Iron Cross

The Indian army, which had received the new equipment, was very motivated and took action regardless of the fatigue. The next morning, Sher was shocked to find that the RB soldiers had been rehearsed into neat teams for drills, and the army pilots were also working very hard. There were often a large group of pilots from the two flight divisions surrounding the naval carrier-based aircraft pilots to listen to the performance and technical characteristics of the new aircraft. For them, this was simply a paradise of happiness, and they had endless energy.

In the past, the army did not use naval aircraft, and the navy did not use army aircraft. Even if they were obviously the same type, they would deliberately make them different and give them different names (such as the 96 carrier fighter), but the people below were not so pedantic. The quality of the aircraft and the strength of its combat performance were the most important. After test-flying the Bf-219, Fw-190, and Bf-109 brought back by the navy, all the army pilots praised them highly and thought that this was the good stuff they wanted.

They had seen that the Bf-219 was actually an improved version of the Navy Zero fighter, but they all selectively ignored it. As for the pure German-origin aircraft like the Stuka, the Army Air Force was even more impressed. The Type 97 light bomber (dive bomber) they usually used only had a bomb load of 400 kg, which was far from comparable to the Stuka's at least 1 ton of load, not to mention that the latter was much stronger and more durable than the Type 97 light bomber.

Seeing the Army Air Force's jubilation, the Navy's elite pilots could only hold back their laughter: Although the Navy's top brass was generous and promised to distribute the aircraft they received evenly, quantity balance did not mean quality balance, and it did not mean that Germany's subsequent additional aid would also be put on the distribution list. Fleet Chief of Staff Kusaka Rento, who presided over the allocation of materials, hid all of the Comet Kai, Tianshan Kai, and Joint Attack Aircraft that he thought were the most outstanding, intending to leave them for the Navy's own use.

As for the main fighters on the list, such as the Zero War Kai and Fw-190, they were evenly distributed between the Army and the Navy. As for other aircraft, such as the short-legged Bf-109, Yak, P-40 and other models were readily thrown to the Army. Even so, the Army Aviation still felt like they had made a fortune.

The same was true for tanks. The Combined Fleet and the German Marine Brigade had long been familiar with the performance and quality of tanks in their daily interactions. Some little secrets were also revealed. They also knew that the same T-34 had completely different quality and combat performance in different batches, so they were carefully selected in advance. The German No. 3 and No. 4 were picked up by the Navy first, and the best quality T-34 was also picked up by the Navy. As for those KV series, Matilda, Churchill, French B1 heavy tanks, Grant Lee, etc., which looked impressive but were not very useful, they were all left to the Army.

The Navy's eating manner was still quite "elegant", because the number of Marines was limited, so they paid attention to choosing the best when selecting, and overall they did not take too many, and the remaining tanks still looked dazzling and varied, which made Yamashita Tomoyuki and Nagura Kan particularly grateful. In any case, it was a great favor for the Navy to bring all the tanks to Ceylon for the Indian Army to choose first. As for the Navy taking some of the high-performance ones first, they did not know in advance, and they thought it was completely reasonable if they knew it - if the Army did it, it would be even more excessive than the Navy.

Although the Army and the Navy have always disliked each other, this time the Army was very respectful of the Navy. At least these equipment and materials were earned by the Navy at the risk of their lives, and they were generously distributed to the Indian Army. When the junior officers drove the cars they could never dream of and heard about the Navy's feats of destroying the Panama Canal and bombing New York, they couldn't help but shout the slogan "Navy on board!" It looked harmonious.

Yamashita Tomoyuki was ruthless to the enemy and to himself. In the strategy agreed yesterday, he decided to launch the offensive campaign against Madras 10 days later, that is, on July 24. Although Scheer was skeptical about the Japanese officers and soldiers being able to master German tanks so quickly, Nakura Kan patted his chest in front of him and said that there was no problem at all - he would guarantee to provide the tank brigade with the best condition and the strongest combat capability.

By the next morning, he was completely convinced. The officers and soldiers of the Japanese tank division began to press the German armored forces closely from early morning: often several people stared at a German tank soldier to see how he maintained, repaired, and supplied, and almost learned how to shit - the image of stealing fists was completely vivid on paper.

And you can't find a chance to get angry: if you want to sit down, he will quickly help you move a stool; if you want to smoke, before you can take out the match, the other party has already diligently lit a fire and come over; if you want to repair, he will silently help you pass the tools beside you; as for other hard and tiring work, the RB soldiers are even more eager to do it. So much so that the people below joked with Scheer that it seemed as if the army had suddenly added thousands of free servants who didn't need money, which felt a bit weird.

What surprised Scheer even more was that in the afternoon, he wanted to find Yamashita Tomoyuki to communicate the plan, but he was told that the other party was in the German camp. When he found him, Yamashita Tomoyuki and Nagura Kan were crawling out from under a Type 4 tank with oil stains on their faces. There was a large group of people around them, and several German maintenance soldiers stood by with embarrassed faces.

"Sir, why are you doing this?"

Yamashita Tomoyuki took a piece of rag and wiped it casually, saying nonchalantly: "I originally came to observe your army's exercises and daily maintenance on site. I happened to see that this tank had a problem and needed repair, so I practiced it with Nagura-kun, and by the way, I also brought the repair capabilities of my officers and soldiers and explained the relevant technical essentials to them on the spot."

"This..." Scheer was a little embarrassed. To be honest, since he became a colonel-level officer, he has never gotten under a car or maintained or repaired it with his own hands. He was really embarrassed about the trivial matter of soldiers.

"Haven't corresponding instructors and technical guidance been dispatched to your army? Do you think they are unqualified?"

"No, no, no, they are all good teachers and are highly respected by our officers and soldiers. However, we don't have much time, so we must take some unusual methods. Please forgive me for any inconvenience."

Scheer lowered his voice: "Then there's no need for you to come here in person, let alone get under the car, right?"

"If I don't pay attention, how can the troops feel the pressure? I told them when I came here that if you want to be an army general, you can't do it without enduring hardship." Yamashita Fengwen said with a smile, "I heard that you are The deeds in the Holm encirclement, if you had only been hiding in the headquarters giving orders instead of rushing to the front line to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, I'm afraid they wouldn't have lasted that long, right?"

Scheer recalled carefully and realized that this was really the case, and nodded involuntarily.

"I raised the slogan of competition in the army and asked all the brigades to study and train together, but in the end only the troops with the best condition and the strongest fighting will were selected to carry out the Mercedes-Benz landing mission. This is a very rare honor." Yamashita Fengwen said with a smile, “It depends on who comes out on top this time.”

"Okay." Scheer sighed, "I understand what you mean, and I will increase my training efforts."

While the Japanese troops were getting up early and conducting hell training in the dark, their opponent, Lieutenant General Giffard, commander of the British 11th Army, was making a fuss at the Madras headquarters.

"Bastards, they are all a bunch of bastards. Sooner or later they will destroy the Indian continent!"

After losing Ceylon and almost the entire army headquarters, the poor Lieutenant General Giffard rebuilt the command system in Madras relying on the city defense troops, and sent a telegram to Mountbatten asking for help, making three requests:

First, quickly mobilize powerful troops to increase the strength of the 11th Army and increase the defense density of South India;

Second, mobilize the main force of the US army and aviation from the northeast to launch bombing suppression against Ceylon. Even if it cannot destroy the enemy's defense system, it will at least prevent them from comfortably using Ceylon for follow-up operations;

Third, Mountbatten was required to coordinate the U.S. Pacific Fleet to provide support as much as possible and cooperate with the army to counterattack Ceylon.

He saw clearly that Ceylon would be the guard of the cage of the Indian subcontinent from now on. With this stepping stone, the Japanese army could advance, attack, retreat or defend, and had complete control over the initiative. After the occupation of Ceylon, it also blocked the shipping route, cutting off the possibility of India receiving supplies from South Africa or Australia.

He believed that everyone could understand the dangers and terrible prospects of losing Ceylon, but he never expected that these three requests only received a limited response: Mountbatten transferred 3 brigades from Erwin's 14th Army for reinforcements. , other troops refused to be mobilized due to the threat from the Japanese army in Burma;

The U.S. Army Air Forces and the British Royal Air Force added 6 squadrons to the south and sent bombers to bomb Ceylon Island. However, after the arrival of the Japanese naval land-based aviation force, they quickly equipped them with Fw-190s and Bf-109s, and added On the Bf-219 of the carrier-based pilot, the air defense force on the island of Ceylon was airtight and kept shooting down British and American aircraft. In just one week, the British and American lost more than 30 aircraft. After paying such a heavy price, they failed to achieve even the most basic goal-to destroy the radar station reactivated by the Japanese army on the island of Ceylon.

The pilots thought they had done their best, but in Lieutenant General Giffard's view, these troops were far from enough. What he wanted was the main force - were 6 squadrons the main force? What a big joke!

As for the U.S. fleet, Nimitz's reply was more polite: "This fleet is attacking the Japanese forces in the Gilbert Islands in an attempt to contain the combined fleet. After completing the battle and resting, the fleet will evaluate subsequent operational needs and consider your country's ask……"

From Giffard's point of view, this was simply an attitude of rejecting people from thousands of miles away - wait for the US military to finish fighting Gilbert and then rest and then attack Ceylon. He estimated that autumn would be almost over. By then, not to mention Ceylon, only Ceylon. I am afraid that the whole of South India will not be able to defend it.

He gritted his teeth and cursed: "Send a direct telegram to London and tell Marshal Brooke and Prime Minister Churchill that if we do not provide strong support to our army, I will not be responsible for the subsequent development of the situation in South India!"