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Text Chapter 778 The Beloved of the Empire (6)

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    retreat?

    Who doesn¡¯t want to retreat? If they could only run away, the building would be empty.  The question is how to withdraw?  The Royal Navy's Far East Fleet suffered all casualties, and the only remaining heavy cruiser was temporarily withdrawn to Bombay. There were still three old destroyers on the dock, but both ends of the strait were blocked. As long as they left the fortress gun range, they would die.  What's more, there are planes in the sky, and across the Strait of Johor are tens of thousands of Japanese troops with blood-red eyes.  More importantly, China has not declared war. According to the Neutrality Law, even if people like them escape to West Borneo, they must be handed over to Japan, unless China is willing to assume the responsibility of participating in the war now.

    Will China join the war now?  Just kidding, they hope that the British power will be completely defeated and then take over from Japan.  Therefore, Pavahir and others have long given up the idea of ????escape. Now they can hold on for a day. If they can't hold on that day, they can just close their eyes and surrender.

    Faced with this situation, Lin Mousheng was speechless.  Because the British Army in the Far East is mainly composed of soldiers from India, Australia, Burma and other places, there are actually very few real British soldiers.  In addition, the Dutch army was already in disarray. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as a rabble. Otherwise, why would the country provide so many artillery pieces, provide intelligence, and inform the Japanese army in advance of its intention to attack from the Johor Strait? Why would they still be so unsure?  I originally thought that this batch of weapons would last for at least a month, which would greatly slow down the Japanese army's continued southward march into Myanmar, Bangladesh and other places, but now it has only been a week and I have no intention of fighting.

    ¡°Perhaps this is the difference in white people¡¯s understanding of war?  Not to mention the paranoid Japan, even if there are more than a hundred main divisions in the country, aren't they prepared to "throw themselves to death without giving up the ground"?  Fortunately, at least the British army still defended for a week, and according to intelligence, the Japanese casualties were close to 3,000, which was considered a small loss of the opponent.  However, the Singapore Fortress must be completely destroyed. At the very least, the Japanese army cannot obtain the huge supplies stored here, nor can they use the heavy artillery groups on the seaside.  Otherwise, the cost of fighting back in the future will be even greater.  What's more, this rescue was not for domestic purposes, but at the request of the British government, so he immediately took out the telegram and handed it to Percival.

    The telegram was sent by British Secretary of War Leslie. In this telegram, Leslie implored China in urgent terms to rescue senior Far East generals such as Percival and Bai Sihua.  In fact, there is really no way for the British government to do this. The loss of the Andaman Islands and Malaya means that all channels for British support to Singapore are closed. It is only a matter of time before the nearly 100,000 Singaporean garrison surrenders.  Moreover, the actions of China and the United States also made Britain realize that these two countries will never take action if the colonial system in Asia is not ended.  under such circumstances.  The surrender of soldiers was acceptable, but the senior officers in the Far East put the British in a dilemma. You must know that if Percival and others were captured, it would definitely be a major humiliation for the British and Dutch governments, so they hoped to control Riau Province in Sumatra.  The Chinese National Defense Force came to help.  Of course, Britain also offered quite attractive conditions, not only guaranteeing the autonomy of Singapore and West Borneo after the war, but also promising to open Indian airspace and allow China and Britain to work together to build a transit airport in Karachi.  In order to provide a safe transit station for transport planes traveling between Kashgar and Saudi Arabia.

    But on the most critical issues of Myanmar, the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, the UK is still fighting to the death.  During the European War, in order to defeat Germany, Britain deceived many people with "autonomy", but after the war all of them broke the contract, so Yang Qiu had no interest in this kind of "autonomy" that lacked written guarantees.  However, considering that we cannot completely break up with the UK.  So I agreed and let the Military Intelligence Agency handle the matter.

    After reading the telegram, Percival couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Mr. Colonel, I should thank you for your help, but now there are Japanese on all sides. How do we leave?"

    "Use submarines, general. We have six submarines in Dumai Port. If you can arrange some feints and disguises to draw the attention of the Japanese navy. If you delay for a few more days, we will be sure to send you away."

    "Really?!" Percival was shocked.

    The British Far East Fleet also had several submarines, but because the Japanese army arrived so quickly, most of them were damaged in the battle. Only two were spared because they evacuated to Cam Ranh Bay in advance.  Unexpectedly, even though the Japanese army had blocked the strait, there were still six Chinese submarines hidden in Dumai Port!  This shows that Dumai Port may have been targeted by China.

    He guessed right. After the Minas oil field was discovered, Gulf Oil Company began to build a seaport, docks, oil storage tanks and oil pipelines in Dumai.  Because Dumai Port is blocked by Rupa Island in front of it, and there are a series of offshore islands such as Kalli Island, Padang Island, Langsang Island, etc. to the east. The internal waterways are complicated and winding, covered with dense rainforests, and there are several deep into Riau Province.  The river was used as a cover, so soon after the construction of Minas and surrounding oil fields began, the navy focused on this place.  Because of the Qingdao Treaty, ships could not be stationed in the Malacca Strait, so a small base was built deep in the upper reaches of the river east of Dumai. The submarines used the cover of the tanker to hide under the ship to enter and exit the strait.  In addition to submarines, the Navy is also hereIt is stocked with mines, shore guns, and even several sets of large shore-based torpedo launchers.

    ¡°Because the land in Minas, Riau Province was purchased legitimately, and it is inhabited by oil company employees and Chinese, and under the cover of the oil company¡¯s security team, this secret has been hidden until now.  However, because the water in Malacca is shallow, all the small submarines stationed here are five to six hundred tons. If they are used to transport people, each boat can only carry thirty or forty people. Moreover, it takes about 10 people to cross the strait with a periscope depth and back.  Hours, coupled with the blockade of Japanese torpedo boats and aircraft during the day, operations could only be carried out at night.

    Although only two to three hundred people could leave in one night, it was already extremely valuable to the British troops in the Far East.  Therefore, Percival immediately decided to use the heavy artillery of the fortress to block the waters within 40 kilometers of the coast, and then sent several destroyers eastward along the Singapore Strait, assuming a posture of breaking out from the Lingga Islands to Vietnam, so as to attract the attention of the Japanese navy.  At the same time, it continues to block the Strait of Johor and desperately tries to hold Japan back for a few days so that it can evacuate some important personnel and materials.

    Percival was not a general who could fight, but he was definitely a soldier who knew how to save his life. After making the decision, he immediately ordered the security of explosives in key areas and harbor fortresses in Singapore. He also loaded the mines stored in the fortresses onto destroyers.  were also scattered around Penang Island to prevent Japanese small ships from approaching.  However, the sudden change in the isolated island of Singapore immediately attracted the attention of the Japanese army. Especially after three destroyers used the darkness of night to enter the Lingga Islands, which were only 17 nautical miles away under the cover of shore artillery, the Japanese army, which was already anxious to get angry, became even more impatient.

    "Report. Enemy movements have been detected in Tima Heights."

    "Yesterday afternoon, a small group of soldiers rioted in the enemy's city, destroying many buildings and shops."

    "Reconnaissance planes found traces of enemy tanks in the direction of Bema River and Jurong."

    "Lieutenant General Nagata Tetsuyama hopes that we will speed up, not be frightened by enemy artillery fire, and open up the situation as soon as possible."

    "Batavia telegraphed that Prince Hanwon Palace Jae-in has arrived. The 17th Division and the 33rd Division from China have also arrived and are preparing to attack and land in Burma and Bangladesh. General Binsan Won hopes that we can seize Singapore as soon as possible.  Buy time for the rest of the war."

    The dry voice of Communications Captain Yoshio Goto echoed in the war room. Yamashita Tomofumi and the division officers all looked ugly. Each telegram showed that the base camp was worried about the delay in continuing to advance south.  When turning to the last telegram.  Captain Yoshio Goto hesitated for a moment, which aroused the dissatisfaction of Chief of Staff Suzuki Sosaku: "Captain, continue your report."

    "Hi!" Yoshio Goto quickly calmed down and continued reading: "The Ministry of the Navy sent an urgent message. The aircraft carrier Liaoning and the battleship Ninghai, which have just been commissioned by the China Navy, have returned to the Natuna fleet and are moving closer to Singapore in the name of sea testing. It is expected that  We will arrive at Bintan Island the day after tomorrow morning.¡±

    "Baga! These Chinese people who are taking advantage of the situation should all be killed!" After hearing the news that the Natuna fleet was approaching, Yamashita Fengwen, who had always remained calm, slammed the table in anger.  After being implicated in the May 10 Incident, he came back this time.  He wanted to restore his reputation with victory, so he led the attack arrow composed of the 5th Division, the 18th Division and the Guards Division to adopt aggressive tactics against the British army.  This move indeed made him famous, and some people even called him the "Malay Tiger", but he did not expect to quickly capture Malaya and force the surrender of Siam.  However, the way was blocked by a pile of heavy artillery in front of the Strait of Johor.  What made him even more confused was that the Anglo-Dutch coalition forces were obviously a ragtag group, but because China secretly supported a large number of tanks, artillery and heavy machine guns, they used the strait to rely on artillery superiority to suppress themselves for a week.  It also caused the casualties of more than 3,000 soldiers of the 18th Division.

    Now the Chinese naval fleet is coming again. They are obviously afraid that they will persecute the Chinese after entering the city, and may be ready for war.  His face darkened even more at the thought.  He turned around and asked, "Suzuki-kun, do you have any suggestions?"

    "General, I think we can't delay it any longer. The Chinese fleet must have come to protect the Chinese in Singapore. If the locals knew that there was support from the fleet, they would probably support the British army even more unscrupulously. Therefore, position 255 of Temagao should be captured at any cost.  The terrain here is high. After the capture, the field artillery can be mounted on it to support the operations in the direction of Bukit Timah Mountain. The intensity of the offensive in the direction of Bema River and Jurong should also be strengthened at the same time, so that the aircraft can focus on bombing Penang Island, so that the British feel that they have already  They cannot escape, which undermines their confidence. In addition, I think that the 18th Division has been very tired in the previous attack. The Fifth Division and the Guards Division should be sent to attack, and small groups should be carried out across the entire strait and crossed by kayak.  As long as some soldiers can be forced across the strait, the British will be dispersed."

    "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, can you let planes drop paratroopers on Penang Island? If we can cut off this place, the British will have no confidence at all." The person who spoke was the chief of staff, Colonel Sugita, who was also Yamashita's most capable assistant.?One.

    Yamashita Fengfumi's eyes lit up. Using paratroopers to attack Penang Island was indeed a good idea. However, Suzuki Sosaku shook his head: "I'm afraid it's not possible. We have lost more than 30 aircraft in the past few days of attack, which shows that the British still have some ability."  It will be very dangerous to use paratroopers until the aircraft cannot be completely defeated."

    Yamashita Tomofumi still believed in Suzuki Sosaku's judgment. Since he said parachute landing was not possible, it definitely wasn't possible. Thinking about it, he said: "Prince Zain came to Batavia to continue the work of advancing southward. The China Navy's response to  Malacca has been coveting it for a long time. If there is a sneak attack, we can cooperate with the airborne division across the strait to fight. So we really can't delay any longer." At this point, his tone suddenly became fierce: "Just follow Suzuki-kun's method and give the order.  , tell every officer that even if all their troops are shattered, they are not allowed to look back! They must set foot on Bukit Timah Mountain within three days."

    "Hi!"¡­¡­
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