Chapter 902 Soviet Counterattack (3)

After receiving the combat plan sent by a special person appointed by Manstein, Keitel, Zeitzler and others were shocked. They never expected that the frontline commander had such a big appetite. One or two Red Army front troops looked down upon it and actually attacked. The thought of swallowing up all the Red Army troops on the southern front in one breath - is this the rhythm of a war to destroy the country?

Hoffman pondered for a moment and asked: "Are the troops, equipment, and supplies sufficient? Don't reach out and ask me if I want this or that in the middle of the battle. That will be troublesome."

"There is no problem with this. I just say that we should not draw any more troops from the Eastern Front for the time being...it doesn't matter if we draw a few hundred planes." Zeitzler knew that Hoffman was worried about the Iceland landing campaign. "The General Staff still has a group army in reserve. The navy also has 6 marine brigades. In addition to the reinforcements that are being sent to South America, there is not much of a problem with the follow-up troops to the Icelandic landing. Moreover, the restriction on troop deployment is not about troops but transportation capabilities. I believe Marshal Manstein will definitely do so. There are many reserve forces ready, and the strength of the national defense forces of various Eastern countries and the Russian People's Liberation Army alone exceeds 1 million. "

"For the time being, there is no need to withdraw troops from the Eastern Front. The Northern Front will tell the Finns again and ask them to strengthen a few divisions to hold back the Red Army in the direction of Moscow." Hoffman ordered, "Material transportation and rationing will be allocated according to normal standards. ”

"Shaoken, Manteuffel and Hintz jointly submitted an attack plan. If it is implemented, the third front will take action. Although the campaign command and coordination is not difficult, it will put a lot of pressure on logistics dispatch and material support." Keitel suggested , “Should one of them be stopped or postponed?”

"Originally, I didn't plan on Stalin being here so quickly. He bumped into it himself." Hoffman pondered for a moment, "But the other two battlefields cannot be pushed away. Now is a period when we rarely have naval superiority over Britain and the United States. The Japanese Combined Fleet The second Western Expedition has been postponed, and the time window must be grasped. This is what happens after gritting through. "

Keitel knew that the head of state had made up his mind and stopped trying to persuade him. Instead, he concentrated on reporting on the preparations for the SEAL campaign: "The fleet has arrived in Spain and is expected to launch an attack in 5-6 days, that is, about May 30. According to the battle arrangement, In the first stage, the aircraft carrier launched a suppressive attack on Iceland, and then landed in the early morning, with the first batch of 20,000 troops.”

"How many carrier-based aircraft are prepared?"

"Four large aircraft carriers: Zeppelin, Hyuga, Dunkirk and the newly commissioned Joffre (combined aircraft carrier nature), as well as all 8 Rhine-class escort aircraft carriers, and the artillery fleet force is still 4 Veneto -class and Tirpitz's equipment, the Ise and Gneisenau returning from South America are undergoing rapid repairs and are expected to be ready for the battlefield in a week. "

"This strength is enough to suppress the direction of Iceland. I hope the landing troops will not lose too much." Hoffman thought for a while, "Tell Manstein that I approved their combat plan. It is based on the premise of a steady attack. Even if they cannot eliminate so many It doesn’t matter if the enemy is there, we have plenty of time and Stalin is slowly running out.”

"Head of State, urgent military information in the Middle East: Socotra Island reconnaissance aircraft discovered the US military fleet, which has more than 40 transport fleets, and the main force is 4 light aircraft carriers. When discovered, it was located more than 700 kilometers northwest of Goa, away from Socotra. It is 1,500 kilometers away from La Island and 1,200 kilometers away from the Middle East Air Force. Because of the distance, our army decided to attack tomorrow." While speaking, General Jeshunek reported important information.

"What is the enemy's next move?"

"The probability of more than 80% is to land in Karachi to reinforce the British army."

"Do you think you can hit them?"

"This..." Jeshunek hesitated, "It may not be possible to hit them at sea, but if they really go to Karachi, we have ways to deal with them, which is only 900 kilometers away from the Middle East Air Force."

"In this way, the British will attack the fuel fleet in the Persian Gulf... Moreover, if the Japanese army controls Karachi in the future, do you think it is in the interests of the empire?"

Jeshunek was stunned. He had never thought about this. He took a closer look at the map and figured it out: with Karachi as a radius of 1,000 kilometers, the entire Gulf of Oman is under control. For example, draw a line with 1,200 kilometers. , then important cities such as Bandar Abbas Port, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Makast are all covered. Although 1,200 kilometers is too far for tactical bombers, people must have forward thinking. After this war, will 1,200 kilometers still be far? Any heavy bomber can reach it.

"What do you mean?"

"Northwestern India and southeastern India are not the same group of people. They don't believe in Hinduism. They even have their own leaders. I think..."

"You want to get it yourself?"

"That's too direct. Let the Iranians think of a way to leave this land to the British first - for example, they can call it Pakistan."

"Partition of India and Pakistan?" Keitel and Zeitzler blurted out.

"It depends on whether the British live up to expectations. If they are bulldozed before we can take action, I can't help." Hoffman reminded them, "I don't want to make it difficult for the Japanese, but they must know The Indian subcontinent is not a place as large as theirs that should be monopolized by their family, at least they must save some face for the British Empire..."

Everyone laughed. The purpose of saving some face for the British Empire was on the surface. In essence, it was to save some face for the Third Reich - not allowing Japan to have the ability to threaten the export of crude oil to the Persian Gulf.

"If Japan and Germany finally go to war one day unfortunately, this route will definitely not be preserved under the threat of the Japanese navy. Therefore, I also proposed to start the construction of a large-scale oil pipeline from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea to connect the crude oil production capabilities of Baku, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran. Together, Baku’s crude oil usually goes out through the Persian Gulf through this oil pipeline, and is transported in the opposite direction when necessary. Middle East crude oil returns to China via the Caspian Sea and Eastern Europe through the railway line – this is double insurance.”

Everyone suddenly realized and understood why the head of state did not allow the Turks to get involved in the three Transcaucasian countries - not only the oil of Baku, but also the oil of the Middle East in case of emergency!

"But I believe that General Hori is a smart man. As long as he is in power, he will not have such unreasonable thoughts in his lifetime. As for the future, it will not be a matter for politicians of our generation to worry about."

"What about this information?"

"Delay 24 hours and tell the Japanese. In addition..." Hoffman explained, "Inform the British. I will give them a little discount. They can't give nothing in return, right?"

An hour later, Marshal Pound received the news: "The German side informed us of the exact location of the Indian fleet through secret channels."

Pound's expression changed drastically, and he stood up unsteadily: "Then what?"

"As a sign of peace and sincerity, they promise not to attack our army, but..."

"But what?" Others asked anxiously.

"We need to provide reciprocal returns."

"Reciprocal reward?" Marshal Brooke was stunned, "We just don't attack the Germans in the Middle East."

Pound shook his head: "This alone is not enough. Let the 40 cargo ships surrender to the Germans after unloading is completed, but the Germans must ensure that the crews are returned to us."

"You?" Portel was shocked, "This is not only our ship, but also an American ship. Besides, don't you keep it for the army to retreat?"

"What's wrong with the Americans?" Pound glanced at him sideways. "If my guess is right, the siege fleet of the United Fleet will be coming soon. The fleet is just a burden. As for the retreat, as long as I dare to say a word, Mountbatten will arrive tomorrow This pretty boy dares to get on the boat and run away."

Not only Pound, but also Brooke and Porter were all dissatisfied with Mountbatten's appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in India. They believed that he could not fight at all and was of no use except being handsome. If it were not for Slim and other military leaders, I don’t know what kind of power he can achieve.

"Would you rather that these surviving soldiers would eventually be sunk by the Japanese in their boats?"

"It's better to be cheaper than the Germans. At least people can survive."

"Do you want to report to the Prime Minister?" Fraser reminded in a low voice.

"He knows nothing! From the last war to this war, how many officers and soldiers of the Royal Navy has he cheated?" Pound cursed, "I'll report it to Mr. Eden and Attlee, and then talk to His Majesty. Angry. We should inform them tactfully and don't think that we are making deals with the Germans behind the government's back. This is for the overall benefit of the British Empire."

As soon as this sentence was said, everyone fell silent. During World War I, Fatty Qiu made a landing in the Dardanelles Strait, resulting in heavy casualties; not to mention this war, the Royal Navy was completely wiped out. The three of them nodded with a heavy heart and acquiesced to Pound's approach. Since Cunningham's death in battle, the relationship between Pound and Churchill suddenly deteriorated. Marshal Pound, who used to be known as "the prime minister is long but the prime minister is short" and was known as a fan of Fatty Qiu, suddenly turned from a fan to a bad fan and became the flag-bearer of Qiu. Everyone knows it.

Spruance was extremely smart when it came to transporting supplies to the Indian fleet. After taking over the Maldives, he only protected the huge fleet and drove it towards Karachi for a while before turning around. In his words, "It really went in. It is very likely that the Japanese will be stuck inside and unable to get out. If you stay on the outer edge, you may be able to retreat in time. "

"Sir, how can the transport fleet return without our cover?"

"Return." He shook his head, "There is no hope. Except for some fast warships, other ships can only sink themselves inside or be sunk by the Germans. Therefore, I told those escort destroyers and escort aircraft carriers to arrive at the port. Return immediately, we are running out of time."

"The enemy isn't that fast, is he?"

"Although there is no exact information, I have an ominous feeling that the combined fleet will arrive in 3-5 days, leaving us very little time to escape."

The surrounding staff were speechless for a while.

Spruance's guess was still a little too optimistic. It would not take 3 days, let alone 5 days. In another day, the Tsukahara fleet that had arrived at the Andaman Islands would arrive at the location where the reconnaissance plane made contact.

There is not much time left for the TF44 fleet...