Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 166 Report to Mr. Zheng, we have captured a heavy battleship
The battle was over in less than fifteen minutes. Three thousand Japanese soldiers, armed only with light weapons, were ambushed.

They were all killed by twelve heavy machine guns, thirty grenade launchers, more than five thousand bolt-action rifles, more than ten thousand grenades, and five hundred death squads blocking their retreat.

In fact, with the equipment of these Malay battalions, if they could fight the Japanese Marines head-on, they would most likely win, or even win big.

Zheng Yi equipped and trained them according to the standards of a Class A brigade, but the Japanese Marines had no heavy weapons after landing.

The reason why they went to so much trouble to make so many designs, and even went so far as to set up a 300-man suicide squad to lull them into a daze, was certainly to reduce casualties, but more importantly to wipe them out completely.

In fact, if the armed forces coming were Chinese instead of Malays, perhaps these devils would not have been fooled.

The Japanese army had been fighting with the Chinese for more than two years, and had reached a strategic stalemate. They no longer dared to look down on the Chinese. They also knew that there was a Mr. Zheng in Southeast Asia who was very financially powerful.

If you have money, you have soldiers. Although the number of soldiers cannot be compared with China, their elite level is likely to be better.

But the Malays.

Or the Malays in Thailand.

In Thailand, they are not even second-class citizens, not even agricultural population. They are purely slaves, inferior natives, without even basic organization. For hundreds of years, they are a nation that can be bullied by anyone.

This nation has never had an army.

It should be said that if this Marine Corps could put away a little of its arrogance towards the Malays, this plan would not have been possible. At the very least, it would have been impossible to completely wipe them out and prevent any of the 3,000 people from returning.

It was not until the Malay regiments began to clean up the battlefield and replenish their guns, and were completely sure that there was no survivor among the 3,000 devils, that everyone excitedly hugged each other and cheered for victory.

The Chinese mine owner was also very happy, and said triumphantly that they had two pigs raised in their mine, which they would slaughter and stew for everyone.

But Anand shouted and signaled everyone to be quiet.

This Malay leader, who originally had no prestige and could hardly control his men, gained some prestige after this battle. With just one shout, the crowd that was originally cheering quieted down in less than half a minute.

"Leave the pigs alone for now. Killing these three thousand men is only the first step. There are still Japanese navy troops and a heavy destroyer at the naval port. If we can't defeat the bandits, we still won't be able to return, and it won't be a complete victory."

"Brothers, clean up the battlefield, strip these devils of their clothes, change clothes, I will be the vanguard, follow me to raid the Japanese warships, kill the enemies, seize the ships, and make Mr. Zheng look at us with new eyes!"

Anand spoke in Malay, which the Chinese people could not understand at first. But when they saw these people suddenly stop cheering and start stripping off the clothes of the Japanese soldiers, they could not help but be amazed.

Good guy, we still want to fight.

These Chinese in Phuket have lived with the Malays for many years. Is this the first time they know that the Malays are so warlike?
After the Malays had changed into their uniforms, Anand continued his speech. He said, "Ladies and gentlemen, it is too early to talk about victory. We have no navy, and Penang has no navy either. If we wait for the Japanese to react, we will still be trapped on the island."

"Right now, we have only one way to survive, that is to kill the Japanese devils while they are still underestimating the enemy and us. If they die, we live. Brothers, let's make one last fight and gamble our lives with the Japanese!"

"Okay! Let's gamble our lives!"

Then he said to the Chinese mine owner in Chinese: "We are not familiar with the route to Phuket Island. Can you lead us to Emperor Island?"

For a moment, the Chinese were also intimidated by the heroism of the Malays, and coupled with this great victory, they all became excited.

After all, Malays have always been third-class citizens in Southeast Asia, and their status is lower than that of the Chinese, whether in Thailand or Malaya.

They definitely couldn't stay in Phuket anymore. Once the Japanese came, it was completely different from the so-called Greater Thai nationalism. If they didn't follow these Malays, they would have no other way to survive.

These people are still Mr. Zheng's subordinates.

After fleeing Phuket, these people will definitely go to Penang and seek refuge with Mr. Zheng.

Anyway, they are all trying to survive, so there is nothing more to say. They can't let the Malays look down on them. They also need to do something to make Zheng Yi accept them.

Immediately, everyone tried their best to find Japanese military uniforms that were not too badly damaged on the ground and put them on.

After putting on the torn and bloodstained clothes, they were placed as far back as possible. The Chinese followed Anand with their weapons, standing as far forward as possible. After all, the Chinese and the Japanese looked the same.

It is actually OK for Malays to stand a little further back. After all, Malays are not black or white. Although they look somewhat different from East Asians, it is not obvious. At least from a distance, you cannot see it without careful observation.

As for those who did not have Japanese military uniforms, they were "escorted" in the middle and disguised as surrendered prisoners.

After everything was ready, Anand led the large group and strode towards Emperor Island.

Phuket is about 10 kilometers away from Koh Racha. In order to facilitate looting, the Japanese army traveled back and forth on light cruisers. Two light cruisers were simply abandoned in the port and did not return to the naval base.

This naturally gave them an opportunity. Until they were within a hundred meters of the ship, the Japanese soldiers on the light cruiser did not realize that they had been replaced.

In fact, there were not many people on duty on these two light cruisers, and those who were on duty were all slacking off.

After all, Phuket is such a great place. Everyone comes here for vacation, and they have been in the city for three days. They also know that their superiors will take care of them after these days.

Phuket.

There's no danger at all.

Of course, it is not just the Marines who are burning, killing and looting on the island. The Navy is the same. They are all out looting and having fun.

Those who were left behind on duty were all recruits who were bullied or even abused on a regular basis.

Everyone else went to this undeveloped virgin island to grab delicious food and beautiful women, but they were left behind to watch the ship. They were all full of resentment, so how could they be loyal to their duties?

Seeing that the distance was within a hundred meters, and the cabin doors of the two light cruisers were open, it seemed that there were only a few scattered Japanese soldiers guarding the ships. Anand could no longer hold back and shouted, "Charge!"

But he sprinted forward immediately and ran into the cabin in just over ten seconds.

The Japanese soldiers standing guard above were startled by his shout, and even stunned for a few seconds: Why are these people running?
It wasn't until a few seconds later that I realized, no, these were enemy troops.

It was too late to close the hatch. Anand was already on board. The process was much easier than Anand had imagined.

You have to know that Anand was actually gambling with his life. Once the light cruiser discovered them and closed the hatch, the heavy artillery above would be enough to deal them a heavy blow.

Aren't the Japanese elite? Why is their military discipline so poor?
Without thinking too much, as soon as Anand went up, Malays who could speak Japanese immediately shouted: "Surrender and you won't be killed!"

They are all Malays from Kedah, and Kedah has been developing the textile industry in recent times. Most of those textile industries are run by Japanese. Even before Zheng Yi arrived, the railways in Kedah were operated by Japanese companies.

Therefore, many people have actually interacted with Japanese people in the past and learned Japanese for a period of time.

The Japanese soldiers on this ship were not die-hards. After all, they were bullied all the time and had never thought of committing suicide by seppuku. They just didn't beg for mercy after being captured.

"Captain, this ship is really huge. Can we return victoriously?"

Anand couldn't help but ponder when he heard this. The Japanese soldiers on these two light cruisers had such lax discipline that he couldn't help but feel even more greedy.

"Just wait for me to think about it."

After a while, Anand found a Malay who could speak Japanese and found a coward among the Japanese soldiers. He said to him, "We are from Penang, Mr. Zheng's team. Have you heard of Penang?"

The man nodded repeatedly: "I, I have heard of the Voice of Free Japan."

"Very good. Then, can you cooperate with me? If you are willing to turn from evil to good, I can guarantee that you can live in the Japanese community in Penang and start a new life."

“We will give you a sum of money, help bring your family from Japan to Penang, provide you with insurance, give you a big house, and even let you own your own textile factory.”

"But if you don't cooperate, don't blame me for being a big waiter."

The Japanese soldier nodded immediately after hearing this and said, "I will cooperate, I will cooperate, I promise to cooperate with everything."

This is the benefit of Zheng Yi promoting the Free Voice of Japan.

Although the superiors did not allow people to listen to that stuff, there were actually quite a few people who listened to it secretly. The Japanese in Penang and Yangon combined were almost over one million, and the news was deliberately spread, so these low-level idiots also knew something about the situation over there.

Despite the Japanese government's efforts to suppress the situation, they still cannot explain a basic question to the public:
If the treatment of Japanese in Nanyang was really that bad, then why did the vast majority of the more than one million Japanese in Nanyang choose to stay in Penang and Yangon instead of returning to their homeland?
If Toyota Risaburo was the only one who committed treason, it might be because he was blinded by greed. However, now that their Japanese textile industry has been almost completely devoured by Nanyang Textile, is this really something that Toyota Risaburo could have done alone?

Most of the Showa men were indeed a little bit stupid, but they were not completely unable to figure things out.

Before the Sino-Japanese War broke out, they could at least afford to eat rice and wear new clothes. At least the clothes they wore were new clothes produced in Japan. Relatives at home who did not serve in the army, even if they were rural children, could go to the city to do odd jobs to earn money during the slack season.

Now they are marching from one victory to another, but their lives are becoming more and more difficult. Due to the lack of oil, even electricity supply to residents in Japan cannot be guaranteed, and even heating cannot be guaranteed outside Tokyo.

They are in the navy, and are relatively more likely to be exposed to advanced ideas than the idiots in the army, and their cultural level is also slightly higher.

As far as he knew, more than half of the officers and soldiers on their ship would secretly listen to the voice of freedom.

Even now in China, when the Japanese army is being persuaded to surrender, they are played the Japanese Voice of Freedom. This is much more vivid and vivid than the dry left-wing ideas in history.

So the Japanese soldier in front of him was not simply afraid of death, but was really curious and wanted to know what Penang was like.

Why did so many Japanese choose to betray the emperor and help the annoying Chinese in Penang, almost completely destroying their textile industry, which was a pillar industry of Japan?

Even before Anand and his companions boarded the ship, he was listening to the Voice of Free Japan out of boredom.

In order to let more people hear this unique Japanese voice, Zheng Yi built signal stations everywhere. People in Phuket, Hainan Island to the north, and Malaya to the south can all hear this broadcast.

Anand: "I ask, you answer, how many troops and warships are there in Port Kaiser?"

"I don't know about the garrison. If you don't count the Thai garrison, the Japanese army will not exceed a thousand people. They are all out playing. As for warships, there should be only one battleship, the Yamashiro." "Only one battleship? Shouldn't there be frigates? Do you think we don't understand the navy because we are Malays?"

The Japanese soldier shook his head repeatedly after hearing this: "No, no, the Yamashiro is a training ship and is not in the battle sequence.
The entire fleet is incomplete, with only two cruisers, both of which are old models."

"Where's the frigate?"

"The frigate was taken away by the officers."

"Drive away? Where to?"

“Some are in Bangkok, some are in Ayutthaya, and some are right here in Phuket.”

It turned out that after the Japanese troops moved in, the lower-level soldiers went out to rob and capture women, so the middle and high-level officers naturally would not be idle either.

Officers also need to make a living.

As the commander, Kakuji Kakuta naturally did not need to go anywhere. He stayed in King Port and moved directly into the former palace of the King of Thailand. The Thai side sensibly sent princesses, celebrities, and royal ladies for him to enjoy.

However, the other colonels did not receive the same treatment, and after all, they were in the barracks, so it was inconvenient for them to do anything.

These ordinary soldiers would take the two cruisers to the port of Phuket together, then get off the ship together, and come back when they had enough fun. Before dark, the two cruisers would pick them up and take them back to King Port.

The Marines also came with the two cruisers. The original plan was to destroy the Chinese mine before breakfast, then disband on the spot and continue burning, killing and looting.

The officers were naturally unwilling to be as restricted as the soldiers, and they did not need to burn, kill, and loot. So they all took frigates, brought their personal guards and confidants, and went into the city to look for women.

As to whether he was going to find a movie star, a brothel prostitute, or a royal lady, no one knew.

Although they were invited by the Thai side to settle here and not invaded, these Japanese have always looked down on the Thai people and none of them have the awareness of peaceful and friendly coexistence.

They may even be eager to cause some diplomatic conflict or even a fight.

This is what happened in the French East Indies in history. The French army raised the white flag and surrendered, and the headquarters announced it, but the Japanese army pretended not to see it and wanted to beat them up.

What's more, Thailand is now just inviting the army to enter, not surrendering.

"So, besides the Thai Navy, there's only one battleship in Emperor Port right now, and your commander is still on board?"

The Japanese soldier nodded: "Yes, and our commander doesn't have too many guards around him. He is the commander of the logistics army, not the front-line commander."

Hearing this, Anand hardened his heart and gritted his teeth: "Let's do it, Hu Xian W."

"exist."

A Malay man who looked to be under 20 years old responded loudly.

Seeing that he didn’t even dare to write his full name, you knew that he was another future big shot who was promoted by Zheng Yi.

"Take these Chinese brothers and half of your Malay brothers on that boat and ask those Japanese soldiers if they can drive the boat back to Penang.
If you don't know how to sail, don't go back to Penang. Just sail south, enter British territory, send a call to Penang, and wait for rescue."

Hu Xian W frowned in dissatisfaction when he heard this and said, "Captain, what are you going to do? Are you going to rob the battleship?"

"Yes, I'm going to rob the battleship. It's a battleship, and there's a Japanese commander there. If we can capture this commander alive, Mr. Zheng will definitely look at us with new eyes."

Hu Xian W: "We wiped out 3,000 Japanese and two light cruisers. This is enough to impress Mr. Zheng."

"I know. Isn't this an opportunity? Fortune and wealth are sought in danger."

"Then why did you ask me to go back? I want to go with you too."

"You have to take the men back. What if I fail? We can't all be wiped out. Besides, if you go back now, at least we have a light cruiser like this as a backup."

Hu Xian W: “…………”

"Listen, this is a surprise attack. There's not much difference between one ship and two ships. Not all brothers need to take risks. This is an order."

"Yes!"

Hearing this, Hu Xian W nodded reluctantly. He also knew that the team leader was afraid that if something happened to him, he would have a hard time explaining himself.

Although this man is young, he comes from a family of officials. His father is Dato Onn Jakarta, a famous political leader among the Malays and the "Father of Malay Nationalism".
Historically, before the founding of the country, the party advocated opening up party membership and admitting Chinese people into the party, so that Malays and Chinese could work together to build Malaysia.

It is a pity that such a policy was opposed by the Malay people. At that time, the Chinese did not consider themselves Malaysians, nor were they willing to join them to play with him.

He was in a bad situation, which led to his defeat in the political struggle. Otherwise, he would have been the father of the nation.

In any case, he is one of the few Malay politicians in history who advocates friendship with China. He has a good relationship with the Chinese and is a friend of Zheng Yi who has met him several times.

The child's father asked the child to come to Kedah to join the army with the intention of showing goodwill to Zheng Yi, and even had a bit of a hostage mentality.

Zheng Yi naturally attached great importance to him. After all, they were neighbors, so he was willing to live in harmony with the Malays.
It was impossible to give an official position directly to a kid who had just graduated from high school, but he was definitely given special care and was allowed to stay by Anand's side.

Although he felt a little dissatisfied, he still gritted his teeth and turned his head and said:
"Those of you who have a virtuous wife and filial children at home, elderly parents, and young brothers, please come with me. Our achievements are already great enough to ensure that we and our families will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of our lives. It is not shameful to leave now."

After saying that, Hu Xian W turned around and got on the boat first. Although most of the people behind him were hesitant, there were still quite a few who chose to get on the boat with him. However, before getting on the boat, those Malay soldiers wearing Japanese military uniforms took off their clothes.

Anand called out, "If you're willing to give it another try, come with me."

As they were talking, someone else changed into Japanese military uniforms and boarded the Japanese light cruiser, heading towards Emperor Island.

At least more than half of the Japanese soldiers showed no resistance to letting them drive the ship after they learned that they were all Mr. Zheng's men and were from Penang. I don't know if this was because they were bullied in the navy.

In less than an hour, the light cruiser that Anand was riding slowly entered the naval base in Porto Alegre.

None of the Japanese soldiers showed any surprise at the arrival of this light cruiser. In fact, there were not many Japanese soldiers in the entire port at all, as they had all gone out to play.

When they were on the radio, the Japanese soldier who surrendered first actually helped them check the commands, allowing them to enter the port safely, which made Anand and other soldiers all breathe a sigh of relief.

The most dangerous level has been passed.

"Yes, yes, very well done."

"Sir, my name is Okasaka Hikawa. If we can win this battle, please speak well of me to Mr. Zheng."

"of course."

Of course, Anand did not have the authority to agree to anything on Zheng Yi's behalf, but this did not prevent him from agreeing first, but he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

'How powerful is Mr. Zheng? Even these Japanese soldiers are willing to cooperate with him when they hear his name. How easy is life in Penang?
Hum, after this war, I will also bring my parents and brothers and sisters to Penang.'

Soon, the light cruiser slowly approached the shore, lowered the hatch, and Anand went ashore with the soldiers in Japanese uniforms.

Turning his head, he glanced at the huge ship Shancheng beside him. The ladders for boarding the ship were not folded up at all. He couldn't help but feel a burning sensation in his heart.

This place is the Thai military's naval base, and there is no place for the Japanese to sleep, so after returning every night, these Japanese soldiers need to go back to the ship to sleep.

It was true that no one had thought about the possibility of being attacked on Emperor Island, so these ladders were usually confiscated.

While no one was paying attention, Anand moved quietly towards the Yamashiro.

"Hey, what are you doing? Want to get on board?"

No matter how lax the situation was, there were still people on duty under the Yamashiro. Seeing Anand acting suspiciously, they asked a question, but they didn't really take it seriously.

However, Anand did not understand Japanese after all, and thought he was exposed, but he did not hesitate. Without saying a word, he took out his pistol and shot. With just a few shots, he killed two Japanese soldiers on guard. Then he roared and climbed up the boarding ladder of the Yamashiro.

The Japanese soldiers in the port thought it was some personal grudge, and it took them half a minute to realize that the enemy was trying to seize the ship.

But where did this enemy come from? Why would they be targeting their own light cruiser?

Thailand?
Not to mention whether the Thais have the courage to do so, this is Phuket after all, which is still some distance away from the Thai mainland.

But before they could figure it out, the Malay army, which was well prepared and well-equipped, rushed towards them like tigers descending from the mountains, and started firing.
Grenades were thrown out like rain at the first moment, regardless of where there were people or not.

The sudden attack completely crushed the Japanese navy, which had no military discipline at all, on land. These people were not even marines, and many of them did not even have time to find their guns.

More Malay soldiers, however, were already excitedly following Anand to climb the ladder.

It was definitely too late to collect now. On the deck of the Yamashiro, a Japanese soldier hurriedly tried to operate the heavy machine gun on the deck, but before he could get close, he was shot into a sieve by the concentrated fire of the Malay soldiers climbing the ladder below.

Without waiting for anyone to get on board, grenades were thrown indiscriminately, blasting the Japanese soldiers on the deck so hard that they either dared not show their heads or were killed on the spot. Only then did they climb onto the deck.

"Kill!!"

Another gamble for their lives, and another success. These superstitious Malays thought it was God's blessing for a moment. Their eyes turned red, and the huge excitement made their adrenaline soar.

Even if a bullet pierced through him, he didn't feel any pain.

"Send a report to Mr. Zheng and tell him that we have captured a battleship!"

(End of this chapter)