After the 1st Cluster of the Chinese Army began its offensive on Afghanistan, by the center! The 10th Army, the 211th to 22nd Divisions of the Army, and the second group of 300,000 Korean mercenaries were in serious trouble and had to postpone the offensive in eastern India. Originally, the second cluster was planned to attack on October 20, two days after the first cluster attack. However, heavy rains suddenly fell in northeastern India, leaving roads muddy and rivers swelling. If an attack were to be launched at this time, the combat power of the Chinese army would be greatly limited. Therefore, the commander of the second group, that is, the commander of the Chinese Army's 1st KO Army, General Lin Chengye, postponed the offensive after consulting the General Staff.

It rained heavily for three days, and then the sky finally cleared. It's just that you still can't attack now, and you have to wait until the roads are dry before you can attack. Otherwise, a lot of the heavy equipment of the Chinese army will definitely be stuck on muddy roads. It would take a lot of energy to take this heavy equipment away, let alone fight.

In addition, the border between Myanmar and India is a continuous mountainous area, and the geographical conditions are very harsh. Although after the annexation of Burma, China used a lot of manpower and material resources, especially to force the indigenous people to build roads in the western part of the country. But China can only build roads on this side of Myanmar, and there is no way to build roads to India. At that time, the Chinese side proposed to the British government that in order to deepen the ties between China's central and southern provinces and India, several roads could be built at the junction of India and Burma. However, this proposal was categorically rejected by the British side. Even if the Chinese side proposed that the Chinese side should bear all the funds for the construction of these roads, the British side still firmly disagreed, and there was no room for turning around.

The tall mountain range on the border between India and Myanmar has become an important barrier to India's security, although it has blocked the economic and cultural exchanges between India and Myanmar. After China's rapid rise, Britain has been wary of China. The Chinese proposed to build a road from Myanmar to India, and fools know that the Chinese are weasels giving chickens New Year's greetings. Once these roads are built, it will be time for the Chinese to march into India and annex India.

The British side did not agree, and China had no choice but to build the roads in Myanmar first and all the way to the border areas. But the roads on the other side are really simple and winding in the mountains, and when it rains, they are muddy, and even people can't get through them lightly, let alone the squadron that carries a lot of heavy equipment. But even this will not extinguish China's ambitions to conquer India.

The high mountains in western Myanmar are mainly Kumen Ridge, also known as the "Savage Mountains", and to the south, there are the Minkin Mountains, Bangya Mountains, Longerang Mountains and Rakhine Mountains. On the Indian side, there are the Patkai Hills and the Naga Hills. All of this severely hindered the offensive of the Chinese army. It's just that although the coastal plain in the south is narrow, the terrain is flat, and although there are many rivers, it is not insurmountable for the squadron. Therefore, the attack on Bengal along the coastal plain became the main direction of attack of the second cluster of the Chinese Army. Chittagong, the main port in northeastern India, is also not far from Myanmar, and if it is captured, logistics materials can be transported here by sea through Guò, which can greatly reduce the logistical support.

On the evening of the 23rd, just as the heavy rain had stopped, the commander of the 2nd Cluster, Admiral Lim Sung Yep, secretly convened a pre-war meeting in Sittwe, a city on the southwest coast of Burma. The meeting was attended by divisional commanders of the 10th Army, brigade-level officers directly under the group, Admiral Ri Muhua, commander of the 211th Infantry Division to the 22nd Infantry Division and commander of the Korean mercenaries, commander of the 1st Air Force Wing, and commander of the fire support ship detachment of the Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now that the heavy rain has stopped, meteorologists are predicting that it will be sunny for the next week, and that from now on, the Indian peninsula will enter the dry season and there will be no more large-scale rainfall, which is excellent news for us. With the approval of the General Staff, our attack on India will begin in three days, on the morning of October 27! Admiral Lin Chengye looked at everyone and said. After the formation of the 10th Group Army, there was basically no fighting, and in the past few years, he has been suffocated. And this time, it's just to take the Indian Ah San to open the knife!

"Next, the chief of staff will accept for us the deployment of the Anglo-Indian army, as well as our battle plan for the Anglo-Indian army!" Admiral Lin Chengye glanced at everyone and then said.

Everyone looked solemn and listened attentively to the introduction of Lieutenant General Qi Chunxiang, chief of staff of the 10th Group Army and chief of staff of the Second Group.

"Ladies and gentlemen, according to the information we have received, the Anglo-Indian army has deployed a total of four army groups in several states in northeastern India, that is, two million troops, which is almost three times our number. This included the Anglo-Indian 25th Army, which was stationed in Dadten. 26th Army, stationed near Chittagong. 27th Army, stationed in Imphal. 28th Army, stationed at Dinsukiya. It can be seen from the deployment of the British and Indian troops that they have regarded the southern coastal plain area as the target of key deployment. The battle plan of our army is to focus on attacking Imphal and Chittagong, striving to annihilate the main forces of the Anglo-Indian army in northeastern India in these two places, and then enter Bengal and advance westward along the Ganges. Lieutenant General Qi Chunxiang introduced. Perhaps the Anglo-Indian army thought that there were continuous high mountains to block it, and it was impossible for the squadron to climb over these high mountains lightly, so they sent two million troops to the northeast. Although two million men is a huge number, for the Anglo-Indian army, which is composed of a rabble, how much combat strength it can only know after being tested on the battlefield.

"The battle plan for the second cluster is: On the southern route, the 10th Army attacked westward from the coastal plain, targeting Chittagong. In addition to the 1st Ko Army, the Navy's Indian Ocean Fire Support Ship Squadron and North Korean mercenaries dispatched 10 divisions to cooperate with this operation, under the command of General Lim Sung-ye. On the northern route, the 211th Division of the Army to the 220th Division, attacking Imphal, the 1st Air Wing of the Air Force and the remaining 20 divisions of the Korean mercenaries are responsible for reinforcements, which I am personally in charge of commanding! Both the northern and southern armies launched an attack on time at 7 o'clock in the morning of the 27th. Do you have any questions? Lieutenant General Qi Chunxiang asked.

Everyone shook their heads, everyone had already known about this battle plan. Although the number of two million British and Indian troops was large, it was not seen by everyone at all. The concern is how to cross the mountains on the border between India and Myanmar. When I think of those winding roads in the mountains, many generals feel a little hairy in their hearts. Equipped with heavy artillery and other heavy weapons, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army has been greatly improved. However, this has also increased the requirements of the Chinese army for road and logistics support. This battle against India is undoubtedly a great test. In particular, the northern army had to climb over Mount Patkai and the Naga Hills to attack Imphal, which was not ordinarily difficult. Fortunately, the 1st Air Wing of the Air Force was transferred to support them, so that they could still receive fire support through the Guò Air Force when the heavy artillery could not arrive in time. Support for the southern route army was carried out by the fire support ship detachment of the Indian Ocean Fleet.

The Indian Ocean Fleet's fire support ship squadron is a newly formed force, and although it is still part of the Indian Ocean Fleet, its main task is to cooperate with the operations of the army or marines. This detachment consisted of two battleships of the Zhonghua class, the Huaxia and Shenzhou, which had been decommissioned from the Indian Ocean Fleet, as well as the battleships Zhongnan, Nanyang, and the Middle East of the British and French Navy, which had been captured earlier, plus the Italian Navy's multi-turret monster battleships captured in the Mediterranean naval battle. Several captured capital ships of the Italian Navy, after repairs, were renamed. 'Andrea. Doria, the battleship was named 'Northern Frontier, the battleship,' Cayo. Duilio, the battleship was named 'North Sea, the battleship,' Giulio. Caesar, the battleship was named 'West, the battleship,' Dante. The battleship Alig Ichelli was named 'Icefield, the battleship. Although these battleships were not suitable for fierce naval battles due to their aging or unreasonable design. However, powerful large-caliber naval guns can be lethal to infantry or fortifications. In the landing operations launched by the Chinese Army against India and Australia, these fire support ships will provide the most powerful fire support for the landing force. The commander of the Indian Ocean fire support ship detachment was Rear Admiral Rehwa, who was originally the commander of the Marine Corps, but after the formation of the fire support ship detachment, he was transferred to the Navy. After all, a Marine officer may know better than a naval officer what kind of fire support is needed for the landing troops.

As for the battleships of the combined British and French naval fleets captured by the Indian Ocean Fleet in the Battle of Sicily, after repairs, they were all integrated into the Indian Ocean Fleet, which greatly increased the strength of the Indian Ocean Fleet. Of course, in the era when aviation replaced battleships, this war may be the last swan song for these battleships!

Three days later, all the officers and men of the second group of the Chinese army were ready for battle, and when the battle order was issued, they would launch an attack on the British and Indian troops. And as the weather improved, the British and Indian troops also strengthened their defenses, and they also knew that war was already in sight!