827 I am the battle of the four living spaces of the king's death

Lion City, Singapore.

An American-made military jeep car speeding along the road of the fortress, this light off-road vehicle was originally designed by the American company Ford and Willis for the Chinese defense forces, in the just-concluded anti-Soviet war, this car showed excellent off-road performance and reliable quality, so it was also favored by the British and American forces. Even the Singapore defenders, who look like outcasts no matter how they look, have been given quite a few of these off-road vehicles.

Sitting in this well-made jeep, Admiral Wavell, commander-in-chief of the British forces in the Far East, felt a little strange. Isn't his 80,000-strong army going to be used to defend the Singapore fortress? And it's still the kind of stubborn defense that doesn't go out even if it's killed, and even the causeway leading from Singapore Island to the Malay Peninsula has been blown up early, so what's the use of the British Imperial Army's quartermaster department sending so many jeeps to itself? It's better to give more anti-aircraft guns...... Thinking of the Chinese dive bombers that have been visited one after another in the past two days, his chest seems to be holding a fire.

As Admiral Wavell, who was born in a British family and experienced the most glorious years of the British Empire, he originally accepted the appointment of the commander-in-chief of the Far East, who no one was optimistic about, with the idea of turning the tide for the empire and creating miracles in Singapore. However, when he first took office, he was quite confident in holding the Singapore Fort. At that time, there were five Anglo-Indian troops in the entire Malay Peninsula, and one army of Anglo-New Zealand troops was rushing from Australia. In addition, there are Anglo-Indian forces in Hong Kong and Burma, and there is a Z fleet with a battle cruiser and a heavy cruiser at Changgi Naval Base in Singapore, and Wavell is even more reassured that there are still nearly 300 aircraft of various types available at the military airfield at the foot of Bukit Timah Mountain, although most of them are obsolete old aircraft, such as the American F2 Buffalo. But you can fly out for a while, right?

But the ensuing series of orders made him, a veteran British army general, almost vomit blood in anger. The first was the inexplicable transport of four of the five Anglo-Indian troops to French Indochina to help the French defend the colony! Secondly, the Imperial General Staff rejected the request of the British General Headquarters in the Far East to withdraw its troops from Hong Kong, and as a result, the entire 30,000 British and Indian troops were buried in vain...... Although India's life is not worth much, it can't be ruined like this, right?

And what made Wavell desperate even more than these two obviously layman's orders was that his three hundred planes were actually drawn out before the Chinese attacked! Well, that's not quite accurate, it's not the planes that are being emptied, it's the pilots! The old planes are parked in the underground hangar of Bukit Timah Airport, but the pilot who flew them is gone! What's the use of these planes without pilots? And without air cover, how could only 300 anti-aircraft guns protect the skies of Singapore?

To make matters worse, without the Air Force, the Z Fleet left Singapore after China declared war. And the Malay Peninsula, which was empty of troops, fell in a very short period of days. At this point, the so-called Singapore fortress that holds the throat of the Straits of Malacca has lost the ability to control the strait! In fact, the Strait of Malacca has fallen under the control of the Chinese, and when they repair the military airfield on the Malay Peninsula, they will be able to use the planes deployed there to block the entire strait. If they had sent their troops to land on Sumatra, which had barely managed to do so, this impregnable fortress would have become an isolated island surrounded by the squadron.

Hopefully, this isolated island will hold out until the day when the naval fleet comes to the rescue.

At this time, the jeep stopped at the entrance of the core fortress, and Admiral Wavell got out of the car and walked along the thick reinforced concrete parapet wall into the underground headquarters of the Singapore fortress.

"Admiral, I just got the news that China has declared war on the Kingdom of the Netherlands." Lieutenant General Percival, Chief of Staff of the British Forces in the Far East, walked up to Wavell with a gloomy look on his face and handed him a telegram that had just been translated. "I guess they're going to attack South Borneo and Sumatra."

"A bunch of robbers!" Admiral Wavell cursed hatefully. However, the Admiral is not going to send troops to reinforce the Dutch army in Sumatra at this time. He knew very well that his mission in Singapore was to use the fort's strong defenses to stall for time, and that the fort could be saved as long as it could be dragged until the British aircraft carrier smashed the Japanese aircraft carrier heading south.

"Is there any news from the Navy?" Wavell asked, "Have they figured out how to deal with the current situation?" ”

"I'm afraid not yet, right?" Percival frowned. "But I'm sure Whitehall must be thinking of a way now, the British Empire's navy won't abandon Singapore!"

Wavell raised his head and looked at the map of Southeast Asia densely marked with the symbols representing the squadron, and smiled bitterly, "I hope so." Then he added in an accentuated tone. May our sacrifice be worthwhile! ”

……

London, Whitehall, Admiralty.

"Gentlemen, if this information is true, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us." The speaker was Churchill, the First Admiralty-Chancellor, who had always adhered to the spirit of counter-revolutionary optimism, and had just returned from the Azores, when Churchill received a top-secret piece of information forwarded by the US Admiralty. It was the information that North Korean independence activists gave to the U.S. ambassador to China, Jensen.

According to this intelligence, there are actually two targets for the next stage of the Japanese Combined Fleet's attack! Both the South Pacific and the west coast of North America will be Japan's targets, and in order to attack these two targets at the same time, the aircraft carriers of the Japanese Combined Fleet will be organized into the First Air Fleet and the Second Air Fleet respectively, each with four carriers, each carrying more than 300 aircraft, including about 100 suicide aircraft. Although such combat power is powerful, it is not invincible! If Britain can concentrate the main force of its aircraft carrier forces in the South Pacific and cooperate with shore-based aviation, it is still very likely to repeat the brilliant victory of the naval battle in the North Sea!

"But...... What if it's a conspiracy? "First Sea Secretary Pound doesn't seem to trust the intelligence provided by the American cowboys." The Imperial Navy could not afford another North Sea! ”

"Nope! This information must be true, and we must fight! Otherwise, the empire will still be lost. Churchill looked around, he didn't know whether this information was true or not, but he knew very well the predicament that the British Empire was currently facing. The "crushing victory" of the Great War in the North Sea has turned the empire into a gambler who has lost half of its chips, and if he wants to continue to play at this table for world domination, he will have to take it all again!

"How many aircraft carriers can be dispatched now?" Churchill then asked.

"Your Excellency, at present, there are six large aircraft carriers, including the Ark Royal, the Glory, the Brave, the Radiance, the Indomitable, and the Indomitable, which have been replenished, and a total of 360 aircraft are on board on these six carriers, ready to attack at any time."

"360 aircraft, that is, more than the 300 of the Japanese!" Churchill was not proficient in tactics, he just counted on his fingers, 360 to 300, then he should be able to win. "So what are we waiting for? Why not? ”

"Mr. Chancellor," explained Admiral Verrick, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, "we need to send a fleet to rescue Singapore, the Chinese army is already approaching there, and this morning they have declared war on the Kingdom of the Netherlands, presumably to land in Sumatra, so that Singapore will be completely surrounded by squadrons." ”

"Isn't Singapore sturdy?" Churchill furrowed his brow and looked at Verrick with blazing eyes. "Can't the Singapore Fortress hold out for 6 months to 1 year?"

The Singapore forts of this plane are stronger than they were in history. Since Britain had long been aware of the possibility of China's rise to the south to seize Southeast Asia, it began to strengthen Britain's eastern fortress early on, so that it could not only repel attacks from the sea, but also crush the enemy from the Malay Peninsula. According to the report of the General Staff of the British Empire, this fortress can hold out for 6 months to 1 year in the face of simultaneous attacks by enemies at sea and on land (Malay Peninsula)!

"That's with 300 aircraft." "But now we've got all the pilots there to defend our homeland," Verrick reminded. ”

"What should we do? Split 6 aircraft carriers into two? Churchill asked rhetorically: "How many motherships do the Chinese have in the South China Sea?" ”

"There are 6 aircraft carriers! Among them, 5 are of the Zhongshan class, and there is at least a big guy of more than 27,000 tons. ”

"Hell!" Churchill took out his cigar and rubbed it on fire, and took two puffs. "So how many planes do they have around Singapore? 500 or 1000? ”

"By the time they fix the airport in Malaya, it's estimated that 1,000 planes will be deployed there. So we have to give up or ...... before then."

"Sacrifice Singapore!" Churchill gritted his teeth, "There are always sacrifices in war, let Singapore hold out for a while, we will send aircraft carriers to the South Pacific and defeat the 4 aircraft carriers of the Japanese with 6 aircraft carriers!" Then cooperate with the United States and France's six aircraft carriers to counterattack the Hawaiian Islands, as long as the Hawaiian Islands can be recaptured, the initiative in the Pacific Ocean will return to the hands of the Allies. ”

"But Singapore could fall before the South Pacific war began, and if we send all the aircraft carriers to the South Pacific, India could be invaded by the Chinese." The Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Virick, reminded.

"India and Australia. Admiral, where do you think it is more important for the British Empire? Churchill took a few puffs of his cigarette and asked himself: "You might think that India is more important, that it is the jewel in the crown of the British Empire and the source of the wealth of the British Empire." But in the long run, the colonial era will eventually pass, and Roosevelt was right about that. When the time comes, the rule of the empire in India will also come to an end, because it does not belong to us Anglo. Saxons, India belongs to hundreds of millions of Indians! But Australia, Canada, New Zealand, there are not many indigenous peoples in those areas, and there are Anglo. The future living space of the Saxons! ”

Speaking of this, the Admiralty Minister accentuated his tone. "It's the best land there! is left to the Anglo. The best gift for the descendants of the Saxons. And the Chinese now want to get Australia, because with Australia, the country's excess population has enough room to live. This is the real cause of this world war, the Germans and Chinese want to seize the living space of the Soviet Union, France and the British Empire! If the time comes, we can give up Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, and the colonies in Africa, and as long as we can keep Australia and Canada, our generation will not be ashamed of our future generations! Gentlemen, do you understand? ”

Speaking of which, of course, the leaders of the army and navy of the British Empire have already understood the meaning. In fact, the British Empire had always treated its colonies differently. Although India, Burma, Malaya, Australia, and Canada were theoretically dependent territories of the British Empire, the British never moved some of the surplus population of the subcontinent to the empty Australia and Canada. However, this would obviously be beneficial to the development of these two large colonies, and would also strengthen the power of the British Empire in the short term.

In addition, Churchill's words also mean that he is not very optimistic about the future of the war, including Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East and the African colonies, and is ready to give up if necessary, but Australia must hold on! Because there are Anglos there. The future of the Saxons!

"I see, Mr. Chancellor." Admiral Pound, the First Sea Minister, had already been persuaded by Churchill, and after a little thought, he came up with a draft of the operation. "I propose that the Australian Grand Fleet be formed with six large aircraft carriers, HMS Ark Royal, HMS Glory, HMS Brave, HMS Radiance, HMS Indomitable, and HMS Indomitable, as the core. With Admiral Cunningham as commander-in-chief, he immediately went to the South Pacific. ”

"John." Churchill turned his head to look at the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Admiral Verrick, "I hope you can propose to Prime Minister Chamberlain the establishment of an Austro-New Zealand theater of operations, appointing an experienced army general to lead the overall defense of the entire Oceania." ”

Churchill is not yet the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, although he is highly regarded and is very likely to be Chamberlain's successor, but after all, he has not yet sat in that position, so the Chief of the Imperial General Staff is not his subordinate. However, Admiral Verrick had already been persuaded by the Admiralty Chancellor. He nodded and replied, "I will make a proposal to His Excellency the Prime Minister, and as for the Commander-in-Chief of the Australian and New Zealand Theater of Operations, I think Admiral Wavell is a very suitable person to let him fall into Singapore and waste a limited amount." ”

……