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"Your Majesty, the British Navy and the French Navy, have used two 'Dreadnought-class' battleships and four 'Guba-class' battleships, all of which are currently stationed north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and all their main guns are aimed at the main channel of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. At the moment, the main channel of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has been blocked by them! Xiong Wu, chief of the General Staff, said to Wang Yuze with a stern face.

"The British and French blocked the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, what were their intentions? What exactly are they trying to do? Wang Yuze asked with some confusion. If the British and French navies used six capital ships to enter the Indian Ocean and compete with the Chinese navy for sea supremacy in the Indian Ocean, Wang Yuze might not have been surprised. But if the British Navy and the French Navy are just trying to block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and prevent the Chinese Navy from entering the Red Sea, this is a bit of a fuss.

"Perhaps, the British and the French are preparing to fight in the Kingdom, and there is news that a large number of British and French transport ships are entering the Red Sea through the Guò Suez Canal." Xiong Wu said.

"Send a telegram to the front lines of the Kingdom and prepare them for battle!" Wang Yuze said. Without knowing the intentions of Britain and France, the only way to do so was to respond to change. Although China has concentrated 5 infantry divisions and 3 marine divisions in the Kingdom, with a total strength of more than 150,000 troops, and 100,000 troops from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support them, the total strength of the British and French links has exceeded 400,000 troops, and in terms of strength, the squadron is still at a serious disadvantage.

Xiong Wu, chief of the General Staff, nodded, and then said: "Britain and France are still accumulating additional troops in the Middle East, and the General Staff plans to transfer the Seventh Army to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." At the same time, the Fifth Army was also ready to move south! ”

"Not busy. There are already 150,000 people in the Kingdom, and meeting the material consumption of these 150,000 people is already a big problem. If we add two more armies, just ensuring their supplies will be enough to drag us to death. The Seventh Army can go to Singapore first and wait until the war situation in the Middle East is clear before making the next move! Wang Yuze hesitated for a moment, and then said. With China's current forces in the Kingdom, it may be difficult to defeat the Anglo-French forces. But hold the line of defense. Even if you retreat in the early stage and lose some territory, you will be able to stabilize the front. Throwing too many troops into the Kingdom too early will put too much pressure on logistics.

"Okay, let the Seventh Army go to Singapore to stand by first!" Xiong Wu said. Travel from Singapore to the Middle East. It only takes half a month, which is already a third of the time saved compared to going through the country, and even if there are any changes in the war situation in the Middle East at that time, it will still be too late. In addition, Xiong Wu did not believe that the Anglo-French forces would be able to push the squadron to that point.

"Where are the main forces of the Indian Ocean Fleet? Now that the British Navy and the French Navy have blocked the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, preventing us from entering the Red Sea. Then, we'll do what they want. However, we also need to guard against their entry into the Indian Ocean. Wang Yuze said. If the British and French navies entered the Indian Ocean, it would pose a serious threat to the routes from China to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This will deal a fatal blow to China's military operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

"The main forces of the Indian Ocean Fleet will enter the Gulf of Aden tomorrow. When the time comes, the main force of the Indian Ocean Fleet will face off against the British and French navies across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. We can't get into the Red Sea. The British and French navies don't want to enter the Gulf of Aden! Chief of the General Staff Xiong Wu said.

"Hmmm! So be it! I have a hunch that there will be a big fight. It's about to explode in the Middle East! Wang Yuze said. At present, China, Britain and France have deployed a large number of troops in the Middle East. This huge number of troops, and the materials consumed every day, are a daily number. Even if Britain and France have deep pockets, I am afraid they will not be able to support it for long. If it drags on any longer, it will be very bad for them. Therefore, it seems that the great war is already about to break out!

On October 28, the main force of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy arrived in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where two 'Qin-class' battleships and two 'Zhonghua-class' battleships blocked the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from the south, and launched a fierce artillery bombardment of the British Navy's destroyers and light cruisers in the channel. A light cruiser of the French Navy was sunk, and a destroyer of the British Navy was damaged. The remaining battleships, having to withdraw from the fairway, returned to the north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

In this way, the two sides began to confront each other in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The entire channel of the strait was blocked. Ships of any country cannot get through from here. You must know that the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is an important international waterway, and there are countless ships passing through Guò every day. As soon as the British, French and Chinese navies blockaded here, the world's shipping was immediately chaotic. Countries have expressed their dissatisfaction with China, Britain and France, and demanded that China, Britain and France stop the blockade. However, both China and Britain and France have rejected this.

The blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by the Chinese Navy can guarantee the security of the route from China to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by the British and French navies would ensure that the Anglo-French forces could be supplied through the Red Sea. In such a situation, it is impossible for both sides to back down. The other countries saw that their protests had no effect and no other way, so they had to let them go. Merchant ships of various countries had to change their routes, or wait in ports until the Chinese navy and the British and French navies lifted the blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Either they can only make a detour to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, after all, no one knows how long the blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by the Chinese and British and French navies will last. This led to a considerable increase in the cost of shipping, which caused prices to rise in Europe, and even worsened the economic situation of European countries, which had been affected by the confrontation between the Entente and the Central Powers.

Yanbu, a city in the western part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the coast of the Red Sea, has become a sea of British and French forces, and under the guarantee of strong shipping, 200,000 British and French troops have been assembled here from Egypt, plus 200,000 British and French troops gathered in the northwest of the Kingdom, and the British and French troops have gathered more than 400,000 troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. At the same time, a large amount of war supplies were also transported to the front, and after more than a month of preparation, the Anglo-French army had completed its pre-war preparations. In addition, a large number of troops are being transferred from within Britain and France. In order to be able to defeat the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and defeat China, the two countries have clearly made up their minds.

British Army General Horatio Herbert Kitchener was appointed Supreme Commander of the Anglo-French Forces and was fully responsible for directing the Anglo-French military operations in the Kingdom. Horessho Herbert Kitchener, a famous general in the British Army, served as the commander-in-chief of the British army in Egypt, suppressed the Mahdi uprising in Sudan, and in the Boer War, he suppressed the Boer uprising by cruel means such as burning, killing and looting. If he hadn't been relatively young, with his military exploits, I am afraid that he would have been promoted to field marshal a long time ago.

This time, Horatio Herbert Kitchener was appointed commander of the Anglo-French forces, and it was precisely because of his ability that he took a fancy to his ability. Britain and France, both hoping to achieve victory in the Kingdom. If it fails, it will be a disaster for both Britain and France, at least, and the current governments of Britain and France will pay a heavy price for it.

"Gentlemen, I have decided, that tomorrow we will attack Medina. According to the intelligence we received, there were only two divisions of squadrons there! We will use two armies, 100,000 men, to take it completely! The other two armies, facing the difficulty, attacked Mecca! There is a division there. The Chinese have only 8 divisions in the Kingdom, except for one division deployed in the eastern part of the Kingdom and another division deployed near Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom, and only six divisions in the western region! Defeat these three divisions, and we'll win half the battle! "Admiral Horatio Herbert Kitchener, within his temporary command in Yanbu, gave orders to the army generals of Britain and France. The Anglo-French forces that entered the Kingdom to fight were reorganized into eight corps, each with four divisions, and a total of more than 50,000 troops. Among them, the French Army and the British Army, respectively, accounted for half.

"Yes, General!" Neither the French nor the British generals had any objection to this. In their opinion, there is absolutely no possibility of failure to launch an attack on the Chinese with an absolutely superior force.

On October 29, the 2nd and 3rd armies of the British and French expeditionary forces set out from Yanbu and went straight to Medina. The 4th and 5th armies marched south along the Red Sea and attacked Mecca. Both Medina and Mecca are holy cities in the hearts of Arabs. It was also the focus of the squadron's defense. And now, these two holy cities are about to be poisoned by war.

Colonel-General Horessho Herbert Kitchener, who personally commanded the assault on Medina. He has always been haunted by the defeat of the Anglo-French forces in the last time. Since he became the commander of the coalition forces, he has always wanted revenge. He wanted to prove to the world that Britain was not only a strong navy, but also an invincible British army.

Garrisoned in Medina were the 15th Division of the Chinese Army and the 8th Division of the Marine Corps, two divisions, totaling more than 36,000 people. At the same time, there are two infantry divisions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, about twenty-five thousand people. It's just that these Saudi kingdom troops were urgently recruited within this month, and their combat effectiveness is completely problematic, so it may not be a problem to let them be in charge of security and logistics transportation, and let them go to the front line to fight the British and French forces, which is somewhat unlikely!