De Gu misjudged the ship maneuvering capabilities of the cadet soldiers led by Qi Minghao. Wavell and Phillips also made this mistake. When Qi Minghao insisted that the cadet soldiers alone control the seven large ships participating in the Far East Fleet operation, After being unanimously opposed by the two people, Priffith's attitude at that time was no different from Degu's before. Of course, because he was here to help after all, his words were much more tactful: "The control of large warships is not so... It's an easy thing, let's do this. In order not to delay the rescue operation, I will give you three days to try it out."
It was exactly three days before the "Richelieu" was sailed out of the military port by Qi Minghao and others. Phillips learned the news a little later. The British were dumbfounded at the time. The reason why Wavell and Phillips did not let China There are other reasons why people control the seven large warships of the Far East Fleet. After experiencing Ouyang Yun's domineering and "shameless" in Bangkok, Wavell was worried that the Chinese would seize the Far East Fleet if the rescue operation failed, so he With the idea of nip in the bud, they decided to keep these large ships firmly in their own hands no matter what.
When he received Phillips' report, he was even more shocked. He blurted out and asked Phillips if he was being blinded, "How is it possible? The Xuebing Army? The Xuebing Army is just an armed force of Chinese warlords. It's so, so unbelievable." "It's..." A bit messy, Wavell seemed a bit incoherent,
It was not only the top brass of the British and French navies such as Degoux and Phillips who were shocked. The officers and soldiers of the British and French navies under their command were also shocked. They thought about the problem at different levels. The lower-level officers and soldiers had simpler ideas. They originally wanted to see China. They treated Qi Minghao and his crew as a joke, but now they saw that they had really launched the "Richelieu" battleship. Everyone was dumbfounded and at the same time, they were just shocked.
The "Richelieu" was followed by the "Richelieu", then two heavy cruisers, and then three frigates. The seven warships left the dock one after another, and after a circle, they returned again. When night fell, When the last returning frigate sounded a loud whistle before berthing, the officers and soldiers of the Royal British Navy who were waiting eagerly on the decks of many ships of the Z fleet were finally completely impressed.
July 2nd, Wednesday, cloudy,
At around eight o'clock in the morning, in the Japanese Army Headquarters in Singapore, Koizumi Minichiro had just sat down in his office. His newly appointed adjutant, a major named Hatono Shaotoshi, hurriedly walked in holding a telegram, "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General Yashiro Yukichi sent a telegram that the British army bombed our Mawlamyine frontline position again." As he spoke, he presented a telegram to Koizumi,
Koizumi glanced at it and frowned: "Today is cloudy, and there is strong wind above level 4, which is not suitable for aviation operations. Are the British crazy?"
"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General Yashiro once again requested the aviation force for tactical guidance, please see."
Although Yamamoto Isoroku emphasized that there were no rigid military targets when he left, Koizumi had this idea for some reasons, so he has frequently mobilized troops during this period, and his biggest move was More than 100,000 Indonesian National Independence Army troops were mobilized to move towards Mawlamyine.
A large number of Japanese retinue troops gathered in Mawlamyine. Wavell felt that the Japanese army would launch a major attack in the near future. In addition, he originally had the idea of containing the Japanese aviation forces in Singapore to increase the safety factor of the rescue operation. Since the last time, Frequent fighter planes have been dispatched to bomb the Japanese positions in Moulmein since March 29th. Today is the fourth day of air raids.
Compared with the infantry, which is on the verge of collapse, the British's air force combat capabilities are much stronger. Of course, with the quality of the Japanese soldiers, it would be unrealistic for Wavell to defeat their will with this level of air force alone. Wavell He must have noticed this, so he set the target of the air strike to be those Indonesian natives.
Facts have proved that Wavell's choice was correct. No, the air raid had only been carried out for three days. Not a few Indonesians were killed, but no less than 20,000 Indonesians were hacked away. So I originally wanted to repay Koizumi for his kindness. And Yashiro Yukichi, who was doing a big job, had to send messages frequently to ask the aviation force for tactical guidance.
With the experience of that time and space, Koizumi was a staunch supporter of the policy of "using barbarians to control barbarians". He ingeniously released the Second and Third Marine Corps on leave, but transferred nearly 100,000 Indonesian National Independence Army, which had only reached combat strength, to the front line. The purpose is to achieve the maximum goal at the minimum cost. Unfortunately, the performance of the Indonesians is too disappointing. At least for now, it cannot be compared with the North Korean puppet troops fighting in China and the Chinese puppet troops acting as guards in North Korea.
This was not too surprising. Koizumi lightly knocked on the table with his right hand, raised his eyebrows and told Hatano Shaomin: "Answer Colonel Yamabe's call for me."
"Hai."
The call was quickly connected, and Koizumi took the phone from Hatono and said, "Yamabe-kun, my name is Koizumi Minichiro."
"This is a humble position. Your Majesty, may I ask what your orders are?"
"How is the training of the Zero Group? Are you satisfied with its performance?"
"Satisfied, quite satisfied. Your Excellency, as far as I know, compared with the Baiji Dolphin of the Xuebing Army, except for the slight lack of armor protection, the Zero's other performances are similar, and its flexibility is higher than that of the Baiji Dolphin. Your Excellency, I am now I am very much looking forward to the battle with the Academy Air Force." Yamabekawa said three times in succession,
"In order to ensure sufficient flexibility, a certain amount of armor protection must be sacrificed. Yamabe-kun, I have to give you a task now."
"Your Excellency, please give me the order."
"The British air force is attacking our Moulmein frontline positions unscrupulously. Your Kisarazu Air Wing immediately diverts to fight. Yamabe-kun, I look forward to your success."
"Your Excellency, please wait and see. With Zero War, the British are no match for us at all."
Yamabekawa Sankey came to prominence in "Hainan Strategy", and has since received great attention from Yamamoto and Koizumi. Some time ago, the commander of the Kisarazu Air Force committed suicide for the murder of Zhou Fohai, so Yamamoto promoted him. Not long after he was promoted to the commander of the Kisarazu Air Force, he accepted the command of a group of Hainan Airlines Zero Fighters. During this period, he devoted most of his energy to the training of the Zero Group. That's why Koizumi asked like that just now.
At around ten o'clock, Yamabe personally piloted a Zero Fighter No. 0003 and led a total of fifty-nine fighters of the Kisarazu Air Force to fly northwest. As these sixty fighters flew away from Singapore, Singapore at this time In this area, the only remaining Japanese expeditionary fleets were dozens of fighter planes carried by the aircraft carriers Fengxiang and Ryuchang.