The furious British sent troops! This is something that many people did not expect at the beginning, because it seems that even if the Southern Liberation and the British quarrel fiercely, but from a rational analysis, it is extremely cost-effective to help Malaysia defeat the Southern Liberation Solution, and considering that the Southern Liberation has basically controlled the nine states of Malaya, with tens of thousands of capable soldiers and a lot of heavy equipment, it is basically impossible for the British army to assist the Malaysian government to regain the lost territory without moving the strength of the whole country.

A report by a guest scholar at the RAND think tank pointed out: "The declining British Empire has lost its majesty, but proudly Britons do not want to forget the past, nor do they want to admit that they have been reduced to the second rate, that they are no longer the best men." The cynicism and extreme humiliation of the Yugoslav solution to them caused great anger among many British politicians, including Margaret Thatcher, including the people, that their dispatch of troops did not seem to be a deliberate plan, and even the specific goals were ambiguous, which also put them in an embarrassing state from the beginning. The British sailors knew they were fighting for honor, but it was still confusing. ”

Compared to the Falklands War five years ago, the British task force this time has become much smaller. The fact that the two LPDs (dock landing ships) did not come in handy, and there were no landing ships carrying marines and paratrooper regiments, which revealed that they did not actually have the idea of going ashore to fight at all.

Among the 22 main battle ships, there are two Invincible-class aircraft carriers, namely the Invincible Hero of the Falklands War and the third ship, the Ark Royal, of which the Ark Royal was only commissioned in November of the previous year, and the ship is in very new condition and in good condition. There were seven destroyers, the Type 82 destroyer Bristol was once again in battle, and the County destroyer and the Type 42 destroyer each had three each. 10 frigates were sent, namely 4 Leander-class frigates, 2 Type 21 frigates, and 4 Type 22 frigates. 1 Castle-class patrol ship as a fleet communications ship. 1 Trafalgar-class attack nuclear submarine and 1 fast-class nuclear submarine as underwater forces.

In addition to the above main combat ships, the British Royal Navy also sent minesweepers and supply ships to ensure the logistics of the entire fleet. Compared with the Falklands War, the British army sent troops to Malaya, in the heart of the Indian Ocean, more than 3,000 kilometers away from the Malay Peninsula, which is the Diego Garcia base shared by Britain and the United States. The British could transfer supplies here, the fleet could dock and assemble here, and even Tornado fighters flying from the mainland or the Middle East could use this as a starting point for an aerial refueling and air raid on the Malay Peninsula.

In fact, the British army still has an army base in Brunei, but it does not dare to move, and if the southern liberation lands in East Malaysia, the British army there may face a great crisis, so the British army's actions do not take into account the military base on the Brunei side.

Such large-scale overseas military operations, coupled with the resources that Britain can mobilize, did make Qi Yiming envious, although the tiger skin of the British Empire has long been torn off, but this level of overseas military investment, even if it is a naval operation, the current Chinese Navy is not capable of completing it.

Regardless of the fact that China does not even have a single overseas base, the size of this fleet is about a quarter to a third of the number of ships it owns. The PLA Navy still lacks only 12 destroyers of more than 6,000 tons in large main combat ships, while Britain has built 8 county-class destroyers, 1 Type 82, and 14 Type 42; China has 20 frigates of more than 4,000 tons, 7 of the British Type 22 have been built, 8 of the Type 21 have been built (2 have not been lost), and 26 have been built of the Leander class (2 have been sold to New Zealand); There are more corvettes in China, with 50 056s, while the British are relatively fewer. On the submarines, China has 30 conventional attack submarines, 2 091 and 6 093 attack nuclear submarines, 4 094 strategic nuclear submarines (092 has been towed as a museum because it is too useless), and Britain has 15 conventional submarines, 16 attack nuclear submarines and 4 strategic nuclear submarines.

Except for conventional submarines and corvettes, which are superior to the British, the surface ships of the Chinese navy are basically more than half of the British. If it is considered other auxiliary ships such as oil bomb supply ships, the difference with the British army is even greater.

Such a gap also made Qi Yiming secretly vigilant in his heart, and warned himself not to be too complacent, his arming of the Celestial Empire was just the beginning, compared to those developed countries with deep pockets, the Celestial Empire was only just beginning. There is still a distance from Britain, let alone the two behemoths of the United States and the Soviet Union.

In addition, most of the ships equipped by the Chinese Navy are qualitatively superior to the British, and even if the two sides face each other, Qi Yiming is still convinced that the Chinese Navy has a greater chance of winning.

This contest was not a battle for the Chinese navy, and Britain did not declare war on the Celestial Empire, but did not even explicitly declare war on the Yugoslav Liberation Army, which was more like a simple declaration of force. Navy Commander Liu Huaqing made a special international call to cheer up Qi Yiming.

"Xiao Qi, our navy comrades are so anxious that they frequently submit war letters to the headquarters, and the commanders at the grassroots level have to tell them over and over again that this battle is not our turn to fight, and many comrades inside are in a complicated mood, some people are afraid of going into battle, and they are worried that they will lose face to the country if they are all wiped out at one time, and they will be more embarrassed for the country, and some people are full of confidence and want to fight with the British who broke through our country in the Opium War. It's just that Chairman Ping has specially instructed that our navy will not be able to move this time, and no warships will be allowed to pass through the Strait of Malacca, and it will only be responsible for protecting the peace and quiet of the South China Sea. Liu Huaqing's words don't know what kind of meaning is mixed with Lu Dao, Qi Yiming didn't taste it carefully, but the old man who knows Lu Dao is also in a complicated mood.

Qi Yiming smiled and replied on the phone: "I wish the British would come and beat me, how dare they write all kinds of outrageous newspaper remarks before without my instructions?" Hehe, although the PLA Navy is not as strong as our PLA troops, and it is even more insignificant compared to the British task force, but we are waiting for work, and the British army wants to come over to show off its might, it is completely miscalculated, who told them that they must fight a decisive battle on the ocean? ”

Liu Huaqing Ha Luha agreed with a smile: "That's right, different strategies, different playing styles." This time, we will also observe how you fight the battle of coastal defense, the equipment of the Southern Liberation is basically the same as the PLA, and we can also make a reference in the future. ”

Qi Yiming was more confident, and said: "It won't be long, you don't have to think much about this kind of thing as offshore combat, the dream of the navy is the endless far sea after all, and it won't take long for our navy to come to this point." ”

Liu Huaqing sighed with relief: "It's so good! ”

He immediately said: "Xiao Qi, if you need help, you must tell us at this time, although Chairman Ping forbids us to directly send troops to help, but all the logistical needs and guarantees, we are duty-bound." ”

Qi Yiming was quite moved in his heart, Ping Taizong inevitably had the idea of letting Qi Yiming suffer more outside, and he didn't want Qi Yiming to fight with the British, so he made such a decision. Liu Huaqing has a good relationship with him, and Qi Yiming is really touched to be able to give such support.

"It's good, if there is a need, I will definitely say it."

After hanging up the phone, Qi Yiming once again gathered his spirits and prepared to face the deployment of the British task force. Sailing from the UK's home port to Malaysia takes at least two weeks, and even longer if you want to cross the Cape of Good Hope. And a country sending troops to fight a war is not a trip that can be said to be a walk-and-go, and a lot of preparation is required before and after. For example, in the Falklands War, Argentina landed on the Falklands on March 19, and the British troops were stationed at Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean in mid-April, and the actual combat did not begin until the end of April. Malaya is farther away from England than Falkland, so Qi Yiming still has a relatively long time to prepare.

Although at this moment, the PLA Navy only has 2 frigates, 6 light frigates, and 2 conventional submarines, but Qi Yiming is convinced that this naval battle is definitely not a face-to-face duel-style battle. Qi Yiming believes that the magic weapon that will determine the outcome is the air force unit of the Southern Liberation Army, the shore-to-ship missile unit of the navy, and the air defense missile unit of the air force, which have not been established for a long time. The British army, which did not have an amphibious fleet and landing forces, probably did not plan to fight a big fight, but it was no longer their final say to fight big and small.

Two light aircraft carriers, full of Sea Harriers, that is, more than 30 aircraft, this kind of aircraft face the Argentine Stigatus fighter (Israeli Eagle, copycat from the French Mirage 5) or Sky Eagle attack aircraft, but the light and flexible FC-1 Thunder and FBC-1 Flying Leopard, if the Sea Harrier serves as a fleet air defense fighter, it will be jointly beaten by the Thunder Dragon and the Flying Leopard.

The only thing to worry about is that I don't know how many Tornado fighters Britain will transfer from the mainland, although these fighters are all old fighters and bombers, and they do not have active medium-range bombs, but after forming a certain number, they still pose a certain threat to the Southern Liberation Army, which does not have more than 100 fighters.

Moreover, Qi Yiming absolutely did not want the bombs of the British planes to be thrown into the local residential areas, causing casualties, which would have a negative impact on the strength and prestige of the Yugoslav Liberation Army.

No matter how many deductions there are, when the real fight starts, there will still be all kinds of unimaginable scenarios, and Qi Yiming told the staff headquarters to step up preparations and fully open the production capacity of the base, and try to produce enough countermeasures in the shortest possible time.

After it was revealed that Britain was assembling a fleet to prepare for the dispatch of troops, the PLA officials also issued a statement stating that military vessels are prohibited from sailing within 100 nautical miles of the area under the actual control of the PLA, and that any military and civilian vessels with the intention of navigating must report to the PLA maritime department by radio, and that if a hostile ship enters within 100 nautical miles, the PLA military will take effective measures to prevent hostile people from causing harm to local residents.

Before provoking Britain to take action, Qi Yiming, who felt that his naval forces were insufficient, asked Liu Huaqing to speed up the replacement of his Flying Leopard fighters for the HNA Flying Leopard fighters, which had only been in service for two years, and on the other hand, he suspended the navy's shipbuilding plan for one month, and built 10 S20 AIP submarines, 2 054A frigates, 6 056 corvettes, and a number of small and medium-sized military auxiliary ships with a production capacity of 40,000 tons, so as to expand the strength of the PLA Navy. When the British arrived in Malaya, they were expected to face a much larger fleet.