Two identical straight lines to the south instantly escalated the war in the South Asian subcontinent. Li Zongren and Chuikov coincidentally chose to use their allies as cover, and also wrote a legend.

Since the plan was proposed by Chuikov, Yabyshev simply made him commander-in-chief. But Chuikov did not want to seize power as soon as he came, erasing Yabyshev's achievements over the years, and finally after discussing with Lanadivi, it was decided to continue to let Yabeshev be the commander-in-chief, Chuikov was the chief of the General Staff of the Soviet and Indian Army, and he himself was the political commissar. On the night when the plan was decided, Chuikov led six main divisions to Nagpur, and Yabyshev also handed over a heavy armored train to him as his headquarters. Representatives of Cherpanov and Ranadivi led two elite divisions, all made up of Soviet veterans, to the north, detouring Nehru-controlled Madhya Pradesh, then turning back to the Narmada River, and convincing Nehru to open the passage to attack Burhapur. After the two departed, Yabeishev himself led the remaining two divisions to launch a fierce attack on Eluru, 60 kilometers to the south, and also contacted Shojiro Iida to ask the Japanese destroyers to help shell the port of Megil Bednaem, dragging the main British army in the east and preventing them from retreating to Hyderabad.

Eluru and Megili Bednem were the site of the British East India Company's first factory, and the harbor was fortified with fortifications, so the battle was fierce. But the British did not know that they were no longer facing Yabeishev, who had been encircled and suppressed several times and was familiar with the way of fighting, but another very powerful opponent.

Soon after the start of Eluru, dozens of trains carrying the main force of Chuikov began to move north and then turn back to the south. Sitting in the train with the lights off and looking out the window, Chuikov also had to admit that India was a very strange country, and it was too deeply affected by British enslavement and colonization. Despite the hundreds of millions of people here, the people are almost deaf to the outside world. Even when the guns were ringing all over India, most of the locals continued to rise and set down, or simply fled with their families, completely unwilled.

The speed of the train at 25 kilometers per hour is comparable to that of a snail, but it has to be admitted that the Indian railway network is really well-developed. Under the leadership of the guide of the Great Party of the Republic of India, he was able to easily bypass the British defense area and go all the way unimpeded. The rails that were damaged by the British were also repaired by the rails brought from Pokaro, and even the bridges were repaired with Chinese Bailey bridge technology borrowed from Central Asia. A march like a walk. Let Chuikov, who has to be attacked by the squadron every day in Central Asia, sigh that if Central Asia also has such a huge railway network, no matter how slow the speed is, the Soviet Union will not be able to lose Central Asia!

India was so big that it was impossible for Orin Lake and Kuinan, with only 200,000 troops, to garrison every city. I had to abandon the countryside and unimportant small towns first, and focus on defending the core cities. Because of this strategy, the British resistance that Chuikov feared most did not appear at all. So much so that the next night, when the orderly told him that he was already less than 50 kilometers away from Nagpur, he was stunned for a long time.

Geographically, Nagpur is the central point of the Indian peninsula, with the Waynegenga River running through the northeast of the city. In 1887. It was here that the British built the Indian Queen's Steel Mill, and all the crude steel exported to Japan in the early days was shipped from here. Moreover, at the end of the 19th century, there were industrial sprouts such as textile printing and dyeing, so the city was very prosperous. With a population of more than one million, it is the largest city after Mumbai.

The defense here was the 17th British and Indian Division, which was formed only after the war.

Chuikov's preparations for the attack were simple, that is, the Sikh soldiers took off their military uniforms and stood on the roofs of ordinary train cars. Then hang a mess in the windows and outside, making the whole train look like it's crammed with refugees from the east. Then let a battalion of bridge-grabbing commandos mix in. Slow down and slowly drive towards the railway bridge.

"Captain Al, come and see."

Beside the railway bridge across the Weinginga River northeast of the city, Australian sentries from the 29th Punjab Battalion woke up the battalion commander, Captain Eyre from South Africa. "What's that?" The camouflage train did not turn off the lights, but deliberately turned on all the lights in order to confuse the British troops. "It's like a refugee train." The sentry made a judgment and handed the telescope to Captain Al.

Chuikov's camouflage worked, and the clutter of figures in the lights and on the roof of the car made Captain Al and the soldiers breathe a sigh of relief. But he still waved his hand vigilantly: "Have the detonator ready, check it as soon as the train approaches." "Hundreds of kilograms of explosives have been planted under the railway bridge to prevent enemy attacks, and Captain Al is confident that no enemy will be able to pass under his nose.

As the train got closer, several sentries began to shake the kerosene lamps vigorously, signaling the train to stop for inspection. Guided by the lights, the wheels of the train made a screeching sound and then slowed down again. But just as Captain Al was arranging for the soldiers to get into the car for inspection, several black dots suddenly erupted from the crowd on the roof of the car, and the mortar deployed on the roof of the car accurately hit the post five hundred meters away.

"Ulla!"

At the same time as the explosion sounded, hundreds of Soviet veterans jumped off the low-speed train, and the train immediately accelerated towards the opposite bank. The post was torn apart in the violent explosion, and the detonator prepared by Captain Al was destroyed before it could be used. The impact force produced pushed him and the soldiers to the ground. "Damn! Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Manual detonation! Seeing this, Second Lieutenant Al, whose face was covered in blood, immediately reacted. The order for artificial detonation was given decisively. One of the machine gunners turned around and began firing at the explosives pack on the pier, but only fired a single burst of bullets before being shredded by a dozen DP machine guns on the train. Seeing this, Captain Al rushed forward desperately, hoping to take over the shooting, but it was too late! The train roared past him, and the Soviet soldiers of the brigade were "sprayed" from both sides like cannonballs, flooding two sections of the post in an instant.

"Attack!" Receiving the signal, Chuikov did not hesitate to give the order to attack, and the vanguard of two entire divisions rushed headlong along the railway bridge, like a flood gate opening the gates, into the bustling city of Nagpur -

Bombay.

Inside the British Indian Theater Command, the telephone rang nonstop. "Damn, who's calling so late?" Wearing a military uniform and sleeping on the sofa, Auchinleck looked at his watch and cursed.

He was really tired, and from the time the Japanese attacked Bengal and Calcutta, he was faced with a mess of a major general who was short of troops. On the one hand, it was necessary to reorganize the troops to prevent the Japanese army from continuing to penetrate, and on the other hand, it was necessary to defend the Congress Party and the Soviet-Indian army in the north. If only that might be able to cope, it's even worse. He also needed to recruit and train more Indian soldiers to help them in the Middle East and North Africa. So he was under a lot of pressure, especially after the Congress Party and the PKI attacked Pokaro at the end of last month, and hundreds of thousands of troops moved south, he basically didn't rest in his fifties, and could only sleep three or four hours a day. Even if China promised to send troops and quickly send Li Zongren, he did not dare to rest. Because he had to make sure to hold Delhi and the south of India, otherwise even if the squadron arrived, if he lost Mumbai and the south. Then this battle will be lost without fighting.

Britain without India, it is unthinkable!

Therefore, he gritted his teeth and insisted on persevering, relying on the 200,000 miscellaneous British and Indian divisions formed after the war, resisting the strong enemy in the north of Japan, and finally waiting for the start of the Battle of Lambour. The squadron officially set foot on the battlefield in India. thought that he could sleep well, and then got up and fought with Li Zongren on both sides to regain the lost ground, but he was woken up by the phone ringing just after falling asleep.

"What? It's true! After picking up the phone, as soon as he heard two sentences, he crawled up from the sofa and said, "Okay, I'll go right away." Call General Quinan and the others and ask them to all go to you! ”

Auchinleck put down the phone. Grabbing the gun, he rushed to the war room next door, and the hurried pace startled the orderlies who were napping at the door, and hurriedly got up and saluted: "General, what's wrong?" ”

"The Italians are attacking Greece!"

"Greece? Why did Mussolini attack Greece? Didn't Metaxas declare neutrality? And he was also Hitler's uncle (slang. Satirical Metaxus sympathized with Hitler). General, will our logistics be interrupted? Will Cairo and Suez still hold on? The orderly's series of questions made Auchinleck unable to answer.

Like the orderlies, he was very concerned about the safety of the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal. To know. The Battle of the Andaman cost the Royal Navy two Prestige-class battlecruisers, and the Battle of Seychelles lost two battleships, the aircraft carrier Athletic, the Avenger, and the Lamilis. The catapult is in action. The Hood was even lost, and five battleships were damaged, and it was impossible to undock before Christmas! Add to this the losses in the Atlantic, and the Royal Navy is almost out of even a decent fleet all along! Therefore, after the Soviet Union recently sold nearly 100 ships to Nazi Germany, Whitehall had to withdraw half of the Mediterranean fleet to strengthen its home fleet. In this case, what should the Mediterranean fleet do in the event of an attack on Greece by the entire Italian Navy? Will Cunningham fight a decisive battle? In case of failure, Egypt, North Africa and the Middle East.

He didn't even dare to imagine it!

Pokaro has already been lost, and if Suez is lost again, the war will really end.

So as soon as he entered the staff room, Chief of Staff Bogdich handed him a telegram from Wavell: "The situation is very bad, General Wavell is worried that the Soviets will take the opportunity to attack Baghdad and Turkey, and together with Italy to attack the Bosphorus, so he wants us to immediately reinforce three or four divisions This is just received, it is a telegram from General Cunningham. It was also feared that the Soviets would cooperate with Italy in attacking the strait. He asked me to tell you that there are more than a hundred warships in the Black Sea! If released, the whole Mediterranean will be finished! So he also asked us to support General Wavell at once, and we must not allow Turkey and Greece to fall! ”

Auchinleck didn't know that there was still a giant beast trapped in the Black Sea, but now he only had many troops? Counting the consumption of this time, there are less than thirteen divisions left, and three of them are in places such as Eluru and Hyderabad, which are under onslaught by Soviet troops. To make matters worse, Nehru's declaration of statehood, and the boycott by the Congress Party and the PKI, prevented him from calling in more suitable soldiers. Of course, India has a lot of soldiers, but only a few ethnic groups such as the Sikhs can fight, and the rest are a waste of food even if they are recruited into the army.

Now three or four divisions are to be withdrawn at once, what to do? Auchinleck's cheeks were sunken and he looked at Kuinan, "What to do?" Kuinan gritted his teeth and counted every force several times before he raised two fingers: "I can fill the gap with the recruits who are being trained, but there are only two divisions at most, this is the limit!" ”

"Okay." Auchinleck pursed his lips, nodded with a serious expression, and turned to the chief of staff, Bogdić: "Contact General Li Zongren of China, please tell them that the two divisions of the Persian Gulf must arrive within a week!" "Bogdić is a strong, energetic officer who picks up the phone immediately when ordered to do so. But as soon as his hand touched the phone, the bell rang, and then an even more serious message exploded in the conference room!

Nagpur was attacked by tens of thousands of Soviet soldiers!

Nearly half of the 17th Anglo-Indian Division was killed or wounded!