Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 694 Common Focus Manal
Nehru, who had just arrived in Mumbai, was in an extremely depressed mood at the moment, and had just received a reply from the United States. Given the complexity of this conflict and the particularity of its intervention, the United States will do its best to mediate. "Cunning Roosevelt!" Looking at the diplomatic letter in his hand, Indian Defense Minister Menon cursed angrily in his heart. Although some people in the cabinet have always shouted that the United States cannot be trusted, Prime Minister Nehru still has not given up on seeking US support. effort.

Outside the temporary residence of the Ministry of National Defense, the demonstrators held high banners with the names of the soldiers who died in battle, gathered outside and shouted slogans to retake the occupied areas in the north, and strongly demanded that Nehru and the Minister of Defense, Chief Menon, step down immediately. Active radical forces are preparing to storm the Chinese embassy.

In fact, the one who should die the most is the patrol ship captain Sanjay who provoked the incident. If he can be found now, Menon will definitely let him die in front of all the Indian people, and he himself will be his beheaded.

Putting down the curtains, Menon sighed lowly and said no to China, why didn't he want to?But it is not necessary to have capital. I just received a report from the Coast Guard that six Chinese submarines were found on the main channel of India's external shipping.Menon knew what this meant, so after getting the news of the crowd demonstration, he immediately suppressed the possible escalation of the conflict with strong measures.

India is still in the initial stage of development. Although food is basically self-sufficient, industrial products such as steel need to be imported from abroad, and the only transportation method is sea transportation. If the Chinese are happy, they can take the train to Europe. But as for India, there is not even a complete railway transportation line in the country. If the sea transportation line is blocked, even food and toilet paper in India will need to be transported back to the country by plane.At that time, I am afraid that even if India pushes all men abroad to make money, it will not be able to fill the mouths of hundreds of millions of people.

Menon considers himself a qualified politician, and as a politician, the most important thing is to abandon his sensibility. If the conflict can be resolved, the politician can even kowtow and kneel.So knowing that the Chinese have just wiped out the Indian fleet, what Menon needs to consider is not how to retaliate against the Chinese, but to find a reasonable vent for the suppressed anger of the Indian nation, and the best way to vent , is the victory of a war.

Thinking of this, Menon walked to the map of Asia in the study and looked at it carefully.

"The victory the Indians need is on this map!" Menon focused his eyes on one point while thinking.

After the Sino-Indian ship collision incident, India lodged a serious protest against China. It not only recalled the Indian ambassador to China, but also submitted the issue of the sovereignty of the Andaman Islands to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

The United States also condemned China's brutal actions at the same time, and announced in a high-profile manner that it would support 24 Indian destroyers at a low price. As for the ancient and effective means of economic sanctions, all politicians chose to forget it.Roosevelt is worthy of being a seasoned politician. On the one hand, the United States condemned the war in the media, and on the other hand, the planes and ships flying to China followed suit.

Officials of the U.S. Department of Defense are also having a hard time worrying about the Sino-Indian conflict. Although they always shout about India-U.S. alliance and Anglo-U.S. defense, but things really happened, so whether to fulfill these promises is a huge problem.

As politicians, they know very well that it is not his so-called President Roosevelt who controls the United States, but the capitalists who play golf on the lawn all day long with golf clubs. It should be the next president of the United States who can decide the future direction of the dollar at an elegant ball, and the core task of the US military is to ensure that the dollar will not be rejected in every corner of the world.In addition, they are also very clear about the relationship between the president and the Chinese emperor, and how much money from China is flooding the US financial market!As soldiers, they yearn for war all the time, and hope that the shadow of Uncle Sam will travel to every corner of the world, but if they order to fight against China without authorization, they will get nothing but the notice of their resignation.It seems that everything can only be counted on the New Crusade organized by the United Kingdom. If they can show their bloody spirit in World War II to fight against China, then the United States may support them without hesitation. As for the twenty or so destroyers, they are just a few. start.

Two days later, Mountbatten, who was staying at the Naval Port in Bay of Mannar, suddenly received a telegram from the British Royal Navy. Take part in Operation Mannar, the UK's largest military operation since World War II.This time, Mountbatten received a clear order from his superiors, and a blazing flame burned in his chest. Finally, it was time for the decisive battle at sea. He vowed to use a clean victory to wash away his timid hat.At the same time, the target sea area is still calm, and the Chinese fishing boats that come and go here from time to time, they don't know that in a short period of time, this place will become a Shura battlefield.

The three combat plans jointly formulated by the United Kingdom and India were quickly sent to the Indian Joint Chiefs of Staff, and after a week of deliberation, one of them was finally adopted.

Looking at the confirmation message sent by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Menon finally showed a long-lost smile on his face.

At the same time, an urgent military meeting is being held on the Chinese submarine No. 166 cruising on the bottom of the Andaman Islands.

Sa Zhenbing, the commander-in-chief of the Singapore Fleet, sat in the middle, his staff sat on both sides, and Huang Guangrui, the captain of the 39th Air Force, sat opposite.

The ship was silent, and everyone present was staring at Sa Zhenbing, and the serious and tense air filled every corner.They are working on a major issue that will determine the fate of the Singapore fleet and the Indian Ocean.

"The above is the general idea of ​​this operation. In order to complete the operation on the southern front, active operations must be carried out no matter what. This is not only Liu Gong's intention, but also the emperor's will. Speaking of it, it is a bit risky. Once it fails, the entire operation will be destroyed. There is a danger of collapse. Regarding this point, I hope that the officials of the combat forces present here will express their opinions without any hesitation." Sa Zhenbing looked around at everyone present with sharp eyes.

No one said a word.No one dares to express their opinions easily.

After a while, Huang Guangrui said, "Commander-in-Chief, do you think this sortie can be carried out with only airplanes?"

"Yes! I think, as long as the enemy fleet is parked in place, just using the plane is enough." Sa Zhen replied calmly.

"How many troops will be used?"

"Using all the carrier-based aircraft of the 39th Air Group, I think it can be successful."

"Where is the security force?"

"In order to prevent encounters with the enemy's surface ships, two battleships and two cruisers need to be dispatched during the attack, and several destroyers should also be dispatched to serve as guards."

"Once the enemy discovers our intention and comes out to intercept it, what should we do?"

This is the most critical issue in deciding this battle. It took off from the nearest air base in northern Sumatra to the target location, and the voyage was more than 1000 nautical miles. Once it encountered the enemy's Lightning Air Force at sea, the consequences would be difficult to predict.

Sa Zhenbing thought for a while and said: "Then we have to fight it out at sea. Since we have an overwhelming air force, we don't have to worry about encountering the enemy at sea. On the contrary, this is a wishful thing. I think the problem is that The enemy has a certain advantage in the strength of the shore-based air force. When we launch a strong attack on the enemy's base, we must be prepared to pay considerable casualties. Therefore, the most important thing is not to make the enemy aware of our intention. Therefore, I think we must Adopt a surprise attack method, and the best time to attack is at dawn."

"However, when the situation is urgent and is at a moment of explosive tension, will the enemy fleet still stay in the military port?" asked Tian Shijie, the captain of the No. 166 submarine. It is also heavily guarded, how can we ensure that we pass through the enemy's cordon without being discovered by the enemy?"

Tian Shijie paused for a moment, and then said: "And as long as an enemy plane or ship finds out, it will inevitably be blocked, and the combat operation will be frustrated. This will not only affect the main fleet's advance operations, but also lead to the entire battle situation in the future. Bankruptcy." Tian Shijie glanced at Sa Zhenbing and said, "I think this battle plan itself contains too many risk factors."

Sa Zhenbing didn't answer.He closed his eyes slightly, crossed his arms, and listened quietly.

"Peiqing," Rear Admiral Wang Shouting, commander of the 2nd Aircraft Carrier Squadron, suddenly asked, "So, what do you think should be done?"

Tian Shijie said categorically: "Concentrate our forces to fight on the southern front. If we divide the aircraft carrier forces and fight simultaneously in the Andaman Islands and the southern front, I am afraid that the strength of both places will be insufficient. In any case, the air attack on the Mannar military port is just a kind of strategy." Risky operations against the enemy, in case of failure, the entire operation will be wasted, and our shipboard forces will be reduced by half. It is too dangerous to engage in combat guidance. If all naval forces are concentrated on the southern front, there is no need to worry about the United Kingdom. The pinning of the fleet."

After everyone present heard this, they all looked at each other in blank dismay. Tian Shijie's words were reasonable, especially the original policy formulated by the Ministry of the Navy advocated the concentration of troops to fight on the southern front. The commander of the battle should be Huang Guangrui, but Huang Guangrui seemed to be hesitant, so everyone felt uncomfortable expressing his opinion.

At this time, Sa Zhenbing still closed his eyes and said nothing.

"I completely agree with the commander-in-chief's sneak attack plan." People's eyes shifted to Li Shijia, the commander of the frigate formation who spoke, and his expression seemed a little excited: "As Pei Qing said, this battle plan is very risky. , However, the United Fleet controls the Gulf of Mannar, the exit of the southern line. Before we start the southern line of operations, we must not ignore it. Even if we successfully bypassed the Bay of Mannar and landed in the cities on the eastern front of India, if the United Fleet pinches in the back What if we cut off our supply line, the war situation will be difficult to deal with. Therefore, I think that in combat, we must first deal a fatal blow to the Mannar military port. After all, a sneak attack by the air force is much cheaper than a head-on battle with warships. At present, the southern front is basically In areas without heavy fortifications, in my opinion, it is not necessary to invest all the naval forces, but to use Mannar as the main combat direction, which is the real issue.”

(End of this chapter)