At 8 o'clock in the morning of December 4, 1908, the Royal Army of the Chinese Empire entered the two main field armies in India and launched a fierce attack on Islamabad and Dhaka, where the British army was heavily concentrated.

The large-caliber artillery of the two field armies first launched artillery bombardment on the British positions outside the city, and at the same time, the Royal Air Force of the Chinese Empire also dispatched fighter jets and bombers to launch air raids on the outlying positions of the British troops in Islamabad and Dhaka.

Because the ammunition transported by the two field armies to the front line in Islamabad and Dhaka was not so sufficient, the large-caliber artillery of the two field armies did not stop shelling for long, but the improved Yellow Bird fighters and improved Blue Eagle bombers of the Royal Air Force of the Chinese Imperial Air Force in the sky have been hovering in the sky, and these fighters will provide uninterrupted fire support to the two field armies on the ground.

After the artillery bombardment stopped, the attacking units of the two field armies were dispatched, and in Islamabad, the 51st and 52nd Infantry Divisions of the 5th Field Army simultaneously attacked the British positions outside the city, while in the city of Dhaka, the 61st Infantry Division of the 6th Field Army first launched an attack on the British positions outside the city......

"General, the Chinese Empire is attacking too fiercely, and we have lost a third of our position in the north outside Islamabad, and we hope to get support from the northern position!" At the headquarters of the British army in Islamabad, a colonel of the British army ran to the side of the British commander Karnwens and shouted loudly.

Karnvins' brow furrowed instantly, it was just past 12 noon, and a third of the northern position of a few square kilometers outside Islamabad had already been lost. The speed of the attack of the Chinese Imperial Army was completely beyond his expectations.

The British built huge fortifications on all sides outside Islamabad. The 5th Field Army, which attacked Islamabad, launched a fierce assault only on the British positions north of Islamabad. In the other three directions, no attack troops were sent.

After all, they only had 1 corps of troops, but the British army defending Islamabad reached 850,000, a difference of more than 5 times the number of troops, and they still clenched the attacking troops into a fist and tried to make a breakthrough from one direction.

Karnwens knew that the Chinese Empire outside the city had only one field army, and its strength was several times worse than that of the British defenders in Islamabad, but the lost one-third of the positions in the north outside the city were the key areas for the British army to defend. The Chinese Imperial Army was assembled to the north of Islamabad, and the British army had also strengthened its positions north of the city.

Karnwens turned his head to the chief of staff next to him, Hoendall, and asked: "Order the troops in the east, south, and west outside the city, and then each transfer two Indian divisions to the north to support, so that some of our artillery will continue to bombard the Chinese Imperial army, and we must withstand the attack of the Chinese Imperial army in the northern position outside the city." ”

Chief of Staff Hoendall frowned and said, "Commander." This morning, we have withdrawn 12 Indian divisions from the other three directions outside the city to support the northern position, and another 6 Indian divisions, leaving the troops in the other three directions outside the city somewhat empty. If the army of the Chinese Empire changes the direction of attack, the positions in the other three directions outside the city will be a little dangerous, is it not to draw a few Indian divisions from the city to support the northern position outside the city? ”

Positions currently outside Islamabad. It was all defended by the British colonial army of Indians, according to the arrangement of Commander Karnwens. Fifteen divisions were placed to the north of the Chinese Imperial Army, and 10 divisions were placed on each of the other three sides.

Every British Indian division consisting of Indians. There were about 10,000 people, so the British army placed 450,000 colonial troops in positions outside the city.

The remaining 340,000 colonial troops and 60,000 British regular troops defended the city and served as support forces outside the city.

Karnwens shook his head and said: "This battle has just been fought for a morning, the troops in the city must not be used, these troops are still ready to be left to launch a counterattack against the Chinese Empire's army at night, and it seems that the Chinese Empire's army should not choose to attack from the other three directions, and there is no problem at all to transfer the Indian divisions in the other three directions to the northern position outside the city." ”

That is, 6 Indian divisions will be drawn out from the other 3 directions, and there will still be 4 Indian divisions on each side of the other 3 directions outside the city, that is, the army of the Chinese Empire will change the direction of attack, and the 4 Indian divisions can also resist it, and then Karnwens can let the army in the city support outside the city.

Chief of Staff Hoendal sighed and said: "We have put 27 Indian divisions in the northern position outside the city, but in the face of the attack of the Chinese Imperial Army, we still can't hold it, just counted, at least 10 Indian divisions have been heavily damaged, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese Imperial Army is too strong, if we hadn't built a large number of strong fortifications, maybe the Chinese Imperial Army would have entered our Islamabad city." ”

Karnwens picked up the binoculars, looked through the window in the military headquarters, glanced at the group of Chinese Imperial fighters hovering over the city in the north, and said helplessly: "Although the attack force of the Chinese Empire is only about 150,000 people in one field army, they occupy absolute air superiority, and our Indian divisions that have just been formed can fight like this, which is already quite good." ”

At the headquarters of the Fifth Field Army, more than ten kilometers north of Islamabad, Wang Peng was also very dissatisfied with the current attack speed of the 51st Infantry Division and the 52nd Infantry Division, and he said to the two division commanders of the 51st and 52nd Divisions: "According to the feedback from the front, the defenders of the northern position outside Islamabad are all British colonial troops composed of Indians, which the British call the Indian Division. There were also air force fighters to provide air support, but the progress was not satisfactory, and after a morning, our two infantry divisions occupied a third of the position in the north outside the city, which was really slow, and your two divisions strengthened their attacks and tried to take all the positions on the north outside Islamabad before it was dark. ”

Wang Peng advocated that he only rely on the Fifth Field Army to launch an attack on Islamabad, and his pressure was very great. Moreover, most of the airships and transport planes of the Royal Air Force of the Chinese Empire have flown to the Russian battlefield. The Fifth Field Army did not have much war material in reserve, and the remaining airships and transport planes were delivered day and night. It is also impossible to fully guarantee the combat attrition of the Fifth Field Army.

The commander of the 51st Division said in embarrassment: "Commander, it's not that the brothers don't work hard, it's really that the British have built too many forts on the positions, and the attacking troops of our division have already suffered heavy casualties and wasted a lot of time, and it is impossible to speed up again." ”

The commander of the 52nd Division also said: "The combat effectiveness of the Indian Division is indeed not very good, both in terms of weapons and equipment and individual combat. Compared with our Fifth Field Army, it can be said that there is a world of difference, but these Indian soldiers are still strong fortifications, and they have also caused great trouble to the attacking troops of our division, and now they can only gnaw hard little by little, and if they do not attack hard at any cost, the losses will certainly increase a lot. ”

Wang Peng also knew that the fortifications built by the British could be described as very strong, so he thought about it and said: "The attack speed still has to be accelerated, and we must try to fight as quickly as possible, so let's do it." Let the army's tank brigade join the attack, cooperate with your two divisions to attack, and be sure to take all the positions outside Islamabad to the north before it gets dark tonight. In the evening, it was time for the British army to launch a counterattack, and we had to take our positions. Resist the counterattack of the British. ”

With the addition of the corps tank brigade of the Fifth Field Army to the attack, the pace of the attacking forces really increased. Moreover, the Indian division of the British did not have a very good way to deal with the tanks of the Royal Army of the Chinese Empire. It was the commander of the British army, Karnwens, who removed several more divisions from the city of Islamabad and strengthened the northern position outside the city, and the area of the northern position outside Islamabad occupied by the British army was also constantly decreasing.

Unfortunately, before dark, the attacking forces of the Fifth Field Army did not capture all the positions on the north side outside Islamabad, and there was still a small part of the northern position near Islamabad that was controlled by the British.

As soon as it got dark, the British commander Karnwens immediately mobilized 20,000 British regular troops and 10 Indian divisions in the city, and used the positions still occupied by the northern part of the city to launch a counterattack on the positions occupied by the Chinese Imperial Army.

At this time, the fighters and bombers of the Royal Air Force of the Chinese Empire could only return because it was dark, so the Fifth Field Army temporarily lost air support.

Most of the artillery that the British had not taken out during the day also appeared, and began to launch a fierce artillery bombardment of the northern positions outside the city controlled by the Chinese Imperial Army, and the large-caliber artillery of the Fifth Field Army also immediately attacked, and the two sides even began a tragic artillery battle.

The attacking forces of the Fifth Field Army immediately transformed into defensive units holding their positions and began to resist the counterattack of the British troops in the night.

The British counterattack forces desperately attacked the positions occupied by the Chinese Imperial Army, and the Indian soldiers were even threatened by British officers with guns, constantly attacking the positions occupied by the Fifth Field Army, and the battle was extremely fierce.

By the morning of the next day, more than half of the northern positions outside Islamabad had been recaptured by the British army, which made Wang Peng, the commander of the Fifth Field Army, extremely annoyed, and immediately ordered the 51st Infantry Division, the 52nd Infantry Division, and the Tank Brigade to immediately seize back the northern positions outside Islamabad with the cooperation of the Royal Air Force of the Chinese Empire.

As a result, during the day of December 5, the attack force of the Fifth Field Army even reached the city of Islamabad, but after dark, the British counterattack at all costs drove the troops of the Fifth Field Army out of Islamabad, and even recaptured a small part of the northern position outside the city captured by the Fifth Field Army.

Beginning on December 4th, the Fifth Field Army of the Royal Army of the Chinese Empire attacked Islamabad for a week, but still did not capture the city of Islamabad, during the day, with the air support of the Air Force, the British positions were captured, but at night, many of them were recaptured by the British Army, and then the Fifth Field Army recaptured the positions during the day, and the British counterattacked and recaptured them at night, making the battle of Islamabad form a tug-of-war, and the 53rd Infantry Division was also put into battle.

The Sixth Field Army of the Royal Army of the Chinese Empire, which attacked Dhaka City, also encountered the same problem, which was also that the strength of the two field armies was too small compared to the British defenders, and the combat effectiveness of the Indian division was not extremely weak, and under the coercion of their master British, it still brought very large casualties to the two field armies.

Although the British army blocked the attack of the two main field armies of the Royal Army of the Chinese Empire, after a week of tug-of-war, the losses were very large, and the original 850,000 British troops in Islamabad lost nearly 500,000, of which 60,000 British regular troops also lost more than half.

Of course, in a week, the British army was able to lose nearly 500,000 troops in Islamabad, not all of which were wiped out by the Fifth Field Army, and a considerable number of Indian soldiers fled from the battlefield in Islamabad.

In Dhaka, the British army also lost more than 450,000, of which the British regular army also lost more than 30,000 men, of course, a considerable number of Indian soldiers in Dhaka were deserters.

In the military headquarters of the Fifth Field Army, Wang Peng, the commander with a somewhat haggard face, said to the commanders of the three infantry divisions and the brigade commanders of the tank brigade: "After a week's fighting, the casualties of our Fifth Field Army exceeded 50,000, and most of Islamabad is still in the hands of the British army.

Wang Peng sighed and continued: "There is already a shortage of ammunition for our Fifth Field Army, and it is impossible to continue fighting, and the situation is similar to that of the Sixth Field Army, Commander Duan Qirui and I have decided that our two field armies will end the siege, and at the same time, the Ministry of Defense has also issued an order, according to the current situation in Islamabad and Dhaka, let our Fifth Field Army and Sixth Field Army withdraw from the battlefield, and directly withdraw from the territory of India, and return to the territory of our Chinese Empire for rest." ”

The commander of the 51st Infantry Division said: "Commander, now the British army in Islamabad has also reached the end of the crossbow, and if we work harder, we may be able to take Islamabad!" ”

Wang Peng sighed and said: "According to the telegram of the Military Intelligence Bureau, the original 850,000 British troops in Islamabad, under the attack of our Fifth Field Army, have been reduced by nearly 500,000, but the British have been transferred to 15 newly formed Indian divisions in Islamabad, and now there are at least 500,000 British troops in Islamabad, including tens of thousands of British regular troops, and it is no longer realistic for our Fifth Field Army to capture Islamabad, so we can only retreat!" (To be continued.) )