Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> Rebirth of the war years

Volume 1 On the Songhua River Chapter 1493 The Battle to Seize the Island!  (middle)

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    In the stormy night of the East Indian Ocean, the combat meeting of the ** division fleet was going on. It turned out that everyone thought it was a very easy task. After some analysis by the fleet's first deputy commander, Major General Amosiev, everyone finally realized that it was a very easy task.  We know that because of the existence of the fleet stationed in India, the battle to seize the island will change tactics and fighting methods.

    The words of Major General Han Tie, 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 opinions will also affect the direction of the meeting.

    Looking at Han Tie's questioning gaze, Tang Qiuquan nodded and said, "Commander Han, this battle is fought by your Marine Corps. If you have any suggestions, just put them forward and let's discuss them!"

    Han Tie said: "The deputy commander reminded us that although the British fleet in India does not have an aircraft carrier, the number of warships will exceed ours and will inevitably become a threat to us. Therefore, I suggest that the established campaign deployment be changed, especially  The task force will use all its strength to deal with the fleet stationed in India. The Marine Corps will be solely responsible for landing operations on the islands. I have considered that the British and Indian garrison troops on each island are not large in strength and their firepower is not strong. With the artillery fire of our armed transport ships, they can completely provide  Fire support during beach landing, I hope the commander and deputy commander will consider my suggestion!¡±

    A heated discussion was held on the suggestions of Amosiyev and Han Tie. The more than 60 warships of the British fleet stationed in India were obviously a threat that could not be underestimated. Soon, they were divided into two opinions.  One is to support the deputy commander, Major General Amosiev. Before launching the battle to seize the island, the British fleet must be killed first. The other opinion is to support Korean Railway. The fleet will deal with the British warships, and the Marine Corps will complete the battle to seize the island alone.  The advantage of this is that there is no delay in both.

    The two opinions are at loggerheads.  Tang Qiuquan also had difficulty making a decision. Qiuquan was a competitive man who refused to admit defeat. The ground troops fought extremely smoothly in the East Indies and the aviation troops played happily.  In the Indochina Peninsula and the South Asian subcontinent, a sky full of military aircraft was launched, but the naval fleet did not make much achievements. It has not yet dared to fight head-on with several fleets of the Japanese Navy.

    When going out of the South China Sea and to and from the Strait of Malacca, it also depends on the attitude of the Japanese navy.  As far as Qiuquan's character is concerned, it is absolutely unbearable. From his heart, it is best to destroy the British fleet and complete the campaign goals assigned by the division headquarters at the same time, but Han Tie and Amosiev  Everything you say makes sense.  There is a question of importance and trade-offs here.

    I looked at my watch and saw that the meeting had been going on for more than an hour and there was still no result from the discussion.  If this continues, there will be 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 we can't argue. I think this way, the two battle plans will be  At the same time, please report to the division commander and ask him to make a decision. Everyone is waiting here!"

    Fleet Chief of Staff Xin Xiguo quickly sent two combat plans to the ** Division Headquarters. At this time, it was already around 11 o'clock in the evening on May 22nd.

    Tang Qiuli in Zhenhati, Central India.  As soon as he lay down to rest, Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe knocked on the door and came in, "Division Commander, I received an urgent telegram from Commander Tang of the fleet. When the fleet held a combat meeting, two competing opinions emerged, and they were reported together.  Please make your decision, Commander!¡±

    After reading the telegram, Tang Qiuli said to Zhao Yuhe in a relaxed tone: "Yuhe, according to Brother Qiuquan's character, is not an indecisive person. He will report the headquarters' battle plan to the division commander for a decision.  For the first time, I guessed that Brother Qiuquan was worried when he saw that the ground troops were fighting smoothly. He also wanted to do a two-pronged approach to seize the island and annihilate the British fleet at the same time, but he was afraid that the risk would be too great, so he asked me  Here comes the idea!"

    Zhao Yuhe was not so relaxed and replied: "Commander, Commander Tang has a point. Combating at sea is not as good as on land. If you neglect it, the entire fleet will suffer heavy losses. Furthermore, the task force is a lone force that goes deep into the sea."  , there is no backup, the main force of the fleet is at the Hainan Island and Zhanjiang bases, division commander, when we mobilized the fleet to perform the mission, did we neglect the British fleet? "

    Tang Qiuli smiled and said, "Why Yuhe, you are criticizing me!" Zhao Yuhe was about to explain, but Tang Qiuli stopped him with a wave of his hand, "Yuhe, I will act like Zhuge Liang and give the fleet a plan.  Great idea!¡±

    Zhao Yuhe looked curious, and Tang Qiuli said: "Call back to the fleet. You can have your cake and eat it too. The fleet can adopt the following tactics. It will ignore the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and command its troops directly.  If the island of Sri Lanka is like this, the British fleet will definitely come to help. The fleet can set up an ambush in the middle and conduct a sea ambush. Furthermore, the long-range bombers of the aviation force can provide land and air support, and great things can be accomplished!"

    Tang Qiuli¡¯s tactics were by no means whimsical or willful. Although he had no fondness for MacArthur, he had no idea what he was doing.In history, the "leapfrog" tactic created during the fierce battle with the Japanese on the islands in the South Pacific is still highly praised. Based on this, Tang Qiuli believes that MacArthur can be called a famous general in World War II.  This has nothing to do with personal likes and dislikes.

    To put it simply, MacArthur's tactics were not to compete with the Japanese island by island based on geographical distance, but to skip several islands in the middle, concentrate troops and warships, focus on important targets, and cut off the connections between the islands occupied by Japan.  After making contact and occupying the target island, he turned around and took care of the islands behind him. With this single move, he killed countless famous Japanese generals and elite divisions.

    Tang Qiuli's tactic was an enhanced version of the "leapfrog" tactic of seizing the island. It also added a sea ambush and the cooperation of land and sea bombers. It could no longer turn the British warships into piles of scrap metal on the bottom of the East Indian Ocean.  He doesn't even have the face to see anyone!  The fleet was pointed directly at the island of Sri Lanka, causing the First Division troops to land at the southern tip of the Indian mainland. There was no reason why the British fleet should not rescue them.

    Major General Amosiev, the first deputy commander of the fleet, was so excited that after reading the reply from division commander Tang Qiuli, he stood up and spoke a series of Russian words. Unfortunately, no one understood it.  , Amosiyev came back to his senses and said sheepishly: "I mean, the division commander is a genius commander, and his wisdom is comparable to that of Peter the Great!"

    With Tang Qiuli's ingenious idea, the combat plan was quickly determined. The total strength of the Marine Corps, seven brigades, was divided into three groups to launch attacks simultaneously from the south, middle, and north of Sri Lanka. Each line of attacking troops consisted of two  A destroyer provided fire support, with the three brigades in the center as the main offensive spearhead, dividing the Sri Lankan island into two parts.

    Then, two brigades were deployed to the north and south to coordinate the attacking forces from the north and south. To this end, Han Tie's marines came out in full force and mobilized nearly 100,000 troops to fight with the troops on the island.  The British and Indian garrison formed a strength advantage of five to one, with Xin Xiguo, chief of staff of the fleet, coordinating in the middle.

    Fleet Commander Tang Qiuquan and Deputy Commander Amosiev led the task force to set up an ambush in the waters near the Bay of Bengal. At the same time, they contacted the commander of the Southern Aviation Group Le Yiqin and his bombers and fighter units to coordinate and participate in the battle.  Coupled with the fighters and bombers on the two aircraft carriers, it formed a decisive situation for the British fleet without aircraft carriers.

    On May 23rd, the rising sun jumped over the sea. After a night of monsoon raging, the East Indian Ocean was calm and the water and sky were the same color. Although in the land of East India, wars were raging, the Chinese were victorious day by day. On the land of Central India,  War is about to break out, but for the island of Sri Lanka, which is separated from the Indian mainland by the Pokker Strait and the Gulf of Mannar, all this seems very far away.

    Around six o'clock in the morning, the fog on the sea had not completely dissipated. Captain Naxon, a captain of the central garrison of the British garrison in India's Sri Lanka defense zone who had been on duty for the night, rubbed his dry eyes, stretched, and sat down in boredom.  When he picked up the duty record and saw that it was still a blank piece of paper, Captain Naxon shook his head. The boring and boring night passed like this.

    Every week, he had to suffer all night in this humid bunker on the beach. Drinking coffee brought by the orderly, Captain Naxon lazily wrote a sentence in the duty record book,  "On May 22, it was a normal night, and no abnormality was found."

    In Captain Naxon's view, this was nothing more than a routine matter. He was very lucky that because he belonged to the fleet stationed in India, he was not transferred to the East India battlefield to fight with Chinese soldiers. I heard that the war situation was very detrimental to the army stationed in India.  Unfortunately, East India has been lost. However, all this has nothing to do with the captain. As long as he serves in India for four years, he will have a good job waiting for him after returning to his homeland!

    When it was time to change the shift, Captain Nelson casually raised his telescope and observed the sea surface where the fog had dissipated for the last time. Suddenly, his eyes were fixed in a certain direction, and, as if nervously, his mouth opened wide.  Eating people, stiffening and shaking uncontrollably.

    The orderly who was clearing away the dishes looked at him strangely and couldn't help shouting: "Mr. Captain! Mr. Captain, are you feeling uncomfortable there?"

    Captain Nelson was not just uncomfortable, he was simply petrified. Dozens of warships suddenly appeared on the sea as the sun was rising. Facing the golden sunshine, they came quickly. On the tall masts of the warships,  What was hanging was not the Union Jack flag that he was so familiar with that he was numb to it, but another flag that he didn't recognize. But the dark muzzles of the guns on the warship told him that the intruder was evil.

    A few minutes later, the captain still maintained that fixed posture, and the orderly was worried about trying to pull him. Suddenly, Captain Nelson shouted like crazy: "Report quickly, the enemy warship is approaching."Coming!  "

    (To be continued) (To be continued Piaotian) This work is recommended by registered literature members
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report