July 23, 1939, 10 a.m., Jelleswal, Odisha, India.

Since the arrival of the GC International South Asian Army in India in late April, this small town has become the forefront of the confrontation between the GC International South Asian Army and the Indian puppet army (Anglo-Indian Army). The position of the two armies against each other is on the plain less than 20 kilometers northeast of the small city, and the military-level headquarters of a GC International South Asian Army has always been located in the mansion of a princely prince in the small city. This unlucky prince and his family naturally got their due end in the revolutionary storm in May!

However, this small city, which was almost at the forefront of the battle between the two armies, had not smelled much of gunpowder for some time. Except for the fact that the Indian GCD Committee in the city organized citizens to go to the positions of the GC International South Asian Army outside the city to have several "military-civilian parties", and some convoys carrying logistics materials would enter every day, it seemed to be as quiet as before the war. But this rare tranquility was shattered during the day on July 23. All the citizens were notified and spontaneously came to the streets to welcome the revolutionary army.

Greeted by more than 10,000 Indian Asan, waving small flags. A long column of chariots with eight wheels, clad in iron armor and a long barrel, roared into the central streets of the town. It was followed by all sorts of grotesque cars as far as the eye could see, horse-drawn 17-pounder field guns, truck-towed 25-pounder howitzers, and seemingly endless neatly lined lines, carrying rifles and machine guns. Infantry in blue-gray military uniforms with heavy backpacks on their backs. Moreover, these infantry were a mixture of Chinese and Indians, and about half of them were dark-skinned and shorter Indians, and most of the soldiers in the Chinese were from the six northern provinces. Therefore, the physique is stronger) in the middle of it seems so fragile, so vulnerable.

Seeing these endless steel chariots, artillery, and countless elite infantry driving in, they were ordinary civilians with no military experience. I also know that a big war is about to break out here! And seeing the strong lineup of the "squadron", even the most numb Indian low-level people also showed strong fear and worry in their eyes, and even the slogans of welcome in their mouths sounded a little trembling

After crossing the small town of Jelleswall, the marching column of the GC International South Asian Army drove directly to the pre-prepared offensive starting position, which was expanded and transformed from the defensive line garrisoned by the First Army of the GC International South Asian Army.

The first to enter the starting position were the GC International Armored Division. 120 Min-28 wheeled armored vehicles that can be used as tanks pose pose for combat in a standard wedge-shaped offensive formation, opening up a frontage about 3,000 meters wide. Behind and on either side of them are 180 light wheeled armored vehicles equipped with a Min-13 water-cooled machine gun, which is converted from a Chinese-made military jeep, and the armor is so thin that even ordinary rifle bullets can penetrate it, and it is obviously insufficient to be used as an armored reconnaissance vehicle, but now it is used as a tank. Behind these armoured vehicles was a motorized infantry regiment in trucks, all of which were made up of elite men carefully selected from various units of the South Asian Army, but equipped with exactly the same equipment as ordinary infantry regiments.

Immediately following into the field was the powerful South Asian Army artillery unit, which was actually led by the Chinese GCD. In recent years, it has entered a period of rapid development. First of all, when the Northeast Army was absorbed, 72 150mm heavy howitzers of the two heavy artillery regiments of the Northeast Army were obtained, and a batch of Soviet-made 152mm and 122mm large-caliber howitzers were obtained in the process of "supporting the Soviet Revolution", although after the war was consumed, but now there are about 200 pieces, and recently 72 105mm light howitzers and 36 150mm heavy field howitzers were purchased from the hands of the National Government. Plus more than 100 120mm and 150mm heavy mortars of its own production in the arsenal that has just moved to the territory of the Far Eastern Republics. In total, the entire artillery cluster directly under the South Asian Army of the GC International has more than 500 large-caliber artillery pieces and mortars! This kind of heavy artillery firepower in Asia is only second only to the Chinese Defense Force and the Japanese Army, and it seems to be slightly superior to the Indian puppet army.

The last to enter the starting position were the 12 infantry divisions of the South Asian Army under the four armies, all of which were a mixture of Chinese internationalist fighters and indigenous Indian soldiers. Each infantry division consisted of three infantry regiments (each with about 3,000 men, of which 1,800 were native Indian soldiers). An artillery regiment (two artillery battalions with 8 75mm mountain guns and a mortar battalion with 12 120mm heavy mortars), a cavalry regiment (composed of about 500 Mongolian officers and soldiers), an engineer regiment, a baggage regiment and a divisional battalion, with a total strength of about 13,000 men. Coupled with the 3 divisions of the First Army of the GC International South Asian Army, which had already been in place, China G invested a total of 15 infantry divisions, an armored division, an artillery cluster, five military headquarters and corps directly subordinate teams, a flying division, and a corps headquarters in this battle, with a total strength of about 230,000, more than 1,000 artillery pieces (including infantry guns and mortars), more than 300 armored vehicles, and 100 aircraft, which can be said to be a desperate gamble!

The time finally came to July 24th. The weather was fine on this day, so the GC International Flying Division launched a fierce air attack on the positions of the Indian army as planned. The actual size of this flying division is approximately equivalent to that of a flying regiment of the Wehrmacht, with 120 combat aircraft at full strength. Among them, there are 50 two-wing A-2 light dive bombers, 50 imitation of the former Soviet Union's I-16 fighters, 10 reconnaissance planes converted from A-2 light dive bombers, and 10 bombers modified from Chinese-made Junkers Ju-52 transport planes.

At 7 a.m., a group of 48 light dive bombers and 24 fighters arrived over the battlefield. Their key air attack targets were the positions of the 8th Infantry Division of the 24th Army of the Indian Central Army. Because it is located in the center of the entire Indian army's northeastern defensive line, behind it is a road to Kolkata. If the GC International Armoured Division breaks through here, the back of the Indian 8th and 9th armies to Kolkata will be threatened. Therefore, the General Front Committee of the GC International South Asian Army decided to take this place as the main direction of assault. High-explosive bombs weighing 50 kilograms fell one after another, and after the earth-shattering explosion, rows of columns of smoke mixed with fire rose from the Indian army's position. The Indian firepower points exposed in the previous skirmishes were also lifted into the air one after another.

Surprisingly, however, the Indian Air Force was not slow to respond. Twenty-four F3 fighter jets, produced by the Chinese Republic Aircraft Corporation, arrived on the battlefield less than 10 minutes after the start of the air strike. The I-16 fighter jets produced by the Zhongg Baotou Aircraft Factory (which has been moved to the Far East) were wrenched together and a tragic aerial battle began! The outcome of this aerial dogfight was equally unexpected, with the Indian Air Force winning a resounding victory. They shot down 11 I-16s and 9 A-2s with F3 fighters that matched the performance of the I-16, while their own losses were only 3 F3 fighters. And of the 3 planes shot down, 1 pilot parachuted and was rescued. One pilot parachuted into the position of the G Army and was captured, and only one person was killed.

And this captured "Indian pilot" also uncovered the mystery of the Indian Air Force's super combat effectiveness, which turned out to be a blonde and blue-eyed British! He was a former pilot in the Royal Air Force and participated in the recently concluded campaign in Western Europe.

While the battle in the air was unfolding, the powerful artillery group of the South Asian Army of the GC International began to exert its might. I saw that their battle line began to bloom with large and small orange-red fires, and then there was a roar like the earth shaking the mountains. More than 1,000 artillery pieces began to spit fire at the same time, firing at coordinates determined by prior reconnaissance. Shells were projected on the heads of the Indian puppet army. If you look from the air, you will see a wall of artillery fire made of smoke columns and flames moving back and forth over the Indian positions.

7:05 a.m. The artillery of the Indian 8th and 9th armies also began to counterattack, and at this time only 5 minutes before the start of the artillery bombardment of the G Army. In a matter of moments, countless shells dragged orange and dark red rays, whistling through the air, flying towards the forward positions of both sides, and the whole earth began to shake violently. Shells of various calibers repeatedly slapped at the front of the two armies. The cannon made a sound like a strong wind, and it became stronger and more ferocious, and the shards of steel screamed and scattered, turning the entire battlefield into a terrifying hell of artillery fire.

However, in terms of the intensity of the shelling on both sides. The two Indian armies have only more than 200 artillery pieces, including mortars, and only 24 25-pounder howitzers of more than 100mm caliber.

The artillery battle between the two sides lasted about 80 minutes, and nearly 60,000 shells were fired from thousands of artillery pieces and mortars of the GC International South Asian Army, of which 70% of the shells fell on the defensive line of the 24th Division of the Indian Army, destroying almost all the barbed wire, deer barricades, and minefields in the front of the position of the 24th Division of the Indian Army. Most of the Indian firing points were also destroyed in the shelling. Even a few stretches of trenches were beaten to pieces. In some places it was even flattened by shells. The Indian officers and soldiers stationed on the defensive line also suffered heavy losses in the shelling, and many anti-artillery fortifications were directly hit by large-caliber 150mm/152mm shells, and even the man-led fortifications were lifted into the air, leaving only huge craters more than ten meters wide!

At 8:25 a.m., the smoke of the shelling was not over. The GC International Armored Division and the 10th and 11th Divisions of the South Asian Army, which had been waiting for a long time, received an order to attack from Peng Dhuai, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy. It is worth mentioning that this time the GC International South Asian Army adopted the usual tactics of the Chinese Defense Forces and put the main force of the armored forces on the front line.

"Panzers! Assault! As the arm of Xu Gda, the commander of the GC International Armored Division, waved down, more than 300 armored vehicles began to roar at the same time, white smoke came out of the exhaust pipe, and the entire battlefield was filled with the sound of a motor roaring. The armored clusters that had already been set up in a wedge-shaped attack formation rushed forward like hundreds of roaring steel behemoths. They were followed by nearly 30,000 infantry of the GC International South Runner Army. 300 tanks and 30,000 infantry launched the first wave of armored assault on a narrow frontage just 10 kilometers wide!

The 24th Division of the Indian Army, which had just been dizzy by the enemy's aircraft artillery, had not yet recovered from the chaos at this time. This infantry division of more than 10,000 people took nearly 40,000 shells in just 80 minutes! Almost every soldier was able to spread out 3 rounds. This intensity of shelling might not be a big deal if it were put in Europe. But for these Indian soldiers, who had never seen strong winds and waves, it almost made them nervous breakdown. And when 300 "tanks" and 30,000 shouting GC International South Asian Army soldiers appeared in front of them, the collapse of the 24th Division of the Indian Army was inevitable!

……

At this time, the command of the Eastern Military Region of India, far away in Kolkata, was already a busy scene. The report from the front was quickly sent to two heads of the Eastern Military Region, Indian Army General Singh and British Army Lieutenant General Mountbatten.

"Tanks! Oh, my God! Where did those GCD tanks come from? And there are hundreds of them! What are we going to do? My army has not been trained in anti-tank at all. There are not many anti-tank guns left, they will collapse, and now we are all done......"

Singh, the titular commander-in-chief of the Eastern Military Region of the Indian Army, fell into a complete panic as soon as he heard the news that the defense line of the 24th Division of the Indian Army had been broken through by hundreds of "tanks". He was an army general who was a parallel commodity at all, with no rigorous military training and no real command of the army. It was only because he was a confidant of Indian Vice President Bose that he was given the post of general and minister of the army, and he also served as the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Military Region. Mountbatten.

"General Mountbatten, these Chinese are coming to attack Calcutta!" Admiral Singh looked at the sand table in the war room for a long time, and finally saw that the target of the South runner-up team in the GC International seemed to be Calcutta. "What are we going to do? There were only a few local troops in the city of Kolkata. It's not vulnerable at all...... Shall we bring troops from both Kalkhandh and Chhattisgarh to Kolkata? ”

"I'm afraid it's too late, Chinese have already broken through the defense line of the 8th Army, and the 9th Army will soon be defeated...... Our four armies stationed in Kalkhandh and Chhattisgarh, the nearest 12th Army, will arrive in Kolkata in 10 days at the earliest, and by then the GCD will already be in the city! Mountbatten's voice was calm and indifferent, as if none of this had anything to do with him, he crossed his arms and stared at the sand table for a moment, and then said: "And even if the 12th Army can arrive before the fall of Calcutta, they will certainly not be the match for the more than 200,000 G Army." If we arrive in four armies in Karkhand and Chhattisgarh one after another. If they are defeated by the Chinese in turn, it will probably not be Kolkata and East and West Bengal, but the entire eastern part of India. ”

Louis. Mountbatten is almost a long-defeated general in another time and space, but the fact that a long-defeated general can still be a marshal all the way is enough to show that he is not a fool. The wishful thinking of the GC International South runner-up was seen through by him at a glance.

However, being able to see through the opponent's plan does not mean that you can come up with a countermeasure to crack it. Judging from the current battle situation, the 8th and 9th armies of the Indian army are afraid that they will be defeated soon, even if they are not completely annihilated. It's hard to fight in a short period of time. In this way, the fall of Calcutta was no longer inevitable. The problem is that Kolkata is one of the largest cities in India and was once the seat of the Viceroy of India. Nearby East and West Bengal is one of the most agrarian and economically developed regions in India, and if these two states fall, the Assam region to the northeast will also be lost...... And the GCD, which had mastered East and West Bengal and Assam, was in a position to seize all of India. Retreat from the advantageous position of splitting the northeast of India and establishing an independent state!

Can New Delhi accept such consequences? If the New Delhi government insists on defending Kolkata, will it take the whole of eastern India with it? Louis. Mountbatten was not sure how to convince Mahatma Gandhi of New Delhi.

"Do you want to ask New Delhi for help? Let General Slim hurry up and transfer the troops back? Admiral Singh asked again.

"No, Kolkata can't be saved, let's declare it an undefended city, and withdraw the troops in Kolkata to Assam." Mountbatten thought for a moment and replied.

"To Assam!?" Admiral Singh was stunned and looked at Mountbatten fixedly. If Kolkata and East Bengal are lost, Assam will be isolated, and it will not be a dead end!

"Your Excellency, report my proposal to New Delhi." Mountbatten thought for a moment, and then said, "I propose to order the 8th and 9th armies to retreat to Calcutta, and at the same time transport the supplies in the city of Calcutta to the fortress of Imphal. Also, the local troops that we were able to mobilize also went to the Imphal fortress together. I'm going to turn that there into a nail in the back of the GCD! Speaking of this, Mountbatten's tone suddenly became heavy, "I also want to explain to President Gandhi the situation here, GCD has 300 tanks, thousands of artillery pieces and at least 250,000 troops, so we have no way to hold Calcutta......"

At this moment, an Indian staff officer suddenly ran in from outside, panting, and shouted as he ran: "Gandhi! Mahatma Gandhi is coming to Calcutta! ”

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