Chapter six hundred and ninety fourth exchange space for time
On November 11, Beijing, Xinhua Palace. The fierce battle between the Chinese and British and French forces in the Saudi Kingdom has been going on for a week. Tonight, Wang Yuze summoned important officials from the cabinet and military to discuss the current situation.
"In the desert of the Saudi Kingdom, our brave soldiers are fighting fiercely with the British and French coalition forces. Although we are at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, we have advantages that the British and French coalition forces do not have. The final victory must belong to us! Below, the Chief of Staff will introduce the latest battlefield situation to you!" Wang Yuze's words revealed that we must be firmly confident. In this battle with the British and French coalition forces, China will not lose, nor will it lose. Otherwise, all previous efforts will be in vain. Moreover, the ownership of the Middle East is related to China's future. China must do everything possible to win the victory of this war.
After the Chief of Staff Xiong Wu saluted Wang Yuze, he said: "The battlefield between the Imperial Army and the British and French coalition forces is mainly at two places, one at sea. At present, the main force of the Imperial Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet confronts the British and French navies in the Mande Strait. Now, the channel of the Mande Strait has been completely blocked and no ship can pass through here. However, the navies on both sides are still relatively restrained, and the current location has not changed the status quo!" In fact, it is not that the Chinese navy does not want to change this status quo, but is powerless. The British and French navies gathered six ships north of the Mande Strait.
The new battleships, all the main guns, are aimed at the main channel. Once the Chinese Navy's battleships enter it, they will be besieged, and no battleship can resist it. Similarly, the two "Qin-class" battleships and two "Chinese-class" battleships of the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet also blocked the main channel of the Mande Strait from the south. Although the four battleships only have 32 305mm main guns, no battleship in the British and French navies can resist it with such dense firepower. Therefore, the navies on both sides entered a stalemate stage across the Mande Strait, and no one can do anything to anyone!
"The other battlefield is the land battlefield in the western part of the Saudi Kingdom. At present, the British and French coalition forces are on the offensive and our army is on the defensive. Especially in the Medina battlefield, the British and French coalition forces have invested 100,000 people, and we fought very hard. However, under the tenacious resistance of the soldiers, the British and French coalition forces suffered heavy losses. Nearly half of the casualties have been killed or killed, but they are still unable to occupy Medina. Most of the Medina city is under the control of the imperial army. In the battle in Medina, the Saudi Kingdom's army and civilians also showed extraordinary courage. Although they have weak combat power, they are very brave and dare to die with the British and French coalition forces. Based on these factors, although the situation in Medina is relatively critical, our army should not have too many problems in defending Medina!" said Xiong Wu, Chief of the General Staff.
"Mr. Xiong, I wonder how many casualties our army has?" Cabinet Prime Minister Yang Hua asked. The British and French coalition forces lost nearly half of them, so I'm afraid the Chinese army will suffer a lot! Although the Chinese army is stronger than the British and French coalition forces, it is also limited in strength.
"So far, the latest battle report shows that the 15th Division of the Army and the 8th Division of the Marine Corps stationed in Medina have suffered more than 8,000 casualties, of which more than 2,100 people have been killed and more than 1,800 seriously injured." Chief of General Staff Xiong Wu said. However, the casualties of the army and civilians of the Saudi Kingdom were not included. According to incomplete statistics, more than half of the two divisions of the Saudi Kingdom have suffered losses, and the Saudi civilians in Medina have suffered heavy losses.
The ratio of almost one to six is quite satisfactory to everyone. After all, Britain and France are one of the old powerful countries, and it is still very difficult for the Chinese army to fight more than one to ten.
"Mr. Xiong, we only have eight divisions in the Saudi Kingdom, which is almost one-third of the British and French coalition forces. Why can't we send more troops to the Saudi Kingdom?" Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang asked. If there were enough troops sent to the Saudi Kingdom, the troops would not have fallen into a tough battle.
"Working in the Middle East, due to climate and geographical environment, we cannot send too many troops, otherwise logistics supplies will crush us. In order to maintain the battle of eight divisions on the front line, the Saudi Kingdom has organized a transportation team of 300,000 people. If another army is sent, the transportation team will have to double!" Chief of General Staff Xiong Wu said with a wry smile.
After hearing this explanation, everyone nodded in agreement. Modern warfare is a battle of logistics, especially after the Chinese army is equipped with a large number of heavy weapons, the requirements for logistics are even more serious. If the logistics cannot be guaranteed to be smooth, even if there are many troops sent, they will die.
"Then why can the British and French forces gather hundreds of thousands of troops in the Middle East? Is their logistical pressure not great?" Some people also raised this question. The equipment of the Chinese army and the British and French forces is similar. Since the Chinese army has heavy logistics pressure, the British and French forces should be the same! But the result now is that the British and French forces have already gathered an army of about 500,000 in the Middle East.
"British and France are further away from the Middle East. For example, France starts from the port in southern France and only needs to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Egypt is a British colony, and they can get great help. The distance from the empire to the Middle East is thousands of miles, which is even more difficult. In addition, the battlefield of the Saudi Kingdom is now mainly concentrated in the western part of the Saudi Kingdom, which is close to the Red Sea. The entire Red Sea is under the control of the British and French navies. Their logistics supply line is much closer than that of us." Chief of General Staff Xiong Wu replied.
"The reason why the British and French navies blocked the Mande Strait first and prevented us from entering was to shorten their logistics supply lines. However, the navy is currently unable to break through the blockade of the British and French navies and enter the Red Sea area!" Navy Secretary Zhang Cheng's face was a little unnatural. Although the navy was not established for a long time, it had achieved countless huge victories. The Imperial Navy has also become a world-class navy. But unexpectedly, this time it was fooled by the British and French navies.
"So, how should we face the current situation?" Wang Yuze spoke. He didn't value the process, what he valued was the result!
"Your Majesty, the war in the Saudi Kingdom is very unfavorable to us. Although the attack of the British and French coalition forces has been blocked by us, overall, their advantages in military strength and logistics allow them to increase troops and launch attacks on us unscrupulously. If this continues, even if we can persist, we will pay a heavy price!" Xiong Wu said.
Wang Yuze nodded and signaled Xiong Wu to continue talking.
"After discussion, the General Staff decided to give up the western region of the Saudi Kingdom and transfer the battlefield to the central region of the Saudi Kingdom. In this way, our logistics supply line will be shortened, and the logistics supply line of the British and French coalition forces will be extended. The British and French coalition forces have huge forces, and once the logistics supply line is extended, it will put a lot of pressure on them. As long as we continue to persevere, we can drag them to death even if we drag them!" said Xiong Wu, chief of staff.
"Is this considered exchanging space for time?" Wang Yuze said. In the later War of Resistance Against Japan, wasn't the Kuomintang army doing this in the face of Japan's attack? Although the Japanese army won a huge victory in the early stage, as the front line was lengthened and its troops were dispersed, did not fail in the end?
"That's what we mean! We use a temporary retreat to get rid of our current disadvantage and buy time for the counterattack!" Xiong Wu said.
"Then act according to the plan of the General Staff! However, the General Staff also needs to start planning a counterattack. This war cannot be delayed for too long. It would be great if it could end before the end of the year!" Wang Yuze said. The empire is developing rapidly now, and the outbreak of war will have more or less impact on the empire's economy. If the war can be ended before the end of the year, it will not have an excessive impact on China.
"Yes, Your Majesty, the General Staff is already planning a counterattack. If it goes well, it will start to be implemented at the end of the month!" said Xiong Wu, Chief of the General Staff. In the plan of the General Staff, to implement a counterattack and completely defeat the British and French coalition forces, first of all, you need to severely destroy the British and French navies, gain sea control in the Red Sea and even the eastern Mediterranean region, and then encircle and annihilate the British and French coalition forces gathered in the Middle East. If it succeeds, Britain and France will no longer have the strength to continue fighting, and can only admit that China has entered the Middle East.
Next, the Chinese General Staff issued an order to retreat to the troops stationed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Chinese troops gathered in the northwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will retreat eastward to the Hayle area, and the Chinese troops in the Medina area will retreat to Breedy in the Gaisim area. The Chinese troops stationed in Mecca in the south will retreat to Riyadh and transfer the battlefield from the western part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the central part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In this way, the front line of the British and French coalition forces will be lengthened and their logistics supply lines will become extremely fragile. At that time, it will be time for the Chinese army to counterattack.
On November 12, the fierce battle in Medina continued, but the British and French forces, which had suffered heavy losses, were no longer able to launch a large-scale battle, and their siege of Medina became full of loopholes. The Chinese army and the Saudi kingdom's army were no longer weaker than the British and French forces in terms of military strength. If it were not for the purpose of avoiding casualties, they could launch a large-scale counterattack against the British and French forces and drive them out of Medina. However, in this way, they would suffer a large casualties. If they continue to stick to it, they could benefit the construction of good fortifications and kill the biological forces of the British and French forces as much as possible! (To be continued. Please search for astronomy, the novel is better and faster!)