On the morning of February 16, the warships of the German Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet appeared in the waters of western India on time. Dozens of warships spread out and headed for the long coastline. Although the Indian Ocean Fleet has more than 40 warships, large and small, it is nothing compared to the more than 2,000 kilometers of coastline in western India.
Calculated, each warship needs to be responsible for the blockade of a coastline as long as 50 kilometers. During the day, with the speed of these warships, there may not be much problem. However, due to the influence of sight at night, it may be difficult to block it. This made the German navy's blockade of India less strict. Those merchant ships from the United Kingdom and the United States can still find loopholes and transport those weapons and equipment to India.
However, in this calculation, it is much better than not blocking it and allowing Britain and the United States to transport those weapons and equipment to India. The intelligence agency estimates that after the naval blockade is completed, the amount of weapons and equipment shipped to India by the United Kingdom and the United States will be reduced by more than 70%. This is already a very good result. Without those weapons and equipment, there will be major problems in the armed forces of the British and Indian troops. The difficulty for the German army to win India will be effectively reduced.
As soon as the German navy appeared, the British and Indian colonial authorities knew about it. Lord Charles Harding immediately summoned Lord William Nicholson.
"The Germans are coming! Although, it is only the German Navy that is here now. However, it is foreseeable that the German Army will also come soon. The time left for us is running out. Your Excellency, you need to come here in the shortest possible time." Within a short period of time, we must try our best to make those Indian aborigines capable of combat. I am afraid it is not enough just to learn how to shoot!" Baron Charles Harding said.
The day of the German attack has arrived, which makes Baron Charles Harding even more worried. Although, he thought he had taken all possible problems into account. However, he still has some concerns about whether the plan will be successful this time. If the plan fails to meet expectations, the consequences will be very serious.
"Your Excellency, we have sent troops to conduct special training. Even, in order to allow the troops to have enough instructors, I have ordered that all the previous 1.2 million British and Indian troops be dispersed. And the first batch Together, the recruited soldiers formed 25 new group armies. However, this also reduced the combat effectiveness of the British and Indian troops. But so far, the soldiers of the newly formed group armies have at least learned how to shoot .Next, we will focus on training in other aspects. However, the Germans will not give us too much time to train these troops. I predict that once the war breaks out, the British and Indian troops will only be barely capable of combat ' said Lord William Nicholson. During this period of time, in order to train these troops, he can be said to have broken his heart.
Now, Lord William Nicholson has finally realized what it means to have too many troops, and it has become a kind of distress instead. William Nicholson never thought about the expansion of the British and Indian Army to five million people. So that under the condition of insufficient preparation, the British and Indian troops lacked everything. Lack of armament, lack of uniform, lack of officers, and more than that, lack of time. If you have enough time, these can also be slowly made up. But unfortunately, what the British and Indian troops lack most now is time. After the emergence of the German Navy, it also means that the war is coming.
Baron Charles Harding nodded: "I also know that it is almost impossible to train those Indian natives into elite troops. Anyway, our advantage in this battle is not the combat effectiveness of the troops at all. It is superiority in military strength. This is an advantage that the Germans cannot compare with us. I believe that as long as we can make full use of this advantage, we will definitely make the Germans pay a very heavy price. Even defeating them is not impossible."
"Yes, Your Excellency the Governor." Lord William Nicholson nodded.
"However, Your Excellency Governor. I think we can prepare for the next batch of British and Indian soldiers. When the current British and Indian troops are used to resist the German attack, we must first recruit the next batch of soldiers. Conduct training. In this way, after the previous batch of troops have suffered heavy losses, the next batch of troops has almost formed combat effectiveness and can be used directly." Lord William Nicholson continued.
"Okay, I will communicate with the Congress Party and the Green Party Alliance and let them prepare the next batch of soldiers. With this tens of millions of troops, even if we cannot defeat the Germans, we should be able to bring the battle to a stalemate. By then , even if it is exhausted. With India's population resources, the Germans can't compete with us!" said Baron Charles Harding.
After reaching an agreement with the Congress Party and the Green Party Alliance, there is no problem with the conscription of the British and Indian Army. Those members of the Congress Party and the Green Party Alliance alone are enough to meet the needs of the British Indian Army. Not to mention that there are still a large number of farmers who, after being affected, voluntarily join the army.
"Yes, Your Excellency the Governor." Lord William Nicholson replied. However, he was always worried. Because their plans did not take into account the morale of the troops. If the morale of the British and Indian troops is low due to successive failures, he can't guarantee how much combat power those troops will have at that time.
Of course, Lord William Nicholson said, it is useless to say these things now, and Baron Charles Harding simply cannot listen. The current Baron Charles Harding has pinned all his hopes on it.
Lord William Nicholson can only pray to God, praying that the battle will become a little smoother for them.
The 8th Army of the German Army boarded the transport ship to India after cooperating with the Kingdom of Nezhi to destroy the Kingdom of Waichi and after a short rest.
After the navy arrives, they will launch an attack on India. The 8th Army will serve as the vanguard of the attack on India. The 4th Army will arrive in the next step.
From the current point of view, the two armies are the entire force of Germany's offensive against India. Of course, if the battle situation is really not going well, Germany will definitely deploy more troops to attack India. After all, India played an irreplaceable and important role in the German colonial system. And Germany also has enough troops for additional troops.