The Sino-Japanese war in September had just begun, and the world in October was once again thundering. In order to curb the rapid expansion of the CPI, Nehru and the Japanese army in the South Asian subcontinent and prevent the fall of India, Yang Qiu began to rapidly increase troops to India at the request of Churchill and the British government. Upon hearing the news, in order to nip China's additional troops in the bud, Ranadivi, Nehru and Iida Shojiro reached an agreement to dispatch ten divisions with a total of 160,000 troops to launch an encirclement and suppression from three sides! At the same time as the Darlang Hold War began, Chuikov and the Mediterranean crisis followed.

From India to the Middle East and North Africa, two distant but closely connected battlefields are in limbo at the same time. On the 17th, Greece announced its membership in the alliance, and Churchill and Yang Qiu issued statements in London and Beijing respectively that they would do their best to support the Greek people in resisting the fascist invasion, promising to devote more troops and give priority to ensuring the strength of the allies in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.

The crisis of the League also alerted Roosevelt, who knew that if Britain failed at this time, the situation would completely turn against the axis. Therefore, in the "Daily Presidential Radio" that night, he changed his tune for the first time, saying that the United States could no longer stay out of the matter, that the war in Europe and Asia had seriously damaged the interests of the United States, and called on the officers and men of the Army and Navy and the people of the whole country to be prepared.

As soon as the speech came out, the whole United States was stunned.

No one expected that Roosevelt, who was still in his election speech a few days ago, vowed to avoid involving the United States in the war, would suddenly change his tune! The Republican Party's staunchest isolationist congressmen, Limbley and Gerald Nigh immediately attacked Roosevelt in reporters and the media, arguing that he was sliding America into a "dangerous precipice"!

Rumors of the United States entering the war were loud for a while, but it was clear that it was too late to save the Mediterranean, so Britain had to reinforce the Middle East and North Africa from the dangerous Indian theater. But the telegram had barely arrived in Bombay, and Chuikov, who had just arrived in India, led six infantry divisions. Taking advantage of the lack of strength of the Anglo-Indian army and the laxity and paralysis of the railway line, they suddenly attacked Nagpur in the center of the peninsula. Although the 17th Anglo-Indian Division resisted hard and used the streets to block the attack, it was still unable to stop the onslaught of 80,000 Soviet and Indian soldiers. Under the command and command of Chuikov, it took only 15 hours for the PKI to completely occupy Nagpur. More than 30,000 rifles, hundreds of machine guns and artillery were captured and hoarded here, as well as at least 21 Chinese-sold BT7 and T26 tanks and hundreds of trucks were captured by the Soviet army.

Upon receiving the news, Auchinleck and Quinan were shocked. Plans to reinforce Wavell were canceled overnight. Three infantry divisions were deployed and an armoured brigade consisting of 12 Matilda 2 tanks, 22 T26s, 21 Vickers light tanks and 17 Bren machine gun vehicles were dispatched in the hope of retaking Nagpur. The Royal Air Force also bombed the Soviet-Indian army in Nagpur the next day. But Auchinleck didn't expect that this would become his Waterloo.

The day the British armoured brigade arrived at Volta, south of Nagpur. Ambushed by 15 T34/57 and 7 T26s, the T34/57 tank, which was almost ordered to stop production by the Type 36 Siberian Tiger tank in Central Asia, became a nightmare for British tank crews. In just half an hour, 23 tanks were destroyed, and even the Matilda 2 tank, which had just been equipped and was difficult to penetrate even the German 88 guns, was not spared. The remaining armored vehicles and tanks were either captured by the Soviets or blown up by the British themselves. Without the protection of the tanks, the infantry division that followed behind and the retreating 17th Anglo-Indian Division were even more unable to fight, and were pursued by Chuikov's tank troops for thirty kilometers in a row. More than 2,000 people were killed and wounded, and more than 10,000 people were captured!

In the sky, Auchinleck also lost his troops, and many of the pilots of the Royal Air Force stationed in India were rookies who had just learned to fly an airplane. It is simply impossible to compare with the elite pilots of the Soviet Union, who have experienced the fierce battles in Central Asia and have more than 300 combat flight hours alone, and the 15 BF109C and 8 IL2 fighter-attack planes assembled overnight take advantage of the opportunity that the British army did not know about. Fifteen Hurricane fighters were shot down in just one attack. Seven of them, all because they are not familiar with IL2. Recklessly attacked head-on, only to be destroyed by thick armor and 23-mm guns.

Before Auchinleck could recover from the blow, the Narmada River defense was lost. Two divisions of Soviet veterans led by Cherevinov, using the Indian National Army (short for Congress forces) as cover, suddenly appeared in front of the 15th Anglo-Indian Division stationed in Burhabir. Although half of the 15th Anglo-Indian Division was made up of Canadians, the weak Indian National Army was suddenly replaced by the old Soviet Army, which caught them off guard. By the afternoon of the 21st, it was surrounded by 30,000 Soviet veterans and 50,000 Indian National Army, and the 15th Anglo-Indian Division, led by division commander John Weikpp, had only 6,000 men successfully broken through the siege, and the rest were all captured.

Before the results of the Battle of Lampur were known, Auchinleck's Anglo-Indian army suffered heavy losses. In just four days, the losses were as high as two infantry divisions and one armored brigade, 1,200 artillery pieces of various types, 132 tanks and armored vehicles, 3,100 vehicles of various types, 61 trains, 41 aircraft of various types, and tens of thousands of tons of munitions, oil and supplies! The crushing defeat at the Battle of Nagpur immediately deprived Auchinleck and Kuinan of all offensive capabilities.

While Chuikov was actively deploying his forces and preparing to take Bombay in one go, the Battle of Rampur in the north was also in jeopardy. The four Soviet-Indian divisions led by Kozilov continued to storm Rambull, and in the three-day and three-night battle, Fei Wenhua relied on attack aircraft and artillery, and several regiments took turns to fight to be able to stop. When Nehru received the good news, he could not wait to order 60,000 nationalist troops to cross the Ganges from Patna and attack Chandra's Indian Democratic Alliance. But he apparently rejoiced too soon! Just after the 5th Division of his Nationalist Army crossed the river, Li Zongren immediately asked the air force to blow up the Patna Bridge, and at the same time let the 123rd Division of the Indian Army Group attack from three sides, completely annihilating Nehru's 5th Division in just one day, capturing more than 12,000 people.

Li Zongren then asked Chandra to erect a pontoon bridge at Beguserai downstream, posing as a right-flank posture to outflank the Indian National Army. Upon hearing the news, Nehru was so frightened that he immediately sent two divisions to intercept him, and the forward forces of the two sides reached a stalemate after encountering them thirty kilometers southwest of Beguserai.

The news of Chuikov's capture of Nagpur arrived. Iida Shojiro also immediately took the 31st Division stationed in Bangladesh as the arrow, and at the same time mobilized the 15th Division stationed in Burma to flank Sirjer and Imphal from two directions, in an attempt to cooperate with Kozilov to seize northeast India and encircle the China-India Army Group.

The South Asian subcontinent has changed dramatically, and after the temperature in the north plummeted and was not conducive to large-scale military operations, the humid and warm South Asian subcontinent instantly became a second battlefield.

"Roosevelt is going to do it!"

Mishan County, northwest of Xingkai Lake, has been blockaded by army regiments, along with thousands of local peasants and engineers. Running back and forth between the train station and the three new airports. This is the main airfield for the Air Force's bombing of Japan, located 1,250 kilometers from Tokyo, and the H-7 long-range bomber can carry four tons of bombs, covering the whole of Japan and North Korea. Moreover, the newly built airport has a total of five runways, which can accommodate 400 H-7s at a time. Front Twin Cities and Vladivostok. Jixi on the left, Hulin on the right, and other places, there are also six fighter groups that are closely protected.

The chaotic war in India did not affect the war plan against Japan, and the bombing preparations were still proceeding in an orderly manner. Standing on the runway, he exhaled two breaths of cold mist, and a cool and transparent feeling instantly infiltrated Yang Qiu's whole body.

Yue Peng and Murong Han stood to his right, the latter looking at the long convoy of transports. But his mind drifted to the distant United States: "Otherwise, I would never have changed my mind when there were four days left in the voting." ”

Years of political career have made Murong Han much calmer. But his thinking was more radical than that of gradual reformers like Gu Weijun, and in the ten years he became justice minister, he established a five-in-one police, taxation, ICAC and security bureau. However, they supervise each other and belong to different large judicial bodies. This decade was also the most severe crime crackdown in the country, with thousands of people being shot dead every year, which greatly deterred criminal activities. swept away the relaxed legal environment during the Li Yuanhong period, and also because of his ruthlessness. is privately called the "cold-faced tiger".

Yang Qiu liked Murong Han very much, because Li Yuanhong adopted a relaxed strategy of governing the country, which allowed the country and the people to speed up their cultivation and recuperation after the turmoil, but this policy also bred a lot of crimes. Therefore, after he came to power, he accelerated legislation to crack down on crime and initially established the legal framework of a modern state. However, he will definitely not be able to finish these things, and he needs to be perfected by those who come after him, and what he can do is like this airport, laying a solid foundation, and winning or losing depends on the people and soldiers.

"Haoyu, where do you think Roosevelt will hit first?" Yang Qiu walked towards Air Force One on the tarmac and asked Murong Han to hear his opinion.

Everyone knows that the biggest problem that has plagued Yang Qiu recently is not Japan, nor India, but how will Roosevelt fight after he intervenes? In the big picture, Europe first and then Asia is certain, otherwise Churchill would not have risked the scandal of the century to help him break through the shackles of Congress. However, no one can be sure now, and the Pacific Fleet, which has not lost any losses in strength, is like a thorn in the neck of China, which has not yet completely controlled the strategic points in the southwest Pacific.

However, this question was obviously too difficult to guess, and Murong Han could only shake his head. Yang Qiu smiled casually, and simply stopped thinking: "Forget it, the mystery should be revealed in two days, don't bother to guess." With that, he got into the plane, sat down and asked, "Zi'an, have you read the war report from India?" Ever felt something was wrong? ”

"It's wrong." Air Force One is a Meteor-5 stratospheric airliner (similar to the Boeing 307), Air Force number Y-8. Yue Peng sat on the sofa opposite Yang Qiu, nodding his head while fastening his seat belt: "Nagpur is definitely not commanded by Yabeshev and Kozilov, these two have fought with us in Afghanistan for three years, and their command style is steady and solid, and their aggressiveness is slightly lacking. The sneak attack on Steel City before was because of Auchinleck's negligence, if a few divisions were placed in Steel City, they wouldn't dare to move at all! Otherwise, it would not have been hiding in India for half a year. ”

"Could it be a new promotion?" Murong Han asked.

"Unlike the Soviet troops that entered India, they were all troops from the Soviet Union's Afghan Front and Central Asia. So Yabeshev is most likely to take Eluru first, then attack Hyderabad, and finally Nagpur. In this way, the southeast can be connected together, and there will be no worries. Now to fight Nagpur first and let go of Hyderabad, it is equivalent to letting go of Nagpur in the southeast. If Auchinlek had enough troops, he could have cut off Eluru from Nagpur by cutting it north from Hyderabad. If you are lucky, you will not only be able to relieve the siege of these two places, but also recover the states of Chhattisgarh and Olissa in one fell swoop, threatening the steel city.

But this man took a fancy to Auchinleck and deliberately avoided Hyderabad. The British mistakenly thought they were still in Eluru, and then made a detour to the north to raid Nagpur, and also came up with a clever plan to cross the border from Nehru's theater of operations and attack Burhapur. It is equivalent to digging a big piece of fat in Auchinleck's chest, and also stabbing Nehru twice. In this way, Auchinleck could not care about Haderaba, and he had to fight back Nehru before he could free up his hands to deal with him. ”

Yue Peng squinted his eyes and analyzed the Battle of Nagpur. In a short sentence, he sketched the whole scene of the battle, as if the whole plan came from him. "This man is very bold with soldiers. Interspersed with the essence of Tukhachevsky's theory of great depth. In the face of insufficient troops, uneven combat effectiveness, and difficult logistics, he dared to boldly intersperse, which shows his courage. Therefore, it will never be a person who has entered the Indian army, otherwise the intelligence will not miss such a capable officer. Plus before I came out. Xiao Jinyun called me and said that four South American cargo ships had secretly arrived in India, so I was sure that this person had just been sent by Stalin! ”

"Such a big victory must be reported to Moscow, and I have asked Yan Baohang to strengthen radio and intelligence monitoring, and I will definitely be able to figure it out in a few days."

It was rare for Murong Han to see him attach so much importance to an enemy officer. Worried about the situation in India, he asked: "Changing the commander in the battle, and achieving such a big victory, I am afraid that the pressure on Li Zongren's side is very great." ”

"Don't worry." Yue Peng's eyes were squinted like knives. He glanced at Yang Qiu and said with a smile: "Li Zongren, take a knife against his seven inches!" ”――

A group of transport planes landed in compacted dry mud next to the ruins of the ancient city of Beguserai. After bringing out the deep tire marks, he slowly slowed down and stopped in the field airfield. The plane is a transport ten. But it looks very strange, the rear hatch is cut through a large gap several meters long, and the surface is covered with canvas when flying, keeping the aerodynamics smooth. If you are unaware, you must think that the group has been attacked very badly to be injured like this.

But when the canvas skin was opened, everyone knew why the Air Force was ruining its own transport plane in this way. Because in the cabin was a T2 tracked armored car weighing more than four tons (similar to the Bren machine gun car). The T2 armored vehicle was a Wehrmacht vehicle during the European War, which became famous in the Battle of Rainwell. Therefore, after the war, countries used it as a template to vigorously develop light tanks, and at that time, due to problems such as insufficient military spending and medium tank technical reserves, a large number of equipment was also used for armored training, with a total output of 3,000 vehicles. Before the start of the war, the army had been fully equipped with Type 25 and 31 medium tanks, and T2 armored vehicles were included in the reserve. Until recently, the army discovered that light armored vehicles still have a role in Southeast Asia and special terrain, so they handed over to several automobile factories in the southwest to resume production.

The T2 armored car, despite its modest weight and low body, was long beyond the width of the transport hatch. The Y-8 and Y-9, which can be transported without modification, could no longer land at field airfields, so the Air Force temporarily cut the rear fuselage door of the Y-10. In order to support India, the Air Force spent a lot of money this time to deliberately convert 30 Y-10s to this kind of transportation of large supplies. You know, after such destruction, the life of the aircraft will be reduced a lot.

With the efforts of hundreds of soldiers, eleven T2 armored vehicles and hundreds of bicycles were unloaded from the transport plane with the concerted efforts of everyone, and the pilot finally threw out dozens of boxes of condoms before leaving.

"Ma's! Lao Tzu wants bullets, why are you giving this thing?! When the logistics officer saw the words on the cardboard box, he couldn't cry or laugh. Seeing this, several veterans frowned, and stuffed a dozen into their pockets in one breath before happily inspecting the armored vehicle. "You're not afraid of losing money!" Seeing that an officer also came up and took a few, Li Zongren tilted the corners of his mouth and shook his head, and then walked to Wu Huan, who was inspecting the equipment.

"Huanxian, how many?"

Hearing the shout, Wu Huanxian, who was wrapped in a turban and dressed in Indian clothes, hurriedly jumped out of the armored car. "Report to the commander, including the one sent by Digboy, a total of twenty-five 25 tanks. One hundred and eighteen T2s, and two thousand bicycles and four hundred motorcycles, and we had raised a thousand mules and Chandra sent cattle and I returned them, which were too slow. The 154th Division has also already arrived with two regiments, plus my 16th Brigade, and now there are now more than 11,000 people in total. He was probably very uncomfortable with the turban wrapped around his steel helmet, and he kept holding it with his hand as if he were afraid that it would fall.

In order to prevent Nehru and the Indian Communist Party from discovering the difference, more than 10,000 soldiers had all changed into this costume at this time, and even Li Zongren was not spared. looked at Wu Huanxian, who looked good, and said with a smile: "Huanxian, you look really good, it seems that you need to prepare a few more sets in your pocket to deal with the Indian girl." ”

"Haha." The officers around laughed, and Wu Huanxian hurriedly waved his hand: "Commander, don't be joking, I have another one in my family." ”

"Hehe, it seems that Brigade Commander Wu's family is quite democratic." Li Zongren couldn't help but laugh. Because I'm embarrassed to say that I'm afraid of guilt, I replace it with family democracy.

After talking and laughing with everyone, Li Zongren walked to a T2, and when he turned over Europe, in order to increase the number of troop transporters, he specially welded the steel folding chairs on both sides of the body, and found a layer of black ash on them, muttering in his heart, I don't know where the Air Force found them from. After explaining that the mechanic must test each vehicle to ensure that it can be used when it is driven out, he asked, "Has the reconnaissance company returned?" When can I leave? ”

"I'm back." Wu Huan beckoned first, and called two members of the National Socialist Party who were twenty-seven or eighteen years old, tall, dark-skinned, and bearded more like Indians than them: "This is Zhang Cheng, he is Ji Wenjie, and they are both members of the International Sect of the National Society to help Chandra in India." This time, they also led the scouts to find the way. ”

Li Zongren himself was a member of the Kuomintang Society, and of course he was doing something until the Kuomintang International. In fact, there are many, many people like the two of them, there are hundreds of national social organizations in India alone, and countless in Southeast Asia. And they are the most important mouthpiece of the Kuomintang to expand its influence in the world and the spokesmen of Chinese cultural traditions.

The two seemed to have been in India for several years, so they were a little excited to see Li Zongren, and it took a long time to clarify the specific route. Ji Wenjie, who was dressed as a Sikh, even patted his chest and promised: "Don't worry, general, the road we chose is not near the river, so no one lives there." There are woods along the way, and it is difficult for planes to spot. Moreover, the Chordanaghpur Plateau is said to be a plateau, but in fact it is not as high as the mountains in the south of our Yangtze River, and the road is not rugged, so it is guaranteed that these cars can pass smoothly. ”

Wu Huanxian also said: "I sent a telegram to the Air Force, and they will bomb the steel city non-stop tomorrow morning." Chandra's side was also ready, and as soon as we left, he immediately feigned defeat and took the initiative to withdraw to the Ganges side, so that Nehru thought that our main force was blocked on the other side of the river, so that the Soviet army could be paralyzed. ”

"Let's go when it's dark." Li Zongren looked at the slanting sunset and let out a deep sigh: "Wenhua and Lin Diannan may not be able to hold on for long." ”