Chapter 58: Ten Thousand Miles of Seas (4)

Singapore, which is at the throat of the Strait of Malacca, has its geographical importance self-evident. It is a must-pass place to enter the Indian Ocean from the Pacific Ocean. The British turned this place into their own colony in 1824. Due to the special geographical location of the Strait of Malacca, people should have arranged a brigade garrison here, and Singapore built a solid fortress and a fortress, which is not an exaggeration.

In Singapore, in the British military camp, the morning sun just emerged, and the flag-raising ceremony began. As the gaze of the fortress commander Brigadier General Kent, accompanied by the tune of "God Bless the Queen", the rice-shaped flag slowly rose. The soldiers arranged neatly as usual, waiting for the ceremony to end and start morning exercises.

The soldiers of the Philippines already knew about the war. Faced with such a situation, all soldiers had a heavy face. It was the first time that the British had encountered such a failure. For the British, the navy was almost invincible, but such a powerful navy surrendered in their neighboring countries.

After the ceremony, Kent did not start his morning exercises as before, but stood in front of all the soldiers, cleared his throat and started talking.

"Children, I think you all know that our navy was defeated. Don't be sad, children, to my knowledge, they fought until the last moment, and were forced to surrender after they were exhausted from ammunition and food. They fulfilled their duties as a soldier, and they deserved the expectations of Her Majesty the Queen.

I feel very sorry and sad about the defeat of the Navy. I can tell you clearly that the Chinese will not give up. The Navy's battle is over. It's our turn. This is an inevitable fierce battle."

When Kent said this, there was a commotion in the soldiers below, and the soldiers began to speak to each other in a low voice. Over the past few days, the soldiers were most concerned about whether the Chinese would attack Singapore. Now, after hearing what Kent said, everyone knows what they were about to face. A worry about the future naturally spread, and everyone's whispers aroused Kent's dissatisfaction.

After Kent looked around with his usual serious and stern eyes for a week, the soldiers consciously closed their mouths and listened quietly to Kent continued: "Children, this is a war. The value of soldiers can only be reflected in wars. Let us use our loyalty and passion to Her Majesty the Queen to tell the Chinese that Singapore fortresses are insurmountable, the British Empire is invincible, and Singapore is a fortress that will not sink, and you will become heroes in this battle to receive the cheers of the people of the motherland. Long live the British Empire, long live the Queen!"

Kent's words aroused the fighting spirit of the soldiers. The British who had been rampant in the world for hundreds of years were proud and they always thought they were invincible. The situation is now like this, and it would be unreasonable not to fight with the Chinese.

"Long live the British Empire! Long live the Queen!" The slogan seemed a bit imposing as the soldiers shouted in unison.

Within the next ten days, the British troops in Singapore entered a state of full preparation for war. The cannons on the fort were polished to shine, the coastal defense positions were reinforced, and the observation posts on the positions were doubled. The soldiers were waiting for the arrival of the Chinese army.

A harsh alarm broke the tranquility of the morning, and all the British troops were alarmed. They quickly put on their clothes and took up their weapons to enter the position because the Chinese were coming.

On this morning in Singapore, the Chinese came and killed them. What they killed was a huge special mixed fleet. Battleships with gloomy guns, murderous cruisers, troop transport ships and landing crafts, the soldiers were eager to try. Seventy types of warships and submarines, and more than 600 transport ships appeared outside the sea in Singapore.

As soon as the sun emerged, the front main guns of all warships used the fiercest artillery fire to blow the landing site into a sea of ​​fire. After the fierce artillery fire lasted for three hours, the artillery fire began to extend, and the first batch of landing craft began to grab the beach. The landing troops without assault boats and speedboats were obviously much slower in speed, not at all like in the movie. The landing troops can be said to have slowly begun to dock, and some soldiers even paddled small boats with slurry.

Singapore is no better than the Philippines. The British have been operating here for more than 50 years. The fortresses are reinforced and the fortresses are permanent. The artillery fire of warships has not caused much damage to the British army. The British army soon began to use cannons to intercept landing troops.

The British army's artillery fire was very fierce, without reinforcements or retreats, showing a desperate situation. The landing troops continued to move forward, and ships were constantly blown up by the British army's artillery fire.

Seeing the landing troops being bombed, the fleet commander Liu Yuan asked all warships to keep moving forward and use accurate artillery fire as much as possible to suppress the British counterattack. Under the order, all warships stepped forward bravely, regardless of the British counterattack, desperately suppressed the British artillery fire with ship guns. Soon, warships were shot one after another, and the "Kirin" rapid gunboat was hit by two bombs, and a fire broke out on the front deck, and two eyes were knocked out by British artillery fire, and a large amount of sea water poured in. Captain Liu Buchan was calm and asked the main gun to continue firing, while allowing people to extinguish the fire.

Deng Shichang, the captain of the cruiser "Qidian", was even more brave and ordered the warship to risk stranding, approach the coast as much as possible, and use a 155mm caliber front main gun to continuously smash heavy shells onto the British turrets.

The first batch of troops to land were the First Regiment of the First Marine Division. The regiment commander Shi Mingyuan was shot and injured during the landing. He leaned halfway in a hidden place on the beach to continue commanding the troops to fight. Fortunately, he was on his thigh and after emergency bandage, the problem was not very serious.

On the front of the beach is a high ground, where the British built permanent fortifications. British soldiers hid in the fortifications and kept firing at the Chinese soldiers who were landing with machine guns and rifles. The fierce and dense firepower net temporarily suppressed the soldiers who landed on the beach.

There were several shooting dead corners on the high ground. The British army built several fire points there, and the warships could not hit it with artillery fire. The machine guns in the fire points were constantly firing. The third battalion commander was ordered to lead the team to tear the opening, and as soon as the head was probed, the machine gun was shot into a sieve.

The landing troops suffered huge casualties, and the artillery fire of the warships could not destroy the firepower points on the dead corners. At this time, the 2,000-ton "Braves" gunboat, under the personal operation of the captain Lin Qisheng, drove the warship to the beach at all costs. With a bang, it hit the reef. The warship was stranded, but it also had an angle to directly bombard several firepower points. The distance was too close, so Lin Qisheng asked the gunner to adjust the main gun to the smallest angle, use the main gun as a cannon, and shoot directly. After firing more than thirty consecutive guns, he finally knocked out several firepower points. The landing troops cheered and rushed up, finally tearing a hole in the British position.

The fierce battle lasted until three o'clock in the afternoon, and neither side had the opportunity to have a meal and rest. Under the attack of the Chinese army regardless of casualties and landing on multiple sites, the British positions were broken through with more.

The British army, which had no way of retreat, fought to the death, and the soldiers were still resisting with their various strongholds. The Chinese army could only destroy them one by one, using grenades and rifles to destroy the British soldiers one by one in the bunkers.

In the evening, the British beachheads were finally cleared. Singapore, which had lost its beaches, was an unguarded city for the Chinese army.

The sound of guns and cannons gradually dimmed and the sky became dark. In addition to the sporadic sound of guns and cannons, the battlefield became quiet. The beach was full of medical personnel rescuing the wounded, and various combat supplies were constantly transported to the beach. Only floating objects could be seen everywhere and the bodies of dead soldiers. Fleet Commander Liu Yuan ordered that all the battleships were as famous as the lights, and the bodies of the dead soldiers were salvaged overnight.

After the British resisted for a day, the remnants retreated to Singapore.

The victorious Chinese army took advantage of the situation to pursue and surrounded Singapore city overnight.

In Singapore, Brigadier General Kent and his men held the last combat meeting. After a day of battle, most of the five thousand British troops suffered casualties, and now only more than 1,500 people are left to join the battle. The officers in the conference room looked ashen, some bowed their heads and kept smoking.

"Everyone, your mission has been completed. You have done your duty as a soldier. Don't die. Surrender to the Chinese tomorrow. I have to admit that we were defeated." Kent did not use the word "me" from beginning to end.

After explaining everything, Kent announced the end of the meeting and returned to his bedroom, took out a pistol, pointed it at his temple, and pulled the trigger. After a "bang", blood splattered all over the wall, and the surroundings returned to tranquility.

When Chinese soldiers turned all their muzzles towards the Protestant Church and broke Singapore City, they found that Singapore had changed overnight. The rice-shaped flag hanging high on the Governor's Mansion had been lowered, and a white flag was replaced by it.

In the silence, the city gates opened, and all the British soldiers and local Governor's Office staff lined up in two lines, holding white flags and walking out of the city. At the front was the British Governor-General in Singapore, Bethleheim.

Singapore, a country with many overseas Chinese, finally raised the Chinese flag for the first time, and the Chinese finally became the dominant here. Compared with the British surrendered team, the Chinese army's entry ceremony seemed much more spectacular. The soldiers walked into this strange country with their chests and heads raised, and walked into this country full of Chinese.

The frightened citizens quietly opened the window door and secretly watched the group of soldiers who looked similar to them. They were bold and even ran to the roadside to talk to the soldiers. When they heard the familiar Chinese language, many overseas Chinese could no longer help but go to the streets to welcome these soldiers from the motherland.
Chapter completed!