Chapter 450 Siam survives in the cracks

Half a month later, Mao Renfeng, disguised as a businessman, arrived in Bangkok successfully.

Zhang Shizhao, the commander of the Military Siam Station, personally went to Bangkok Port to greet him. Zhang Shizhao is actually half Siamese because his mother is Siamese. He grew up in Shanghai and joined the Fuxing Society when he was still in middle school.

After Shanghai fell, Zhang Shizhao was sent to Bangkok by Dai Li, and soon became the commander of the Siam Station of the Military Command.

Zhang Shizhao was a shrewd man and very sociable, and he soon developed a friendship with the Siamese dignitary Boon Nayuntai. Boon Nayuntai was the confidant of the Siamese Prime Minister Luang Phibun, and his status was extremely prominent.

After the Pacific War broke out, the Japanese army forcibly entered Siam.

In view of the fact that the Siamese army was simply not enough to resist the Japanese invasion, Luang Phibun had no choice but to join the Axis Alliance and became a vassal of Japan. However, privately Luang Phibun never gave up his efforts to fight for "independence".

Coupled with the protection of Wen Nayuntai and Zhang Shizhao's Siamese ancestry, the Siam Military Station was able to avoid closure.

After picking up Mao Renfeng and his entourage, Zhang Shizhao ordered the driver to drive straight to the office.

Seeing that the Siamese military checkpoints along the way saw Zhang Shizhao's car and did not dare to stop the interrogation, Mao Renfeng couldn't help but ask: "Shizhao, it seems that you are doing well in Siam?"

"Hey, director, thank you." Zhang Shizhao said modestly, but he was still very proud in his heart.

Mao Renfeng smiled slightly and said: "I heard that you have a very good personal relationship with Siamese Prime Minister Luang Phibun?"

"It's pretty talkative." Zhang Shizhao didn't know Mao Renfeng's true intention of coming to Siam, and he didn't dare to talk too much.

Mao Renfeng tried a few words without leaving any trace, and said nothing more. Although Zhang Shizhao was a member of the military commander, Siam was too far away from Chongqing, and it was difficult for the inspection team to get to Bangkok to supervise the work. Who could

I don’t know what the current situation of the Siam Military Station is, and no one is sure that Zhang Shizhao was not bribed by the Japanese.

Therefore, Mao Renfeng would never dare to tell the truth at this time.

"Director, you came to Bangkok for that matter, right?" After a moment of silence, Zhang Shizhao suddenly asked.

Siamese Prime Minister Luang Phibun intended to use the influence of the Nationalist Government and the Chinese Expeditionary Force to get rid of the control of the Japanese army. Zhang Shizhao naturally knew about this. Luang Phibun passed the news to the Nationalist Government through him, so Zhang Shizhao guessed that Mao

This is probably why Renfeng came to Siam.

Mao Renfeng chuckled twice, neither denying nor admitting. Seeing that Mao Renfeng was not happy with the conversation, Zhang Shizhao stopped asking any more questions, and the carriage fell into silence.

Yangon, Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters.

After getting the hint from Luan Piwen, Yue Weihan waited for half a month before sending someone to invite Wei Lihuang and Huang Jie to his office to discuss the matter.

"This is a good thing." After Yue Weihan finished speaking, Huang Jie quickly expressed his position, "If Siam can really get rid of the control of the Japanese army, it will only be beneficial to our army from both a military and political perspective.

I am afraid that this is a trap set by Siam in cooperation with the Japanese army, and the purpose is to lure our army into taking the bait."

"This should not be the case." Yue Weihan waved his hand and said, "Siam has always had a tradition of political speculation. In modern times, there are only three countries in the East that have not become colonies of Western powers. Apart from China and Japan, Siam is the only one.

The reason why little Siam did not become a British colony, nor was it occupied by France, was because it found a way to survive between Britain and France. Now, Siam is afraid that it may want to repeat its old tricks.

Already."

"Then there's nothing to hesitate about." Wei Lihuang said, "Just agree to them."

"But we can't serve the Siamese as spearmen in vain." Huang Jie said, "If we want us to check and balance the Japanese, Siam must show enough sincerity!"

Yue Weihan smiled slightly and said: "This is the reason why I came to you. Let's sum it up and see what kind of conditions we should put forward to the Siamese people. In any case, it is the Siamese people who are asking for something from us this time.

, if we don’t take advantage of the opportunity to gain enough benefits, it is obviously not in the interest of the National Government and our army, don’t you think so?”

Wei Lihuang and Huang Jie looked at each other and immediately laughed in unison.

Saigon, Japanese Southern Army Headquarters.

"Baga!" Temple Shouichi stood up suddenly, slapped the message in his hand on the case, and said angrily, "Luang Piwen, this treacherous villain, actually colluded with the China government and the China Expeditionary Force behind the scenes.

, trying to get rid of the control of the Japanese Empire is simply courting death!"

After saying that, Juichi Terauchi attacked Luota again: "Order, the 15th Army immediately advances forward and takes over Siam!"

A few months ago, the Chinese Expeditionary Force unexpectedly landed in Manila and rescued the trapped MacArthur and more than 20,000 American soldiers. Later, although Yamashita Fengfumi completely annihilated more than 50,000 Philippine soldiers abandoned by the US government on the Bataan Peninsula.

Mercenaries, but Juichi Terauchi was still greatly embarrassed.

However, what was unexpected was that Hideki Tojo, who had been promoted to the chief of the Japanese army's general staff, did not hold Juichi Terauchi accountable. Instead, he only sent a telegram to encourage him, and immediately mobilized 20 three-unit divisions from the country.

After being mixed with more than 30 divisions from the North China and Central China Fronts, 15 of them were sent to Southeast Asia.

In this way, the strength of the Southern Army expanded to 20 divisions with nearly 500,000 men, organized into four legions: the 15th, 25th, 28th, and 33rd. Among them, the 15th legion was stationed in Laos, the 25th legion was stationed in Cambodia, and the 28th legion was stationed in Cambodia.

The regiment is stationed on Java Island, and the 33rd Army Group is stationed on New Guinea Island.

However, although the strength of the Southern Army surged to 500,000, its combat effectiveness dropped significantly.

Especially after the Burmese Army, including the Guards Division, was severely damaged, the Southern Army lost all its heavy artillery and most of its tanks. In addition to the original five remaining third-class divisions, 15 were subsequently added.

The divisions are all fourth-class divisions with a three-unit system, and each division is only equipped with 16 75mm field guns. Their firepower is much weaker than that of the third-class divisions.

Speaking of which, it is not that the Japanese base camp does not want to equip the newly formed fourth-class divisions with more field artillery and tanks, but the problem is that domestic military industrial enterprises cannot produce enough cannons and tanks.

Because at this time, the negative consequences of large-scale conscription by the Japanese army had already appeared.

After the Japanese army occupied almost all of Southeast Asia in the second half of last year, the resource shortage situation has been fundamentally alleviated. The iron ore in Vietnam, the copper mine in the Philippines, and the oil and gas resources in the Dutch East Indies have allowed the Japanese government to temporarily get rid of the resource-poor situation.

Dilemma, it is foreseeable that the Japanese government's steel, crude oil and other production will grow explosively this year!

However, these precious resources could not be transformed in time into the warships, aircraft, artillery and tanks that the Japanese army urgently needed!

Because of the emergence of the little butterfly Yue Weihan, the Japanese army's troop consumption on the Chinese battlefield surged several times compared with the same period in history. By the 28th year of the Republic of China (1939), Japan's domestic reserve troop sources had been exhausted. North Korea, Taiwan and

The puppet Manchukuo's troop source was unreliable, so the Japanese government had no choice but to recruit a large number of skilled workers into the army.

After these mature skilled workers joined the army, the output and quality of each factory immediately dropped.

In order to solve this dilemma, the Japanese government urgently mobilized female workers into factories, but how can these temporary female workers compare with the skilled workers who have spent more than ten or twenty years training? In addition, Japan's military industry is already somewhat deformed.

, too much emphasis was placed on the construction of the navy and the construction of the army was ignored. Therefore, the production of tanks and artillery was declining year by year.

By the 31st year of the Republic of China (1942), the newly formed fourth-class divisions were no longer equipped with artillery regiments, and even the number of rifles and light and heavy machine guns was seriously insufficient. In order to equip the 20 newly formed divisions with

Weapons, Japanese army base camps and even teaching guns used for military training in domestic military academies were all requisitioned.

To describe Japan's military industry at this time in one sentence, it is hard to recover!

Before the Battle of Midway, the Japanese government had always only focused on naval construction, while the army was sparing whatever it could.

Therefore, not only was the allocation of war resources heavily tilted towards the navy, but many military industries were also built according to the needs of the navy. It was only after the defeat of the Battle of Midway that the Japanese base camp suddenly realized that it wanted to vigorously build the army, that its military industry was discovered

The system can no longer keep up with the expansion of the army!

Of course, if the Japanese government is given three to five years of adjustment time to complete the shift in the focus of its military-industrial system from the navy to the army, coupled with the abundant resources imported from Southeast Asia, the equipment level of the Japanese army will undergo radical changes, and even

It is not impossible to upgrade to a fully mechanized army at the level of the United States and Germany.

All in all, the Japanese Army is now in the most difficult period.

The Japanese base camp also knew the difficulties of the Japanese army, so the order issued to the Southern Army was strategic defense, that is, to defend the Indochina Peninsula, Southeast Asia, and many islands in the Southwest Pacific as much as possible to ensure that the rich strategic resources in Southeast Asia could be continuously imported.

Native.

Therefore, seeing that Juichi Terauchi was furious and wanted to order the 15th Army to enter Siam, Luota Gong quickly advised: "General, please calm down. The order given by the base camp to our army is to hold on to the islands in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific to ensure absolute

The security of the defensive circle is very important. Under such circumstances, it is really not appropriate for us to start the war lightly."

"What?" Temple Shouichi said angrily, "Is it possible to just let it go like this?"

Luotian Gong smiled bitterly and said: "General, please think about it, if the imperial army enters Siam in large numbers at this time, wouldn't it push the Siamese government completely towards the China Expeditionary Force? Once the Siamese government asks for help from the China Expeditionary Force, given Yue Weihan's character,

, will never miss such a good opportunity, he will definitely lead the main force into Siam for a decisive battle with the imperial army."

"So what? Yue Weihan came just in time, and the imperial army can avenge the defeat of Burma!" Terauchi Shouichi still refused to give in, but he was actually timid in his heart.

It is absolutely false to say that Shouyi in the temple is not afraid of Yue Weihan!

At the beginning, Yue Weihan had less than 50,000 men, and he was able to defeat the Burmese Army, including the Guards Division. As a result, 100,000 Japanese troops were defeated on the Shan State Plateau and were devoured by the jungle. Now Yue Weihan's Chinese Expeditionary Force has expanded to more than 1 million.

How could the 500,000 new recruits of the Southern Army, who lacked guns and artillery, be able to compete with human beings?

To put it bluntly, if Yue Weihan had not come to take the initiative to attack, Shouyi would have burned incense in the temple.

Of course, Juichi Terauchi also knows that if the Chinese Expeditionary Force does not attack at this time, it is definitely not good news for the Japanese Southern Army, because the calmer the water surface, the more turbulent the undercurrent hidden underneath is. When the Million Chinese Expeditionary Force

After the military reorganization and training are completed and then a counterattack is launched, it will definitely be a devastating blow like a violent storm!

However, knowing what he knew, Juichi Terauchi didn't have a good coping strategy.

The only thing the Japanese Southern Army can do is to continue to strengthen the defenses along the border and build as many military fortresses as possible like Domon Fortress.

Of course Luota Gong knew that Touichi Terauchi was just talking harshly, but he could not expose him. At that moment, he had to smile bitterly and said: "Your Excellency, General, although the strength of the Southern Army has been greatly expanded, its firepower has not been greatly strengthened.

The pilots and fighter jets of the large aviation group have not been replenished, so it is really not appropriate to provoke the Chinese Expeditionary Force at this time."

"Then what do you think we should do?" Terauchi Juichi said angrily, "Watch Siam fall to the Allies?"

"Your Excellency, General, Siam will not easily fall to the Allies." Luotian attacked, "In the past hundred years, Siam has always been on the edge of Britain and France, relying on the mutual checks and balances of the two powers.

Siam was encouraged to maintain its national independence. This time, Siam most likely wanted to repeat its old tactics, which would help the Allied and Imperial forces check and balance each other, and seek national independence again."

"Oh?" Touichi Terauchi said, "You mean, Siam just wants to seek national independence?"

"Yes." Luotian Gong said very firmly, "Siam must be seeking national independence!"

"Understood." Temple Shou nodded and said, "Then let's wait and see what happens. With Yue Weihan's character, he will definitely take the opportunity to seek more benefits from Siam in the negotiation. If the imperial army stands still,
To be continued...