April 17, 1939, 12:40 p.m.

Joseph

o Nabba Bay, 180 nautical miles northwest of the port of Darwin, is the heavy aircraft carrier USS Taiwan, the flagship of the South Sea Fleet.

Zhao Zheng looked up at the two Min 25 seaplanes flying back from the southeast in the sky, this kind of two 1400 horsepower

The MW-801 twin-engine large seaplane is carried by a Nanhai-class seaplane carrier with a standard displacement of 10,000 tons, has a great range, can also carry depth charges for anti-submarine warfare, and is also equipped with a newly developed airborne radar system. It is the most advanced and long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft of the Chinese Navy. It is also one of the battles to be fought for the South Sea Fleet to win the west coast of Australia. The seaplane carriers Nanhai and Donghai each carried 10 Min-25 types, which was enough to completely cover the sea area within a radius of several hundred nautical miles. Don't say it's the Australian Grand Fleet, even a small fishing boat can't escape their search!

However, 20 Min-25 seaplanes took off in turn, and almost the entire emperor

o Sea and Joseph

o Nabas Bay was wiped out, but not a single British warship was found! The entire Australian Grand Fleet, which has now left the port of Darwin, is missing!

After seeing the two Min 25 slowly landing on the sea next to the seaplane carrier, Zhao Zhengcai retracted his gaze and turned back to ask the staff officer beside him: "Haven't you found any traces of the British fleet yet?" ”

"Nope." Meng Hailong, chief of staff of the Nanyang Fleet, shook his head: "The Min-25 seaplane has searched the entire emperor

The sea, even the western part of the Arafura Sea, searched without finding a shadow of Cunningham's Australian Grand Fleet, and it seemed that they had left the west coast of Australia and retreated to Port Jackson on the east coast of Australia. ”

"No!" Zhao Zheng thought for a while, shook his head and said: "The total strength of the entire British and Australian New Zealand theater is only more than 600,000, and these troops have to defend a large island of 7.6 million square kilometers and look at Papua New Guinea, Bismarck Islands and Solomon Islands, and they can't defend it at all."

If the Australian Grand Fleet hides in Port Jackson and becomes a fleet, then the whole of Western Australia will probably be handed over. ”

"That's right, if we wait until all of General An's 650,000 troops go to Australia, and he Cunningham doesn't come out, Wavell won't be able to cope with it even if he has three heads and six arms."

"So, Cunningham won't give up the battle for sea supremacy on the west coast of Australia unless he doesn't want Australia anymore!" A hint of coldness flashed in Zhao Zheng's eyes, he walked to the chart, and after looking at it for a while, he said to himself: "The British should have arranged a reconnaissance submarine in his strait, and they should have discovered it when we passed through his strait, so that Cunningham should know that there are not many transport ships in our fleet." That is, he can be sure that we have not come to Western Australia for landing, but for a decisive battle with his fleet! His capital is small, and it is understandable that he does not dare to fight us on the west coast of Australia. But hiding in Port Jackson and being in the fleet will definitely not work..."

"Commander, do you think this Cunningham will want to repeat the old trick and do another battle of Truk Atoll?" Meng Hailong hesitated, pointed to Singapore and said, "Will he sneak into the Banda Sea with his fleet, take the Flores Sea and the Java Sea, and then attack Singapore while we are unprepared?" ”

"It's possible, too!" Zhao Zheng thought for a while, turned his head and instructed the communications staff officer: "Order the Singapore base to raise the combat readiness level to the maximum, and request the Admiralty to send another night combat aviation regiment to Singapore." ”

"Sir, do you want to inform the Japanese side to pay attention to the search," the correspondent reminded him.

"No, you don't." Zhao Zheng waved his hand, "The Japanese are not so careless, either they have already discovered the British, or the British fleet has not gone to the Lanyin Sea at all." ”

"Commander, if they didn't go to the Lanyin Sea, then it was possible that they took advantage of last night to quietly pass through the emperor

o sea, and after passing us into the Indian Ocean. Meng Hailong analyzed.

"That's a bit troublesome," Zhao Zheng tapped lightly on the chart table, thinking: "The center of Australia is in the area of New South Wales and Victoria in the southeast of the Australian continent. If we want to seize all of Australia in the shortest possible time, we must land in the southwest corner of Australia and seize the port of Perth there. Then the large army will go ashore there, and then we will go east along the coastline, and we can supply by sea, and there is a tea railway available, and the distance is also the closest......"

Chief of Staff Meng Hailong's face also became solemn: "If Cunningham's fleet lurks in the deep sea of the Indian Ocean to the west or southwest of Australia, then the port of Perth and the entire logistics and transportation line will be hit at any time!" "Yes! Cunningham's Tiǎn mothership (because the Japanese side concealed the results of the battle, the Chinese side did not know that the Royal Ark and the Indomitable had been severely damaged) would certainly not be an opponent if they fought with us in a dignified manner. Zhao Zheng nodded: "But if they want to hide in the Indian Ocean and find the right opportunity to bite us, it will be more than enough." Speaking of this, Zhao Zheng suddenly thought of something, he slapped the chart table heavily and shouted: "Not good! Cunningham may have gone to near India... There are only four tea motherships in the Western fleet! Among them, the three teas are still remodeled from merchant ships and can only carry 50 aircraft, the four tea carriers are only 230 carriers, and the British have six tea carriers, and at least 350 carriers...... And Chen Hualong (Chen Si) has to protect more than 200 transport ships! ”

In the distance, on the Jaffna Peninsula, there was a faint sound of artillery, and after a transmission of dozens of nautical miles, it sounded like a dull rolling thunder. It was a detachment of armored cruisers of Task Force 31 shelling a British stronghold on the Jaffna Peninsula to attract the attention of the British. Eighteen 280mm guns and 16 203mm guns had been roaring since last night, pouring hundreds of tons of ammunition onto the British defensive positions outside Jaffna, drawing all the attention of the British troops on Ceylon. The main force of Task Force 1, as well as a huge regiment of transports carrying three infantry corps, had quietly arrived in the waters off the coast of the Gulf of Kodiaal.

It was the largest MO landing operation ever organized by the Chinese National Defense Forces, with more than 100 transport ships, light cruisers, destroyers, and two huge aircraft carriers covering them. On the surface of the azure Indian Ocean, a vast dàngdàng sailed and finally came at 4

At 1:20 p.m. on the 17th of the month, the offensive was launched ahead of schedule. The entire fleet began to rearrange the lineup, and more than a dozen landing ships and troop carriers, which were originally escorted by warships, drove to the front line under the escort of destroyers, and slowly sailed towards the shallow water. In front of them, a dozen or so transports were lowered to dinghys towing fishing nets and began to clear the waterways near the bay of mines at full speed. More than 100 transport ships and two motherships in the back are still walking in a zigzag on the sea under the escort of light cruisers and destroyers to avoid possible submarines.

About an hour later, the ships close to the coast signaled to the flagship "Nakayama" that "the landing can begin."

"Brother Shoushan, it's up to you now." Chen Si took the report sent by the staff officer and glanced at it, and said with a smile: "Seaplane reconnaissance found that the British fortifications were found in Trincomalee, and there seems to be artillery positions, and the rest of the entire Kodiar Bay is empty, it seems that we have played a role in the shelling of the Jaffna Peninsula." ，…

The supreme commander in charge of the land operations on Ceylon Island was General Hu Zongnan, commander of the First Group Army of the Army, who took the report from Chen Si's hand and read it carefully, then turned to Lieutenant General Li Wen, chief of staff of the First Group Army, who was standing behind, and said: "Qianwu, order the First Army to start landing operations!" Before it gets dark, Trincomalee must be captured! Looking at the back of Li Wen turning to leave, Hu Zongnan said to Chen Si again: "Brother Hualong, please send carrier-based aircraft to provide air cover, focusing on bombing the British artillery positions in Trincomalee." In addition, it would be better to send destroyers for another round of shelling of the beaches of several scheduled landing sites. ”

Chen Siyan smiled faintly when he heard this, nodded and said, "Don't worry, my Commander-in-Chief Hu, what you said has already been arranged." He pointed to the two A-4s that were taking off on the outer deck of the island

Thunderhawk dive bomber said: "See, all 80 Thunderhawks are dispatched, and each Thunderhawk can carry 1 ton of bombs, and those British troops in Trincomalee are not worried at all!" ”

Hu Zongnan breathed a sigh of relief, a victor's smile appeared on his face, and just as he was about to say a few words of compliment, Rear Admiral Song Da, chief of staff of the First Task Force, suddenly received a telegram from his subordinates, and exclaimed after just one glance: "Commander, the Naval Operations Department is in an emergency, the Nanyang Fleet has searched for the emperor."

In the western part of the O Sea and the Arafura Sea, there is no trace of the British Australian Okan Island!

The South Sea Fleet and the Department of Naval Operations suspected that the Australian Grand Fleet might have slipped past the emperor while it was dark

o The sea enters the Indian Ocean, and it is very likely that it is coming to us! ”

"What!" Chen Sinong's eyebrows tightened: "Is there any news about the British Eastern Fleet?" "Not yet, their whereabouts are unknown after they left Mumbai 2 days ago, our submarines in the Indian Ocean did not find them, and the seaplanes sent out also found nothing!" "The Australian Grand Fleet has five aircraft carriers...... There is one more in the Eastern Fleet, a total of six aircraft carriers, 360 carrier-based aircraft! Chen Si took a breath, "It's only 300 from the west coast of Australia

0 nautical miles, 20 knots in 6 days! Now at least a day has passed, and now there are only five days left. He turned his head to Hu Zongnan and said, "Shoushan, you only have 4 days!" 4

Within a few days, all 3 armies must complete the landing! ”

"Four days?" Hu Zongnan's face sank, "Brother Hualong, there are nearly 150,000 officers and soldiers in 3 armies, how can you go ashore in 4 days!" ”

Chen Si smiled bitterly and sighed: "Then you can go up as much as you want." As soon as the 4 days arrive, all the transports must retreat to the Andaman Islands! After saying this, he said to Song Da: "Give an order to the 32nd Task Force that the main forces of the fleet, including the aircraft carrier "Heilongjiang" and "Jilin", must arrive in the waters east of Ceylon Island and join the 31st Task Force within 5 days!" "Almost at the same moment. In India, about 3 nautical miles off the coast of Balasol, dozens of Chinese transport ships and landing ships have also sailed to the designated positions. Around them were a number of destroyers patrolling the guard. Small boats have been lowered from the big ships, and some square-headed landing craft have sailed out of the open sluices of the large landing ships. Whether it's a landing ship or a small

The boat, all of which was crowded with heavily armed officers and soldiers of the GC International.

The boats, powered by machinery or paddled by man, slowly moved towards the beach at a very low speed.

"Boom! Rumble! Boom ......"

About 10,000 meters away, there were suddenly several dull noises on the land, as if they were rolling thunder. Then the GC international soldiers on top of the dinghy heard the screech of cannonballs across the air. There is an army on the shore! Before they could come to their senses. There were already several columns of water rising on the surface of the sea and landing next to a 10,000-ton victory ship near the beach, pouring cold water on the heads of the officers and soldiers who were huddled on the deck ready to transfer. And the Anglo-Indian troops stationed here do not seem to intend to flee......

Ye Ting was standing on the bridge of a Project 19369 destroyer at this moment, and as soon as he heard the sound of shelling, he immediately distinguished the approximate caliber and location of the other party.

"There are four 150mm howitzers firing!" He shouted at Lieutenant Colonel Li Tianjian, the commander of the destroyer detachment beside him: "The enemy is behind the opposite hillside, you hurry up and suppress it with naval guns!" Tell the plane to up, up hard! ”

"Yes, sir!" Although it doesn't seem to be the same system as the other party, the three shiny stars on people's shoulders still seem to be quite shocking. Lieutenant Colonel Li Tianjian no longer hesitated, and immediately gave the order for artillery bombardment, and the destroyer's five 127mm naval guns were all aimed at the hill on the coast, but they didn't have time to fire their guns. The Anglo-Indian army came under even more intense artillery fire!

A muffled roar of thunder rang out, and columns of water rose along the path of the landing craft and assault boats, and layers of water walls were created in the densely populated areas. Shrapnel roared across the sea, and several assault boats were blown to pieces! But the rest are tiny

The landing craft and assault boats are still moving straight!

The artillery counterattack of the Chinese Navy also began very quickly, not only destroyers close to the coast,

The landing ships then counterattacked with 127mm guns, and even the farther light cruisers, heavy cruisers, and armored ships aimed their heavy naval guns at the Anglo-Indian artillery positions on the coast. After a roar of shaking mountains, hundreds of thousands of 280mm, 203mm,

The 150mm shells whistled away, blasting through the Anglo-Indian positions on the opposite side, and after the firelight, the blue-black plumes of smoke rose in rows and soared into the sky, drowning the entire coast in a rain of bullets!

At the same time, more than a dozen A4 Thunderhawk dive bombers also swooped down from mid-air with a strange scream, and accurately dropped bombs on the artillery positions of the British and Indian troops with sparse anti-aircraft fire.

However, under such a fierce combined attack of sea and air firepower, the British and Indian troops, which should have been vulnerable, have not yet collapsed, and are still desperately firing at the small boats that are getting closer and closer to the beachhead on the sea. Those 6-inch howitzers have now been blown to pieces, but there are many more 17-, 20-, or 10,000-pound cannons firing, and even 60mm and 80mm mortars!

Although those British and Indian officers and soldiers were braver than expected, their combat experience was really a little lacking. If so many artillery pieces are fired after the officers and soldiers of the GC International Army have landed on the beach, I am afraid that this beachhead in Balasol will be filled with the corpses of Chinese! Now, with the exception of a very small number of assault boats and landing craft that were directly hit by shells or overturned by the waves caused by shell explosions, the vast majority of assault boats and landing craft have approached the beachhead one after another. With the flurry of "GCD members, Communist Youth League members rush with me!" A group of GC Army soldiers with rifles loaded with bayonets poured out of these boats onto the beachhead.

Today's first

o The assault on the beachhead involved twelve infantry battalions of nearly 7,000 officers and men to launch a simultaneous attack on a frontage of more than 20 kilometers. There are also ten destroyers approaching with 127mm naval guns to cover the fire, and further on the sea, there are also heavy guns of large warships such as armored ships, heavy cruisers, and light cruisers to help the battle, and there is also a squadron of A4 in the air at any time

Thunderhawk dive bomber.

Under this overwhelming firepower, the Anglo-Indian troops on the Balasol beachhead were of course suffering heavy casualties, having only arrived from Calcutta the previous evening, and had only hastily deployed artillery positions and dug some foxholes.

Where can this level of defense withstand the combined strike of the naval guns and dive bombers of the Chinese fleet! By the time the infantry ashore was waiting for the landing, the Anglo-Indian infantry division was on the verge of collapse......

"Commander, let's win!" Looking at the beach, red flags were erected at various commanding heights, and Xiang Yingchang, the political commissar of the GC International South Asian Army, who was watching the battle on the destroyer, let out a sigh, put down the binoculars in his hand, and said to Ye Ting: "It seems that these Indian puppet troops are still vulnerable, but they were ...... just now Hehehe, it scared me! ”

Ye Ting's appearance is still a little heavy, in his opinion, the opponent's resistance cannot be said to be vulnerable, but it was quickly crushed under the overwhelming sea and air superiority of his own side, but when the war to liberate India starts on the South Asian subcontinent, there will always be 18 280mm and 16 203mm naval guns on his side to help in the battle!

Just when Ye Ting wanted to say something, Lieutenant Commander Li Tianjian, the captain of the destroyer, suddenly handed over a copy of the telegram. "Chief Ye, it's Heilongjiang, the telegram that the main force of the 32nd Task Force is going south to fight in 3 days!" There is no way for carrier-based aircraft to help you attack Calcutta. ”！。