Age of Rebirth

In the turbulent night of the Eastern Indian Ocean, the combat meeting of the independent division fleet was going on. Everyone thought it was an easy task. After some analysis by the first deputy commander of the fleet, Rear Admiral Amosiyev, everyone knew , because of the existence of the fleet stationed in India, the battle to seize the island will change tactics and style of play.

The words of Major General Han Tie, the commander of the Marine Corps, will especially attract everyone's attention. After all, this battle is an island landing operation, and the Marine Corps will inevitably be the main force. His opinion will also affect the direction of the meeting.

Looking at Han Tiezheng's gaze, Tang Qiuquan nodded and said, "Commander Han, this battle is fought by your Marine Corps. If you have any suggestions, feel free to bring them up and discuss them!"

Han Tie said: "The deputy commander reminded us that although the British fleet in India does not have an aircraft carrier, if the number of warships exceeds ours, it will inevitably become a threat to us. Therefore, I suggest that the established campaign deployment be changed, especially The Marine Corps is solely responsible for sending the fleet to deal with the fleet stationed in India. I have considered that the garrison troops of the British and Indian troops on the islands are not many, and the firepower is not strong. The artillery fire of our armed transport ships can completely provide Fire support during beach landing, I hope the commander and deputy commander will consider my suggestion!"

Regarding the suggestion of Amosiyev and Han Tie, everyone held a heated discussion. The more than [-] warships in the British fleet stationed in India are obviously a threat that cannot be underestimated. Soon, they were divided into two opinions. It is to support the deputy commander, Major General Amosiyev. Before the battle of seizing the island, the British fleet must be killed first. Another opinion is to support Hantie, the fleet will deal with the British warships, and the marines will complete the battle of seizing the island alone. The advantage of this is that there is no delay. [

The two opinions are at odds.It was also difficult for Tang Qiuquan to make a decision. Qiuquan was a competitive and unyielding person. The ground troops fought extremely smoothly in the East India, and he was a happy air force.In the Indochina Peninsula and the South Asian subcontinent, there is a sky of independent division aircraft. Only the naval fleet has not made much achievements. So far, it has not dared to fight head-on with several fleets of the Japanese Navy.

Going out of the South China Sea and traveling to and from the Strait of Malacca depends on the face of the Japanese Navy.As far as Qiuquan's character is concerned, it is absolutely unbearable. From his heart, it is best to complete the battle goals issued by the division headquarters to destroy the British fleet at the same time, but Han Tie and Amosiyev What you said makes sense.There is a question of severity and trade-offs here.

Looking at his watch, the meeting has been going on for more than an hour, and no results have been discussed yet.If things go on like this, there is no clue at dawn. Qiuquan knocked on the table a few times, stopped everyone's discussion, and said: "Both opinions have their own advantages and disadvantages, and they can't argue. In my opinion, we will combine the two battle plans. At the same time, report to the master. Please make a decision, the master, and everyone will wait here!"

Xin Xiguo, chief of staff of the fleet, quickly sent the two battle plans to the headquarters of the independent division. By this time, it was around 22 o'clock at night on May [-].

Tang Qiuli of Zhenhati in Central India.As soon as he lay down to rest, Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe knocked on the door and came in, "Master, I received an urgent telegram from Commander Tang of the Fleet. When the Fleet was holding a battle meeting, there were two opinions that were at odds, so we reported them together. Master please decide!"

After reading the telegram, Tang Qiuli said to Zhao Yuhe in a relaxed tone: "Yuhe, according to Brother Qiuquan's personality, he is not a person who is indecisive. It is better to report the battle plan of the headquarters to the teacher for decision." For the first time, I guess, Brother Qiuquan was worried because he saw the ground troops fighting smoothly. He also wanted to do a two-pronged approach, taking the island and annihilating the British fleet at the same time, but he was afraid that the risk would be too high. Here comes the idea!"

Zhao Yuhe was not so relaxed, and replied: "Master, Commander Tang's thinking is reasonable. Fighting at sea is no different than on land. A single negligence will cause heavy losses to the entire fleet. Moreover, the task force is a solitary force that goes deep into the sea." , there is no backup, the main force of the fleet is in Hainan Island and Zhanjiang base, Commander, when we transferred the fleet to carry out the mission, did we not think carefully and ignore the British fleet?"

Tang Qiuli smiled and said, "Why Yuhe, you are criticizing me!" Just as Zhao Yuhe was about to explain, Tang Qiuli waved his hand to stop him, "Yuhe, I'll just be Zhuge Liang for once and give the fleet a shot." Great tricks!"

Zhao Yuhe looked curious, and Tang Qiuli said: "Call back the fleet, fish and bear's paw, you can have both, the fleet can adopt the following tactics, ignore the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and direct your troops to attack Sri Lanka, if this is the case, the British fleet will definitely come to help, and the fleet can set up an ambush midway to fight a sea ambush, and moreover, the long-range bombers of the aviation force can provide land and air support, and the big thing can be done!"

Tang Qiuli's tactics were by no means whimsical or whimsical. Although he didn't have the slightest affection for MacArthur, he had a history of fighting against the Japanese on the islands of the South Pacific and created the "frog". The "jump" tactic is still highly respected. Based on this, Tang Qiuli believes that MacArthur can be called a famous general in World War II, which has something to do with personal likes and dislikes.

To put it simply, MacArthur's tactic was not to compete with the Japanese island by island according to the distance of the geographical location, but to skip some islands in the middle, concentrate troops and warships, and focus on important targets, cutting off the gap between the islands occupied by Japan. Contact, after occupying the target island, turn around and clean up the island behind. Just this one, I don’t know how many famous Japanese generals and elite divisions were killed by him.

Tang Qiuli's tactic is an enhanced version of the "leapfrog" tactic for seizing the island. With the addition of a sea ambush and the cooperation of land and sea bombers, the British warships can no longer be turned into piles of scrap iron on the bottom of the East Indian Ocean. He has no face to face anyone!The fleet pointed directly at the island of Sri Lanka, causing the troops of the independent division to land on the southern tip of the Indian mainland. There was no reason why the British fleet should not go to rescue.

Rear Admiral Amosiyev, the first deputy commander of the fleet, after reading the call back from the division commander Tang Qiuli, blushed with excitement, stood up, and a series of Russian words came out of his mouth, but unfortunately, none of them understood. Amosiyev came back and said embarrassedly: "I mean, the commander is a genius commander, and his wisdom is comparable to that of Peter the Great!"

With Tang Qiuli's clever plan, the battle plan was quickly finalized. The seven brigades of the Marine Corps were divided into three groups, and they launched attacks from the south, center, and north of Sri Lanka at the same time. Each attacking force consisted of two Two destroyers provided fire support, and the three brigades in the middle were the main attacking spearheads, dividing Sri Lanka into two.

Then, with the strength of the two brigades, they developed to the north and south ends respectively to support the two offensive forces from the north and the south. The garrison forces of the British and Indian troops formed a five-to-one force advantage, and Xin Xiguo, chief of staff of the fleet, coordinated in the middle.

Fleet Commander Tang Qiuquan and Deputy Commander Amosiyev led the task force and set up an ambush in the waters near the Bay of Bengal. At the same time, they contacted Le Yiqin, the commander of the Southern Aviation Group of the Air Force, and his bombers and fighters joined the battle. Coupled with the fighters and bombers on the two aircraft carriers, for the British fleet without an aircraft carrier, it formed a lore situation.

On May 23, the morning sun jumped out of the sea. After the monsoon raged overnight, the East Indian Ocean was calm and the water and sky were the same color. Although in the land of East India, the war was raging, the Chinese were victorious every day, and the land of Central India was about to The flames of war are ignited, but for Sri Lanka, which is separated from the Indian mainland by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar, all this seems very far away.

At around [-]:[-] in the morning, the fog on the sea had not completely dissipated. Naxon, the captain of the central garrison in the Sri Lankan defensive zone of the British Army stationed in India who was on the night shift, rubbed his dry eyes, stretched his waist, and chatted. Putting away the duty record and looking at the record book which was still a blank sheet of paper, Captain Naxon shook his head, and the boring night of chatting passed like this.

Every week, I have to suffer all night in this damp bunker on the beach, drinking the coffee brought by the orderly, and Captain Naxon lazily writes a sentence in the duty log book, "On May 22, the night was normal, and no abnormalities were found."[

In the opinion of Captain Naxon, this is nothing more than a routine matter. He is very grateful for himself, because he belongs to the fleet of the Indian Army and was not transferred to the East India battlefield. He fought desperately with the Chinese soldiers. Unfavorable, the East India has been lost, but all this has nothing to do with the captain, as long as he serves in India for four years, after returning to the mainland, he will have a good job waiting for him!

It's time to change shifts. Captain Nelson casually raised his binoculars to observe the sea surface where the fog had dissipated for the last time. Suddenly, his eyes were fixed on a certain direction, and his mouth was opened wide open as if nervous. Cannibalism, stiff body and trembling uncontrollably.

The orderly who was packing up the tableware looked at him strangely, and couldn't help shouting: "Mr. Captain! Mr. Captain, are you uncomfortable there?"

Captain Nelson, it’s not just that he’s uncomfortable, he’s simply stupefied. Dozens of warships suddenly appear on the rising sun’s sea, and they are flying towards the golden sun. On the high masts of the warships, What was flying was not the Mi Ziqi flag that he was so familiar with, it was another kind of flag that he didn't recognize, but the dark muzzle of the gun on the warship told him that the visitor was not good.

A few minutes later, the captain was still in that frozen posture, and the orderly was worried to pull him. Suddenly, Captain Nelson yelled like crazy: "Report quickly, the enemy warship is attacking!"

(to be continued) (to be continued...)