Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 188 Heading north for a decisive battle?

The news that within one day, the Japanese army attacked Britain and the United States simultaneously, severely damaging the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, the Manila Air Force Base, and the Kota Bharu British Air Force Base shocked the world.

Mainstream European and American countries simply couldn't believe that an Asian country would dare to take the initiative to attack them. What was even more incredible was that they actually won.

American society was naturally extremely indignant about this. Almost on the same day, a full $300 million appeared in Zheng Yi's account.

Among them, 200 million US dollars were advance payments for the US military to purchase bulletproof vests and special military rations, and another 100 million US dollars were interest-free loans given to him, allowing him to develop his own military industry and buy whatever he wanted. After spending all the money, he would continue to borrow from the United States.

There was no mention of repayment at all.

Fuck isolationism and neutrality treaties. The entire American society suddenly seemed to have its brakes slammed on, and then turned 180 degrees. The terrifying, excess civilian production capacity was madly converted into military use.

As the saying goes, a heavy sword has no edge, and great skill is not skillful. With the wartime transformation of American society, it began to release its terrifying production capacity. However, even Zheng Yi, its ally, was a little overwhelmed for a while. Penang and Yangon received a lot of military orders.

A howitzer that originally sold for around $1200 was suddenly priced at $1500 and asked to be built expeditiously.

There is no need to deliver it after it is produced. It can be directly put into service in Penang. The US military can take it away from you when they need it.

What's yours or mine? Penang is the most important overseas partner of the United States. I pay, you produce, and everything you produce is ours.

To put it bluntly, one reason is that it is close to the battlefield, so that the United States does not have to produce it domestically and then transport it. On the other hand, it is also intended to support Penang in disguise.

After all, Penang in this era is a hundred times more important than Manila in history. If it really fell into the hands of the Japanese, Japan would immediately upgrade its weapons.

On the contrary, Penang could become an important stronghold for the counterattack in the Pacific battlefield.

What is the American war system like? This is probably something that even Americans themselves don't know.

They don't know which one will better represent the future, battleships or aircraft carriers, so why not build both?

Which is more practical, a tracked tank or a wheeled armored vehicle?
Make them all and use them together, use whichever one is more useful.

Which would be more practical, a large-caliber cannon or a rocket?
Build it piece by piece.

After the entire Penang and SAARC were fully converted to military use, their profits and living standards were not greatly affected. Instead, they could import goods from the United States freely.

The domestic war of resistance no longer needed their sponsorship or donations, as the little transportation capacity that was available was all taken up by the United States.

Even Zheng Yi felt for a moment that he was being kept by a local tycoon.

This feeling... is actually quite good.

In fact, this so-called anger almost entirely comes from the middle and lower levels of the United States. It seems that no one at the top level is really angry. In recent times, there have been many American officials and executives of multinational groups flying to China intensively and frequently.

Zheng Yi could clearly see that none of them came with real anger. Although they pretended to be heartbroken, they were actually very happy in their hearts.

After all, almost all of those people who could come into contact with Zheng Yi were globalists who advocated American globalization. With this bombing, Japan finally destroyed the last obstacle to their global expansion.

Not even one person really thought that this was a matter of life and death for the United States. Almost all the Americans came to discuss with Zheng Yi how they would divide Japan, Asia, and even the world after the war.

The traditional colonial system has come to an end, but Penang’s new “global cooperation” model has now become a model for the United States to expand overseas. These officials came to learn from him.

Moreover, the United States was particularly interested in the Southern Association formed by Zheng Yi. Large financial groups such as Morgan, Ford, Rockefeller, and General Motors all sent representatives.
It expressed its willingness to expand investment in the SAARC region, make larger equity investments, and hoped to promote this model throughout Asia and even the world after World War II.

These people have never thought about how to win the war, but have been thinking about how to rule the world after winning.

As for the anger, Zheng Yi believed that it was just a performance to incite public sentiment.

In contrast, unlike the somewhat performative anger of the United States, the anger of the United Kingdom is obviously a bit evil.

Singapore, inside the war room.

"Mr. Zheng, I believe that the Southern Alliance must bear primary responsibility for this defeat. My general told me that your General Tao remained unmoved after receiving our army's request for support. He did not send any reinforcements, but instead watched the British Empire's army be defeated."

"As a friendly and allied force, on behalf of the British Empire, I strongly protest and condemn General Tao. I propose that his actions must be held accountable, and you, the Southern Alliance, must also give us, the British Empire, an explanation!"

Across from him, Zheng Yi also had a serious expression on his face, but he was quite unhappy with this groundless accusation. He said, "General Bonnar's words are too boring. Who was it that had been reminding you to be on guard against Japan two years ago?"

"Who the hell was that? Just a few days ago, he swears to me that your air force is like a Rolls-Royce compared to Japan, and can at least fight two at a time? What happened?"

"I've been blowing the whistle for you, telling you how powerful Japan is. Did you listen? Are you trying to shift the blame onto us, the Southern Alliance?

If it weren't for General Tao defending Songkhla and Pattani, do you think you could still be holding this meeting here calmly? The Japanese army would have already trampled through the entire Malaya!"

To pass the buck? For such a large-scale defeat, the Far East must give an explanation to London, so it is not surprising that they would pass the blame to a foreigner like Zheng Yi.

Moreover, in Zheng Yi's opinion, there was nothing wrong with Tao Jun's decision to give up rescuing Kota Bharu from a military perspective, and Tao Jun also explained it to him.

But politically it does have some flaws.

After all, although everyone is nominally a British army, they are actually fighting a joint battle. They are not all family members. They don’t know whether they can save each other or not, so they don’t pretend to be together.

It's impossible to save him. Even if you send an entire army to slowly grind them down on the road, and then when you get to the place, you realize you're too late, and then go back immediately, it's still better than not sending any troops at all like you are doing now, which puts him in a slightly passive position.

When these British generals heard what Zheng Yi said, they couldn't help but blush for a moment. After all, this happened not long ago. Because there were many reporters in Penang, this incident was even reported in the newspapers that year.

It was published in a British newspaper.

Many media outlets took this opportunity to mock Zheng Yi, believing that Zheng Yi was afraid of the enemy.

Now it seems that the slap in the face was extremely loud.

Today's Britain is far less confident than the United States. Although it is still far ahead of the United States in high-end technology, its most basic industrial production capacity is very poor.

Although it still has a fairly good military force, its reproduction capacity is far inferior to that of the United States. It can produce the most advanced radars in the world, but its efficiency in manufacturing ordinary aircraft and warships has fallen to second-rate or even third-rate in the world.

It relies on that little bit of survival and the former glory of the sun never setting to maintain its appearance.

Now that they have been slapped in the face by Japan, their true nature of being all show and no substance has almost been exposed. How can they not be angry to the point of being almost crazy?
More than a hundred old-model aircraft may not be a big deal, but no one can afford to lose the reputation of the British Empire.

Zheng Yi: "I don't mind taking the blame for you, but you can't do that without any benefits. Do you think I'm easy to bully? If you really want to put the blame on me, I'm not afraid. We can just argue in the media. If the BBC doesn't dare to report it, I'll use the American media. Ms. Thomson just returned to Penang not long ago."

Upon hearing this, the expressions on the faces of the British generals were not very good.

If they really start a verbal battle, they will indeed be in a passive position and suffer a lot.

Zheng Yi has always been an advocate of the Japanese threat theory. In fact, he doesn't have to do anything. In the past few months, at least, Zheng Yi's popularity in the European and American public opinion circles will remain very high.

In fact, whether in the UK or the US, some people have dug up Zheng Yi’s previous remarks to criticize the incompetence of the government in power.

"Mr. Zheng predicted Japan's evil ambitions years ago. Why has no one ever taken it seriously?"

It is not surprising that Zheng Yi now has more and more titles, including scientist, entrepreneur, politician, and military strategist.

At least he is an expert on international political issues.

Seeing that the situation was getting a bit cold, Major General Bond on the side tried to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, Mr. Zheng, everyone, stop arguing. Now is not the time to shirk responsibility. What's important is how to make amends. What should we do next?"

"Mr. Zheng, look, is there anything we can do to help you? Who's right or wrong isn't that important. What's important is remediation and the battle situation. As long as the battle can be won, what does right or wrong matter? No one in this world can control you, Mr. Zheng, and you're not anyone's subordinate, right?"

Obviously, he had understood the meaning of Zheng Yi's words. It was not that he or Tao Jun could not take the blame, but they would have to pay a certain price.

He is in charge of the army, and he has a heavy responsibility this time. Moreover, everyone in this room is either a lieutenant general or a general, and he is the only major general. If Zheng Yi refuses to take the blame, then the blame will definitely be firmly placed on him.

The army is worse than dogs.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi looked at Chief of Staff Parize and Air Force General Burbonham with a smile: "What do you two think?" But he deliberately ignored Vice Admiral Phelps, with whom he had an unpleasant experience.

Parry said: "I also believe that the most urgent task right now is to fight the Japanese. If Mr. Zheng has any needs related to the fight against Japan, at this time, as the saying goes, emergency measures must be taken. I think we can consider not asking London and let us meet your needs first."

Bonham glanced at Phelps, and seeing that he had no reaction, he nodded repeatedly.

The most urgent thing is to pass on the blame first.

Zheng Yi nodded after hearing this, but then asked, "May I ask, what strategic plans do you, the British army, have for the future?"

The men exchanged glances, and it was Phelps who spoke up. "Mr. Zheng is no stranger, so I can tell you that London believes that only by deploying the navy and taking the initiative can the shame of this defeat be completely erased. Therefore, they have decided to initiate the attack."

"An active attack? Where are we going to attack? Bangkok?"

“No, not Bangkok, but Hong Kong Island.”

"Ah? Cough cough~, cough cough~, cough cough cough~"

Zheng Yi was so shocked by this fantastic decision that he even choked on the smoke while smoking.

"The British army has decided to march north to engage in a naval battle with the Japanese?"

Everyone nodded.

Zheng Yi: "There's no need for that. Hong Kong Island..."

For a moment, Zheng Yi didn't know what to say.

Then he said solemnly: "I suggest that we play it safe. I am Chinese. Please believe me, I hope Hong Kong Island will not fall even more than you do. To be honest, my woman is in Hong Kong Island right now."

"But isn't the location on Hong Kong Island... a bit too risky? Instead of attacking proactively, it's better to defend nearby. Since the Japanese have established a stronghold in Kota Bharu, they naturally need to resupply."

"We have Patani and Wanka in our hands. Supplies from the road will definitely not be able to get in. On the contrary, the British troops in Malaya and even our Malay regiment in Kedah can all join in the encirclement."

"If the Japanese army doesn't rescue us, we can drive them away and retake Kelantan. If the Japanese army rescues us, we can use this place to consume their energy. You British army can fight them here."

"If the Japanese army is determined enough, then it is very likely that Britain and Japan can have a decisive naval battle here in the Gulf of Siam. It will be much easier than going all the way to China, right?"

"Although Kota Bharu's air force is gone, the air forces of Singapore and Penang can still support the battlefield. Moreover, based on my understanding of the Japanese army, they are an army that is very likely to act independently and easily disobey the command strategy."

"They've just achieved a great victory and are at their most arrogant and triumphant. If we ask them to abandon the occupied territory and retreat now, even if it doesn't make much strategic sense, their navy might be able to continue refueling, ultimately turning it into a decisive battle."

"Let's take a step back and say that even if the Japanese army abandons Kota Bharu, I still don't recommend you go north. I think we can actually take a defensive stance. As long as we can hold on, we can wait for the US army."

"If you really want to take the initiative to attack, you can also blockade the territory of the French East Indies and the Japanese economy. Although the US Navy has been severely damaged, I dare say that it will be able to recover its strength in at most six months, and it will be able to make a comeback in at most a year."

"It won't be too late for you British and American forces to unite and march north."

No matter how he looked at it, Zheng Yi felt that the British army's initiative to move north was a bad move.

You know, the current occupation is completely different from the historical Anglo-Japanese war situation. In history, Songkhla and Pattani were immediately lost after the Japanese army landed in Malaya. Then the man known as the Tiger of Malaya emerged and swept across the entire Malay Peninsula with a devastating momentum.

After being stunned, the British army immediately announced that they would abandon the entire Far East except Singapore, and gathered all the troops in the Far East in Singapore to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese army.

This led to the historical Battle of Singapore.

But at the moment, since Pattani and Songkhla have not been lost, and even Wu Aihua's troops are still in the Duolun area, it makes no sense for the Japanese army to occupy Kota Bharu.

He only destroyed part of the British air force, and it was impossible for Japanese planes to grow in that place, so this occupation was actually quite unnecessary.

Why are you running north when you have such a good battlefield to fight on?

Zheng Yi does not understand war, at least not the tactical details, and he understands the navy even less. The history of the Nanyang region has been changed beyond recognition. Singapore’s current “deterrent fleet” is far larger than the historical “Z Fleet”.

If we play it safe and steadily, this naval battle should still be viable.

Chief of Staff Parry smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid that's not possible, Mr. Zheng. The navy is needed in the European, Middle Eastern, and North African battlefields. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but in three months at most, the navy will be transferred."

"Going north to seek a decisive battle with the Japanese was also a last resort."

(End of this chapter)