Pearson, who was talking enthusiastically at this moment, did not notice that Yang Zhen's face was somewhat livid because of his so-called suggestion, but he continued: "The U.S. government can also convince the U.S. Congress and people to increase aid to you. Or we can take the share of aid to you from the Soviet Union and truly become a separate aid target instead of borrowing the name of the Soviets, which will be more beneficial to your future development."
"Yang, whether as a soldier or as a friend of yours, I don't see what harm it will do to you if you accept the British suggestion. According to your current strength, send a few divisions south to Southeast Asia, and It will not affect the Manchurian comparison."
Having said this, Pearson hesitated for a moment, and finally decided: "In this way, if you send troops to Southeast Asia to assist in defense, I guarantee that at the beginning of next year at the latest, the U.S. government will give you another 300 tanks and some fighter jets and bombers. , In addition, according to your existing establishment, we will equip you with two 155th heavy artillery regiments and some 105th howitzers."
Pearson's answer was obviously biased in favor of the British, which made Yang Zhen very dissatisfied: "Mr. Pearson, the Japanese have only occupied Annan and controlled French Indochina. Although they have brought great consequences to the British colonies in Southeast Asia, There is a certain threat, but it is far from a situation that requires us to assist in defense."
"You must know that we are now facing the largest heavily armed group of the Japanese army, and in the next step, we may also face the second largest heavily armed group of the Japanese army. The pressure we face from the Japanese army far exceeds that faced by the British army. The few second-rate divisions of the Japanese Southern Army, but now the British want us to abandon the powerful Japanese divisions in front of us and go to Southeast Asia to work for them. I really don’t know if they are too calculating or too naive."
"Besides, the British provided us with such a small batch of equipment, just to ask us to look after their homes and homes when our own land was being invaded and the people were being massacred. The British were too much. We know how to calculate, but we are still too cheap."
"As for the equipment they provided, those tanks are after receiving the much better performance tanks provided by you from the United States. And you should have a certain understanding of the performance of those P-66 fighter jets. After all, this is These are your U.S. Army fighter jets. I wonder if these fighter jets are really advanced in performance, and given the greedy character and overwhelming situation of the British, can they be handed over to us?"
"Those Hurricane fighters have good performance, but it's a pity that they are already backward products. If they really have that intention, why don't they give us Spitfires, even P-40 fighters, so that we can reduce the burden a little bit? Logistical pressure.”
"Pearson, you and I are old friends. If you tell me the truth today, based on your own true thoughts, you would have been invaded in the United States and your people were being massacred by the enemy. , would he send his exhausted troops to defend a colony of a so-called ally for the sake of some false promises and second-rate equipment?"
"What's more, our current enemy is the largest among the various Japanese military strategic clusters. Coupled with the Japanese Korean Army and the North China Front Army that can be deployed in Northeast operations when necessary, the enemy forces we are about to or may face will be It will be several times, or even more than ten times, the strength of the Japanese troops in the Southern Army that have been incorporated or are about to be incorporated into the Japanese army specifically for fighting southward."
"As long as we continue to fight in the Northeast and form an offensive state, this part of the Japanese army cannot be mobilized anywhere. This is much more Japanese troops than we can attract by going south. Even if we do not go to Southeast Asia, maybe the British We will lose part of the colony."
"For example, Malaya and Singapore are already under threat from the Japanese army, but they will not suffer much losses. At least there is no problem in defending India, because the real elite divisions of the Japanese army are all deployed in the Northeast. According to our As far as we know, the division numbers of the Japanese Southern Army are already organized, and most of the Japanese divisions there are only their second-rate divisions at best."
"Southern Ocean covers a vast area. Except for the Indochina Peninsula, most of Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, including your Philippines, are islands. If the Japanese want oil from the Dutch East Indies, they must A large number of troops were invested in the Dutch East Indies."
"Of course, no matter how many troops the Japanese army invested, it was not for fighting. The army of the Dutch colonies was only suitable for suppressing the resistance of the indigenous people there. As for fighting the Japanese army, they did not have the ability. No matter how much assistance you Americans gave, They don’t have the determination to die. They have lost their homeland, and the Dutch there can be said to have lost their souls.”
"And there is an archipelago there. Without a strong naval support, no matter how many troops are invested there, it can only be a plate of food sent to others. But the reality is that even if the Japanese occupy the Dutch East Indies, they have to To protect and develop the mineral resources there, it is necessary to invest a sizable army."
"The Japanese have to defend such a large archipelago and divide their forces to defend the Indochina Peninsula, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Hainan Island. In addition to Malaya, they are also competing for other British colonies in Southeast Asia. They simply cannot devote too much time. A large number of troops and the captured land need to be defended. Fools all know this. The starting point of their attack and supply lines require a large number of troops to defend. The Japanese, who have always been very calculating, know this better than you and I."
"Excluding the garrison forces left by the compulsory repairs, the Japanese army will not invest too much in the fight for India. You must know that according to the current strength of the Japanese army, even if they reach India, they will be at the end of their war effort. Therefore, the British army will Although the troops on the battlefield in Southeast Asia are not even third-rate in my eyes, there is no problem in defending India."
"Perhaps the Japanese army will be arrogant in the early days. After all, its army, which has been trained on the Chinese battlefield for many years, is not comparable to the third-rate colonial armies of Britain and the Netherlands. However, the weak infrastructure in Southeast Asia has seriously restricted their logistics capabilities. , you can requisition food on site, but you still need to transport ammunition and weapon parts from the rear."
"The vast tropical rain forests in Southeast Asia will make the Japanese army's already fragile logistics supply lines even more fragile. Without ammunition, the Japanese can't bite the British army's defense lines with their teeth, so I think the British should do the most right now. The most important thing is to shrink our troops and give up Malaya, which is obviously undefendable."
"Blow up all the materials that cannot be carried away, as well as all supplies and infrastructure that the Japanese army can use, extend the Japanese army's supply lines as much as possible, drag down their combat capabilities, and concentrate our forces to defend the India-Burma region instead of artificially demarcating them everywhere. They work hard."
"As for Burma, it was a barrier to British India, but it was also the national government's external lifeline. I think that in order to ensure that their external communication lines were open, the national government would deploy elite troops to participate in the war in Myanmar. Not only would they deploy elite troops, And it will be the most elite force."
"In the current Myanmar defense, how many troops are invested is not the fundamental issue, but the determination and sincerity of the British. As long as China and the UK can truly cooperate and understand each other on the battlefield without being suspicious of each other or trying to undermine each other, China and the UK can invest in With the military strength, coupled with the material and equipment assistance that the United States has always given priority to, holding British Burma will not be a problem."
"Although I am concerned that the equipment that you Americans provided to the British will be able to play their original role and the role you expect on the North African battlefield, instead of being incompetent and often beaten. The British Army has sent doubts to their current enemy, the German Army, and their future enemy, the Japanese Army, but I am powerless to change your policy of putting Europe before Asia."
"We do lack urgently needed equipment, but we will not change our long-established strategic plan for a pitiful handout. The British lack enough troops to defend their colonies, and we also lack enough troops to meet training standards. Troops to protect our country and nation."
"Pearson, don't forget that the British are just their colony. They are not the owners there in the first place. The land we defend is the land given to us by God as the Chinese nation, and it is the land on which our nation depends for survival and reproduction. We have no right or obligation to give up recovering our own land for the sake of the colonies seized by the British."
"The most important thing is that I think the British are not lacking in troops, but they are lacking in normal thinking. They left the nearby National Government with millions of troops to beg us, and went to the Northeast thousands of miles away to beg us. , isn’t this a case of praying to the Buddha and entering the church, worshiping at the wrong temple door?”
"Although the current war situation of the Nationalist Government is not smooth, and can even be said to be a bit tight, there is still no problem in deploying a few armies to enter Myanmar. Burma is a bigger place, but it is not as big as a province in China, and a few armies are , coupled with the British and Burmese troops, it is enough to resist Japanese attacks from any direction."
Regarding Yang Zhen's refusal in disguise to the British request to send troops, Pearson, after being speechless for a while, still did not want to give up and advised: "Yang, as your old friend, I sincerely hope you can consider it. If you As long as you nod, the benefits you gain from this matter will be far greater than what you lose."
"The Kwantung Army is indeed the largest strategic group of the Japanese army in terms of military strength. I do not deny this. Compared with the Kwantung Army, the Southern Army that the Japanese army is organizing is indeed incomparable in terms of strength. Judging from what you have handed over so far, Judging from the intelligence, among the divisions included in the so-called Southern Army sequence, there are not many veteran divisions."
"However, the British troops currently deployed in Southeast Asia are mainly colonial troops with relatively poor combat effectiveness and equipment. Although they appear to be large in number, their real combat effectiveness is not as satisfactory as expected. The elite British Army, Currently we are focusing on defending our homeland and North Africa."
"Most of the elites in Southeast Asia are concentrated in British India. The remaining number is still too small for the defense of the entire Southeast Asia. Giving up Malaya and the Dutch East Indies can indeed do everything possible. It is possible to concentrate their forces, but it is tantamount to allowing the Japanese to easily achieve the goals they need."
“Southeast Asia is not only strategically important, but the most important thing is that it contains the oil and aluminum ore that Japan urgently needs, especially oil from the Dutch East Indies and British Burma. It is Japan’s most urgently needed resource and is also their main goal in moving south. , when we give up these places, we are giving away resources that Japan desperately needs."