Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 869 Laying out the Malayan counterattack tactics, Yoshida's secret telegram: A belated

Fang Wen was waiting at the airport.

An hour later, a military off-road jeep drove onto the airport tarmac and parked next to the gunboat.

Tyler Maxwell got out of the car, followed by a local military officer, clearly having completed the handover of duties.

Fang Wen got off the plane.

Taylor explained the situation: "Command has now been transferred to me. I have ordered the three main battalions to immediately redeploy and assemble at the western field camp. I'll take you there."

"Okay." Fang Wen told Gong Xiuneng to take the luggage off the plane and lock the cabin door.

The group left the airport by car and drove along the bumpy road that had been repeatedly bombed by the Japanese army, heading towards the wartime command post in western Kuala Lumpur.

The car drove into Kuala Lumpur city, crossed half the city, headed west, and arrived at the command center in the western suburbs.

Destroyed houses, fallen trees, and construction sites can be seen everywhere along the way.

The soldiers marching back and forth hurried along; some were dark-skinned Indian soldiers, while others were local Malayan soldiers.

As for the Australian infantry division originally stationed here, it has been transferred to the Rouran region to build a second line of defense to prevent the Japanese army from attacking Singapore after capturing Kuala Lumpur.

Fang Wen could sense that the entire city was shrouded in a depressing and negative atmosphere.

Twenty minutes later, the car arrived at the command post.

Tyler Maxwell led Fang Wen into the command post.

The battalion commanders of the 2nd Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment, the 1st Battalion of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment, and the 2nd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlands Regiment are already waiting in the command post.

Tyler Maxwell said this in front of the three of them.

"This is Mr. Fang Wen, a specially appointed tactical advisor for the Far East Theater Command. The upcoming counterattack will be entirely handled by Advisor Fang, who will formulate tactics, allocate troops, and command the offensive."

"I have received orders from Lieutenant General Percival that your three battalions must unconditionally obey Advisor Fang's tactical command, and all troops must complete their redeployment by tomorrow and move into the field camp next to the command post."

Upon hearing this, the three battalion commanders were still surprised that a young foreign advisor was in charge of the counterattack, but since it was the order of the theater commander and Taylor had taken over the theater command in Kuala Lumpur, none of them dared to object and all stood at attention.

"understand!"

Fang Wen shook hands with the three men: "From now on, we are comrades-in-arms. I hope we can unite and cooperate to win this counterattack."

"Yes, Your Excellency." The three replied in unison.

After finalizing the garrison and command arrangements, the three battalion commanders left to return to their respective units in preparation for the relocation.

Fang Wen was led by Tyler Maxwell to a nearby field camp ahead of him.

The camp was located on the edge of the jungle, in a secluded location with a wide field of vision, which allowed for rapid reinforcement of the front line without being easily detected by Japanese aircraft.

The barracks were quite large, all made of wood, consisting of rows of barracks and training grounds.

That evening, the 1st Battalion of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment, which was closest to the camp, was the first to move in.

The soldiers, weary from their journey, quickly rested and prepared for battle after settling in, and the camp lights gradually came on.

The following morning at nine o'clock.

The 2nd Battalion of the East Sari Regiment, stationed on the northern front, arrived at their camp.

At noon, Argyle, the commander of the 12nd Battalion of the Sutherland Highlands Regiment, who was stationed on the southern front and had the longest journey, arrived.

At this point, all 2,800-plus British troops on the mainland had been assembled.

At 2 p.m., the British troops began to assemble at the camp.

The three battalions of British soldiers quickly left their camp and lined up.

On the huge field training ground, more than 2,800 British soldiers were lined up in three square formations.

However, most of the soldiers' eyes were filled with exhaustion, confusion, and pessimism. Since the start of the war, they had suffered defeat after defeat, which had already eroded the morale of these British troops fighting in a foreign land.

The officers of all ranks stood at the front of the formation, and they still had morale.

Fang Wen, dressed in the Taishan Army uniform, stepped onto the makeshift platform with Tyler Maxwell and three battalion commanders.

The high platform offered a panoramic view, overlooking the entire array of elite British troops.

Thousands of eyes below the stage focused on the young Chinese commander, a mixture of curiosity, doubt, scrutiny, and indifference.

Tyler Maxwell stepped forward and spoke into the standing microphone: "Today we assemble for pre-battle instructions! Mr. Fang Wen, the commander-in-chief of this counterattack operation and the specially appointed tactical advisor to the Far East Theater, will deliver the pre-battle speech!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.

Fang Wen stepped forward, his gaze slowly sweeping over the three military formations below, and raised his voice.

"Gentlemen."

"Since the start of the war, we have been retreating and passive all the way. We have watched the Japanese army penetrate and advance, divide the battle lines, and watch our allies collapse and our defenses break. Everyone felt that the Japanese army was invincible and that we could only hold on and wait for reinforcements, or even wait for defeat."

He spoke frankly, piercing the despair in everyone's hearts.

"But I tell you, what you see is an illusion. The Japanese army's rapid advance is not because they are so strong, but because you are not used to this kind of warfare."

A commotion broke out below, and the soldiers whispered among themselves.

Tyler Maxwell looked at the three battalion commanders, who immediately stepped down and ordered their men to refrain from making a sound.

Fang Wen continued.

"I know you don't believe me. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Fang Wen. I participated in the European war and personally witnessed the Germans defeat Poland and France with their mechanized blitzkrieg tactics. I have a deep understanding of their blitzkrieg tactics. Because of this, I joined forces with the local French army in French Indochina to resist the Japanese invasion. At that time, the Japanese army was also using a similar blitzkrieg tactic to what we use now. As a result, we won and drove the Japanese army into the sea. They never attacked French Indochina again. Even when they landed in northern Malaya, they attacked from Thailand."

The British soldiers and officers in the audience were surprised; they had thought Fang Wen was nothing more than a theoretical figurehead.

Unexpectedly, Fang Wen had such rich experience and practical experience in defeating the Japanese army.

The soldiers felt a surge of hope and eagerly awaited Fang Wen's continuation.

Seeing the changes in the audience, Fang Wen felt slightly relieved, knowing that the morale of the troops was high.

He continued.

"In my view, your failure is no different from France's failure. For more than 20 years, you have been standing still as victors, and your tactics are still using the positional warfare model used in the last war."

"But your enemies have evolved. This reminds me of the Mongol army's invasion of Europe in ancient times, where they used mobile warfare to deal with seemingly impregnable phalanx defenses. History has proven that mobile warfare always has a better chance of success than defensive warfare."

"Japan, on the other hand, was imitating Germany's tactics, but they were not capable of doing it exactly the same and made many clever changes."

"They win by using lightweight infiltration, maneuvering, and disrupting your deployment, but they have a fatal weakness."

The soldiers were excited by Fang Wen's speech, and many looked up to listen attentively.

The atmosphere was getting lively, but Fang Wen kept everyone in suspense.

"I can't say this out loud. If the intelligence leaks, our counterattack tactics will fail. Just know that I know them very well and I will lead you to victory in this battle. Alright, the troops can now disband. Battalion Commander, please stay."

The three battalion commanders below ordered the soldiers to disperse on the spot.

This time, the soldiers were reluctant to leave; they were eager to know what Fang Wen's tactical secrets were.

But being soldiers, they knew the importance of such secrets and could only return to their respective barracks with anticipation.

Fang Wenze, along with Tyler Maxwell and three battalion commanders, went to the camp's private office.

Gong Xiuneng stood guard outside. Fang Wen and four British officers went inside.

Closing the door, he stated bluntly:

"According to the intelligence I have obtained, the Japanese army actually only deployed no more than 100 tanks in the Malay Peninsula. These tanks were distributed in two sections of the operation: the northern front and the central front. The northern front operation had a depth of more than 300 kilometers, and the central front operation had a depth of more than 200 kilometers."

"Based on my understanding of Japanese tanks, their standard fuel consumption for 200 kilometers on the road is 234 liters, while the Type 97 medium tank has a fuel tank capacity of 246 liters. This means that a 200-kilometer journey would almost completely deplete the tank's fuel. Since they employed rapid advance tactics, they would inevitably be separated from subsequent fuel supply convoys."

"Moreover, the Japanese army is currently facing a severe shortage of fuel and cannot possibly have any extra fuel supplies. If we destroy their fuel supply line, their tank units will become nothing more than lumps of iron without fuel."

Tyler Maxwell and the three battalion commanders were surprised; Fang Wen's plan was simple, yet very effective.

“If this works, then we really might be able to turn the tide!” Tyler Maxwell exclaimed.

He looked at Fang Wen and said, "But the Japanese army's fuel supply convoy will definitely be heavily protected. How can we bypass the Japanese army at the front line and attack this fuel supply convoy?"

Fang Wen replied, "That's why I'm here as the air commander. Only after I complete the aerial reconnaissance will there be a concrete action plan."

The four British officers indicated they understood and did not pursue the matter further, instead awaiting Fang Wen's response.

After the meeting, Tyler Maxwell assigned Fang Wen a military vehicle, allowing him free access to the airport and the camp.

Immediately afterwards, Fang Wen drove Gong Xiuneng to the airport.

After arriving at the airport, Fang Wen inspected the aircraft, confirmed that there were no problems, refueled it, and took off.

The plane departed from Kuala Lumpur and flew eastward.

During the flight, Fang Wen kept a close eye on the radar detection device.

According to the radar detection system, more than a dozen aircraft were flying toward Kuala Lumpur from 100 kilometers away.

It was definitely a Japanese air raid group. Fang Wen decisively veered southwest to avoid the enemy aircraft.

After flying southwest for 10 minutes and confirming that he had avoided the enemy aircraft formation, Fang Wen veered northeast again and flew back to the airspace where the Japanese fuel supply convoy might appear.

Then, he activated his powers to observe the situation below.

He saw it.

Five tanks were parked outside a grove of trees.

Japanese soldiers emerged from the woods carrying heavy oil drums and poured the fuel into the tanks.

This must be a Japanese frontline fuel supply point, hidden in the woods, so that British pilots would have no chance of finding it.

Fang Wen identified it as the target of the attack.

They then continued their reconnaissance.

He discovered that there were two other similar refueling points, one every 50 kilometers.

In this way, when the Japanese tanks at the front line run out of fuel, they can refuel at these fuel supply points.

What about the supply convoy that provides fuel?

Fang Wen continued flying forward to conduct reconnaissance.

He saw a convoy of 15 cars heading west.

Their destination was clearly a refueling point.

Fang Wen had a battle plan in mind.

By attacking the fuel supply points and destroying the Japanese fuel supply convoys, we can achieve our tactical objectives.

But there is a very crucial issue here.

That is, how to bypass the Japanese front-line troops.

Fang Wen had a solution to this; nighttime surprise attacks were his trump card.

The feasibility of this tactical plan would be greatly enhanced if the ground troops were equipped with Taishan radio voice communication equipment and combined with their own nighttime overall observation and command capabilities.

Immediately, Fang Wen turned the plane around and returned, intending to go back and follow up.

After all, even the best plan needs someone to implement it, and it remains to be seen whether these British soldiers are up to the task.

He deliberately flew a roundabout route, avoiding the returning Japanese aircraft that had been attacked, and returned to the airport safely.

The airport had just been bombed by the Japanese army, and there were several bomb craters on the runway. British soldiers were urgently repairing it.

Fang Wen could only hover in the air and wait.

Half an hour later, communication came from the ground.

"Please land on runway 2. The ground is a bit uneven, so please be careful."

"receive."

Fang Wen controlled the aircraft to descend and land on the runway.

The ground was indeed uneven, but Fang Wen's driving skills were excellent, and the gunship aircraft was not fast, so it didn't have much of an impact.

After a period of turbulence, the plane came to a stop and, guided by ground staff, drove into the parking area.

Fang Wen did not leave.

He turned on the onboard radio and sent telegrams to Penang Island and Yangon to find out the situation.

The telegram received a reply quickly.

The reply from Penang Island indicated that the two sides were still engaged in artillery battles. The Japanese had launched several air raids, but because the targets were not identified, the bombing was not very effective.

The gunboat squadron also launched two attacks during the Japanese landing operation, causing significant damage to the Japanese forces.

The reply from Yangon surprised Fang Wen.

The telegram contained a special code.

This was a separate encrypted code he gave to Yoshida, the contents of which were known only to Yoshida and him.

Because he was busy with business in Malaya, he was unable to receive Yoshida's telegrams at specific times, so he asked someone in Yangon to receive them on his behalf and send them back to him.

He memorized the special encrypted code and translated it in his mind.

[Recently, I was ordered to return to Tokyo to participate in a secret meeting and learned of the dispute between headquarters and the Army.]

The Navy wants to send a fleet to attack US bases in the Pacific, thereby crippling US naval power and preventing it from hindering its offensive in Southeast Asia.

The army strongly opposed this, and the two sides were deadlocked.

This coded telegram relieved Fang Wen of a great weight.

It has finally arrived, though it is late, but the trajectory of history is still moving in that direction.

If the Japanese Navy were to attack Pearl Harbor, how should we respond?

Fang Wen fell into deep thought.

(Photos of the battle in Kuala Lumpur at the time) (End of this chapter)