Age of Rebirth

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Yoshio Sasaki, Chief of Staff of the Yokoyama Brigade of the Japanese Army's Singapore Defense Force, did not know how lucky he was. According to the division of labor between him and Major General Kingoro Yokoyama, the commander of the brigade, Yoshio Sasaki was in charge of commanding the evacuation of the troops in the urban area. The brigade leader himself stayed at the brigade headquarters and was in charge of central command, and at the same time, gave orders for blasting.

Yoshio Sasaki went to the regiment closest to the port yesterday afternoon to inspect the evacuation arrangements. Because the commander of the regiment and the officers of the regiment were warmly entertained, His Excellency drank a few more glasses, and there was no He didn't drink much, and he didn't want to lose face in front of his subordinates. After a few glasses of old wine, His Excellency immediately became as drunk as a puddle of mud. He had no choice but to rest in this alliance for a night.

Just such a mistake, he escaped the fate of the first battalion of the Parachute Regiment of the Independent Division, and now, Sasaki is standing on the pier, his face is not good, he has ordered the radio station, and called the brigade several times The Ministry called for your Excellency the Brigade Commander, but there was no reply. It has been two hours since the attack on the damn independent division. Probably more bad luck than good luck! [

Sasaki still can't figure out why the independent division's sudden move came without any warning. It is said that there are traces of large-scale troop mobilization and assembly. He knows that sooner or later, there will be such a day, a lonely Singapore is separated from the imperial army's more than 100 million troops by the sea, and the defensive troops of more than 1 people are facing an independent division with several 10 troops. Sooner or later, it will be a dish in the mouth of the Chinese devil.

But the battle started too suddenly, without any psychological preparation at all. Fortunately, the imperial army had a plan long ago and did not plan to defend Singapore to the death. soldiers.

Looking at the urban area of ​​Singapore, where the sound of gunfire has basically subsided, and looking at most of the troops who have boarded the ship, Sasaki sighed, and said to the three captains: "Masters, we can't wait any longer, we can't contact you any longer." Your Excellency, Head of the Upper Brigade, looking at the situation on the battlefield, the Matsuda Regiment defending the northern part of Singapore has been completely destroyed, and the head of the Hengshan Brigade is also in danger. My opinion is, what do you guys think? "

The three Japanese army captains cursed inwardly, "Isn't this nonsense? The base camp ordered Singapore to be abandoned. Why? It's to preserve the strength of the Hengshan brigade. They are still pretending to ask everyone's opinions. Fighting with the Chinese troops, there must be It’s only worth the cost of shooting, and you ran to the pier before firing a shot, isn’t it just to evacuate as soon as possible! You are so narrow-minded, don’t you understand it!”

Of course, in this case, if you continue to wait for the head of the Hengshan Brigade who does not know whether he is alive or dead, you are risking the lives of more than 7000 imperial soldiers from the three regiments. After chasing to the pier, none of us can leave. However, if the head of the Hengshan brigade, Fu Daming, escapes from death and runs to the pier without even seeing the shadow of a boat, then he will abandon the officer before the battle and run first by himself. Brothers, I don’t plan to recite the charges. You are the chief of staff, and we all listen to you!

Therefore, the three regiment captains said in unison: "The staff department respectfully obeys the orders of His Excellency the Chief of Staff!" That expression was as respectful as it could be.

Da Zuo Sasaki grinned, the thoughts of the three regiment captains were like a mirror in his heart, but what he said was correct, Sasaki said sadly: "All officers, salute to Singapore, condolences to the commander of the Hengshan Brigade and the spirits of the soldiers of the Matsuda Regiment !"

Sasaki himself even took off his military cap, bowed deeply three times, and then ordered the communications officer, "Send a report immediately, Lieutenant General Xinye, Commander of the Fifth Army of the Imperial Southwest Pacific Expedition Army, and our Hengshan Brigade arrived early this morning. At [-]:[-], they were suddenly attacked by the troops of the Independent Division, and had abandoned Singapore according to the order of the headquarters, and the troops were boarding the ship, preparing to cross the Strait of Malacca, and I hope that your Excellency, Commander, can provide timely artillery cover!"

Colonel Sasaki, he did his best to save face. He was the last one to board the ship. Amidst the dull sound of sirens, dozens of civilian ships, full of more than 7000 soldiers from the Japanese Hengshan Brigade, sailed slowly. from Singapore port.

Just over ten minutes after the convoy transporting the Japanese army left the port of Singapore, the leading unit of a battalion directly under the [-]th Brigade of the Corps rushed to the pier. The major battalion commander, listening to the sound of the ship's whistle in the dawn light, He stomped his feet angrily, and cursed: "It's unlucky, I'm about to run and break my legs, but I still haven't caught up. These little devils can run faster than rabbits. Communication soldiers, report to the brigade commander immediately, the little devils run away by boat." Already!"

After finishing speaking, the fiery major battalion commander snatched the light machine gun from a soldier beside him. He couldn't help saying that a shuttle was flying towards the sea, and the gunshots echoed on the empty pier. Of course, the guns couldn't hit the Japanese soldiers on board. , but Sasaki Dazuo was startled into a cold sweat, "My Majesty the Emperor, I ask you to bless me, it's so dangerous, if I grind for more than ten minutes, the soldiers of the independent division won't give me the money." Capture yourself alive!"

After receiving the report from Chu Ziye, the commander of the Fourth Brigade, Tang Qiuli smiled and said to Zhao Yuhe and Yu Guanghan: "Sure enough, it is as I judged, but it is good, at least the urban area of ​​Singapore has not been attacked. The destruction of the war, Yuhe, the fleet Xin Xiguo and the air force Le Yiqin, are they in place?" The net does not skip words.

Zhao Yuhe replied: "Master, the information has been sent. Chief of Staff Xin's torpedo boat and gunboat detachment are already waiting in the intercepting sea area. Commander Le's mixed fleet will reach the airspace of the Strait of Malacca in 15 minutes. You Don't worry, under our combined sea and air attack, none of the remaining troops of the Hengshan Brigade can escape!"

Tang Qiuli reminded, "Remind Le Yiqin, don't be careless, prevent the Japanese aircraft from Sumatra and Kalimantan from dispatching, cover the Japanese evacuation, the Japanese aircraft will arrive at the battlefield, it won't take long, don't patronize , let the Japanese fighter jets steal a bite!"

On the Strait of Malacca, the mist of dawn shrouded the sea like a veil. In the narrow Strait of Malacca, the ship sailed at full speed, and it took less than an hour to reach the island of Sumatra on the other side.

Chief of Staff of the Fleet of the Independent Division, Rear Admiral Xin Xiguo was on the command ship, holding a binoculars and observing the sea surface. Although it was shrouded in fog, he could use his years of experience in fighting at sea to judge the truth of the matter from a little bit of anomaly. It has been more than half an hour since the division reported the enemy's situation. According to the normal speed calculation, the Japanese fleet should have reached the center line of the strait at this moment.

Xin Xiguo ordered: "Order all the ships to advance at full speed, and immediately contact the aviation commander Le. Our torpedo boat and gunboat formation are approaching the enemy. Please pay attention to identifying the enemy and our ships!"

On the island of Sumatra, Lieutenant General Shinno, the commander of the Fifth Army of the Japanese Southwest Pacific Expeditionary Army, casually asked a staff officer, "Has the Hengshan Brigade withdrawn from Singapore? Has there been any report of being pursued?"

The staff officer of the lieutenant replied respectfully: "Your Excellency, the Hengshan Brigade has boarded the ship and should now sail to the waters near the center line of the Strait of Malacca. They have not been pursued by the Chinese army. Shall we order the shore artillery to provide fire cover?" [

Lieutenant General Xinye gave the lieutenant staff a look with an almost idiotic look, and said sarcastically: "Since we have not been pursued by the Chinese army, that is to say, the Chinese army occupied Singapore and have not had time to prepare ships. What kind of fire cover is provided, did you let the artillery of the Imperial Artillery hit the sea? When you were in the military academy, your instructor taught you this way, I really don’t know how you graduated from the Imperial Military Academy!"

When Lieutenant General Xinye satirized a small lieutenant staff mercilessly, unexpected changes had taken place in the Straits of Malacca.

The radar officer reported: "Chief of Staff, the formation has approached the enemy and reached the best firing distance of the rocket launcher. The captain of the gunboat detachment requested to open fire!" Xin Xiguo ordered: "The gunboat detachment, quickly contact the enemy, and use the most intensive artillery fire to cover the Japanese army. Fleet, torpedo boat detachment, go forward, launch torpedoes, and start attacking!"

Colonel Sasaki, also holding a telescope, stared at the sea in front of him intently. Following the coastline of Sumatra Island, which was faintly visible at the beginning, he could now see a clear outline, and his heart became more and more stable. In a few 10 minutes, you can land on land, and finally get rid of the fearful days in Singapore!

He put down the binoculars and stretched his stiff neck. Suddenly, Colonel Sasaki heard a hissing sound in the air. It seemed that in the distant mist, a flash of fire could still be seen. What is that?

Not only Sasaki heard and saw it, but almost all the Japanese officers and soldiers noticed this strange scene. The Japanese soldiers were not allowed to wake up. , Like bolides, the sky was densely covered with mist, and the orange tail flame lit up the sky at dawn, and then, it plunged down over the Japanese fleet.

The gunboat detachment of the independent division fleet has more than 100 high-speed gunboats. In addition to the two main guns on the front and rear decks, each gunboat also prepares a naval combat-type 32-tube "Thunder" rocket launcher. A salvo is more than 4000 The explosive power of a rocket is no less than that of a large-caliber howitzer, and the intensity of the firepower strikes is all-round coverage!

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" There was a loud noise, and rows of water columns rose high on the surface of the Strait of Malacca. In the water columns, there were fragments of Japanese soldiers' limbs and broken boards from ships. And the spare parts, the round and round flames, reflected the mist into red sauce, just the first salvo, and the fleet transporting more than 7000 Japanese troops was shrouded in a steel storm!

(To be continued) (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to ( ) to subscribe and reward. Your support is my biggest motivation.)