**Instructions:**
Analyze the given molecule represented by a SMILES string to determine the degree and connected atoms for a specified atom.

- Assign unique indices to all non-hydrogen atoms in the molecule based on their order of appearance in the SMILES string (left to right), starting from 0.
- Identify the atom at the specified index.
- Determine the degree of this atom (i.e., the number of directly bonded atoms).
- List the indices of the atoms directly connected to it.
- Present the results in the following structured format:
  1. Degree of the specified atom: Enclose the integer within <count> and </count>.
  2. Indices of connected atoms: Enclose the list of indices within <atom_indices> and </atom_indices>.

**SMILES string:** `{smiles}`
**Target atom index:** {target_atom}