Chapter 3: Missed Opportunity
The British troops were the first to receive the order to retreat, and when the Chinese attacked that night, the British troops resisted and quietly prepared to retreat. Under the cover of night, the troops of the British army's deep defense line in Luanshan were the first to retreat, and at midnight, the French army received the order to retreat, nearly six hours after the British army received the order to retreat. The British were very experienced in escaping, did not carry any heavy equipment, and the artillery was kept intact on the artillery position, in order to conceal it from the Chinese army.
In recent days, the 1st Army of the Burmese Front, in order to avoid battle losses, has launched an offensive at night and rested during the day. When the follow-up units of the British army began to retreat that night, the British troops on the front line were still resisting stubbornly, and the resistance was very fierce. At midnight, the French received an order to retreat and began to retreat. The French retreat was not slow at all, it was not a slow retreat but a general retreat. When the French soldiers heard that the British had taken the lead in retreating, they immediately abandoned their positions. In order to speed up the retreat, the soldiers simply threw away their backpacks and even rifles, and Zuihou took nothing with them and fled lightly.
Also at midnight, Liu Yunlong was awakened. "Report to the commander, the 3rd Army reports, the front of the French position, there is a lot of movement after midnight, I don't know what the French army is doing? There was no movement around 1 o'clock, and the French positions were unusually quiet. "An operational staff officer reports urgently." What about the positions of the British troops? "The 1st Army is still on the offensive!" Li Liuyunlong pondered for a while and said: "It is possible that the French army's position is changing defenses, and the 3rd Army is ordered to pay close attention to the movements of the French army. Liu Yunlong never dreamed that the British and French troops would secretly retreat.
After daybreak, the First Army stopped attacking British positions. It was a rewarding night. Conquered 12 British forts. After the 1st Army stopped the offensive, the British front-line troops received an order to retreat and quietly withdrew from their positions. Due to the handsome position located at the high point. It was not possible to see clearly the situation in the positions of the British troops. At about noon, an operational staff officer reported: "Report to the Commander that the British positions are very quiet, and that the front-line units of the 1st Army consider the British defensive forces to be extremely abnormal. Liu Yunlong was a little confused when he heard this.
After a long time, Liu Yunlong said: "Order the 1st Army to attack the troops on the front line, and send a small force to test it." "In less than half an hour, the message came back." Report to the commander, a small attacking force of the 1st Army. The surface positions of the British troops were empty, the situation was unknown, and the small forces did not dare to go deeper. "Ordered the 1st Army to send a regiment. Be bold and go deep, I want the truth. The chief of staff said: "What kind of tricks are the British brushing, which people can't understand, is it trying to capture and indulge?" ”
Liu Yunlong suddenly remembered the situation of the French army's position and said: "Order the 3rd Army to send a feint attack to the French troops." Test the reaction of the French army. "Soon. News came from the French positions that the positions were empty, all heavy weapons were intact, and all military supplies were intact. When the search force reported that a large number of military supplies and guns had been abandoned in the French position, Liu Yunlong reacted and slapped his thigh and said regretfully: "Damn, the Anglo-French army has retreated, and the front-line troops are ordered to immediately occupy the mountain position." "Caught off guard without any preparation, the troops crossed the mountains and it was dark.
The terrain is unfamiliar and it is dark, and the key is that the British and French forces have 200,000 troops. Liu Yunlong was worried that the enemy was cheating, so he ordered the forward troops to stop the pursuit. Due to the unbelievable change in the tide of battle. Liu Yunlong missed the best time to pursue, and at the same time won time for the Anglo-French forces to escape. At dawn the next day, Liu Yunlong ordered the search troops to search and advance, and the search troops advanced 20 kilometers, and the things discarded by the British and French troops were everywhere along the way.
The 1st Army of the Left Column was blocked by the Dutch army at XX, and the officers and men, thinking that they had caught up with the fleeing enemy, launched a ferocious attack. In less than an hour, the Dutch army was difficult to resist. The battle soon came to an end, and the Dutch soldiers did not expect the Chinese army to suddenly appear in front of them, and soon surrendered in batches, and 20,000 Dutch soldiers became prisoners of war in less than three hours. The pursuing force marched in stride, and two days later a unit pursued Kuala Lumpur, and a group of British soldiers on board had just left for an hour.
A group of generals marched. "This is Kuala Lumpur, it seems that foreigners have ruled here for many years, and the city's architectural style is completely Western, which is very distinctive. In any case, there is a mysterious romance to Western architecture! Liu Yunlong rode a war horse, looking at Kuala Lumpur in the distance and commenting on it. Commander, although we did not destroy the enemy in large numbers, our goal of occupying the Malay Peninsula was achieved, and at the lowest cost. The vanguard of the 1st Army had entered Singapore, the 2nd Army occupied Kuala Lumpur, and the 3rd Army occupied Cepoh and Ben Thanh. ”
"Order the 4th Army to stop advancing and stand by in place. Inform the South Sea Fleet to cover the rapid landing of the 1st Army on Sumatra. Liu Yunlong said decisively. Without the capture of Sumatra, the South Sea Fleet would not be able to pass through the Strait of Malacca and enter the Indian Ocean. "Commander, the headquarters weishenme let the South Ocean Fleet into the Indian Ocean? You should control the Java Sea and wipe out the Dutch army on the island of Catch! "I estimate that the vast majority of the combined forces on Sumatra and Catchow are Dutch troops, and the headquarters thought of this in order to make the Dutch troops retreat to Australia."
"Commander, why do you want to let them go if you can destroy the Dutch army on the spot?" "This is the mastery of the headquarters, the purpose of which is to drive the Dutch army to Australia, to burden the British and create confusion, and to create the conditions for us to attack Australia." "The headquarters is indeed a good move, the Dutch army retreated to Australia, whether the British let them participate in the defense or retreat is a little difficult, the Dutch abandoned Sumatra, catch the island of Wow, it is estimated that one mind will withdraw to the country, but the British may not agree. But by allowing them to participate in the defense, their combat effectiveness is problematic. The Dutch retreat to Australia was a hot potato, and it would be ideal if there was infighting between them. ”,
"Chief of Staff, after we occupy the Malay Peninsula, the Dutch army will soon retreat, and there is no suspense about occupying Sumatra and Grab Wa Island. You ordered the General Staff to immediately plan an operational landing in Australia. "Yes, as soon as I entered Kuala Lumpur, I ordered the General Staff Office to take out a complete combat jihua." Liu Yunlong did not expect that the headquarters did not hand over the combat mission of landing in Australia to the Burmese Front. Instead, there was another plan, and Liu Yunlong was a little caught off guard.
Two days after Liu Yunlong led his headquarters to Kuala Lumpur, good news came from the 1st Army. Under the cover of the South Sea Fleet, they successfully landed on the island of Sumatra. As expected, the Dutch governor heard that the British and French forces had retreated in disarray, giving up the Malan Peninsula, and after the Chinese army entered the Mackay Peninsula in a big way, the Dutch governor immediately ordered the Dutch troops on Sumatra and Kaowa Island, including the expatriate, to retreat. The 1st Army landed on Sumatra, and the Dutch troops had all withdrawn to the island of Catcha. The rest is that the Dutch diaspora did not withdraw in time.
On this day, the flagship of the South Ocean Fleet, the Taishan, docked at the Kuala Lumpur pier, according to the order of the headquarters. The Nanyang Fleet is temporarily on standby in Kuala Lumpur. As the master, Liu Yunlong took over the dust for Zheng Haitao, commander of the Nanyang Fleet, and Wen Biao, deputy commander. The guests and hosts met at the pier, "Haha! I understood, the Anglo-French forces in the Malay Peninsula weishenme fled in a hurry. It turns out that you have inflicted heavy damage on the Allied Atlantic Fleet on Natura. This resulted in an error in judgment by the Supreme Command of the Malay Peninsula. The commander of the defense of the Malay Peninsula must have thought that we were going to land and fight in Singapore, but he really did not expect it. After listening to Zheng Haitao's introduction, Liu Yunlong couldn't help but suddenly realize.
"Commander Liu, the British and French forces were frightened, so they fled." Zheng Haitao said happily. "You fought well, the first credit lies with you, and today I will reward you well." At the banquet, Liu Yunlong raised his wine glass and drank it all. Zheng Haitao and Wen Biao drank it all. "Two brothers, I can't hide from you that I missed a good opportunity. If you know your results at the first time, why be careful, let the Anglo-French army retreat calmly, I have lost a great opportunity to annihilate the enemy army. But then again, if the British and French forces do not choose to retreat, the Luanshan defense line may be a fierce battle. ”
"Commander Liu, it seems that you are a lucky general, but in fact, the coalition forces themselves have no confidence in holding the Malay Peninsula, we are just adding fuel to the fire!" "Don't underestimate the fueling of the fire, your promotion will be at least two months ahead of schedule for the capture of the Nanyang Islands, and it will be of great significance for us to launch the Auradelia landing operation ahead of schedule. At the moment the 1st Army is marching towards the island of Catch, and if there are no unexpected changes, we will be drinking in Australia in two months' time. ”
Liu Yunlong was beaming with pride in his wine, and an operational staff officer came in to report: "Report to the commander, the headquarters is in an emergency." Liu Yunlong hurriedly took the telegram, only to see that it read: "Your troops quickly captured the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Wowa Island, and there were variables in the strategy of the South Seas. For the sake of new operational deployment, your troops will quickly hand over the occupied areas to the Republic of Lanfang. In addition, the landing operation launched by your unit to Australia was cancelled, and all troops were withdrawn to the Malay Peninsula to be put on standby. Telegram signed, Deng Zixuan. Liu Yunlong was a little confused after reading it, and Zheng Haitao took the telegram and checked it and was also confused.
In the evening of the same day, the Navy Headquarters ordered the South Ocean Fleet to secretly enter the Indian Ocean to effectively control the Mandara Sea and occupy the island of Great Nikkba. That night, Zheng Haitao led the fleet to set off, and because he wanted to occupy the islands of the Mandahai Sea, Liu Yunlong drew a brigade from the 4th Army and followed the fleet to the expedition. On the dock, Zheng Haitao held Liu Yunlong's hand and said, "Commander Liu, no matter what the intentions of the headquarters are, I estimate that you must have an important task, please believe my hunch." ”
"I hope so, soldiers take obedience to orders as their duty, and I won't be emotional!" Liu Yunlong seemed very relaxed, but his heart was not relaxed. Zheng Haitao whispered: "I just received a secret message from the Navy Headquarters, all the 10 new frigates that have been launched recently have joined the battle sequence of the Nanyang Fleet, I estimate that there must be a big move, you just wait for the good news!" Soon the fleet disappeared in the dark Malacca waterway. Liu Yunlong watched the fleet leave the dock, a little listless.
The chief of staff said: "Commander, the headquarters asked us to be on standby in the Malay Peninsula, is it to fight India's attention?" "India?" Suddenly, Liu Yunlong slapped his thigh and said: "There is no doubt that let the South Ocean Fleet secretly enter the Indian Ocean and quickly control the islands in the Mandara Sea, and the target is India." Although 200,000 British and French troops retreated to India, their combat effectiveness could not be restored in the short term. ”
Due to the advance of the Nanyang war situation, Deng Zixuan decisively planned to launch a landing operation on the Indian mainland. The original Jihua Burma Front and the Taiwan Front jointly attacked Australia's Jihua, which was changed to the Taiwan Front, the Eastern Front Army, and the Lanfang Front Army jointly attacked Australia. At the same time, Deng Zixuan ordered Annan Liu Fucheng's troops to requisition Burma, and converged with Nie Shicheng's troops to take the lead in launching an offensive against India, covering Liu Yunlong's landing in India from the Bay of Bengal. (To be continued......)
PS: Under the powerful offensive of the Chinese army, there was a problem with the IQ of the British generals, perhaps by accident brewing inevitability!