Chapter 447 India Is Cheating
While the benevolent father of GCism was quietly preparing a revolutionary thunderstorm that would sweep across Europe, Hessmann boarded a Fokker F40 plane bound for Italy.
His purpose of returning to Italy was of course to continue commanding the war. Because the Mediterranean campaign had not yet ended, the British still had three strongholds in the Mediterranean, Tobruk, Gibraltar and Crete.
In addition, the 290,000 Italian troops stationed in East Africa were still in a bitter battle. Although the British army had basically given up the Mediterranean and Middle East battlefields, it did not retreat from East Africa, but instead strengthened its forces. According to the report of the Italian East African Forces Group Command, the British army currently has 11 African divisions (mainly black sorghum) and at least 3 Indian divisions in East Africa. This is a powerful force that the 290,000 Italian troops cannot defeat!
The German army is currently unable to reinforce the Italian army in East Africa because the Suez Canal, which was blocked by a sunken ship, has not yet been opened.
However, even if the Suez Canal is opened, it will be difficult for the German army to help the Italian army in East Africa. This is because the Italians left two valuable aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean. Without aircraft carriers, the powerful surface fleets of Italy and France cannot operate in the Red Sea. The British Eastern Fleet has three aircraft carriers, and the British have also deployed shore-based aircraft in the port of Aden at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra Island at the exit of the Gulf of Aden.
For a fleet without air cover (the length of the Red Sea is nearly 2,000 kilometers, and it is difficult for German aircraft deployed on the Sinai Peninsula to cover the fleet in the southern part of the Red Sea), the British shore-based aircraft and carrier-based aircraft are still very dangerous. Therefore, Hessman did not intend to let the precious Italian and French fleets take risks, as these fleets were the key to defeating Britain.
Moreover, Hessman knew that by this time next year, the Japanese Navy would most likely be able to allocate some forces to enter the Indian Ocean. It doesn't need to be too much. As long as two fleet aircraft carriers and two Kongo-class ships can be sent into the Indian Ocean, it will be enough to deal with the British Eastern Fleet.
Once the British Eastern Fleet is finished, the British army in East Africa will not be far from collapse. By then, the Italians will be able to take out a few escort aircraft carriers, which will be the best time for the Italian fleet to leave the Red Sea and enter the Indian Ocean.
However, Hirschman's goal for the Indian Ocean operation is not limited to opening up the oil shipping route of the Persian Gulf-Suez Canal. His goal is the same as Stalin's, which is to take over India!
And Hirschman has a trump card that Stalin does not have in the fight for India, because he will soon have an Indian army.
There is an Indian on the special plane flying to Italy, Chandra Bose, the former chairman of the Indian National Congress.
This is an Indian in his forties, tall and looks like a white man, but with a slightly dark skin. He wears a dark green military uniform, a boat-shaped hat on his head, and small round glasses on his big and pointed nose. He looks very cultured and educated. In fact, he is a cultured and educated Indian upper-class person, born in a high caste (just look at his face and skin). His father is a barrister. He graduated from Calcutta University and Cambridge University in the UK, and passed the very difficult Indian Civil Service Examination in 1920.
However, he did not become an official of the British colonial authorities, but devoted himself to the Indian independence movement. He first participated in Gandhi's hunger independence movement. Later, he felt that there was no regime in the world that was created by hunger, so he decided to take the route of power from the barrel of a gun. In 1927, he planned to establish the Indian University Student Organization National Volunteer Army (a semi-military organization). He also proposed a resolution demanding the complete independence of India at the congress of the Indian National Congress. Although the resolution was not passed, Bose himself gained a large number of supporters and was elected as the general secretary of the Congress Party. After that, he has been committed to promoting violent revolution, and finally put himself in the British prison in 1936.
But after serving time in prison, Bose's value was higher, and he became the leader of the National Congress Party second only to Gandhi. He was elected chairman of the National Congress Party in 1938, but Gandhi then took the lead in opposing Bose, forcing Bose to leave the National Congress Party to establish a radical organization, the Forward Group, and continue to take the route of power from the barrel of a gun. However, it was not long before he was arrested and imprisoned by the British authorities again. And this time, the prison disaster finally made Comrade Bose understand a truth.
If you want to take the path of the gun, you must first learn to cling to someone!
So Bose escaped from the British prison in Calcutta, and then got an Italian passport (this guy looks like a southern Italian) and went to Afghanistan and the Soviet Union.
But he was not a GCist, so he did not cling to someone in the Soviet Union, so he had to go to the German Embassy for help. Not long ago, he arrived in Germany again and was received by Hitler. Later, he met Marshal Hessmann who returned to Berlin from the Middle East for a meeting. This was considered to be a real clinging to someone.
…
"Mr. Bose, Gandhi's view is undoubtedly wrong. American President Jefferson once said: The flower of freedom must be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants from time to time. It is the natural fertilizer of the flower of freedom. The United States was able to get rid of British colonial rule because of the blood and sacrifice of countless people, not because of Washington's hunger strike. How can India today expect to exchange the fruits of national independence and freedom for the hunger strike of a few people? Even if Mr. Gandhi starved to death, what loss would it have for Churchill?"
On the way to Rome, the capital of Italy, Hersman sat in the spacious and comfortable cabin and talked freely.
"If Bose is willing to stand up and lead the battle first, I can provide some assistance. In the battle of Tobruk, we captured quite a few Indians. There were several Indian divisions fighting there for the British. When the battle went bad, they were abandoned and were captured in large numbers by us and the Italians. In the prisoner-of-war camp in Benghazi, there were about 20,000 Indian prisoners, 80% of whom were still capable of fighting. "
In fact, not all those held in prisoner-of-war camps are Indians. Several thousand are Gurkhas from Nepal. Most of the remaining Indians are Sikhs. There are only a few Asan who truly believe in Hinduism.
"They are all very good fighters, better than our Italian friends." Hersman looked at Boss and smiled, "If you can convince them to fight for you, I can give them to your command, and also could provide weapons and equipment and send them to India to fight in the war of independence after the Italian navy broke out of the Gulf of Aden.”
80% of twenty thousand is sixteen thousand! Sixteen thousand soldiers of the British-Indian army were all given to Chandra Bose, and they were fully armed. Bob suddenly felt like he was hugging Jin's thigh.
"Marshal, thank you so much!" The smile on Chandra Bose's face was almost gone. "The Indian people will always be grateful to you and Germany..."
Hessman waved his hand, interrupted Boss, and then said: "Don't rush to say thank you, because there is never a free lunch in the world, and naturally there is no free liberation."
"Marshal, what do you mean..." Boss looked at Hessman and thought: Does liberation require money? So how much should you give? Should payment be made based on head count or land area?
"Germany's efforts must be rewarded," Herschmann said slowly, "but we will not regard India as a colony, nor will we seize territory on the South Asian subcontinent."
He only mentioned "not to seize territory on the South Asian subcontinent" and did not say that he did not want territory in the Indian Ocean. But it doesn't matter to the current Indian Asan, they will not have such unrealistic ideas as "India's Indian Ocean".
Hirschmann then made a demand: "The British government's properties in India, excluding sovereignty and territory, but including railways, factories, mines, port facilities, bank and company equity, and schools, must be taken over by the German government."
In fact, this is not necessarily a bad thing for India. If those railways, factories, ports, mines, and schools are managed by German companies, the efficiency will definitely be higher than if the Indian Asan manages it himself.
"That's no problem," Bose thought for a moment and replied, "but those can only be regarded as German commercial investments in India and must abide by the laws of the future Indian country."
"Of course, that is of course a business investment." Hessman nodded and smiled, "We do not pursue special privileges in India. That will not be good for us. In fact, if the Indian government can come up with a reasonable price in the future, these All can be sold to India.”
Hessman paused and then said: "In addition, we have noticed that there are a large number of MSLs in the British Indian Empire, and they have deep conflicts with you Hindus. But resisting British colonial rule requires Hindus and MSLs to unite and fight together. . So we will also provide military assistance to the MSL revolutionaries in northwest India."
"Of course," Chandra Bose nodded, "there are many MSLs among my comrades, and I am willing to fight together with them."
In this era, apart from the National Congress Party, there was also the MSL alliance in India's fight for independence. It is now led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and is following a similar path to the Indian National Congress Party.
However, there are also radical elements in the MSL alliance who want to use the barrel of a gun to remove power. Hersman has instructed Iran's Reza Khan and the Arab Socialist Baath Party to try to contact them. It is also prepared to provide weapons and instructors to the Indian MSL, striving to create a situation where the Indian MSL army and the Hindu army work together.
The future enemy of the Indian MSL army and the Hindu army is probably not the British colonists, but the Indian Bolshevik Party supported by the Soviet Union. In the future, India is likely to see a three-nation struggle for hegemony...