Chapter 135: The overall situation

In the early morning of August 30th, about twenty hours after Tong Shaoyun's second fleet shelled Bo Nape Island, Admiral France arrived in Washington on a special plane, and then took a helicopter to the White House accompanied by Department of Defense officials.

French rushed back urgently to explain the situation in the Pacific to the president.

What the US authorities need to do at this time is to determine whether it is necessary to defend Bo Nape Island.

Judging from the time, it seems a bit hasty.

Of course, it cannot be said that the United States lacks strategic planning.

At the end of April, that is, after the Naval Battle of Micronesia, the US Department of Defense determined a strategic defense plan, and almost completely adopted the opinions put forward by General France, actively evacuated the Western Pacific, established a new island defense line in the central Pacific, and exchanged space for time. Although in politics, the United States is still vigorously promoting strategic offensive remarks, it is only for political propaganda and has little military significance.

The subsequent development will further force the United States to strengthen its strategic defense preparations.

For example, at the end of June, the Sino-Arab coalition launched a strategic counterattack on the Middle East battlefield. The battle lasted until July 27. After paying a huge price, the US-Israeli coalition defended Dela, but was forced to retreat from Homs and withdraw from the Beka Valley, and finally retreated to southern Lebanon at the end of July, which was equivalent to retreating almost 300 kilometers on the northern front. In Jordan, China joined forces with the Kingdom of Jordan and Saudi Arabia to launch the third Amman Battle, and on July 24, it crushed the Israeli army's strategic siege of Amman for more than half a year. Although by mid-August, the Israeli army made a comeback and launched the Fourth Amman Battle, it ultimately failed to completely encircle Amman. In the direction of Iraq, the Israeli army's offense had already stopped, and it had never even crossed the border between Jordan and Iraq.

By the end of August, the Middle East war situation once again entered a stalemate.

In fact, the US-Israeli coalition has suffered a crushing defeat on the battlefield in the Middle East, because the threat to the Syrian capital Damascus has been lifted and Amman is no longer besieged by the Israeli army. If the Chinese army had not needed to go to Iran to put out the fire, the Chinese-Arab Legion had probably achieved a major victory.

Relatively speaking, the war situation in Iran is more beneficial to the US-Russian coalition.

By August 10, the US-Russian coalition had advanced the front to the Zagros Mountains. As long as you cross the mountain range in southwest of Iran, you can enter the flat province of Khuzestan, posing a threat to the Mesopotamian basin and force China to send more ground troops to Iraq. More importantly, as long as the US-Russian coalition entered Khuzestan, you can attack the fleet in the Bay of Bos and cut off the route from China to the Gulf.

In fact, it was the victory of the US-Russian coalition forces on the Iran battlefield that forced the Chinese army to transfer to Iran, which saved the US-Israeli coalition forces on the Middle East battlefield.

Unfortunately, the Zagros Mountains are not easy to cross.

At that time, the US-Russian coalition was at the end of its strength. If the Chinese Army sent the 13th Army a week in advance, the US-Russian coalition would likely suffer a crushing defeat.

As for continuing to make a fuss on the battlefield of Iran, it is not very feasible.

In addition to the lack of troops from the US-Russian coalition, there is another important factor, that is, Jiang Bowen, who has been promoted to lieutenant general of the army, was sent to Iran to serve as the commander of the Sino-Iran Legion.

In a sense, Jiang Bowen was the first young army general to show his strength in this war.

In the Middle East battlefield, he performed extremely well, especially in the Battle of Dela and the Battle of Dela Holmes. His command ability and ability to judge the situation of the battle have surpassed General Yu Shihui and have been recognized by Qi Kaiwei.

Otherwise, Qi Kaiwei would not have let him take charge of Iran.

Of course, Jiang Bowen's ability was also recognized by the US military. At that time, the commander of the US-Israeli coalition, Rollinson, even believed that he was the biggest enemy of the US-Israeli coalition. After learning that the 13th Army was sent to Iran and Jiang Bowen was also sent to serve as the commander of the China-Israeli army, Rollinson was so happy that he couldn't stop talking about it for a long time, and the US-Israeli coalition attacked for several days, but he failed to receive obvious results.

According to General Marshall's judgment, unless there is an additional 200,000 troops to Iran, the US-Russian coalition will have to turn off the attack to defend.

Obviously, in 2053, the United States will not be able to increase its troops to Iran. According to the US Army's mobilization speed, it will be possible to increase its troops to Iran until the second quarter of 2054 at the earliest. There is still a prerequisite, that is, the situation on other battlefields has not deteriorated before this.

The problem is, this is almost impossible.

Before the war in the Middle East was ignited again, in mid-June, China joined forces with Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal to launch a combat operation to attack Djibouti. Here, China only used one land division, and other countries contributed 100,000 ground troops.

The combat operation to attack Djibouti was planned by the Marines and had little to do with the Navy.

At that time, the Navy only provided a support fleet with cruisers as the core to the Marine Corps, and all the warships of the fleet were tuned from the escort fleet, and all were old-fashioned warships built before the war. To be precise, they mainly came from the South China Sea Fleet.

In the navy, there is only one number left in the South China Sea Fleet.

After the war broke out, the South China Sea Fleet had only one mission: to escort the merchant fleet.

It is also true that almost all old-fashioned warships that were not capable of fighting with the "Tarshan" class aircraft carrier were incorporated into the South China Sea Fleet, and then hún combined to form more than ten escort fleets. The South China Sea Fleet also received a nickname: the old-fashioned warship shelter center.

The Chinese army attacked Djibouti mainly to open up routes into the Red Sea.

To put it simply, if the Chinese fleet can enter the Red Sea and reach the port of Egypt, then China can open up a new front in the Middle East.

There is no doubt that this is definitely a nightmare for the US-Israeli coalition.

Fortunately, at this time, the Chinese army was at the end of its strength and had no extra troops to launch this offensive battle, otherwise it would not have invited allies to gather.

The problem is that the United States has extremely limited troops in Djibouti.

More importantly, the US-Israeli coalition forces closest to Djibouti are on the Sinai Peninsula, and there are not many ships deployed by the US-Israeli coalition forces in the Red Sea.

In other words, Djibouti is basically an enclave hanging alone in the western part of the Gulf of Aden.

If China invests a strong enough force, even if it is just a fleet with an aircraft carrier, the US military will not be able to defend Djibouti.

At that time, the Chinese army could only rely on shore-based aviation troops deployed in Digo Garcia.

In fact, it must be admitted that there are some problems with the Chinese military. For example, when attacking Djibouti, the Chinese Air Force deployed in Saudi Arabia and the UAE did not provide any help. The main reason is that this is an offensive operation planned by the Marine Corps and has little to do with the Air Force.

When reviewing the Battle of Djibouti, Mu Haoyang clearly mentioned that the internal contradictions of the Chinese army greatly weakened the combat capabilities.

Judging from the situation at that time, if the Chinese Air Force provided some support, the Marines could capture Djibouti in August.

Unfortunately, without the support of the air force, this battle, which was originally not difficult, turned into a protracted war. By early August, the "Oriental Allies" were still staggering in the desert of Northern Somalia, more than a hundred kilometers away from Djibouti, and had already paid the price of tens of thousands of casualties.

However, the US military has not had a good time.

Starting from the end of June, the United States concentrated its strategic air transport forces to transport troops and materials to Djibouti, and continued until early August. Within more than a month, the US military sent two divisions, about 30,000 officers and soldiers, and transported more than one million tons of combat materials to Djibouti.

It can be said that the US military paid a great price to defend Djibouti.

The problem is that the US military must defend Djibouti or they will have to lose the Middle East War.

However, the biggest threat is not in the Horn of Africa, but in the mainland battlefield.

Although the mainland battlefield was very calm until French returned to Washington, the Chinese Army was still working hard to open the Far East and Siberia connection line, and the Chinese army stationed in Central Asia had no movement, but there were enough signs that the Chinese Army was preparing for a strategic offensive that decided. Not to mention, in the three months from May to July, China sent at least tens of millions of tons of combat supplies to Kazakhstan, of which only 40% were transported by rail, and the remaining 60% were air transported.

Without the preparations for launching a strategic offensive, the Chinese Army would never have used so much airlift power.

According to the information provided by CIA, China had more than 2,000 transport aircraft deployed on the mainland battlefield at that time, and almost all were large electric transport aircraft.

It can be said that this is a very scary number.

According to General Marshall's judgment, even if pre-war preparations are not made, China's strategic airlift power is enough to support ten armies to launch an attack.

At that time, General Marshall also inferred that the Chinese army would not give up the offensive due to weather problems. It is very likely to launch an offensive in winter and mainly capture the Ural River basin controlled by Russia, push the front line to the Volga River, laying the foundation for the next year's chun to advance into Russia.

It can be said that General Marshall's judgment is very accurate, almost exactly consistent with Qi Kaiwei's strategic plan.

In fact, the Chinese Army was hoarding combat supplies in Kazakhstan at that time, not preparing for the winter offensive, but preparing for the offensive next year. Even if it was mainly air transport, transporting supplies from Kazakhstan to the front line was much easier than transporting them from the domestic to the front line.

The question now is: When will the Chinese Army launch an attack?

Admiral Marshall's answer is: October, at the latest at the end of October.

The reason is very simple. By the end of October, Qi Kaiwei could invest at least eight armies in Central Asia equipped with ground warfare platforms.

In this way, the US military must take immediate action to attract the attention of the Chinese army on other battlefields.

Obviously, this "other battlefield" can only be the Pacific battlefield, because on other battlefields, it is impossible for the US military to launch an attack before the end of October.

The question is, can the US military launch an attack on the Pacific battlefield?
Chapter completed!