When the news of the German army's entry into Prague arrived, it took less than a day for the British diplomats in the Far East led by Xu Gesen to persuade the shipowners to sell and lease all the 2.17 million tons of ships in the Far East, including 93 10,000-ton ships, hiding in Cam Ranh Bay and Hong Kong. The weapons and equipment provided by China were then secretly transported to the Singapore fortress in evacuation ships.

In times of crisis, England showed decisiveness and determination, but there was more helplessness and recession.

In March 1939, the world's only global power was in turmoil. When Chamberlain and the British politicians tried their best to retaliate and conscripted troops from the world's colonies to prepare for the Far East, the German army entered Prague bloodlessly, announcing that England was ushering in winter. In the face of the unwritten Munich Treaty, Hitler used a louder slap to tell the world that the German Empire had recovered and risen. Prussia's tradition and talent for fighting made all of Europe uneasy. The almost complete equipment of thirty or fifty army divisions left behind by Czechoslovakia not only made the weak German army a behemoth, but also mocked the authority of the British Empire.

Who else can save England at this moment?

France, tightly locked by the ghost of Malthus, whose population has not changed for 30 years, is still quietly frightened by the huge casualty figures of the last European war, and has to give up its pride and sign the "South China Sea Agreement" with Gu Weijun in Paris under the increasing threat from Germany. According to the agreement, the French Far East Fleet will work with the Chinese Navy to protect the interests of China and France in the French East Indies, the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea from the effective date of the agreement, the French Navy will open the Cam Ranh Bay and Djibouti bases for the use of the Chinese Navy, and the Chinese Navy will also open the Zhanjiang and Pontianak bases for the use of the French Navy as a reciprocal condition.

The United States across the Atlantic. Foreign policy during this time was selfish, superficial, and even flippant, and as the Roosevelt administration drew to a close, the American people, fearing that the Republicans would lead the country into war, returned to a policy of honor and isolation. Under such public opinion, in order to compete for votes, any decision to send troops to the Far East and Europe was blocked by Congress, and even the Philippine government's request to send troops to protect it in accordance with the US-Philippine agreement was neatly rejected by Congress.

England, unable to find an ally, fell into world isolation and had to endure the threat of two madmen. When the Germans counted the spoils of war in Prague, Poland was included in the next target. The Japanese also went crazy and went on the offensive. On the fifth day after the Songkhla landing, the Siamese coup d'état, and the pro-Japanese Thai Prime Minister Luang Phibun returned home and announced an alliance with Japan to jointly deal with British and French colonialism. The Thai army, which also included a decent mechanized army, officially became the first minions of Japan. And then. Hidden by the Japanese, Sukarno returned to Batavia, where he not only announced the establishment of Indonesia again, but also announced an alliance with Japan, and placed the Indonesian People's Army, which had swelled to 80,000 troops, under the unified command of the Japanese army.

Siam defected, Indonesian servants entered the war, and the increasingly serious situation hit the Royal Navy trying to plan a counterattack, and the Prestige and Counterattack, hidden in the port of Sittwe, Burma, had to be sent out head-on. But on the march to the Coco Islands. Unfortunately, it was discovered by two Japanese reconnaissance planes that took off from Penang.

The Battle of the Andaman Sea broke out, and the Japanese First Fleet, which had been cruising in the Andaman Sea, quickly bit the opponent, and after two days and two nights of playing, the two sides finally encountered off Havelock Island. Although the British Navy took advantage of the darkness to heavily damage the heavy cruiser Kaohsiung and the battleship Hiei. Four Japanese destroyers were sunk, but after dawn they were frantically attacked by Japanese naval aviation, and the Anglo-Japanese aviation stationed in Malaya and the Andaman Islands also engaged in this naval and air battle.

By the afternoon, the Prestige and Counterattack were outnumbered. Sunk by Japanese air forces on Barron Island.

When the news broke, the whole of Britain fell silent. The Times of London even described the "Second Battle of Coronelle" as a bitter defeat. The destruction of the British Far East Fleet meant that British maritime power in Asia was wiped out.

"Victory?"

Next to the Andaman Islands, the battleship Kongo, which was full of gunsmoke, was still in the joy of victory, and the sailors were huddled on the deck in twos and threes, smoking and chatting full of laughter. Yamamoto Fifty-six held the railing with both hands, watching the Japanese marines land from Port Blair, but there was no joy in his heart. To outsiders, the closure of the western gate of the Straits of Malacca meant that Singapore had become an island, and Japan had seized the initiative in the southwest Pacific and the Indian Ocean, but he was well aware of the waters of such a victory. If the United States had not withdrawn from the Philippines, and if China had taken the initiative to intervene, would it have been able to win such a smooth and dripping victory?

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, the Marines have all landed." The staff officer of the First Fleet, Kuroshima Kametoshi Osa, walked over with a strong rancid smell. Smelling this smell, the officers unconsciously took a few steps back. "Kuroshima-kun, can't you take a bath?" Yamamoto Fifty-six is quite helpless about this love general, to say that there are very few people in the entire Japanese Navy who can surpass this short-eyebrow Osa, and some people even compare him to a genius staff officer of the type of Akiyama Shinyuki, but he does not like to take a bath all year round like the late Akashi Genjiro, and he smells bad everywhere he goes.

There were many navies who did not bathe for many years in the era of sailing, but now. Kuroshima Turtle Osa completely ignored the eyes around him, and even Yamamoto Fifty-six's persuasion was taken as a deaf ear, and muttered in a godly voice: "Lieutenant General, should we continue to the west?" The fleet of China has arrived in Saudi Arabia, and if we can storm Mumbai, we can block them in the Strait of Hormuz, forever. ”

"Kuroshima Daisa, you're not kidding, are you?" Yamamoto Fifty-six rolled his eyes, looking frightened.

The Black Island Turtle Man didn't think the plan was too blind, and his short eyebrows shrugged as he spoke: "Lieutenant General, now is a great opportunity." Britain could no longer send fleets in the short term, and the biggest enemy in the Indian Ocean and the Southwest Pacific Ocean had become the China Navy. I think that the rest of the affairs in Southeast Asia can be left to the army, and we should continue to attack Bangladesh, block the Strait of Hormuz, block the two aircraft carriers in China in the Persian Gulf, and then raid Dalian and Qingdao, and occupy Taiwan and the Philippines, so as to ensure the safety of the southern shipping route for a long time. ”

Although they all knew that he was firmly in the westward faction, but just after the big war, it had been more than a month since the First Fleet and the Second Fleet came out, and the navy was not army horse manure, and every time it was dispatched, the consumption was extremely great, so Ishizuka Chijun Dazuo next to him couldn't hold back anymore, and shouted with an unpleasant smell: "Kuroshima-kun, are you confused again?" It has been more than a month since the soldiers came out, and what we urgently need now is rest and supplies. From here to Sasebo, the only seaports that can allow a large fleet like us to receive supplies and rest are Singapore, Cam Ranh Bay and Rabaul. The army has not yet taken Singapore, and Cam Ranh Bay is in French hands, so we should go back to Rabaul to rest first. ”

"Well, that's right. But why didn't Ishizuka-kun talk about it? The empire has already sent ten divisions here, and three more divisions will be needed to attack Burma next, and two more divisions if Vietnam is attacked? But it is more than 4,000 kilometers from the empire to Rabaul, and more than 5,000 kilometers to Singapore. If you don't take the initiative to defeat the China Navy, will you be consumed like this every day? Ordinary transport ships go back and forth for more than a month, have you ever calculated how much oil you need? It will take a year for Palembang and Balikpapan to resume production, the oil fields in Sarawak can only produce 500,000 tons per year, and now the empire's oil reserves are decreasing every day, if the most convenient route cannot be taken, how many transport ships and oil can be consumed by the empire on this 10,000-kilometer supply line?

Now in Southeast Asia, only Digboy, 700 kilometers from Dhaka, has oil, the British have been mining there for thirty years, and can produce 500,000 tons of gasoline, kerosene and diesel per year, and the railway is ready-made! Next to Dhaka is Kolkata, India's second-largest industrial city, where the British have a well-established naval base, as well as shipyards and repair factories. As for the Persian Gulf, needless to say, the Chinese have more than 8 million tons of oil fields in Saudi Arabia every year, and they have also built complete naval facilities and shipyards there, which are the key to long-term domination of the Indian Ocean. ”

"India is the crown of the United Kingdom, and the Persian Gulf is intricately intertwined. If we continue to the west, then Britain, France and even the United States will declare war on us. If we are dragged in India, the Chinese fleet will definitely sneak up on the fairways and the mainland. ”

"Then take Guam and the Philippines first, as long as you control the Bass Strait, plus the garrison in Okinawa, you can cut off all the access of the Chinese Navy to the Pacific Ocean! In this way, even if there is Taiwan, it will not work, because there is no good port to the east of Taiwan. Even if they cross, we will be able to rely on the Philippines and Guam to carry out intermediate interceptions, so as not to destroy the Empire's shipping lanes to the South Seas. ”

"Are you crazy? Guam and the Philippines are both U.S.-protected areas. ”

"Attacking Calcutta, Mumbai, and the Persian Gulf, India has steel, grain, and oil in the Persian Gulf, and seizing the Philippine blockade of China, you can use Kolkata and the Philippines to support the Indian Ocean and the war to the south in close proximity."

"Kuroshima-kun, why don't you go take a cold shower first?"

"I'm calm, and that's what it takes to keep winning."

The staff officers and officers on the deck quarreled, and Yamamoto Fifty-six stood by and watched silently without speaking, and the Great Japanese Empire seemed to be in a big trouble after going south