Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 204: Japanese troops, divisions, fleets, invite Mr. Zheng to visit Tokyo
Singapore.

With a loud bang, a ship anchored near the port was suddenly hit by a rocket launcher on the waterline.

The rocket launcher used extremely precious tungsten steel armor-piercing bullets. If it fired accurately, a destroyer would immediately start taking in water.

Of course, it is not certain whether it can sink, and the guy who fired the rocket launcher threw the rocket away and ran away. His tool turned out to be a very peculiarly shaped jet ski.

This is currently the most popular vehicle in the Xingzhou Volunteer Army, which is modified from a powered delta wing.

Today, with the support of the United States, Penang's powered delta wing has long ceased to participate in air combat. There is absolutely no need for it. It is mainly responsible for patrolling, reconnaissance and other matters. It has been downgraded from military equipment to police equipment.

But this thing is really useful for guerrilla warfare, especially in Singapore.

By adding a board underneath and making some minor improvements, it can be used as a jet ski. You don't even need to remove the wings; you can take off from the sea.

After landing, you can simply fold the wings and carry the motorcycle ashore without having to stop at the beach. You can even replace them with wheels. Through relatively simple modifications, you can turn it into a mountain motorcycle for use in land warfare.

The struggle strategy in Singapore is completely different from that in the Philippines and Malaya. After all, most of the people on this island are Chinese, and Zheng Yi couldn't bear to burn food.

Besides, there is almost no agriculture in this place, and like Penang, it imports almost 100% of its food.

So the first thing Chen Liushi did after returning was to try every possible way to distribute guns to the local people.

Distribute leaflets to the puppet troops in Malaya.

The leaflets basically depicted the good life of the Malays in Alor Setar, or the miserable life in other parts of Malaya under Japanese rule.

The kind with photos.

As long as ordinary people have guns, they may not dare to join the guerrillas, but when the Japanese come to bully them, they will definitely pick up guns and fight the Japanese to the death.

Some pistols, in particular, are particularly popular among local Chinese people in Singapore.

Because Tan Lark Sye already had a high reputation, his return fully mobilized the original Singaporean people. Some of them ran to the west to join the volunteer army, and although some did not go to the west, there were also many who transformed themselves into assassins at night and directly fought urban guerrilla warfare against the Japanese army in the city.

The whole of Singapore has become a bit like Palestine in later generations. The west is resisting fiercely with the support of the big power behind it, and now trenches and even tunnels have been dug.

On the east side, there are more and more pistol warriors, kitchen knife warriors, etc.

Moreover, the more brutally the Japanese army suppressed the rebellion, the faster the city became chaotic, especially at the docks.

It’s impossible that the Japanese army killed all the dock workers, right?

You can't use prisoners as dock workers, right?
Finally, we can’t use the precious imperial men as dock workers, right?

It's no exaggeration to say that the men of the Empire are really valuable right now. Almost all of them who don't have any serious work to do have been mobilized.

Javanese or Malays?
Dock workers are also workers. Not everyone can do the job. If Javanese or Indonesians are hired, efficiency will drop significantly.

Besides, the Malays and Indonesians also secretly hide guns!

After these dock workers got the pistols, they hid them and you didn't know about it. You still had to use them to work, and they suddenly shot you. No one can stand it, but you can't do anything about it.

There were two large-scale suppressions, both of which turned into major riots among the dock workers. The Japanese army was helpless and had to resort to high-intensity supervision. However, supervisors were killed every now and then. When the Japanese army arrested the murderers, they often expanded the scope of the attack to vent their anger, causing dissatisfaction among the workers and a vicious cycle in which more supervisors were killed.

The second is to use this kind of water motorcycle, powered delta wing, and rocket launcher with tungsten steel armor-piercing warhead, in a Ranger manner, to attack Japanese ships docked in the dock.

They are not obsessed with attacking warships, but also ordinary merchant ships.

This kind of small motorcycle can easily hit the waterline.

Most of the time, it is impossible to sink a large ship with just one shot, but the problem is that Singapore does not have a shipyard.

It existed before, but it was moved to Penang by Zheng Yi before the war.

Moreover, although the Japanese army was also trying its best to repair the ship, the problem arose again: the workers who had certain skills to repair the ship were also Chinese.

Try getting some shipwrights from Japan...these shipwrights are the Pistol Man's priority targets.

As a result, Singapore completely lost the ability to repair ships.

Because there is absolutely no way to repair the ship, minor damage to the ship will often turn into major damage, and major damage can easily lead to serious damage, and serious damage can easily lead to the ship being scrapped.

The Xingzhou Volunteer Army can now also fight, either hitting the propeller, the waterline, the engine, or even the fuel tank.

Give full play to its local characteristics.

Of course, the Penang bomber formation would come to check in almost every day.

Can these methods drive the Japanese troops out of Singapore?

It can be said that this is almost impossible.

Singapore's geographical location is so special that the Japanese army would never give up Singapore no matter how much casualties it suffered. This is even the headquarters of the Japanese Army's Southern Corps Operations Department's Army Command. Even the navy has two fleets stationed here.

This place, not to mention its economic significance, is definitely the core of the entire Nanyang in terms of military significance. It is the so-called battleground for military strategists.

This is also the reason why Zheng Yi had no intention of competing with the Japanese for Singapore from the beginning.

There is no way the Japanese will give up this place.

Moreover, this place is indeed easy to defend but difficult to attack. With the Japanese army controlling the Johor Strait, even if the US military wanted to attack Singapore, landing on the beach would be difficult and would be doomed to suffer huge casualties.

However, Tan Lark Sye still insisted on fighting here, forcing the Japanese army to deploy more troops to suppress Singapore and continue to hold Bukit tightly.

The intensity of the battle in Bukit is currently no less than that in the Bataan Peninsula, and the number of Chinese forces under his command who are clearly helping him defend his positions has reached over 100,000.

Simply put, even if we can't kill these Japanese soldiers with our teeth, we will at least annoy them to death.

People like Chen Liushi, or those Fujianese who dared to go to Southeast Asia, have this kind of ruthlessness like a turtle biting its hand.

"Whoosh~"

“Boom~~Boom~~Boom~~”

Countless bombs once again fell on the Singapore Army Base, turning it into a mess.

In fact, the Japanese army has gradually become accustomed to this and is no longer surprised.

The number of Japanese planes shot down became fewer and fewer, while the number of Penang planes shot down became more and more. The Japanese flying group had an unspoken rule that if the plane died, the person would die, so there was no such thing as parachuting.

Because SAARC has the support of the United States, it has always believed that pilots are more important than aircraft, and they will parachute out as soon as they feel danger.

Therefore, there are fewer and fewer good pilots in the Japanese army, and more and more rookies.

There are more and more good pilots in the Southern Alliance, but fewer and fewer rookies.

The aircraft production capacity in the United States is still expanding. The first-year production target of 20,000 aircraft seems to be easily achieved. Zheng Yi knows very well that by next year, the United States' aircraft production capacity will be 40,000 aircraft.

It seems that all the major countries in the world in later generations combined do not have this output. What stands out is its horror. It is purely industrial Cthulhu.

In the face of numbers, all techniques and tactics are nonsense. Penang has gradually gained air superiority over Singapore.

It was just because there were still Chinese people living on the island and it was actually a military port, there was not much point in a large-scale bombing, so no large-scale bombing was carried out there.

The Japanese army's camps are basically built with anti-bombing and underground offensive measures, and now they are basically hard-roofed, which makes these Japanese soldiers feel very uncomfortable.

Whenever planes from Penang arrive, everyone has to hide in air-raid shelters or military facilities.

"Can't those idiots in the navy get two more flying squadrons to help us? Damn, those planes in Penang are getting more and more arrogant."

In the underground command center, although they were used to it, and in an era without bottom-penetrating bombs and guided bombs, simply dropping aerial bombs to bomb military bases was actually very ineffective, but as the commander of the Southern Corps, Terauchi Hisaichi still couldn't help but complain angrily and scold his naval colleagues.

"The American planes are like locusts. Not only here, but the Navy's planes are also being consumed very quickly. Now, the entire Pacific battlefield is divided into three parts. The cabinet believes that the Navy may need planes more than we do."

"Humph!"

Terauchi Juichi certainly understood this.

At this moment, the entire Pacific War has actually broken out in full swing, with three main battlefields.

One is that the South Seas battlefield on their side is dominated by the army.

To be honest, although they were troubled by Zheng Yi and Marshal Mai, they had occupied most of the land in Southeast Asia after all. The Southern Alliance only had air force advantage but no naval advantage. Although it was disgusting, they were not in danger of destruction after all.

The other two main battlefields are naturally Australia and its affiliated islands of various sizes, that is, in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

The Japanese planes were mainly sent here, bombing Darwin Port and other places, hoping that they could destroy the Australians' will to resist and force them to surrender, just like they did in the Dutch East Indies.

To be honest, given the strength of the Japanese army, it was actually quite abstract for them to occupy Australia by landing on the beaches.

The combined US-Australian military forces in Australia number nearly one million.

This isn't like the situation in Southeast Asia, where the local indigenous people are commanded by a small number of white colonists.

In fact, the bombing of Australia itself is quite abstract, because most of the people they bombed were Australian civilians.

It is difficult for normal people to understand the Japanese army's thought process. What makes them think that as long as enough civilians are killed, the enemy will surrender to us?

Especially since you are famous for torturing prisoners.

As for the third battlefield, it is naturally Midway Island, Guam, Wake Island and other small Pacific islands.

Although the US military has shown no signs of a counterattack, anyone with a modicum of common sense knows that the US will not tolerate such a huge loss and will definitely launch a counterattack once they have recovered their strength. The US Air Force is divided into land-based and sea-based aviation. The aircraft Penang has received so far are all from the US Army. Strictly speaking, Zheng Yi is the US Army's most important ally, not the Navy.

Except for a portion of their navy's aircraft used for Australia's air defense, the rest are all kept in reserve.

Moreover, facts have proved that airplanes are far more helpful in naval warfare than in land warfare. Japan does not have the huge industrial production capacity of the United States, which can produce airplanes like dumplings. Good steel must be used on the blade, and almost all the newly produced aircraft were given to the navy.

This led to the Japanese army gradually losing the upper hand to the South Asian Alliance in air control, and even being suppressed.

It's not that he can't understand it, but it still doesn't affect Terauchi Juichi's anger. He curses like this several times almost every day.

Ignoring the scattered dust from the bombs that drifted down from the basement, Terauchi Juichi, with a gloomy face, sat at the head of the command room and spoke:

"Imamura-kun, I'm extremely disappointed with your work. Why, after all this time, is the restoration of the Palembang Oilfield still not complete? Its production is less than 40% of its pre-war level. Other oilfields are even worse than Palembang, with production not even reaching 30% of its pre-war level!"

At the side, Imamura could only stand up helplessly, bowed his head and admitted his mistake. "I'm sorry, I will continue to work hard. Currently, the fires at several major oil wells in Palembang and the Dutch East Indies have been extinguished. What remains is just cleaning up the ruins left by the bombs."

"I thought that in three months at most, I could restore the production of the Palembang oil field to 50% of its pre-war level."

Upon hearing this, Terauchi Juichi held out his hand in dissatisfaction and said, "Sixty percent! Within three months, oil production must be restored to 60% of its pre-war level. Otherwise, you will commit seppuku."

"This... Hey! I understand. However, I need more support, especially from the flying squadron. The Penang bombers come to Palembang more often than they come to Singapore. They don't bomb military camps, they only bomb oil fields!"

Terauchi Juichi's face darkened as he said, "What you said does make sense, but as you can see, the aircraft supply is indeed tight. At most, I'll give you an additional aviation brigade and 300 anti-aircraft guns. That's all."

"That's...ok."

"Imamura-kun, you should know that there have been a lot of rumors about you recently. You are too soft on those lazy natives. They are losers. Why should they be friends with our great Japanese Imperial Army?
Such a weak and lazy nation should be whipped and trampled under the feet of our great Yamato nation!"

Imamura: "I only have less than 40,000 men. Do I have to use them to beat, coerce, and exploit 70 million natives? Terauchi-kun, if 70 million Javanese people take up arms against us, how will I suppress them with less than 40,000 men? How will you support me then?"

"Even if we only secure major cities like Palembang, Jakarta, and Bandung, we'll probably need at least ten divisions. Terauchi-kun, no matter how weak those natives are, they still number 70 million! Even if they were 70 million pigs, they wouldn't be able to be contained without 100,000 men, right?"

"Humph! They are just some uncivilized, brainless native monkeys. Where did they get the guns?"

Imamura Jun argued, "Perhaps, but there are guns in Penang. There are also many Chinese in the Dutch East Indies, and most of them are from Fuqing. Zheng Yi himself is also from Fuqing."

"If Zheng Yi distributes 100,000, 200,000, or even 300,000 guns to the indigenous people as weapons, and a small number of Fuqing Chinese are used to lead a guerrilla force, how can Palembang and Jakarta ever have a moment of peace?"

"Everything I do is for the Emperor! If you, Commander, think I'm doing something wrong, please remove me!"

As he spoke, Imamura Jun also looked angry.

He has been feeling very frustrated recently.

For some reason, almost all the media in Japan are exaggerating the wealth of the Dutch East Indies and the happiness of the Javanese natives, while he has not been able to restore the output of the Palembang oil field since he occupied Palembang, as if he took over Palembang to make a contribution to the local Javanese people.

From top to bottom, almost everyone was forcing him to take drastic measures.

Thirty thousand people using thunder-like methods against seventy million people?
Do you really think that’s 70 million sheep and 70 million pigs?

Even though Imamura Hitoshi himself is also an army soldier, he sometimes really feels that except for himself, everyone else in the army is a bunch of idiots.

I really can't tell, is this Zheng Yi's strategy of sowing discord?
He is almost suffocated to death!
Terauchi Juichi: "Imura, please don't get excited. His Majesty the Emperor understands your difficulties. It was His Majesty the Emperor who, despite all objections, explained the pros and cons that saved your position."

Imamura Hitoshi: "I am deeply grateful for the Emperor's grace."

Terauchi Hisaichi: "But don't get complacent. The Cabinet has sent Akira Muto of the Army Ministry's Military Affairs Bureau and Kyoji Tominaga, Director of the Personnel Bureau, as special envoys. They will arrive in Batavia soon."

"The headquarters has received very clear evidence. Under your rule, the Javanese and the Chinese in Penang have an unclear relationship. Penang received at least 100,000 tons of supplies from you last month alone!"

"Mr. Imamura, the Emperor's character is very different from yours. You must not act recklessly by relying on the Emperor's favor."

Then, Terauchi Juichi added meaningfully, "If oil production in the Dutch East Indies doesn't recover to at least 60% of pre-war levels within three months, I'm afraid... you'll have to fend for yourself."

To put it bluntly, Hirohito was a non-stick pan, a king like Chongzhen.

Forget about this humble governor-general. Since the start of the war, how many prime ministers and cabinet ministers has Hirohito protected? And what was the outcome? Who did he protect in the end?

In essence, Hirohito was an emperor who lacked responsibility. If his people had problems and aroused public and military anger, he would abandon them without hesitation.

In Japanese politics, the pro-American factions that once dominated the mainstream disappeared one after another.

You are a pro-Javanese person, what more can you do?

You know, there are already voices among the army idiots calling for the punishment of traitors.

However, Terauchi Hisaichi was not a complete idiot whose brain was only focused on muscles. He stopped at the right time and did not put too much pressure on Imamura Hitoshi.

He said: "After all, the problem still lies with that Zheng Yi in Penang."

"Penang, a tiny country, has caused my entire Southern Army to suffer such a disaster. Zheng Yi is indeed the greatest enemy of the Great Japanese Empire!"

"As long as Penang can be destroyed, all the unfavorable situations in the entire Nanyang region will be easily resolved."

"The headquarters has made the decision to destroy Penang at any cost. Gentlemen, are you ready?"

Everyone "Hi!"

"This operation will be divided into three groups. Yamashita-kun, you will lead your own troops, plus two additional divisions, a total of five divisions, to attack Alor Setar head-on. I heard that Penang's fresh water supply also depends on Alor Setar."

"As far as I know, Alor Setar is a city predominantly populated by Malays. Malays may not be as brave as the Chinese. Based on my experience in Singapore, the will to resist is usually not strong."

"I will also assign the Malay and Indian divisions recruited by Singapore to you, for a total of seven divisions."

"Hey! We must fight to the death to take Alor Setar."

Terauchi Juichi: "No, there is no need to fight to the death. Your strategic goal is to feint."

"Feint?"

Yamashita Tomoyuki was stunned for a moment: "Seven divisions for me, a feint attack? Then where is the main attack?"

Terauchi Juichi: "Yes, it's a feint. It would be best if we can capture it, but if not, don't be too stressed. After all, Alor Setar has been under their control for a long time, and it's only separated from Penang by a sea. Even if the Malays are unreliable, there's a high probability that their Chinese troops will enter Alor Setar to defend the city."

"So, don't be too stressed. Penang's defenses and military strength are well understood by the headquarters. Zheng Yi thought he was clever enough to recruit nearly a million Japanese expatriates. While our Great Japanese Empire has been deeply infiltrated by him, it's also easy for us to obtain their intelligence."

"Alor Setar is not easy to attack. The construction there has been going on for a long time. There are at least hundreds of thousands of troops there, and we don't even have air superiority."

Yamashita Tomoyuki couldn't help but ask, "You just said there were three armies. Who were the other two? And which one was the main attacking force?"

Terauchi Juichi: "The second route is the navy, consisting of two aircraft carriers and two battleships, four huge fleets. This is all the naval power that the Imperial Japanese Navy can currently bring to bear."

Yamashita Tomoyuki frowned and said, "A direct attack on Penang from the sea? I'm afraid that would be difficult. Penang has an incredibly high density of coastal artillery. Now, with the help of the Americans, they probably have thousands of aircraft. Two aircraft carriers alone are probably not going to make a difference."

Terauchi Juichi: "Yes, this fleet will not primarily attack Penang. At most, they will use aircraft or coastal artillery to cause some disturbances. Their attack direction is Rangoon."

Yamashita Tomoyuki: "Rangoon should be easier to capture than Penang, but if we have to land on the beach, I'm afraid... it will also be a tough battle. It is said that there is a complete Chinese corps in this place. It should be more difficult to capture than Aros Setar, not to mention the coastal defense artillery."

Terauchi Juichi: "Yes, so the navy's goal is also a feint. Their real goal is to occupy the Andaman Islands and build a naval base there, thereby putting some pressure on Yangon and forming a bridgehead for the Great Japanese Empire's advance into India."

On the side, Imamura Jun frowned instinctively when he heard Terauchi Hisaichi say this.

Why attack the Andaman Islands? Didn't they say they were going to attack Australia? Why attack India too? What exactly is the Navy's strategic direction? A two-front attack? Adding Midway Island makes it a three-front war. What kind of strategy is this?

But he didn't say much. After all, he knew that his current political situation might not be very good.

Yamashita Tomoyuki also took a deep breath.

On his side, five Japanese divisions, plus an Indian division and a Malay division, launched a feint attack.

On the Rangoon side, the four large fleets were still making a feint attack.

"This third route of the main attack...how many troops will there be? Where will they come from?"

Upon hearing this, Terauchi Juichi said seriously, "Headquarters has determined that the Soviet army is currently engaged in a bitter battle with our allies. Therefore, in the short term, there shouldn't be much pressure in the northeast."

"Therefore, in addition to the originally planned mobilization of the 55th Division, the 31st Division, the 39th Division, the 53rd Division, the 54th Division, and the 55th Division,

The 2nd, 16th, 20th, 23rd and 25th Divisions will be secretly dispatched to the northeast.
Eleven divisions in total, assembled in secret, passed through Thailand, attacked Shan State on the way, cut off the Yunnan-Burma Railway, and finally attacked and destroyed Yangon by land!

"As far as I know, Penang's main source of food is Rangoon. Once Rangoon falls, China will be cut off from all external aid, and Penang will lose its food supply and be devoured by its increasingly crowded and exploding population."

"They even chose to surrender and negotiate in order to save the lives of millions of people."

"The commander of the Burmese operations will be General Seishirō Itakane himself!"

"This operation is codenamed Operation Dragon Capture. His Majesty the Emperor has stated that Mr. Zheng Yi is a rare talent in Asia and has requested that we bring him to Tokyo for a personal reception by His Majesty."

Yamashita Tomoyuki was stunned. "So, it was General Itagaki Seishirō who personally commanded eighteen divisions, including my own, plus four naval fleets, just to deal with that Zheng Yi?"

Terauchi Hisaichi shook his head and said, "No, not eighteen. For such a grand event, with the main attack direction, how can we not have people from our Southern Legion?
Most of the soldiers transferred from the Northeast have never experienced the fighting in Southeast Asia, and they lack an ace. Therefore, I propose to His Majesty the Emperor that the main attack direction in the west requires an invincible and strongest corps to serve as the final blow.

After saying that, he turned around and said to his staff officer, "Tsuji Masanobu-kun, according to the order of the headquarters, you will serve as the staff officer of the Western Route Army, assisting General Itakune Seishirō, and leading the strongest ace of the Great Japanese Empire, the Chrysanthemum Corps, to join the battle!"

"For this offensive, the Great Japanese Empire has mobilized a total of nineteen army divisions, nearly 40 men, plus naval support. Mr. Yamashita, Mr. Tsujimasa, within six months, I hope that Mr. Zheng Yi can appear before the Emperor as the most respected guest of the Great Japanese Empire and kowtow to His Majesty."

Everyone: “Hi!”

(End of this chapter)