Iron Cross

On July 23, the Japanese army occupied Madras and eliminated the remaining Indian troops two days later. Lieutenant General Giffard led the 11th Army Headquarters and some remnants to escape northward. The Japanese army chased them for 200 kilometers in one breath, beating the British and Indian troops to pieces. In the end, the officers and soldiers who followed Giffard to escape the encirclement were still alive. to 1,000 people.

The British army lost a total of 3 regular brigades (including one tank brigade), and more importantly, they were cut off from the north-south route. Japanese troops came ashore in large numbers and crushed them southward at a thundering speed.

As the Japanese advance accelerated, the Provisional Government of Free India formed by Bose moved from Ceylon to Madras and grandly promulgated the Declaration of Independence. In addition to high-sounding political slogans, there were other things that should be done. Done nothing less.

The first order issued by the Madras Provisional Government after its establishment was to confiscate all British and "Indian traitor" properties, imprison British expatriates, and promise to provide gratitude fees to the Japanese-German Allied Forces - Bos had promised to provide Germany with corresponding It's gold. As for the money Suzuki Sosaku said, of course it can't escape in the city.

Regarding the role of the occupying army, Yamashita has already experienced it once in Malaya. Of course, he is very "experienced". The military discipline of the Japanese Army is almost the same as before, but this time Yamashita strictly targeted British expatriates and "Indian traitors" According to the regulations of the Bose government, anyone who is unwilling to obey the new government and swear allegiance is a traitor. The confiscation of property is a trivial matter, and personal safety is not guaranteed.

Scheer said he couldn't stand the endless "security" incidents in the city. Envoy Cole followed the combined fleet to Japan. Only he came forward to negotiate with Yamashita Fengfumi. Considering that the two militaries are still allies and cooperative relations, he cannot say too harsh words, but he must at least tell the other party his clear objections.

"I'm not a moral freak. I've encountered similar things in Russia. It's impossible to expect the troops to treat them politely, but at least the bottom line must be maintained." Scheer sighed, "Otherwise, if this continues, it will be harmful to the troops. It’s too harmful to morale, and my men will think that if your army does this, we can do the same.”

"I understand your thoughts. In fact, I have tried my best to restrain them." Yamashita Fengfumi told him, "I don't want to encounter an endless stream of resistance forces in India, but there is one thing I think you may not know yet. The British are in India. Having ruled from the top for more than 100 years, we have developed a bossy and condescending attitude. If we don’t suppress this mentality and do anything extraordinary, the Indian people will not obey us.”

"intimidate?"

"No... overturn the sacred and invincible authority of the British and let them know how powerful the Eastern peoples are." Suzuki Sosaku told him that the Bose government must be more direct. He asked those who had worked as servants in the homes of Indian expatriates to , allowing those low-ranking and low-caste people to become masters.

"Such as a low-level method like several people taking turns to fuck a white woman?"

"Do you know who those people are?"

"They're all mean, dirty bastards."

"That's right." Yamashita Fengwen nodded, "These people are called untouchables in the Indian caste. They are the bottom of society and are regarded as scum by Indians. Boss will use these people to break the psychological myth of the British. ”

"Will he rely on this class to rule India in the future?"

"This is impossible. This is against all Indians. He is just using these untouchables to show his authority, and the target is only the British and the locals who cooperate with the British." Yamashita Fengfumi said with a frown. , "I can't interfere too much. If this government doesn't come forward, we will have to rob the gold and return the money to your government. Maybe you don't want to see this? There are people who come forward to help us, and we need to give them A little mental stimulation and material encouragement.”

"Okay, try to be as restrained as possible..." Scheer thought for a long time, then managed to say, "Fewer deaths."

At this time, Bose didn't know that the Japanese and German high-level officials were discussing his actions. Only one word filled his mind: "It's great!"

The Indian National Government and the National Army have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. Anyone who dares to oppose the new regime will have a bad end. He relied on the remaining arms provided by Japan and Germany to raise his team. His former subordinates and supporters came from all over India. Even some senior members of the National Congress Party were secretly colluding with him - this was just to win Ceylon. Now after occupying Madras, the National Army has rapidly expanded from 2,000 people to more than 7,000 people in a brigade, and there will be a second and third one soon. The Indians among the captured British and Indian officers and soldiers could easily become national soldiers after being reformed.

He also has a special force composed purely of untouchables to do the dirty work, backbreaking work and "special" tasks that no one is willing to do. When they ride on white people and vent their anger unscrupulously, their loyalty and morale are at a loss. Maintained, and as for morality - he did not think that the British who had ruled India for so many years deserved the word.

"Yes! I just want revenge!"

Horikichi received the information that the Indian army had successfully landed on the eve of the attack on Melbourne. After seeing the information that more than 20,000 Indian troops had been wiped out in Madras in one day, he said with emotion: "Yamashita Nobumi is indeed the Tiger of South Asia." , with him in charge, India’s strategy should be easy to succeed.”

"I just hope that the Army will succeed soon. The gold is still counting on them."

"Don't worry, there will be gold, and there will be territory. As long as Bose's Indian National Government can be stabilized, the empire can replace the British and develop comfortably in the future."

"Sir, Vice Admiral Kurita sent back a telegram. The transport fleet has arrived in Singapore safely. However, the light cruiser Yubari encountered a mine while passing through the Strait of Malacca during the voyage. The hull was severely damaged and was forced to abandon ship. The remaining ships are safe."

"The light cruiser Yubari sank? Have the mines in Malacca not been cleared yet?" Nobutake Kondo was quite surprised, "Isn't it true that Singapore has been cleaning it up?"

"I suspect it is a new mine laid by the US military." Horikichi was also a little worried about the sinking of the Yubari. The loss of an old light cruiser is not a big deal, but if the route is blocked, the future problems will be too big. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Unload and distribute materials and equipment as planned. After a few days of rest, we will coordinate the return to the homeland after Tsunoda leads the three-ship battle."

Caolu Renyi raised his eyebrows: "Sir, are you worried about the US military interception?"

"It is possible that we are trying our best to cut off the supply lines of the US military, and they will also think about dealing with our transport fleet. There must be remaining British and American spies in Singapore. The arrival of such a large fleet cannot be hidden from the Americans. "

"Sir, the fleet is still 250 nautical miles away from Melbourne. We can launch an assault at dawn tomorrow..."

Horikichi looked at the wall clock and said to himself: "There are still four hours until dark. It depends on whether the Australians will find us."

Just when he was wondering if he would be discovered by the enemy, the latest situation report suddenly came in: "Sir, we found a B-24, which is probably coming towards us."

"There will probably be another battle before the sun goes down. Let Tsukahara-kun prepare..."

After Nimitz reported that the Japanese fleet might invade the direction of Melbourne, the Australians went crazy, sending planes every day to desperately search for the location of the Japanese army, and almost turned the sea area upside down. But there has been no news about the Japanese army in the past two days. The feeling of having a knife on your head is really uncomfortable.

Rumors are rife in the city of Melbourne and residents are fleeing. The administrative authorities can neither openly say that the Japanese troops are coming, which will increase panic, nor can they categorically deny the news of the Japanese troops coming. Once they really hit the head, the situation will not be troublesome. Just for fun. A telegram asking for help was sent, and what should be prepared was prepared, but it was of no use. There was no navy in the direction of Melbourne, and the army was not large in number. The only thing we could rely on were some aircraft from the U.S. Army Air Forces and the Australian Army, but the number It seems to be a little less.

This B-24 was one of dozens of aircraft sent out for reconnaissance in the direction of Melbourne. Since there were not enough long-range patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, the U.S. Army Air Forces sent all its heavy bombers to perform reconnaissance missions.

"Nix, look below..."

"Have you?" Nix curled his lips and said, "Tommy, you have lied about military information so many times along the way. I even suspect that you are dazzled."

"No, no, no, it's true this time, let's go down some heights."

"Okay, I believe you again..."

"God! What did I find?" After descending 1,500 meters, Nicks suddenly witnessed a spectacular sight he had never seen before. Nearly 200 warships lined up in four long columns on the sea, forming a formation spanning dozens of meters. Kilometers of steel dragon, protected within it were aircraft carriers and battleships with very obvious target characteristics. He exclaimed, "This is the entire main force of the combined fleet? How fucking arrogant..."

"Report, Japanese warships were found 450 kilometers southwest of Melbourne, 17 large warships, including 6 aircraft carriers, more than 20 medium warships, and countless small warships..." After Tommy sent the emergency call, he begged, "Go down a little further. Let me see it more clearly."

"No, I want to climb. Japanese fighter jets are coming. Everyone, sit still!"

Tommy reluctantly put away his downward gaze and turned to look out the window. He almost had a heart attack. More than a dozen fighter jets came menacingly in the distance, pouring out firepower in a ferocious manner.

Regarding this afternoon's battle, Tsukawara 243, who has often come up with brilliant ideas, actually proposed not to take the initiative to carry out air strikes on Melbourne during the day. He only suggested using naval artillery bombardment at dawn, or at most a night assault. What made the aviation staff officer Minoru Genda wonder, Horikichi accepted it readily.

"Sir, why don't you strike first?" He asked in confusion, "If we simply release the attack fleet, Melbourne will not be able to attack us."

"There is no surprise in attacking Melbourne now, but fighting a defensive war is not a problem." Mobile Fleet Chief of Staff Ryunosuke Kusaka revealed the mystery with a smile...