"Navy or Army? It's hard to do it. Just in the troops that landed on Kuah Island this time? ”

Liu Qianhua came to be interested.

Gu Yingyang blinked: "It should be the army, I can't remember the specific situation, Rong Laochen will go back and carefully investigate, and then report to the ......."

Liu Qianhua closed her eyes and smiled, flicking her fingers, "Forget it, it's just an inconsequential after-dinner conversation, don't take it to heart, but this Solomon front, I always feel a little uneasy - you are so sure that now is the best time to restart the SF operation?" ”

Gu Yingyang nodded and got up, picked up the thin bamboo whip on the table, and approached the huge map frame in the center of the hall, the tip of the whip started from the East China Sea, and extended westward with the map "hiss", passing through the Strait of Malacca, bypassing the Indian subcontinent, and burrowing into the Persian Gulf.

"It is like this, after capturing the ports of Bombay and Karachi in April and Bandar Abbas in Persia in May, our army has recently successfully landed in Basra and completed a historic rendezvous with the Turkish army."

"In the meantime. The strategy for the Anglo-Indian colonies was basically completed, militarily with the construction of law and order as the core priority, and politically began to prepare for the Federal Constituent Assembly with the Provisional National Government in Tirak as the core. After nine months of painstaking efforts, Operation I, which aimed to open up the Indian Ocean lines of communication, finally moved to the construction and maintenance phase. ”

"Of course, there are the two bottlenecks of the Baghdad railway and the Black Sea straits. To build the railway, we are all about to train in Siberia, and we will hand it over to the railroad soldiers. As for the recovery of the strait, as long as the railway is built and the army advances north, there is no fear that the British and French forces will not go to sea. ”

Seeing Gu Yingyang say it so easily, Liu Qianhua raised his eyes and smiled: "Wu Linghou is too confident. ”

Gu Yingyang didn't care, and tapped the Minor Asia Peninsula that was separated between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean: "Although the strait attack operations launched by the Entente since the beginning of the year have finally opened up the communication line from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea to aid Russia, but under the strong strangulation of the army-navy joint expeditionary air force I urgently dispatched, the effect of this passage should be very limited." ”

"In order to maintain the smooth flow of communication lines, the Entente not only invested a large number of naval and air escort troops, but also constantly launched new land offensives in an attempt to wipe out our army's air bases on the Asia Minor Peninsula.

"For more than two months, as soon as the weather permitted, our expeditionary air force took turns attacking at dawn, torpedo attacks, horizontal bombing, and low-altitude strafing, striking at any fleet that dared to pass through the strait during the day, and at the same time supporting the Turkish friendly forces on the land front with a force. At night. With the exception of occasional night raids by a few elite units, the main task of the air force shifted to mine-laying, blocking the narrowest part of the strait with air-dropped mines. ”

According to the report of the expeditionary air force, between April and May, nearly 100 Allied merchant ships were sunk, and a total of 260,000 tons of registered tonnage were confirmed – not including, of course, the results of aerial minelaying. In addition, the air force sank and damaged 15 enemy warships and shot down and blew up nearly 100 enemy planes. During this period, the air force lost, lost, or scrapped nearly 300 aircraft of various types, lost five airships, and killed or missing nearly 1,000 air crew.

Liu Qianhua smacked her lips lightly: "This loss is not small, the main force of the air force is HNA, and the navy didn't scold my mother?" ”

"There is no way, the logistics conditions are too bad, large planes are transferred from the mainland for long distances, small planes are dismantled and airlifted, and personnel, ammunition, and spare parts are also all transported by air."

"The relay transfer of several thousand kilometers inland in Central Asia has a complex and unfamiliar terrain, and it has to fly over enemy-occupied areas on the way, which coincides with the alternation of winter and spring, and the weather is bad and changeable. Almost 30% of the losses are ...... that fall halfway"

Speaking of this, Gu Yingyang couldn't help but sigh lightly.

"Fortunately, two years ago, I took precautions and set up an oil refinery in Mosul with a joint venture with Germany, otherwise I would not have approved this operation if I was killed - if the gasoline also had to be transported by air, it would be better to transport a few infantry regiments over."

"Now that our army has finally entered the Persian Gulf and occupied the port of Basra, before the Baghdad railway is repaired, the equipment and supplies of the air force can be transported to Basra by sea and then transferred by air through the Turkish-controlled Iraqi area, and the efficiency and safety will be greatly improved......"

Gu Yingyang somehow suddenly came to his senses again, ignoring the tired face of Her Majesty the Empress on the couch, and talked to himself.

"More crucially, since the beginning of the spring, the Italian army has suffered a crushing defeat in the battle with the Austro-Hungarian army, which allowed a part of the German army stationed on the Italian front to assist the Austro-Hungarian army in the war and transferred it to the Balkan front. It has been reported that the German and Austrian forces have recently been working together to sweep away the Italian and French forces entrenched in southern Albania and approach northwestern Greece. ”

"Last month, Romania finally declared war on Russia, and the main force of the Romanian army invaded Ukraine, which allowed Bulgaria, which has old grudges with it, to relieve its worries. In recent months, the Bulgarian army has been attacking northeastern Greece in coordination with the Turkish army that has withdrawn from the Gallipoli peninsula. ”

"The Allied siege of Greece forced the Entente to devote more manpower and material resources to the defense of Greece proper, and had no spare strength to continue to advance into the interior of Turkey, which greatly reduced the pressure on the Turkish army and, by the way, also reduced the burden on our expeditionary air force......"

Liu Qianhua lightly supported her ears with her slender fingers, her long eyelashes lightly covered her bright eyes, she pondered for a moment, and interrupted Gu Yingyang with her eyes closed: "As the chief of the general staff in charge of the base camp." I'm glad I know all the details, but what does that have to do with the SF War? ”

Gu Yingyang smiled without malice: "The emperor is rarely confused, now that the war in India has subsided, and the Persian Gulf strategy has been successfully completed, the strait can also relax a little." In this way, before the completion of the Baghdad railway, the demand for ship capacity in the Indian Ocean will not increase further in the short term. ”

"In this way, the newly built ships can be temporarily diverted to the Pacific side, and now that the focus of the Pacific side is in the Solomon direction, it is imperative to restart SF operations."

Liu Qianhua let out an angry "oh" weakly, and said in his mouth: "It is imperative...... Is it really imperative......"

Gu Yingyang was quite clever, hurriedly put down the whip, bowed his hand and said, "Is the emperor tired...... Then the old minister will retire first, and ...... another day"

While speaking, the female official Ye Jingying hurriedly entered the hall, and before the collapse of the palace, she approached the empress's ear, and only said one word, Liu Qianhua suddenly sat up like an electric shock, and nodded towards Gu Yingyang first: "Wulinghou has worked hard, let's get here first today." ”

"The old minister retired ......"

Gu Yingyang hesitated. The fists that arched in front of him did not immediately drop.

"Forgive the old minister for being careful, what Lady Ye reported just now is ......"

……

Rabaul, Theater Command of the South-Eastern Front.

On the rooftop, on a loud, always covered in a layer of volcanic ash, a raunchy uncle—a ripped sweatshirt, a pair of printed shorts, and a pair of herringbone slippers—shook hands with a white-clad rear admiral with a tightly buttoned vertical collar.

"I'm sorry, since I ate that shot in Chita, I can't stand it when it's a little hot, and I'm even more guilty when I wear a uniform—Chief of Staff Ye won't mind, right?"

It turns out that this sloppy uncle is none other than him. It was Marshal Zhang Yiye, commander of the front theater of operations.

"The commander is polite, and the subordinate can't be so cool."

The person who came was Ye Fei, chief of staff of the United Fleet, who had already unbuttoned the vertical collar while laughing, and poured another sentence into his ears unexpectedly: "Do you want me to give you a set?" ”

Ye Fei's hand stopped at the side of his neck.

Zhang Yiye smiled and patted the oversized shorts that were swinging underneath: "My body, too, let you be cool and cool?" ”

Ye Fei barely squeezed out a wry smile: "Thank you Commander for your kindness, the lower officer has a heart-the heavy rain missed the plane, and I was late for most of the day, so let's talk about business first." ”

Zhang Yiye nodded and smiled, stretched out his hand and asked: "Commander Sa sent you, I will rest assured, there is a big gray here, let's go down and talk." ”

As soon as I went down the stairs, I saw Zhang Yiye's commander's office, the floor was covered with thick teak, but it was also gray.

"You sit down first, I'll explain a few words, and I'll pick you up later......"

Ye Fei took out the pocket watch on his chest and glanced at it with a squint: "I want to know about the enemy situation in the previous 16 hours first." ”

Zhang Yiye pointed casually: "It's all on the table, you're welcome." ”

After a cigarette, the two of them were already sitting opposite each other across the map table, each with a cup of celadon painted gaiwan tea in their hands.

"Is Commander Sa in good health? I heard that the main forces of the Combined Fleet are still fighting hard in the Indian Ocean? ”

As soon as he opened his mouth, Zhang Yiye's words were prickly.

Ye Fei didn't know, and responded indifferently: "The commander said that he was joking, the combined fleet has won many battles and destroyed the withering and decaying, how can you say that you are fighting hard?" ”

Zhang Yiye's face suddenly said: "Oh, since that's the case, I'm relieved - I also heard that Basra was also won?" ”

Ye Fei lightly covered the tea, approached the cup and took a sip, smacked his lips and nodded: "The British have long run out, and as soon as the vanguard comes ashore, they will join the Turks." The next step is to sweep mines and clear the wreck, all the way down from Colombo, which is also a familiar road, and it will not take long. The port should be able to reopen. ”

Zhang Yiye flicked the lid of the cup with his index fingers with both hands, and seemed to smile: "It's done, congratulations." Oh, I'm so happy, and I'm looking forward to it in my heart when Commander Sa moves to the Pacific Ocean and will come to my small temple for a cup of tea. ”

"It depends on the arrangement of the base camp, and I personally think that it should be sooner or later - I just read the telegram on the table, and the mobile unit has been discovered by enemy aircraft an hour ago."

Ye Fei was obviously in a hurry to change the topic.

"I know it." Zhang Yiye tilted his head, "I really want to do something, what do you say?" ”V