The night of May 1, 1935. Middle East, Aqaba.

There was no moonlight or starlight in the sky, and the night was as thick as a drop of black ink that could not be dissolved. The British soldiers in the trenches outside Aqaba struggled to keep their eyes open, enduring a deep sleep, and watching the movement outside the trenches. But tonight, in the darkness of the Middle East, where dark clouds rarely obscure the moon, the human eye will never see anything more than 10 meters away. Only by the light of the flares fired from behind could barely observe the wasteland outside Aqaba.

The wasteland was silent, there was nothing, and for most of the night the soldiers cursed the damned war in their hearts, perhaps still nostalgic for the good days when they were stationed in Australia and Egypt. The war in the Middle East was far more brutal and fierce than imagined, and the British officers and soldiers who had fought in India had already felt that their opponents had made a marked improvement compared to when they encountered them in India, and that the simple tactics of crowds had been abandoned. The level of running coordination has almost reached the standard of the second-rate army in Europe, and in some areas of Syria and Transjordan, it is often difficult to play the tactics of surprise infiltration!

Therefore, Brigadier General Manton Smith, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the Australian Army stationed in Aqaba, immediately ordered his troops to be on alert all night when he learned of the presence of Indian troops in nearby Tabuk and Hejaz. But Brigadier General Smith still lacked combat experience, and if he had fought the Soviet Red Army, the master of the Indian Red Army, in the Soviet-German or Sino-German battlefields for two years, he would have known that he could not guard against the enemy's night infiltration by staying on guard all night.

In fact, the Indian army that used infiltration tactics did not want to touch the inside of the British trenches, but to get as close as possible to the first line of trenches, so as to shorten the time to attack. Moreover, the Australian 3rd Brigade's defensive line outside Aqaba was too long, and there were simply not enough troops to keep watch all night on the entire line. If this is the case, I am afraid that everyone will have to go to the battlefield without sleeping, and more than half of the people will be exhausted in a few days. On the Soviet-German and Sino-Soviet battlefields, the way to deal with this kind of infantry infiltration was to send a large number of patrols to patrol back and forth on the long defensive line. Of course, not only the Chinese and German armies will send patrols, but the Soviet army will also send troops to reconnoiter and patrol on their side, because the Chinese and German infantry are also good at infiltration warfare!

For the most part, though. Patrols on both sides will not bump into an enemy trying to penetrate their own lines, but will run into each other's patrolmen, so bloody battles between patrols often continue all year round! The casualties caused are also quite staggering!

Of course, these Australians, who have been fighting sit-ins in the greenhouse for more than two years, have never thought of going to the outside of the position to smear and patrol in such a dark night, which is too dangerous, and it seems that there is no need...... Isn't it okay to fight a positional defense war as long as you hold your position and don't let the enemy climb in?

Where could these Australians have thought that they are guarding the trenches. When you look into the darkness of the night with your sleepy eyes. The enemy has already touched their noses, and it is the 1st Guards Infantry Division of the Indian Red Army, which has been lurking in the Hejaz Mountains for more than a month, that launched this surprise attack. In fact, 4 of the 8 Indian armies in Ubolevich's cluster have the number of Guard, and they are all elites who fought with each knife and shot on the Indian battlefield.

Among them, the 1st Guards Infantry Division, which was subordinate to the 1st Guards Army, was the most powerful, and the officers and men of this division were selected from the elite of the more than 10 million Indian Red Army. Carefully trained by Soviet instructors, the equipment is also all Soviet weapons, except for the slightly smaller artillery formation, the rest of the equipment even exceeds the ordinary Soviet infantry divisions, because they are the sharp knives used to break through the enemy's positions! It is a sharp knife on the battlefield in India, and a sharp knife that still pierces the heart of the enemy in the Middle East!

Behind a hill less than 5,000 meters behind the elite of the Indian Red Army, where tens of thousands of people had quietly touched the British position, the Indian army's artillery position had been set up. Due to the cover of night. The British knew nothing about their activities, 24 152mm howitzers, 27 122mm howitzers, 36 field guns, and 31 120mm heavy mortars were grouped together. Next to these cannons were shiny Soviet-made shells. Dressed in a blue-gray military uniform of the Indian Red Army, Piatov, chief of artillery of the 1st Guards Army of the Indian Red Army, gave orders to the commanders of the various artillery companies with a straight face on the shooting elements that he had personally observed. In order to ensure the suddenness of the attack, the artillery fire was prepared for only 10 minutes, and there was no test firing. Immediately after the shelling, the infantry, lurking under the nose of the enemy, went on the attack. To make matters worse, because your troops are too close to the enemy, the shelling must be very precise, otherwise it will fall on your own heads! This is quite a test of artillery observation, but Pyatov is full of confidence in it, graduated from the Tsarist Artillery School, and fought in World War I, the Russian Civil War, the Four-Power War, and the Polish War. Having fought with the Germans on the Soviet-German battlefield for several years, he is definitely one of the best artillery commanders in the world!

The artillery was ready, and the time passed slowly while waiting, and it was soon ten o'clock in the evening when the scheduled attack was launched. Pyatov looked at his watch, and it was 9:55 p.m. on May 1, 1935. After another 5 minutes. The most critical battle in the Middle East battle is about to begin! As long as the Indian Red Army can take the city of Aqaba, which is located at the junction of the Arabian Valley and the Gulf of Aqaba, it will open the door to Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula! More than 600,000 Red Army troops in 8 army groups will be able to sweep through the rear of the enemy army like a flood!

……

At 11 o'clock in the evening of May 1, Marshall was in the headquarters in Haifa looking at the telegrams sent by the troops on the front. He flew back to Haifa from Djibouti this afternoon, and the purpose of his visit to Djibouti was to send the US and British fleets and landing forces participating in the Persian Gulf operations on their journey. According to the plan, the landing will take place in a week, starting with Ras Al Khaimah at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, and capturing the island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz. According to intelligence, the Indian Red Army did not deploy heavy troops in those two locations, so it was likely to succeed lightly. The Anglo-American fleet will then move into the Persian Gulf, and the main force of the landing force will land in the Gulf of Kuwait.

The US and British forces are extremely optimistic about this landing campaign behind enemy lines, because the air supremacy in the Middle East is firmly in the hands of the United States and Britain, and for this landing operation, the United States and Britain have also concentrated as many as four aircraft carriers (respectively the USS Saratoga and the USS Essex). Britain's Glory, HMS Ark Royal), which can ensure overwhelming air supremacy in the landing area. In addition, the firepower of 10 battleships is no joke! In front of their 14-inch, 15-inch and even 16-inch guns, all army firepower is scum! There is also no information that the Soviets or India have built coastal batteries or deployed large-caliber coastal defense guns anywhere in the Persian Gulf.

So the landing is sure to win, and now the question is whether the Indians can be taken by surprise and take Kuwait, Basra, Ahvaz and other places?

However, the United States and Britain did not only land this time, and in the telegram that Marshall looked through, there was a telegram sent by Stilwell from the port of Jeddah. The replenishment of the armored cluster has been completed ahead of schedule, and the eastward advance will begin early tomorrow morning. Moreover, the caliphate had recaptured the holy city of Mecca and the important town of Taif east of Mecca day earlier, so that the road to the Persian Gulf was basically opened. With the two sharp knives of the landing force and the armored cluster, it seems that the Indian army in Blyukhel is certain to be defeated.

Still, Marshall felt a little uneasy, as if he was missing something. But I can't think of anything. Just as he had read the last telegram and confirmed that he had received no good news. Suddenly, the door of his office was slammed open, and it was Eisenhower, the chief of staff of the major general, who usually had an elegant demeanor, now with an angry face, and did not salute Marshall, but opened his mouth wide, not knowing whether he was speechless for a moment or gasping for breath.

"Ike. What's going on? Marshall's face had sunk, and when he saw Eisenhower's appearance, he certainly knew that the military situation had changed, and most of it had changed for the worse!

"Admiral! Oh no! Oh no! Eisenhower shouted in a very ungraceful manner, causing the staff officers who were passing in the corridor outside the office to stop and watch. Aqaba! Something happened to Aqaba, the Indians are shelling the city of Aqaba! ”

"Aqaba? How so? Marshall was stunned, got up and walked to the map, and soon found the small city called Aqaba.

"Did the Indians hit Aqaba? Where did they come from? Tabuk? Marshall shook his head, it couldn't have been from Tabuk. Although the British 3rd Division had abandoned there, they did not go far, but joined up with the two British infantry divisions that had gone for reinforcements at Mudaowola, 30 km north of Tabuk. There are three divisions guarding there, how can the Indians come over? Unless it's over the Hejaz......

"I don't know, I don't know where they came from." Eisenhower shook his head blankly: "Brigadier General Manton Smith didn't say anything on the phone, he only said that the position of the 3rd Australian Brigade is being bombarded by hundreds of cannons!" Among them are also 152mm heavy guns! ”

"Hundreds of cannons...... And 152mm heavy guns! Marshall gasped, he knew the equipment of the Indian Red Army. There are not many heavy weapons, there are only 12 field guns in one division, and only 152mm howitzers at the level of the group army! That is, now the Indian army attacking Aqaba has at least one army group! How could so many troops and artillery cross the Hejaz in such a short period of time?

Marshall's face turned pale. Looking at Eisenhower in horror, he softened: "They, they have ambushed at least one army group in the Hejaz Mountains!" Quick, send the 1st Marine Division to reinforce it! Be sure to be fast! ”

"Yes, Admiral!" Eisenhower ran quickly in the direction of the war room, and it seemed that it would be good to send the order to mobilize reinforcements a second earlier, because he knew the importance of Aqaba, which must not be lost!

……

"Call the Front Command, the core fortifications of the British army at Aqaba are at my feet! Brigadier General Manton Smith, commander of the British Australian 3rd Brigade, has become my prisoner. The Australian 3rd Brigade, which once made great achievements in Gallipoli, is now gone! The road to Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula is now unimpeded, and our army is stepping up its efforts to enter the western side of the Arabian Valley through Guò Aqaba...... It seems that the British and American armies did not deploy heavy troops on this front, and the door to victory in the Middle East battle has been opened to us! ”

Truth be told, Marshall and Eisenhower were already very quick to react, but their opponent Ubolevich was quicker. The 1st Marine Division, the American reinforcements, had not yet left Haifa, and Ubolevich was already standing on top of the core fortifications of the British Aqaba defense system with a team of staff members, looking at the scene after the fierce battle around him with a smug face. The corpses of the British were crooked and littered with trenches and broken fortifications. Weapons and charred fragments of human bodies were strewn everywhere. Dejected, British prisoners of war were escorted out of the city by high-spirited Indian officers and soldiers. More Indian Red Army officers and soldiers lined up in neat lines, carrying bright red flags. The Internationale was sung from the feet of Ubolevich. From time to time, there was a tsunami of cheers: "Long live Trotsky!" Long live Ruy! Long live the world revolution! ”

After only a few hours of attack, the 3rd Australian Brigade, which was on standby, was crushed by the torrent of the Indian Red Army! Compared to the elite Indian Red Army, these Australians were a little too weak. Let the opponent touch less than 100 meters in front of his position in the dark of night, and then let the overwhelming artillery fire bewilder, before he could react, the Indian Red Army had already rushed into the position, and then their resistance was even less worth mentioning. Most of them were either killed or taken prisoner, and the rest of the more clever ones threw their weapons and ran away. The Red Army soldiers of India pursued them into the city of Aqaba, and street fighting ensued. But the 3rd Brigade of the Australian Army, which had lost its fighting spirit, was no match for the Indians, who were overwhelmingly superior in numbers, training and morale. Red flags were soon planted over much of Aqaba, and the final battle was fought around an English-style three-story building in the port of Aqaba, which was the city's core fortifications. The city is located on the southern edge of the Arabian Valley, and the port area of Guò is necessary to access the Guò Arabian Valley. The building, which was used as the headquarters of the 3rd Brigade of the Australian Army, was the heart of the port area. However, the building, which had been rebuilt and reinforced by the Australian army, did not stop the advance of the Indian Red Army, and in fact the Indians destroyed the building without much effort - for the past two years, Ubolevich has been the master of the whole Middle East! So as early as when he was working on the plan for a decisive battle in the Middle East, he had already found a way to destroy several fortified buildings in the port of Aqaba. Several 152mm howitzers were towed, and more than a dozen 152mm armor-piercing shells were spouted from the muzzles, and the buildings left behind by the British, although strong, were no different from papier-mâché under the blow of 152mm armor-piercing shells!

In the morning glow rising on May 2, 1935. This famous general, who shined brightly in the civil war of Soviet Russia, was full of pride. A few days ago, he and the hundreds of thousands of troops under his command hid like gophers in countless caves and tunnels at the northern foot of the Hejaz Mountains, and now it is finally time for the sword to be unsheathed and the strong man to raise his eyebrows!

"Sir, it's Chief Zhao's phone." Sun Yuexun, who was woken up by a ringing phone, pushed Chang Ruiqing, who was sleeping soundly, and at the same time picked up the phone headset and listened, and handed it to Chang Ruiqing, who had just woken up.

"Zhao Youlin's phone?" Chang Ruiqing took the phone and glanced at the alarm clock at the bedside, it was already 11 o'clock in the morning on May 2. He went to bed at more than 2 o'clock in the morning, and lingered with Sun Yuexun for more than an hour. That's why I've slept until now.

Zhao Fatzi's voice came from the other end of the phone, and his tone was full of schadenfreude: "Brother Yaoru, the offensive operation of the Indian Red Army in the Middle East has begun. At least one army group of Indian Red Army came out of the Hejaz Mountains and attacked Aqaba, the key point at the southern tip of the Arabian Valley! Lin Zuoda's telegram said that the British army in Aqaba held out for several hours and was finished! As soon as the Arabian Valley is breached, Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula will be in no danger! Now the American and British allied generals in the port of Jeddah are in chaos...... According to the plan, they were going to march east to the Persian Gulf today, and it seems that they will not be able to go...... Lin Zuoda also said that the scale of the Indian Red Army's counterattack must be unprecedented. Their troops in ambush in the Hejaz may have numbered in the hundreds of thousands. There is no force left to stop them from sweeping through Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula! ”

Chang Ruiqing just said yes lightly and put down the phone. Sun Yuexun beside him leaned over and said with a smile: "Sir, you don't seem to be very happy?" Isn't that exactly what you're looking for? ”

Chang Ruiqing just smiled bitterly: "They are my allies in the end." Can I be happy that my allies have lost the war? With that, he sat up from the bed: "Xiaomei, it's not early, it's time to get up, and accompany me to meet the British and American military representatives and ambassadors later." I guess they're going to come to the door and ask for help, right? ”

"Help?" Sun Yuexun chuckled: "Sir, are you willing to help them?" ”

Chang Ruiqing snorted lightly: "Help? How to help? The defeat of Britain and the United States was not caused by insufficient troops or poor weapons and equipment, but because their command was too child's play! A general who has not been baptized in a real war is the opponent of famous generals like Blyukhel and Ubolevich? ”

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