Chapter 119: Preparations in the Dark

After listening to Peyton's words, Walton couldn't help frowning his brows, although the fleet of the British Empire crisscrossed the sea and had no opponent, but the fleet could not go ashore! Moreover, there were many islands in the South Sea, and the ships of the Far East Fleet, both in number and in terms of advanced degree, could not meet the requirements of blockading the enemy's islands, so Britain wanted to obtain a colony in the East Indies only by relying on the army!

However, at this time, the total army of the British Empire was only about 320,000, and more than half of them were stationed in the more than 30 million colonies controlled by the British Empire, of which the Indian subcontinent was the largest, with nearly 100,000 British troops guarding the crown jewel of the British Crown!

Now, according to Peyton's concept, he must transfer 60,000 British troops in order to eat the East Indies, which Britain has coveted for a long time, and this really makes Walton a little embarrassed! Because the regular army under the control of the entire Straits Settlements Governor's Office is now only 15,000 men! Except for the troops that cannot be mobilized because of the place where they are stationed, it is already his greatest ability to raise an army of 10,000 people! As for the rest of the army, it can only be drawn from the mainland! As for India, Walton quickly dispelled this idea!

Although nearly 20 years have passed since the great Indian uprising that swept across the entire subcontinent, the uprisings and activities of the Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims in the north against the rule of the British Empire in India have never stopped! The large-scale transfer of troops from India will undoubtedly cause turmoil in the entire Indian colonies, and if the East Indies, whose economic value is obviously inferior to that of the subcontinent, will lead to another uprising or revolution in the subcontinent! Then if you want to promote the conquest of the islands in the South Seas, you will definitely become a victim of politics!

However, it was undoubtedly too late to mobilize the army from within Europe, because the Dutch and Portuguese fleets had already reached Goa, India!

"General, if you are given 20,000 troops and 40,000 Indian servants, can you take Sumatra?"

Hearing his words, Peyton couldn't help frowning, the combat power of the Indian servant army was too low, so that these guys who couldn't even hold their guns could attack the Chinese army in Sumatra that had just defeated the Dutch, had high morale, and numbered more than 60,000, Peyton really didn't have much confidence! But seeing the complicated expression on Governor Walton's face, he couldn't help but swallow the negative answer back into his stomach! "Lord Governor, if the Imperial Army can increase to 30,000, I will be sure to take Sumatra!" After Peyton finally won 10,000 men for himself, God replied solemnly.

"If it is only 20,000 troops from India, there should be no problem!" Thinking of this, Walton nodded, and said calmly: "Okay, I know! I will report to the prime minister as soon as possible and transfer troops from the subcontinent! Now your task is to continue to investigate all kinds of information about this Chinese force, especially the number and strength of their garrisons throughout the East Indies!" In addition, your military must draw up a feasible military plan of action as soon as possible, and make careful arrangements in advance, so that after the order to attack is given, we must be able to quickly occupy Sumatra and consolidate our rule there!

"Understood, Lord Governor, I'll go down and prepare!" replied Peyton after a respectful military salute.

"Okay, you go down! I'll take care of the army's affairs for you!"

――――――

"Huo Long, where is the combined Dutch and Portuguese fleet now?"

"According to intelligence from the MIA, they entered the Portuguese colony of Goa in the subcontinent yesterday!"

Hearing his words, Huo Shan touched his smooth chin and asked thoughtfully, "So war is coming soon?"

"It depends on how determined the commander of the expeditionary fleets of the two countries is, Blake, after all, they only have 40,000 army troops now, compared to our army, they are now in a disadvantageous position, it is impossible to launch an attack on all our islands in the South Seas, and they can only choose between Sumatra and Java!"

"In this case, your staff analyzes which island they will choose the direction of attack?" Huo Shan raised his head and looked at the large Nanyang map pasted on the wall, and couldn't help but ask with interest.

"This is Java Island!" Huo Long stretched out his hand, and accurately pointed on the map of the South Seas, on the long and narrow island that Huo Jiajun had just taken!

"Oh, tell me why!"

"First of all, this is the location of the original Dutch East Indian colony, they have ruled here for the longest time, and they are most familiar with the situation here, and the natives on the island are basically enmity with us Chinese, plus the remaining power of the Dutch on the island, then when they attack here, it is easy to get the support of the natives on the island, but we have to station a large number of troops in order to ensure the safety of the rear, which undoubtedly disperses our defense forces on the island, and gives the Dutch and Portuguese armies a chance to break through, and also reduces the difficulty of their landingSecond, they have the superior navy, and with such an advantage, they can choose the islands and locations to attack! And use the large caliber naval guns of the warships to provide effective fire support for their landing operations! Thirdly, the position of the island of Java in the entire East Indies, nearly half of the wealth extracted by the Dutch from the East Indies in the past came from this island with an area of 120,000 square kilometers. Finally, as long as they occupy the island of Java, they will be able to provide financial support for sending an expeditionary force from within the country again, and in addition, they can also use us to block the attempts of the British and French in the north to attack the East Indies! In general, the occupation of Java Island can be said to kill multiple birds with one stone, as long as Blake is not stupid, he must know what he should choose!"

Hearing his words, Huo Shan also agreed with his analysis! Blake Couruston, who commanded the entire expeditionary forces of the two countries this time, was a formidable fellow, a fellow who graduated from the Royal Netherlands Army Military Academy in 1857 and participated in almost all the military operations of the Netherlands to suppress the natives of the colonies! Because of his extraordinary family background and his own talent, his road to promotion in the army can be said to be smooth sailing! And in 1878 after being promoted to lieutenant general, he represented the Kingdom of the Netherlands and participated in the Berlin Conference held in the German Empire that year! Not only did he have a high reputation in the Netherlands, but he was also well-known on the entire European continent! In this expedition to the East Indies, he became the joint commander of the expeditionary forces of the two countries!