I am Jiang Weiguo in World War II

Page 524

If you can't win on the battlefield, it's useless to talk about it at the negotiating table.

Fortunately, Jiang Weiguo and Chiang Kai-shek had just sent off the three of Hopkins, and the first good news from the Malaya front had already arrived.

Chapter 608 Expedition to Central South (2)

Britain's number one enemy at this time is naturally Germany, and China and Japan are next. If China and Japan are compared, Japan poses a greater threat to Britain than China, because Japan has the third largest navy in the world. And Japan has declared war on Britain, China has not.

In this regard, British Prime Minister Attlee's war strategy is as follows: first, Britain must go all out to deal with Germany, because Germany directly threatens the British mainland; second, before the United States enters the war, Britain is absolutely powerless to fight against Germany, China and Japan at the same time. So, if there is a way to force China and Japan to withdraw from the German-British War, how to force China and Japan to withdraw from the German-British War?The best way is naturally "a stick for a handful of sweet dates".

According to Attlee's vision: the British army in Southeast Asia beat the Chinese army on land and the Japanese navy on the sea, won two victories against China (land battle) and Japan (sea battle), deterred China and Japan, and then used both soft and hard tactics to attack the enemy. If you win the battle on the battlefield, you will take the initiative to transfer a few colonies to China and Japan at the negotiating table, telling China and Japan, "If you want to fight, the British Empire will not be afraid and will accompany you to the end, and will fight until you steal chickens and lose nothing. If you want to talk, the British Empire is also willing, and will give you some benefits." At that time, China and Japan will get the benefits of Britain on the one hand, and taste the power of Britain on the other. Look at Britain and the British army, withdraw from the war honestly, and no longer join forces with Germany to attack Britain.

Objectively, Attlee’s idea was correct, and it was also the most reasonable “way to survive and win” for Britain when the United States did not participate in the war. Unfortunately, things backfired. The outcome of the Malay naval battle made Attlee and the whole of Britain The high-level executives were hit hard by a sap. Not only did the Far East Fleet of the British Navy fail to hit the Japanese Navy, but it was completely annihilated under the attack of the Japanese Navy. , this battle caused Britain to be completely passive on the battlefield in Southeast Asia. Instead of being deterred by Britain, Japan was stimulated to despise Britain even more and become more arrogant.

Therefore, Britain, which had already lost the naval battle, wanted to make a comeback in Southeast Asia, and its last hope was to win the land battle.

After the Malay Sea Battle, Attlee revised his vision. His new vision is as follows: Percival, the commander-in-chief of the British army in Malaya, and Wavell, the commander-in-chief of the British army in India, are of one mind and one mind, on the land battlefield in Southeast Asia Injure the Chinese army, stick to it for three months, and wipe out [-] to [-] enemies. At that time, the Chinese high-level will inevitably lose confidence because of the unfavorable war. They want to stop the war, but they are not reconciled to nothing. The British government will send people to contact the Chinese government , expressing their willingness to negotiate a peace and armistice with China, and to transfer part of the colonies to China, the Chinese government must have wished for it and was overjoyed. China's interests and the face of the Chinese government have been preserved. What reason does China have to continue fighting with Britain?Attlee has already planned to transfer Malaya and Brunei to China, but not to Singapore.

After the Sino-British peace talks and armistice, Japan, which has lost China, will be left alone on the Southeast Asian battlefield. The Sino-British peace talks and armistice will also hit Japan's will to fight. If Britain does the same, I believe it will also be able to force Japan out of the war.

Through the special envoys sent to London, Wuhan, and Tokyo, President Roosevelt of the United States has roughly figured out the war goals and the bottom line of the three countries of Britain, China and Japan.

Roosevelt was very supportive of Attlee's "Far East Countermeasures". He felt that if the UK wanted to stabilize China and Japan, it would definitely not work "without spending some money". In order to keep the UK mainland, the UK should abandon some overseas colonies Yes, considering personal feelings, Roosevelt "understands" China very well. After all, Southeast Asia has been China's sphere of influence for thousands of years. China was weak before, and the territory of Southeast Asia was taken away by Britain, France and the Netherlands. Take back what belongs to China?Whether it is from the perspective of national interests or national sentiments, it is only right and proper for China to do so.

Therefore, Roosevelt believed that Attlee should indeed do this, and that Britain should make concessions to China. In fact, Japan was more disturbing to Roosevelt than China.

The views of the heads of state of the United Kingdom and the United States are the same: the British army will first fight the Chinese army on the battlefield and win a major victory, and then the British government will "carrot and stick" at the negotiating table to force China to withdraw from the war.

Although the Far East Fleet had already lost the naval battle, Attlee's confidence in the land battle was not greatly affected.

Secretary of the Army Eden, Chief of Staff John Greer Deal and other senior army officials analyzed to Attlee: The core of British colonies in Southeast Asia is Singapore, which is the "first fortress in Southeast Asia" and "Oriental Gibraltar". If the army really sweeps the Malayan Peninsula, the final destination is Singapore. Then, Singapore will become the place where the Chinese and British armies will finally fight. As long as Singapore can hold on for a long time, it will consume the strength and confidence of the Chinese army. Then take the opportunity to send troops to Thailand to attack the rear of the Chinese army, and the Chinese army will undoubtedly be defeated in the end.

Singapore is located at the southernmost tip of the Malayan peninsula, and its geographical characteristics are similar to Hong Kong. There are two ways to capture such a city, either to advance all the way from the Malayan peninsula behind Singapore, and finally cross the Johor Strait, which is only more than 1000 meters wide. , or land directly at sea.

Singapore has been painstakingly managed by the British for more than 100 years. It is the fourth largest military port in the world and a strong island fortress city. In the past 20 years alone, the British government has invested a huge sum of 60 billion pounds to strengthen Singapore's defense. Fortifications, because as long as Singapore does not fall, Britain will always hold the core of Southeast Asia.

Whether it is Attlee or Roosevelt, the British and American authorities have full confidence in the British army to hold on to Singapore, so they have such a wishful thinking. Attlee specially called Lieutenant General Percival, "We want to turn Singapore into 'Nanjing in Southeast Asia'" .

However, people are not as good as heaven, no matter how good expectations are, in the end, the facts must speak.

When Gu Weijun went to London to issue the war notice, Attlee, Roosevelt and other high-level British and American leaders all set their expectant and close eyes on Malaya, waiting for the actual outcome.

At the same time, in the front headquarters of the Central South Expeditionary Force in Bangkok, generals such as Wei Lihuang and Luo Zhuoying are actively dispatching troops and deploying troops.

Wei Lihuang was more concerned about the Japanese army than his own army and the Thai army, which was not his own army but was not substantially different from his own army.

In this battle, not only the Chinese and Thai armies fought side by side, but also the Japanese army played an irreplaceable and important role, because the Japanese army has a powerful fleet that the Nanjing army does not have.

"Where is Jisaburo Ozawa's aircraft carrier fleet now?" Wei Lihuang asked worriedly.

Luo Zhuoying said with a smile: "The last time you asked this question was 10 minutes ago. Since the intelligence staff did not inform us within these 10 minutes that 'the Japanese fleet has left the waters of Singapore', then the fleet of Ozawa Jisaburo It must still be maneuvering in the waters near Singapore!"

Wei Lihuang shook his head and smiled wryly: "No way! According to the agreement we reached with the Japanese, the Ozawa Fleet must stay within [-] nautical miles of Singapore after destroying the British Far East Fleet, and dispatch carrier-based aircraft from time to time. Bomb Singapore, so that the British will always know that the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet is always near Singapore, and then they will misjudge that our army is likely to use the Japanese fleet to attack Singapore by sea, thus diverting Percival's attention All are attracted to the sea defense line, ignoring the land defense line behind Singapore.

What I am most worried about now is that the Japanese will suddenly cheat us, withdraw the Ozawa fleet, and let the British know that we can only attack Singapore from land, and then we will have to pay a great sacrifice!"

Luo Zhuoying comforted: "No, although the Japanese like to backtrack on their promises, our actions against Malaya and Singapore are closely related to their vital interests, and they will not break their promises on such a major event.

The Japanese cannot do without us now, and will not do stupid things to offend us!"

Wei Lihuang nodded, then smiled wryly again: "Just four years ago, we were fighting to the death with the Japanese, but now, we are joining hands with the Japanese to fight. This weird feeling makes me unable to adapt to it even now! "

Luo Zhuoying smiled and said: "I like the words of the second son very much. For the benefit of the country, even if you cooperate with the devil, you will not hesitate!"

"Yes, national interests are paramount!" Wei Lihuang glanced at Luo Zhuoying brightly, and then continued to study the military map on the wall.

Luo Zhuoying immediately understood Wei Lihuang's intention. There was a sand table in the hall, but it was only the sand table of the Malayan Peninsula. Wei Lihuang did not look at the sand table, but looked at the map covering the entire Southeast Asia, which showed that his thinking was not limited to one Peninsular Malaysia.

"Junru, are you worried about the Indian British Army?" Luo Zhuoying asked.

Wei Lihuang nodded without looking sideways: "Although the right time, place and people are on our side in this battle, I am still worried about four things. One is whether the dense forest on the Malayan Peninsula will seriously slow down our army's march. Speed, the second is whether the strong city of Singapore can be chewed, the third is whether the Japanese will fully cooperate with us, and the fourth is whether the Indian British army will attack Thailand from Burma!"

Luo Zhuoying said: "For the attack on the Malaya Peninsula and Singapore, we will invest in the 74th Division and the 17th Division, two main divisions, 13 elite soldiers, and another 74 divisions of the Thai Army with more than 17 people to help. There are more than 111 troops, which is 123 more than the British army. It should be more than enough. The 101th and [-]th divisions are responsible for attacking the city, and the Thai army is responsible for taking over the rear; The ten divisions of the army are waiting in full force, so there should be no major problems. The [-]st Division acts as a mobile force. Malaya will go to Malaya for reinforcements, and Thailand will go to Thailand for reinforcements.

All aspects of the deployment are complete, and there should be no problem!"

Wei Lihuang stared at the British India on the map: "India is recognized as the most important British colony, why? Because in addition to natural resources, Britain can obtain almost inexhaustible human resources in India, and the world We have the most Chinese, followed by Indians. There are a total of 4 million Indians (including Indian population, Pakistani population, Bangladeshi population, Kashmiri population, Sri Lankan population, and Burmese population)! The British population is not large. If there are no Indians In fact, Britain couldn't even survive the last world war. During the last world war, more than 70 Indian British troops participated in the battle between Britain and Ottomans alone.

If Wavell storms Thailand with all the Indian and British troops, we will have a big problem. There are millions of Indian British troops!"

Luo Zhuoying laughed: "Junru, you are worrying too much.

There is an old saying in China, if you are not of our race, your heart must be different!This sentence could not be more appropriate when applied to the British and Indians!Since India was colonized by the British, the Indians have long wanted to resist independence. Therefore, although India is a source of resources for the British, it is also a big powder keg for the British.

Since the number of Indians is much larger than that of the British, how can the Indians be willing to be enslaved by the British all the time?Wavell may want to send troops from India to attack our rear Thailand, but what army will he send?Send out the British Home Army in India?Isn't he worried that there will be fewer British troops stationed in India, and the local Indians will take the opportunity to rebel?Indian British troops dispatched to India?Will the Indians give their lives to the British?In fact, the British army in India, on the one hand, guards against foreign enemies like us, and on the other hand, guards against local Indians, so Wavell doesn't have many troops to mobilize!"

Wei Lihuang also laughed: "British rule over India is quite similar to Manchu rule over China.

You're quite right, I might be a little mediocre.

I remember that an independent leader in India has already contacted the second son, Gandhi? "

"Not Gandhi!" Luo Zhuoying said, "That scrawny old man Gandhi only knows about non-violent non-cooperation, he only knows how to fight with hunger strikes, how could he cooperate with us.

There are five main independent leaders of Indians, Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and Chandra Bose.

The one who is cooperating with the second son is Chandra Bose. At first, this person’s political philosophy was the same as Gandhi’s, non-violence and non-cooperation, but later he found that this set was useless, so he turned to violent revolution, armed Uprising, actively and actively contacted foreign aid. After escaping from the British prison, he first went to Stalin. As we all know, the Soviet Union and Britain have always been at odds and have been fighting for South Asia and Southwest Asia. But at that time, the Soviet Union had already broken out. Stalin At the same time, because India is in Asia and belongs to our sphere of influence in China, although Germany needs to unite with the Indians to deal with the British, after all, it cannot It was too convenient to reach out to our territory, so Hitler did not directly assist Boss, but introduced him to the second son, who accepted Boss and was preparing to help him form an Indian government-in-exile.

As for Jinnah, he is the leader of Muslims in India, and he has also been invited by the second son to plan to build a country in India where Muslims live in concentrated communities.

India will soon be turned upside down, where will it become our hidden danger!"

Wei Lihuang was full of emotion: "Second Young Master's vision and methods... are really admirable!"

It was 2:23 am on February 5, half an hour before the attack time.

At the airports of more than a dozen large aviation bases in Thailand, bright lights, whirlwinds, and loud voices, waves of silver bf-109 fighter jets, ju-87 dive bombers, and ju-88 bombers were accumulating on the runway. Ready to go, the pilots who are fully equipped for battle have breakfast and milk, and run to their planes in high spirits. The ground crew sweats profusely to check, refuel and reload the plane. Cars flowed in an orderly manner at the airport, aircraft engines roared one after another, puffs of blue smoke spewed out from the tail, and the nose propeller rotated rapidly, rolling up strong vortex air waves. In the fuel depot, bombs and oil barrels are piled up into hills, and the staff in their positions are all trotting excitedly. The sound of shouts, passwords, refueling, blessings... along with the roar of the engine is deafening, exciting war The march is about to surge.

In the tropical jungle and rubber forest on the Thai-Malaysian border, Liao Yaoxiang, the commander of the 74th Division, raised his binoculars. Behind and beside him, countless officers and soldiers with live ammunition were waiting for the order to attack, and countless pairs of black eyes shone like a galaxy. , The officers and soldiers uniformly wore camouflage uniforms, their helmets were also covered with camouflage camouflage cloth, they held steel guns and pedaled bicycles, like a torrent hidden in the dense forest, about to spurt away.

Liao Yaoxiang only saw endless rubber forests in the binoculars. He knew that the Chinese army wanted to capture Malaya and Singapore not only for the expansion of territory, but also for the rubber here.

The Malayan Peninsula is one of the major rubber producing areas in the world, and its annual rubber output is more than 30 times that of Hainan Island.

China has almost no shortage of resources at this time, except rubber, and rubber is also one of the most urgently needed strategic materials in Germany, Japan, and Italy.

After Germany fought the Soviet Union, it became self-sufficient in petroleum, coal, and iron ore. Only rubber and tungsten sand were still in extreme shortage and needed to be imported in large quantities from China.

For China, tungsten sand is not a problem. Ninety percent of the world's tungsten mines are in China. Rubber is the biggest problem. China itself is short of rubber. At the same time, Germany keeps importing rubber from China, making the rubber produced in Hainan Island basically The supply exceeds the demand, and in order to solve this last resource problem, it is imminent to seize Malaya.

What needs to be mentioned here is: Malaya is not equal to Malaysia in later generations.

Later generations of Malaysia consisted of two parts, the Malayan Peninsula in the west and the northern part of Kalimantan in the east. Brunei was half surrounded by Malaysia's territory in the northern part of Kalimantan.

But at this time, Malaysia did not exist, only Malaya on the Malayan Peninsula, and the land that belonged to Malaysia in the northern part of Kalimantan Island belonged to Brunei at this time.

Malaya was not a sovereign and independent country at this time, but a British colony.

In addition, Singapore is not independent, but belongs to Malaya. When Malaysia became independent, Singapore was still a part of Malaysia. Later, it was expelled by the Malaysian government and had to become independent.

On the artillery position behind the 74th Division, Wang Yecheng, the brigade commander of the artillery brigade of the division, looked at the vast dense forest around him and behind him with an almost upstart mood. Half were large-caliber, Soviet-made heavy guns.

Touching a Soviet-made b-203 heavy howitzer with a diameter of up to 4mm beside him, Wang Ye grew up and said with emotion: "Damn it! After suffering for so long, the bitterness is finally over! After fighting so many poor battles, now We can fight rich battles!" More than a thousand artillery pieces are undoubtedly extremely powerful heavy firepower, but this is only the divisional firepower of the 74th Division.

The 74th Division is actually an army, and it is also the main force of the Nanjing Army. It was deliberately strengthened during the war, so its firepower is no longer what it used to be.

Wang Yecheng held in his hand the defense map of the British army within dozens of kilometers across the border. Acting as the eyeliner of the Nanjing Army, he continuously sent detailed information to the Nanjing Army, making the Nanjing Army well aware of the natural geography of Malaya and the deployment of the British army.

The artillery group of the Nanjing Army did not carry out covering shelling, but carried out precise strikes, because the target positions were all mastered.

At 6 o'clock in the morning, the Malayan Peninsula ushered in a new day, but it was overwhelmed by artillery fire just after dawn.

Winning the Soviet War allowed the Nanjing Army to obtain extremely rich war dividends, which made the Nanjing Army fight at this time with a bit of Soviet cannonism style. The roaring sound could be called the sky falling and the ground sinking, the white morning sky was dyed blood red by the fire of the artillery that was like a volcanic eruption, and waves of stormy shells smashed their heads amidst the breathtaking dense and sharp sound of piercing the air Gai Nao land poured from the territory of Thailand to the northern border of Malaya, and instantly caused a dense explosion like a catastrophe. Burning broken logs were blown into the air, and the dense forest was turned into scorched earth and a sea of ​​flames. Countless fireballs from the bombs fell into a surging sea of ​​flames, black smoke covered the sky, and the blast wave blasted through the dense forest. Turning over, like a typhoon and tsunami, the circles of dense forests were blown up and broken.

The sound of lightning and thunderous cannon salvo, the sharp sound of rain-like cannonballs penetrating the air, the sky is covered by bullet trails and the fire on the ground is reflected like a burning cloud, and the huge tremors of continuous landing and explosion of cannonballs spring up one after another like mushrooms after a rain. The explosive fireball, the black smoke and dust rising from the ground like a sandstorm, the roaring shock wave like a tornado... In just 10 minutes, the dense forest within [-] to [-] kilometers of Malaya, which is close to the Thai border, was blown into a monstrous scene. sea ​​of ​​flames.

"Brothers, go!" Amidst the loud shouts in Chinese, the officers and soldiers of the Nanjing Army lurking in the dense forest on the border of Thailand poured into Malaya unstoppably like a stormy sea.

When Thailand and Indonesia were successively captured by China and Japan, Arthur Percival, the commander-in-chief of the British Army in Malaya, received a combat readiness order from London, asking him to "take the time to prepare for war", especially the Chinese army. Before officially attacking Malaya, a notice was issued to the British government. Percival also received an urgent warning that "the Chinese army will attack Malaya in less than an hour", so the British army in Malaya did not Not caught off guard.

Percival's tactic is to rely on the terrain on the Malayan Peninsula to resist step by step. In the worst case, to defend the isolated city of Singapore. As long as Singapore is not lost, the British army will turn defeat into victory on the Malaya battlefield. hope.

Considering that once the Nanjing Army attacks, the first line of defense on the Thai-Malaysian border will not be able to hold up at all and is destined to fall. Therefore, almost all the troops deployed by Percival on the Thai-Malaysian border are British troops from Malaya, and then Indians. The British Army, followed by the Australian Army, and finally the British Home Army.

This approach is similar to China's original anti-Japanese war. The motley army is at the forefront, and the central army is hiding behind.

Therefore, after the Nanjing Army launched a large-scale offensive, the Malayan British troops on the Thai-Malaysian border were almost defeated. On the one hand, these Malayan British troops had inferior weapons and insufficient training, and on the other hand, they were unwilling to work hard for the British. , In addition, the Nanjing army's offensive is like overwhelming the sea, so the Malayan British army is naturally vulnerable.

After the bombardment by the Nanjing Army, the British Malayan troops were blown up and panicked. An infantry soldier from the Nanjing Army charged, and the British Malayan soldiers raised their hands and surrendered, with extremely weak resistance.

"Surrender is immortal!" the Malay translators in the Nanjing Army yelled. These translators were all overseas Chinese in Malaya who joined the army temporarily.

It is very interesting that many of the British Malayan soldiers are actually Chinese or Chinese-Malayan mixed blood. When the army of the motherland came to fight, they had no doubt that their hearts belonged to the motherland. Therefore, just after the war, They shouted in the Malaya British army, "Everyone surrender! Surrender and you won't die!" "The Chinese treat the prisoners well!" The British troops from Asia quickly dissipated like ice cubes thrown into a furnace.

Afterwards, Wei Lihuang and other generals of the Nanjing Army felt strange. Percival knew that many people in the British army of Malayan origin were Malayan overseas Chinese or Chinese-Malayan mixed blood. Why didn't these people be excluded?After analysis, Wei Lihuang and others estimated that Percival did not do this for two reasons: first, there are too many Chinese and overseas Chinese in Malaya (including Singapore), and Percival did not dare to do things that would provoke public outrage , The second is that the British Malayan army was originally cannon fodder in Percival's mind, and it was doomed to die, so there was no need for internal cleaning.

It took only half an hour for the Nanjing army to break through the defense line of the British troops (mainly British troops of Malayan nationality) on the Thai-Malaysian border, and they encountered almost no real resistance. Army, a small part of the British army from India) more than 500, most of them were killed by shells. More than [-] people, the Nanjing Army itself suffered less than [-] casualties.

"Don't worry about those captives! Just take away their weapons! Go ahead! Soldiers are precious!" Liao Yaoxiang and other officers shouted to the troops hoarsely, "The captives are handed over to the Thai army behind! We don't need to worry about it! Don't waste time and money." manpower!"

"Stay here honestly! Rebels will be shot to death!" The translators yelled at the prisoners.

The captives (mostly British soldiers from Malaya, and a small number from British soldiers from India) were pushed to the side of the road by the Nanjing Army who was anxious to continue on their way. Talking and laughing, almost no one resisted.

The captives were so docile that the officers and soldiers of the Nanjing Army could not believe it. One Nanjing Army soldier could drive hundreds or even hundreds of captives with a gun like pigs, because the captives were as docile as a flock of sheep.

Obviously, neither Malayans nor Indians want to dedicate their lives to the British Empire, especially Malayans, who have no fighting spirit, no backbone, no dignity, no sense of honor, and are so docile that they are almost muddled .

Under the yelling of the soldiers of the Nanjing Army, the prisoners sat obediently on the side of the road, looking at the Nanjing Army marching in a hurry with curiosity, fear, and admiration, without hatred or disgust in their eyes.

In the hearts of the Malays, whether it is the British or the Chinese, it has nothing to do with them. Their fate remains the same anyway, and Malaya is also the same. It is still a colony, but it has a different owner.

The Nanjing Army rushed away with thunder and wind, and the Thai army behind hurriedly caught up. They were busy driving the prisoners into the rear camp like pigs, busy carrying supplies for the Nanjing Army in front, and busy guarding the prisoners who were captured by the Nanjing Army. The captured settlements, strongholds, passes, traffic roads and other important places allowed the Nanjing Army to move forward without any worries.

The Nanjing Army marching all the way looked very strange. In front of the team were armored troops, but they were all light tanks, armored vehicles and cars. Behind the armored troops was a frenzy of bicycles like mountains and seas.

The infantrymen of the Nanjing Army each had a bicycle, rolling silver wheels, flying sand and rocks along the way, and at the end were thousands of pack animals, which were the transport troops for transport, using horses, mules, and donkeys to transport supplies, the most striking of which was There are also hundreds of giant Asian elephants in the team.

These elephants were bought or rented by the Nanjing Army in Thailand. Although the elephants are slow and cumbersome, their transportation volume far exceeds that of mules and horses. Each elephant carries a mountain of ammunition, weapons or supplies on its back. , There are also a large number of well-trained German shepherds in the team, serving as reconnaissance and search in the forest.