Chapter 218: The Calamity of India's Landing Operations (Part I)

The fuselage trembled violently, Minoru Genda secretly screamed badly, and when he looked back, sure enough, the fuselage was smoking, and the plane was constantly trembling. Minoru Genda decisively opened the shield and jumped out of the cabin in depth, when the parachute was opened, the plane in front of him was whining down, and a Mustang fighter roared by, and after pulling it up, he didn't care about Minoru Genda, but continued to join the battle group.

Minoru Genda was a little embarrassed, and watched blankly as the fierce battle in the air continued, but he couldn't use any strength.

At this time, the most thrilling scene appeared, two British torpedo planes penetrated the fire net of the task force and fired two torpedoes at the aircraft carrier Akagi before the fighters were crushed by anti-aircraft fire. Because the distance was only a thousand meters, the Akagi could not avoid the other after avoiding one. At this moment of crisis, the old destroyer "First Frost" accelerated with all its strength and blocked this torpedo that was enough to inflict heavy damage on the "Akagi". Right in front of Nagumo's eyes, the "First Frost" exploded violently, and the hull of the ship bounced up more than one meter above the water. Two British torpedo planes were hit by anti-aircraft fire and turned into two balls of air flames.

Nan Yunzhong looked solemn and saluted! A Japanese naval officer raised his hand and saluted!

The fierce air battle lasted for more than an hour, and the Hurricanes and torpedo planes piloted by the British suffered heavy losses, of which the torpedo planes were mainly shot down by the Zero, and the Hurricanes were mostly hit by naval artillery fire. When the Hurricane and torpedo planes were all withdrawn from the battlefield, the fierce fighting in the air gradually stopped, and the victorious Mustang fighter group did not leave any intention of showing off its might. Instead, turn around and go.

1, 2, 3. 4 ,...... 12, the first Zero fighter to land on the deck of the Akagi, when it reaches 12, there is no after. Of the 62 Zero fighters that took to the skies, only 12 returned to the aircraft carrier, and the total results of the entire task force were 1 Mustang damaged. Shot down 16 Hurricanes, 20 torpedo planes. It seems that this result is not bad, and it can be said that it is more or less passing. It's a pity that Nagumo Tadaichi, as the commander of the fleet, understands it very well. The outcome of this air battle was truly dismal. As the main force of fighters, 1 Mustang fighter was not damaged, and those downed Hurricanes and torpedo planes caused the sinking of a freighter to the task force. Three freighters were injured. The deck of the aircraft carrier Canglong was damaged, and the First Frost sank.

After the war, the sea was in shambles, and the lowered boats were searching for and rescuing pilots and army officers and soldiers who had fallen into the sea. Before the war began, a tank of a chariot wing was lost, and there was air supremacy, will the battle for India continue?

Nagumo's feelings are complicated, at this time, the commander of the army, the commander of the Indian Army, Masaharu Honma, came down with his men, and Nagumo saw Honma with a dignified face. A slight bow in apologies. Honma returned the salute and said, "Your Excellency Nagumo, for the Army. The battle can continue without air supremacy, but for the task force, it will be difficult without air supremacy. I think we should report the problems here to the base camp truthfully, the Chinese are already participating in the war in another way. There is no doubt that the Chinese do not want us to get India, and they do not want the empire to grow and threaten their interests. ”

Perhaps because of the pain caused by the squadron, the current Japanese Navy and Army will no longer open their mouths and close their mouths, only the people in the private sector still call it that.

Thinking of the contradictions between the Japanese Navy and the Army, this sounds like a sarcasm. Nanyun Zhong did not change his color, and said with a straight face: "The result of the air battle is dissatisfied, I will report this matter to the base camp, and I will ask Honma-kun and the warriors of the empire to destroy the enemy's airfield on the ground." ”

Honma Masaharu was also annoyed when he heard this, he did not gloat before, the question is that a chariot wing under his command also went into the sea, isn't it, everyone is in the same boat, just listen to it, where did the belly go? As everyone knows, the grudge between the navy and the army is too deep, and the slightest talk can provoke disputes.

"In that case, it's up to the Army next. Leave! "Don't speculate for more than half a sentence, Honma Masaharu turned around and left. Nan Yunzhong's face was like frost, watching him leave, and secretly cursed in his heart that this guy was killed by the plane.

Because of the air, the chaotic scene was deliberately slowed down by the navy, and it was already afternoon when the army landed. When the transport ship lowered anchor, the soldiers got off the boat and boarded the boat, and rowed to the shore by all means, the sky began to buzz again, and the air defense alarm sounded again, this time without the cover of the navy's carrier-based aircraft, and the land force that was landing was still more than 100 meters away from the shore. This is really a personal life, the anti-aircraft artillery of the fleet will definitely not be able to reach it, and at most a few machine guns on the transport ship will not play a big role at all. The small destroyers came forward bravely, and the anti-aircraft guns were erected.

There were not many planes coming back this time, only two battalions of Mustang and two squadrons of Hurricanes, a total of 48 aircraft. The purpose was not to completely annihilate the Japanese army, but to create some trouble for the enemy troops who landed.

After the previous air battle, when Fang Ping returned to the airport, Alexander was waiting on the ground hopefully, and when he saw Fang Ping, he couldn't wait to step forward, and reached out to help Fang Ping, who got off the plane, and asked, "Colonel, what is the result of the air battle?" ”

This Englishman has always been quite arrogant, but since the day he saw him, this Englishman has been getting thinner and thinner. This is all the result of the torment of the war, Fang Ping felt that he was also quite pitiful, for the sake of the battlefields in Europe and Africa, the British government transferred the fleet, of course, even if it was not transferred, it could not change the result. Churchill was determined to rely on China, and India was on the edge of Burma anyway, so if it didn't work, he would retreat to Burma. Compared to India, Egypt is a little more deadly.

"With air supremacy basically in hand, I immediately divided the planes into three groups and took turns to attack and bomb the landing ground of the Japanese army."

Fang Ping's construction was supported by Alexander, and he immediately set about arranging it. The losses of the British fighters were not small, but there were still three squadrons of Hurricanes and two squadrons of attack planes, and after being formed into three groups, the Mustang fighters hung two 225-kilogram bombs and went on the road, and the pilots of the other groups seized the time to rest, anyway, they did not plan to let the Japanese land smoothly.

In fact, it was a stupid thing to force a landing at this time, but the relationship between the Japanese army and navy was too bad. In addition, the army also wanted to show its strength, so this landing was doomed to all kinds of difficulties from the beginning.

There is no threat of anti-aircraft fire from the ground, there is no nuisance from enemy aircraft. The fighter plane flying over the landing site is called a cool. Bombers stared at the transports to bomb, and Mustang and Hurricanes dived and dropped bombs against a small number of anti-aircraft fire. The first to be shot was a transport ship, loaded entirely with infantry. The Japanese soldiers on the ship even used rifles, and several Mustang fighters were indeed hit by rifle bullets, but for the Mustang, this injury was really nothing, as long as it did not hit the pilot directly.

One by one, the bombs fell. The transport ships on the sea could not care about the soldiers, so they anchored and ignited, and moved to evade. This does take some time, though. Or maybe it's too late. One by one, the bombs fell on the ship, and after half an hour the bombs were not finished, and the Mustang began to dive, and the 12 or 7 mm machine gun bullets did not mean to save at all. Specifically staring at the soldiers who landed on the beach. But whoever is struck. All of them were killed instantly. When the plane ran out of bullets and flew away, the three transport ships on the sea leaked everywhere, and they basically couldn't be saved. There were Japanese soldiers who had fallen into the water everywhere, and there were a large number of floating corpses, and the beach was also full of corpses, and the sea water was dyed red.

In just half an hour, the Japanese casualties of a brigade were as high as more than 1,000 people, which made Honma Masaharu want to cry without tears. I also broke off the idea of continuing to land during the day. The transport ship hurriedly retreated and accepted the protection of the naval task force. Honma didn't have the face to see Nagumo anymore, so he hid in the cabin and sighed.

It should be said that Honma Masaharu's choice was wise, and when the second wave of planes came, Honma heard the news and cheered, you didn't have to blow up, right? Soon the Chinese pilot told Honma with his actions: "You think beautifully! "The two 225-kilogram bombs carried by the Mustang fighter plane, I didn't plan to bring them back. Relying on its excellent performance, the Mustang began to dive, and instead of bombing battleships, it specialized in bombing transport ships. In less than twenty minutes, the Mustang called it a day, leaving behind the task force with three more transport ships battered.

This time there was no fixed target to bomb, and the results were obviously not as good as the last time, but it also caused more than 100 casualties to the Japanese army.

The task force, which has lost air supremacy, is doomed to many disasters and difficulties. Nagumo Tadaichi urgently called the country and asked for air reinforcements, otherwise this Indian landing battle would not be fought.

When the news arrived in Tokyo, the cabinet began to quarrel again, this time with two ministers of the Navy and Army, Mitsumasa Yonechi and Sugisugimoto, who were looking for trouble with Hirota Hiroki. Protest! We must strongly protest! Protest against China's sale of new fighters to the UK! Ask China to sell Mustang fighters to Japan as well! Uh, no, it's the transfer of Mustang technology.

Prime Minister Fumihiro Konoe almost sprayed these two with saliva! Isn't this a game of tigers? Protest is useful, why do we build so many warships? Protests are useful, can we still run rampant in the South Seas? What to do? After arguing for a night, I finally came up with a three-point solution. First, an additional aircraft carrier will be sent to reinforce India's task force, and the fighter planes deployed by Thailand and Singapore will be urgently replenished to the task force. Well, this is thanks to the Singapore oil depot left by the British, otherwise the fleet would have been worried about coming back without fuel. Second, to protest against China's violation of the Neutrality Act by selling new fighter jets to the UK. That protest still has to protest, otherwise people really don't save zài. Third, urgently contact its ally, Germany, to request the transfer of new fighter technology. Japan, which has suffered a lot from the Air Force, finally does not dare to take the Zero Type as the first in the world, and it is better to quickly introduce the German BF190, otherwise it will be miserable in the face of the Chinese Air Force in the future.

The Japanese Government sent an urgent telegram to Beijing requesting a meeting at the level of foreign ministers on the issue of Sino-Japanese relations, and the Chinese side responded positively, but it also said that the Chinese Government was in a state of war against the Soviet Union, and in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, the meeting between the foreign ministers should be held at sea, and that a secret meeting would be fine, and an open meeting would inevitably lead to incomprehension on the part of Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union.

The Japanese government accepted the secret meeting and decided to send the cruiser Shentong to escort Hirota Hiroki to the waters off Arthur Pass, while the Chinese side sent the cruiser Dongting Lake to escort Foreign Minister Wang Chonghui out to sea.

After receiving domestic instructions, the task force began to retreat, and the battleships were not easy to be bombed, but the transport ships were not good. Before the seizure of air supremacy, we should not think about landing in India. It's also quite hearty to say, such a large fleet was blocked by one or two hundred planes, and it was really embarrassing to say it.

Originally, Honma Masaharu was still worried about landing at night, but when he saw the domestic telegraph, he lost his temper, and the country of Japan was too small. There are few resources, and we can't afford to lose. The equipment of a chariot wing almost made Masaharu Honma jump into the sea.

German diplomacy was not so smooth. Hitler referred the issue to the people below for discussion, and as a result, no one agreed to transfer technology to Japan. Field Marshal Bob also strongly objected, saying that it would be unwise to agree to Japan and force China into the camp of Britain and the United States. Others also mean the same thing, anyway, all kinds of people look down on Japan, and they all think that it is really shit luck that Japan can defeat the American fleet.

After much deliberation, the mustache decided to refuse Japan's request. The reason is that at present China and the Soviet Union are only unilateral wars, and they still have a neutral attitude towards the war between the two major military blocs. Considering that the allies are in need, BFW190 is not suitable for transfer. But the technology of BF109 can be transferred to Japan.

German military experts also believe that the biggest problem with the Zero is that the protection is too poor, against the 12 and 7 caliber machine guns of the Upper Mustang fighters. You have to go down the edges. And the Zero simply can't dive to the limit. It's too fast, and you can fall apart. This kind of irresponsible aircraft is something that only Japan dares to use.

Alexander, overjoyed to learn of the retreat of the Japanese task force, sent a telegram to London asking for greater diplomatic efforts. It is best to attract China to join, and even if it pays a certain price, it is necessary to let China add one or two wings of air force volunteers to reinforce India.

Churchill, who had temporarily survived the crisis, breathed a sigh of relief and sent an urgent telegram to Beijing, asking Ambassador Johnson to facilitate an early alliance with China. Johnson's campaign undoubtedly did not have a good effect. In the end, however, the result was not too bad, and China agreed to send an additional wing of torpedo planes and a wing of fighter jets to reinforce India.

Originally, Fang Jianxiong didn't plan to agree. Chen Shaokuan took the initiative to suggest that the Navy's torpedo planes have still been tested in actual combat, and they can be trained in India's war. The domestically produced torpedo machine is called the Osprey and carries a domestically produced Swordfish electric torpedo. The speed of the modified torpedo machine is greatly increased compared to similar products, and it can fly at a maximum speed of 480 kilometers after flying the torpedo.

Fang Jianxiong was moved by Chen Shaokuan's words, and only then did he have a plan to reinforce India. However, this plan is a bit troublesome to implement, and the ground crew of HNA has to travel overland from Yunnan to bring all kinds of supplies to India through Myanmar. Chen Shaokuan patted his chest and said that these are not problems, as long as the navy can fight. Seriously, if Fang Jianxiong didn't let go, Chen Shaokuan would have wanted the submarine force to attack Japan's sea transportation lines.

After the Japanese army entered the Indian Ocean, the biggest trouble for China was the problem of American aid transportation. It will definitely not work with the American fleet, Japan and the United States are at war. It can only be transported by China's fleet, and at this meeting of foreign ministers, Fang Jianxiong asked Wang Chonghui to make Japan agree, and it must not affect the safety of China's sea transportation lines.

Of course, this kind of security is only temporary, and when China joins the alliance, it will be a later story, let's deal with it for a while.

Chen Shaokuan left happily, not thinking that there was anything wrong with President Fang Da saying friendship to Japan while sending planes to fight the Japanese army. Anyway, they are all volunteers, China is a democratic country, and whoever wants to go abroad to fight a war can't be stopped by others, right? Britain thousands of miles away has gone, how can India thousands of miles away not be able to go?

When Churchill learned of the results of the talks, he excitedly swung his fist, which showed that China would never sit idly by and watch Japan land in India. At the same time, it also shows China's determination to join the alliance, and the difference is that this time is sooner or later. In order to bring this time earlier, Churchill called Roosevelt and said that the transportation of aid to China should be expedited, so that China could be urged to form an alliance.

Roosevelt knew very well that China was not Britain, one was a small island country, the other was a continental power, and once China became a climate, it would naturally have a conflict of interest with the United States after the war. Don't look at the allies now, it's hard to say in the future. It's a pity that Roosevelt can't take care of so much now, and the defeat of the Navy pushed Roosevelt into an embarrassing situation. The opposition at home is already questioning Roosevelt's ability to govern a little bit, unable to do everything possible to promote an alliance between China and the United States, the US military will not be able to form sufficient combat strength for a while and a half, and Japan's attack on India and even Australia is imminent. There are also technical problems with new fighters, etc., which are tormenting Roosevelt.

Roosevelt instructed the staff in his office to urge the shipment of aid to China, and at the same time telegraphed Hurley, asking him to step up his diplomatic activities to bring about an alliance with China.

The Dongting Lake went out to sea in Lushun and soon encountered the Japanese cruiser Shentong, the former with a displacement of 4,800 tons, the latter with a displacement of 5,100 tons, and the main guns were two twin 155s, and the anti-aircraft guns were different. The Shentong, which was launched in 25, was equipped with 127 caliber anti-aircraft guns, and the Dongting Lake, which was launched in 35 years, used 105 caliber, and there were more of them than Shentong. It can be seen that the guiding ideology of the two navies when building ships was different.

According to the usual practice, Hirota Hongyi, who proposed the meeting, came to Dongting Lake in a small boat, and Wang Chonghui greeted him on the side of the boat. After the meeting, Hirota Hiroki did not raise any words of protest, that is, he aimed at the Indian issue and hoped that the Chinese government would stick to its neutrality and not sell new fighter jets to Britain.

Wang Chonghui said that although China maintains neutrality, China does not have a corresponding neutrality law to restrict arms sales. Capitalists are all profit-seeking, and as long as the profits are sufficient, there are people who do the business of killing heads, and it is difficult for the government to restrain these behaviors in the real sense. Moreover, there are deep contradictions between the Chinese and political circles, especially in times of economic crisis, when the country has repeatedly disarmed, and the military has deep grievances. (To be continued......)