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"Fire! Destroy the Anglo-Indian shore defense batteries! "On the battleship 'Beijiang', Rear Admiral Lei Hua, commander of the Chinese Navy's fire support ship squadron, gave the order to open fire. 5.com Chinese The 13 305-mm guns on the battleship Beijiang opened fire at the same time, and in the fierce shelling, clusters of orange-red flames shone in the huge muzzles, and the powerful recoil directly caused the hull to move out about one meter on the sea surface. Thirteen large-caliber armor-piercing shells weighing more than 300 kilograms pierced the air and flew towards the coastal defense batteries of the British and Indian troops with a sharp whistling sound.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "Dense explosions sounded on the Anglo-Indian coastal defense batteries, and clusters of orange-red fireballs rose into the air from the batteries. For a time, the sky on the fort cracked, and rubble flew wildly. The armor-piercing projectile, which weighs more than 300 kilograms, is able to penetrate the soil layer of reinforced concrete nearly two meters thick with light energy under the action of huge kinetic energy. The shore defense batteries built by the British on Sagar Island were all old-fashioned batteries built more than ten years ago, and they could not withstand such a fierce shelling at all.

After the battleship 'Beijiang' opened fire, the remaining eight battleships also opened fire. For a time, the shore defense batteries of the British and Indian troops were completely shrouded in gunsmoke. One after another the forts were blown up, and the coastal defense guns inside were blown into twists.

In the violent explosion, the British and Indian soldiers defending the fort were awakened, and they hurriedly threw out of the barracks, and many of them did not even have time to put on their pants. Everyone stared at the coastal defense battery not far away, looking at the coastal defense battery shrouded in gunsmoke. But no one dared to go to the shore defense batteries to manipulate those heavy shore defense guns to counterattack the Chinese Navy.

"Hell. Report to the General. The Chinese are calling, they are violently attacking our shore defense batteries! A British colonel said angrily. In such a situation, they did not dare to go to the shore defense battery at all, and everyone knew that there was only one consequence of going, that is, they were torn to pieces by Chinese shells. As for the barracks, it is clear that it is not a safe place anymore, after the Chinese navy destroyed the shore defense batteries. I definitely won't let them go of this barracks. Therefore, under the leadership of those British officers, all the people fled with wolves.

Garrisoned on Sagar Island was an infantry division of the 24th Anglo-Indian Army. Following the withdrawal of the Anglo-Indian 2nd Army from Calcutta, the 24th Army was deployed to defend Calcutta. At first, everyone in the 24th Army thought it was a good errand. It is believed that the Chinese will attack from the west and east of India and will not attack from other directions, and it is undoubtedly safest to carry out tasks in Calcutta. But now they found that disaster was coming upon them.

Brigadier General Division Commander of the 24th Division of the 245th Army of the Anglo-Indian Army stationed on Sagar Island when he learned the news. Still lying on the bed, there are two black bodies under the snow-white quilt. This brigadier general division commander couldn't bear the loneliness last night. So I found two Indian women to relieve my boredom. Although the skin of Indian women is a little darker, it is still good to change the taste once in a while.

When he was woken up by the division chief of staff, the brigadier general division commander David was angry and was about to scold, but he learned from the mouth of the division chief of staff that the Chinese Navy had shelled the shore defense battery. At this moment, all the scolding was out of words. The brigadier general division commander immediately ordered the entire division to defend itself, and then reported the news to the army group headquarters. After the order was issued, the brigadier division commander evacuated Sagar Island with his guards, and in the name of personally reporting to the group army headquarters, in fact, he was afraid that he would be wiped out by the squadron.

It took only twenty minutes for the Chinese Navy's fire support ship squadron to destroy all the Anglo-Indian coastal defense batteries, and all the batteries visible to the naked eye were destroyed, but, in order to avoid hidden batteries, Rear Admiral Lei Hua ordered the battleships 'Zhongnan' and the battleships 'Middle East' to stay behind and continue to monitor the defenders of Sagar Island, while the other battleships escorted the landing fleet upstream, preparing to land in Port Diamond.

The journey from Sagar Island to Port Diamond is about 60 kilometers, and it takes more than 3 hours for a transport ship. It was expected that the 2nd Marine Division would be able to reach Port Diamond around 10 a.m. Although, the Anglo-Indian army will definitely be ready at that time, but for the squadron, the defense of the Anglo-Indian army does not have any influence at all. The powerful firepower of the ship detachment with fire support is enough to clear any landing obstacles for the marines!

In fact, when the Chinese Navy's fleet escorted the transport ships into the Hooghly River and began to swim upstream, the headquarters of the 24th Anglo-Indian Army in Calcutta received relevant information. The commander of the army group, Lieutenant General Benjamin, immediately panicked.

"Bastard, how can this be, the 2nd Army just left two days ago, why did the Chinese come to the door?" Lieutenant General Benjamin was furious. Originally, I thought that I could get a lot of oil and water after changing the defense to Calcutta, but I didn't expect that before the oil and water were fished, the Chinese had already come to the door.

"General, what should we do now? The latest intelligence that the Chinese have entered the Hooghly River and are beginning to swim upstream. Among the Chinese fleet, there are dozens of transport ships, and it is estimated that there will be quite a few landing troops. The Chinese want to launch a landing operation in Calcutta! Major General Austin, chief of staff of the 24th Army, said with a sad face. Originally, the British and Indian armies still had a lot of confidence in defeating China. However, with the collapse of several army groups under the attack of the squadron, this has intensified the fear of these generals of the British and Indian armies for the squadron.

"Damn, let the 241st Army go to Raipur, the 242nd Army to Fulda, the 243rd Army to Port Damond, the 244th Army to Jagdib, and the 245th Army to Roki Gandapur. The remaining 5 corps are stationed in Calcutta, ready to reinforce the front at any time! In addition, report the imminent landing of the Chinese in Calcutta to the headquarters and request reinforcements. By the way, the 2nd Army has only been away for two days, and we ask them to return to Calcutta to support us! Lieutenant General Benjamin ordered.

"Yes, General!" Major General Austin hurriedly went to deliver the order. Several orders issued by Lieutenant General Benjamin were all places where the squadron could easily land, and they were also the key areas defended by the 24th Army. If you can get the support of reinforcements, you may be able to resist the attack of the squadron. Of course, the premise is that the squadron will not commit hundreds of thousands of troops, as is the case in the northwestern and eastern parts of India.

Under the orders of Lieutenant General Benjamin, the 24th Army of the Anglo-Indian Army began to unfold, and all divisions also entered the preset positions, preparing to resist the attack of the squadron. At the same time, the news that the squadron was about to launch a landing operation in Calcutta was also directly delivered to Admiral Kitchener.

"The Chinese are going to launch a landing operation in Calcutta? How is this possible? Where did they get so many troops? When Admiral Kitchener saw the order to hear the news, his first reaction was disbelief. After the start of the war, although the squadron also began a large-scale expansion of the army, but it was far less thorough than other countries, and so far, the size of the Chinese army is at most around six million. In the North American theater, the Chinese have invested nearly two million troops, and in Central Asia and Siberia, in order to maintain deterrence against Russia, the Chinese army has deployed more than one million troops. There are also nearly half a million people in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. There are at least a million more people in the country. In this case, China would march on India and Australia at the same time, and even if there were a large number of mercenaries, it would not invest too large a force.

"General, nothing is impossible. The Chinese have a huge population base, and their retired soldiers are also very large, and they can expand their army at any time. If the Chinese are really ready to quickly solve the war in India, it is very likely that they will send more troops into India to fight! Said the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General De Frere.

"Where is the 2nd Army?" Admiral Kitchener frowned, then said.

"The 2nd Army has reached Napodvip and, if it returns to Calcutta, will be able to do so within two days. With the strength of the 24th Army, it should be no problem to resist the Chinese for two days! Lieutenant General de Frell said.

"And what about our battle in the middle and lower reaches of the Ganges? Without the 2nd Army, we simply would not have enough strength to resist the attack of the Chinese! "Admiral Kitchener is in a dilemma. Originally, he planned to use the 2nd Army as the core, cooperate with several other group armies, and then fight a decisive general battle with the 2nd Group of the Chinese Army in the middle and lower reaches of the Ganges. Now, if the 2nd Army is transferred back to Calcutta, it will be very difficult to win this battle!

"This ......" Lieutenant General de Frell didn't know what to say! If the Chinese landing in Calcutta was not a large-scale landing operation, but only to attract the attention of the British and Indian forces and create a chance for the squadron to defeat the British and Indian troops deployed in the middle and lower reaches of the Ganges, then the British and Indian troops would have been miserable. However, if the squadron had launched a large-scale landing operation in Calcutta, and the 2nd Army was not there, the fall of Calcutta would have been inevitable!

"In this way, let the 2nd Army stay in Napudvip for the time being, and wait for the shape to be clear before making the next arrangements. Let the 18th Army garrisoned in Danbad go to Calcutta! "Admiral Kitchener has taken a compromise! (To be continued......)