Since the Fifth Route Army under the Southern Front Cluster captured Amman, the capital of Transjordan, and spread the war to the Sinai Peninsula in early February, Yin Jinan moved the theater headquarters from Baghdad to Damascus in order to direct operations nearby.
At 11 noon on February 21st, in an ordinary two-story Islamic building in the building complex that has been designated as a military management area in the northwest of the city, staff and communications personnel were working in a 100-square-meter room on the second floor.
Walking in and out of the large room, this is where the war zone headquarters war room is located.
Yin Jinan and Zhang Chengzhu stood in front of a large map, listening carefully to the battle report from Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Li Jun.
"...on the northern battlefield, the 84th Division of Yang Lie's 28th Group Army of Wu Liheng's Cluster successfully captured the city of Douba Yazit after a day and night of hard fighting. Before that, the 82nd Division overcame
Against all odds, they have successively captured the cities of Van, Karahan and Muladiye on the east bank of Lake Van.
"Although it is already late February, the plateau areas in central and eastern Turkey are still covered by heavy snow. With the capture of Douba Yazit City, we have successfully controlled all the passes leading to the east on the plateau. The German army can only accept the following
The eastern highlands of Armenia serve as the boundary, and we face a confrontation in the mountains.”
Yin Jinan said with regret: "It is a pity that due to weather and other reasons in southwestern Turkey, we only captured Sirnak, Sirt, Kozluk, Sasson and other places at the southern foot of Tafur Mountain.
, It is estimated that it will take us two to three months in the future before we can fully control all the traffic arteries in the area and block the German army's southward path. In this way, I am afraid that until the end of the war, the three armies commanded by Wu Liheng can only be used for
It’s a front-line battle.”
"Wu Liheng lived up to the generous tomb entrusted to him by the war zone!"
Zhang Chengzhu looked at the map with the altitude on the side and said with emotion: "Our troops are fighting in a completely unfamiliar area and have no support from the local people. Moreover, the altitude there is mostly above two thousand meters, and the mountains are undulating.
The roads are rugged and the weather is extremely bad. Tanks, armored vehicles and heavy artillery are not used at all, so they can only stay in the rear. The most powerful firepower of the army is the .
millimeter rocket launcher, while the opponent is waiting for work, clinging to the fortified city, occupying the right time, place and people, it is really difficult for Wu Liheng!
"Fortunately, the officers and soldiers of the three armies led by Wu Liheng are all from the southwest region of China. Having grown up in the mountains, they can walk in the mountains as if they were on the plains. They are no worse than the professional mountain soldiers in the mountain clusters. This is how we are now.
A series of victories. To a certain extent, the Wu Liheng cluster made a great contribution to the reason why the cluster here dared to let go of all baggage and advance all the way north. Following the south, we must make a good contribution to Lao Wu..."
Seeing that Yin Jinan was thoughtful and did not express his position, Zhang Chengzhu was worried that Yin Jinan was biased against Wu Liheng, and added: "There won't be much problem with Wu Liheng. After all, the plateau terrain makes it difficult to mobilize troops, and the German and Turkish troops use large-scale troops there.
It is unlikely. Under the current circumstances, I think other battlefields must seize the time. The chairman called and said that the Indian Ocean war will be launched soon. In the future, the material allocation in our theater will definitely be affected to a certain extent. After all, Central and South China will be affected.
It is too far to transport food and ammunition to the peninsula. We cannot afford to consume it if the war continues for a long time. It is best to win the war quickly and completely destroy the confidence of the Germans!"
"Lao Wu did a good job indeed, but the Germans are also considered to be very competitive!"
Yin Jinan woke up from his meditation, praised Wu Liheng with a smile, pulled Zhang Chengzhu aside, and asked quietly: "The Germans are much more tenacious than we thought. Logically speaking, the German troops in these plateau areas should
How could it be so difficult to retreat to the central and western regions of Turkey in time? Lao Wu's troops have sacrificed more than 2,000 people so far, but before that we were prepared to take over undefended cities!
"I heard that our foreign affairs department is conducting secret negotiations with the Germans and has initially reached many agreements. Why is the German army still resisting so fiercely? Whether it is Turkey or in the Middle East, we have fought all the way. There is no
What a bargain! We lifted the radio blockade as early as early January, and the German troops everywhere should have received orders from their superiors!"
"There is indeed something strange!"
Zhang Chengzhu touched his chin with his hand, thought for a while, and then said in an uncertain tone: "I guess the conditions have not been negotiated yet, and the Germans want to be tough so that their diplomats can take some initiative! And we
There is certainly no special emphasis on letting the Germans retreat without a fight. Now that foreign reporters are gathering in the Middle East, if they know that we are making deals with the Germans, it will definitely cause an uproar and trigger public criticism!
"In the end, neither the Germans nor we want to dampen the sentiments of our allies. We can only act as naturally as possible on the battlefield to avoid arousing suspicion from the outside world... When the front reaches the ceasefire line agreed upon by both parties, it is expected that
There will be new orders coming!"
Yin Jinan pondered for a moment, then understood something immediately, and smiled faintly: "There is another aspect. Although we have publicly promised not to enter Europe, the Germans can't figure out whether we are sending smoke, so they can only let the troops resist as much as possible in order to
Slow down our progress and gain enough time for the formation of new troops and the layout of the front. "In addition, we also need to make a fuss on the Western Front to seek sufficient benefits for the country and the nation! For example, the eldest brother personally called us
, we want our offensive on the Western Front to be more violent and draw the world's attention to the Middle East. Now our various fronts have become very powerful. Today, Yang Jiuxiao's cluster launched a strong attack on the Bahce Pass. I think
It should have achieved its goal!”
Zhang Chengzhu nodded and said: "From what the Military Commission and the General Staff revealed, the war on Ceylon Island should be in the next two days. Something must have happened there, and I don't want people to notice it, so there is this
Vague orders and..."
"Good news!"
Major General Ding Jiahu, chief of the operations department, hurried into the room with a telegram, strode up to Yin Jinan and Zhang Chengzhu, and reported: "Commander, political commissar, and Yang Jiuxiao have sent good news. They started attacking at six o'clock in the morning.
After four and a half hours of continuous fighting, at the cost of more than 500 casualties, the Bahce Pass defense line, which was praised by the Germans as an 'insurmountable natural danger,' was captured in one fell swoop. Walgen von Hastein, commander of the German 49th Infantry Division,
Since the major general led more than 6,000 remaining troops to surrender to us, the channel for our army to enter the Seyhan River plain has been opened."
"Not necessarily good news!"
Yin Jinan had a serious look on his face. He took the telegram and read it before handing it to Zhang Chengzhu: "The battle was quite good, but we have taken down this natural danger so easily. What else can we use to attract the attention of other countries in the future? How can we achieve the goal of Big Brother?"
Entrustment?"
Zhang Chengzhu hurriedly surveyed, and finally said to Yin Jinan with a smile, "You should be praised or you should be shackles... Yang Jiuxiao and the others performed very dazzlingly this time, wow, in four and a half hours they praised the Germans as a defense line that can hold on for at least a month."
Breakdown, I think this performance is enough to deter all those who question the strength of our military. If the Germans want to avoid a greater failure, they must take the initiative to give up something!
"Furthermore, reporters from various countries will definitely be curious about how quickly we took down this 20 to 30-kilometer-long defense line. Let's just invite people over with great fanfare, give a good publicity to our officers and soldiers, and also
We have advanced weapons and miscellaneous equipment. I heard that the Americans are already trial-producing helicopters. I think it is time to sell our Type 4 and Type 2 helicopters to foreign countries. After all, between mature technology and currently developed technology, rational people
Everyone knows how to make trade-offs, which can play a role in defeating the scientific research power of Americans!
"As long as we stir up a wave of public opinion, it will not be difficult to attract attention!"
Yin Jinan ordered Ding Jiahu to forward Yang Jiuxiao's victory telegram to the Military Commission and the General Staff, and then said to Zhang Chengzhu: "We must publicize it well and do everything we can to create an impression to countries around the world that our powerful army cannot match! I think the world
Political dignitaries and military experts from various countries will definitely come to West Asia one after another, so not many people will pay attention to our military's actions in other directions!"
While talking, the two returned to the map. Chief of Staff Li Jun also finished reading the telegram at this time, with a smile on his face. He briefly discussed the situation on the lower center line with Yin and Zhang, then continued to pick up the baton and pointed to the area.
The northwest corner above: "Yesterday afternoon, the German 20th Motorized Division retreated to Port Said in embarrassment under continuous harassment by our air force. It is estimated that the entire retreat lost at least one-third of its troops. In addition, the German army
Troops deployed on the east coast of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez also withdrew through the Suez Canal during this period. Now Hijaz and the Sinai Peninsula are in a vacuum, and mobs have broken out, smashed, looted and burned in some areas.
"The Allied forces, whose forces were shrinking in Aden and nearby areas in Yemen, were actively moving north, but were attacked by Arab tribal armed forces armed by the German army. Fierce fighting broke out in cities such as Jeddah and Yanbu. Stationed in the Persian Gulf
The garrison headquarters along the coast called to inquire about our position."
Yin Jinan waved his hand: "We do not take any position on this. Today, the Arabian Peninsula already has the Sultanate of Oman, the Kingdom of Najd, the Kingdom of Riyadh, the Kingdom of Rub Al Khali and the Kingdom of West Jaz, while the east coast of the Red Sea is under planning
In the Hejaz Kingdom, we will only send troops when these countries are invaded by the Axis powers and seek assistance. We should not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries."
Zhang Chengzhu put it more directly: "The Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East have complex ethnic groups. Due to our close cooperative relationship with the Jews, hundreds of suicide attacks have occurred so far. Such crazy actions are unprecedented in the history of our military.
I only experienced this when I was in Myanmar! Facts have proved that hatred between ethnic groups is the most difficult to resolve, so we don’t have to get involved too deeply, we just need to control our territory.”
"Report!"
Colonel Jiang Yunhe of the Communications Department walked up to the three of them: "The Third Route Army successfully captured Tel Aviv, which was heavily guarded by German troops, half an hour ago, and with the cooperation of the Air Force, sank four transport ships that had not yet been evacuated.
"
“What a lot of good news today!”
Yin Jinan was very happy: "It seems that our estimate of resolving the war in West Asia before the end of April is too conservative. According to the current progress, the tasks assigned by the Military Commission and the General Staff can be completed by the end of next month at most.