Chapter 52: The Thoughts of the British
Chen Bo's words speak the hearts of everyone present. Everyone was very dissatisfied with the joint efforts of the Americans and the British. In the minds of many people, this is not just excessive, but quite excessive. At the very least, this is a basic matter of politeness, and it is also very disrespectful to the Anti-Japanese Federation.
Looking at the expressions on the faces of everyone present, Yang Zhen smiled faintly. What is going on in everyone's hearts at the moment, he can roughly guess in his heart. To be honest, this kind of behavior of the United States and Britain, no matter what kind of mentality it is considered, is a rather rude attitude.
No matter what your original intentions are, you have to greet people in advance when you go to them, after all, this is a matter of two countries. A surprise attack like this is quite impolite. If you have said some of them, it means that you look down on others, and you despise them in your heart.
Meiying's move, no matter what their starting point was, made Yang Zhen very uncomfortable, and even felt that he was being despised. But there was one thing he knew. You have to have the strength to make people respect you. For realistic Americans and Britons, truth is always within the range of artillery.
Especially for the British, who have always been selfish and only look at their own interests. Even if the bayonet was already up to his chest, he wanted to find a cushion on his back. Yang Zhen can even be sure that the reason for such a sudden attack is that there are British people who want to compete with the Anti-Japanese Federation for supplies behind it. Even the Soviets could get involved.
Otherwise, why did the brigadier general of the British military delegation to the Anti-Japanese Alliance, who had spent much more time in Moscow since the outbreak of the Soviet-German war than he had originally worked, stay in Moscow for so long? You can't just go on vacation to the war-torn Soviet Union. Maybe it's just to calculate with the Soviets how to eat more and occupy more, so as to reduce their burden.
In fact, Yang Zhen's judgment was quite accurate, and the sudden attack was made by the British commander-in-chief in India. However, the British started with a wrong judgment. The bayonets of the Japanese are all on their chests, and the British, who do not have much ability to fight on both sides at the moment, will not choose this time even if they want to eat more and occupy more.
As for the real reason for this incident, it is actually very simple, that is, their distrust of the Chinese, especially the combat effectiveness of the army composed of Chinese. To put it bluntly, it is the contempt for all the Chinese armies from the bones.
This is not contempt for that army, but contempt and distrust for all Chinese armies. To put it mildly, this is a contempt for the Chinese, who have repeatedly defeated foreign wars since 1840. To put it bluntly, it is the idea of white supremacy in their bones.
The Chinese battlefield is in such a situation, don't look at the number of tanks and artillery of their British army, which is far more than the Chinese army. If they had a one-on-one confrontation with the Japanese army, they would probably not be as good as the current Chinese army. A few years later, at the Battle of Imphal, the Japanese army lost the entire strategy and logistical supply. If the Japanese had such ample supplies from the British, they would have rushed to New Delhi in one go.
As for now, although the British also watched the documentary of last year's battle of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the kind of distrust emanating from that kind of bone still prompted this old man to do this. It's not that he only looks down on the Anti-Japanese Federation, I'm afraid that this guy who hasn't really understood the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army even looks down on the Japanese army.
And this dude, before coming to Moscow, had a long secret conversation with the British prime minister about the situation in the Far East. Both men believed that the British army, which had been pinned down for most of its strength in the North African theater and the defense of its homeland, had not been able to draw up much strength to strengthen the defense of the Far East.
If the Japanese army moves south to attack British Southeast Asia and British India. Whether this unit in northern China, which had defeated the Japanese army many times, could contain some or even most of the Japanese forces so that it could not move south with all its might, so as to disperse the pressure of the Japanese army on Southeast Asia.
Even the pot-bellied prime minister, who only wanted to take advantage of the Chinese, knew very well that as the United States imposed more and more severe sanctions on Japan, the southward movement of the Japanese army was almost inevitable. And what he knows better is that with the current situation of the Chinese, if the British do not produce a little blood, the Chinese will not agree to contribute to the British.
Especially this Chinese army, which is currently under the most elite troops and the greatest pressure of the entire Japanese army on the entire Chinese battlefield. I am afraid that the Japanese army can transfer all its troops in Manchuria to Southeast Asia, so that they can sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, so as to relieve their own pressure.
Even in order to avoid the enemy when fighting south, the Japanese army could go all out to deal with the military strength of the British Empire in the Far East, as well as the forces of the US Pacific Fleet and the Dutch East Indies, and it was possible to privately reach an armistice agreement with the Chinese.
In order to at least maintain this army, which they have encountered since entering China, and which has also caused them the most losses, is called the Anti-Alliance. When they go south, they do not take the opportunity to send troops to attack them from behind. This enabled the Japanese army to smoothly occupy resource-rich Southeast Asia, use a large number of resources there for its own use, and change the current situation of key resources being controlled by others.
Second, if the Japanese army obtained all the resources of Southeast Asia and used its one-legged war machine to make full efforts, then it would be a disaster for the British Empire, which was fighting against the German army in front of it. He will not forget that the Japanese also have a powerful navy and air force that far surpasses the strength of the British navy and air force in the Far East. They can land anywhere in India or anywhere in the Middle East.
In order to avoid this situation, to alleviate the enormous pressure on the British army in Southeast Asia. The British prime minister, who has always been only in and out, promised the British general. He was allowed to provide a batch of equipment to this army in order to strengthen it in the shortest possible time.
If they really can't be co-opted to the Southeast Asian battlefield, they should also be allowed to launch a large-scale offensive in the north when the Japanese army launches an offensive against the British colonies in Southeast Asia, so as to contain the Japanese army from increasing troops in the Southeast Asian theater. British Malaya could be given up, but British Singapore had to be kept.
Of course, in fact, he is not a big hemorrhage, because at the moment the tanks aided by the Americans have begun to arrive in North Africa one after another. And the production of new tanks in Britain has gradually begun to increase with the progress of time. Although it is not possible to redress all the armies on the battlefield in North Africa, it is not a problem to replace some of them.
The performance of the American-made M III Stuart light tank and the M III Grant medium tank is not good. It is inferior to the German tank No. 4 on the North African battlefield, and it is not as good as the latest British Valentine infantry tank. But it's much better than the Crusader and Maldida II tanks in use today, at least not one that moves too slowly, one that is too thinly armored, and the performance is still relatively average.
Although the overall performance of the M-3 medium tank can only be said to be half, and the 75mm gun equipped with it is equipped with a somewhat narrow firing angle. However, it was effective in destroying the German No. 4 tank, which was far more powerful than the 40mm guns of the British tanks.
The overall performance of the M-3 light tank, although there are also some problems in one way or another, but the overall performance is also above that of the Crusader cruiser tank. At the same time, with the increase in the production of Valentine infantry tanks with better comprehensive performance of the British army, and the gradual increase in the investment of the Americans in the North African battlefield, the number of American tanks arriving in North Africa increased, and the British army in the North African battlefield now has some surplus tanks.
The pot-bellied prime minister thought that these second-rate British tanks, which had fallen behind in the North African theater and could not effectively deal with German tanks. Except for the remaining part of the North African theater for continued use, the rest could be completely handed over to the Soviet Union and the Chinese. In exchange for the Soviets and the Chinese, drag for them more of the present enemy, as well as the future enemy.
The Soviets pinned down one more division of the German army on the Soviet-German battlefield, which could reduce the pressure on the British on the North African and European theaters. If the Chinese contain one more division of the Japanese army in Manchuria, they will be able to reduce the number of troops invested by the Japanese army in the future Southeast Asian theater. The more others bleed, the less the British could bleed. Even if it can pay some material price, it is not unacceptable for the British.
The prime minister also specifically pointed out that there were more than 1,000 Covenanter cruiser tanks in Britain that could not be put into the hot North African theater because their engines were always overheated, and their performance could no longer be compared with that of German tanks. If the Anti-Japanese League agrees to send troops to Southeast Asia, or promises to send troops to respond when the Japanese army moves south, so as to reduce the pressure on the British in Southeast Asia, it can also be handed over to them.
Whether it is the British Prime Minister, who calculates others all day long, or the former Commander-in-Chief of the British Middle East Theater, the current Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in India, and the general who is preparing to take over as the Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in the Far East, it is clearer. At this moment, the essence of the British and Commonwealth armies is in the North African battlefield and the British mainland.
The British colonial army in Southeast Asia was not even third-rate. Except for a few second-rate brigades in Australia and New Zealand, the rest are some third-rate units with combat effectiveness. As for the newly formed Anglo-Burmese Army, in the words of Lieutenant General Slim, Chief of Staff of the Anglo-Burmese Army who came to the northeast this time, it would be good if this army could not surrender to the enemy on the battlefield, let alone send them to the battlefield to fight.
The long period of brutal British rule in Burma made the Burmese people regard the British as enemies. Organize an army with the Burmese who are so grateful to the British that they want to kill all the British in Burma, and if possible even all the British on this earth. Even if it is commanded by a British officer, its combat effectiveness and reliability are probably inferior to that of scum.
Using such a chaotic, chaotic organization, and third-rate, or even worse combat effectiveness to fight against the Japanese army, which has been fighting on the battlefield in China for several years, no one will have a bottom in their hearts. Although the British, who have always held the view of white supremacy, do not think very highly of the equipment and combat effectiveness of the Japanese Army.
But after all, they are facing hundreds of thousands of powerful naval and air force pressure, and they are well-equipped, far exceeding their large army in Southeast Asia. The British, who were busy dealing with the North African theater, could not draw too many troops to deal with the Japanese army, which was already moving south in large numbers and ready to launch an offensive against Malaya.
Even if it is no longer to look down on the Chinese and the Chinese army, whether it is reluctant to take out even a bullet and a tank to hand over to the Chinese. However, in addition to finding ways to gather troops everywhere to strengthen the defense of the Far East and South Asia, the British could only think of co-opting the Anti-Japanese Alliance, an army that had repeatedly defeated the Japanese army and was stronger than their government army.
As for the British general, to put it mildly, this time the British wanted to inspect the goods before paying. If they thought that the Anti-Union really couldn't help them, these British would be stingy with a penny of equipment. If it is believed that strengthening the strength of the Anti-Japanese Federation will help their situation in the Far East, then they will not spare a drop of blood.