afterglow

Chapter 338 Declaration of war; landing in Kota Bharu

February 39, 24 AD, was supposed to be an ordinary day.

The German army in Scandinavia is at war with the British-French Joint Expeditionary Force, but it seems to be at a stalemate.The expeditionary force has no plans to take the initiative for the time being, and the German army also behaves quite abnormally-low-key and passive.

Perhaps the Germans were gathering strength for a major offensive?

The entire expeditionary force was uneasy because they had not taken any advantage in the previous month's battle.

In the far east, Singapore, guarding the Strait of Malacca, is also peaceful. This island can be said to be the most important fortress of the British Empire in the Far East.

On this island with a population of more than 60, there are as many as 40 Chinese.

After the Ming Dynasty became more and more aggressive, the British colonial authorities naturally became more and more worried. They temporarily introduced a control policy-requiring everyone to hand over guns used for self-defense and hunting. Pointed knives longer than eight inches were also required. Should not have.

This naturally caused a lot of dissatisfaction and public resentment.

Of course, to the British officers and soldiers, these are just clouds.

Don't be dissatisfied, the master of our British Empire is the master, and we do nothing but eat and drink all day long!
In the afternoon, the pilots of the 36th Torpedo Bomber Squadron of the Royal Air Force stationed at Seletar Air Force Base were watching a movie in the cinema.

Drinking Coca-Cola from an ice-cold glass bottle and watching the newly released "A Yankee in Oxford", this little life is so nourishing.

What they watched was actually a movie produced by the American Fox Company. The free and easy American male protagonist suffered setbacks in the university town of Oxford, England. It contained a lot of ridicule of conservative and traditional Britain.

"Prejudice, how funny, these Americans are actually more arrogant than us."

"Yankees are so confident..."

Just as the pilots were complaining about the plot, the projector suddenly turned off, and the large projection cloth suddenly went dark.

Then, the jingling bells of battle alarms also came from outside the corridor.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, feeling baffled - they had never seen someone suddenly sounding the battle alarm during their vacation.

After hurried to the war briefing room of the air force base, the commander, Major Arnold, waved his hand and motioned for the pilots to come forward and receive the confidential document bag on the table.

Everyone stepped forward to take it, then tore off the seal and took out the documents inside.

Major Arnold clasped his hands behind his back and said solemnly: "Boys, I have some unfortunate news for you. The Chinese have submitted an ultimatum to us. There is no doubt that the British Empire will not back down, and the Prime Minister has clearly refused. You should have not forgotten everything. Flying and attack skills, right?”

He used to make a line of British humor, but everyone present had complicated expressions and no one responded.

Although the document was not a battle order, it only informed the pilots to prepare for battle, informed the intelligence department of the estimated size of the incoming enemy force, and asked them to fly to the Kuantan base to help transport aerial torpedoes.

However, that is ICN who is almost going all out. It’s scary to think about it.

"I don't think there's anything to fear. We have [-] troops here (Malay Peninsula), and Fleet Z has five battleships." An ambitious pilot said nonchalantly.

"As the defensive side, we have the advantage." Major Arnold said calmly: "Relax, they are not invincible."

After excluding some overconfident, arrogant people and those who are overly worried and timid, the Western powers' understanding of the Ming Dynasty became stable and unified after the 20s.

In the mainstream view, this is a populous country with both a strong army and a powerful navy. It has a mature and complete bureaucracy - and naturally has good mobilization capabilities.

Even if the average combat strength of the Ming army is only half that of the Western powers according to the politicians who talk about it, then it will be easy for them to drive away the Western forces and dominate the Far East at home.

With this understanding, Europeans have actually been worried about when the Ming Dynasty would suddenly rise up and sweep through the Southeast Asian colonies, but it has been so delayed until today.

To be honest, I have a strange feeling - I have finally waited for this day, as if I am relieved.

Similarly, people in the Ming Dynasty often examined and compared the differences between their own country and Western powers. There were many opinions in this regard. There were many people who worried that their country's technology was far inferior to that of the West, and further worried that it would be difficult to develop outside the country.

In the final analysis, everything depends on fists.

The long-standing situation of hemp stalks fighting wolves is finally coming to an end.

Just about two hours ago, Gao Qingkui instructed the Foreign Affairs Department of the Ministry of Rites to send a telegram to the legation in London, and the Ming Dynasty's minister in the UK immediately submitted an ultimatum to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the British Empire.

The British forces were required to withdraw from the Malay States and the Kingdom of Brunei, and both the Malay States and the Kingdom of Brunei should gain complete independence and become Chinese vassals.

Thirty years ago, Britain signed the Treaty of Siam with Siam and obtained suzerainty and jurisdiction over the four states of the Malay Peninsula. Although it retained a small amount of independent real power, it was still essentially a vassal.

About 50 years ago, the British forced Brunei to sign the "Brunei Treaty", which resulted in Brunei's throne succession and diplomatic rights being determined by the British, which was equivalent to becoming a vassal.

Shortly afterwards, the Foreign Secretary, Viscount Halifax, Frederick, met the minister with an ugly face and expressed his refusal.

"Sir, it is impossible for us to accept such an unreasonable request. I think your Majesty the Emperor should seriously consider the consequences of using force against the British Empire."

The latter looked calm and replied calmly: "Thank you for your reminder. Your Majesty always makes decisions carefully. Her decision with the court has been very clear."

"That's such a pity." Frederick said helplessly.

"If you change your mind, you can let us know at any time. It's a good thing to avoid having to go to war."

Around the same time, the same thing happened in Amsterdam.

The Ming Dynasty's minister in the Netherlands submitted an ultimatum to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, demanding that it abandon the colonial rule of the Dutch East Indies and instead make it independent and become a Chinese vassal.

The Dutch also refused.

The once prosperous maritime coachman now only has such a resource-rich colony left, how could he be willing to give it up?

Queen Wilhelmina is extremely anxious these days, because the fragile peace between the German Society and Britain and France has been shattered. Regardless of the fact that the Germans are only wrestling with Britain and France in Northern Europe, God knows when they will launch an attack on the Western Front.

One wave after another, and now Akito is about to take action.

It is really difficult for the Netherlands to survive in the cracks.

The Ming court was certain that the British and Dutch would not surrender, so it had already prepared a declaration of war and a wartime diplomatic memorandum.

At 2:24 on February 16, the ministers in London and Amsterdam formally submitted the two documents, and from now on the war was in progress.

Obviously, the plan of the Zhengmi Ziqi men was completely bankrupt.The Z fleet dispatched to the Far East did not have a deterrent value. The cabinet originally estimated that it could shock the Ming Dynasty for at least a few months, but it did not expect that it would have no effect.

"Then let the war test their (Z Fleet) value! Singapore will never fall." Winston, who was still unemployed at this time, made such a bold statement.

A little later, the Ming Dynasty’s Embassy in the United States also submitted a memorandum.

It details the current war demands and possible actions, provides advance notice to avoid misunderstandings and friction, and the subsequent response procedures in case an accident occurs.

At the same time, on the vast blue sea in southern Annan...

The pilots performing routine patrol missions were filled with emotions when they saw a huge fleet of countless ships heading southwest on the glittering ocean.

Countless tracks are connected together, like a snow-white silk scarf that is endlessly long, and the ships become the patterns that embellish this long silk scarf.

Now, the entire fleet is only about a hundred nautical miles away from its destination, and the landing operation is expected to begin in the early morning of the next day.

The Ming army will land in two places. The first is Pattani, the southernmost part of the Thai territory, which is the safest and can be disembarked relatively calmly; the second is Kota Bharu, which is the northernmost port city in the Malay state. .

The British and Indian troops had a relatively adequate defense line in Kota Bharu, but they lacked sufficient troops.Once this port city is captured, the Ming army will be able to ensure worry-free logistics.

The troops landing in Pattani will first move westward, and then move south along the flat terrain on the west coast of the peninsula; while the troops landing in Kota Bharu will attack directly south along the east coast.

The eastern front force sequence includes: 30st Marine Brigade, No. [-] Eighth Division, [-]nd Motorized Infantry Brigade, [-]st Independent Attack Vehicle Battalion, and [-]th Engineering Brigade.

Zhou Changfeng knew that this would be a sleepless night for most people, but he didn't feel nervous at all, just a little expectant and excited.

However, this was enough to make him toss and turn and make it difficult to fall asleep, so he asked the military doctor for a sleeping pill to ensure that he could deal with the subsequent battle with the greatest energy.

The next day, at 6:07 a.m. Yingtianfu time in the capital, the Ming fleet approached the sea off Kota Bharu.

The [-]st Marine Brigade, which will be the first echelon to land, assumed the most important task. The whole brigade felt their heartbeats getting faster and faster, and unconsciously held the weapons in their hands tightly.

On the battleship Zhenguan, Qiu Peisheng asked Zhou Changfeng to give a pre-battle speech to boost morale.

"Can fleet communications still be limited to broadcasting only to my brigade?"

"Of course I am speaking to all the officers and men of the fleet."

The commander-in-chief is still here, but he goes beyond him to preach to everyone?

Zhou Changfeng was somewhat hesitant, "Isn't this...not good?"

Qiu Peisheng, who was smiling, said calmly: "What's wrong? I can also let me hear what you have to say."

They had already arrived at the door of the house, and the radio silence was immediately lifted.

Zhou Changfeng, who was in a complicated mood, took the microphone. At this moment, a hundred thousand soldiers who were about to go to the battlefield were waiting.

"I am Zheng Zhou Changfeng of the [-]st Marine Brigade. I am now addressing all the soldiers participating in the war."

"I think everyone already understands the goal of this war, but many people only know the superficial meaning of this war, which is to capture abundant resources and benefit our country."

"But I'm going to tell you now about a deeper meaning. In the past, we fell behind the world for various reasons, but we managed to catch up after a brief period of consternation."

"During that time, although we did not lose our backbone or break our backbone, we did lose our pride in the Heavenly Kingdom."

"Now, we must regain our self-confidence. This self-confidence is not just empty words, but the detachment and pride buried deep in our hearts that can be expressed without words."

"As for historical issues, that should be studied by historians. But we are soldiers, and now we are facing enemies with mantises acting like chariots. What we have to do is very simple, that is - crush them!"

The bridge of the battleship Zhenguan was silent, and all the officers were silent.

Nearly ten seconds later, several claps from Qiu Peisheng broke the silence.

He breathed a sigh of relief and said meaningfully: "The Emperor and His Majesty will indeed never see the wrong person."

At this moment, more than 100 aircraft taking off from Annam Jiading (Saigon) flew over the fleet.

Several formations of fighter jets, light bombers, and dive bombers pounced on Kota Bharu, which was only a dozen kilometers away, like a flock of eagles.

Wave-like roars of engines came from the sky one after another, once covering up the roar of the fleet as it sailed through the waves.

Later, aerial bombs as dense as hailstones hit the beachhead and deep positions deployed by the British and Indian troops.

From the telescope, it can be seen that a series of explosive spots have emerged on the coastline, one after another, like earth-red firecrackers magnified thousands of times.

102架三六式轻型轰炸机投下了816枚100㎏杀伤爆破弹，35架三七式俯冲轰炸机投下了70枚250㎏穿甲爆破弹。

The British-Indian army's defense line, which had been previously identified by reconnaissance planes and intelligence agents, was almost completely destroyed from the beginning and fell into a sea of ​​fire.

At 6:40 in the morning, it was dawn, and the sun rose from the eastern horizon, shining brightly.

Several advance teams from the 350st Marine Brigade Reconnaissance Battalion boarded the No. [-] reconnaissance boat. Driven by a [-]-horsepower diesel engine, the aluminum alloy speedboats sailed toward the coast.

Slightly slower than the advance team are three minesweepers. They will clear the mines in the sea near the landing site under the cover of their own powerful naval firepower.

The 9th Brigade of the British-Indian 8th Infantry Division was defending Kota Bharu. The previous air raid caused them to suffer nearly 200 casualties. At this moment, they had not yet recovered, but they were subjected to continuous and fierce shelling.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The twelve-inch, 384mm explosive bombs fired from the Zhenguan and Yonghui hit the position of the 8th Infantry Brigade like Thor's hammer. The huge kinetic energy and the explosion of dozens of kilograms of explosives were indestructible.

The I-beams, steel plates, cement blocks, and logs that constructed the semi-permanent fortifications were blown into pieces by the huge shock wave, and then scattered like flowers from a goddess.

Seeing the blue flare fired by the advance detachment of the reconnaissance battalion on the beach, Zhou Changfeng stared intently with his telescope, and then ordered: "Landing force action, first echelon, set off."

At this moment, a sharp air defense siren suddenly sounded.

"Enemy planes were found to be invading! Direction 125, altitude [-], more than ten single-engine planes and seven twin-engine planes."

(End of this chapter)