“…… The process of advancing to the Persian Gulf was relatively smooth, along the way we were winning, constantly winning, the Indians opened one blocking line after another in front of us, a total of eleven, but they were all broken through by the heroic American **, they are the best soldiers in the world!

However, the Indians' resistance at all costs slowed down our advance and caused some problems in our coordination with the navy and the landing force. When the landing fleet arrived in the Gulf of Oman on May 15, 1935, we were two days away from the Persian Gulf. Since aircraft and marines had detected that the enemy's forces at Cape Hamaii and the island of Qeshm were empty and the defenses were lax, Admiral Ernest King, after consulting with Vice Admiral Fredendor, decided to start a landing operation without waiting for our troops to reach the Persian Gulf. Capture Ras Al Khaimah and the island of Qeshm and open the fleet's access to the Persian Gulf. But no one thought that the Persian Gulf operation would be a huge death trap! - The above is an excerpt from Lieutenant General Stilwell's memoir "The Wrong War".

In the early hours of May 16, 1935. An unprecedentedly powerful fleet of hundreds of transport ships, as well as landing ships, minesweepers, and tankers spread across the Gulf of Oman like floating cities. The Anglo-American combined fleet arrived in the Gulf of Oman last night, and it took several hours for the whole fleet to set up a landing formation in the darkness of night. The minesweepers reached the front line and, illuminated by moonlight and searchlights, cleared several lanes that could be used by landing ships and transport vessels. Then the light cruisers and destroyers, with a shallower draft, sailed to the shallow waters near Ras Al Khaimah and Qeshm Island, respectively, and bombarded coastal targets with their small and medium-caliber naval guns, while searching the sea again and again for the presence of opposing torpedo boats. After determining that the sea was peaceful, several large landing ships began to release landing craft, a special small ship first invented by the Japanese Red Navy, equipped with a springboard that could be opened and closed in the bow to quickly deploy the landing force. The landing craft equipped by the U.S. and British navies are called "Simkins boats", which can transport 36 heavily armed soldiers or 3,600 kilograms of supplies from the transport ship ashore.

Watching the hundreds of "Simkins boats" slowly sail towards the beachhead with the waves of Bose, the hearts of Admiral Ernest King and Vice Admiral Fredendoll on the battleship New York rose to their throats. Although it was the first time for the two of them to command a large-scale landing operation, they still knew the basic common sense. Now is the most dangerous moment for the entire landing operation. The landing craft that move slowly on the surface of the sea are a big target. As long as a battalion of Soviet-made 122mm cannons is set up on the high ground outside the beach opposite, it will take less than 10 minutes to wipe out half of the landing craft on the sea! The officers and men of the Marine Corps on the boat all had tens of kilograms of weight, and it was very difficult for them to survive once they fell into the water -- the United States has already paid too many lives on the battlefields of the Middle East, and now thousands of Americans are losing lives or seriously wounded every day on the battlefields of Syria, Lebanon, and Transjordan, and the United States has paid for the lives of more than 250,000 young people in more than two months of war. That's almost twice as many as in the First World War! Don't turn the Persian Gulf into an incinerator for a second American life......

At this time, an Indian Red Army artillery observation post on the high ground of Ras Al Khaimah Beach was also observing these landing craft loaded with American and British marines. Ernest kin and Fredendoll imagined that the A-19/M-1931 122mm cannon guarding the Indian Red Army at Ras Al Khaimah did not have, and this kind of expensive cannon was not common in the Soviet Red Army Army units, and only the artillery regiment at the group army level would be equipped with a battalion, which was specifically responsible for long-range fire strikes, and the entire Indian Red Army Middle East Front did not have one.

However, they deployed six 152mm howitzers, 12 122mm howitzers and 24 field guns behind the hillside outside Ras Al Khaimah Beach. There was also an infantry division of the Indian Red Army on the heights off the beach. Although Ras Al Khaimah and the island of Qeshm are to be abandoned in the plans of the Middle East Front, it is not possible to abandon them without a fight, because this is the key point holding the Strait of Hormuz and the gateway to the entire Persian Gulf. It would be unusual. Therefore, even if the battle plan to lure the enemy into the depths was decided, Blyukhel also placed an infantry division and an artillery group in Ras Al Khaimah. An infantry regiment was placed on the island of Qeshm.

"Go up, go up! It seems that there is really no defense here, and our surprise attack has been successful! From the lens of the telescope, Admiral Ernest King could not help but shout loudly when he saw that several landing craft that had rushed to the front had already approached the beach. Don't look at this admiral who is already a dignified admiral and has participated in the Spanish-American War and World War I, but it is the first time that he has been on the battlefield with real swords and guns! That's why he shouted excitedly.

At present, the equipment level of the US ** team can be said to be world-class...... At least in terms of numbers, it is first-class, the level of training is not low, and the soldiers' suzhì is relatively high, and the only weakness is probably that the combat experience is too lacking. The last world war was not fought well. This time, he was a spectator for more than two years - only in two naval battles with the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean, and both were defeated, and Oahu, the main island of the Hawaiian Islands, is still under siege by the Japanese.

Before Ernestkin's shout fell, someone suddenly shouted in his ear: "Shelling! Shelling! ”

At the same time, the British and American marines, who had just jumped off the beach from the bow of the "Simkins boat" and were rushing forward through the water, heard the sharp whistling sound of a cannonball! Before they could come to their senses, dozens of columns of water were already stirring up on the surface of the sea. The seawater and small pieces of shrapnel struck the heads of the Marines who were still struggling to advance in the knee-high water, and immediately swept away a large area of British and American officers and soldiers.

An English exclamation suddenly sounded throughout the landing field, and these marines and men, who were the elite of the British and American ground forces, fell into a panic when they were hit suddenly. The enemy's artillery had already opened fire, and the first round of fire was so accurate. These are the only marines who are destined to advance and retreat. Is there any hope of survival? And they don't even have a place to hide now!

The second and third salvos of the Indian Red Army artillery also came very quickly, and it was now the time of dawn, the British and American carrier-based planes had not yet taken off, and the naval guns of their warships could not reach the Indian artillery positions deployed on the back of the hillside. So now is the time for these cannons to use their full power! A shell hit a landing craft under sail and smashed the 36 U.S. Marines on board to pieces along with the "Simkins boat"! A few more shells exploded over the heads of the landing force, creating a terrible air blast, and the falling fragments of shells would have just landed on the beach. The Marines, who had not had time to disperse, hit a large area, and the screams immediately rang out on the beach. At this moment, the machine guns on the Indian positions lying in ambush on the high ground near the beach also began to shoot tongues of fire.

"Hurry, rush, don't stay on the beach!" Several British officers who had fought in India were the first to react, shouting and waving their arms, allowing their men to return fire and advance in the face of machine-gun fire from the Indian Red Army from the distant heights. At the same time, British and American cruisers and destroyers also opened fire on the high ground where the Indian troops were entrenched, and wave after wave of landing craft on the sea continuously transported the follow-up troops ashore.

The beach and the sea were suddenly in a mess, and the American and British allies still had to go through a bloody battle in the Persian Gulf!

……

"The latest battle report from the Allied Middle East Theater Command has been reported, and the British and American combined fleets launched landing operations at Ras Al Khaimah and Qeshm Island this morning, hoping to take advantage of the dark sky to catch the Indians by surprise. As a result, the opposing side had already prepared and deployed artillery positions on the back of the slopes of Ras Al Khaimah. As soon as the British and American landing forces landed on the shore, they were subjected to heavy shelling, and the specific casualties are not yet known......" Ma Buqing frowned and said a summary of the battle report to Lin Zuo, who was leaning over the map platform to study the latest tripartite situation of friend and foe. The look is extremely grim, although the current war situation is basically in line with Lin Zuoda's previous analysis, the British and American allies are in trouble on the battlefield in the Middle East, and India Ah San is showing his might under the command of a Soviet military strategist. But these red-dyed Ah San are the sworn enemies of the caliphate's army after all, and the contradictions between the two sides are impossible to reconcile.

Let Britain and the United States rule the Middle East, and the caliph may still be a puppet for those Western colonizers or something. If the Soviet Union and India rule the Middle East, then the caliph and himself, the reactionary soldiers who believe in Allah or not GC, will not end up! What's even more numbing is that the Indian Red Army has now crossed the Suez Canal and has planted the red flag on the pyramids! Maybe tomorrow we will march to Port Sudan, and by then will the only reliable base of the Caliphate be able to hold on?

Ma Buqing forgot to report the military situation after thinking about it, Lin Zuo straightened up and looked at him: "Zijing, is there no more?" ”

"And, there's more." was reminded by Lin Zuo's freshman year. Ma Buqing then reported: "...... Zixiang (Ma Bufang) had sent a telegram that they had discovered a large Indian Red Army in Khurais, east of Riyadh, with an estimated 2 army groups. After discussion, Lieutenant General Stilwell and Admiral Wavell decided to engage the Indian army in a decisive battle to prevent them from reinforcing the defenders at Ras Al Khaimah. However, this time our armored cavalry division and the American armored division did not need to take the lead, and General Wavell decided to send 6 British armored divisions to the vanguard. The former commander-in-chief of the enemy was not Patton, but the British Lieutenant General Auchinleck. ”

Lin Zuoda leaned down again, and his gaze shifted to Hu Laisi, whom Ma Buqing had just mentioned. It was a desolate desert, with no favorable terrain to defend, and it should be the favorite terrain of the armored forces, and the cunning Blyukhel actually placed two infantry groups there to prepare for war with the Anglo-American armored clusters. No matter how you look at it, it looks like there is a conspiracy!

He stood up, crossed his arms and thought for a while: "The battle of Khurais should be the key to whether the Middle East war can be reversed, if Britain and the United States are defeated again, most of their Persian Gulf operations will not be able to continue." But I'm not optimistic about Britain and the United States, it's our turn now, Zijing, the plan to attack Egypt can start to prepare. ”

"Chief, isn't it?" Ma Buqing shook his head slightly, as if he didn't quite believe that the Wavell-Stilwell cluster would lose. Zixiang's telegram said that Wavell's six British armored divisions were still basically intact, their tanks were not walking on their own, but were dragged on the march by flatbed trucks, and the 1,200 tanks of the six armored divisions were all intact. The Americans' three armored divisions also have more than 300 capable tanks and self-propelled guns, and our armored cavalry divisions also have 89 C-type tanks and 33 C-type self-propelled guns. With such a powerful armored force, it is unlikely that it will be defeated by 2 Indian armies, right? ”

Seeing that Ma Buqing doubted his judgment, Lin Zuoda snorted coldly: "We don't know Blyukhel's hole cards!" Zijing, you don't really think that there are only a few million Indian Red Army like cannon fodder here in the Middle East, right? Ma Buqing said with some hesitation: "Commander-in-chief, do you mean that Trotsky will send the tank army to the Middle East?" But even if there is a Soviet tank army in the Middle East, there will not be many of them, and there are more than 1,000 tanks and self-propelled guns on our side in the United Kingdom, the United States and us, and there are quite a few of them. There are 25 divisions ......"

Lin Zuo waved his hand and interrupted Ma Buqing: "Zijing, go and arrange a plane for me, I'm going to Riyadh tonight, tell Ma Zixiang, and ask him to arrange someone to pick up the plane at Riyadh Airport, but don't make a noise, I'm going to be an audience as a military attache of the Chinese Embassy in the Arab Empire." That's right. You then arrange for Ma Zhongying to command the Guards Cavalry Division and the 5th Cavalry Division to go to Yemen and control the Gulf of Aden Reserve. ”

"Gulf of Aden Conservation Area? It seems to be under the control of the British! Ma Buqing was stunned. Yemen's Gulf of Aden Reserve was a British colony, which had also been "liberated" by the Soviet Red Army and incorporated into the Yemeni People's Republic, but after the start of the Second Middle East War, the British took advantage of the concentration of forces on the Indo-Middle East Front and sent the Eastern Fleet to escort thousands of British infantry to land in the Gulf of Aden. Take it back again.

"I know it's a British colony." Lin Zuodao: "But the British should evacuate soon." ”

……

At this time, in the war rooms of the Riyadh and Wavell-Stilwell clusters, there was a relaxed atmosphere. Although the overall shape of the Anglo-American Allied forces in the Middle East was very bad, their cluster was a succession of victories, even if the eight infantry divisions commanded by Stilwell were considered winners in the offensive and defensive battles of Medina, and they fought all the way from the port of Jeddah without a single defeat, the whole army was naturally full of confidence. Patton, who broke through all the way, was regarded as a god of war by the soldiers of the whole army. Everywhere he went, he was greeted with adoration and awe. But it was such an invincible general who refused to be the former enemy commander-in-chief of the armored assault force at the just-concluded military conference, and also raised objections to Stilwell and Wavell's plan for a decisive battle at the meeting.

He believed that by the time Riyadh had taken possession, the Wavell-Stilwell cluster had achieved most of its operational objectives, and that part of the initiative in the Middle East battle had returned to the British and American allies. So now there is no need to risk a decisive battle, but rather to rest in Riyadh for a few days to repair the airfield outside the city and the armored vehicles damaged along the way. Wait until everything is ready. Advancing to the Persian Gulf and joining up with the British and American troops that landed is the safest way to play, and it is enough to reverse the current decline.

But Stilwell did not think so, and in his opinion the United States and Great Britain now needed an even greater victory, annihilating more of the Indian Red Army, in order to prove their place in the whole world anti-Soviet war! And he felt that the armored group he commanded jointly with Wavell was very powerful. In his exact words, it was so strong that "even the whole Indian Red Army could be broken by a group, so we have no need to fear any Indian army." Patton suggested that the Soviets might send tank troops to the Middle East, but Stilwell still thought so. 6 British Panzer Divisions and 3 American Panzer Divisions (the Caliphate Panzer Division was automatically ignored by him) was enough to deal with one opponent, and even if there were a few Soviet tank armies, it could not be an opponent of more than a thousand Anglo-American tanks! At the same time, British Admiral Wavell also fully supported Stilwell's opinion, and also took the initiative to let Lieutenant General Auchinleck command six British armored divisions to take the lead, so that Patton, a small major general, naturally had nothing to say.

And just as Stilwell, Wavell, and Auchinleck were preparing their battle plan for the next day in Riyadh's interim headquarters, there was good news.

The landing operations of the Anglo-American Allied forces on Ras Al Khaimah and the island of Gershm were successful! Although the first wave of marines who landed at Ras Al Khaimah encountered a sudden bombardment by the Indian Red Army artillery group in the mountains near the coast, they were met with stubborn resistance from the Indian defenders. However, after daybreak, the firepower and air superiority of the British and American fleets began to come into play, and wave after wave of British and American marines and army officers and men forcibly seized the beach with the support of superior naval and air firepower. Although the defending 23rd Infantry Division of the Indian Red Army put up stubborn resistance, it still suffered heavy casualties under the strong naval and air fire of the British and Americans, and had to withdraw from Ras Al Khaimah under the cover of night that night, giving victory to the other side.

On the same day, the landing force of the British and American allies also occupied the island of Qeshm, which belongs to the Persian People's Republic, and completely opened up the Strait of Hormuz, the choke point leading to the Persian Gulf. Admiral Ernest King decided that the combined Anglo-American fleet would sail into the Persian Gulf in the early morning of May 17, 1935, and that a second landing operation would be launched by May 19 at the latest......

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