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The news of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines distracted the heat of the war in Central Asia, and even most of the people in the country began to discuss the new threat along the coast. As the most important gateway to Taiwan and the South China Sea, the strategic position of the Philippines is crucial to China, and even fishermen know that Luzon is related to the safety of fishing grounds in the South China Sea.

From Nagato, which is known as a weapon for the town, to the Ise and Kongo, which were purchased from the United Kingdom, to the two heavy aircraft carriers of the fleet, Tsurusho and Zuizuru, which have been launched, 16 battleships (2 Indefatigable and 4 Hanoi-class purchased after the European war should be dismantled during the naval holiday), 10 aircraft carriers (counting the undelivered Shuanghe) and 18 heavy cruisers, it can be called the most powerful naval force in the Pacific Ocean at present. You must know that the US Pacific Fleet has only eight battleships and four aircraft carriers at this time, and even the Chinese Navy, which has been catching up in recent years, actually has only eight battleships, six aircraft carriers, eight heavy cruisers, and 22 light cruisers in service. The powerful Shandong-class will not be in service until the end of next year, the first two of the first four Liaoning-class aircraft carriers will not be in service until March next year, the last two will be in July, and the order for the 12 ships added after entering combat readiness, although the earliest will start at the end of 38, will not be put into service until at least 41 years. The addition of 10 Xi'an-class heavy cruisers and 22 Yarlung Zangbo-class light cruisers was actually the first batch to start construction at the end of 37, and it was only after entering 39 years that it began to speed up, so it will not be delivered until May next year at the earliest, and the only faster is the Qinling-class destroyers and submarines, not only the order has been increased to 220 and 160, but also at a rate of five per month.

Although the Wehrmacht is now focusing on air power, the people will not think so, and they even directly ignore the 100,000-ton light patrol ships of the Yangtze River class and the Xiangjiang class of the Navy. Only the main forces above the heavy cruiser are counted. In such a comparison, I was immediately worried, how could it be possible to win the battle between twenty-two ships and forty-two?!

Therefore, as soon as the news of the Japanese attack on Luzon came out, there were immediately calls for strengthening the navy throughout the country. But for the already turbulent countries of Europe and Asia, the attitude of the protectorate of the Philippines, the world's most powerful industrial power, the United States of America, has become their primary concern.

Britain and France certainly wanted the United States to send troops, and Germany also wanted the United States to get stuck in the Pacific. It is better to fight China after the war and never come to the Atlantic for the rest of your life. Yang Qiu was more contradictory, of course he hoped that the United States would send troops, so that Japan would inevitably fight, and then he could find an excuse to declare war on Japan. Because the United States is now very unprepared. It takes at least a year to run force projection, and a lot can be done in this gap.

So Roosevelt is under a lot of pressure at the moment, on the one hand, he needs to contain China day by day, and at the same time, he is particularly worried about Beijing's military capabilities and technological level, which has not been clear about its attitude so far. Similarly, if it does not help the Philippines, then the United States will give the impression that Asian countries are not trustworthy. Credit is key for a country that has dreamed of British and French superpower treatment since the end of the European war. So Yang Qiu would rather spend several times the price to help Saudi Arabia and Iran, and now this problem is finally his turn.

But before the United States could recover from the Philippines, 2,000 Japanese troops suddenly landed on Guam and the Mariana Islands, took over American gas stations, and expelled more than 70 U.S. Marines. It has made the whole world dumbfounded, and many countries think that the day is crazy. It is important to know that Guam is a United States Trust Territory recognized by the League of Nations. But that's the problem! You must know that in this era, Guam is not yet a territory of the United States, but only a trusteeship. Although Roosevelt once used the Guam base to fool MacArthur, who was unwilling to withdraw troops from the Philippines. But in fact, in addition to building a gas station and dredging the harbor. No military facilities were built on Gen, and there were only a few dozen Marines on it. Now that Japan has withdrawn from the League of Nations, this landing is tantamount to announcing that it does not recognize this escrow agreement.

The news of Japan's landing on Guam and the Mariana Islands was absolutely explosive, and it was extremely solemn even for days, and the Japanese battalion was even prepared to turn to China in an all-round way, continue to ease the Sino-Japanese contradictions by signing a new agreement to jointly govern the southwest Pacific Ocean, and then start a war against the United States! The 10 battleships, 8 aircraft carriers, and 14 heavy cruisers of the main force of the Combined Fleet were all transferred to the large triangle of Yokosuka, Ryukyu, Rabaul, and Truk, clearly showing their determination to break jade at sea and suddenly raise the Pacific Ocean to the brink of conflict!

In order to deal with the Pacific crisis, which could worsen at any time, Yang Qiu had to give up the Northwest War and hurriedly take a plane back to Beijing. Song Ziqing also raised the coastal warning level to orange according to the new military regulations of the Wehrmacht, which means that the navy will be upgraded from the current second-level combat readiness to the first combat readiness of 24 standby.

The world is holding its breath and waiting for the next move of the United States, but one person is unconcerned about the sudden and dramatic changes in the Pacific. "The Chinese must not be allowed to enter Central Asia!" This is not only a military issue, but also a serious political task. Faced with an unfavorable turn in the East, and the sudden change in the situation in Moscow, which had been proud of the spring breeze before, Stalin made it clear at the Politburo meeting that he must fight to the death.

If he did not feel that Yang Qiu's policy of Central Asian independence was under much pressure before, then after the Wehrmacht suddenly counterattacked and tens of thousands of troops crossed Lake Balkhash, which was previously considered impassable by heavy equipment, the tide of the war suddenly turned against the Soviet Union. Central Asia is not Europe, and it is not even as calm as Ukraine. The Central Asian republics were hostile to the Soviet Union, and there were many people who helped the white bandits during the civil war, and although they were filled with a large number of personnel after the war, and were used as a place of exile during the Great Purge, except for a few areas such as Western Kazakhstan, the planned economy and full-scale farms still brought about widespread extreme poverty.

Poverty is often accompanied by division and chaos, especially in Kazakhstan, the former being the largest warehouse of meat and cotton in the Soviet Union, and Uzbekistan, which is named after the cotton, gold and copper mines, which are the most important strategic goods of the Soviet Union. Because of the planned economy and the comprehensive collectivization of farms, these places could not eat meat or wear cotton clothes, so the people had long harbored great dissatisfaction, allowing them to be independent, and the Soviets would have a big problem even eating meat to keep out the cold! Moreover, the Central Asian region itself is a complex force, and China and the Soviet Union have been secretly fighting here for nearly 20 years. Now these shadows have not yet shown themselves. That's because they're still waiting for the outcome of the big war. If the Soviet army loses this battle, it will be a powerful earthquake for the whole of Central Asia! So Stalin knew that this battle must not be lost, and if he lost, he would not only lose the largest warehouse of meat, cotton and gold in the Soviet Union, but also lead more ethnic minorities to take refuge in China. Now it's just Central Asia, in case of a chain reaction in Chechnya, Armenia, Tatar, Ukraine, etc., the entire Soviet empire will collapse in his hands!

"Attack! Attack, attack! The Soviets could not retreat! The proletariat of the whole world should act to defend Central Asia! Defend the USSR! "At the end of the meeting. In view of the war situation in Central Asia, Stalin once again offered the GC International, known as the overseas political cash machine, and demanded that the Soviets of the whole world join the war and attack China from all sides.

The determination of the General Secretary soon spread to the front. But the generals who received it were mixed with laughter. Kulik is naturally of the same mind as the general secretary, so he thinks that he should take the initiative to attack and defend, at least to drag out the current situation until the end of the month. But Lukin let out a long sigh and pushed the telegram on the table to the new political commissar of the army group, Sharif: "Comrade Sharif, what is your opinion? ”

Unlike most political work, Sharif is a good military talent, but his weakness is his indecision. limited its step closer to the military post. Therefore, he shook his head at this telegram and smiled bitterly: "Comrade commander, the situation is already obvious, we must put on an offensive posture no matter what, and it is good to be pretentious. ”

"Attack? How to attack! Lukin was a little angry. Previously, he had repeatedly suggested that the 16th Army should be sent south. But Kulik did not agree, and also withdrew four divisions of the army group. Now he didn't want to go south, but he sent a telegram to the left and a telegram to the right urging him to go south. Going south, is it so good to go down? If it was last night, it's okay to say. But now Nitsekov's fate is unknown, and only a little more than a hundred cavalry of the three regiments escaped. Hafrov's three divisions were not heard from at all. What's worse is that he has sent four groups of reconnaissance planes since the morning, and not even one of them has returned!

All indications indicate that Kima has at least two airborne divisions, and that there are at least 100 tanks and at least 20,000 infantry ashore in Balkhash, otherwise it would not have been possible to defeat Havrov after only sending a few letters asking for help.

Thinking of this, his head was very big, and he got up and pointed to the map and said hatefully: "Comrade Political Commissar, please take a closer look!" At least 20,000 airborne troops have already blocked Kima! Our way south has been cut off. Even with a full army group, it will take a long time to get through their positions. With these times, it was enough for the Chinese to bring hundreds of tanks and ten divisions from across the lake. And this is Kazakhstan, as soon as we leave here, the soldiers will be exposed in the wilderness, facing tanks and planes superior to the enemy, what is the difference between this and sending them to the execution ground? Do you think that an army group, with only 5 divisions, can deal with so many enemies? So the only thing that can be done now is to retreat, to retreat in great strides towards Karaganda, there should be two or three divisions there, as long as Karaganda is held for half a month, the enemy will not be able to complete the encirclement of Eastern Kazakhstan! So, Comrade Sharif, I need your help to organize party members and youth commandos and prepare for the worst! In addition, I would like to ask you to send another telegram on my behalf to Commander Kulik, Commander-in-Chief Apanashchenko, and the Moscow High Command, asking them to study the matter of retreat at once. I'll be here for a few days, but I really can't go on the attack, we are seriously underarmed, we don't have artillery, tanks and heavy weapons, we can't even get enough trucks and horses! ”

"But." Sharif still hesitated: "Comrade Lukin, you should be clear. The general secretary has escalated this matter to a political level, and Central Asia is too important for us, and if it is lost, it may lead to unpredictable consequences, so boom boom. Before he could finish his words, a series of explosions rang out outside.

"Commander, commissar! It's bombers, they, there are too many of them! ”

The shouts of the staff officers, accompanied by more violent explosions, shook the bunker into smoke and dust. Lukin looked at the map and then at the hesitant Sharif, and finally all the resentment and dissatisfaction turned into a sigh: "It seems that the enemy is no longer willing to give us a choice." Comrade Sharif, go and send a telegram. ”