Great time travel

Chapter 124, South Indian Ocean Pursuit

May [-], [-], Governor's House, Singapore

It is always under the scorching equatorial sun all year round. Accompanied by the melody of "God Save the Queen" played by the band, Lord Mountbatten, the governor of the Straits Settlements with a haggard look, personally lowered it to the flagpole in front of the Governor's Mansion building. Mi Ziqi.

When he folded the flag, the onlookers of the British admirals and colonial officials covered their faces with their hands and sobbed secretly.

— Only a year and a half after the return of the British Empire to Singapore, they were about to bid farewell to the city once again.

And the time limit for parting this time is likely to be forever...

With a little nostalgia, I took a last look at the magnificent Victorian-style buildings of the Governor's Mansion in Singapore, as well as the wide street lined with palm trees and flower beds on both sides of the Governor's Mansion, and the Royal Navy's Eastern Fleet in full military uniform. The commander, Admiral Bruce Austin Fraser, sighed helplessly, turned around and got into the jeep allocated to him, and ordered the driver to drive straight to Zhangyi Naval Base.

At this moment, the urban area of ​​Singapore has fallen into a turmoil and restlessness. Almost all the shops are closed, but the streets and alleys are overcrowded. There are refugees carrying large and small bags everywhere, and there are also thieves who are trying to take advantage of the chaos to make a fortune. With the robbers, all kinds of fights were triggered, making the market more and more chaotic... Even in the streets of the city, you can hear the sound of rumbling gunfire from a distance from time to time, further intensifying the panic atmosphere in the city— - That is the field artillery unit under the command of Admiral Odd Wingate, engaged in an artillery battle with the MCP guerrillas who have landed on Singapore Island.

All these scenes are so similar to the last time Singapore was captured by the Japanese army.

Moreover, to this day, Singapore, the cornerstone of the British Empire on the eastern ocean, is indeed doomed to fall.

——In fact, even the British Empire itself has become a historical term that no longer exists...

Starting four months ago, after receiving all-round support from the red camp, the Malay Communist guerrillas with overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese as the backbone rushed out of the deep mountains and old forests in the interior of the Malay Peninsula. It took only two weeks. Within a short time, thousands of British troops (basically all Indians) scattered on the Malay Peninsula were easily wiped out, and the red flag was planted on the north shore of the Strait of Johor, across the sea from Singapore.

In the following months, the British army and the MCP guerrillas fought fiercely along the coast of the Johor Strait.Relying on the shelling of the Royal Navy ships, as well as the "friendly help" of the U.S. troops retreating from the Philippines and the Chinese government troops withdrawing from Taiwan, Governor Mountbatten managed to stabilize the situation for a while, and made several beautiful counterattacks, bringing the situation to a halt. The enemy was driven fifty kilometers beyond the northern shore of the strait.However, with the departure of the US troops in the Philippines and the rapid consumption of ammunition and supplies, the combat effectiveness of the Singapore defenders once again weakened.

On the other hand, when the frontal battlefield was in full swing, the situation in Singapore was not stable, and various incidents of arson, looting, and assassination emerged one after another—due to the millions of refugees, or the "reactionary forces" in the eyes of the socialist camp. "Bad elements of the exploiting class" have been pouring into Singapore, a transit point, from the Philippines, China, southern Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand since last year, which has greatly increased the pressure on public security in the city.Every day, you can see deserters from all over the world in shabby clothes and drunk wandering the streets, looting houses, looting shops and warehouses with open flames, and even fiercely exchanging fire with the British military police who came to suppress them.Several shooting incidents occur in urban Singapore every hour.

The red camp's secret service team also took the opportunity to sneak into the city in large numbers, fanning the flames everywhere, trying to create some big disturbances on the enemy's rear front.The more than 1 Japanese prisoners of war who had surrendered with the commander of the Nanyang Army of the old Japanese Empire, Terauchi Toshiichi, regretted it too much. The wind... After hearing the news, the distraught Governor Mountbatten directly issued a massacre order, dragging these Japanese prisoners who were in the wrong line to Zhangyi Naval Base and shooting them collectively, and throwing the bodies into the sea to feed the sharks.

Next, under the strict order of Governor Mountbatten, the police and military police in Singapore hunted spies and rebels every day, and then took advantage of this opportunity to legally ransack their homes to make a fortune, while randomly arresting some citizens and hanging them on the street However, the situation in Singapore is still very bad. Millions of war refugees from various countries have been pouring in and leaving, and they have snapped up the food and daily necessities in the city. The search for supplies has made the life of the local citizens increasingly difficult, and rice-grabbing riots broke out frequently.

In late March, a coup d'état broke out in Thailand, announcing the expulsion of the king, peaceful withdrawal from the war, and truce talks with the socialist camp.Next, a Japanese naval air force was invited to station in Johor and bombed the urban area of ​​Singapore.Although the scale of the bombing was not large, and the total amount of bombs dropped was less than [-] tons from beginning to end, it further exacerbated the panic atmosphere in the city and accelerated the collapse of market order.Not only the foreign refugees temporarily settled in Singapore, but even the local citizens of Singapore crowded into the queue for tickets to escape by boat, forming a long snake formation at the pier.

In mid-April, the U.S. troops in the Philippines left with Marshal MacArthur, the king of Thailand left with a group of monks, and Chairman Chiang from Taiwan left Singapore with his followers. Only the British remained. Standing the last watch for their queen on the island of Singapore.

Seven days ago, the last moment finally came. A Malay communist guerrilla force of about 6000 people and a Soviet special forces force of about 300 people took advantage of the cover of darkness to cross the Strait of Johor by rubber boat—the same as Yamashita Bongbum back then. Like the Japanese army commanded by the general, they did not choose to attack the solidly fortified open coastal position on the east side of Singapore Island, but chose to go ashore in the swampy land full of tropical plants on the west side of the island.

Although this attack route was a little more difficult and dangerous, it had to cross the swamps and woods, and walk a long way to enter the urban area of ​​Singapore. However, it was very difficult for the British army to deploy defenses. Even with the lessons learned from the previous Japanese attack, They can't come up with so many troops to fill every beachhead.

——At this time, in the hands of Admiral Odd Wingate, who was in charge of the ground defense of Singapore Island, there were six divisions on paper, but the actual total strength was only 3000. , each division is only as big as a regiment of the US military.The area of ​​Singapore Island is equivalent to ten times that of Manhattan Island in New York. It is 26 miles from east to west and 70 miles from south to north. Most of the residents live in Singapore City in the southeast of the island.Apart from Singapore City and a few other villages, most of the rest of the island is rubber plantations and jungles.The coastline of the entire island is more than 3000 miles long. With the strength of Admiral Odd Wingate, it is impossible to defend every beach on the entire island of Singapore.In [-], General Parcival commanded [-] troops to guard Singapore, but he still failed to stop the attack of [-] Japanese troops on the beach.Five years later, on the same battlefield, facing the same situation, General Wingate, with a mere [-] troops, was even more unable to defend against the enemy on the beach.

Therefore, on the beach where the MCP guerrillas landed, the British army only deployed a total of more than 100 Indians with low morale...

As a result, the vanguard elite troops crossing the sea easily gained a foothold on the desolate west coast of Singapore Island, and then launched a short-distance assault, successfully defeating more than 1000 British troops who were chaotically counterattacking.Next, it took them only 48 hours to sweep away half of Singapore Island in the west. Amidst the loud bugles and shouts, groups of guerrilla fighters charged with bayonets charged like a baton, rushing to fight. The British colonial troops were on the verge of collapse, and each abandoned all encumbrances, rifles and bullets, waded across the river, through the swamps overgrown with tropical vegetation, through the bushes, came to the road, and fled in a chaotic trot. Come over...even trampled on a minefield planted by the British army themselves!
Advancing all the way to Bukit Zhima (meaning "Xishan"), the strategic commanding height on the island, this wave of offensive was stopped by the British army - General Wingate rushed to repair strong artillery forts and trenches here, and With this as a fulcrum, a core line of defense around the urban area of ​​Singapore was propped up.

In the next few days, the two sides fought fiercely in the middle of Singapore Island.The guerrillas of the Communist Party of Malawi attacked Bukit Zhima several times and were frustrated. They tried to bypass the fortifications and made a roundabout breakthrough. They once approached the racecourse on the edge of Singapore's urban area, but they were eventually driven back.

At first glance, according to the current situation, it seems that the battle of Singapore can continue to be fought. After all, the combat effectiveness of the MCP guerrillas cannot be compared with the combat effectiveness of the elite divisions of the Japanese Nanyang Army.Moreover, as long as the Eastern Fleet of the Royal Navy in Zhangyijun Port takes the initiative to attack and block the Johor Strait, it can easily cut off the logistical supply line of the enemy landing on the island, and let them quickly fall into the predicament of running out of ammunition and food.

However, from Governor Mountbatten, Admiral Fraser, to Admiral Wingate who is commanding the defense of Singapore, it is actually very clear that Singapore is doomed to be unable to defend and must retreat as soon as possible, otherwise if If you continue to dawdle, I'm afraid you won't even be able to withdraw!

——Because, the main force of the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy is coming soon!

And Admiral Fraser, who has only one battlecruiser Renown and two destroyers left in his hand, and does not even have a modified aircraft carrier, may not even be able to meet the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy. It was directly bombed and sunk by the enemy's naval aviation unit!
Therefore, after receiving accurate information that the main force of the Japanese Navy’s joint fleet appeared in the Gulf of Thailand, the British army in Singapore no longer had the courage to fight, and immediately began to pack their bags and retreat—although from Guyana, where the British government-in-exile was stationed, Prime Minister Churchill radioed an impassioned order, declaring: "...the battle for Singapore must be fought to the bitter end. Each and every one of you must fight to the death for the defense of the island until every army and every stronghold is destroyed. To destruction. Field commanders and senior officers should die with their soldiers. The honor of the British Empire rests here! Finally, the city of Singapore must be transformed into a stronghold. Surrender and retreat are not allowed to be considered at all!"

However, on the war-torn island of Singapore, no one is willing to listen to the stupid nonsense of this fat man hiding tens of thousands of kilometers away.

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Due to the frequent riots, constant gunshots and occasional explosions in the streets of Singapore, as well as a bombing and strafing by enemy planes, Admiral Fraser's jeep had to stop and go. It took more than three hours to arrive at Zhangyi Naval Base and board the flagship Renown.

Compared with the chaotic situation outside, the Zhangyi Naval Base finally maintained the most basic order.All the sailors and port staff are racing against time, nervously carrying out the supply operation before the long voyage. On the pier, the huge crane arm is swinging back and forth, and the huge net bag is filled with ammunition and food, and the battlecruiser Renown is hoisted one after another. Then, with the efforts of the sailors, the heavy shells were slowly sent into the ammunition depot under the heavy armor, and all kinds of vegetables, fruits and canned flour were pushed into the kitchen by trolley.The heavy oil stored in the underground oil depot also relies on the pressure pump on the pier to continuously inject into the hull through the thick oil pipeline... Everything at the moment indicates that the warship is about to set anchor and sail away.

Although it is not an exciting expedition, but just a disgraceful escape...but it must still be dealt with with full energy.

"...Reporting to the general, the boiler has started to heat up and preheat, and the resupply work will take about half an hour to complete."

Seeing the commander boarding the ship, the captain of the battlecruiser Renown hurried forward to report the preparations, "...It is expected to set sail in an hour."

"...Well." Admiral Fraser nodded, "...What about the other ships? Has everyone at the base packed their luggage and boarded the ship?"

"...except for the duty personnel on duty, the rest of the marines and logistics maintenance personnel in the base have already boarded the cruise ship Queen Mary. The destroyer HMS Vixen is also ready, but the side of another destroyer HMS Jutland The water seepage problem has not been solved well - when the patrol ended yesterday and entered the port, it rubbed against a passenger ship, and if it was not rescued in time, it almost sank..."

A naval staff officer then reported that "...Captain Scott demanded 24 hours to repair or he would not be able to go to sea..."

"...The fleet can't wait that long anymore, let them open the sea valve at the bottom of the ship and let it sink! The key now is time!"

Admiral Fraser waved his hand and interrupted the staff officer, "...the crew of the destroyer Jutland moved to the cruise ship Queen Mary for me after abandoning the ship. Don't say stupid things about no seats, As long as I throw away some extra luggage, I’m sure it’ll still fit. Veteran sailors are more precious than warships now… Also, how are you preparing for the destruction of the remaining supplies?”

"...The ammunition depot and the material warehouse are all equipped with time bombs, and the oil depot is already discharging aviation fuel and heavy oil into the sea..."

……

On the evening of May [-], [-], the British Royal Navy's Eastern Fleet blew its whistle for the last time and sailed away from the war-torn Singapore port.

——Although it is known as the Royal Navy’s Eastern Fleet, the real combat ships in the entire fleet are actually only the flagship Battlecruiser Renown and the last remaining destroyer, the Shrew. A hodgepodge of supply ships, hospital ships, cruise ships, merchant ships, maintenance ships, minelayers, and even tugboats... Even so, the scene of so many ships going out to sea together is still as spectacular as a forest of steel.The side and deck of the ship showed an orange-red reflection under the glow of the sunset, showing both a bit of chill and a bit of desolation...

When this hodgepodge-style fleeing fleet sailed out of the port not long after, on the pier behind them, there were deafening and violent explosions one after another—the flames of aviation fuel burning competed with the twilight, and the mushrooms exploding in the ammunition depot A column of smoke shot straight into the sky, and occasionally steel parts could be seen being blown up more than 100 meters high, and then thrown into the sea far away, splashing water columns and waves.

Seeing the flames and thick smoke behind them, some passengers couldn't help lying down beside the porthole, beating their chests and feet, and burst into tears.But as the commander of this fleet, Admiral Fraser is still ashamed... because, he knows very well that the journey of narrow escape has just begun!
——According to the last report before the water reconnaissance plane was shot down, the main force of the Japanese Navy's combined fleet was more than 100 nautical miles behind him!