Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 202: Singapore War

Xingzhou, also known as Singapore. The reason why the Japanese army did not completely occupy Singapore in this time and space is naturally because of the existence of the Xingzhou guerrillas.

In this time and space, Singapore's population is smaller than in history.

This is mainly because after Penang’s rise, it has been madly absorbing the Chinese population from surrounding areas. Even Singapore, which was once the largest port in Asia and the sixth largest port in the world, is no exception.

However, Penang is small after all, and Singapore, as the core area of ​​Britain's rule in the Far East, also has its own advantages. Zheng Yi's rise was short, and after all, most of the Chinese population was left behind.

Moreover, some Straits Chinese, Malacca Chinese, Peranakans, etc. who no longer speak Chinese will definitely not come to Penang. Some have jobs in British multinational companies, or have certain industries in Singapore, so of course they did not move.

Even Penang’s own cargo imports and exports used to frequently use Singapore’s port.

Its port conditions are indeed good.

Therefore, when the Japanese began to attack Singapore, there were still about 400,000 Chinese people in the whole of Singapore.

As I said, other races may not know about the brutality of the Japanese, and may even have illusions about it, but the Chinese are different after all. Everyone knows that the Japanese hate these Southeast Asian Chinese to death.

Historically, the British did not trust the Chinese very much. Although they equipped the Chinese with weapons, most of them were from the 18th and 19th centuries. They did not even have guns used in World War I, let alone cannons.

Even so, these Chinese persevered to the end and fought much better than the British army. After the fall of Singapore, they moved to Malaya and even moved to Burma.

In this time and space, Zheng Yi naturally could not let them use 18th century weapons to fight the Japanese army. His transportation capacity was limited, and it was impossible for him to pick up all the Chinese in an emergency. Penang's transportation work mainly relied on British and American shipping companies such as White Star.

At the time before the fall of Singapore, most British and American shipping companies were anxious to transport the British nobles in Singapore to India, and Zheng Yi had very few ships at his disposal.

All he could do was to bring back as many women and children as possible.

Then bring some guns and rocket launchers to the local men and let them fight on their own.

Although the Japanese army in this time and space was far more exhausted and weaker than in history, the number of soldiers led by Yamashita Tomoyuki was actually smaller than in history.

After Zheng Yi blew the whistle repeatedly and reminded them repeatedly, at least part of Singapore's artillery batteries did appear, and they were able to turn their muzzles inward.

Yet Singapore fell.

It just lasted a little longer than in history. In history, it lasted for 72 hours, but this time and space lasted for more than two months.

The British troops in Singapore did not perform much better than the Allied forces in Palembang.

To put it bluntly, this is not a simple military issue. After invading Singapore, the Japanese army still dared to employ Indians as their police, and those Indians did not cause any trouble.

They felt no guilt at all when they imprisoned their former British masters.

The Japanese army wanted to take them to kill Chinese people and rob them of their money. These people were all very excited and happy.

The Malayan Volunteer Corps was basically just a re-skin of the Japanese Army.

Even the fucking native Brits aren't willing to fight.

The first thing they thought of when they could escape was to run to Australia. The war had been going on for two months, and the commander begged Fatty Qiu for two months, repeatedly asking for "higher authorization authority."

Do you lack understanding of the Japanese? You think surrender is no big deal, since Singapore is not their homeland anyway.

Objectively speaking, we are really grateful for the Japanese army's torture of prisoners. If it weren't for the Japanese army's large-scale torture of prisoners, which made the later Allied forces believe that dying in a battle with the Japanese army was better than being captured, who knows how they would have fought in the subsequent Pacific War.

To be honest, Zheng Yi had been watching the entire process of Singapore's fall, but he did not pay much attention to the unremarkable military process. Instead, he conducted very in-depth reflection on the political issues behind it.

If I could withdraw from the world and watch Singapore fall, I would suddenly feel like I was watching the collapse of the old colonial system.

Did those Malays and Indians feel happy in their hearts when they surrendered or pointed their guns at the British?
The era of colonialism based on plunder and exploitation has indeed ended.

Productivity determines production relations. The 20th century is no longer an era where one can suppress everything by simply getting a few guns.

Zheng Yi once heard a saying: When line infantry appeared, democracy appeared, because untrained citizens could also rely on line infantry to resist the government.

When the country needed women to work in factories, women's rights emerged.

When national production is needed to win a total war, national democracy and even a welfare society have the soil to survive.

And World War II was obviously the peak of the need to mobilize the people in the process of development of productivity.

So in Zheng Yi's view, it is obvious that whoever can mobilize as much public power as possible in their own country will be able to gain more advantages in this new round of changes in production relations.

Perhaps one day, when productivity advances again and no longer requires the mobilization of the people, new production relations will prevail. But as of now, the failure of the British is probably due to their inability to fully mobilize their own strength, which is the old production relationship.

The demise of the British is an inevitable result of the development of productivity.

Of course, Zheng Yi cannot stay out of Singapore's affairs and must get involved.

When the 80,000 British troops in Singapore surrendered, the Singapore Volunteers ignored the so-called British orders.

Because these people were much stronger than in history, they simply started a positional war in the western part of Singapore, namely the Bukit Jungle area and some offshore islands in the western part.

You have to know that Yamashita Tomoyuki actually didn't have many soldiers left. After fighting for more than four months, the Japanese army was already exhausted. They had just captured Singapore and had to send troops to guard British prisoners.

The Japanese army did not trust the Indians and Malays.

This resulted in the fact that the number of troops that Yamashita Tomoyuki could mobilize in a short period of time was very limited. In addition, he was not familiar with the terrain, which led to his inability to capture the terrain defended by the Seongju Volunteer Army for a while.

If you can't get it right away, then that's easy.

Wouldn’t this become the Bataan Peninsula again?
Coincidentally, after several months of development, Penang's air force has grown larger with the help of the large number of American airports, and in addition to transporting support to Bataan, it does have some spare capacity.

Wouldn't it be convenient to provide support to that side as well?

Penang is much closer to Singapore than to the Philippines. There is no need to deploy a large number of transport aircraft and P51s. The P38D's cruising range is more than enough for a round trip.

Wang Qiaoyun even led a flight formation to fight two air battles with the Japanese army over Singapore.

The air force at Yamashita Tomoyuki's disposal was nothing more than one Army Aviation Unit and two Naval Aviation Units borrowed from the Navy, with a total of only about 300 aircraft, and not all of them were Zeros.

Wang Qiaoyun did not ask for help from the US military. After fighting with them twice with Chinese pilots, she gradually mastered the rhythm.

No matter how many planes crashed, Wang Qiaoyun didn't feel any pain at all.

All the planes in Penang were sponsored by Americans.

Moreover, the speed at which American aircraft are produced is getting faster and faster, and the speed at which Penang trains pilots cannot keep up with the speed at which the US military supplies aircraft.

The P51 can still be cherished. In fact, there are not many Chinese pilots in Penang who can fly the P51.

But Wang Qiaoyun is now treating the P38D as a consumable and fighting against the Japanese army.

It really feels good to have America’s big, thick legs at my back.

Although the P38D has undergone certain targeted modifications based on the characteristics of the Zero, to be honest, its maneuverability is still inferior to that of the Japanese. The Zero is more flexible in air combat, while the P38D is more resilient. In terms of fighter performance, they can only be said to be equally matched, each with its own merits.

Most of the Chinese pilots in Penang were novices, and their skill level naturally lagged far behind that of the Japanese. In reality, they were no match for the Japanese, and a 2:1 exchange ratio was considered a good deal. However, Penang had considerable industrial capacity, and could repair broken aircraft. Meanwhile, the Americans had plenty of new aircraft, so they didn't feel bad about those that couldn't be repaired.

Even after steel plates were added to the cockpit and fuel tanks, Japanese aircraft were not known to carry heavy firepower, so even if the aircraft was damaged, it often did not directly threaten the pilot's life.

Some people can fly back directly in a broken plane, and the worst ones can parachute.

After parachuting, he joined the Xingzhou Volunteer Army nearby and waited to take the people back with him when the supplies were delivered next time.

At this time, the weakness of the Japanese aircraft's thin skin was clearly reflected, that is, the lifespan of the aircraft was not good, which means it was not strong enough to be manufactured.

Singapore does not have a factory that can repair and maintain aircraft.

So Wang Qiaoyun gradually mastered the trick of fighting air battles with the Japanese devils: you just fly with them.

You said you flew over there, so he had to take off, right?
If you don’t take off, I’ll blow you up.

You take off, we play hide-and-seek with each other for a while, and then I fly away.

After a short break, another group of people will go over.

There is no need to fight, the plane may not be able to fly slowly.

By using combat as training, the quality and ability of the Chinese pilots in Penang have grown rapidly, and their air advantage has become increasingly greater.

Transport planes are now supplying the Xingzhou Volunteer Army in a high-profile manner.

If this continues, it may not be long before Penang will completely gain air superiority over the Japanese troops in Singapore.

It would naturally be more difficult for the Japanese army to wipe out the Xingzhou Volunteer Army. The Xingzhou Volunteer Army even began to try to sneak into the city and the east of the city and engage in urban guerrilla warfare with the Japanese army.

Then, just like that, the Japanese army began the massacre.

To be honest, Zheng Yi was very angry about the atrocities of the Japanese invaders, but if he calmed down and looked at it from a rational and military perspective, he thought that this might not be a bad thing.

When the British army surrendered, the total number of the Singapore Volunteer Army was actually less than 10,000.

After the Penang Air Force began airdrops and gradually gained air superiority, Zheng Yi estimated that the number of people would not exceed 20,000, and they were all ordinary citizens.

The Chinese in Singapore have not received military training like the Chinese in Penang. To be honest, facing the Japanese Type A Corps, which is as fierce as wolves and tigers, five people may not be able to withstand one enemy.

They were able to hold the west of the city thanks to their familiarity with the terrain, and the dense forests and mountains there were also suitable for defense.

As a result, these Japanese are doing this now.

If nothing unexpected happens, the Xingzhou Volunteer Army will definitely expand again. It is impossible for him to kill them all.

They are all locals, so maybe they all ran to the woods in the west of the city. Anyway, Penang can take care of the supplies.

And more importantly, look, Chen Liushi’s eyes are red and he’s ready to fight back.

"Are you planning to go back under the name of... the Fujian Chamber of Commerce, or the Xiamen Chamber of Commerce?"

Tan Lark Sye: "I will go back first and it will be the Xiamen Federation of Trade Unions. If I die, my uncle will go back and it will be the Fujian Chamber of Commerce."

Zheng Yi rubbed his temples. "How are we going to go back with so many people? You Xiamen people are the largest branch of the Chinese in Southeast Asia. If you leave, Penang will be in ruins."

"Don't worry, the production of the military factories will not be delayed. We all returned voluntarily and do not need the alliance to squeeze out pensions."

Knowing that Zheng Yi would feel embarrassed, Chen Liushi took the initiative to bring it up.

At present, in the Southern Alliance for the Advancement of Contribution, soldiers who died in the service naturally receive certain pensions and benefits. Even if the Southern Alliance for the Advancement of Contribution ...

So the question is: What are SAARC soldiers?

Following Zheng Yi's orders, they formed a formal army and, in accordance with military orders, went to the front line to fight the Japanese.

Then if you die, it is only right that SAARC gives you a pension.

People like them, who voluntarily returned to Singapore without any military orders and were fighting guerrilla warfare, can this be considered as such?
If this counts, then does it count if the local Chinese in Singapore joined the guerrillas and died fighting the Japanese?
If that’s the case, then do the civilians killed by the Japanese devils in Singapore count?
One of the main characteristics of guerrilla warfare is that it is difficult to distinguish between the military and civilians.

Singapore is not even a part of their South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. These Xiamen people took the initiative to return to Singapore to join the war out of personal feelings, to support you with weapons, and to help you in air combat. This is already because they are fellow Chinese in Southeast Asia.

And to be honest, Chen Liushi himself knew that even if Zheng Yi was willing to give money, there would probably be big problems in practice.

After all, it was a spontaneous war of resistance for resources, and the Southern Alliance had no means of control over these people. There was no very strict household registration management in Nanyang, and it was all in the hands of major chambers of commerce.

Who knows how these people died?

"Most of the Chinese in Singapore are from Fujian, and most of them are even from Xiamen. This trip back was my uncle's and my idea, and it was our Fujian Chamber of Commerce's idea. We will handle the compensation for the people below, and we don't need the alliance to pay for it."

"I know that the people of Fuqing have all left recently. Also, the people of Qiongzhou returned to Hainan to participate in the war of resistance. The alliance didn't give them any money. You are the leader of the alliance, so you have to treat everyone equally. If you use the alliance's money to provide relief to us Xiamen people, the other chambers of commerce will have objections."

Knowing that there were some things that Zheng Yi was not good at saying, he took the initiative to think for Zheng Yi and told him all the problems first.

Anyway, their Fujian Chamber of Commerce is quite rich. What does it matter if they spend some money on the war of resistance?

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi couldn't help but rub his temples again.

This clan politics in Nanyang...

It was like a warlord with semi-independence, but Zheng Yi knew that he was right.

There is no problem with the supplies at the aid points, and most of these supplies can be counted as American supplies.

But if he gave money and asked the Fujianese to go to Singapore to fight against the Japanese, he would also have to consider the opinions of the Guangdong and Guangxi people.

Because there aren't many Cantonese people in Singapore. If you say we are all compatriots, then why don't you save Kuala Lumpur, which is mostly Cantonese? Who knows, one day Lee Hsiao-shih and his people will come and say they want to go back to Kuala Lumpur?
In essence, this is indeed not a matter for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Strategically speaking, whether the Japanese can gain a foothold in Singapore does not actually have much impact. How much Japanese military force can be tied down by guerrilla warfare?
"Hey~"

Zheng Yi waved his hand and said, "The pension still needs to be paid. Let me make the decision. If you can really recapture Singapore, or tie down a large number of Japanese troops."

"After we defeat the Japanese and win the war, I can decide to give this large piece of land in western Singapore, as well as the polo fields and cricket pitches left by the British, to your Fujian Chamber of Commerce as spoils of war."

Chen Liushi was stunned: "Will the British agree?"

Zheng Yi: "Why the hell should I care whether the British agree or not?"

Chen Liushi seemed to be thinking about this when he heard it. Then, he nodded firmly and said, "If we develop real estate after the war, we can make a lot of money from those lands. It's enough for me to use them to support those widows. Thank you. When will you send us away?"

Zheng Yi: "Anytime is fine, but... I don't know if you're aware that the Japanese army has transferred five elite Type A divisions from Japan to Southeast Asia. We don't know where they're going to support yet. If they're going to support Singapore, even with one or two divisions, I'm afraid it's going to be very difficult for you to fight."

"Sixth Master, promise me you won't try to be brave. If you can't win, just run back. The Japanese army will be defeated sooner or later, and the Japanese army in Singapore will surrender sooner or later. It's not worth fighting them to death."

Tan Lark Sye nodded and said with a smile, "If these divisions are really reinforcements for Singapore, then if I hold them back, wouldn't Penang be safe? Don't worry, Mr. Zheng, I know what I'm doing. Even if I have to die, it will be worth it."

(End of this chapter)