Chapter 1083 Turning the clouds and rain

General Alexander, commander-in-chief of the British forces in Southeast Asia, was somewhat insane by the surprise news of the Japanese attack on Rangoon in Burma and southern Thailand after learning that the Japanese had launched a surprise attack.

After shouting for a long time, none of the officers under his command spoke up, and none of them drafted a protest letter, although the British officers, although they had been pampered in the Southeast Asian colonies for many years, and felt that they were a few levels higher than the Asians, but their brains were not completely broken, and they listened to the commander-in-chief shrew, shouting and shouting and protesting again and again, and there were no nutritious words.

Although he didn't say it, in his stomach, he couldn't help but look down on this usually high-ranking commander-in-chief, protesting? It's really funny, the Japanese can pay attention to the protests of the British, unless God himself comes forward, such a protest book, the Japanese will not even be in the mood to read it, but will provoke ridicule, even the action of war with the royal army of the British Empire, how can it be a protest letter, can it be frightened.

The commander-in-chief is afraid that his brain is broken, right? Alexander shouted for a while, but did not get the response he deserved, and when he saw the middle and junior officers, looking at himself like idiots, he suddenly came to his senses, and now he protested against the Japanese, except for adding to the jokes and humiliating himself, His Excellency the General could not gain anything, nor could he change the current situation.

In addition to the protest that Alexander can show his hand, what other sharp weapons can he use in his hand? Immediately transfer the troops concentrated in northern Myanmar and the Sino-Vietnamese and Sino-Lao borders to deal with the Chinese to the southern part of the Indochina Peninsula and fight to the death with the Japanese? Not to mention that Alexander did not have such capital and strength in his hands, according to the intelligence from Thailand and Burma, the Japanese army invested at least 800,000 troops in the two places.

Even if there is, Alexander doesn't have the guts, the British army stationed in Southeast Asia, but more than 200,000, plus the Burmese army, is only more than 300,000, not even half of the Japanese army, and he has exhausted the capital in his hand, he Alexander can't go back to his homeland, stay in Southeast Asia, and lose penniless, not even a small deflated.

Now, it is not a question of whether Alexander wants to fight or not, but a question of when the Japanese will stop, and he can't figure it out anyway, the Japanese did not put the target of their attack on China, which they coveted the most, but instead raised their samurai swords against the British in Indochina, and the two sides were not allies, and the Japanese emperor personally sent a telegram to himself. Why do Japanese people turn their faces faster than dogs? Say bite and bite?

As the supreme military commander of the British colonies in Southeast Asia, Alexander did not give even a few words of order to any of his troops, and the British troops everywhere did not receive a clear order from the General Headquarters, and in the face of the fierce attack of the Japanese army, they were doing their own thing.

There were those who were planning to surrender, and there were also those who were planning to surrender, such as Major General Etheridge, the commander of the Rangoon garrison, who, after a little resistance, abandoned the original defense area and withdrew to a place as far away from the Japanese as possible to avoid the limelight.

At the very least, I know that the form of reporting the battlefield to my own commander has fulfilled the duty of a soldier, and the British commanders in other places are afraid that they have been frightened to the death, and when they think of it so much, I am afraid that their minds are full of ideas about how to escape for their lives, or to save their lives.

The officers are like this, and the soldiers below are even worse, these pampered young master soldiers, usually they rarely even touch the gun a few times, and when the Japanese shells roar and fall to the side, looking at the companions who were still alive just now, in the blink of an eye, they have become a pile of minced meat, they can take steps, they know how to find a place to hide, and they are not scared to pee their pants on the spot, and they are already the elite members of the British army stationed in Southeast Asia.

There were still some veteran officers who said to Alexander: "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, the most urgent task at hand is to give clear orders to all the troops that can be contacted, only in this way can the situation of the war be temporarily stabilized, otherwise, our troops of the British Empire will only be annihilated by the Japanese army in chaos." ”

Alexander woke up like a dream, probably remembering his identity, but he really had no idea, the previous qiē plan, all aimed at the Chinese Tang Qiuli, now, replaced by the Japanese from other directions, for a while, I really don't know what to do, the so-called "helpless" is a true portrayal of Alexander's current situation.

At this point, Alexander no longer cared about the face of any English gentleman, and asked in an inquiring tone: "With your advice, how should we deal with the current situation?" "The Chief of Staff of the General Headquarters of the British Forces in Southeast Asia, Lieutenant General Francis, is the officer with the highest rank and position in the military besides Alexander, and he cannot but speak.

Lieutenant General Francis is a young general in the British army in Southeast Asia, and many strategic thinking directions have fundamental differences with Alexander, under Alexander's multi-faceted suppression, he, the chief of staff, has no actual power at all, and the contradictions between the two people are very deep, especially on the issue of alliance with the Japanese.

On the other hand, out of the duty of a soldier, he did not want more than 200,000 British soldiers to be cut off by the ignorant and incompetent Alexander, so he thought about it and said: "General, the Japanese offensive is fierce, and our army, no matter how bravely it fights, cannot stop the pace of the Japanese attack. ”

Alexander's eyes lit up, and he secretly thought to himself, "Francis, this guy still has a bit of dry goods in his stomach," but after retreating to Mandalay, what should he do next, what if the Japanese chase after him, and then chase Mandalay, what should he do? He's still full of mush, and he doesn't have any score at all.

Alexander, who was sober, did not lose his mouth, took out the style of the commander-in-chief and said: "Your Excellency, as the commander-in-chief of the British Empire's forces in Southeast Asia, you should come up with a complete and detailed plan, for example, if the Japanese army continues to pursue northern Burma, how should we deal with it?" ”

Francis saw through the old guy's tone at a glance, and his heart was tired for a while, but he still said sincerely: "Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, it is inevitable that the problem will occur, since the Japanese have made up their minds to annex Indochina and have already put it into action, they will never allow our army to exist in any way in northern Burma. ”

"Therefore, there are two ways to deal with it, first, immediately contact the General Headquarters of the Indian Army, we are in Mandalay, northern Burma, once the Japanese army is fiercely attacked, all troops, along the Kangxi River Valley, withdraw to Puram in eastern India, and turn with the Indian army, in order to have the strength to contend with the Japanese army, second, and most importantly, immediately ask the Chinese Tang Qiuli for help, and ask him to send troops to the Indochina Peninsula, the enemy's enemy, is our friend, this is the only point that can be used."

In fact, Francis's words in his heart have not yet been poured out, this is a ploy to blame the neighbors, its real purpose is to use the independent division troops to cover the safe withdrawal of the British and Burmese troops to India Plam, he believes that the hatred between the Chinese and the Japanese, Tang Qiuli will definitely agree to this kind of intention sent to the door.

However, there is no need to say this to this old guy too bluntly, despite this, Alexander Taiwan Francis, still can't help but have a twitch of his face, this turn is too big, too violent, a moment ago, he was still planning to deal with others, turned his face, and went to talk about cooperation, Xiao is the British gentleman Mr. Alexander, no matter how thick-skinned he is, he can't help but blush.

Alexander was noncommittal, and said vaguely: "Give me a moment, let me think about it," Francis accepted it when he saw it, and did not say anything more, but he could see that Alexander would eventually adopt a direct strategy.

However, the Japanese did not give the British extra time, and the Japanese army in southern Thailand and southern Burma in Southeast Asia moved at the same time, and the British were caught off guard, and Japan sent troops to Southeast Asia to divide the Indochina Peninsula in the shape of a banana into three parts, and according to the pre-war plan of the Japanese base camp, the troops landing in Rangoon, Burma, would be used as a combat unit in a separate direction.

The purpose of the campaign was, first, to encircle and annihilate all the British troops in Burma, to control and uproot British forces in the Indochina Peninsula in the face of this piece of territory in the Bay of Bengal, and to uproot British forces in the Indochina Peninsula; second, to use Burma as a springboard to attack the eastern part of India, because there are still more than 200,000 British troops stationed in India in the area of Puram in eastern India, and if the last strength of the British is not completely destroyed in the South Asian subcontinent, the Japanese will absolutely not rest assured and go all out to compete with the Americans in the waters of the South Pacific.

The Southeast Asian War that broke out in advance was not quite the same as recorded in history, and the Japanese army put all its forces into attacking the traditional sphere of influence of the British in the Indochina Peninsula, and did not take action for the time being in the southern part of the South China Sea, including the Americans' sphere of influence, Luzon and Mindanao in the Philippines.

Originally, when drawing up the Southeast Asian operational plan, the Japanese Army was absolutely reluctant to hand over the task of occupying the Malay Peninsula and Singapore to the Navy, and with the strength and strength accumulated by the Japanese Army in Southeast Asia, it was fully capable of accomplishing this strategic plan on its own.

Why bother to let the navy get a piece of the pie, all the army generals are not very comfortable in their hearts, so the opposition is particularly fierce.

……