SFS Chapter 224: The Gold of Sindhu
Chapter 224: The Gold of Sindhu
Not long ago, at a position just a dozen kilometers away from Imphal, the noise of fighting tore through the silence of the mountains and forests.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The grenades launched by the Japanese grenade launchers exploded continuously in the attacking team of John's people. Black smoke columns shot straight into the sky and fragments flew everywhere.
"Boom!"
Even louder explosions were heard, and the Type 92 infantry gun and Type 41 mountain gun also joined the symphony of artillery fire.
In the chaos, the broken body of a white second lieutenant was thrown into the air by the explosion, and then fell heavily to the ground, with blood splattered all around.
As soon as he fell, the remaining Sindhu soldiers around him immediately fled in all directions screaming like frightened birds.
The Japs were already familiar with this kind of scene. They stared at the slightly dazzling white officers with cold eyes, cunningly picking them as targets to shoot.
Accompanied by a few short gunshots, several more white grassroots officers fell, and the attack launched by John's people quickly collapsed.
Without infantry cover, several isolated John tanks were exposed to the Japanese's sight.
While their European counterparts were already using Churchill heavy tanks, Cromwell medium tanks, and Eagle Aid Sherman tanks, these John armored soldiers of Pegu were still using Matilda and Valentine tanks.
Although they were still able to hold their own against the Japanese Type 97 and Type 89 tanks, they naturally became the target of public criticism when all the soldiers covering them were defeated.
After several battles with the armored forces led by Zhang Chi, the Japanese had to strengthen their infantry anti-tank training.
At this moment, they skillfully played this "experience advantage".
Several Japanese soldiers, armed with explosive packs and anti-tank mines, quietly approached the lone Matilda tank under the cover of their comrades.
The ambushed Type 99 light machine gunners fired frantically at the Matilda, trying to attract the attention of John tank and create opportunities for the approaching Japanese soldiers.
"What a black card! Onboard!"
As the Japanese shouted, explosive packs were thrown onto the tank's engine hood and magnetic anti-tank mines were attached to the relatively fragile side armor of the tank.
The deafening sound of explosions continued one after another.
The armored shell was torn apart, and smoke mixed with metal fragments flew everywhere.
Inside the Matilda tank No. 917, Sergeant Worster, who was sitting in the gunner's seat, had no time to react.
His abdomen was pierced by the hot metal stream shot out by the Japanese armor-piercing charge, and the pain of the burn was like a raging fire burning his heart.
He covered his abdomen and groaned, blood gushing out from the corners of his mouth, staining the inside of the turret red.
He tried hard to open his eyes, but his vision gradually became blurred, and his heavy eyelids could no longer be lifted.
This young man from Edinburgh, who would later participate in a prisoner-of-war camp sports meet due to his involvement in the Peninsular War, closed his eyes forever.
No one could have imagined that the time traveler Zhang Chi, like a butterfly, would flap his wings and blow away his future.
No matter how sturdy the tanks were, they could not withstand the close-range "anti-tank gymnastics" of the Japanese infantry. The 9th Royal Tank Battalion, which launched a hasty attack, suffered heavy losses and retreated back to the city.
----
In the spacious mahogany reception room, the atmosphere was as oppressive as the low clouds before a storm.
"That's an order! Let Stener attack is an order!" The angry lord roared after driving away most people.
The angry lord swung the scepter in his hand violently, smashing an exquisite porcelain vase into pieces, with fragments flying everywhere.
His face flushed red with anger, his voice hoarse and furious: "If I can't launch a counterattack to slow down the Japanese offensive, how will I have time to mobilize reinforcements for the 4th Army?!"
There was silence all around. The few remaining confidants looked at each other, and no one dared to speak. Only his own roar echoed in the room.
The map on the luxurious round table had been marked repeatedly by the commanders, and the edges of the paper were slightly curled, as if it was also under tremendous pressure.
"A good-for-nothing, a coward, a villain who is disloyal to the king!" the lord cursed angrily.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand, but still couldn't calm his inner anxiety.
The situation is extremely critical, and my lord, he must find a glimmer of hope in this tension.
Imphal was caught between two opposing forces, the 15th Army, the nearest reinforcement, was still in the Rakhine region 300 miles away, and it would take three weeks to arrive by ground.
With only 6000 defeated soldiers, Imphal can hold out for another three weeks facing the siege of three Japanese infantry divisions plus several independent heavy artillery regiments and tank regiments?
Even the lord himself didn't believe this nonsense.
"Tell Stevenson and the Qian people that if the Japanese take Imphal, they will never stop. Then the Stevenson Highway will be lost, and the aid to the Qian people will be gone."
Once Imphal is lost, the Japanese can head south to Chittagong.
Mutaguchi Ren'ya's advance with cattle and sheep has shown his determination to "suffer from the enemy for food". By then, this entire rich plain area will be ravaged by the Japanese.
In addition, the Japanese had the card of Boss in their hands, and under the banner of "Independent Sindhu", they called on the people of Sindhu to rise up and resist the rule of the John people.
At this time, the lord almost shouted: "For the sake of XX, I will help my brother."
-----
"Let Mutaguchi Ren'ya run 100km first." Faced with the requests for battle from various units, Zhang Chi did not approve them to take the opportunity to launch a large-scale attack.
Instead, he asked his subordinates to continue to carry out small-scale harassment with "cold guns and cold cannons" to continue to paralyze the Japanese, so that Mutaguchi Renya could boldly go deep into the territory of Shentu.
It is said that one can fish in troubled waters. Since Zhang Chi wanted the gold of Sindhu, he naturally had to make the war more intense.
The Japs are not here to do charity. If Boss wants the Japs to help him achieve independence for the people of Sindhu, he has to pay real money, right?
"It is said that the Brahmins and Kshatriyas of Sindhu have had the custom of wearing gold since ancient times. In addition to the accumulation in various temples, there must be hundreds or thousands of tons of gold, even if there are not thousands or tens of thousands of tons." Zhang Chi crossed his legs and looked at his secretary Zhang Guangsong calmly.
"It's a good opportunity to let Mutaguchi help us collect this gold and temporarily store it in his hands." Zhang Chi swept his hand across the southeastern part of Sindhu on the map. (At this time, Sindhu had not yet split up)
At the same time, when the southeastern part of Sindhu was in chaos, a group of gentlemen who were said to be from the native land of John Samdo arrived in southern Kerala, Sindhu.
They claim to be an archaeological team composed of experts from Oxford University and Boston University.
When the local Sindhu princes heard that these noble white archaeological experts had long admired the ancient Sindhu culture and had come specially for this occasion, they were naturally very happy and gave them a warm welcome.
The local John civil service system was currently struggling with how to support the Imphal War and had no interest in the origins of this archaeological team.
So this team of white synths, actually sent by Zhang Chi, began to travel around Kerala openly.
Soon they identified the location of the Padmanabhaswamy temple.