, 860 Sunset Thirteen Raids of the Old Empire

Victoria Palace, New Delhi, India.

The sound of hurried footsteps came from the corridor outside the door, waking up the sweet dreams of Admiral Dill, the commander-in-chief of the Indian theater of operations. In that dream, he became the savior of the British Empire, and the Indian theater of operations under his command became a bloody quagmire, where millions of Chinese and millions of Indians fought back and forth on the South Asian subcontinent, the war lasted for years, and corpses covered the entire Indian wilderness! At last...... Uh, this dream hasn't been made to the end before this damn footsteps are heard.

Admiral Dill turned on the lamp, and the dim light illuminated the luxuriously decorated bedroom, as well as the charming and sleeping beauty in her forties, Mrs. Diere, the daughter of an English banker, who was a good match, and a wealthy marriage!

"Admiral! Admiral! "A trembling voice came from outside the door from the Chief of Staff of the Indian Theater of Operations, Major General Slim." Something's wrong! Something big is wrong! ”

"Got it, I'll come." Admiral Dill furrowed his eyebrows, hurriedly lifted the blanket lightly, got out of bed, approved a silk pajamas, and pushed the door out. In the living room, he saw Major General Slim circling around like ants on a hot pot.

"William, what's wrong?" Admiral Dill asked, frowning.

"Admiral, I just received an urgent telegram from Lieutenant General Alexander, the squadron ** raided the 854th chapter regimental army of Jamshedpur three hours ago! Chapter 854 The regimental army only began to arrive one after another at noon the day before yesterday, and it was not all there until the early hours of this morning, and only one division of the troops that had already arrived had completed the deployment southeast of Jamshedpur City, and set up a guard position. None of the other troops have ......"

"How's it going?" Admiral Dill waved his hand, interrupting Lieutenant General Slim, who was rambling. He didn't want to know under what circumstances the regimental army in Chapter 854 was attacked by the enemy now. He just wanted to know, what was the situation of this army group after it was attacked by a sneak attack? Can you still fight? Is it possible to repel the enemy?

Major General Slim let out a long sigh, as if he had been beaten by frost. "What else? Those Indians, who had been put on a good pitch under the organization of our officers, were attacked by surprise at midnight...... Of course, there was a big chaos, and Lieutenant General Nelson couldn't even organize a division of troops. Now the whole city of Jamshedpur was in complete disarray, and there were routs everywhere, and there were Chinese shouts and gunfire everywhere, Lieutenant General Nelson pleaded...... Ask for permission to retreat. ”

"Retreat! Has it come to this? Admiral Dill gasped, it was an army! Although it has not yet arrived, the troops of the six divisions of the two armies are ironclad, almost 100,000 troops. Defeated in just three hours? Are these Chinese so powerful?

"Admiral, that's what the telegram from Lieutenant General Alexander forwarded." Major General Slim hesitated for a moment, then hurriedly took out the telegram from his pocket and handed it over.

"Singh! Bring me my uniform! Instead of answering the message, Dill shouted the name of his Indian servant. That's the end of tonight's sleep, and maybe I won't be able to sleep well for the next few nights. Dill sighed, took the general's uniform handed over by a sleepy-eyed, dark-skinned Indian, put it on his body haphazardly, and hurriedly strode in the direction of the war room.

At this time, inside and outside the city of Jamshedpur, there was a scene of artillery fire and a melee. The Anglo-Indian Army Chapter 854 Regiment was under the command of Lieutenant General Nelson of the British Army, and it took several days to arrive here from the station in Madhya Pradesh on a stuffy and hot stuffy tank train. This Chapter 854 regimental headquarters has been urgently expanded in the past few months, and the whole army has almost no combat experience. Even the British ** officer reserve officer, who is the backbone, although he is quite serious and responsible in training the troops, but the minds of these people are still stuck in the positional warfare of World War I. also thought that their opponents were also antiques from the First World War, and they would only dig a good position and fight steadily...... I didn't expect that someone would march hundreds of kilometers in a day and a night, and then spread out during the march and directly pounce on them to fight in a melee.

You must know that those squadrons are not motorized or mechanized, they are all infantry walking on two legs! After marching for 24 hours and walking hundreds of kilometers, he should have been exhausted a long time ago, and without taking a break in this situation, he launched a decisive attack on an Anglo-Indian infantry division that was on guard with about a regiment of troops of about a regiment of the vanguard that arrived in the first batch!

Moreover, the madness of the attack and the tenacity of the battle of these Chinese people have completely reached the point of losing their minds in the eyes of the British and Indian officers and soldiers. In just two hours, the squadron launched more than a dozen charges against the British and Indian troops in a row, regardless of fatigue and casualties! The 12th Division of the Anglo-Indian Army, which was completely unprepared, was in a hurry, and the entire alert position collapsed. The troops had withdrawn to the city of Jamshedpur and engaged in street fighting with the squadron. The other five Anglo-Indian infantry divisions stationed in the barracks, schools and squares in the city were even more chaotic under the sudden artillery bombardment, and then they were frightened by the squadron that rushed into the city, and soon lost their organization and became stragglers, and many people simply took off their uniforms, lost their weapons and fled for their lives.

As a last resort, Lieutenant General Nelson could only be cheeky and sent a telegram requesting a retreat from Lieutenant General Alexander, the superior of West Calcutta.

"Mr. Lieutenant General! A telegram from the commander-in-chief of New Delhi Deir, he said that the Chinese were running from a distance, they must be exhausted, it was impossible to hold out for long, and he wanted us to hold on and wait for help! Lieutenant General Alexander will soon be able to command an army of 150,000 to save us. The chief of staff read aloud the telegram he had just received, quieting the already chaotic headquarters a little. Everyone seemed to see hope, too, and the staff officers also cast expectant glances at their army commanders.

However, Lieutenant General Nelson's answer disappointed them. He shouted at his chief of staff: "Send another urgent telegram to Admiral Dill to tell him that Jam Shadpur has been broken by the squadron!" My Chapter 854 regimental army can't hold out for more than 24 hours! And the Chinese have already hit near my headquarters, and now the sound of fighting gunfire can be heard here! ”

At this time, as if to prove Lieutenant General Nelson's words, the cannon outside rang out again. It's the 75mm hillside roaring. Not a single shot was launched, and it hit the defensive position outside the headquarters of the Anglo-Indian Army Chapter 854 for a while. After the sound of artillery, the miserable wails of the dying and wounded were heard from the position, and in the blink of an eye, a "tick-tock" charge horn sounded, and the shouts of killing in Chinese were also connected to the last position on the periphery of the British and Indian army headquarters. It was as if a group of divine soldiers descended from the sky, and suddenly killed in front of the command center of the British and Indian forces.

The morale of the Anglo-Indian Army's Chapter 854 Regiment Headquarters, which had just been boosted by the telegram from the Indian theater of operations, suddenly dissipated without a trace, and was replaced by a gloomy and bleak atmosphere. Most of the staff officers were there in a daze, and no one answered the repeated emergency phone rings.

"Now it is necessary to retreat on all fronts! Send a telegram to the Indian theater of operations and tell them that the troops have been unable to hold out for more than 12 hours...... Also, the headquarters is now transferred, let's go to a safer place! ”

It was Lieutenant General Nelson who spoke, and the lieutenant general in his forties had completely collapsed, and his eyes were helpless except for fear, and after hastily announcing the order to transfer the headquarters, he was the first to stand up and escape from this precarious temporary headquarters.

……

The Grand Indian Fleet, flagship, aircraft carrier INS Tejour.

In the command center on the second floor of the ship's island, everyone's eyes were fixed on Major Clark, the fleet's communications staff officer. Major Clark was holding in his hand a battle report that he had just received from the Indian Theater Command - the Anglo-Indian Army Chapter 854 regimental army actually collapsed in a night attack launched by the squadron! That is, the whole "Mughal plan" was completely failed in this way. The fleet took so much risk as a bait to lure the Chinese fleet away from the Bay of Bengal, and everyone worked like crazy for so many days without sleep in order to create a decisive opportunity for the army, but now, all efforts have been in vain. But this is not the worst, the worst thing is that now there are 9 Chinese aircraft carriers in pursuit of this Indian Grand Fleet with only 4 motherships! And they may chase all the way to South Africa, because the Chinese army fighting in India does not need them for the time being.

"Alright! The Anglo-Indian army still messed things up, but so what? The army of the British Empire has not been defeated, but the British Empire is still the most powerful empire in the world, because of our Royal Navy! Cunningham pointed to the chart, his eyes flashed, his fingers tapped lightly on the center of the Indian Ocean, and sneered: "Is there any news of our Chinese friends?" Did the submarine report it? ”

"Not yet, sir. They should still be in pursuit. ”

"Okay."

Cunningham frowned, "It looks like these Chinese are going to chase after them!" By the way, Phillips, what's going on there in Cape Town? How many fighters and bombers does the Federal Army of South Africa have there? Maybe we'll have to fight the Chinese there! ”

"The South African Federal Air Force has concentrated eleven fighter squadrons, nine bomber squadrons and one reconnaissance squadron in Cape Town, for a total of 252 combat aircraft. However, most of them were British and American obsolete models, with only two fighter squadrons armed with P-37s, one squadron armed with Hurricanes, and two bomber squadrons armed with Blenheim bombers. ”

After listening to Lieutenant General Phillips' debriefing, Cunningham felt discouraged. Its own 230 carrier-based aircraft plus South Africa's 252 aircraft, there are only 482 fighters, looking at the number of at least 650 carrier-based opponents who are not Chinese, not to mention that the performance of the opponent's carrier-based aircraft is far superior to that of British aircraft. It seems that it is not feasible to fight a decisive battle with the Chinese near Cape Town, and the only way to the Atlantic Ocean is to run!

At this moment, Lieutenant General Phillips took a telegram from the hand of the communications staff officer, and after looking at it, a burst of ecstasy flashed across his face, and then he became solemn again.

"Mr. Admiral, I just received a report from the submarine H16, and Chinese seems to be ...... Divide the troops! The H16 spotted an aircraft carrier, a heavy cruiser and four destroyers, individually forming a formation and pursuing us at a speed of more than 30 knots. ”

Division?

Cunningham snatched the telegram, and after reading it, he immediately marked the location of the other party on the chart, looking at the arrow that had just been drawn, Cunningham's face was also a little solemn. "It's only 450 nautical miles at most, and with them 5 to 6 knots faster than us, they will be able to launch an air strike tomorrow morning!"

"You mean that the other side will attack four of our aircraft carriers with one aircraft carrier?" Lieutenant General Phillips' eyes widened, and he seemed a little incredulous.

"Yes, four of us with one aircraft carrier! I estimate that the aircraft carrier should be the largest Taiwan in Chinese, with a standard displacement of 27,000 tons and can carry 100 carrier-based aircraft. Cunningham furrowed his eyebrows and explained, "Although we have four motherships and 230 carriers, we only have 65 fighters...... The opponent's A4 Thunder Eagle may not lose to our Guanbi Yan in an air battle after throwing away the bomb, let alone the FW-190C. And the other eight motherships of the Chinese will not be too far away. As long as one of our motherships is badly damaged and its speed decreases, it's ......"

"Admiral, why don't we disband the formation." Phillips suggested in a whisper. The meaning of disbanding the formation and escaping each other is the same as the army's scattered breakthrough, which is basically to be able to run one by one. Moreover, once the aircraft carrier formation is disbanded, it means that the aircraft carrier loses the close protection of destroyers and light cruisers, not to mention the attack of the opponent's carrier-based aircraft, even a submarine can sink the aircraft carrier. China also has a lot of submarines in the Indian Ocean.

"Disbandment ......" Cunningham pulled out a cigarette, lit it and smoked quietly, his eyebrows tightened tighter and tighter, as if he was thinking hard. After a few moments, he slammed the cigarette butt in his hand into the ashtray, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes. "It's too early to disband! Phillips, let's turn around and go north to take out that USS Taiwan! It's not too late to disband after you kill it! ”

"But, Admiral, there's a Chinese seaplane staring at us right now." Phillips reminded.

"Dispatch the carrier-based aircraft and bomb it away!" Cunningham commanded loudly, "Then let's go north and kill those opium demons!" ”

……

"Sir, Rainbowbird 6 reports that they have been chased by three pipe-nosed swallows and have been forced to stay away from the British fleet."

"Got it."

Zhao Zheng leaned on a high-backed armchair at the moment and closed his eyes to recuperate, and when he heard that the seaplanes sent to monitor the British fleet were expelled, he didn't even raise his eyelids, such a situation would happen several times a day at dawn, but it was a little earlier today, and the British had two more pipe-nosed swallows. He was silent for a moment, then asked, "What is the distance now?" ”

"There are still 430 nautical miles, which will shrink by 6 nautical miles per hour, and in 24 hours you will be able to start air strikes." Meng Hailong replied. In fact, it will not take more than 24 hours for the British fleet to enter a rational air strike range, but then it will be night, so it will only be delayed until the early hours of tomorrow morning.

"Oh, any other news?"

"There is one, it was turned around by the army, it seems that the army of the Central G raided an Anglo-Indian army group at Jamshedpur, and it took only 3 hours to defeat them." Meng Hailong took out one of them from a stack of telenewspapers and handed it to Zhao Zheng.

"There is such a thing!" Zhao Zheng sat up straight suddenly, and there was still a little sleepiness on his face. After taking the telegram and looking at it a few times, he muttered: "If the news is true, we will not need to assist in the battle on land in India for the time being, so that our aircraft carrier can always chase to Africa...... Sea Dragon, do you think Cunningham has also gotten this report now? ”

"It should have been."

"Then you say, will he fight us off the coast of South Africa?" Zhao Zheng stood up and walked to the chart table, staring at the South African coastline, "Do we have enough fuel?" ”

"There is no problem, there are four fast tankers of 25,000 tons that have already departed from Singapore and will meet us in the middle of the Indian Ocean." Meng Hailong stretched out his finger and pointed to a location in the middle of the Indian Ocean on the chart.

Zhao Zheng thought for a while and said, "Okay! Then we'll go to South Africa, and if Cunningham still makes it all the way to the Atlantic, then we'll bomb Cape Town and go back to ......."

At this moment, the communications staff officer stuffed another telegram. "Sir, it's still a report from Rainbowbird 6, the British fighter jets are staring very closely today, and four more pipe-nosed swallows are coming up, they have no way to carry out the mission and ask to return."

"How?" Zhao Zheng frowned, as if he was a little impatient. Meng Hailong took the telegram and read it carefully, and said with a somewhat solemn expression: "Sir, this matter seems to be a little strange, now that the British fleet is fleeing for its life, is it necessary to make a big fight for a seaplane and delay the trip?" ”

The take-off carrier-based aircraft had to adjust the position of the aircraft carrier and find a favorable wind direction, thus delaying the trip for a short time, so during this time, the British fleet would not send too many fighters to entangle with the Chinese seaplanes. Moreover, the actions of the British fleet also have elements of luring the enemy, so there should be no need to hide traces.

"You're saying the British want to change course, they ...... Want to go back to Australia? Zhao Zheng thought about it.

"It's also possible that it's coming at us!" Meng Hailong said in a deep voice: "Sir, do you remember last night's destroyer report that an unknown submarine was found near our fleet?" ”

"This ......" Zhao Zheng took a deep breath and muttered in his heart. The behavior of the British must be abnormal, and there must be demons when abnormal! But what is this "demon"? Fake a shot and continue to escape, change course and go to Australia, or really try to find yourself desperately?

"Sir, why don't we join the main force." Meng Hailong suggested in a low voice.

"No!" Zhao Zheng pondered for a moment, but still shook his head, "Let's continue chasing!" If they want to come and fight us, then fight! Even if they sink us, they lose their chance to escape! ”

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