Chapter 1147: The Battle of Malacca

  Chapter 1125 – The Battle of Malacca

The situation on the battlefield is bad, and the situation at home is even worse. Opposition parties, parliamentarians, experts and scholars …… are not failing to scold the government right now.

If it was in a peaceful year, it is estimated that the procession of protest marches would have flocked over to the government by now to make a statement.

There is no need to worry about this night, because everyone is busy moving and cannot care about seeking their bad luck for the time being.

Tomorrow will more than likely be no trouble either. Presumably, based on the current situation, as long as tomorrow is not a raging storm, enemy warplanes will once again patronize the area.

Even if people have a lot of grievances against the government in their hearts, they will not come out to march and protest with bombs on their heads.

If they really tossed up, they would be living targets. These days there is no such thing as not harming civilians, and nowadays everyone’s favorite thing is to throw bombs at crowded places.

Of course, this London bombing was an exception. Restricted by natural conditions, the Shinra Air Force was forced to launch indiscriminate and random attacks.

Having escaped for the time being, the crowd was not happy in the slightest. Because the longer they held it in, the more violent the future outbreak would be.

After a long time of work, Finance Minister Asquith broke the silence, “The people are looking at the government, the enemy has already thrown bombs over our heads, if we don’t come up with practical actions to counterattack, I’m afraid we won’t be able to account for it this time.”

Feeling the crowd’s expectant gaze, Attilio became more and more embarrassed. “Retaliation” he also wanted to, the problem strength didn’t allow it ah!
Seeing that he couldn’t hide, Attilio said helplessly, “Don’t look at me, it’s impossible for the air force to bomb Vienna, even dropping just one bomb over there won’t do it.

The enemy’s air force is taking off from the continental coastal airfields, all the way from London; whereas Vienna is far inland in Europe, a thousand miles from Britain.

This distance is long beyond the reach of our air force. If we wanted to retaliate, we could send a token number of fighters to attack the enemy’s coastal cities.

If we really can’t, bombing cities like Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam will barely be able to do the job.”

This is a sad topic. It was just as well that you couldn’t touch the enemy’s capital, but even if you wanted to sneak attack the enemy’s coastal cities, you had to be careful, and you didn’t dare to send out your main force.

After all, the enemy on the other side was the world’s number one air force power. Just because Britain doesn’t have a perfect air defense and early warning system doesn’t mean that the enemy doesn’t have one either.

In case the enemy was given advance notice, it would be another wave of heads sent up. It can only be said that the battle during the day had scared Attilio, the air force minister, out of his mind, and caution once again prevailed.

Even if it was to carry out retaliation, it would be necessary to choose an area where the enemy’s strength was weak to do so. Undoubtedly, a day trip to the airspace of the Fabian-Dutch countries was far safer than hanging out in Shinra proper.

Foreign Minister Adam: ”No, although the three Fabian-Hollandic countries are now our enemies, they were all forced to join the Continental Union and are not of one mind with the Vienna government.

Right now, although the three countries have joined the war, in reality, they have only provided airfields and some strategic supplies for the Shen Luo Air Force, and have yet to send troops in a real sense.

Bombing their capitals now will certainly put pressure on the Vienna government from the side, but it will also completely force the three countries to the opposite side of us.

If it were just these three countries, it would be fine, but the key is that it will also trigger a chain reaction, incurring the hostility of other members of the Continental Union.

In the usual style of the Vienna government, it will certainly not give up such an opportunity. If we let them take advantage of the opportunity to integrate the European countries, then there will be no way to fight this war.”

It seemed like the two camps were fighting for supremacy, but in reality, the ones who really made their move were still only Britannia and Shen Luo, and the rest of the alliance countries were either watching or waiting for the opportunity.

If they really irritated these countries and forced them all to go all out, the situation in Britain would be even worse. Other than that, the Indian defense war was fought first.

No, the war for the defense of India has already started, only the battlefield is still a bit far away from India, the temporary threat is not.

Minister of War Marcus: “Adam is right, the current situation is very unfavorable to us, it is indeed inappropriate to stimulate countries.

This war is no longer confined to Europe, Africa and Asia are the main battlegrounds. Also today, the enemy has launched a full-scale attack on Persia and the Central and Southern Peninsula, clearly aiming at India.

Reinforcements are now being asked for everywhere on the front, and even if we had expanded the army to one million and the colonial forces to three million, it would still not be enough now.

Judging from the current situation, we need at least two million regular troops and five million colonial troops if we want to hold on to our overseas colonies.”

After hearing this appalling figure, the crowd only felt their hair faint, as if they had been hit by a soul.

Two million regular troops + five million colonial troops, this was completely refreshing the upper limit of troop strength in human history.

Even during the time of the Continental War, no one had seen anyone come up with seven million troops in just one family, this was clearly challenging everyone’s three views.

“Don’t look at me like that, this number is the final result after the Ministry of War collected information and analyzed it after careful research. I can do some math for you:

On an optimistic calculation, to maintain the security and stability of the homeland, especially the Irish region, a minimum of 500,000 regular troops are needed;

The Cape of Good Hope, a key strategic military location, the Ministry of War plans to deploy 100,000 regular troops and 200,000 colonial troops, depending on the actual situation, in batches;

East Africa, a slightly less strategic but vast area. The War Department plans to arrange for 200,000 regular troops and 600,000 colonial troops to be stationed there, and may consider abandoning it if necessary;

South and Central Peninsula ……”

Don’t count it, it’s a shock. Don’t look at seven million troops as a lot, but that much is really needed on the battlefield. If one wanted to counterattack, even this number was far from enough.

There’s no way, if the combat power can’t keep up, the only way to make up for it is to take the number of people. If you count the reserves, supplementary regiments and the like, I’m afraid that the number of armed forces in Britain will directly exceed ten million.

Maintaining such a huge armed forces, think about it all make people feel numb. Spare the Britannia’s big family, everyone also felt the strain.

After a few moments of silence, Minister of the Interior Azevedo took the lead and said, “This war is for the entire Oceanic Alliance, we can’t be the only one to contribute. I propose to mobilize the strength of our allies and share the pressure together.”

Mobilizing the power of allies is something the British government has been doing for a long time. How can we not see the rabbit does not spread the eagle of the Lord, followed by yelling a few times is okay, want to sell their lives without enough interest is simply no chance.

There is no way, in the past few hundred years, the British government did not honor the blank check opened too much, and now everyone is on the defensive.

Countries simply won’t fall for it without concrete benefits being put in place beforehand. The main thing is that the current Britain is not strong enough to give everyone enough confidence.

Especially after today’s air raid. A boss who can’t even guarantee the safety of his own homeland, wanting everyone to follow and sell their lives will be even harder.

Even if you know that there is no way back now that you’ve taken sides, you can’t get rid of your selfishness.

……

Singapore, almost at the same time when the news of the declaration of war came, the Shen Luo Navy killed over, greeted them with a tightly guarded army.

As a stronghold of the Strait of Malacca, the British have been operating in Singapore for decades, naturally, it is impossible to give up easily.

The rows and rows of super large caliber shore cannons were the biggest backbone of the defenders. The Shinra Navy had just emerged from the sky when they were met with an overwhelming barrage of shells.

Admiral Arest, who was startled, hurriedly ordered, “Order the fleet to stop advancing, the bombardment brigade take off immediately and target the enemy’s shore guns.”

Taking warships and shore cannons and bombarding them, that was definitely a money-losing deal. If it was before, then there is no way to say, in order to accomplish the strategic goal, the loss is even greater can only affect the scalp.

Now is not the same, the appearance of aircraft carriers to change the pattern of naval warfare. There is a mobile bombing fortress in, naturally do not need to continue to hard touch.

When shore guns met bombers, the result was naturally self-evident. A bomb falling from the sky instantly broke the situation on the island.

The once solid defense line was like a piece of paper, which was instantly broken under the enemy’s bombardment.

Colonel Burks, who was stationed in Singapore Harbor, no longer had the grace of the past days, and almost roared: “Immediately organize air defense, anti-aircraft artillery, machine guns, all give me a move.

Shore guns that have not yet been locked on by the enemy, immediately take cover, fast ……

Communicators, communicators, where did they die?”

Just see a young man, immediately ran over, not yet to the near front, was Colonel Burks scolded: “Scurry what, not hurry to the Far East Fleet power.

Tell Admiral Michel that we are under siege by the enemy, the situation is very critical, we need reinforcements, reinforcements!”

Can’t panic, Singapore harbor has been peaceful for decades, the island is mostly immigrants, on weekdays even indigenous conflicts are not encountered.

It could be said that from the beginning of the garrison, there had been no war. It was because Singapore Harbor was safe enough and relatively affluent that Colonel Burks had been gilded by his family.

However, the plan did not change quickly, peaceful for decades in the port of Singapore, in the Burkes after taking office immediately ushered in a major war.

Originally, Colonel Burks still had the opportunity to leave, but he thought he was well versed in military science and insisted on staying to guard Singapore for the Queen.

To this end, also formulated a set of “perfect” defense plan, the rows of shore guns, was completed under the auspices of Colonel Burks.

Unfortunately, he took into account the threat from the sea, but ignored the threat from the sky. After seeing one of the huge guns destroyed by enemy bombardment, Colonel Burks panicked.

At least he was a graduate of a military academy and had a few military skills. After only a moment’s hesitation, he reacted immediately.

In the distance, Admiral Arest, who was looking out with binoculars, was now showing appreciation in his eyes, and from time to time, his mouth was also telling something in a voice that only he could hear.

Along with the passage of time, the enemy’s shore guns gradually mute down. Either they were damaged under the bombardment, or in order to hide their position. In short, the only thing left now was that the sea was calm.

The adjutant on the side reminded, “Your Excellency the Commander, the enemy’s firepower has been suppressed and a landing operation can be initiated.”

The conditions for the landing operation were in place, only to see Admiral Arest waving his hand, “There’s no rush, we have plenty of time.

The enemy’s telegram for help has only just been sent out. The Far East Fleet most likely hasn’t departed yet, taking Singapore so quickly, what if they don’t come?”

The tactics of ancient and modern China and foreign countries are actually similar, although the Holy Roman Empire did not have the allusion to “surround the point to fight the reinforcements”, but the tactic of “surround the point to fight the reinforcements” still exists.

So anxious to attack the port of Singapore, is to attract the Far East fleet to come to the battle. Looking at the map, we know that the war in the Strait of Malacca generation is very favorable to the Shen Luo Navy.

Next door is our own colony, the air force has long been coordinated, an air force division has completed the assembly, now waiting for the Far East fleet to come over to be beaten.

In this context, the port of Singapore naturally could not be taken down at once. If we don’t give the British hope, the Far East Fleet won’t come over for a duel!

Admiral Arest had already planned, just wait for the settlement of the British Far East Fleet, then kill to the Indian Ocean to stab the British butt hole.

I don’t care whether the final plan will succeed or not, as long as the British Far East Fleet is resolved and the fire is burned to the Indian Ocean, it will be a success in terms of strategy.

……

He who counts people counts them all the time.

Shen Luo Navy in planning the Far East Fleet, the British also did not idle, at this moment the Far East Fleet has long been away from the Gulf of Cam Ranh, and even less than two hundred nautical miles from Malacca.

After receiving a telegram from the defenders asking for help, Admiral Michel did not panic in the slightest, but instead revealed a sneer.

Then he asked the officer near him, “How far is the Japanese navy from us, and how long before it can join us?”

The Shinra Navy’s desire to lure the Far Eastern Fleet to a duel in the Strait of Malacca by laying siege to Singapore was a yang plot in itself, and naturally could not be hidden from Admiral Michel.

As long as Britain wanted to keep the Malacca route, this battle could not be avoided. Long before the outbreak of the war, both sides expected it.

In Michel’s view, as long as one’s own strength is strong enough, even if the choice of battlefield is somewhat unfavorable, the same can be made up with strength.

In order to safeguard the safety of the Malacca Strait, in the context of being unable to lure out the main force of the Shen Luo Navy, Michel decided to come up with a trick.

In order to ensure victory in the war, Michel did not hesitate to Japanese people promised heavy benefits, ready to set the strength of the two countries naval force in one fell swoop to seize the right to control the sea in the South China Sea area.

“There is still about 50 nautical miles or so to go, and according to the current speed of both sides, they will be able to come up and join us by noon tomorrow.”

Glancing at the telegram in his hand, Admiral Michel slowly said, “The pressure on the defenders is great, we can’t afford to delay too much time on the road.

The time of the duel may be brought forward, urge the Japanese to speed up their traveling speed and try to join us earlier.”

……

(End of chapter)