Chapter 205 What on earth does the Sichuan Army want to do? (First update!)

"The Sichuan Army Corps keeps asking for this type of troops and that type of troops day after day. What do they want to do? The regular troops don't have as many types of troops as they do. What on earth do they want to do?" Zhang Ruzhi shouted angrily as he looked at the telegram in his hand.

At first they were veterans, and later they were some technical arms, such as artillery, tank soldiers and the like.

Then came truck drivers and so on.

Even developed to some students.

For this, they paid a heavy price.

The money spent amounted to tens of thousands of dollars, although the Sichuan Army Corps reimbursed them all.

But it's very time-consuming and laborious.

He has to deal with questioning from his superiors and keep his subordinates quiet.

I spent every day in fear.

But, the profit is still good.

Not to mention the weapons, the profits every month are pretty good.

As for rice, there is no need to mention it. It directly monopolizes the black market business in the entire Yunnan Province.

It even began to spread to other areas.

And more and more hungry people are pouring in here.

After all, people won’t starve to death here, but they will in other areas.

"Commander, what kind of troops does the Sichuan Army need?" Li Jiu asked curiously.

During this period of time, under Dayang's offensive, it can be said that everyone in Kunming Station was bribed by Li Jiu.

In other words, the Kunming Station ostensibly obeys the stationmaster, but in reality, it can't do anything without Li Jiu's orders.

No one can go against the ocean.

Especially those hard-working members of the action team, who have not received their military salaries for several months, will naturally not let go of such a profitable business.

"The navy is just outrageous. He has a Sichuan Army, not to mention planes, tanks and artillery. What kind of navy is he trying to build now?"

"Damn it, the Navy, that's the Navy, not some other branch of the military."

"Where the hell am I going to get them a navy?"

"Damn it, do they have warships? What's the point of having a navy without warships?"

"You really have no idea at all." Zhang Ruzhi cursed angrily.

He tolerated those types of troops before because of the money.

Even if they are some mid-level officers, as long as they are not his direct subordinates, he can deal with them.

Now he really has no choice.

The navy is not like the big soldiers in the army.

You say I can get it?

Ok!

If we had a battleship, we could really get it.

After all, the navy is now in name only.

Those sailors had already gone ashore and became infantrymen.

The key question is, does the Sichuan Army have warships?

If we don’t even have warships, why recruit sailors?
Become a fisherman?

And then fishing?

It’s not impossible!
Anyway, there are still many rivers in Myanmar.

"Commander, the Sichuan Army needs sailors?" Li Jiu asked puzzledly.

"Yes, otherwise why would I be so annoyed? The requests you make are getting more and more outrageous. I won't be surprised if you ask me to send a general over next time." Zhang Ruzhi said helplessly.

"Sir, I can take care of the sailors. I know quite a few of them. Some of them live a hard life, and some are disabled, but they still have experience. The Sichuan Army Corps can set up a training class and let them teach those students. In this way, we should be able to have more sailors soon." Li Jiu suggested.

"Huh? This is a good suggestion, but will the Sichuan Army agree to it?"

"Especially those disabled veterans. Although they have experience, their use is only to train sailors. What the Sichuan Army requires is complete sailors. You are making a concession." Zhang Ruzhi said after a moment of hesitation.

Even though he was cursing loudly, he actually didn't dare to offend the Sichuan Army.

After all, he still has to rely on others for his livelihood.

I'm just talking about it, I wouldn't dare to do it for real.

"Didn't the Sichuan Army recruit a group of disabled artillerymen before? Aren't they being used well now? We can't also say that we have difficulties. After all, it's really not easy to be a sailor these days." Li Jiu said with a smile.

"Okay, you try it." Zhang Ruzhi didn't have any better solution and could only place his hopes on Li Jiu.

"Don't worry about the money. The Sichuan Army said they will take care of everything. Just get the people. It just so happens that the people we got last time are almost 500 people. Together with the hungry people, we can send them all over to them."

"If we stay any longer, we will arouse suspicion from our superiors. We need to hurry and do it."

Hearing this, Li Jiu responded immediately.

"Yes, I'll do it right away."

…………

"I didn't expect that the scenery of the Indian Ocean is not inferior to that of the Pacific Ocean." On the sea, Chuichi Nanyun stood on the island, looking at the scenery in front of him, with infinite emotion in his heart.

He vaguely remembered that when he first became a naval cadet, he thought that one day he would be able to become a captain, drive a warship, and sail to the ocean.

The results of it?
After so many years, through his own efforts, he became the commander of a naval fleet, leading dozens of warships in ocean operations.

Not far from them were twelve German submarines.

Compared with the Japanese submarines, the strength of the German submarines is absolutely recognized.

And this time the team is led by the ace ship captain Colonel Wolfgang Rütte himself.

Even Chuichi Nagumo gave enough face to this legendary ace captain.

He didn't dare to give orders to others.

Just then, a communications staff officer hurried over to report.

"Report, there is something going on ahead."

"What's going on?" asked Nanyun Chuichi in confusion.

"Submarine report, an unknown warship was spotted ahead, suspected to be a British warship." The communications staff officer said quickly holding the telegram.

“??? How long have we been on the journey? We have already encountered British warships?” Nan Yun Zhongyi was stunned. How long have we been on the journey? We have already encountered enemy ships?
Isn't this very lucky?

And why did we encounter the British fleet here?
Nanyun Chuichi was very confused.

Could it be that I saw it wrong?
So Nan Yunzhong asked subconsciously.

"Are you sure it's an enemy ship? Could it be an island or something like that?"

"It has been confirmed that it is an enemy ship."

"Notify the warships behind to prepare for battle."

Hearing this, Chuichi Nagumo issued the combat order immediately without any hesitation.

"Ha!" the first mate responded immediately.

Then the battle alarm was sounded and all personnel immediately took up combat positions, ready to fight at any time.

The pilots of the carrier-based aircraft on the Hayabusa aircraft carrier also began to board, ready to take off at any time. It should be noted here that the Hayabusa aircraft carrier is a modified ship and its speed cannot keep up with the Sokaku. The Zuiho is a light aircraft carrier and has a certain advantage in speed.

After some consideration, Isoroku Yamamoto agreed to transfer the aircraft carrier Hayabusa to Chuichi Nagumo's Third Fleet.

After all, a surprise attack on the port of Alexandria would not be possible without the support of an aircraft carrier.

As for the strength in Yamamoto Isoroku's hands, it has become even weaker. He originally planned to form a mobile force with three aircraft carriers, but now he can only have two aircraft carriers.

Fortunately, the Musashi is about to enter service, so its strength has not declined too much.

"How many enemy ships are there?" asked Chuichi Nanyun again.

"Seven. According to the submarine's reconnaissance, one of the warships is very large and should be a battleship."

"So fast?" Not only was Nan Yun Chuichi stunned, but the German liaison officer next to him was also confused.

"Did we get discovered while crossing the Indian Ocean?" the German adviser murmured.

Only this explanation can convince us why British warships appeared here.

In fact, it was not true. This time the British warships transported a division of infantry, hoping to stop the attack of the Japanese army in India.

Although the Battle of El Alamein was about to take place in North Africa, the British Army was unable to withdraw troops.

But the situation in India was very bad. If the British army did not send reinforcements, India would probably be lost.

The Japanese offensive there was extremely fierce, and Admiral Wavell was unable to stop the Japanese attack.

Especially after the 55th Division joined, the Japanese army's morale was greatly boosted and they were unstoppable.

So there was no other way. After receiving Admiral Wavell's request for help, Montgomery immediately dispatched an escort fleet to escort an elite infantry division to India to stop the Japanese army.

India is the capital for the British army to make a comeback. If it is lost, it will be completely ruined.

Therefore, when the war in North Africa had not yet ended completely, Montgomery directly dispatched an elite infantry division to India, hoping to stop the Japanese offensive.

As long as the momentum of the Japanese offensive is contained, reinforcements will arrive later.

As for the Battle of El Alamein, according to his judgment, the loss of an elite infantry division would not have a great impact.

The German army on the opposite side doesn't have much supplies, so if nothing unexpected happens, they will definitely win.

So, after weighing the pros and cons, Montgomery immediately dispatched an infantry division and an expeditionary fleet to escort them to India.

Without India, the supplies of hundreds of thousands of British troops will really have to rely entirely on the support of the US military, but the support of the US military is not free.

They all need to be purchased with real money, and now they are almost squeezed dry, so Tianzhu must not be lost.

"No matter what, let's kill them first. It would be great if we could capture a battleship." Speaking of battleships, Nagumo Chuichi was a little envious. In the era of naval guns, battleships were a symbol of national strength.

His Third Fleet had no battleships.

He sent more than a dozen telegrams about the aircraft carrier, and Yamamoto Isoroku had no choice but to allocate him one.

Don't even think about battleships.

So now when I hear about the British battleships, I subconsciously think that it would be great if we could capture them.

But he knew there was little hope.

"Order, all ships ready for combat."

"Order, submarines dive immediately, and attack enemy ships freely if encountered."

"Hai!"

This time, Chuichi Nagumo was the commander-in-chief of the fleet, and Colonel Rutte's submarine fleet was also under the command of the other party.

This was a condition agreed upon at the beginning. There must be a unified command center, otherwise this joint operation will be in vain.

Upon receiving the order, Colonel Rutte immediately ordered twelve submarines to disperse in the four directions of east, south, west and north, and wait for the order to attack at any time.

The wolf pack tactics were already handy for the German army.

As long as the destroyers didn't catch them, they were confident that they could use up all their torpedoes.

Even that battleship can be taken out.

I'm not bragging.

The thought of destroying a battleship made Colonel Lutte excited. For him, a battleship was a rare prey.

After all, a battleship is worth many cruisers.

"Control the speed, pay attention to diving, and don't be discovered by the destroyer." Colonel Rutte began to give orders calmly.

"Yes."

On the other hand, Lieutenant General Pridham-Wippel, commander of the British Royal Fourth Task Force, who was in charge of the escort mission, was originally going to be transferred back to the country to serve as commander-in-chief of Dover and be promoted to admiral.

As a result, due to the corrupt situation in India, Montgomery asked him to lead a task force to escort the army to India.

So, the fate of the Dover commander-in-chief, who was originally about to be transferred, changed at this moment.

"How long will it take to get to the Ganges Bay?" Lieutenant General Pridham-Wippel asked coldly after watching the sunset over the sea in the distance for a long time.

He felt that there was something wrong with this voyage because this area nominally belonged to the Japanese sphere of influence, and if they encountered the Japanese fleet, they would be in trouble.

Since the destruction of the Far East Fleet, the Indian Ocean has been the sphere of influence of the Japanese Navy.

However, after the heavy losses at Midway Island, the Japanese army was no longer able to control this area.

But as a veteran of the Navy for many years, he always reminds himself not to be complacent.

Not long ago, a merchant ship reported that they had been attacked by a submarine.

No one knows whether it was a German submarine or a Japanese submarine.

In addition, their mission was to escort the army to India. If something went wrong, more than 10,000 people in this division would be buried in the sea.

So he must be careful and never be careless.

Lieutenant General Wipper disagreed with Montgomery's plan.

He believed that they should be transported to the west of India and sent to the front line by train or car.

However, Admiral Wavell sent three telegrams a day requesting reinforcements, which made Montgomery determined to transport them directly to the Ganges Bay in the east, land there, and directly attack the Japanese rear.

Then cooperate with the front-line troops to attack from both sides, and the Japanese army will surrender without a fight.

The plan is really good!
At least there doesn't seem to be any problem.

But often times, the absence of a problem is when a problem arises.

"It's about two hundred nautical miles away. According to intelligence, the Japanese warships suffered heavy losses. There should be no Japanese warships here." The adjutant whispered.

"I hope so." Lieutenant General Weiper nodded.

"Commander, even if we encounter the Japanese fleet, we can defeat them. After all, we have a battleship." The adjutant said confidently.

This time, the battleship they sent was the "Warrior", which was sunk by an Italian torpedo two years ago. It was later salvaged, repaired, and continued to serve.

This time was his first long voyage after the repair.

In fact, it should be considered a sea trial, but it doesn’t matter. They are all old warships, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

Even if there are problems, there is no need to panic. Even if you encounter an enemy submarine and are hit by three or five torpedoes, it will be fine.

Of course, after this thing was repaired, some minor problems also appeared.

Just now there was a problem with one of the engine main shafts, so the speed had to be reduced.

It’s not that the British army doesn’t have other battleships, but there is no need to mobilize the rest of the battleships for this easy escort mission.

The Warrior is capable of handling everything.

　Two more updates!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)