François Darlan has had a very difficult time in the past two years. He feels like an old horse that has fallen into a swamp, struggling desperately to escape, but sinking deeper and deeper, unable to extricate himself.
It is not just the Mustache and the Free France who are thinking about the French Navy. Southern Africa, the British Empire, and even the United States are all eyeing it, waiting for opportunities to bring this remaining French navy into their own camp.
Southern Africa and the United States are easy to talk about. These two countries have strong strength and can provide sufficient protection for the French navy. They are forces that can be relied on.
The British were purely wishful thinking. After Operation Ballista, France and Britain had no possibility of cooperation. Darlan would rather scuttle all warships than see the French navy accept British command.
No, Darlan was unwilling to allow the French navy to accept the command of any country, including Vichy France and Free France.
Therefore, as early as after Operation Ballista, Darlan issued an order to Admiral Laborde: Once a foreign force attempts to control the French Navy, the Navy will leave the military port and seek refuge in other countries.
If escape is impossible, then all warships will be scuttled.
This kind of suicidal order has appeared repeatedly in the navies of various countries that are known for their honor. After the end of the last world war, the more than fifty surviving warships of the German High Seas Fleet chose to tragically sink themselves and refused to be captured by the Allies.
Now it was the turn of the French, and Darlan demanded that the French navy must also follow this honorary tradition.
At the Cyprus Squadron Headquarters in West Cape, after the Battle of Crimea, Mike Toland ordered the closure of the Bosporus Strait, denying any ships entry or exit, and not giving German submarines the opportunity to enter the Mediterranean through the strait.
The Mediterranean is already lively enough now. If German submarines intervene again, the situation will be more complicated.
This possibility is actually not high. After the military ports along the Greek coast were destroyed, German submarines lacked a supply base at least in the Eastern Mediterranean, and their movements were greatly restricted.
In other areas, the activities of German submarines are very arrogant. In the first two years of the outbreak of the World War, 1,150 Allied ships were sunk by German submarines. In the first two months of this year, the number of ships sunk by German submarines has reached 300. This
During the process, only about 150 German submarines were sunk by the Allies.
In order to increase the degree of anti-submarine warfare, the Allies adopted a convoy system and installed anti-submarine radars on ships and aircraft. This effectively reduced the losses caused by German submarine attacks. Starting in March, the losses caused by German submarine attacks gradually decreased.
"After the Russians lost the Crimean Peninsula, the possibility of our merchant ships being attacked by German submarines in the Black Sea has greatly increased. What is even more serious now is that the Germans are organizing an attack on the Baku oil fields. Once the Baku oil fields are lost, we will
We will face a more serious crisis." Mike Tolan was very worried. The Cyprus Squadron was getting stronger and stronger, but Mike Tolan was under increasing pressure.
With great capabilities comes great responsibility. The Ministry of National Defense of Southern Africa attaches great importance to the Mediterranean Theater and gives them what they ask for. Aircraft carriers are the first to be equipped among the four major squadrons. The number of troops under the command of the Mediterranean Theater has increased to nearly 600,000. Arthur
There is also a lot of pressure on my shoulders.
The main pressure comes from the north.
Once Russia loses the war, the Germans will have enough energy to turn around and head south. It is hard to say whether they can hold the Black Sea outlet by then.
If the German army opens up the passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, the Allies will be completely passive.
"The Baku oil fields must not be lost. Pretoria has advised the Russians that if they cannot hold Baku, then all the oil fields will be destroyed. They would rather destroy them than leave them to the Germans." The war lasted for more than two years.
Arthur has grown into a qualified commander and knows when to cut off his arm to survive.
Germany's current oil supply relies heavily on Romanian oil fields.
Compared with World War I, the consumption of oil increased dramatically during World War II. In the last world war, Germany was consumed alive by Britain and France. In this world war, the biggest shortcoming of the German army was oil.
Before the outbreak of World War II, Germany stored approximately 8 million tons of crude oil and refined oil products, thanks to Russia's supply. In 1938 alone, Germany imported approximately 1 million tons of oil from Russia.
After France stopped resisting, Germany obtained France's crude oil reserves, which brought Germany's oil reserves to an unprecedented 15 million tons. This gave the German army the ability to launch a war against Russia.
The cost of the war was far greater than what Mustache had expected. When the Russians retreated, they established a stronghold and cleared the country, leaving no military supplies to Germany. Germany's plan to support the war with war was completely in vain. Seeing that oil reserves were becoming increasingly tight, Mustache had no choice but to
Not to shift the main direction of attack from Moscow to Baku.
The Germans are indeed very technologically advanced, and their coal-to-oil technology is very advanced. The country can produce about 4 million tons of fuel every year.
This little fuel was a drop in the bucket for the German army, which had a huge armored force.
Romanian oil fields can provide the German army with about 4 million tons of oil every year, but even with this oil, Germany still cannot make ends meet.
Romania produced a total of 5.7 million tons of oil last year. Even if the oil yield is 100%, the total amount of synthetic fuel produced in Germany is only 9.7 million tons.
On the Allied side, southern Africa alone produced 220 million tons of oil last year.
In order to cut off Germany's oil supply, Southern Africa has a powerful strategic bomber force stationed in Cyprus. If necessary, the Super Sky Fortress can directly bomb Romanian oil fields from Cyprus.
Winston did not want to do this. The British attitude was very clear. It was necessary to maintain a certain degree of offensive capability of the German army, but not too strong. The powerful German armored forces had to be maintained at a level where they would not starve to death, but they would not be full.
, this is the most conducive to controlling the German attack.
"Should we send troops into Russia to help the Russians defend Baku?" Mike Tolan was worried that the Russians could not withstand the crazy German attacks. They were losing dozens or millions of people every day. This is too scary.
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There are only 600,000 troops in the Mediterranean theater, land, sea and air. Throwing them to the Russian battlefield is not enough to be consumed in one battle. How many times can it be consumed with the strength of Southern Africa?
The situation is actually not as serious as Mike Tolan feared. Although southern Africa has already begun mobilization, it actually still has great potential to be tapped.
The British carried out general mobilization after the outbreak of the war. Now the number of army infantry divisions has reached three digits, and the British infantry divisions are all large infantry divisions with a full strength of 28,000 people.
So far, Southern Africa has been mobilized, but the number has not exceeded three digits. However, the Southern African Union troops have mobilized more than 100 divisions. Even Najd, which has a population of less than 5 million, has recruited ten divisions. These ten divisions are now under the
Mediterranean Theater Command.
This is not because Southern Africa is perfunctory, but because Southern Africa wants to use more resources on industrial production, and people will go to factories, so naturally there will be far fewer people joining the army.
The Southern African Army has now recruited a total of 79 divisions, with a total strength of approximately 1.6 million troops.
Because the Navy has Marine Corps, its strength is similar to that of the Army.
On the contrary, the Air Force has a strength of approximately 1.9 million, with the three major branches being the strongest.
This is mainly because the Air Force has paratroopers.
"No, Russia is a big country. We have to believe that Russia has the ability to win the final victory." The super air fortress in Arthur's hands can not only be used to bomb Romanian oil fields, but also Baku.
Perhaps it is a coincidence that the Romanian oil fields and the Baku oil fields are both about 1,500 kilometers away from Cyprus.
While Arthur and Mike Tolan sat back and watched the Germans and Russians fighting for their lives, the Marines under Angel's command and the East Indian troops were ready to land in the Philippines.
In the Battle of Guam, the strength of the Japanese combined fleet was greatly damaged and it lost the ability to support the Japanese army in the Philippines.
Japan did not give up on the Philippines. Even though the Southern African Air Force launched air raids on Manila every day, the Japanese army continued to send more troops to the Philippines, using the Philippines as a bridgehead against the Allies.
Without defense, the Japanese army has been completely defeated in the Malay Peninsula. In just a few months, it has lost more than 100,000 people. These troops are all Class A divisions that have been fighting in the East Asian battlefield for many years. The troops are all experienced veterans. The losses are
irreparable.
Once the Allied forces regain the Philippines, they will continue to move north and threaten the so-called Japanese mainland.
To launch an attack on the Philippines, we must first capture Kuching. The 71st Division is stationed in Kuching.
The 71st Division was just established this year. Most of the soldiers came from Sapporo and Asahikawa in Hokkaido, where the Japanese 7th Division was also formed.
As you can tell from the name, the 7th Division is one of the earliest 17 standing divisions in Japan. This unit had an unfortunate fate. After its formation, it participated in the Russo-Japanese War. After the outbreak of World War II, it participated in the Battle of the Harlequin River against Russia.
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During the Russo-Japanese War, the 7th Division participated in the attack on Lushun. In the Battle of Highland 203, the 7th Division lost 14,000 of the 15,000 people who participated in the battle, and was almost disbanded. It was the Japanese army's heaviest loss.
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In the Battle of the Halakhin River, the fate of the 7th Division did not change. It was hit hard by the Russian army again. The Japanese lost nearly 61,000 people and 660 aircraft. The Japanese government had to take the initiative to sue for peace with Russia.
After the Battle of the Harlequin River, the 7th Division withdrew to Japan for repairs.
In order to support the Philippine direction, the Japanese government transferred a regiment from the 7th Division, formed the 71st Division with this regiment as the core, and used "Ming" as the number of the 71st Division within the Japanese army.
This may be "fate". After the Philippine Campaign, the Japanese army transferred its main forces to the Malay Peninsula. The newly formed 71st Division was ordered to garrison in Kuching. At this time, the 71st Division, except for one from the 7th Division,
Outside of the regiment, they were all new recruits, and they lacked armored units, not even many artillery pieces.
On April 1, the Southern African army stationed in Borneo was ordered to launch an attack on Kuching.
The first to be dispatched was the air force, which bombed military facilities in Kuching City and the Kuching Port.
The 71st Division lacked air defense means and had no ability to resist in the face of overwhelming bombers. After the Japanese occupied Kuching, they built a field airport in Kuching. It was originally prepared to welcome Japanese fighter jets. Unexpectedly, the Japanese naval aviation was involved in the Battle of Guam.
It has been completely lost. Since the Kuching Airport was built, it has not welcomed a single Japanese plane to land.
An airfield without aircraft has no attack value, so the Southern African Air Force focused its attack on the camps of the 71st Division.
Japan's strength is indeed incomparable with that of Southern Africa. The military camps in Southern Africa have very high standards. There are very few temporary buildings and most of them are permanent buildings.
The Japanese army is not that wealthy, and many of the barracks in the camp are tents. The officers' dormitories are slightly better, and they are no more than a townhouse. This kind of housing is reserved for foreign workers in southern Africa.
Against tents and row houses, the attack effect of incendiary bombs is obviously better than that of high-explosive bombs. The incendiary bombs in southern Africa have now become effective. The camp of the 71st Division soon turned into a sea of fire, but the Japanese army suffered little loss.
The Japanese were not stupid. They knew that they could not deal with the air raids by the southern African army, so the camp was just a look-alike. Most of the Japanese troops were dispersed and stationed in private houses in Kuching City. They obviously wanted to drag the civilians of Kuching to die together.
While the air force was dispatched, ground troops also approached Kuching from the sea.
The Japanese were very smart and completely blew up the road from Kuching to East India, which brought great difficulties to the advancement of ground troops.
Since the road was destroyed, the attack was launched from the sea. The light aircraft carrier of the Changi Squadron did not get the opportunity to participate in the Guam campaign, but it was still qualified to be used to escort the troops attacking Kuching.
Under the cover of carrier-based aircraft and naval guns, the troops landed on a beach near Kuching.
The Marine Corps and amphibious tanks that landed first rushed to the beach to open a safe channel for subsequent troops to land.
The intensity of the Japanese counterattack was not high, and the few positions they had were easily destroyed by carrier-based aircraft and naval guns. By the time the landing craft led the Marines to the beach, the battle on the beach was basically over. The whole process was much longer than the training.
Easy, almost as intense as the landing in Kuala Lumpur.
The task of the Marine Corps was to establish a beachhead. The troops were not in a hurry to advance into Kuching and continued to wait for subsequent troops to land.
At this time, the Japanese counterattack finally came, not from the Japanese army, but from a group of Japanese civilians with bandages on their heads, kimonos on their bodies, and long swords in their hands.
this
Isn't this the Warring States Period? We are still fighting with cold weapons, and they always charge in groups. Do we really think that the Marine Corps' machine guns are all fire sticks?
"What are you waiting for? Shoot, shoot, kill all the Japanese!" Sergeant Philip from the Umbrella Company did not hesitate. He was an American before and has now become a Southern African citizen. He hates the Japanese no more than the Chinese.
How much less.
Ta-ta-ta-ta
Regardless of whether they were using a tripod or a bipod, the general-purpose machine guns opened fire at once. The Japanese who shouted "The hell is on board" were knocked down like wheat. Such a battle was really easy, but it was a pity that it could not help the navy and the army.
