Sakagaki's intentions were obvious, he needed an amphibious landing behind Tao Mingzhang's flank, but a large number of army units needed to be brought in by shipping from a farther area. This requires the assistance of the Navy, and in the Army's view, the greatest threat comes from the South China Sea, because the US ocean-going submarines can now easily break through the Bass Strait in broad daylight. The Army Air Force stationed in Tainan and the Philippines can often see U.S. Shark-class submarines floating on the water when patrolling, but it is difficult to effectively block the strait. So the assistance of naval ships is needed.

Of course, Yamamoto's view was very different from that of the Army, and it was not just submarines that he feared, but the Americans coveted Guam and Saipan. He judged that Nimitz would launch a large-scale attack, starting from Pearl Harbor or Bougainville, seizing both places, and approaching the Japanese mainland step by step, while also echoing Chu Tingchang.

He was more anxious than a few months ago for a decisive naval battle, when the Japanese navy was still superior in numbers and technology, mainly guided weapons.

At present, the only aircraft carriers that the US Navy can still use are the USS Enterprise and the USS Yorktown. Through Canaris's spy network, it was learned that the Essex, which had been launched like dumplings on the slipway of Newport News, may have launched three to five ships, but due to the formation cycle of carrier-based aircraft forces, it is not ready for combat for the time being. So at present, although the pace of replenishment is slow, the Japanese Navy still has advantages in all aspects, from capital ships to naval aviation. Yamamoto's consistent idea was to weaken the enemy through decisive battles.

In the last costly naval battle in which 419 participated. After all, Yamamoto wiped out part of the main forces of the US Navy. Moreover, the latest guided weapons are rapidly forming combat effectiveness. This is the only achievement that Onishi Takijiro has achieved after the Malay blind attack on the British fleet. These immature weapons have been tested in real combat and have concrete real combat experience. Yamamoto has a * that can find targets on his own, and a * that has a longer range. This gave him the confidence to gamble again.

The senior generals of the Navy and Army attending the meeting were well aware that the entire strategic situation had undergone a huge avalanche-like deterioration, and they all inevitably became gamblers.

The war in Australia is not completely over, and it seems that it will never be. According to Asano's strategy of opening up and adjusting, there are almost no long-term hidden dangers. The abandonment of the Solomon Islands was the one that led the U.S. Navy to easily threaten Guam and Saipan against the first island chain, while attacking Australia was the one that dragged down the Army.

U.S. and Australian forces have a firm grip on Tasmania and use the island to send troops and supplies to the Australian mainland to help them resist in the remote southern part of Australia. And the Japanese army simply could not effectively control all the coastline. The Japanese were able to control only the east coast, through which the coastal railroad passed. MacArthur made good on his promise not to retreat, established himself in Port Augusta, and launched a limited Brockenhill counterattack, defeating the Japanese in Australia for the first time (and for the first time in his own military career). This, of course, was also aided by Chu's victories in Thailand and Malaysia last month, which led to distraction from the Japanese army's top brass. However, the U.S. military has compared this small victory of 600 Japanese troops to Chu Tingchang's defeat of the entire Burmese army at Mandalay, and Vasilevsky's recapture of Moscow, which wiped out 250,000 German troops, and called it the second turning point in history (the first turning point was Chu Tingchang's capture of Calcutta and Zhukov's battle at the Volga Hot cluster).

MacArthur's victory was essentially due to the fact that the Japanese army in Australia began to retreat, and its main force, the 5th and 6th Divisions, was quickly deployed in the direction of Chu Tingchang. Now they need to draw more troops to deal with the increasingly powerful Chu Tingchang. There is intelligence that Chu Tingchang is using American equipment to form his 10th division, and he has been given more reservists, which may be further expanded. Unlike in China, where a large number of arrests were needed, his troops were all volunteers, and the quality of the soldiers was very good, and there were almost no illiterate people.

"The only way to do that is to make a landing in Bangkok. The Navy must guarantee our landing and not allow enemy submarines to slip in. ”

Sakagaki put forward his plan and the requirements for the navy, and although he didn't know much about Yamamoto's strategy, he knew what he wanted at the moment.

"I don't think that's the wisest thing to do." Yamamoto said politely.

"What's wrong with reconnecting the Malay Peninsula with Singapore?"

"Makino-kun said that all actions should not be too close to the coast, so that the enemy will easily see your deployment."

"I already have a complete solution to this." Sakagaki suddenly became a little proud.

"Oh. I would like to hear about it. ”

"This plan can only be told to you in this room, leaving here is top secret."

The participants nodded their heads. Sakagaki walked over to the map.

"My convoy will stay at Singapore, Pola, and Brunei, and will only assemble at sea on the day of the attack, so that the enemy will not be able to predict whether it will return to Cambodia or land elsewhere. And the Gulf of Thailand is, after all, a very small place, and when the fleet reaches the sea, it can quickly change its direction. Until then, the enemy will have no way of telling. ”

"If you want to deceive Pavilion Chief Chu, there should be other means, right?" Yamamoto asked?

"Of course, since all of Chu Tingchang's victories are based on his reconnaissance ability, we have to use his reconnaissance advantage to deceive him in turn. We used the 11th Army in Guangxi to quickly rush over from Vietnam to rescue Yamashita, and Anan Weiji was now the commander of the Southern Army, and he should attract the attention of Chu Tingchang. ”

"It's not like no one has used this kind of deception before." Yamamoto said that he felt that Sakagaki still hadn't suffered enough to say these words.

"Then let's do better."

"How?" The army generals at the scene were all interested at once.

"Let him think that we will land on the coast of Cambodia, not Thailand. Our General Staff must draw up a true and rigorous plan for attacking Kampong Flood Bowl in Cambodia, and give the troops the order to attack Cambodia through the strictest and most confidential communications, believing that no matter how secret the communication is, the enemy can still obtain this information, but only at the last moment will our troops convey the news of the transfer to Bangkok. At this time, the fleet was about the same distance from Kampong Son Bay and Bangkok in Cambodia. After all, the enemy is an army, and even if it is moved, it will not be faster than if we move by transport ship. ”

"Good idea indeed. But it's bound to cause our own chaos. ”

"Well, the necessary price is inevitable. However, as long as the 6th Division appears in Bangkok, I will be able to copy the rear of the Malay enemy from behind, and then join forces with General Yamashita and flank Chu Tingchang from east to west, and all the dispositions will be on the bright side, and even if he sees through our full next move, it will only be difficult to deal with. In other words, the only critical place in this operation is before the assembly at sea, and the enemy cannot be allowed to predict the direction of our actions. ”

"It's not Kampong Flood Bay or the Gulf of Thailand, it's nothing more than two places, and he can't be completely unguarded." Mr. Yamamoto said he seemed impressed by Mr. Sakagaki's plan, but still raised some questions.

"This is true, but as far as I know, there are not many troops that Chu Tingchang can fight, most of them are new troops, and his 201st Division is firmly attracted to Malaysia by me. The 202nd Division was in Phnom Penh, 600 kilometers away, and the 200th Division was fighting General Yamashita, and as long as these divisions did not return to Bangkok, the plan could be implemented. ”

The venue fell silent, and everyone began to hope for this possibility.

At the same time, Zhou Youfu recaptured the undefended Phnom Penh, but could not immediately join the battle to attack Yamashita Fengwen, and the situation took a new turn. Two wings of the 11th Army, which had been transferred from Guangxi, had already arrived by rail. He had to deal with this 104th Division. According to U.S. military intelligence, the commander of the 11th Army was Anan Weiji, who had been defeated by Xue Yue in Changsha. Moreover, Anan came to take over the post of commander of the Southern Army, which allowed the US side to roughly confirm the news of the death of the temple, but for the sake of safety, the US military still airdropped a team to investigate the results. However, the body in the temple has been transported back to the mainland by the Japanese army.

Zhou Youfu didn't care whether he was a general or a lieutenant general, he only killed an army marshal two days ago, and this glory was enough for Lao Zhou, who had no vanity.

He occupied the palace as his headquarters, sent away King Sihanouk, who was grateful to him for driving out the Japanese twice, and began to plan for the battle. He planned to face Anan directly, don't look at the opponent as a general, but there are not many soldiers, and it is a second-rate 104th Division. Lao Zhou knew that this kind of division with the number 1XX was not very strong. So he was sure that he would defeat him while his foothold was still unstable. He was worried that the Japanese elite would land in Kampong Flood Bay, especially since the enemy's 6th Division, which might be among them.

From August 1937 to the end of the year, he drove this reconnaissance vehicle all the way from Shanghai to Nanjing, following the pursuit of the 6th Division. At that time, the 6th Division, which was very close to the pursuit, suddenly disappeared. Everyone in the hasty retreat thought that they could breathe a sigh of relief and have time to deploy the outer defense of Nanjing, but the unit suddenly fought out from the flank and cut off the retreat like a heavenly soldier.

Lao Zhou's commander immediately abandoned the troops and ran away on his own, and he and other veteran soldiers saw that something was wrong, and did not wait for the fuel to be replenished according to the order, but changed into civilian clothes and blended into the refugees, taking advantage of the night, through the gap between the two wings of the 6th Division, only to escape with their lives, and several soldiers who fled with him all died under the machine guns of the Japanese blockade line.

At dawn, when he crossed the blockade, he could see from the hill the prisoners of war at the foot of the mountain, who were being escorted by the Japanese towards the river.

In a way, this escape was the most disgraceful aspect of his military career (he didn't think there was any shame in being cheated and abducted), and since then he has left an indelible fear of the 6th Division, especially when the whereabouts of this unit are unknown.