The British Parliament, after passing the decision to send troops, issued an order to the Viceroy of India, Gilbert Eliot Murray Kinningmond, the fourth Earl of Minto. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

After receiving the order, the Earl of Minto began to take an active part in the matter, hoping to achieve success in this war, which he did not have at the moment compared to the previous Viceroy of India. The previous governor opened the door to Tibet, took a big step forward in the struggle with Tsarist Russia for control of Tibet, and even obtained rich economic benefits from Tibet, which made Governor Minto very envious. Now that we have the task of expanding our territory, how can we miss such a good opportunity?

Governor Minto decided to appoint General MacDonald, who was the chief planner and commander of the invasion of Tibet at the time, as commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force; 3 British divisions and 2 artillery regiments, as well as 150,000 Indian servants, were sent as the first troops to land on Sumatra; It is also necessary for Burma to reserve two divisions as reserve troops, and it is required to be assembled and ready to support the war in the East Indies at any time; Dispatch the navy to escort the fleet, requisition merchant ships, and transport all the soldiers to Medan.

General MacDonald said to Governor Minto: "Your Excellency Governor, I don't feel safe about these fleet escorts, you know, last time the six Dutch battleships and some torpedo boat escorts were all wiped out by the Lanfang people at sea, we have to guard against it." ”

"Your Excellency General, you are too careful, I know that the news is that the Dutch broke into the minefield of the Lanfang Navy, which caused the Dutch Navy warship to be sunk, this time the waters we sailed in are far away from Lanfang's territory, and they have no chance to drop mines."

"The Lanfang Navy's lightning strike boats are very fast, and their quality is much better than ours' mine strike boats, if they get close to the troop carriers and baggage ships, our battleships can't do anything."

"So, this time I transferred the light cruiser fleet in Rangoon to strengthen our escort fleet, which is to deal with their mine-strike boats, so you don't have to worry about the navy. This time our task is very heavy, to destroy all the forces of the Lanfang Kingdom, we also need to invest a large number of troops, you are only the vanguard, after occupying Sumatra, I will continue to send follow-up troops to reinforce you; The goal of the first phase is to occupy the islands of Sumatra and Java. What tactics are you going to use? ”

"Your Excellency the Governor, the information we have sent back shows that there are 3 Lanfang divisions in Sumatra, 60,000 men; On the island of Java there are 4 Lanfang divisions with 80,000 people; However, they have to defend all over the place, and the forces are quite scattered, as long as we are not in a hurry to advance, adopt a steady and steady approach, and each time we will use absolute superiority in our forces to eliminate Lanfang's troops respectively, and gradually advance, I believe that victory belongs to the British Empire. MacDonald said.

"Although your tactics are conservative, you can be steady and steady, and accumulate small victories into big victories, which is also a good tactic; Our troops are not good at jungle combat, and you should be cautious this time; As long as you can achieve victory, it will be a great achievement, and I will report your exploits to the country. ”

By the end of January, the British troops stationed in eastern India had assembled in Calcutta, and the servant army was ready to go; The fleet had also arrived at the port of Calcutta, and the ships carrying the soldiers and the baggage were ready, and now they were ready to board and depart, waiting for the Governor's order.

General MacDonald had been stationed in India for so many years and was well aware of the strength of the British Empire's troops and servant armies stationed in India. For this war, the 3 divisions specially selected by MacDonald are definitely the most elite divisions of all the troops stationed in India, and they have all had brilliant records; The servant army was also the unit that had participated in the Boer War; The most elite unit was a regiment of 2,000 Gurkha mercenaries, which MacDonald believed would be able to show its strength again on the battlefields of the East Indies; Even the two artillery regiments also participated in the Boer War, and they are all old artillerymen. With so many elites in a hundred battles, General MacDonald was confident that this war would be won.

In order to ensure the victory of this war, the governor asked the intelligence department to confirm the total strength of the Lanfang Kingdom and the total strength of the Lanfang Navy, and asked the Governor of the Straits Settlements about the military strength of the Lanfang Kingdom. The intelligence department reported that the Lan Fang army had a total of 12 divisions, which were stationed in different places throughout the East Indies, and it was difficult for the Lan Fang army to gather together in a short period of time, and they did not dare to leave the garrison, otherwise the place would easily get out of control; The Lanfang army is very strict with the natives, and it can make a fuss from the natives; The Lanfang Navy has 2 very advanced battle cruisers, and after the evaluation of 1 battle cruiser, it is determined that its combat power is particularly strong, and it can reach a tie with 2 British battleships.

The Governor of the Straits Settlements, having received a telegram from the Governor of India, sent all the information he knew about the Kingdom of Lanfang to the Governor Minto. The main message of the telegram was that the army and navy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands were very strong, and it was better to be careful, and to be careful of the artillery and mines of Lanfang's army; The foundation of the Lanfang Kingdom is relatively weak, so many weapons are very small, but they are very exquisite, and the power cannot be ignored, such as the small cannon of the Lanfang Army, which has a range of 3000 meters, and is not as powerful as the mountain artillery, but it is convenient to move, and it can move with the troops, which is very suitable for fighting from the forest, and the army must pay attention to it; The Lanfang Navy's mine strike boats have a displacement of only a few dozen tons, but they are fast, very flexible, and there are quite a few of them, and they are invincible in close combat; The Lanfang army is equipped with a large number of heavy machine guns, and if the chance of breaking through after the troops are surrounded, it is hoped that it is best to take a step-by-step strategy, and not rush for quick success.

He also made contact with the Dutch division commander stationed in Medan, and now the entire Dutch army was reduced to Medan, and the port was still in control; The army of the Lanfang Kingdom only occupied Pekanbaru and stopped.

Minto gathered all the information, compared General Macdonald's tactics, and felt that everything was foolproof, and ordered his troops to board a ship on February 4 and go to the outer port of Medan in Sumatra.

General MacDonald, after carefully studying the information gathered by Governor Minto, felt that his tactics were completely correct. The army of the Kingdom of Lanfang was able to defeat the Dutch army, mainly because the army of the Kingdom of the Netherlands had degenerated, and even the governor of the Kingdom of the Netherlands had degenerated to become bandits, not to mention its army, since the victory over the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Anglo-Dutch War, the army of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was no longer the opponent of the British Empire; Another reason is that the Dutch army is too light on the enemy, and many times it has been surrounded by the Dutch army without knowing it, and there is not even a guard post, so it is no wonder that such an army can win; What's more important is that MacDonald believes in the British artillery, this time there are 2 artillery regiments coming, the small artillery of the Lanfang Kingdom Army is a joke, if the small artillery can defeat the mountain artillery of the British Imperial Artillery Regiment, then the world has developed small artillery, who needs this kind of artillery?

General MacDonald's confidence also led the entire British army to disdain Lan Fang's army, the British Empire's army has not yet encountered an evenly matched opponent, and it crushes the enemy with absolute superiority at any time.

General MacDonald sent a telegram to the Dutch division commander stationed in Medan as soon as the fleet set sail, telling him to keep a close eye on the movements of Lan Fang's army, and to ensure the safety of the harbor, and that the British Empire's troops would land in the outer port of Medan.

On the morning of February 4th, the Governor of Minto held a grand swearing-in meeting for the troops who were about to embark on the journey in the dock area of Kolkata, and the Governor Minto himself made a long speech, in order to boost morale, the Governor Minto also promised that the reward for the war exploits would be doubled, and for the servant army, those who had the merits of the war would be rewarded with land of varying sizes and a large amount of gold according to the size of the war merits, and hoped that the soldiers would hold a grand reception on the day of triumph.

General MacDonald mainly commanded the glorious historical achievements of the British Empire's army, the British Empire's army is invincible, and the army of the Lanfang Kingdom has been established for too short a time, and it has no background at all, and it also bullies the degenerate troops of the Dutch Kingdom, and they are all sneak attacks, and they dare not fight head-on, they are simply a group of cowards, and they will be vulnerable in front of the powerful British Empire's army.

Victory belongs to the British Empire, and victory belongs to Her Majesty the Empress.

In a feverish atmosphere, the officers and men were full of confidence in the victory of the war. After the meeting, a salute was fired to see off the soldiers who were about to board the ship; The warships also honked their horns together to salute those who saw them off.

As General MacDonald's fleet left Calcutta, a wireless telegram reported the news of its departure to the kingdom of Lanfang, including the number of troops and the disposition of the fleet. Unbeknownst to him, MacDonald was stepping on a ghost gate, where an elaborate trap awaited him and his army.