Chapter 76 The Middle East (End)
Churchill's face turned pale in an instant: He did not believe that the Axis powers attacked South Africa, but now it is not safe, which means that the route on the west coast of the Indian Ocean has completely become useless.
He pondered for a moment and said, "I will call President Roosevelt and tell him the difficult situation we are facing. If the United States is not willing to launch a counterattack in the Indian Ocean for the time being, we will first draw back two aircraft carriers from the Far East. Anyway, their new aircraft carriers have been put into use - I can no longer risk turning the Atlantic west of the Cape of Good Hope into a killing field for the Axis powers."
When he said this, it was already early in the morning on Bougainville, North Solomon Sea, and the island was full of traces of decisive attacks and defenses. Under the continuous artillery and bombing of the United States and Australian coalition forces, the terrain of Bougainville had long become as bumpy as the craters on the moon and could hardly be identified. The Japanese controlled area was greatly reduced, and now it relies entirely on tunnel fortifications and natural caves to carry out final resistance. The combat force has also been reduced from more than 6,000 before the war to less than 1,500, and one-third of them were injured to varying degrees.
"You guys, let me know the latest battle situation in the Indian Ocean." A left leg was blown off, and he could only support his body in a saber-pillar landing army. He read the telegram in a howling tone. "The First Guerrilla Detachment of our Joint Fleet attacked the British and American fleet a few days ago, sinking two light aircraft carriers, two cruisers, six destroyers, countless transport ships, and the two divisions of the Ghost Anglo-American Army Landing Force, a total of more than 30,000 people were sunk by our Imperial Army to the sea to feed fish..."
“Onboard!”
"Combined Fleet on board!"
“Axis Alliance on board!”
The soldiers with ferocious faces and haggard appearances were as if they had a heart-warming injection, their eyes were full of fanaticism, and they immediately cheered.
"Behind us is Rabaul, Truk, the absolute defense circle, and the key hub of the empire in Southeast Asia! Now, the commander ordered us to grit our teeth and persevere. We cannot easily break the war until the last soldier. We must be nailed to Bougainville Island like a nail and wait for the joint fleet to return successfully... For our sacrifice, there will be a joint fleet to avenge us!" Nakasa down, "Jews, please!"
"Seven lives serve the country!"
"Sai Kyusaka!"
In the distance, the American and Australian soldiers were suddenly terrified when they heard the howls all over the mountains and fields. They picked up all the weapons they could pick up and covered and shoot. If British and American soldiers were so immersed in such a situation of exhaustion of ammunition and food, they would have considered surrendering, but the Japanese army, who were so desperate, still refused to surrender. Not only did they humiliate the US officers and soldiers who came in to persuade them to surrender with white flags, but even the Japanese soldiers who rescued them in humanitarian terms did not hesitate to rush their hands and die together after they woke up, forcing the Allies to give up any rescue attempt. In the end, the US military could only clear out one position and one cave by one, and the progress was very slow.
The US and Australian coalition forces have summarized the rules, believing that using flamethrowers and fire-breathing tanks is the best weapon to deal with this group of "groundhogs", but the danger coefficient is very high. Since landing on Bougainville Island, there have been no less than 30 fire-breathing tanks destroyed by iron fists, and there are more than 100 fire-breathing soldiers falling under Japanese snipers. Compared with ordinary tanks hit by iron fists, there is a high probability that they will escape. As long as the iron fist hits the key position of the fire-breathing tank, it will cause a shocking explosion, and quickly turn the tank into a large fireball.
"What are they dying?" In order to take Bougainville as soon as possible, MacArthur did not hide in Australia to command remotely, but followed the fleet directly. If his subordinates had not stopped him from landing on the island, he might have gone to the island to take a look.
"I guess what news they got - the Japanese are now relying on that little bit of false victory to support themselves." Halsey, the commander of the US fleet, was also worried about this hard bone, but he was even more worried about the subsequent operations: the morning before yesterday, he received a telegram from the domestic authorities to report that the reinforcements were ambushed by the Japanese fleet in the Indian Ocean and were wiped out by the entire army. He and MacArthur were so surprised that their eyes widened. In order to revenge and vent their anger, they recklessly increased their offensive efforts, hoping to take Bougainville Island as soon as possible. The domestic authorities also expressed their understanding of their situation. When the planned reinforcements were not allowed to come to the Far East, the Army Department gritted their teeth and planned to draw two more divisions from the country.
"Sir, emergency telegram from the country."
Halsey's heart skipped a beat. In the past month, he has been receiving emergency telegrams from China. It turns out that there is no good news. He looked up at MacArthur, and indeed the other party's expression began to become nervous.
"Three hours ago, the mixed fleet returning from Kenya was intercepted by the Japanese Navy in Mozambique. Our army lost two battleships, one aircraft carrier and most other ships, and only one enemy aircraft carrier was injured. The British Navy was forced to make a request to us under severe circumstances: either the Pacific Fleet moved to the Indian Ocean to fight; or the two aircraft carriers were withdrawn to ensure the safety of the Atlantic route. The President agreed to the second plan, ordering us to capture Krabauer before February 15, and then draw back two British aircraft carriers and two George V-class battleships."
"What? We want to take away 4 warships? Who will cover the army?" Before Halsey could speak, MacArthur jumped first.
"The USS Essex aircraft carrier has been in service and is scheduled to be departed from Pearl Harbor to join the Pacific Fleet on February 15, and then the USS Iowa battleship may also be put into service at the same time." Halsey said helplessly, "In fact, there is no need for the deadline on February 15. My fleet will return to Australia to rest and replenish supplies at the end of January - so many days of continuous high-intensity combat, the fleet can't hold on."
"How did the Japanese fleet in the Indian Ocean hold on? They still have to come back."
"What do they want to hold on?" Halsey said in a sarcastic tone. "The Germans took Egypt and opened up the route. The Japanese devils had supplies as soon as they reached Alexandria. The British left a lot of things, and they were all American goods."
"That's all the money paid by American taxpayers!" MacArthur sighed helplessly, "The British have more and more hopes to become Italians on our side, even more shameless than Italy. At least they have taken out their navy for the Germans to fight Egypt and the Middle East, and at least they have successfully delivered all the people and supplies to the shore. The British took our things and intercepted the materials to aid Russia, and in the end they have all the Germans and Japanese devils."
"The situation will only get worse and worse in the future. The Axis powers cut off the Indian Ocean route. The British had to send all the food, use, and wear from the colonies. The road blocked means that they could only reach out to us - they would become the largest blood-sucking worms on the body of the United States." Halsey was very straightforward, and he complained, "I don't know how much we have to pay to save them, 10 billion? 20 billion? It is said that the giants on Wall Street control the government, but why can't they settle such an obvious account?"
"With this price, you can fully arm China."
"You're crazy." Halsey looked at MacArthur in disbelief. "The stupid pigs in China will let us land on the coast of China."
"What's wrong with it? At least we will give reinforcements." MacArthur fiddled with the pipe in his hand, "Get the reinforcements first... As for where to log in and when to log in... Well... This is a big question, and we need to discuss and study it carefully."
"Ha..." Halsey instantly understood MacArthur's idea of "need reinforcements first" and immediately gave a thumbs up, "Great!"
"However, we can't mention this suggestion, we have to find another person." MacArthur's eyes rolled and he immediately thought about the candidate. "I have to telegraph Stilwell and let him put pressure on the country."
Just when MacArthur and Halsey complained that the British had become the leader of the transport brigade, Hori Teiki, the commander of the Joint Fleet, was accompanied by a large number of senior officers to check and count the seized materials on Socotra. Now Socotra has become the temporary base of the Joint Fleet in the Indian Ocean, not only guarding the main routes but also very safe. All the airports around that could threaten here were controlled by the German army, and the warships that dared to go out to sea and compete with the Joint Fleet have turned into a pile of scrap iron under the sea.
Most of the German and Italian naval officers who arrived together at the same time were not interested in seizing supplies - they had seen a lot in Alexandria, and their eyes were all on the Musashi, and only German HNA commander Richterhoven took several officers to inspect Japanese aircraft carriers and aircraft.
The fast column stranded the transport ship in the Horn of Africa has been almost towed by Keno Kurita. The remaining nearly 20 ships were unable to be rescued and the supplies in the cabin were unable to be transported. The Japanese could only hand them over to the Germans reluctantly - they asked them to send engineers to build artificial docks to prepare for rescue. If they could not save them, they could only unload the ships in eight pieces and then demolish them forcibly. Kusato, who was originally extremely smart, also hoped to obtain half of the supplies after the rescue. Hori Teiki stopped this and only threw the favors to the Germans.
Hoffman, who returned to China after attending Montgomery's funeral, received the news. On the one hand, he instructed the Ministry of Military Affairs to draw personnel to do this. On the other hand, considering that Japan has worked extremely hard in the past month and has achieved quite a lot of results, he instructed the country to send 140 aircraft to the domestic market, and together with the first batch of 60 aircraft delivered first, they gathered 200 aircraft to deliver the joint fleet. The name was a gift, not on the agreed support list. The staff who had never seen the world had been unsupported, and Lianlian said that the superior's business was still very good.
The supplies on the dozens of transport ships in front were all viewed, including trucks, tanks, artillery, and a large amount of military supplies. The officers were stunned from the beginning, and their eyes were gazes until they came to abruptly, and they disagreed.
The last tightly closed container aroused everyone's interest. Everyone was guessing what was inside. After opening it, they were all stunned, and then they burst into laughter together...
Chapter completed!