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"Is he dead?"

As soon as the special plane landed at Riyadh Airport, Yang Qiu received a telegram from China. Mussolini, who couldn't bear it, finally rolled up his sleeves and picked up a knife and fork in order to rob the French inheritance. At the same time, Nagata Tetsuyama, who advocated giving up part of his interests and reconciling with China, was assassinated in the street outside the Prime Minister's Office in order to prevent the Japanese army from attacking the French East Indies and snatching the inheritance.

"I don't know yet." Gu Weijun, who came in advance, shook his head: "The Japanese authorities have blocked all the news, and all those who know are strictly guarded, and now I only know that Mitsumasa Yonechi has met Hirohito, and asked the War Department to explain and suspend more than a dozen high-ranking army officials such as Hideki Tojo, but depending on the situation, Hirohito should not agree." ”

"Humph! How could he have agreed? I'm afraid I'm still dreaming of Meiji second. The War Department honored hundreds of tons of Southeast Asian gold, and he was willing to let go? Jiang Baili snorted coldly, and it didn't seem to be strange at all to the chaos in Japan. This is also normal, although Yang Qiu and most of the domestic attention during this time is in Central Asia, but the matter of the internal fighting in Japan is still very well understood. Nagata Tetsuyama and Hideki Tojo had long torn their faces in order to fight for control of the War Department, forced Konoe to resign and let Mitsumasa Yonechi come to power, so this time it was obvious that the War Department was again playing the following tradition, taking advantage of the opportunity of hatred of his pro-China views within the Army to directly assassinate and turn the situation around.

Even Bai Chongxi, who came to greet him, scratched his head, looked at Yang Qiu and asked, "President, I'm surprised." Fifty-six has already come to the Indian Ocean with the main fleet, and will certainly launch an attack on Ceylon within a week at the latest. Without naval protection, where did the Japanese Army get the confidence? Is it true that our navy is an ornament? ”

Gu Weijun shook his finger: "You don't understand this, Hideki Tojo is deliberately trying to take this opportunity to get rid of Mitsumasa Yonei." You think that if the French East Indies could be taken without the help of the navy, then the army and his status would definitely be improved. Speaking is more confident. If he loses, he will have to carry this black cauldron, who told him not to send the navy to help? ”

"Minister Gu's analysis is good." While everyone was talking, Li Mingrui, chief of staff of the Persian Front, walked over with a smile and handed the third telegram to Yang Qiu: "Britain can't hold it back. This is the reconnaissance report of the Navy's Addu Atoll air station, which has already left the port with a fleet in Somerville, Madagascar. In total, 2 aircraft carriers, 4 Avenger-class battleships, 6 light and heavy cruisers, 15 destroyers. The pilots reported that they were moving rapidly to the south, and the target should be Ceylon! ”

"Churchill is going to take one last gamble. If he loses, he will put down his shelf and beg us. If I win, I'm afraid I'll be able to survive this year. ”

"It's not our turn to have a headache." After Jiang Baili finished speaking, Yang Qiu stuffed the information into his pocket and looked at Gu Weijun: "Immediately inform the Confucian Hall and telegraph the Japanese government, asking for an explanation of why the troops were gathered in Chonburi." Then contact the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Tell them in advance that we cannot sit idly by and watch the Japanese army enter the Khmer, that the French East Indies cannot be used by unfriendly countries to harm our interests, that there is no harm to the Chinese and French expatriates, and that if the East Indies Governor's Office cannot solve the problem, we cannot rule out the possibility of our country sending troops. ”

"That's right." After Yang Qiu finished speaking, he was just about to get into the car, but suddenly stopped: "Baili." You send a telegram to Zi'an, asking him to perform in Siem Reap and help Hideki Tojo. ”

"Help Hideki Tojo?" Everyone immediately looked at each other, and even Gu Weijun frowned. I don't know what it means. Because Hideki Tojo has already made it clear that he wants to compete with China for control of Asia, why should he be helped to take the position? Yang Qiu smiled slightly, got into the car and didn't explain. For him, it is not so much to let the sane Mitsumasa Mine and the Navy remain in power. It's better to let Hideki Tojo drive the broken car directly into the bottom of the sea.

A race to snatch the French heritage began with Yang Qiu's telegram. At this time, the French government still had the heart to care about Asian affairs. After replying, "After France has the ability to resist Japanese aggression," they began to argue again about whether to surrender or continue to resist. Churchill, on the other hand, was happy to see China march into the French East Indies, because he knew that as long as China and Japan were facing each other here, it would be impossible not to fight.

However, he did not have long to be complacent, and the news of the Japanese landing in Ceylon reached Whitehall.

On June 2, the same day as the fall of Paris, the Japanese Navy launched a fierce attack on Colombo with aircraft carriers and battleships, and more than 4,000 marines landed at Beruwalle, south of Colombo, and arrived on the outskirts of Colombo two days later. Faced with a simultaneous attack on land and sea, the Anglo-Indian division stationed in Ceylon was forced to retreat to Jaffna in the north. At the same time, five Marine Battalions from Andaman arrived in Calcutta, bringing the total strength of the Japanese forces in India and Bengal to 40,000.

But for Shan Fifty-six, the joy had not yet begun, and trouble ensued.

First of all, the British Indian fleet in Madagascar disappeared after leaving port, and then a telegram from the country's battalion took a turn for the worse. Nagata Tetsuyama was assassinated and died! At the same time, Zhanjiang Port was frequently transferred, and the Nanyang Fleet showed signs of sailing in a big way. After combining these two pieces of unrelated news, he was undoubtedly telling him and the Navy that the War Department was determined to seize the French East Indies this time, so that a Sino-Japanese conflict would be inevitable.

"You should go back immediately, the French East Indies are the iron gates guarding the South China Sea route."

"Go back now? It will only slaughter our marines! ”

"yes, can't go back. If you want to fight the horse manure, let them fight it themselves, we are not obligated to help them fight. ”

"Yaga! This horse manure is deliberately made ugly! Everyone was talking, and the black island turtle man with a sour body sat in the corner and complained: "At this time, it is an opportunity to attack the Indian route, how can such a thing happen?" General, since the army is going to kill itself, let them go! As long as Colombo is captured and the British fleet is destroyed, our mission is accomplished. ”

Although everyone didn't like this staff officer who didn't take a bath all year round, his words still resonated. Tsukahara 243, the commander of the mobile fleet leading the four aircraft carriers, was the first to disagree with the return voyage: "Your Excellency, the British fleet has left Madagascar and headed south, and judging from the speed and distance, there should be an encounter in two days." If we retreat at this time, the Imperial soldiers who have thrown themselves into Ceylon will fail, and the operation to support Nehru and the Soviets in India will also fail. So I recommend. The Third Fleet could be allowed to immediately set off to blockade the Gulf of Siam and protect the army from taking Phnom Penh and Saigon. As long as we can occupy these two places, we will have enough time to prepare. ”

Tsukahara 243 is a rare aviation genius in Japan and a technical leader of the naval aviation school, so when Yama 56 chose the commander of the mobile fleet, he was the first to choose. He did not disappoint the mountain either, and this proposal solved both the trouble of the navy being liquidated by the War Department if it did not contribute, and the security of the most critical islands of the Gulf of Siam and Saigon. So Yama Fifty-six accepted the suggestion, but was just about to give the order to contact the country. The communications staff officer disrupted the conference room again.

"Report, report from His Excellency Inoue of the Third Fleet. The Chinese Navy has already requested Tokyo to allow the Indian advance fleet to sail to Malacca, and the fleet has also left the Zhanjiang home port at 10 o'clock last night, including two Sichuan-class aircraft carriers and one new-style aircraft carrier. 2 Anhai-class battleships, 2 Taiwan-class heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, 12 destroyers. ”

"Buzz." The news suddenly exploded in the bridge, and even Tsukahara 243, who had just said that he would not return, stood up, and looked at Yama 56 with a serious face.

"At this time, what is the Indian Ocean advance fleet coming out for? And the battleships were dispatched? Shan Fifty-six was a little nervous. Although on the surface he attached great importance to aircraft carriers, deep down he still attached great importance to battleships, otherwise he would not have supported the construction of the Yamato-class. Hearing that even 2 Anhai-class battleships had been incorporated into the Indian advance fleet, his face darkened suddenly. To know. China's Nanyang Fleet has only two Anhai-class battleships, and the remaining six battleships are in the Beiyang Fleet. Could it be an ulterior motive?

It was Tsukahara 243 who calmed down first and reminded: "Your Excellency, you should ask someone to investigate the Beiyang Fleet first to see if their battleships are not in position." If China is going to deal with us. Two battleships alone were not enough. ”

Shan Fifty-six nodded, and immediately asked the communications staff to contact the country. Verification of the departure of battleships of the Chinese Navy. But just as he hesitated between turning back or leaving behind to completely destroy the British Far East Fleet, the port of Zhanjiang, which had just sent away the 22nd Fleet, became lively again.

As the battleships untied their cables and headed for the waterway, Bing boarded the heavy cruiser Lanzhou, which was the last to leave the port, and the flagship flag was raised on the bridge.

The Lanzhou is the second ship of the Xi'an class, and it is a new type of heavy cruiser that started construction after the abolition of the naval treaty, with a total of 6 ships, and 6 more ships after the start of the war. Since there is no tonnage limit, the Xi'an class adopts a new design standard. Four-axle four-propeller propulsion, standard row 18,700 tons, full load 22,500 tons, maximum speed 33 knots, cruising range 15 knots/9,500 nautical miles. The main guns are three triple 210 mm/L56 naval guns, eight twin 120 mm high-level dual-purpose naval guns, 12 twin 40 mm anti-aircraft guns and 10 25 mm anti-aircraft guns. In addition to the three sea-to-sea control radars, two radio fire control radars were installed for the first time to direct the main artillery and anti-aircraft fire. For the first time, the automatic reloading technology was used on a large-caliber naval gun, so the rate of fire of the main gun was as high as 10 rounds per minute, the maximum firing range was increased to 31,000 meters, and a single gun could throw 139 tons of ammunition in one minute. Coupled with the guidance of the fire control radar, during the tests no heavy cruiser could hold out for 10 minutes in the face of nine such guns.

It was chosen as the flagship, not only because of the lack of training and unsuitability for immediate entry into the battlefield, but also because the speed and command system of the heavy cruisers of this class were very perfect. "The marines have all boarded the ship, and they can join the fleet at Bailongwei tomorrow night. This is my key. At one o'clock in the morning, Chief of Staff Chen Shiying walked into the captain's room, told Binghou the news that the Marines had only boarded the ship, and removed the key to the safe from his neck.

When I opened the confidential safe, there was a blue envelope with only four words on it.

"A typhoon has made landfall."