Tang Qiuli's question is very strange, what kind of purpose does he have, simply put, what are he here for? Hasegawa Kiyoshi's Third Fleet, all the way to Rangoon, the purpose is very clear, to reinforce the Japanese army in Rangoon, to cheer up the besieged Ito, to help the fist, in the end, the little devil doesn't want to lose Rangoon, this is the purpose, why should the division commander ask more? Is it redundant!

Only Tang Qiusheng was thoughtful, he knew his younger brother too well, and asking such a question was by no means a trick or a snake to add to it, there must be his purpose, but when he had not yet considered maturity, with his character, he would not rashly say his thoughts.

Tang Qiuli saw that everyone's eyes were focused on himself, and continued: "Hasegawa Kiyoshi's Third Fleet reinforcement of the Yangon battlefield objectively, it has increased the variables and difficulty for us to carry out the Rangoon campaign, but as long as we judge which direction Hasegawa Kiyoshi chooses to start, this variable is under our control. ”

They are all veterans who have been on the battlefield for a long time, Tang Qiuli has already raised the question, and he doesn't understand, so many years of iron-blooded career are in vain, Tang Qiuli pointed to Bangkok and Yangon and said: "Of these two landing sites, Hasegawa Kiyoshi must choose one of them, and the topic of our military meeting is centered on this aspect." ”

According to the existing conditions, the two landing sites have their own advantages and disadvantages, and the choice of landing in Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand, Japanese reinforcements, which can be directly inserted into the eastern part of Yangon by land, can save time and avoid the need to cross the Strait of Malacca and enter the Andaman Sea, for Ito, who is in urgent need of reinforcements, time is very precious.

However, there is a big problem in this, the reinforced Japanese army landing in Bangkok will have to directly face the strong resistance of more than 100,000 troops of the independent division Ma Chaoyang Corps, even if the reinforced Japanese troops exceed the Ma Chaoyang Corps, the Japanese army will not be able to get benefits, not to mention that the victory or defeat of the landing is unpredictable. Even if the landing is successful, Ma Chaoyang will not let the Japanese army easily escape from a distance of several hundred kilometers from Bangkok to Yangon.

Fear. The Japanese reinforcements have not seen the shadow of Yangon, they have already been almost consumed, and if they can't get it right, the troops of the independent division in Yangon went south to reinforce them, and the Japanese troops who rescued them became the remnants of the besieged soldiers, and they were flanked by Ma Chaoyang's corps and the southbound troops of the independent division, and they were wrapped in dumplings. At the beginning, Tang Qiuli placed Ma Chaoyang's corps in the Gulf of Thailand to prevent the Japanese army from coming, but now it seems that it is not idle chess.

It would take seven or eight more days to cross the Strait of Malacca and reinforce Rangoon from the direction of the Andaman Sea, and Rangoon was surrounded by troops of the Independent Division. Ito was anxiously waiting for reinforcements, his eyes were almost green, could he have waited so long?

The route is very safe. The reinforcements don't have to worry about being blocked by the troops of the independent division, and as long as they arrive in Yangon, they can immediately go into battle, the only problem is time, what Ito lacks is time, he can't guarantee that when the Third Fleet and reinforcements are still sailing at sea, Tang Qiuli has already done something to Yangon.

As the chief of staff of the separate division. Chang Feng will inevitably express his opinion, he said: "Based on the analysis of all the situation, I personally believe that it is unlikely that Japanese reinforcements will land in Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand, for only one reason, the Japanese army wants to reach Yangon. In the Malay Peninsula, there are still garrisons of three divisions of the Japanese army, which are pressed by our troops and do not dare to move, and Ito should not take this risk, as for the Third Fleet of the Japanese Navy, its task is to escort the ship, and it does not have the capital to engage our army on land. ”

"Ito doesn't want to see that the reinforcements he has been waiting for have not yet arrived in Yangon, they were entangled by Ma Chaoyang's corps, facing the danger of annihilation, and he had to mobilize troops from Yangon to rescue him as a last resort, who is this reinforcement whom?"

Chang Feng's words caused a burst of laughter from everyone, this is the truth, once the Japanese reinforcements landed in the Gulf of Thailand, Ma Chaoyang, whose eyes were red, would definitely not let go of the little devil, Ma Chaoyang's corps has 150,000 troops, and it is to wait for work, according to the danger, it is enough to fight, that is, the Japanese army breaks through the beachhead, and it is impossible to pass without leaving tens of thousands of people.

Everyone unanimously agreed with Chang Feng's judgment, but Tang Qiusheng raised another question, "The Japanese commander must have considered the difficulty of landing in the Gulf of Thailand, and it is unlikely that he will choose this direction, but will the Japanese army make such a deployment, go ashore in Singapore Harbor, join up with the Japanese garrison of three divisions, and hold the troops for the time being, and when our army launches a general attack on Yangon, suddenly go north and disrupt our deployment, of course, this is just an idea, Ma Chaoyang's corps is an insurmountable obstacle for the Japanese army." ”

As a matter of fact, because Ma Chaoyang's corps was lined up along the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand from Bangkok and controlled all the landing sites, no matter where the Japanese troops landed in the Gulf of Thailand, they would be strongly blocked by Ma Chaoyang's corps, and the possibility of Japanese reinforcements going ashore along the Gulf of Thailand was basically ruled out.

After discussing and ruling out various possibilities, everyone agreed that the next goal of the Japanese reinforcements and the Third Fleet was basically clear, that is, to cross the Strait of Malacca, from the direction of the Andaman Sea, and directly reach the port of Yangon, which was also the only route for the Japanese army to avoid attrition.

Now that the direction of the Japanese reinforcements and the Third Fleet has been judged, the deployment of the next campaign will be targeted, Tang Qiuli said: "In order not to make the Japanese reinforcements in the direction of the Gulf of Thailand, there are any illusions, I have decided that the directly subordinate corps will be led by Chang Feng to immediately go south, strengthen the defensive strength and thickness of the area, and form a defense command in the Gulf of Thailand, with Chang Feng and Ma Chaoyang serving as the chief and deputy commanders-in-chief respectively, and commanding all the troops in a unified manner. ”

This is a countermeasure that must be taken, of course everyone will not object, Tang Qiuli continued: "Explain to you my next target, that is, Hasegawa Kiyoshi's Third Fleet, I decided to leave this fleet, especially those three aircraft carriers, it's really gluttonous!" Our navy lacks this, and the business that is sent to the door is not done in vain. ”

All the generals were shocked, the division commander really dared to think, the entire fleet, said to stay? It was on the vast sea, different from the land, and the warships of the little devils said they would run, how could they catch them? To say that all of them were sunk, is it still possible, prisoners? Enough, looking at everyone's disbelieving eyes, Tang Qiuli smiled slyly and said no more.

Changed the topic, "Since the Japanese reinforcements are coming, we should be prepared, and the original plan to encircle and send reinforcements, because of the variable of Hasegawa Kiyoshi's Third Fleet, make the following adjustments: 1. All the combat units of the Southern Flying Group will immediately enter the Myitkyina field airfield and enter a state of readiness, and in addition, several radar stations will be set up near Yangon to specifically target the Japanese carrier-based aircraft. ”

"Second, the air defense units of all corps have entered the first level of combat readiness, and the target is still the carrier-based aircraft of the Japanese army, and we cannot suffer losses on this, all tank units should be dispersed and concealed immediately, and all corps should set up all-weather anti-air observation posts, and we must not be careless, stop the attack on Yangon, and give Ito time to let the reinforcements he hopes for take the line of the Andaman Sea according to our intentions."

Frankly speaking, if it were not for the large fat of the Third Fleet of Hasegawa Kiyoshi and the Japanese reinforcements taking that route, Tang Qiuli would not have taken it to heart, although he had already ordered the Taiwan Intelligence Station of the Intelligence Department to stop collecting information on the Japanese reinforcements, but, out of a high sense of responsibility, the intelligence director Yu Deshui still issued an order.

The content of the second piece of intelligence is the number of Japanese reinforcements, about four first-class divisions, with three heavy artillery wings and two tank wings, Tang Qiuli read the information, did not blame Deshui, just sighed lightly, and said to Deshui: "Deshui, you still disobeyed my orders, okay, the Taiwan intelligence station has entered a dormant state, and we can't afford to lose." ”

After the meeting was dismissed, Tang Qiuli sent a secret order to Vice Admiral Tang Qiuquan, commander of the fleet of the Independent Division, saying, "The naval fleet, on the day of receiving the order, the fleet will enter a state of first-class combat readiness and will be ready to listen to the order to attack at any time, and the fleet's operational target is the Third Fleet of the Japanese Navy. ”

After Tang Qiuquan received the order, he understood Tang Qiuli's intentions after comparing the minutes of the meeting, his younger brother had taken a fancy to the Japanese warships, otherwise, he would not have thrown the baby-bumpy fleet into the battlefield.

From the Qingdao Naval Base to the Zhanjiang Military Port, the fleet sailed along the coastline of the mainland in order to avoid encounters with the Japanese naval fleet, which had a somewhat sneaky taste, which made the officers and sailors of the fleet, especially the pilots of carrier-based aircraft, quite dissatisfied.

In more than two years of rearmament warfare, except for the last time, when Tang Qiuli flew to Manila to participate in the highest military conference of the Allied Forces, and the fleet was in the waters of the South China Sea, it did not conduct any of the tasks with the Japanese army, even if it was a small-scale naval battle, incognito, deliberately keeping a low profile, and immersing themselves in hard training, the Japanese seemed to have forgotten that Tang Qiuli still had such a fleet in his hands.

Although he did not know the specific time of sailing, the entire fleet had entered a state of combat readiness, and all kinds of material resources were continuously supplied to the ship, and all the officers and men canceled their vacations, and Tang Qiuquan even moved his command headquarters to the warship.

His flagship was the "Canglang", a large destroyer with a displacement of more than 8,000 tons, and the entire Zhanjiang military port was under martial law.

In addition to ordering the fleet to prepare for war, Tang Qiuli certainly would not forget another person, such a big drama, how could this supporting role be missing, he said to Liu Xinlan: "Xinlan, record the content of the message." ”

(To be continued)