After the Battle of Myanmar, since the Japanese army's air defense power in the Malay Peninsula is still relatively strong, General Liszt and General Rendulick both turned their attention to Sumatra, where the Japanese army had weaker defense, and wanted to use this as a springboard to obtain a base for advancing to the Malay Peninsula.↗

After careful study, the Axis Expeditionary Force decided to rely on its maritime advantage to order the implementation of the "Lighthouse Campaign" combat plan on June 18 and landed in Sumatra.

The third Austro-Hungarian Marine Division, who had just arrived from Europe, was sent to the battlefield without any rushing to go ashore to rest.

The powerful naval and air forces of the Axis power have shown great power in the South China Sea air battle, which makes the Japanese army, who are determined to seize the territory of the Pacific region, have begun to become more awake. The Japanese Navy, which has always been arrogant, dares not fight with the Axis Expeditionary Fleet head-on, but hides in the inner circle of the Nanyang Islands on the South China Sea and Java Sea, relying on the support of the docking air force, maintains control of the Nanyang Sea.

The focus of the "Battle of Lighthouse" combat plan is to first gain a foothold in Sumatra, and then build several military airports in the Bandazia area as a support point for the expeditionary force to advance.

Because Germany and Austria had the advantage of sea and air, and the Japanese army did not pay attention to the strategic position of Sumatra at the beginning, but instead focused their main sea and air forces on the blockade of the Malacca Strait and the Sunda Strait. In Sumatra, only deployed a mixed brigade of troops in Palembang and Nanban.

Sumatra is the second largest island in the Dutch East Indies. The entire island covers an area of ​​about 440,000 square kilometers and a total population of about 8 million. The economy and culture here have always been relatively backward. Many tribes on the island are still in the primitive social stage. However, with the discovery of Sumatra oil fields and the large number of Chinese people opening rubber gardens here, it has gradually become the largest oil producing area in the Far East and the heaviest rubber producing area in the world.

The mountains in western Sumatra are crisscrossing. The high and steep Balisan Mountains run northwest to southeast, extending more than 1,600 kilometers, including more than 90 volcanoes, among which the highest peak, Glenchi Mountains, is 3,800 meters above sea level. The eastern part of the Balisan Mountains is a large swamp rainforest zone with rivers, but traffic is extremely inconvenient.

This place is not suitable for large-scale combat. However, for the Axis Expeditionary Force, building airports and advance bases here is not easy to suffer counterattacks from land.

On the evening of June 19, under the escort of the German Special Mixed Fleet, the Austro-Hungarian War 3rd Division set off from Colombo on 26 transport ships, with Admiral Wilhem Marshall as the commander-in-chief of the battle. This huge transport fleet sailed towards the Strait of Malacca at a speed of 12 nautical miles per hour under the misty rain and fog, while the Austro-Hungarian Fleet and the Chinese Special Mixed Fleet blocked the entrance to the Strait of Malacca.

Due to the bad weather, the Japanese army on the Malay Peninsula did not find the whereabouts of the Expeditionary Force transport fleet. In the early morning of June 23, the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Division began to land in Bandazia. There was no movement from the Japanese or British troops here. Bandazia only had a Dutch colonial police force with about 150 people. The 3rd Division of the Land Division easily occupied Bandazia without any resistance.

At 8:50, the login commander sent a signal to the flagship: "Login successfully, no resistance was encountered!"

In just one day, all the 3rd Austro-Hungarian War Division landed successfully, and then a large number of supplies began to land at the port. With the heavy artillery of the 3rd Land Division, heavy equipment such as tanks and armored vehicles were gradually landing. It was impossible for the Japanese to easily retake this place. Subsequently, a large number of engineers and mechanical equipment began to be transported to Bandazia. The Axis Powers hired a large number of laborers in the port area, and three large airports began to start construction at the same time.

The Axis power troops landed in Sumatra on a large scale, which did feel a direct threat to the Japanese base camp. It is obvious that the current maritime strategy of the Axis powers is focused on the Nanyang and the Japanese army. The Japanese base camp immediately held a combat meeting. After a detailed analysis of the actions of the Axis Team, the opponent's strategic intentions were already very obvious, which was to use Sumatra as a springboard to prepare for a large-scale counterattack in Nanyang.

The British were completely unable to rely on them. Their naval and air power in Southeast Asia was extremely weak. They were too busy to take care of themselves and were unable to cooperate with the Japanese counterattack. However, the Americans were unwilling to consume their naval power on the Southeast Asian battlefield. The current focus of the US Navy is to ensure the security of the Atlantic coast. Five of the seven aircraft carriers they currently own were deployed in the Atlantic Fleet, while the Pacific Fleet is now insufficient.

Before the new aircraft carriers were in service, the U.S. Navy's strategy was to take a defensive position, and even the Philippines and Guam had been abandoned.

The Axis fleet began to gradually approach the Japanese home.

After learning about the landing of the Axis Navy on Sumatra, Emperor Hirohito was shocked. Navy Minister Nagano had to bite the bullet and report the base's analysis of the situation to the emperor, and assured the emperor that the Japanese army had the ability to counterattack Sumatra, which at least comforted the emperor.

Back at the Navy, Nagano, who was furious, immediately called Yamamoto Ioruku, commander of the Joint Fleet, demanding that the Joint Fleet must take recapturing Sumatra as its primary combat target. The navy and army cooperated to fight the Axis powers with all their might. At the same time, the commander of the southern Japanese army, Shouichi Deanuchi, was also actively dispatching troops and ordering the 16th Japanese Army led by Nakamura to counterattack Sumatra.

"The terrain in this area is not conducive to attack. Do the Japanese want to fight each of us here?" The abnormal movements of the Japanese army have been discovered by the Axis powers. In the Expeditionary Force General William Liszt, the commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force, in Yangon's Expeditionary Force, was a little surprised why the Japanese chose to counterattack in Sumatra.

"This should be because they were under pressure from the upper class, and they had to do so." Li Jiayu explained that the Chinese Expeditionary Force also joined the combat sequence of the Axis Expeditionary Force. General Liszt seemed to be unable to understand the thinking habits of the Oriental people. This combat operation of the Japanese army was obviously under tremendous pressure from Tokyo.

"However, due to the recent rainy season, there are almost no good weather in the entire Dutch East Indies and the Malay Peninsula. Due to the weather, our dominant air fleet cannot deploy carrier-based aircraft for most of the time. The Japanese may send surface fleets to provide support for their counterattacks." Yankel said on the side. The expeditionary fleet is nominally commanded by the Far East Army General Command, but in actual combat, most of the time, the navy generals serve as commanders of island operations.

Now, it rains almost every day in the entire Nanyang area, and the advantages of the Expeditionary Force's aviation force are indeed unavailable.
Chapter completed!