Great time travel

Chapter 7, World of Conflict: The King of Curry Ocean

The hot Curry Ocean all year round, um, no, it is the northern part of the Indian Ocean, the east side of the Arabian Sea, a natural deep-water harbor, Mumbai
——The word "Mumbai" comes from the Portuguese "Bom Bahia", which means "beautiful bay".Originally a Portuguese colony, it was later given to the United Kingdom as a dowry of a Portuguese princess.After hundreds of years of operation, Mumbai Port facing the Arabian Sea has become the largest seaport city on the west coast of India, an important trade distribution center, and a key bridgehead for the British colonists to maintain their rule over India.

However, Mumbai at this time has completely lost its bustling and prosperous past, and is covered by mountains of corpses, blood and smoke of war.

When the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean were full of wars, the South Asian subcontinent located in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the ancient country India with a long history, was also engaged in a vigorous war of national liberation.Although the choice of its combat targets and allies seems to run counter to the main theme of the "anti-fascist war" of World War II, no one can deny the justice of the Indians' struggle for national liberation and national independence.

After three years of chaotic wars, the Indian colonial empire that the British gentlemen had painstakingly managed had basically collapsed.From Peshawar, which is adjacent to Afghanistan, to Assam, which is rich in black tea, and Calcutta, which guards the mouth of the Ganges River, Mizi flags are falling one after another.

However, India, "the most splendid diamond in Queen Victoria's crown", is of great significance to the British Empire.

There are not only economic considerations, but also political significance—without India, there would be no British Empire!

You must know that the reason why the British kings at this time were able to call themselves emperors, not just kings, was because they had the title of "Emperor of India" looted from the Mughal Dynasty.Once India is lost, the emperor's title will also go with him, and he can only be reduced to a king again.

Although the territory actually controlled is getting smaller and smaller, and the Indian soldiers under him continue to mutiny and turn against each other, but the Indian governor, Indian vice-king and commander-in-chief of the Indian British army who guarded this rich colony for the British king once beat the Italians in North Africa. Marshal Archibald Wavell, who almost died and was beaten half to death by the German African Army led by Rommel the Desert Fox, was never discouraged by adversity, let alone succumbed to fate.

Relying on the intermittent maritime assistance obtained from the Port of Mumbai, the solid fortifications and years of operation in the capital Delhi, and the use of internal conflicts among various Indian rebels, the tens of thousands of British troops stationed in India under the command of Marshal Wavell have been Struggling and fighting in this kind of adversity like a stormy sea, just like when encountering the Indian national uprising nearly a hundred years ago, he gritted his teeth and fought endlessly with the rebels who swarmed from all directions.

As a matter of course, Mumbai Port, which still hangs the Union Jack flag, has also become a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh of the Indian insurgents...

——Because the towering Himalayas block the rich water vapor from the Indian Ocean, forcing them to not enter the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, they can only turn into heavy rain before that, making India one of the regions with the largest precipitation in the world.Right now is the rainy season in India, and it coincides with a tropical storm quietly approaching.Therefore, the port city of Mumbai at this time is being shrouded in a torrential rain.

The streets of the city were knee-deep in water, and the sea was cloudy and turbulent as high tides clogged the drainage system.

However, even the torrential rain that overwhelms the sky and overwhelms the sky, cannot extinguish the "passion" of human beings to fight and destroy each other.

On the land on the outskirts of Mumbai Port, the sound of rumbling guns, rattling machine guns and thunder was intertwined. Thousands of Indian National Army soldiers in yellow-green uniforms and turbans were fighting with soldiers in desert camouflage. The British army, who had just come from the Middle East for emergency reinforcements, fought desperately. The two sides fought fiercely one trench after another.

Although the Indian National Army has never been able to break through the core fortifications of the British army, it has also cut off the land connection between the Mumbai defenders and the remnants of British India. The terrain is somewhat similar to that of Macau or Xiamen. Mumbai was originally a city not far from the mainland. After continuous dredging and filling, it became a peninsula, and was connected to the mainland by bridges and long embankments.Therefore, when the enemy's army is overwhelming, the land passage between the city and the outside world is easily cut off.However, the British army had already prepared for this, and pre-set up positions and fortifications on the land passages of the city, preparing to let the Indian rebels bleed dry.

But the problem lies in the sea behind them-at this time, the command of the sea in the Indian Ocean no longer belongs to the British Empire.

Therefore, for the port city of Mumbai, a more deadly blow has been quietly inserted from the sea behind them!

——Although the ocean in the Arabian Sea was already full of turbulent waves and heavy rain, the three Japanese super battleships Musashi, Mino, and Shinano flying the Rising Sun flag were completely fearless. Walking steadily, while slowly turning the turret... Then, the 460mm caliber cannon spewed out a long dazzling flame and spit out a steel projectile weighing nearly one ton.The deadly shells drew an arc trajectory in the air, and fell on the urban area and fortifications of Mumbai, immediately shooting up clusters of dazzling flames.A full minute later, the sound of rumbling explosions came from the shore.

The sound of rumbling guns reverberated across the Arabian Sea, and even the torrential rain could not extinguish the continuous flames in downtown Mumbai.Every time a shell hits, it can blow up a huge crater at least half the size of a football field.British merchant ships, ammunition depots, and oil depots caught fire and exploded one after another. Facing Mumbai Bay, the India Gate, a 46-meter-high landscape building, also collapsed under shelling.

Under normal circumstances, the British army had already dispatched all the bombers and torpedo planes on hand to expel the Japanese warships at all costs.However, in this severe weather of heavy rain and thunderstorms, it is difficult for ground planes to take off, and the field airports outside the city have long been captured by the Indian National Army.As for the urban airport behind the line of defense, it was the first wave of Japanese battleships' key bombardment targets.At this moment, the sky was already scorched by smoke and flames, and the waves of fire danced wildly. The pilots running around looked like beetles on a hot iron plate, or like paper dolls caught in a typhoon, blown to more than ten meters by the scorching air waves Height, and then suddenly smashed into a meat paste.The planes that did not have time to take off were like dragonflies made of wax, melting away rapidly.

Under the attack of land and sea, the British army, which was already at an absolute disadvantage in strength, began to find it difficult to sustain.The mobile forces and ammunition supplies that were urgently dispatched on various fronts were bombarded by the ship's artillery.Most of the City Defense Command was destroyed by the aftermath of a high-explosive bomb. Although it was not completely destroyed, it also lost contact with the front line because the telephone line was blown... Citizens ran around like headless chickens, or hid Into the cellar shivering.

But even though the situation was so desperate, the gentlemen in England did not choose to give in—in the roaring storm, ten PT torpedo boats aided by the United States rushed out of the port with infinite tragedy, like boy scouts challenging giants, Desperately pounced on the huge battleship!

The overlord of the seven oceans, the empire on which the sun never sets, now has only so little sea power left on the Indian subcontinent.

However, "when you see the enemy, you must fight" is the creed that the Royal Navy of the British Empire has persisted in for hundreds of years and has been engraved in its bones.Now it is no longer meeting the enemy, but the enemy has already attacked the door of the house, no, it has already entered the house, and there is no longer any excuse not to avoid the battle.

However, despite the bravery of the British torpedo boat formation, it could not change the desperate balance of strength-they were spotted by the Japanese naval sentinels almost as soon as they were dispatched, and then a sharp alarm was sounded, and the destroyers guarding the battleship rushed to attack the battleship. Stepping forward to meet... After a short melee, only half of the British torpedo boats had time to launch torpedoes, and none of them hit.Nine of the ten torpedo boats that attacked sank, and one drifted to the beach controlled by the Indian National Army after the engine failed and was captured by the long-awaited opponent.

With the destruction of the British torpedo boat formation, the Japanese bombardment fleet approached the coastline more arrogantly, using all the artillery of the entire fleet, except for the anti-aircraft artillery, almost all of them crazily pouring firepower towards the urban area of ​​Mumbai.In a very short period of time, the coastal fortifications and munitions warehouses of the British army were devastated, and the core urban area was also blown up like the surface of the moon. There were serial explosions everywhere, and the scene was very spectacular...

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"...This is really... what a spectacular sight! The legendary weapon of the final battle!"

Behind the Japanese bombardment formation on the other side, on a [-]-ton fast armed merchant ship, Chandra Bose, chairman of the Indian National Congress, held high-powered binoculars with both hands, and greedily looked at the three Yamato-class battleships and more than [-] ships. Cruisers, destroyers, the magnificent scene of bombarding Mumbai together.

In particular, the three [-]-ton steel behemoths made Chairman Boss' eyes shine and he couldn't take his eyes off them.

Japan's Yamato-class battleships, especially the No. [-] ship Yamato, which is the flagship of the United Fleet, have given the Allied Forces nightmares for four consecutive years.

At the beginning of the Pacific War, during the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the battleship Yamato made an extremely brave single-ship assault, almost completely annihilating the US aircraft carrier fleet cruising outside the port, forcing the last remaining aircraft carrier Enterprise to rush to the beach. Stranded, almost scrapped.

In the following battles of the Philippines, Singapore, New Guinea and Australia, Yamato and the battleship Musashi, which was later in service, all performed well.Whenever the figure of the Yamato-class battleship appears on the sea level, it means that some unlucky ships or cities will be turned into flames.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet, which does not believe in evil, is gearing up for revenge after the crazy ship exploded and regained its strength.Unexpectedly, in the first Nouméa naval battle in 1943, the battleship Yamato was forced into the aircraft carrier group, and then there was a massacre like a hungry wolf.Four self-proclaimed cutting-edge U.S. Iowa-class battleships rushed to the rescue, but were also torn to pieces by the Japanese battleships.In the end, all the large ships were destroyed, and only a few cruisers and destroyers escaped from the battlefield.Following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the flesh and blood of the US Pacific Fleet was once again wiped out.

In the second Nouméa naval battle in 1944, the Americans invested in Montana-class battleships with larger tonnage and thicker barrels, as well as a larger number of aircraft carriers, and finally brought in the British allies. All the sea essence of the Allied Forces was destroyed in an attempt to accomplish all their achievements in one battle, but the result was nothing but a nightmare—although several old battleships of the Japanese army were sunk, including the old flagship of the United Fleet, the Nagato, but the Yamato No. and Musashi have nothing to do.The overwhelming bomber fleet tickled them, the direct hits of the battleship shells only wiped off a little paint, and the desperate British battleships even rammed, but it was useless.After the destruction of the Allied battleships, the two Yamato-class battleships caught up with the retreating US aircraft carrier formation at an unimaginable high speed of 42 knots, and started the massacre again... Within one day and one night, six navies from the United States and Britain A major general and a vice admiral died in battle, and President Roosevelt, who got the news, almost had a heart attack in the White House.

So far, the U.S. Pacific Fleet has been wiped out for the third time, and it has not recovered its courage until now, and the British Royal Navy has shed tears to bid farewell to the Pacific Ocean.

Today, even in the Indian Ocean, the British Royal Navy, which has just suffered two Soviet atomic bombs, is simply unable to confront these giant steel ships that seem to be favored by the god of war, and can only sit back and watch the final fall of the Indian colony.

Such giant cannons, so domineering... As early as the first time I saw them, Chandra Bose was fascinated by them.

"...Such a majestic giant steel ship is the symbol of a truly powerful country! Rather than saying it is a masterpiece of the God of War, it is better to say it is a masterpiece of the God of Industry... Unfortunately, only the most powerful industrial country can have it, and Today's India... hey!"

Thinking of Gandhi, the old bone who was shaking the hand spinning wheel, he was still chattering all day long in Calcutta, declaring that he wanted to "de-industrialize", "return to the traditional and peaceful pastoral life of the Indians", and "let everything go back to the state before the arrival of the British", Boss couldn't help but feel depressed... What era is it now?Even if you want to give up industry, modern technology, and return to the pastoral life, will the imperialist powers agree?
Helplessly, in India, where there are many states, the ideological trend of echoing Gandhi's "environmental protection theory" is extremely strong, which makes Boss very troublesome.

In fact, although Chandra Bose took advantage of the Japanese army's east wind to "return the king", he once again became the chairman of the Congress Party.However, there are still many veterans in the party, and his power as chairman is not stable.The most prestigious Gandhi has been sitting in Calcutta in the past few years, based on the densely populated Ganges Delta, and with the anti-modernization theory of "de-industrialization" and "returning to yesterday", he has won over a large number of feudal rulers. From the very beginning, it showed a trend of being too big to lose.Nehru was entrenched in the middle reaches of the Ganges River and controlled a huge and heavy army group to confront the British army in Delhi.

And Chandra Bose, who led the "Indian National Army" to land in southwestern India and based in Goa Port, is the weakest of the three parties. In order to get away from Gandhi and Nehru, Bose We had to try to form an alliance with Mr. Jinnah, the chairman of the Muslim League who is entrenched in Karachi, and persuade him to temporarily put aside the idea of ​​establishing a "halal country"-Pakistan, and take the struggle for the independence of the entire India and liberation from the colonists as the immediate priority of the Muslim League. Restart cooperation with the Congress Party, specifically Bose's faction.Therefore, relying on the solidarity and cooperation with the Muslim League and the assistance of Japan, Boss has assembled eleven divisions and several affiliated troops near the port of Mumbai, with a total of nearly 20 people, and the assistance of the Japanese naval fleet.And the British defenders on the opposite side can't exceed 2 people at most... If he doesn't win again, he will be ashamed as the chairman.

Fortunately, the worst did not happen after all, and the current battle of Mumbai is a certainty.Next, it is to go north to compete with Nehru for Delhi.However, before that, there is one more thing that needs to be arranged... As he thought so, he turned and looked at the girl sitting behind him.

This is a girl with a very distinctive appearance, with a rather beautiful face, wild wheat-colored skin, and gray-white hair sticking out on both sides, but she doesn't have that prematurely decaying sense of decadence.What is more eye-catching is the pair of wobbly huge breasts...

In the words of later generations, she looks like a dynamic, athletic carnivorous lady who haunts a tropical beach.

According to Indian aesthetics, this is also a very coveted beauty.

Even though Boss didn't think he was a womanizer, he still couldn't help swallowing a few mouthfuls of saliva when he saw this young girl.

But he didn't dare to show his sensual expression on his face, because he was "very clear" about the "true identity" of the girl on the opposite side - the personal representative sent by Marshal Yamamoto 56, commander of the Joint Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, to the front line of the Indian Ocean. , probably still his illegitimate daughter.

At this time, she was talking eloquently: "...As promised before, the United Fleet has provided you with maximum fire support. There are also 200 rifles, [-] grenadiers, [-] A radio station and [-] million rounds of ammunition have also been unloaded at the Goa port..."

"...Thank you very much for Marshal Yamamoto's support." According to the Japanese custom, Chairman Boss bowed his head, and then took out a fresh stack of banknotes from his suitcase, "...Miss Musashi, according to the pattern requested by Marshal, The new Indian rupee banknotes after the founding of independence have been printed and will be put on the market starting today. In addition to Goa, they will also be circulated in Kolkata, Dhaka, Karachi and other places..."

Then, looking at the majestic and majestic appearance of the Yamato-class battleship on the banknote, the wheat-skinned Miss Musashi showed a pleasant smile.

Speaking of which, in previous contacts, Boss always felt that the people in the Japanese Navy were a little nervous and not serious.The biggest feature is that they seem to like fame very, very much—of course, as long as they are people, there are basically few people who don't like fame.But the people in the Japanese navy didn't seem to pay much attention to their own reputation, but they especially liked to make their warships famous, which caused Boss one embarrassing problem after another.

In the past cooperation, the Japanese navy first asked Boss to mobilize the Indians under his command to offer models of Japanese warships in the shrines of each family, praying that the combined fleet would smash the American and British monsters and prevent the British colonists from making a comeback.So Boss pinched his nose and apportioned this matter as a political task. Although the people below were embarrassing, they probably thought it would be nice to get a toy warship model for free, so they made do with it.

Next, the Combined Fleet posed a bigger problem to Boss—hoping to enshrine the model of the warship in a temple in India!This kind of thing is not enough for the face of Boss, the chairman of the National Congress Party. After all, those Brahmin priests are very arrogant, and they didn't even listen to the words of the British in the past.In the end, Boss had no choice but to build a memorial hall in the city of Goa, displaying models of warships of the Japanese Combined Fleet for people to visit, barely fooling the past.

Recently, Marshal Yamamoto 56 sent a message again, hoping that all the patterns of Indian banknotes and stamps will use the famous ships of the Japanese Navy... So this batch of Indian rupee banknotes nicknamed "warship coins" was freshly released... Although it seems a bit humiliating, at least he was not asked to directly print the head of the Japanese emperor on it, and Boss felt that warships were dead anyway, and he only needed to say a few words, "This is to emphasize the development of the navy to the people. Importance, India will also have a strong naval fleet in the future", and it will probably be able to explain the past to the country.

As a revolutionary who had traveled all over the world in Germany, the Soviet Union, and Japan seeking foreign aid, Boss knew very well what it means to be flexible.

Compared with this insignificant face, Boss values ​​actual interests more.Seeing that the young lady in front of me seemed to be in a good mood at this time, he tentatively asked, "...can the artillery support of your fleet really only last for two days? Although our army is making good progress, the weather is really bad after all. It is still unknown whether it will be able to break into the center of Mumbai. Could you ask your fleet to stay in the nearby waters for a while longer?"

"...The main force of this fleet can bombard the opposite shore for two consecutive days in Mumbai Port, and provide fire support to your army, that is already the limit, Mr. Boss."

Miss Musashi, with wheat-colored skin, put down the new banknotes in her hand, and uttered news that made Boss feel mixed. The attempt of a decisive battle. Therefore, after carrying out the mission of bombarding Mumbai, the fleet will leave the Indian Ocean and return east to the anchorage of Truk to prepare for the next decisive battle against the United States. The garrison will also be withdrawn one after another. And the affairs of India will be entrusted to the friendly people headed by you..."