Chapter 684: The Book of War (big chapter, seeking the moon)
ps: Dear readers, Dugu has been supporting Fang Cang recently. He only has eight hours of eating and sleeping time every day. I am really afraid that I will stop updating. Fortunately, I have saved some manuscripts. When wearing Dabai, you cannot eat, drink, or go to the toilet.
.What a pain!
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To the north of the Lion City, across the narrow Strait of Johor, is the Sultanate of Johor.
To the north of Johor is the Kingdom of Pahang, which became independent probably in 1770 with the disintegration of the Johor Empire.
Unlike the Kingdom of Johor, which was more tightly controlled by the Great Empire, the Chinese power here was stronger.
Kuantan Farm is a Chinese farm very close to the seaside.
Like Pattani Fengsheng Farm, this is also a farm operated by Huaihai Company under the guise of overseas Chinese for a long time.
At the beginning, Dong Shuheng was determined to run a farm here and develop his own power through the power of the local Chinese. It was not just because the land here could produce food.
At that time, Dong Shuheng, who had a foresight of history, had already begun preparing to plan the Straits Settlements.
The Empire of Great Britain did not rely solely on one city, Singapore, to control the Strait of Malacca.
It consists of three ports, including Singapore, Penang and Malacca.
The local Chinese have always called it "Three States Prefecture".
These three ports are lined up along this narrow strait.
After many years of operation by the Great Empire, it already had complete port defense facilities.
Coupled with the Strait Fleet of the Great Empire, this place can be described as an iron wall.
Therefore, it would be difficult for Dong Shuheng to plan this place solely by relying on the navy and landing troops.
When the Great Empire captured Temasek, which is now Sing Kapo, from the Sultanate of Johor, they realized the role of building coastal defense here.
Singapore's port has complete fort defense facilities.
It is said to be able to block all attacks from the sea.
Even though the Renaissance Army now has new warships, it still has to pay a heavy price if it wants to break through the maritime defenses of the Great Empire.
However, Dong Shuheng knew the shortcomings of these three ports in the Great Empire.
This flaw caused the Dayang Empire to suffer a big loss a hundred years later, forcing the Dayang Empire army of 100,000 people to surrender to the Fuso Army of 30,000 people.
There is a stone embankment connecting Singapore and the Sultanate of Johor across the Johor Strait.
Before the rise of Singapore, the shallow water strait in the north of the island was the main port of call.
Because the water here is shallow and the waves are small. At that time, the tonnage of sea-going ships was generally small. This is an ideal anchorage.
Later, in order to compete with the Dutch, the Great Empire began to operate Singapore and built a deep-water port on the south coast.
The Great Empire's defense against Singapore is mainly facing the sea to the south, which means it mainly defends against ship attacks from the sea.
Therefore, the artillery of Singapore City cannot launch attacks inland.
On one side of the Johor Strait, the Great Shadow Empire is basically undefended.
In their view, the puppet sultanates on Malay Island had nothing to guard against.
Only when a very serious local rebellion occurs, the Great Empire will send troops to suppress it.
In other words, only the Great Empire can suppress them. How can those small countries threaten them?
At this time, several farms such as Pattani and Kuantan had begun to mobilize.
Planting activities were suspended, and all young militiamen put down their sickles and hoes and picked up their rifles.
"Director Yang, the militiamen have been training hard these days. Women have also been sent to make military rations. Everyone is very motivated. After enduring it for so many years, we finally no longer have to deal with these lazy and lazy natives."
"You see, these are biscuits we made from rice flour. A lot of cane sugar, lard and salt are added to them. They are wrapped in fat according to the formula given by the military and can be stored for at least a month."
Yang Guangshun now serves as the general manager of Huaihai Farm in the Malay region.
Several surrounding farms are now managed by him.
At this time, he was working at the Pekan Farm located in the Sultanate of Pahang. Most of this farm is in mountainous areas and mainly grows rubber trees. However, it started late here and most of the rubber trees are still saplings.
There are more than 5,000 workers on the farm, including about 1,500 young and middle-aged people.
Now form a militia group.
Each man has a Type 54 rifle and a machine gun battery with six mortars and four heavy machine guns.
The weapons were hidden in merchant ships and smuggled in in many batches.
"Liu Chang, Commander Zhao, I won't go into details about the importance of this mission. It will be launched strictly according to the time, and secrets must not be leaked in advance. Now you are the only two who know the situation. If the news leaks from here, you
Neither of them can escape. Our Renaissance Army has clear rewards and punishments, and you also know it." Yang Guangshun said to Liu Lin, the director of Beigen Farm, and Zhao Xiaolong, the militiaman.
This time he is the commander-in-chief of several farms on Malay Island. He not only has to take care of civil affairs, but also military affairs.
Some people say that a Straits Protectorate will be established here after the war, and Yang Guangshun may become the first Grand Protector.
Although he was born as a grassroots farmer, Yang Guangshun has been studying cultural knowledge on his own over the years.
He also attended local advanced training courses.
They say opportunities never miss those who work hard and are prepared.
This is not wrong at all.
Yang Guangshun's militia has now formed five regiments, with a total number of more than 8,000 people.
The equipment is all prepared in advance.
The Renaissance Army united with the local Chinese on Malay Island and controlled some remote ports.
Farm goods usually come in and out of these ports. All you need to do is make a regular donation to the local officials.
No one dares to manage it here. What's more, some local forces provoked Huaihai Company's farms and were beaten badly.
These puppets under the rule of the Great Empire, they only need to please the Great Empire and maintain their luxurious life.
As long as the Chinese plantations developed in the local area can provide benefits wisely, who will care about these Chinese if their brains are kicked.
What Yang Guangshun had to do was to control some strategic places on the Malay Peninsula before the army landed, and to provide military supplies to the army.
It was very easy for these militiamen to occupy strategic places controlled by the natives.
Although the combat effectiveness of the farm militia is not as good as that of the regular army of the Renaissance Army, it is much stronger than the local soldiers.
Time has entered the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, and the Nanyang region has entered the dry season.
"Your Majesty the Governor, it's not good!"
In the Straits Settlements Governor's Palace in Singapore, a young white man broke in without any gentlemanly manners.
"Tom, what on earth is making you so anxious?" Brandel was sipping his afternoon tea in the Governor's Mansion.
He guessed that the Renaissance Army had taken action against Xiangjiang Island.
But that place is not under his jurisdiction. Moreover, he has sent all the troops he can to support it.
Compared to there, the Straits Settlements are more important.
However, he felt that the Renaissance Army should not attack the Straits Settlements, because that would mean a full-scale war between them and the Great Empire.
It's the kind that never stops.
Which country in the world today dares to challenge the Great Empire like this?
Those countries that dared to challenge the Great Empire in the past all lost miserably.
"Did something happen in Xiangjiang?" Brandel continued to ask without waiting for Tom to catch his breath.
"No, no, Your Majesty the Governor, it's from the north. The Renaissance Army has landed in the Johor Sultanate."
"When will it happen?"
"Just this morning."
"Oh, damn it, go get General Tinitz and General Russo."
Brandel was so shocked that he stopped thinking about what he was doing.
After a while, two generals in military uniforms arrived at the Governor's Mansion.
Brandel handed the two generals the intelligence he had just obtained.
Both of them showed surprised expressions.
"Your Majesty the Governor, do you think the Renaissance Army will declare war on us?" General Russo asked.
They obviously haven't received the declaration of war yet. Could it be that the Renaissance Army is attacking the puppet country of the Straits Settlements to test their bottom line?
Just like they did before.
In fact, they thought wrong.
Just yesterday, Wang Tao had met with the diplomatic representative of the Great Empire in Munich and presented him with a declaration of war.
The general meaning of the declaration of war is: Since the army of the Great Empire has been relying on the territory of the Fuxing Army in Xiangjiang, combined with the recent hostile policy adopted by the Great Empire towards the Renaissance Army, the Renaissance Army has become intolerable.
Now it is officially announced that the Renaissance Army and the Great Empire have officially declared war on a global scale.
"The great collision between East and West! The world war begins!"
Although everyone was prepared for it, this incident still shocked the whole of Europe.
Not just Europa, the whole world was shocked.
The Renaissance Army actually declared war on its own initiative!
Having just won the Crimean War, the Great Empire is now at its peak.
At this time, war is officially declared. The Renaissance Army is an emerging force. Are you qualified?
Many people can't understand why the Renaissance Army did this.
"Crazy, isn't it good for the Renaissance Army to do business and make money? Why bother with the Great Empire!" Joseph I complained to Princess Sissi.
In this way, the Great Empire will definitely let him choose to take sides. Doesn't this cause a problem for him?
Now was the critical moment for his war against Prussia.
Originally, the French had promised to support him.
But will France now join the Great Empire's war against the Renaissance Army? Do they still have the energy to take care of Austria's affairs?
According to past practice, the French will stand unswervingly on the side of the Great Empire.
But this time Joseph miscalculated.
The day after Wang Tao submitted his declaration of war.
Another piece of news shocked everyone.
Nathan came out personally and announced that he would remain neutral in the war between the Great Empire and the Renaissance Army.
The happiest thing about these two days is the newspapers in Europe. They don't have to think about where to find eye-catching news.
In the Palace of Versailles.
A palace meeting is being held.
Imperial Minister Valerie Langhui reported: "Your Majesty, many people in the Senate feel that we should join the Great Empire in the war against the Renaissance Army. In this way, when the interests of the East are distributed in the future, we can also share a piece of the pie."
"Some people think that allowing the Renaissance Army to continue to develop will also be a threat to France."
These people obviously got a taste of the last Crimean War.
They feel that as long as Britain and France, the two most powerful countries in Europe, unite, then no country on this earth can be their opponent.
Nasan's long and thin face suddenly turned cold. "We are proud French people. Since when have we become the younger brothers of the Great Empire. Some people oppose my decision and think that it will offend the Great Empire."
"Your Majesty, some people think that we are afraid of the Renaissance Army if we don't follow the Great Empire and fight with the Renaissance Army." Valeryan added.
"Here, I hope each of you will understand clearly that we are not vassals of the Great Empire.
We don't go to war with the Ba'ath Army because we have no interests in the east that we need to protect."
"Maintaining the security of the eastern shipping lanes and its hegemony in the Indian Ocean is the Empire of Great Britain's own business. Now that the warships of the Renaissance Army can't even reach Africa, what do we have to worry about?"
"The strength of the Renaissance Army is even stronger than that of Tsarist Russia, and they are further away from us. It is not cost-effective to go to such a far place to fight them."
"What's more, wouldn't it be better for us to let these two powerful countries fight a war? We can still continue to do business with the Renaissance Army, and the share of the Great Empire will be given to us. We can't let the Europeans not drink tea, right?
Women’s long skirts cannot be without silk decorations.”
Take three to criticize some pro-British factions and some radicals in the country.
He was disappointed that these people had no political acumen at all.
Downing Street.
Prime Minister Temple's reaction was much calmer.
"Mr. Matellis, how many troops do we still have in the east?" Temple immediately convened the cabinet to formulate countermeasures.
Now he can finally give an explanation to the people. The Ba'ath Army's declaration of war shows that Temple's tough policy against the Ba'ath Army was correct.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, there are currently a total of 53,400 local dispatched troops in the Indian Governorate, Straits Governorate, and Xiangjiang Governorate in the east, and there are also servant troops totaling 1250 million people."
"Among them, there are 40,000 native troops and 100,000 servant troops in the Viceroyalty of India. In the Straits Settlements, there are a total of 10,000 army troops and about 20,000 servant troops."
"As for the south side of the Xiangjiang River, we basically have no troops, only a few thousand people stay there.
Because we don’t have any advantage in fighting there. So when we expelled the diplomats before, we already notified the Governor-General of Xiangjiang to prepare for the evacuation.”
"In addition, we have strong fortresses in the Straits Settlements, and I believe they will be able to hold on until reinforcements from the Indian area arrive."
Secretary of War Mattellis introduced.
"Too few, not enough troops. Minister Matellis, you are too optimistic. Don't underestimate the Renaissance Army. Have we learned too many lessons from them?"
"Maybe, I said maybe, just when they submitted the declaration of war, the war in the East had already begun. These despicable Easterners have long been accustomed to doing such things."
"Then, we must prepare in advance for the defeat of the Straits Settlements now." Temple was not so optimistic. Will these Easterners declare war out of anger because of their actions?
Temple felt that it was impossible for the other party to do this, so the other party was already prepared.
"Prime Minister, are you too pessimistic?" Matellis also wanted to retort.
"No, stop talking. Let's formulate a plan based on the worst decision of losing the Straits Settlements and retreating to the Indian Ocean." Temple interrupted him.
He is a very independent and decisive prime minister. He has relatively high demands on himself and his subordinates.
He alone can make decisions at his conference table.
Among all the previous prime ministers, there has never been one as domineering as him.
"Then Prime Minister, we may not only lose the Straits Settlements, we may also lose Calcutta."
"I think it is necessary for me to remind you that our current fleet in the east is seriously insufficient. It is no match for the Navy of the Renaissance Army." The newly appointed Admiralty Sandwich was even more pessimistic.
He knew that the British combat system had always been naval-centric.
Therefore, the core of the colony's defense also revolves around the port.
"We now have more than fifty ships in the Indian colonies and Straits Settlements. It sounds like a lot, but there are more than a dozen main warships. These main warships are just old-fashioned warships equipped with steam assistance.
Through previous battles, it has been proven that it is no match for new warships."
"Especially when facing those fast ironclads of the Renaissance Army equipped with torpedoes. These old warships are like bloated fat men and are generally slaughtered by others."
"So in this war, the navy will not play a big role. We can only hope that these warships, with the cooperation of the port fortress and coastal defense artillery, can cause certain damage to the Renaissance Army's navy, or delay their actions."
"In addition, everyone should not forget that our colonial defense facilities are all facing the sea, especially Singapore. The coastal defense guns at the port are powerful, but they can only shoot at the sea."
"You must know that our opponent, the Renaissance Army, has a huge army with considerable combat effectiveness."
"What I want to say is that they can cross the narrow Johor Strait from the north and attack the northern part of Singapore. Therefore, the worst-case scenario mentioned by the Prime Minister is entirely possible."
"North?" Some people have been to the East. They know that Singapore is basically undefended against the indigenous people in the north.
"And I think it could be even worse."
"Prime Minister, ministers, I think our top priority is to seize the time to send reinforcements to Colombo. We have lost the Straits Settlements. If we lose Ceylon again, we will lose the initiative in the Indian Ocean."
Sandwich's words sound depressing.
As a newcomer who had just entered the cabinet, Sandwich seemed very radical in making such suggestions.
Some people think he is trying to please others.
But everyone had to admit that what he said was very reasonable.