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The sound of a fierce exchange of fire between the 5th Fleet of the Xinhua Navy and the British coastal defense positions spread throughout Singapore. People who got up early had all sorts of expressions on their faces when they heard the heavy shelling. There is fear, worry, and resentment, but at the same time there is excitement and anticipation. Everyone starts from a different point of view, and naturally has a different point of view.

The Chinese living in Singapore are looking forward to the Xinhua Army attacking Singapore. Long after the rise of the new Chinese state, they were waiting for this day. Seeing that the rest of Nanyang had become the territory of the New China Kingdom, where the Chinese had become masters of their own affairs, and they had to continue to endure the exploitation and oppression of the British, the Chinese in Singapore were very eager for the Xinhua Army to drive out the British. However, for several years, the Xinhua army did not launch an attack on Singapore, which made the local Chinese a little disappointed. But the kind ones know that this is because Britain is too strong, as a new country, Xinhua has not yet been able to defeat Britain, as long as they wait, when Xinhua is strong, they will definitely be able to save them from the dire situation. Fortunately, because of the rise of Xinhuaguo, the British formally negotiated with the British on the survival of the Chinese in Singapore, and in order to avoid a fierce conflict with Xinhuaguo, the British had to consider improving the living conditions of the Chinese, which made the life of the Chinese in Singapore much better, and the Chinese were even more grateful to Xinhuaguo. However, their deep expectations for Xinhua have not diminished at all. in Singapore. Under the British colonies, they could only be regarded as second-class citizens. The hard-earned wealth was to be exploited by the British colonialists. It's great to be able to eat a full stomach. Even more severely, they were often bullied by the British. Some British people who came to live in Singapore often bullied the Chinese, and many Chinese were killed and disabled by the British. Because Singapore is a British colony, the safety of Chinese lives and property is not guaranteed at all. After the rise of the new Chinese state. These Britons have converged a little. However, the oppression of the Chinese still happens from time to time.

Well, now that Xinhua has finally begun to attack Singapore. The majority of Chinese people believe it. The invincible Xinhua Army will surely be able to defeat the British and drive them out of Singapore. When the time comes, they will be able to take charge of their own affairs. Therefore, the Chinese people are not only not afraid of this war. There is also a longing for this war. They know. It was a battle that changed their fate. As long as you stick to the past, good days are coming.

The British, who live in Singapore, are terrified of the outbreak of war. In their eyes, Xinhua has undoubtedly become synonymous with demons. Originally, it was thought that after Britain and Xinhua declared war this time, the powerful British army and navy would be able to destroy Xinhua lightly and completely contact the crisis of Xinhua against Britain. But I didn't think of it. The end result turned out to be like this. The mighty British Navy actually failed, and now the shells of the Xinhua Kingdom are falling on their heads. One thought if the Xinhua army captured Singapore. Their lives and property would be in danger, and the British were very panicked. They wanted to flee Singapore, but found that there was nowhere to run. Singapore, as well as the entire Straits Settlements, was already under the blockade of the Xinhua Navy.

Governor Bonham was fired by the heavy sound of artillery. Ever since the Xinhua Navy appeared off the coast of Singapore, he knew that this day would come eventually. Therefore, when the cannon sounded, he did not rush to fear, but had some faint expectations. He hoped to see the scene of the Xinhua army slamming its head and bleeding in Singapore, and when the time came, the heroic army would make the yellow-skinned monkeys of Xinhua understand that even without a navy, Singapore would be impregnable, and if Xinhua wanted to conquer Singapore, it would have to be prepared to pay a heavy price in the bloodshed.

The commander of the British Army, Major General Bletton, was undoubtedly the most stressed. After the Xinhua Navy appeared off the coast of Singapore, the British Army of the Xinhua Army entered the highest state of combat readiness. More than 50,000 British troops, all of whom entered the position. In particular, the coastal plain area in the eastern part of the island was a key area for British defense. There were no strong shore fortifications, and troops could only rely on them to resist a possible attack by the Xinhua army.

The Xinhua Navy stormed Singapore's coastal fortifications, which made Rear Admiral Burleyton breathe a sigh of relief. Singapore's coastal fortifications are not weak, and it is not so easy for the Xinhua Army to gnaw away the British army's coastal fortifications. Perhaps, the British army can also rely on the shore fortifications to inflict certain casualties on the Xinhua Navy. In the end, it turned out that Major General Bleton was thinking too much.

The British army's coastal fortifications still adopted the design of open batteries, but it was difficult to build batteries, and then placed cannons on them. And there is no solid turret. In fact, the mainstream coastal defense batteries of this period were all designed in this way. This will undoubtedly make the British army's coastal defense batteries not have much defensive power, and when encountering the heavy artillery bombardment of the Xinhua army, the British army will pay heavy casualties.

In contrast, the warships of the Xinhua Army have been moving on the sea, and it is not so easy for the British coastal defense artillery to hit the warships of the Xinhua Army. In contrast, Xinhua's navy will have an easier advantage.

The 5th Fleet of the Xinhua Navy is now attacking the British coastal defense position, which is the A position, with a total of 12 batteries and 124 coastal defense guns. Of these, 60 shore defense guns were old breech guns, and the other 64 were new breech guns. When the 12 'Xia-class' cruisers of the Xinhua Navy opened fire on the British coastal defense guns, the 12 warships had a total of 48 155-mm naval guns, 72 105-mm naval guns, and 24 75-mm naval guns. Although the British army's coastal defense guns were of a larger caliber, because they were black gunpowder, they could not be compared with the Xinhua Navy in terms of range and power.

"Boom! Rumble! "Two fireballs rose from the A5 battery of the British troops, and two 155-mm shells hit this battery. The tremendous force of the shell explosion overturned two large-caliber shore defense guns, and at the same time caused heavy losses to the British troops on the battery. When the smoke cleared, the entire fort became a mess as if it had been subjected to a storm. On this battery, the British army deployed a total of 12 large-caliber coastal defense guns. Huge losses brought the shelling of this battery to a halt for a while.

"General, it's battery No. 13. They were hit by artillery fire from the Xinhua army, and there were heavy casualties. Major Carnet asked for reinforcements. "Inside the British Army's Coastal Defense Artillery Command, a junior officer reported to Brigadier General Jonathan.

"Major Sù Cannet, the battle has just begun, and I have no reinforcements for him. His battery, must be fired at once! Brigadier General Jonathan said with a dark face. The British army's coastal defense position is in a state of passive attack at the moment, and there is no way to hit the warships of the Xinhua Navy, and of course he will not have a good face.

"Yes, General!" The junior officer nodded and hurriedly left, for fear of being caught up in Brigadier General Jonathan's anger.

The artillery battle between the two sides was very fierce, and the British coastal defense positions were completely shrouded in gunsmoke. The warships of the 5th Fleet of the Xinhua Navy also passed between the columns of water splashed on the sea.

"Boom! Rumble! "Suddenly, there was a violent explosion on one of the British batteries, from which a small mushroom cloud rose and shocked everyone on both sides of the war.

"General, it's battery No. 11. The shells of the Xinhua army hit the ammunition depot of the battery, the shells stored in it were detonated, and the entire battery was razed to the ground. A few minutes later, a staff officer reported to Brigadier General Jonathan.

"Damn, how could those yellow-skinned monkeys be so lucky?" Brigadier General Jonathan couldn't figure it out at all. The ammunition depots of each of the British batteries were reinforced and hidden. In general, there are basically no incidents of ammunition depots being hit. The destruction of the shore defense guns of Fort 11 this time was a complete coincidence, and it could only be attributed to the luck of the Xinhua Army.

The loss of one battery was nothing for the shore defense positions of the British troops. The remaining 11 batteries continued to fire. However, this was only the beginning, as the artillery fire of the Xinhua army became more and more intense, and the losses of the British army increased.

The fierce battle lasted for three hours before it ended. The 5th Fleet of the Xinhua Navy took the initiative to leave the coast of Singapore. The three hours of continuous high-intensity combat made the soldiers on the battleship very tired, and the consumption of ammunition was not small. In this era, there were no automatic loaders, and all shells had to be carried by soldiers. The 155-mm shells weighed more than 20 kilograms, and the continuous handling of such shells made the soldiers' waists almost broken.

In order to ensure the accuracy of the shelling, Brigadier General Lu Haipeng specially ordered the troops to withdraw from the battle, let the soldiers rest for a while, and continue the battle in the afternoon. After three hours of fierce fighting, the 5th Fleet of the Xinhua Navy inflicted severe damage on the British coastal defense positions, one battery was completely destroyed, two other batteries were severely damaged, and the other batteries were also more or less damaged.

And the losses of the 5th fleet were minimal, only one battleship was hit during the shelling. However, the armor on the deck effectively resisted the enemy's shells, only causing a few casualties. Ordinary black powder shells, if they do not hit places that are not covered with armor, it is difficult to inflict fatal damage on the cruisers of the 'Xia class'. (To be continued......)