Beiyang reactionaries

"India cannot be lost."

Churchill was straightforward.

Not to mention how many troops India has contributed to the United Kingdom at present, there should be no problems due to India's geographical location alone.India borders Iran. Once India falls into the hands of the Japanese, will the Japanese army attack Iran along India?

Will Germany's strategy change once the Japanese army enters the Middle East?Will Germany choose to make peace with Japan in the Middle East?

Doesn't Germany want oil?The current Middle East is not the Middle East a few decades later. It has become the place with the most oil in the world and is the world's oil base.However, although it is not as good as decades later, the current oil production in the Middle East is not low, and it is relatively easy to reach tens of millions of tons a year.If Germany occupied the Middle East, they wouldn't have to worry about oil, and wouldn't have to keep eyeing on Soviet oil.

What if Germany withdrew from the Soviet Union and a large number of troops came to the Middle East?Germany has seventy-eight million troops on the Soviet-German battlefield. Let alone all of them come, as long as one or two million troops come, the entire Middle East will not be able to stop Germany.Once threatened by the main force of the German army, will Turkey still be a neutral country by then?Turkey is a country with both ends of snakes and rats, and there is no trust at all.Faced with German military pressure, does Türkiye dare to confront Germany?If Turkey falls to Germany, the entire situation in the Middle East will be completely corrupted by then.Once Germany and Turkey cooperate, where will Britain and France be Germany's opponents in the Middle East?

As for the Soviet Union?

Churchill did not believe in the Soviet Union.As long as enough benefits are given, Churchill believes that it is possible for the Soviet Union to form an alliance with Germany.In Churchill's view, the Soviet Union was a country without any credibility.

When the First World War was in full swing, as an ally of Britain and France, Russia just withdrew from the First World War, and Britain and France were caught off guard.When the Second World War just broke out, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the "Soviet-German Nonaggression Pact".Such a USSR cannot be trusted at all.If Germany gave the Soviet Union enough benefits, enough benefits, what would the Soviet Union choose.What if Germany and the Soviet Union jointly planned to carve up the Middle East?If Germany promised to hand over Afghanistan and Iran to the Soviet Union, would the Soviet Union let go of its hatred with Germany?Anyway, Churchill had no confidence in the Soviet Union, let alone Stalin.

Even if Germany and the Soviet Union do not come to the Middle East, as long as Japan really attacks India, controls India, and then supports Chandra Bose to form a new Indian government.In the end, what should the Indian government do if it follows Japan in declaring war on Britain?

What if the Indian-Japanese coalition forces attack Iran?The United Kingdom can build a million British Indian troops in India, so can't Japan build a million Japanese Indian troops in India?

There were too many variables for Churchill to bet on.

From Churchill's point of view, India must never have anything to do, and it must never fall into the hands of the Japanese.Now that such a big event has happened to the British and Indian troops, Churchill must respond as soon as possible.Therefore, Churchill immediately said: "The British and Indian troops have been hit so hard, and it should be difficult to recover in a short time. The replenishment of these troops will also take time. But looking at the situation of the Japanese army, it is estimated that it is difficult to give us enough time, so we must Support the British and Indian armies as soon as possible. I mean mobilize troops from the Persian army. I suggest that the second, third, eighth, ninth, and tenth armies of the Persian army become the Far East army to support India. "

"With so many troops deployed, what about the North African battlefield? What about Iraq and Iran? There are still Soviet troops stationed in Iran now."

Aiden carefully reminded Churchill.

The Persian Army cannot be used casually. Once the Persian Army is used, unexpected situations may occur.Churchill waved his hand and said: "Contact the United States and ask the troops promised by the United States to enter the North African battlefield as soon as possible. Once Cairo is lost, the Suez Canal is lost, and the situation in Europe is really out of our control. As for the Soviet army in the north , They just finished fighting the Battle of Stalingrad, how can they have the ability to do anything in Iran."

The Persian Army Group, this is the British troops stationed in Iraq and Iran, and it is a very large force.

When the Second World War broke out, the countries in the Middle East were basically pro-German.Because they used to be colonies of Britain and France, they dislike Britain and France very much. People in Middle Eastern countries think that Britain and France are evil colonial countries.In comparison, Germany has never hurt these Middle Eastern countries because it is a post-development country.As the saying goes, the enemy of an enemy is a friend.

Germany is at war with Britain and France, and the British and French have lost their armor and armor, so the countries in the Middle East are willing to cooperate with Germany.Like Iraq and Iran, their governments are pro-German governments.This is something that the UK absolutely cannot tolerate.Therefore, in order to stabilize the Middle East, Britain sent troops to destroy the pro-German governments of Iraq and Iran. The pro-German king of Iran could only let his son succeed him, and he ran out of Iran.This was followed by its own Middle East units in Iran and Iraq.The largest of these is the Persian Army.

The reason why the Persian Army is so large is to protect the Middle East and the Suez Canal.Rommel's German-Italian allied forces attacked Cairo in the third Alamein battle before, and it was the Persian Army that sent troops to help stabilize the front.

The mission of the Persian Army Group is very important.

After all, to stabilize Iraq and Iran, it is also responsible for supporting the North African battlefield and supporting India.Therefore, the size of the Persian Army Group is getting bigger and bigger. Among the troops are the British Army Division, the Scottish Division, the New Zealand Division, the South African Division, the Canadian Division, the East African Division, the Arab Division, etc., the British Home Army, the Commonwealth Army, and the British colonial troops.

And the armed forces of land, sea and air are complete.

Air Force, Armor, Artillery, everything.

Originally, Britain hoarded these troops in Iran and Iraq. In addition to stabilizing Iran and Iraq, it also had to deter Turkey, so that Turkey would not want to go to the Germans.Of course, there are also some precautions against the Soviet Union.After all, in the name of guarding against Germany, the Soviet Union had already entered Iran and inserted its hands into the Middle East.But now Churchill has no time to think about these things, and things in India must be resolved.So he is going to send troops from the Persian Army Group into India to support the British and Indian Army.

In front of India, the threat of the Soviet Union can only be put behind.After all, we are still allies now.

"Robert, since General Auchinleck is injured, take him back to the rear for treatment. Let General William Slim, the commander of the No.16 Army, be the commander-in-chief of the British-Indian Army and be responsible for commanding the troops in Myitkyina. Before the arrival of reinforcements, Ask General Slim to keep Myitkyina. If it is really impossible to keep Myitkyina, the rest of the troops must be brought back intact. The Japanese army is so aggressive now, we can’t be passive like this. Let General Mountbatten be the commander-in-chief of the Far East, unify the Responsible for the British Indian Army and the Australian Army. The British Indian Army and the Australian Army must cooperate with each other, or they are likely to be defeated by the Japanese army."

"it is good."

Aiden nodded.

But Aiden quickly said: "General Wavell's report said that the British and Indian troops in Myitkyina have lost a lot of weapons, equipment and logistics supplies, and their morale is extremely unstable. We were in Myitkyina before, relying on powerful artillery fire to suppress The Japanese army. But this time we lost so many cannons and so many shells, the situation immediately reversed. In terms of the number of cannons, the Japanese army should have surpassed the British and Indian troops. They will definitely take advantage of this, we I am very worried about whether the British and Indian troops can persist until the arrival of reinforcements. I think it is completely impossible for our reinforcements to rush to the battlefield to exert their strength without two months."

"Ah."

Churchill nodded.

Eden's worries were also Churchill's.The troops that Churchill mentioned just now are all troops in Iran, and the troops in Iraq have not moved.The Iraqi troops still have to look at Türkiye and guard against Türkiye's rebellion.But even if Iranian troops want to enter India, it is not so easy.These reinforcement troops either go by land or by sea.But no matter which way you go, the mobilization of so many troops is always not easy.

After all, the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of troops cannot be completed in a day or two.Especially the British army has a small number of combat troops, but a large logistics force.If [-] troops are going to march, tens of thousands of logistics troops will be needed.

In fact, the best way is to go by sea and mobilize enough transport ships to Mumbai.Then use the railway in Mumbai, as long as it is mobilized properly, the time can be greatly shortened.But it's not that easy either.It is not easy for the current British army to mobilize transport ships.

"Two months, two months."

Churchill thought for a while and said: "We still need China's support for this matter. At this stage, only China has the ability to give us large-scale support and help the troops in Myitkyina stabilize their morale. I think the front line must need a lot of supplies. , They must be short of ammunition, lack of medicines. Only China can help us solve it.”

"But the Chinese demand too much."

Aiden was very distressed.

Aiden is not willing to contact China, because China is too greedy to do business.Taking advantage of the war, too much money was extorted from Britain.At the beginning, Britain used gold in large quantities.Even because too much gold was searched in India, it almost caused a civil uprising.Later, when the British gold was not enough, they began to sell overseas assets.Britain lost a lot of assets in China, including the excellent assets owned by consortiums such as Swire Matheson, Jardine Matheson, and HSBC Bank, which are now basically owned by China.Moreover, assets in the United States were sold at low prices, especially the stocks of those listed companies in the United States, and a large number of British real estate in the United States were sold to China.Even Australian minerals and South African gold mines were sold to China.According to the market price of these things, they must exceed about 50 billion US dollars, but in the end they are all dealt with at low prices.

When negotiating business with China, the Chinese are not willing to pay on credit.But where is the UK rich? At present, there are only about 1000 tons of gold reserves left in the UK.The gold reserves of 5000 tons before the war, under the circumstances of increasing mining of South African gold mines and collecting gold from the Commonwealth, the gold reserves also declined rapidly.

Therefore, the UK has only one way to negotiate with China, and that is to continue to sell overseas assets.

"At this stage, defeating fascism is the most important thing. China's affairs will be discussed after the war. During the last negotiation, China seems to have brought up the Iranian oil issue?"

"Yes. The Chinese government also wants to participate in the extraction of Iranian oil."

"Sell part of our Anglo-Iranian oil company's shares to the Chinese government to pay for China's arms and supplies. It is required that China must send out transport planes to help our troops deliver what they need most. We need time now, It is necessary to stabilize the morale of the frontline troops as soon as possible. If China hesitates, it will recognize the sovereignty of the Andaman Islands as belonging to Myanmar. In any case, China must act quickly, our troops cannot wait so long."

Same with Stalin.

Churchill was a politician, and he never considered the gains and losses of a city or a place.They all know the reason why there is no need to worry about no firewood to keep the green hills.After defeating the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan, there will be plenty of opportunities to get back with China.

Although the British-Iranian Oil Company has an Iranian name, it is actually controlled by the United Kingdom.There are many shares of the British government.This company monopolizes the current oil exploration and exploitation in Iran, including oil transportation and so on.It can be said that Iran's oil is completely controlled by this company, which means that Iran's oil is completely controlled by Britain.

Since China is interested, Churchill is willing to use some shares to offset the debt.

Including the Andaman Islands, the UK has been avoiding this issue before, as if nothing happened.Be prepared to stay and deal with this after the war.But this time, in order to gain China's support, Churchill was willing to admit that the sovereignty of these islands belonged to Myanmar, which also indirectly recognized the legitimacy of the current Chinese navy stationed in the Andaman Islands.

"Okay, I will meet with the Chinese ambassador immediately. After the negotiation is completed, I will send a telegram to the Secretary of State of the United States."

720

"Iran."

Duan Xun looked at the map and exclaimed, "It's really a good place."

"Yes. Iran and Afghanistan, plus Turkey, these three countries have a very good geographical location. The strategic position is very important, and it is definitely a battleground for military strategists. To the north of Iran is Central Asia, which is the land of the Soviet Union. To the west It is Iraq and Turkey, to the east is Afghanistan and British India, to the south is the Persian Gulf, and the port faces the Arabian Sea. Whoever controls this area will be able to hold this area, and the surrounding countries will be affected.”

Li Jishen nodded.

Iran is no less important than Afghanistan and Türkiye.

Iran is the real site of the Fourth World War, especially now that Central Asia belongs to the Soviet Union, this region is even more important.This place has also been contested by Britain and the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union wanted an outlet to the sea, and it was crazy.Since that time in Russia, Russia's biggest goal for hundreds of years has been to have a better access to the sea.If Iran is controlled, it can go south directly to the Indian Ocean, which is the best outlet.For Britain, India has always been the most important colony.Once the Soviet Union took control of Iran, it directly threatened British India, which was unacceptable to Britain.

Therefore, the competition between Britain and the Soviet Union in Iran and Afghanistan has been fierce.