HCB Chapter 276 Swinging Siam
Chapter 276 Swinging Siam
In the telecommunications room, the sound of beeping continued.
Zhang Chi stood behind the telegraph operator, watching him translate the message on paper with a pencil, writing down one word after another.
Looking at the latter who was obviously very nervous and sweating profusely, Zhang Chi also knew how much pressure his "ghostly" behavior put on the other party.
After all, no worker would not be nervous when being watched by the boss's boss's boss's boss while working.
But Zhang Chi was eager to see Stevenson's telegram as soon as possible and complete the contact.
When he saw the telegraph operator finished translating the message and stopped writing, Zhang Chi immediately bent down and picked up the telegram paper to read it.
After a moment, Zhang Chi was so angry that he laughed.
In the telegram, Stevenson vowed that the top leadership of the White Party had already given in, and as long as Zhang Chi personally went to Shancheng for a meeting, he was confident that he could persuade the other party to allow the Anmin Army to enter the territory of Qian State to fight.
Zhang Chi knew that Stevenson was frightened by the great defeat of the Tang army in episode 31.
Intelligence now indicated that the Japanese in Nanjing were once again making a large-scale move, heading towards Jiangcheng. Stevenson feared that the Nationalist troops along the Yangtze River would follow the example of Tang's army in episode 31, performing a "dramatic turn before the enemy" and collapsing without a fight. Therefore, he insisted on bringing the Anmin Army into Qianlong.
After hanging up the telegram, Zhang Chi thought for a moment, and finally decided that even if it meant not giving Stevenson face, he must not send troops into Qian.
On the one hand, the four armies of Xue's army were much more resilient than those of Tang's army in episode 31. Although the "Tianlu Tactics" did not work this time, at least the Changheng area did put up a real resistance.
Moreover, Pegu has now been basically liberated, and the elite expeditionary forces originally planned for the Longling and Songshan battles can go back to support the Changheng direction. In fact, the national army does not lack manpower, and is even much more abundant than in history.
On the contrary, the Anmin Army will have to advance into the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra Island and other places next, so it doesn't have enough troops to go to the country of Qian.
On the other hand, even if Zhang Chi was willing to send troops, what about logistics? The Anmin Army's superior combat effectiveness was entirely due to its luxurious weaponry and sufficient logistics. The daily logistical requirements of just a few main infantry divisions far exceeded those of an entire Nationalist army.
If the army's supplies were shipped from Myitkyina to the Changheng front, it would be a long and arduous journey of thousands of miles. Asking the White Party to provide them was even more ridiculous. The Party's logistics were not much better than the Qing Dynasty's.
Not to mention that in the telegram, Stevenson repeatedly stated that it was absolutely safe to go to the mountain city for a meeting, which Zhang Chi even scoffed at.
"This so-called 'gentleman's agreement' is nothing but 'telecom fraud'. Anyone who believes it is an idiot." Zhang Chi muttered with a hint of sarcasm.
The 50-strong Anmin Army, including the navy, army and air force, is almost entirely under his control. If he falls into the hands of the White Party, won’t his huge fortune be crushed by them?
"Call back Stevenson. Now is the critical moment to attack Rangoon and force our troops to Siam and Malaysia. There is no way I can leave the front line to go to some mountain city for a meeting." Zhang Chi looked at the telegraphist and said word by word.
"You can handle the polishing as you please. A bit of a harsh tone doesn't matter. It's best to dispel Stevenson's unrealistic fantasies as soon as possible."
After saying that, Zhang Chi pulled over a guard beside him and whispered a few words. The latter immediately left the telecommunications room to find Chief of General Staff Tan Zhijie to notify the troops on the Siamese border to launch a tentative attack.
"The army has been stationed on the border for so long, and Luan Phibun has not made any movement. Does he really think that we, the Security Army, are just here to eat and do nothing?" While the telegraph operator was coding and preparing to send a message, Zhang Chi walked out of the telegraph room and lit a cigarette.
Although the Anmin Army had already gained strength, Stevenson was still the theater commander of the Allied forces, and Zhang Chi had a good personal relationship with him. He also hoped that the latter would be able to enter politics and help after the war.
Therefore, even if he wanted to reject Stevenson, Zhang Chi could not be too tough. He estimated that he would have to stay at the telecommunications office for the next few days and communicate with the other party through telegrams.
It's difficult to reject the other person and appease him/her at the same time.
The best excuse for refusal was that the war on the front was urgent, and now that the Japanese in Pegu were like a candle in the wind, the Siamese could only suffer.
After all, they were sandwiched between Pegu and the Malay Peninsula. If the An Min Army wanted to attack the Lion City near Malacca by land, they would have to beat the Siamese. (The map is mentioned at the end of the chapter by the author)
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"Air raid, another air raid..." In the Prime Minister's Office in Bangkok, the current Siamese Prime Minister Plaek Phibun frowned as he looked at the latest report.
Phibun, whose ancestral home is Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, is currently said to be the Prime Minister of Siam, but in fact he is the real military dictator of Siam, and the King of Siam is just a nominal symbol.
It was also under the instruction of Phibun that Siam and the devil signed a military alliance treaty, becoming a complete member of the Axis Powers, and has followed the devil in declaring war on John, the White Eagle, the Netherlands and other Western white countries.
Therefore, Phibun was not surprised by the air raid by the People's Army Air Force.
What surprised him was that the Anmin Army Air Force's air strikes were very restrained. Their targets were mostly military targets such as front-line airports, ammunition depots, and fortifications, while they did not harm cities, rural areas, etc.
Luang Phibun did not think that this would be the demand of John, White Eagle and other so-called Western powers that only cared about civilized people. After all, the latter also carried out large-scale bombings in Hans and other places without distinguishing between military and civilians, razing many cities to the ground and causing heavy casualties to local residents.
Luang Phibun put himself in Zhang Chi's shoes and thought that if he were in Zhang Chi's position, with such a large-scale bomber fleet, he would have launched a crazy bombing of Bangkok long ago, and it would not be impossible for him to drop bombs and incendiary bombs directly on the Royal Palace and the Prime Minister's Office, and force Siam to surrender.
But recently, the air defense alarm in the capital Bangkok has been sounding every day, but there has been no visit from the People's Liberation Army's B-25 bombers. This abnormal situation made Luang Phibun think too much.
"Zhang Chi and his Anmin Army are trying to please me?" Thinking of the Qian blood in himself and the large number of Qian people and Qian mixed-bloods in Siam, this thought naturally popped up in Luan Phibun's mind.
As a descendant of the Qian people, and even his father's surname was "Wu", Luan Pibun knew very well that although Zhang Chi was a former officer of the Expeditionary Force and there were many former National Army soldiers within the Anmin Army, the Anmin Army was by no means a force supported by the Republic of China. On the contrary, in order to avoid being annexed by the Republic of China, the Anmin Army would be very wary of the latter's infiltration.
Therefore, Luan Phibun could see at a glance that the areas in Southeast Asia where the Qian people accounted for a relatively large proportion were the real base of the Anmin Army.
However, Zhang Chi did not contact him through official channels, and the entire Siam is basically a puppet state of the Japanese. Therefore, even if he suspected that Zhang Chi was trying to show goodwill, Luan Phibun did not dare to act rashly.
However, soon, Phibun had to think about many things.
The phone on the table rang rapidly, and Luan Phibun shuddered instantly when he answered the phone.
"What? The People's Security Army launched a full-scale offensive, and the three infantry divisions on the border were subjected to unprecedentedly heavy artillery bombardment?"