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Chapter 1691: The Battle of Malacca

At 8 a.m. on 12 October, the Japanese suddenly dispatched their air force and attacked British airfields in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, and Singapore. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Before the outbreak of war, Admiral Phillips, commander of the British Eastern Fleet, had a premonition of approaching danger and asked the Royal Air Force to send fighter planes to patrol the Strait of Malacca all day to provide reconnaissance and early warning for the fleet, but Rear Admiral Pullford, commander of the Royal Far Eastern Air Force, refused on the pretext that "there is no such order in London."

The commander-in-chief of the British Far East Army was Air Force General Robert Murphy. Brooke. Sir Popham, however, did not seem to have any direct connection between his responsibilities and authority, and Sir Popham could not command the Far Eastern Fleet, which was directly responsible to the London Navy, nor could he command the air forces in Singapore and Malaya, nor even the civilian personnel of the colonies. All departments are only accountable to the departments in London, and no one in London pays any attention to this hapless sir.

So it wasn't until the Japanese bombs fell on Singapore that Sir Popham convinced London: the Japanese were coming.

Of the 400 G1, 200 A25, and 100 G2 fighters sold by South China to Britain, half of them were retained in the Straits Settlements to guard the Strait of Malacca.

The consequences were tragic, no matter how good the planes were, as long as they were parked on the ground, they were not a threat, so when the Japanese army dispatched a thousand fighters in one go to baptize the British airfield again and again, the British had already lost their precious air supremacy.

At the same time as the air force attacked, a Japanese fleet consisting of a Kongo-class battleship, two new cruisers, and four destroyers broke into the Strait of Malacca from the Andaman Sea and shelled the port of Penang.

"Fighting when you see the enemy" is the creed of the Royal Navy, and now it is not the time to see the enemy, the enemy has already hit the doorstep, no, has already entered the home, and "loss of air supremacy" cannot be used as an excuse to avoid war. Although there was no air cover, the British believed that the Japanese planes were not in good performance, the Strait of Malacca was low in clouds, and tropical storms were frequent, so it was estimated that they would not be attacked from the air, and at most a few Japanese planes would come to harass them.

So, Admiral Phillips set out with the Z flotilla, the battleships "Prince of Wales" and "Counterattack", as well as four destroyers, "Elicotra", "Fast", "Tenedos" and "Vampire", in an attempt to drive away the fleet that shelled Penang.

As soon as the British fleet left the port of Singapore, it was greeted by high-altitude reconnaissance planes, and when the Z fleet was about to arrive in the waters north of Medan, Sumatra, the time pointed to 1:23 p.m., and eight bombers carrying two 250-kilogram bombs arrived from the 5th Squadron of the U.S. Horo Air Force at the Medan Air Base.

Only five minutes later, sixteen planes of the first and second squadrons of the Wonsan Air Force at the Minli base arrived with torpedoes.

At 1:38 p.m., eight torpedo planes of the 8th Squadron of the U.S. Horo arrived, and at 1:42 p.m., 26 Type 99 land attack planes of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Squadrons of Kaya at Tanjung Balai Air Base arrived with torpedoes.

These 57 planes bombed the "Prince of Wales" and the "Counterattack" indiscriminately, and the anti-aircraft firepower on the British battleships was not weak, and the "Prince of Wales" was equipped with six groups of 1.5-inch eight-mounted bangbang guns unique to the British *** ship, and the "counterattack" also had three groups, each of which could fire 4,000 shells per minute, plus anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns, it seemed that a dense network of anti-aircraft bombs had been weaved, but in front of the Japanese naval aviation, which was a veteran of transoceanic critique, A battleship without the cover of fighter planes is just a dead fish lying on the board for others to slaughter.

In this situation, which was attacked by a large number of enemy aircraft, Admiral Phillips, the commander of the fleet, still obeyed the instructions of wireless silence and did not ask the Singapore side for help, of course, the most likely thing is that knowing the predicament of the Singapore side, it is not of much use to ask for help.

At 1:51 p.m., the captain of the "Counterattack" William. Colonel Tenan broke the wireless silence and appealed to the British Far East Force in Singapore for help -- "Our ship was under continuous attack." At 1:55 a.m., the "Counterattack," which was hit by a 250-kilogram bomb and five torpedoes, slowly sank into the sea.

At 1:58 p.m., 17 planes of the 6th and 7th squadrons of the U.S. Horo arrived with 500 kilograms of bombs, and the "Prince of Wales," which had been hit by six torpedoes one after another, and its speed had dropped to only six knots, was hit by a bomb at the ammunition depot, causing a large explosion, and in this way the "Prince of Wales" remained adrift at sea for about a quarter of an hour, and finally sank at 2:15 p.m.

As the two battleships fell silent, the destroyers became the object of aircraft hunting, and by half past two in the afternoon, the entire Z fleet was completely annihilated, and the Japanese army did not send naval warships to help, relying only on fighters, and completely annihilated the imposing British fleet, from the commander of the navy, Admiral Phillips and below, the entire fleet had a total of 218 officers, 3,420 corporals and sailors, half of whom were buried with the fleet. The losses of the Japanese army were nothing more than three combat planes and two reconnaissance planes shot down, and one plane had a landing accident on the way back, and 30 planes were shot and wounded.

The First Battle of the Strait of Malacca once again confirmed the view that aircraft is the nemesis of battleships, and the battleships faded out of the navy and are slowly becoming a reality, and the giant ships and artillery factions in the Japanese Navy were originally full of complaints about the cancellation of the three giant battleships of Yamato, Musashi, and Shinano, but now they have all consciously closed their mouths.

After the destruction of the Royal Navy's Z-Fleet, the huge Combined Fleet belatedly began to rescue the British Navy officers and sailors who had fallen overboard.

Originally, the original purpose of this naval battle was to wait for the British Navy fleet to go north, and then attack the small fleet in Penang by feintting, introduce it into the preset ambush circle of the Andaman Sea Combined Fleet, and annihilate it all, but unexpectedly, before the battleships met, the British Navy's Z fleet was completely annihilated, which really exceeded everyone's expectations.

Since the British didn't even have warships, it would be easy to say that the Combined Fleet immediately divided some warships and shelled the ports of Penang, Klang, and Malacca occupied by the British, while the other part was in the ports on the eastern coast of the Japanese-controlled island of Sumatra, loaded with land forces waiting to board the ships, and quickly rushed towards the Malay Peninsula.

By 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the first batch of Japanese troops, a total of two divisions, successfully landed in Port Klang and went straight to Kuala Lumpur, and the all-out war between the Japanese army and the British army began.

......

Kabul Royal Palace, Afghanistan.

King Zahir. Shah was poring over the military map in front of him, and next to him stood Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salmed. Hashim, as well as the Minister of Military Affairs Shah. Mahmud's two royal uncles.

Father-in-law Ahmed. Shah, as commander-in-chief of the three armies, personally went to the city of Meydan to supervise the military affairs, and as for the defense of the city of Karabagh north of Kabul, it was the defense of the city of Samidaq. Shah is in charge. Samidak. Shah graduated from the Sandhurst Army College in the United Kingdom, served briefly in the British army, returned to China in 28, and made many achievements in the battle against Habibullah, the "son of the water porter", and was a rising star of the "Mushahiban" family.

"Uncle Wang, how long can the supplies in Meydan City last?"

Zahir. Shah asked, frowning. Sheng Shicai's plundering in the area around the city of Maidan has seriously affected the supply of supplies to the Afghan government army. Shah's heart was very heavy.

"For a week, it was the result of rationing. Your Majesty, before the Soviet army came, the city of Maidan was not considered a strategic location, the police force and local armed herdsmen combined were less than a thousand, and there were no special strategic warehouses in the city. Now, with the retreating army from the west and reinforcements drawn from Kabul, more than 60,000 people have gathered at once, and it is certain that food is tight. "Prime Minister Mohammed. Hashim said worriedly.

Minister of Military Affairs Shah. Mahmoud said worriedly: "Not only in the city of Maidan, but now there is a shortage of food in Kabul. The enemy pressed from the north and west, and the city of Meydan was on one of the main routes to the south, and we had to take the road from Balakibarak to Gardez from Kandahar for supplies, but this route was said to have seen Soviet partisans, and several caravans had already been sacked.

"At present, Kandahar's food supply is mainly carried out by the eastern region. However, we must realize that in the east, there are only four provinces and regions in Jalalabad, Peshawar, Lagerman, and Kuralha, and the road traffic is inconvenient. ”

Muhammad. Hashem see Zahir. Shah's face turned pale and comforted: "Your Majesty, we have to think in a good direction. Up to now, our two cities in the north and south have repelled a total of six Soviet attacks, and the enemy's corpses have been dropped in front of trenches and passes. Now we just have to wait for the international situation to change......"

Zahir. Shah sighed: "But...... Uncle Wang, far water can't quench your thirst...... If the British don't lend a helping hand, we're going to die without a place to die......"

Shah. Mahmoud said: "Your Majesty, I wonder how the Prime Minister's proposal was considered last time?" For now, only Chinese can save us......"

See Muhammad. Hashim also cast a concerned gaze on Zahir. Shah stood up from the map and said helplessly:

"Two Uncle Wang, I'm already laying the groundwork...... The day before yesterday, when Kabul was shrouded in smoke, I showed Diana a copy of the French version of "Model Battalion", and before I left today, she asked me for the second volume of "The Iron Warrior", and I asked the attendant to send it to her...... Take your time, as long as she arouses her curiosity about that hero, I mention it a little more, and it should be a no-brainer...... However, this matter is hot for us to shave our heads, and it depends on whether people are willing to ......."

Muhammad. Hashem and Shah. Mahmoud glanced at each other, and they both saw a hint of surprise in each other's eyes. Muhammad. Hashem said:

"Your Majesty's move is very good...... In my opinion, how about we send a special envoy to South China to make contact? The mosquito reconnaissance plane purchased from India in His Majesty's palace is said to be one of the main reconnaissance planes of the An Jiajun, and it can be borrowed this time. From Kabul to the Central Asian region controlled by South China, the shortest distance in the air is only more than 300 kilometers, as long as you find a good flight route. Saving soldiers is like fighting fire, and we can't afford to delay any longer. ”

Zahir. Shah nodded: "It's up to the two uncles to decide!" May Allah bless us and bring us much-needed reinforcements......"

~~~~~~~~~~

: Thank you Lu Boyan, huanghuzia, guohuizhu for your big reward!

The new January is coming, and the Son of Heaven wants to rush off the *** list, brothers, vote for the top, can you?