The railway bridge across the Datong River has broken in the middle, and the steel rails and deck have twisted into twists, telling the destructive power of war in the scorching sun. In contrast to the fact that the once busy river has become bleak and empty, the wide water surface is empty, and most of the citizens of Pyongyang have fled to the countryside with their families amid the sound of artillery.

However, the Japanese Army, which was in a state of overwhelming strength on the peninsula, suffered heavy losses today.

In the northern suburbs of Suncheon, 25 kilometers away, three 305-mm railway heavy guns comparable to the German K5 were lined up on a cross-shaped track, and under the command of the Yun-7 artillery guide, they used 450 kilograms of low-pressure heavy ammunition to continuously shell Pyongyang City, 30 kilometers away. "Hurry up! Speed up and get a little further away from the bridge! The captain of the 35th Wing of the 9th Division, Fuji Suekichi Daisa, stood on the shore in distress, desperately shouting for the soldiers to speed up. The Japanese soldiers on the bridge were nervous, and their eyes looked at the sky from time to time, for fear that the terrible shells would fall again.

But the more I feared something, the more something came, and a few minutes later, an earth-shattering explosion was heard again on the surface of the river 500 meters away. "Boom!" A column of water up to 100 meters high rose from the surface of the river, and the waves rushed towards the pontoon bridge rapidly. "Get out of the way, get out of the way." A squad leader on the bridge tried to rush across the river, but the one-meter-high wave broke the pontoon bridge, and more than 100 Japanese soldiers were swept away by the waves. Before Fujii could mourn the loss, another shell fell into the air. "Dazuo, be careful." Several observing infantrymen hurriedly pushed him to the ground, but it was still too late. The shell exploded less than ten meters next to them, and the shock wave tore several people apart at the same time, leaving only a large crater several meters deep.

Without air supremacy, just three railway heavy guns suppressed an entire division of the Japanese army on the surface and could not move. Unprotected Japanese soldiers groaned and screamed in the explosion. With such a long-distance attack, they couldn't even use the best charge tactics. "Yaga! These cowards! Seeing this scene, Kiichiro Higuchi, who was in the bunker, was also so angry that he scolded and angrily reprimanded his artilleryman: "Have you found the location of the artillery of the people in China?" The commander of the artillery wing, Serikawa Hideosa, had even more bloody cheeks, clenched his fists tightly and shouted: "General, the people of China are using railway artillery, the distance is too far, and the range of my field artillery is insufficient. "The state resources are insufficient, the Japanese Army lacks artillery. It would be good to have a few 105 field guns in a unit at the division and regimental level, and there is simply no ability to develop expensive giant artillery. As for the naval guns that the navy has obsolete, they are basically used for coastal defense in the mainland, the Ryukyus, and Rabaul. With no air supremacy and no rival cannon, it's no wonder he's so anxious.

"Then organize death squads! Stop here. It will only cause more casualties! Higuchi Jiichiro didn't look good, but he didn't give up, the Ninth Division also followed the Nogi military god to fight the brutal Lushun attack, and in the face of the Russian army's machine gun array, he didn't complain about the loss of thousands of people in one day, how could he be trapped on the surface by a few cannons.

When the Ninth Division was beaten to the ground by three railway cannons, Li Zongren also climbed onto the observation platform. "Chief of Staff." The guard handed over the binoculars, but he didn't rush to see the results of the battle after taking them. Instead, he walked up to Yue Peng first and saluted.

After the two shook hands, he was just about to ask why he was summoned back, but Yue Peng smiled and pointed to the front: "Don't worry." Let's see, there's not much more to see this picture. Zhang Xiaozhun next to him also couldn't take his eyes off it, and said with a smile: "Delin, you have good eyes." This kind of thing is one day less to see. Li Zongren was puzzled, isn't it just three railway cannons? Six guns of the same type have already been put into service to the northwest. There have also been ultra-long-range artillery bombardments of more than 50 kilometers, and there are no surprises. Just when he was wondering, an unusual explosion suddenly came from the direction of Pyongyang, and when he raised his telescope, he found that a column of clouds hundreds of meters high had appeared on the ground level.

A tremor on the ground that was even more violent than just now turned pale with fright. Looking at the mushroom cloud created by the explosion, they immediately understood that something was attacking. "Navy heavy artillery! It's a battleship of the Shina Navy! Fast, send a telegram. Damn naval stupid, how could you let the battleship of China come close to the coast! Kiichiro Higuchi hid in the bunker and stomped his feet repeatedly, so anxious that he couldn't put on his wings and fly out of the range of the ship's guns. But he has no wings, and the entire division does not even have a few trucks, so how can he escape in the face of large-caliber naval guns with a range of more than 40 kilometers?

"Boom, boom." In less than two minutes, the second powerful shell fell again, and at the same time three railway guns in Hue also opened fire again. By the time the explosion had passed, the nearby Pyongyang Stadium had been razed to the ground, and most of the entire squadron of Japanese troops hiding there had been killed. Such a terrifying destructive power made a chill rise from the feet of Kiichiro Higuchi and all the Japanese officers. They really couldn't figure out how big a caliber of cannon could cause such a big damage? If you can't break through as soon as possible, I'm afraid the entire division will have to be explained here!

"Bombers dispatched?" Li Zongren was also taken aback, thinking that the Air Force had used a special bomb. Zhu Peide, who was next to him, saw him looking at the sky and explained with a smile: "On the sea surface of the Qingchuan River Estuary, it is the Navy's 480-mm experimental gun. As a senior general, Li Zongren knew that the Navy had developed a 480-mm super naval gun a few years ago, and installed it on the cruiser Qingdao, which had been decommissioned and converted into a test ship (the original Austro-Hungarian Queen Elizabeth armored cruiser in the Battle of Qingdao). But because of the rate of fire and a number of other reasons, the navy finally opted for a more mature 406-mm naval gun. Since it is an experimental artillery, there will definitely not be many shells, and now is the era of air supremacy, and the navy will no longer order shells, no wonder even Yue Peng said that it is rare.

The 1.5-ton shells landed on the ground with unimaginable power, and with the cooperation of three 305-millimeter railway guns, the city of Pyongyang was completely covered in smoke and dust in less than half an hour. Through the lenses, it can be clearly seen that the city buildings quickly collapsed and collapsed, the fortifications built by the Japanese army were shattered, and several Japanese tanks were lifted several meters high by the blast wave and fell heavily in the Datong River behind. Li Zongren even believed that with these four guns, as long as air supremacy could be ensured, the Japanese army would not be able to cross the thunder pool by half a step. "The North Korean armored division has gone up." When everyone was watching the power of the giant cannon, Xue Yue shouted first. Following his fingers, he saw more than 100 Type 25C (C is the pinyin of the beginning of North Korea. This means that this is a model exported to North Korea) The tank jumped out of the hidden stack of firewood and launched a counterattack against the Japanese 9th Division.

The North Korean National Defense Forces have two armored divisions, all of which are equipped with Type 25 tanks, and only the Guard Brigade, modeled after the country's Central Guard Division, has more than 50 export-oriented Type 31C tanks. Because the North Korean armored division and the Chinese armored division have exercised many times, the offensive formation is not bad, and Xue Yue and Yan Youbing muttered to it. But Li Zongren was very puzzled, and pulled the corner of Zhu Peide's clothes, and asked quietly with doubts: "Yizhi." How did you fight back so quickly? Where did Kim Koo and the North Korean government withdraw? ”

Although the General Staff Headquarters will adjust its operational arrangements in light of changes in the war situation, its overall strategy will not change. From the very beginning, North Korea used it as a bone to lure the mad dog of Japan to throw troops here. Therefore, in recent years, the government has deliberately leaked the iron and copper ore reserves in Maoshan and Huishan, just to see Japan's greed. The General Staff did so. It was also aimed at the weakness of the Japanese army's insufficient manpower and resources, otherwise it would be detrimental to the subsequent campaign to let the 1.3 million troops of Korea and the South Seas withdraw to the mainland or the Ryukyus. Now that he saw that not only four huge artillery pieces were used, but also armored divisions, he thought that the General Staff had changed its strategy. "This time it is to cooperate with the navy and put pressure on the Japanese army, so that they will not recklessly increase their troops to the south." Zhu Peide said with a smile: "The North Korean government has withdrawn to Sinuiju. As for Jin Jiu, he is miserable now. After hearing about the loss of Pyongyang, many North Korean officials were dissatisfied with his early exports to Japan, saying that he had fattened the Japanese army. So I went to Beijing to find the president. ”

"Will the president support him to stay in power?" Li Zongren sneered.

"I don't understand these things, if you are interested, ask the chief of staff later." Zhu Peide smiled. As the chief of staff of the Northeast Theater of Operations, he actually knows a lot of things. I don't understand it because he, like Cai Yi, Yue Peng and others, doesn't like to get involved in politics. At this time, Yue Peng had already put down the telescope. Seeing the two chatting, he asked, "Delin, are you still used to living in the northwest?" Look you've lost a lot of weight. "Li Zongren is a native of Guangxi, and he is not very comfortable with the bitter cold of the northwest. smiled: "Thank you Chief of Staff for your concern." When you are a soldier, you go there wherever you need to. Besides, I didn't listen to your orders and go back on vacation. ”

Xue Yue laughed beside him: "Chief of Staff, look, I said that Delin will be lazy." Why don't you let me go, stay in school all day, and my bones are panicked. On the way, Li Zongren guessed that he might have a new task for himself, and when he heard these words, his eyebrows lit up: "Chief of Staff, is there a new task?" ”

It is no wonder that he is anxious, Chu Nan, Long Yun and Sun Chuanfang, who were at the same time as him, were already commanders of the group army, and Liu Mingzhao, who had always been inconspicuous, even shined in the two battles of Zhezkazgan counterattack and Petropavlovsk, and even Europe and the United States called him the army general who appeared in China in the past 20 years after Cai Yi and Yue Peng, and was likely to be promoted to a first-class general at the end of the year. And Zhu Peide and Bai Chongxi are already commanders at the theater level, and even the rising star Zhuo Fan and others are showing signs of it. But although he has the rank of lieutenant general, he is still at the military level, if he can't take advantage of this battle to make a name for himself, I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to go further in this life.

Of course, everyone knows his thoughts, otherwise Song Ziqing would not recommend transferring him back. However, now that there were many people, Yue Peng did not say it immediately, but beckoned everyone to walk towards the armored car waiting behind. After entering wartime, the internal regulations of the army stipulated that two or more senior officers were not allowed to be on the same plane or in the same car. So after avoiding everyone and closing the car door, Yue Peng took out India's intelligence and handed it over: "Let's take a look at this first." Seeing the document, Li Zongren was secretly surprised, he didn't expect it to be India. He didn't know much about India, but he also knew the general situation, because the General Staff would send military briefings to senior officers every week, telling everyone about the situation in various countries and the surrounding war. It's just that he and everyone else didn't expect that the situation in India would deteriorate to this extent in just a few weeks.

"It's not very good. Nehru and the PKI were very fast, and they had already divided their forces and hurried south. Especially those Soviet veterans, after resting, their strength has been fully restored, and there are still many heavy weapons provided by Japan to defeat many British divisions. At present, Lahore has been captured on the Western Front, and the forward is less than fifty kilometers from Hyderabad. The middle route reached the coast of Kempard Bay, 350 km from Mumbai. The fastest was to the east, where the Japanese army in Calcutta had already joined forces and conquered Cuttac and other places in the south. Bengal has also largely fallen, and Chandra has been pinned down to the north of Bengal and around Sikkim. Moreover, they received the support of many Indian locals in this operation, with sufficient money and food, complete supplies, and a lot of weapons and ammunition. According to intelligence, if the tide cannot be curbed as soon as possible. It is not possible to send an army of two to three million men! ”

"So much?" Li Zongren gasped, but it is not surprising to think about India's population and the organizational capacity of the PKI.

"The MIA has built airfields in places like Sikkim and Assam, and has also formed a number of guerrilla units. Our local leader is Fei Wenhua, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and is the commander of the Northeast India Independent Division of the Asian League. People are good and have flexible brains. Yue Peng said as he took out another document: "This is a deal reached a few days ago between the president and the British government, which has promised to hand over the jurisdiction of Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam and Nagaland to us. In exchange for us sending troops to India. ”

Li Zongren knew that these four places used to belong to southern Tibet and the Shan region. In the early and middle of the early and mid-Qing Dynasty, it was once incorporated into the country, but with the Qing court, British power infiltrated. In the end, they were all ceded out. During the Shanghai Communiqué, Yang Qiu once wanted to recover these places, but the British refused, believing that this was an agreement in the early Qing Dynasty and had been in force for many years, but they did not expect that they would be willing to take it out this time. Although it is a helpless move, these places are all economically backward and complex areas. And after China stood up. The southwestern frontier has been stabilized, and it is no longer possible to continue to expand the so-called Sino-Indian buffer zone, so even if it is taken out, it is not much of a loss.

"Don't think it's good news." Yue Peng saw that he didn't find the key point, and reminded: "Britain has taken it out." But it harbors evil intentions! You see, this is Digboy of Assam. There is an oil field here, which is now the largest oil field in India, with an annual production of 300,000 tons of oil. There is also a fully equipped refinery. In addition to the oil fields, the British also sold the Makum coalfield and the coking coal plant in Moran to us. Don't underestimate the oil and coal. India is short of oil. Stalin sent several groups of experts to find only a small oil field with an annual output of 80,000 tons in the Punjab Desert, and the coal in the Macum coalfield was also very special, and the calorific value of combustion was very high. Moran is also India's largest coking coal base, with half of the Tata Steel plant's coking coal here. So both the Japanese army and Nehru were already actively mobilizing troops to seize the oil fields and coal mines. ”

The annual output of 300,000 tons of oil is not too much, but it is a lot less, and it is even more precious to India and the Japanese army, which are short of oil. Not to mention the coking coal used in steelmaking by Tata Steel Group, it is no wonder that Yue Peng said that Britain harbored evil intentions. This was a deliberate effort to divert Nehru and the Japanese army to the northeast and reduce the pressure on Mumbai in the west.

"At present, the British army in India has a total of twelve Anglo-Indian divisions with a total strength of about 200,000 troops, 150 aircraft, and several destroyers and submarines. The headquarters is located in Mumbai, the commander-in-chief is the Viceroy of India, Olin Lake, and the actual controller is Lieutenant General Quinan, who was transferred from Egypt. This man was brave and resourceful, and he was a good army officer. I have negotiated with the British that you will be the commander-in-chief of our forces in India. In terms of troops, the two infantry divisions in Afghanistan will go to Bombay as soon as possible, the 16th Mountain Brigade will be airlifted to Assam, and Bai Chongxi can also draw two divisions to you. The Air Force can only support one group at most (about 118 aircraft), which is probably too much to exceed logistics. The Navy's Third Fleet can't help you for the time being, because they and the British Mediterranean Fleet have a big mission recently, which will take about a month. Originally, I wanted to call in the Muslim League and the Afghan troops to you, but the British were afraid that they would take advantage of the opportunity to expand, so they were only allowed to contain support in the Muslim League-controlled area on the western front, and were not allowed to enter the Central Plains, so I can't give you too many troops for the time being. But don't worry, Chandra and Fei Wenhua have three divisions in their hands, all under your command. The transportation channels of the Muslim League are basically unimpeded, and as long as you keep the airfield in Assam in the northeast, the air force can still ensure basic supplies. But if you want to be fed and continue to recruit troops, you will have to wait until early next year to defeat Iran, and you will have to see if you can seize a coastal dock. As for the officers, Wu Huanxian and Fei Wenhua of the 16th Brigade are good officers, and I will ask Xu Xiangqian to bring some young people to support you in the future. ”

After hearing these words, Li Zongren had some bottom in his heart. Chandra and Fei Wenhua's guerrillas did not take it to heart, but the four infantry divisions and an elite mountain brigade supported by the Afghan and Persian theaters of operations were enough for him to stabilize the situation first. The logistics are more troublesome, and there is no problem in the direction of the Muslim League, but the Bay of Bengal is still in the hands of the Japanese army, and the air force's flight route over the Himalayas is even more difficult. But even though the conditions were tough, he decided to accept the task. After all, this is an independent command of a theater-level operation, and you can consider your own capabilities. When Yue Peng saw that he agreed, he raised four fingers again: "Remember four things." First, India can use any system in the future, but it can't go through GC and state socialization, so it doesn't matter if you fight Nehru or not, the CPI must completely kill me! Second, the caste system should be preserved, and we must not engage in land reform or other things, and we should loot more money if we can. Third, don't put too much faith in the Muslim League. Now the Muslim League needs us, so you have to make good use of the opportunity of the aid to compress the Muslim League forces and immigrants from Bangladesh to the south of Sillet, and help them get rid of India in the future, and we must also minimize the religious population in the areas under our control! Fourth, the Hindu region cannot be divided, but it cannot be of one mind, because we need India to contain the Muslim League and ensure the balance of power in the South Asian subcontinent. You must keep these four in mind. I told Chen Guofu that he would transfer a few people who are engaged in politics to help you. ”

Li Zongren was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect that there was such a complicated political background and game behind it. However, unlike Zhu Peide and others, he prefers politics. Only the first one made him a little troubled, and asked: "Chief of Staff, I heard that Chandra was bent on imitating the German fascists before he defected to us. After taking refuge in us, they vigorously carried out the national socialization reform carried out by our country in the controlled areas and promoted the welfare of the whole people. Now I have to support him, wouldn't it be like this? ”

Yue Peng took out a cigarette and handed it to him to interrupt the conversation, and after lighting the cigarette, his eyes suddenly turned cold, and a sense of solemnity enveloped Li Zongren, and he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. Listen to him say: "In this world, how many people die before they get out of school? What's so strange about having one more Chandra? What I want is that India can't be independent now! The PKI is completely wiped out! Chaos will continue in the future! ”

Li Zongren completely understood, and nodded vigorously: "Then when will I leave?" ”

"Don't worry, isn't there still a breath in the UK. Later, you and I will go to see the president, and it will not be too late to rest for three or five days. Yue Peng laughed, if it weren't for the coercion just now, I'm afraid everyone would have forgotten that he was one of the two walls of national defense