The Japanese played quite beautifully with the amphibious landing in Ceylon. In the history of World War II, several amphibious landing battles publicized in the history books were the masterpieces of the Allied forces, especially the American army. However, the Japanese army was not bad at studying amphibious landing warfare, and was even more creative than the allies in some operational aspects. Looking at the dozens of landing battles after the Japanese army launched an attack on Nanyang, only a handful of them were lost.

In this era, Li Guang also studied a lot of landing warfare, but Li Guang actually did not look down on the level of Japanese landing warfare. The organization of the Japanese landing war was far less sophisticated than that of the US army, and it did not have all kinds of landing craft, all kinds of amphibious tanks, and amphibious armored vehicles like the US army. In addition to the extremely limited number of special landing weapons, the Japanese army mainly relied on infantry to seize the beach.

However, in all the landing battles of the Japanese army, there was one thing in common - surprise. And it's pretty well played.

In the battle for the assault on Ceylon.

First, a powerful fleet led by Rear Admiral Jizaburo Ozawa attacked Ceylon on June 3. Then he made a long run to the British military port in Calcutta.

The actions of the Japanese army gave the British the illusion that they were still a continuation of the last naval battle of Ceylon, and that their purpose was only to protect the Japanese supply routes to Burma and eliminate the threat of the British and naval resistance forces to their supply routes.

But when the Japanese showed their sharp blades on June 8, everything was clear, but it was too late.

It must be said that the Japanese naval and army generals cooperated very well.

To attack Ceylon, Major General Jizaburo Ozawa was well prepared. On 3 June, there was a slight moment of clarity in the waters of Ceylon. However, the Japanese army did a good job of meteorological reconnaissance, and in the rainy season, the sunny days in Ceylon were too short. When Jizaburo Ozawa learned that the weather would be clear for five or six hours at most, he immediately changed his battle plan.

So after the air raid on Ceylon. He turned to the north and boldly attacked the military port of Calcutta. Ozawa Jizaburo's actions were risky, knowing that the Kolkata military port was backed by the Indian mainland, and the British army's air power was extremely strong. But the heavy rain not only weakened the Japanese air power, but also reduced the British air power to zero. Ozawa's adventure was a great success, as two battleships and several heavy cruisers sealed the three British warships in the harbor with overwhelming artillery fire and destroyed them one by one.

Almost without a pause, the Ozawa fleet went south again after the shelling of Calcutta.

By this time, Nishimura Takuma's army fleet had been wandering in the Andaman Sea for two days before quickly crossing the Andaman Islands. Enter the Bay of Bengal.

Japanese reconnaissance planes had confirmed in advance that Ceylon was likely to maintain two days of sunny weather from 8 June, which was exactly the time necessary for the Japanese landing.

After three days of full speed, the two fleets arrived in Ceylon almost simultaneously on 8 June.

In this rush, the Japanese army occupied all the time. Both fleets sailed in the rain. When we arrived in Ceylon, it was just after the rain and the sky was clear. Neither the reconnaissance planes of the Naval Resistance Army nor the routine reconnaissance of the British Army knew anything about it.

The Japanese army's methods of concealing their whereabouts can be described as clever and successful. If only that's the ability. It's too much to underestimate the Japanese army.

The place of landing chosen by the Japanese army. It happened to be the British Army and the Naval Resistance Army, the junction of the two armies, and the weakest coastal defense. Almost without resistance, the Japanese army set foot on Ceylon soil.

I don't know if this operation of the Japanese army was planned cleverly or by luck. Since the two divisions of the landing force were all taken by boat from Indochina. Indochina was not only a weak link in British intelligence, but also a weak link in the naval resistance army, and the Anglo-Tang coalition forces seriously underestimated the Japanese landing. This huge fleet departed from Indochina and did not stop even in Singapore, passing directly through the Strait of Malacca. Entering the Indian Ocean, the suddenness of the battle was excellently achieved. This move happened to avoid the intelligence station of the Maritime Resistance Force in Singapore.

Under multiple factors, the Anglo-Tang coalition fell into passivity when the war began.

Ceylon is a large island with an area of more than 65,000 square kilometers. Its terrain and geographical location dictate the difficulty of defense.

This teardrop-shaped island is located at the southern tip of the Indian mainland, very close to the Indian mainland, and the closest location is only a few dozen kilometers. Originally, this island relied on the Indian mainland, and it was relatively easy to defend.

But the Indian mainland, across the sea from Ceylon, was not a British colony, but a French colony. This land, known as French India, was not garrisoned by French troops, and the products were not abundant, and the British were still trying to win over France's overseas strength at this time, and did not want to offend the French, who had a good face, so the British did not occupy it militarily.

As soon as the war began, the drawbacks were revealed. The British army had hundreds of thousands of troops in India, but it was too far away to reinforce them.

Judging from the geographical environment of the island of Ceylon, it is extremely difficult to defend the defending side, especially when the number of troops is insufficient. In the south-central part of Ceylon is a large mountain with a radius of tens of kilometers - Mount Piduruta Lagle. Although there are roads in the mountains, it is difficult for the army to pass.

Therefore, the center is mountainous, surrounded by plains or jungle islands, and the main traffic depends on the road around the island or the primitive road.

The island of Ceylon itself is only about 200 kilometers wide from east to west, but it is at least 500 or 600 kilometers long to increase troops from Colombo, the capital of the west, to the east coast.

Therefore, as soon as the Japanese army began to attack, the Anglo-Tang coalition forces were insufficient, and it was too late to deploy troops.

To say all this, the British army and the naval resistance army have predicted, compared to the lack of troops, it is impossible to fortify everywhere. And the initiative in the amphibious landing war is in the hands of the opponent, and it is completely understandable that the defender is passive at the first moment of the battle.

However, what caught the British and the Naval Resistance Army off guard was this. Both the British and the Naval Resistance Army learned the news four hours after the Japanese landing began.

In anti-landing operations, it doesn't matter if you are passive at the beginning, but the first action is very crucial. Until the Japanese firmly occupy the beachhead, the defenders still have a great advantage. Of course, one of the most basic prerequisites is that the command must always know that the devils have landed.

It's a pity that the British army didn't know, and the naval resistance army didn't know either. The Anglo-Indian army in Ceylon not only became traitors, but also defected to the side of the Japanese army.

There are two main indigenous groups in Ceylon, Tamil and Sinhalese. Due to Japan's long-term operation and the bait of helping it achieve national independence, it has very much bought off a group of middle- and lower-level officers.

You must know that the so-called Anglo-Indian army, except for the officers who are British, the soldiers are almost all Indians. These Indian soldiers can't fight, but they are very qualified to lead the way.

In the early days of the Pacific War, the Japanese army did a very good job in political work, and attracted the armed forces of many colonies. In Burma, for example, there were many monks and guerrillas who helped the Japanese army fight and pass on information.

In this regard, as the traditional suzerainty of Burma, China's performance is far inferior to that of Japan due to the long-term decline of national power, and the propaganda has not kept up, so that it not only has to fight the Japanese army but also face harassment and attacks by Burmese guerrillas.

And the same situation is almost the same in Ceylon. In the eyes of the natives of Ceylon, the British were the enemies who oppressed them, while the Japanese were the saviors. It is not surprising that the natives of Southeast Asia were almost all Caucasian colonies before the war, and even in the eyes of the indigenous leaders, it is a just and great cause to help the Japanese devils drive out the Caucasians. Therefore, the landing of the Japanese army in Ceylon and the help of traitors was not unexpected.

In the early morning of the 8th, the Ceylonese natives easily killed several white commanders, and then the Japanese army landed smoothly.

It can be said that the entire operation of the Japanese army can really be called a classic of landing warfare.

But in terms of the specific battle plan, it is not very clever.

The landing site of the Japanese troops was located south of the port of Trincomalee and north of the port of Don. Generally speaking, amphibious landings are as concentrated as possible. But the landing of the Japanese army was divided into three parts, landing simultaneously within three hundred kilometers between the ports of Trincomalee and Don.

The three landing sites were all small ports, and all were under the control of British and Indian troops, and all of them had an uprising of Indian soldiers.

The Japanese army dared to land in three ways in such a division, in fact, because there were traitors and internal responses. More importantly, the arrogance of the Japanese army.

In particular, the Japanese Army, after seeing the British Army in Malaya and Burma, had their eyes on their foreheads, and they did not take the combat effectiveness of the British Army into account at all. As for the combat effectiveness of the Naval Resistance Army, the Japanese army ignored it.

Under the command of Nishimura Takuma, the main 21st Division landed in the center, while the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade landed on both flanks in two routes.

To say that this arrangement is not bad, the 21st Brigade was used to snipe and cover the landing of the main force of the 20th Division. After all, the level of equipment of the Japanese army, so many troops and so many supplies, without two or three days, it is impossible to land all of them.

However, Nishimura Takuma was not steady at all, and immediately after the landing of the two wings, the expansion began.

When the independent mixed 21st Brigade landed, two brigades were released to attack in the north and south directions.

It is estimated that Nishimura Takaka is too light on the enemy, or that "offense is the best defense" as the truth of the universe. In the eyes of the Japanese Army, a large group of Japanese troops can completely defeat a division of the Chinese army, and it is not difficult to take out a division of the British army. And this has been verified many times, the Japanese Navy suffered a defeat at Midway, but the Japanese Army was invincible in the entire South Sea.

The Japanese army was well aware of the presence of the Naval Resistance Army in Ceylon, and even the strength of the army was estimated to be about the same. In the whole of Ceylon, in addition to a large number of Japanese spies, there are also so many leading parties, and some situations of the Naval Resistance Army are actually difficult to keep secret.

But the Japanese army did not know at all what kind of army the Naval Resistance Army was. The will to fight is not inferior to the Japanese army, the training exceeds the Japanese army, and the equipment not only surpasses the Japanese army, but surpasses all the armies of this era. Moreover, the Maritime Resistance Army's familiarity with geography in Ceylon is definitely not comparable to that of a little devil, and its adaptability to the climate is far inferior to that of the Japanese army.

As for the supply of logistical materials, the Japanese army could not catch up.

When a Japanese brigade crashed into a field battalion of the Shanghai Resistance Army, Nishimura began to feel half happy and half painful. (To be continued......)