanese army into India, did not cooperate with the Japanese offensive on the Eastern Front, but the Muslims in India were armed by the British and fought against the Japanese army? ”

Liu Qing replied: "Although I didn't get a more authoritative answer, but based on the intelligence of the Fourth Department, the Ministry of National Security, and the Intelligence Department of our General Staff, due to the division and co-optation of the British, there were more serious differences within the Indian National Congress, resulting in various rebels fighting separately, some of them re-entered the command of the British, some of them held their territory and became self-contained, some of them were ready to join the Soviet army under the command of Sheng Shicai under the launch of the Indo-Buso Party, and some of the rebels who were pro-Japanese were afraid of the strong strength of the British army in Bengal. He did not dare to advance eastward easily, and was prepared to cooperate with the battle when the Japanese army attacked the nearby area.

"India is a strange country, their people are very docile and emotional, and it is easy to change their position in the face of promises, until now, we can't figure out which rebels belong to which side, and it is estimated that even the British themselves can't figure it out, and they don't dare to mobilize the Indian army to fight."

There was laughter in the conference room, but An Yi, who was sitting in the main seat, did not laugh, he stood up suddenly, his slightly sad gaze swept over the faces of a senior officer, and said with a serious expression:

"It's not funny at all, the performance of the Indians is a good illustration of the sadness of the disadvantaged. Indians are not like our Chinese nation, with the Han nationality as the main nation, with thousands of years of endless inheritance of civilization, and India with the invasion of foreign races in different periods, blood and religious beliefs are also constantly changing, to this day is the inevitable result of the development of weak civilization.

In fact, the Harappan civilization established by the ancient Indians appeared almost at the same time as our Xia, Shang and Zhou civilizations, but in the 14th century BC, the Aryans from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau entered the Indian region, conquered the local natives, and gradually established a slave state in India at the beginning of the 10th century BC, forming a highly developed civilization. Brahmanism was formed during this period, and the caste system instituted in the name of God has been influential to this day.

After the sixth century B.C., there were numerous civil wars in India, during which Buddhism emerged against the dominance of Brahmanism, and Shakyamuni was said to be the crown prince of one of the smaller countries near Nepal. At the end of the fourth century BC, the Mauryan Empire unified northern India, and Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism and vigorously promoted it, but the Mauryan Empire was destroyed after only a hundred years, and then India entered the era of the nations, during which Buddhism was gradually introduced to China.

By the fourth century AD, the first unified feudal kings of India had arisen and lasted for two hundred years, and Hinduism, which had evolved from the ancient Brahmanism, arose and gradually became dominant. Beginning in the 8th century, the Arabs who believed in Islam continued to invade India, introducing Islam to India, and Buddhism gradually declined. By the beginning of the 16th century, the Mughal Empire was established by Turkic nobles who had converted to Islam, and in the mid-18th century, British colonists gradually took control of the subcontinent, making it the most important supplier of raw materials to the British Empire.

"India is a mixed race, they don't have their own culture, including beliefs imposed by outsiders, which makes their character naturally obedient. During the last European war, the British organized two million Indian troops to fight in Europe, but this time they were not so lucky...... This is also the reason why *** wants to attack India at all costs, once India is occupied, there will be 200 million people at your disposal, which is a big attraction for anyone! ”

An Yi's words caused everyone to think deeply, and An Yi said:

"This world war is very important to our Chinese nation, we have won, we have a lot of land and resources for development, the influence of the Chinese nation, especially the Han people, will be expanded to the whole world in one fell swoop, defeat we will be like the Indians, lose our own culture and traditions, and put our nation under the intervention and rule of foreign powers, which a bloody Chinese will not allow." Therefore, we must learn from the Indians and never slack off, otherwise we will be the sinners of the country and the nation through the ages......"

At this moment, Lieutenant General Li Yufu, director of the Communications Department of the General Staff, strode into the conference room and handed over an urgent telegram to An Yi.

An Yi hurriedly read it after taking it, with a strange expression, Gu Changfeng, Cheng Chengguang, Zhang Chengzhu, Xia Jian, Yang Fei, Yang Jie, Deng Bin, Zhao Dongquan, Huang Yuyi, Yang Guan, Liu Qing, An Jin, Shen Ziling, Zhang Tianyi, Cheng Shiming and other generals took the message in turn, browsed it carefully, and the conference room fell silent all of a sudden.

Xia Jian took a deep breath and asked in a trembling voice, "Boss, is the biggest war since the last European war about to break out?" ”

An Yi nodded: "I'm afraid so......"

It turned out that the telegram was sent from Berlin, and Germany had already sent an ultimatum to Belgium.

There is a seven-hour time difference between Beijing and Berlin. At half past four o'clock in the morning local time in Berlin, the Belgian ambassador in Berlin was summoned to the German Foreign Office, and was subsequently informed by Ribbentrop that the German generals would march into Belgium to "defend" their neutrality and defend against the impending "offensive" of Britain and France, as they had helped Norway. The German government issued an ultimatum demanding that the Belgian government refrain from revolting, that if it resisted, it would be crushed, and that Belgium would be responsible for the bloodshed.

In Brussels, the capital of Belgium, the German envoy handed over a telegram of the same content to the Belgian Foreign Ministry.

Soon, however, the Belgian government unequivocally rejected the German ultimatum and issued a telegram inviting British and French troops to enter Belgium to defend against the German invasion.

Gu Changfeng looked at his watch: "It is estimated that German bombers have already flown over those military airports in France and Belgium at this time. As the boss has just demonstrated, in the early days of the war, strikes on airfields are the most effective way to destroy the enemy's air power......"

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: The temperature is close to freezing, the air pressure is very low, it is difficult to breathe, and the physical condition is extremely bad, and there is no state at all......