Slim never suspected that these Indian troops would betray the British. In other words, in his opinion, these people of the Indian Fourth Army did not dare to betray the British Empire.

Since Queen Victoria was officially crowned "Empress of India" in 1876, India has never managed to escape the British Empire. Some of those who tried to resist were all suppressed by the British Empire.

What India is doing now is a non-violent non-cooperation led by Gandhi, whom they call Mahatma. This is probably the biggest thing India can do at the moment, and any revolution in the past will be quickly suppressed by the British. And this non-violent nature has achieved certain results.

"These damn Indian dogs! They shouldn't have been given that much in the first place, otherwise they wouldn't have gained an inch now! Slim roared loudly at the current Viceroy of India, Victor Hope, the 2nd Marquis of Linlithgow from his command.

"At this time, ask us for Indian independence ?! No! Even if I die, there's no way I'll let them succeed! ”

The outbreak of the Pacific War made the call for independence for India, which had been dormant in the past, louder and louder. Gandhi, with his followers, began to write to the Viceroy for complete independence of India.

This was a betrayal and a humiliation in Slim's eyes. Originally, it was just a letter, but after the fall of Britain to Germany, it began to evolve into violence.

Although it has not yet erupted, the Marquis of Victor clearly senses that this storm is gradually taking shape. The Indians, who had been writing to him and marching, began to fall silent.

If they marched, Governor Victor felt they could control it. It's okay to even make some painless promises, but these people are silent now, and that's when he starts to panic.

Governor Victor rushed to the British camp and approached Slim to hear what he had to say.

"Now is not the time to talk about this, the soil is no longer able to give us much support. We're now dealing with the Japanese entrenched in Burma, and the damned Indians. These things have to be resolved. Otherwise, when we fight the Japanese, they will make a fuss, and it will be over! ”

Governor Victor is here to be a governor, not to die. Truth be told, if it weren't for the occupation of the earth, he would have ordered all those damned, troublesome Indians to be arrested and killed.

At the time of the First World War, Indians wanted independence. At that time, the British had a very simple way of dealing with this matter: directly arrest all the leaders, kill those who should be killed, and close those who should be closed.

Brigadier General Reginalddell, who was in India at the time, led the British soldiers to Dazarenvala Park, first blocking the main exit, and then ordering the soldiers to machine gun fire into the crowd.

Hundreds of people were killed and thousands injured on the spot. In the aftermath of this killing, those who tried to actively resist the British began to die down. However. With the advent of the Pacific War, they seemed to see hope again, and they made trouble again.

Now that the British cabinet has been withdrawn to Canada, Victor and Slim are really isolated in India. If something happens here, they don't even have a place to run.

Europe had fallen to Germany, and the Strait of Malacca was under Japanese control. The Japanese navy has begun patrolling the Bay of Bengal.

"What can I do?! Do you want to promise those damned Indians their terms of independence?! This root can't be! Slim said angrily: "Last time, the empire agreed to these people too easily. will let them put forward more and more excessive requirements step by step! According to me, I should have cleaned up all the troublesome bastards at that time......"

"General! Now is not the time to say that, what we need to do now is to deal with the current situation of the Indians demanding independence, and that is what we need to do now. ”

Victor feels like he's about to run out, but this Slim understands English or not?! Now is not the time to deal with these people, and without the support of the soil, Victor still expects these people to help in the war.

If these people pull their backs at that time, they will only suffer from themselves.

"Ask the Cabinet! This is beyond our reach. We need to ask the opinion of the Cabinet ...... "What can Slim say?!" In fact, he doesn't know what to do now, and cleaning up these Indians is likely to cause a great backlash, as Victor said.

This is something that Slim doesn't want to see, but if they agree to their terms, neither Slim nor Victor have that permission. This matter can only be left to the Cabinet.

"Alas...... Now the Indians are gone, and they seem to be brewing something after I arrest a group of people. Victor said to Slim with a headache, "I'm worried that we don't have enough time......"

Victor's words caused Slim's pupils to shrink sharply. A cold voice said, "Victor, what did you say?!" ”

Slim suddenly remembered that the Japanese fighters he had been seeing patrolling recently, but the Indian Fourth Army on patrol told him that there was nothing unusual in front of the position.

Thinking of Viktor's words, Slim's hairs suddenly stood on end! It occurred to him suddenly. If these damn Indians really cooperated with the Japanese......

"I ...... I said that the Indians who were making trouble lately have stopped making trouble. Victor repeated his words inexplicably, but Slim interrupted him rudely and anxiously.

"That's not what I'm talking about. It's the next sentence! Next sentence! ”

"Uh...... I mean, they seem to be brewing something after I arrest some people......" Victor sensed the gravity of the matter, trying to restore what he had just said.

Victor's words sent chills down Slim's body, and he suddenly rushed to the door, opened the door, and said to the guards outside, "Call the chief of staff!" ”

Although the guards were a little baffled, they hurried to call the chief of staff to the office.

The current Chief of Staff is Lieutenant General Hutton, the former British Commander in Burma, who became Chief of Staff of the British Army in India after the defeat of the Japanese in Burma.

"Slim, what's going on?!"

William Joseph Slim is not known to many people in China, but his reputation in England is great. In 1998, when the British "Focus" magazine selected the "Top Ten Military Commanders in the World", Slim topped the list, ranking first among the top ten commanders.

Of course. This judgment is not accurate. But it can also be seen that he is very popular in the UK.

"Victor told me a situation just now, and now almost all the people who are fighting for independence in India have died down. Governor Victor suspects that they may be planning a big operation......"

As he spoke, Slim took a deep breath and said, "The planes have been hovering over us all this time, and when we sent out the fighters, they ran away again. The jungle is so dense that our reconnaissance roots can't see what's going on inside. The 4th Indian Army who went to reconnoiter told me that there was no problem there......"

Slim's words are scattered, but Hutton still keenly grasps the key points!

"Your Excellency, Commander, are you saying that the Fourth Army has most likely betrayed us?!" Hutton's hands began to tremble, there were only three British infantry divisions and a few other units here.

If the Japanese launched a large-scale attack, and at the same time the Indians betrayed them, the British would face a two-sided attack from the enemy.

Once such a situation happens. Then what the consequences will be, even a fool can guess!

"I'll have someone check it out right away! I will personally urge people to do this. Hutton's face became extremely ugly when he heard Slim's words, nodded to Victor as a greeting, and then hurriedly left Slim's office.

After Hutton left, both men in the office lost their interest in talking. They waited quietly in the office for Hutton to bring back the results.

Whatever the outcome, they must know as soon as possible.

Although Hutton was defeated in Burma, he is also a veteran. He quickly found more than a dozen elites in the British army. Then he quietly led them out of the camp.

These people had fought with Hutton, and Hutton knew their records and deeds.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is now a task to be entrusted to you that is related to the production and survival of our army." Hutton looked at the dozen or so selected British scouts solemnly and said, "Here and here, those Indian troops told us that there was no problem. But now we suspect that they didn't scout at all, so we have to do it ourselves! ”

"You are all the strongest soldiers in the British Empire, so this task is in your hands. Your mission. It is to find out whether there are Japanese troops there, and if so, how many. Do you understand?! ”

"Yes! Your Excellency, General! ”

These people deserve to be selected elites, and the answers without any questions and the crisp and neat actions speak silently about all this.

After giving a military salute to Hutton, the group set off without even returning to camp.

Hutton called them out in the name. It's a desire to hunt. Although it is a little strange to take these elites to hunt, when it comes to Hutton's habit of always loving hunting, no one doubts anything.

At this time, in the jungle outside Imphal, Lieutenant General Mutaguchi Ryoya, commander of the 15th Army of the Burmese Front of the Japanese Southern Army, had also arrived. He was planning specific operational and tactical arrangements with his staff officers.

"These two heights must be taken first after the war. The 33rd Division had to take Bisimpur, the 31st Division had to advance to Kohima, north of Imphal, and the 15th Division was responsible for capturing Mi Xuan between Imphal and Kohima. ”

"The north-south passage of Imphal must be blocked, and these British Yankees must not be allowed to take advantage of it."

"Hay!" The commander of the 15th Division, Masashi Yamauchi, the commander of the 31st Division, Kotoku Sato, and the commander of the 33rd Division, Yanagida Moto, responded to the three voices.

"Your Excellency, Commander. When will the support from the Army Aviation be provided?! Major General Haruki Isayama, chief of staff of the 15th Army, looked at Mu Kou and said: "This is crucial to the success or failure of our campaign, the British Royal Air Force still has more than 100 fighters here, and it will be difficult for us to take this battle if we do not have air support." ”

"I have telegraphed for tactical assistance from the Army Airlines, and Field Marshal Sugiyama has ordered them to assist us in the Indian war. You can rest assured of that. Mu Tian laughed and said to his chief of staff: "The so-called 'Empire on which the sun never sets' has long lost its glory of the past, believe me!" The new empire on which the sun never sets, only our Great Sun Empire! ”

"Hail!!"

Valen's palms were sweaty now, and he looked at the groups of Japanese soldiers who were building shelters under the trees in the low grass, and their vests were full of cold sweat.

When Varen and his teammates arrived on orders, they were unimpressed by the mission. If the Japanese are trying to attack Imphal. Then the number of troops required is at least 50,000 or more.

It is impossible for such a large troop movement to go silent. Although the combat effectiveness of those Indian troops is a little worse, it is not difficult to find clues.

And there are tens of thousands of people hidden in the jungle, and even the slightest care will leave traces.

Indeed, the traces left by the Japanese army here. But alas, the patrolling Indian Fourth Army turned a blind eye to this. The Japanese army had a tacit understanding to hide when the Indian army was patrolling, while the Indian army was very tacitly ignorant of those traces and sometimes even helped to clean them up.

But when the British came to reconnoiter themselves, those traces were extremely obvious. It was easy for them to notice that there was a secret garrison here.

Then they began to scout the troops. They were horrified by what they had discovered. There were as many as three divisions of Japanese troops gathered here, and even Valen they saw some Indians coming and going.

The Indian army betrayed the British! This was the conclusion that Valen had reached, and it made them fearful. If this thing hadn't been discovered. Once the Japanese army suddenly went to war, and those Indian troops stabbed the British drama in the back......

"Second Lieutenant Wallen, we have a rough idea of the situation here......" Sergeant Leonard, who was leading three people to reconnoiter in the other direction, returned to their hiding point and whispered to Wallen: "Here, here, and this jungle, there are at least more than 50,000 Japanese troops. And here, there are about 5,000 to 7,000 Indians. ”

"We observed the firepower of the Japanese troops. They carried a large number of heavy weapons in this attack. A rough calculation shows that there are at least twenty guns of more calibers ......"

At this time, the British reconnaissance teams that had been scattered for reconnaissance returned to this hiding point one after another. Pieces of information were placed in front of Valen.

"Alright, let's retreat immediately. The situation here must be reported to Command immediately......"

Valen's face turned blue as he looked at the reports. A reconnaissance team encountered a patrol of the Indian Fourth Army, and this team chose to go into hiding.

As a result, what had made them almost mad in the grass happened, and the patrol of the Fourth Army only smiled awkwardly and parted after encountering a Japanese squad.

There was no exchange of fire, and not even the sides showed hostility. They looked at each other from afar and smiled. He turned around and left very tacitly. All of this showed that the Indian Fourth Army had betrayed the British.

It is even possible that these Indians have long been at peace with the Japanese, and this news is extremely fatal to the British army.

The report was quickly sent back to Command. Slim looked at the reports, and Gen was in no mood to praise the valiant British soldiers who went to reconnoitre.

His own suspicions were confirmed, and those damned Indians did choose to betray the British Empire.

"We have to get rid of all these cancers. The entire Fourth Army was no longer credible. We must get rid of them all, otherwise the losses will be huge if they turn against us or suddenly cooperate with the Japanese to attack us! ”

Slim resolutely said to his chief of staff, Hutton: "Convene a meeting of the generals of the Fourth Army tonight, and then secretly assemble the troops and go directly to the Fourth Army garrison for full disarming!" ”

"Anyone who tries to resist, kill!"

The commander of the Indian Fourth Army and several division commanders received urgent orders in the afternoon. He said that he was going to the headquarters for a meeting in the evening. But what exactly the meeting was, the herald did not say.

But these Indian officers are used to it. The British used them though. But never trusted them. Those combat orders were always made known to them until the last moment.

Recently, due to the occupation of British territory, and the frequent movement of Japanese aircraft over Imphal, such combat meetings have been held very frequently.

I guess what tricks the general wants to play this time?! The officers of the Indian Fourth Army at all levels thought that no one doubted that the matter of their peace with the Japanese would be leaked.

At about 7:35 a.m., the officers of the Indian Fourth Army gathered one after another in the conference room of the Commonwealth Command of the Indian Forces in Kolkata, waiting for the arrival of the commander-in-chief, William Joseph Slim.

Everyone waited and talked in whispers. Of course, no one will talk about those sensitive topics involving the Japanese army here. It's mostly about some trivial things in life.

Minutes and seconds passed, and by eight o'clock the commander-in-chief had not yet appeared. This made the hearts of these officers of the Indian Fourth Army feel terrified, and they finally felt that something was wrong.

Several officers wanted to go out, but the guards at the gate said that the meeting was confidential. Commander Slim ordered no one to leave the room.

"Please understand, sir!" The muzzle of the British soldier standing at the door pointed the Indian officer, intentionally or unintentionally, and the officer retreated to the conference room with great interest.

"The situation is not good, it should be that the matter between us and the Japanese people has been leaked, right?!" A division commander of the Fourth Indian Army said nervously to his commander: "If this matter is leaked......