Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 293 Adding fuel to the fire
"Damn it! What a big scene! We have disturbed the British's lair and made them angry. Are they going to fight to the death?" Major General He Ruolin put down the telescope in his hand, smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Looking out to sea from the heights of the fortress

In the distance, the sea is covered with masts and sails like a forest, and sailing warships and supply ships stretch from near to the end of the sight, bringing an extremely shocking visual impact.

Upon hearing this, Major General Phelan Williams, Commander-in-Chief of the Ironclad Fleet, put down his telescope. This Rear Admiral, who had made outstanding contributions and was newly promoted by the King of Chu, frowned and said,
"Commander He, if we combine the firepower of our artillery with this current British sailing fleet, we should be able to withstand it. But this is just the British's appetizer. The main force of the Royal Navy's Third Battleship Fleet has not yet arrived. By then, we will be under even greater pressure."

"It depends on how much the British are willing to contribute to a bloody battle with us." Major General He Ruolin said fiercely.

He is a fierce general under the King of Chu. During the Tongzhou militia period, he followed the King of Chu through countless life and death battles. His military experience is second only to Lieutenant General Qian Jiang and Lord Zheng Jiabao who is now staying in Jinling. He is one of the original eight captains.

Faced with the overwhelming force of the British, Major General He Rulin's brave character was aroused. He glared and shouted, "Lao Fang, Lao Hu, what do you two say?"

Lao Fang is Lieutenant Colonel Fang Shiwei, the commander of the newly formed Second Regiment of the Royal Army. He was formerly the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard and was born into a family of personal soldiers of the King of Chu. The Second Regiment he led cooperated with the Second Expeditionary Division in combat and made outstanding contributions in the bloody Battle of Singapore.

Old Hu is Lieutenant Colonel Hu Jinqi, the commander of the newly formed Fifth Regiment. He was originally the major battalion commander of the Second Battalion of the A Regiment of the First Expeditionary Division. He was later promoted to lieutenant colonel deputy regimental commander and is also a veteran in the army.

After further studies at the Manila Advanced Military Academy, Lieutenant Colonel Hu Jinqi was promoted to the commander of the Royal New 5th Regiment, and was assigned to the 2nd Expeditionary Division to fight in Singapore. He led his subordinates to achieve numerous merits.

Major General He Ruolin also had a capable assistant, Lieutenant Colonel Wang Sixi, the commander of the newly formed Eighth Regiment, but this person was guarding the Chinatown Command Headquarters in the city and did not come.

The 3rd Expeditionary Division was equipped with three newly formed regiments, all of which had undergone rigorous infantry combat training. All of them were young officers who graduated from the Manila Advanced Military Academy. The army grew rapidly in the war.

Lao Fang and Lao Hu were the right-hand men of Major General He Rulin. When he asked this question, Lieutenant Colonel Hu Jinqi calmly replied:

"If they want to capture Singapore, it depends on how strong the British are. In my humble opinion, can they swallow our 3.3-strong army? At the very least, they won't be able to do so without losing to lives."

"I agree with Captain Hu. If the British come from the sea, we really don't have many good solutions. But if they want to occupy Singapore, they will have to step over my dead body." Lieutenant Colonel Fang Shiwei is also the type of person who is ruthless and doesn't talk much. In just a few words, his determination to fight to the death is clearly revealed.

When he came to this battlefield, he never thought of going back alive.

No matter how long His Majesty ordered them to hold out, whether it was half a year, a year or two years, Lieutenant Colonel Fang Shiwei would carry it out without hesitation. He was such a stubborn person.

Having such a powerful general under his command, Major General He Rulin slapped his thigh happily and said with a grin;

"That's it. I'll arrange for someone to send a few more foreign women over to your homes. They'll have good food, drink, and sleep. When the British come, we'll have a good fight. If you want to die, you'll face the sky with your head, and if you don't die, you'll live forever."

He turned to look at Major General Phelan Williams and said, "General Williams, when it comes to fort defense, your navy is truly more adept. Anyway, the fort has been fully manned. When do you think you'll take over?"

There is nothing wrong with the navy taking over the defense of the artillery batteries, as this will better coordinate with the fleet in combat.

Major General Phelan Williams did not refuse and turned to Colonel Fu Hongyu and said, "Dear Colonel Fu, the Singapore Expeditionary Force Headquarters will issue an order later to appoint you as the commander of the fort. Is that okay?"

"Yes, sir," Colonel Fu Hongyu replied solemnly, raising his hand in a military salute. "As long as the battery is here, we will be here. We will live and die with it."

"Very good, I will dispatch the necessary personnel to you from the fleet. In the near future, we will arrange to pull up all the artillery wires and connect the telegraph to each fortress artillery so that the orders from the superiors can be conveyed without delay." Major General Phelan Williams said solemnly.

These words immediately reminded Major General He Rulin. His eyes lit up and he said, "Great! The British warehouse has a lot of cables. Let's pull them up for our army headquarters and connect the various regiments. We'll arrange this when we get back."

All the senior commanders knew the convenience of information brought by telegrams, and they all echoed the sentiment, which eased the tense and solemn atmosphere a lot.

Recently

After the British Royal Advance Fleet arrived in the waters off Singapore, senior generals of the Chu Expeditionary Force had been closely monitoring the British movements and dispatched a large number of lookouts and mobile patrols to guard the waters around Singapore Island.

Any disturbance can quickly give an alarm.

The city of Singapore is now in a state of high alert before the war. Officers and soldiers have cancelled their leave, the fortress's cannons have been stripped of their gun covers, and the garrison's ammunition has been distributed to the companies.

Singapore has formed a circle of impenetrable fortress-like cities, and the large amount of cement and barbed wire that arrived with the Singapore Expeditionary Force came in handy.

In just over half a month

Singapore's city streets are enclosed by solid concrete walls. These barriers, made of urban tiles and reinforced concrete, are far more sturdy than ordinary urban barricades.

It can be said that it is an enhanced version of urban barricades.

This reinforced urban barricade is 1.5 to 2 meters wide and generally 3.2 meters high. The front is made of bricks and stones, and the surface is covered with a layer of concrete. It is also reinforced with 1 to 2 layers of barbed wire to strengthen its defense.

The middle is filled with a large amount of urban rubble, which is compacted repeatedly, and the innermost side is surrounded by wooden fences, making the construction fast and reliable.

Inside the city barricades, there is a 2-meter-high platform for walking back and forth, and an external 1.2-meter-high brick and concrete wall with square shooting holes, which are connected to the sturdy houses in the city at both ends.

In order to reinforce these sturdy urban buildings, the Singapore Expeditionary Force specially transported a large amount of soil to the outermost line of defense, filled the soil into these sturdy houses, and repeatedly compacted it.

In this way

Even if the British attacking field guns breached the walls of the buildings, they could not cause the houses to collapse or create a gap that could be entered.

Inside the city, hundreds of barricades were built, completely blocking all roads leading into the city.

These reinforced urban barricades, integrated with the sturdy buildings in the city, formed large and small defense circles that divided the city, which made people's scalps tingle.

A total of more than 12 ten-pound Parrot rifled guns and -pound Napoleon field guns were placed in various directions of the city.

More than half of these 12-pound Napoleon field guns were captured from British warehouses. The large-caliber naval guns and coastal artillery were shipped back to the country, and more than 130 small-caliber Napoleon field guns were left in the city defense operations.

Many artillery pieces were placed on rooftops, providing a wide and unobstructed firing area and increasing the range.

Throughout Singapore

Today, it has a military force of up to 2.4 people. In addition, there are more than 4200 people deployed in numerous coastal fortresses, more than people in outer fortresses, and hundreds of guard sentries distributed throughout the island.

It can be said that this small island has been tightly defended, and its defense strength is even higher than that of Manila.

The Singapore forts built by the British basically had their guns all pointed at the South Strait. They were divided into the East Fort Fort area and the West Fort Fort area, plus two island forts.

These two island forts are the Siloso Fort Fort on Sentosa and the Wugong Island Fort Fort on Sentosa.

The above fortress batteries are generally equipped with 24-pound, 32-pound to 68-pound coastal heavy artillery with a maximum range of more than 4000 meters, which is enough to block the southern strait of Singapore.

There were no corresponding defense facilities in the north of Singapore Island. The Chu State Singapore Expeditionary Force took advantage of this fatal weakness and, after landing in the Johor Strait, dealt a fatal blow to the British army from behind.

Now, if it were the Chu State Singapore Expeditionary Force that was defending, it would naturally be impossible for them to make such a low-level mistake again.

By dispatching a large number of auxiliary troops and recruiting local labor, in just over half a month, the Chu expeditionary force had established a solid defense line in the northern mountainous area using local rocks and building materials shipped from afar, and it was gradually being improved.

On the northern defense line

The Singapore Expeditionary Force built a total of 47 bunkers of various sizes, a 12.3-kilometer-long defense wall, dug more than 51.5 kilometers of trenches, and arranged three barbed wire cordons along the defense line.

The northern defense line is centered around the newly formed Fifth Regiment, with a total garrison of more than 4200 troops, making it an almost impenetrable defense.

After the occupation of Singapore
The expeditionary force recruited soldiers locally and quickly made up for the casualties.

They also adopted the method of replenishing barracks, and strengthened each regiment with more than a thousand replenishment soldiers, who are currently undergoing intensive military training.

The Singapore Expeditionary Force Headquarters also had four supplementary barracks at its disposal, bringing its total strength to 4, giving it sufficient confidence to deal with the British attack.

In addition to these 3.3 troops, the Singapore Expeditionary Force also controlled more than 2 auxiliary troops, utilizing almost all the male labor force available in the city.

A few days ago
Using British merchant ships seized in the port of Singapore, 28722 Chinese women and more than 6300 white prisoners were transported to the country in batches.

this way

On the one hand, it prevents vulnerable groups from being affected by the war, and on the other hand, it reduces food consumption, which is conducive to long-term persistence.

The expeditionary force did not mistreat some ordinary British merchants' families and civilians too much, but instead sent them away to avoid affecting the combat.

More than 2 sets of individual equipment seized from British warehouses have now been equipped to all the new recruits, including bright red lobster soldier uniforms, white military caps and the standard 1853 Enfield rifles equipped by the British Army.

These recruits wore the typical red uniforms of the British Army, with white leather belts crossed diagonally on their chests and black backpacks behind them.

At first glance, it looks no different from the British Army.

These were all reserve supplies prepared for the British and French expeditionary forces, but they ended up falling into the hands of the Chu army. If they encountered them on the battlefield, the British would inevitably be depressed.

January 9st

Elysee Palace, Paris, France
The bad news from the Far East was like a heavy blow to the high-spirited French court. As soon as they saw the British envoy's irrepressible smile, the French monarch and his ministers from top to bottom were furious.

Saigon was attacked, and more than 2642 French defenders (note: statistics only include white colonists) were killed in the battle, which is known as the "Saigon Incident" in history.

The French Far East Fleet was blocked in the Saigon River and was besieged by the Chu Fleet, resulting in its annihilation. This dealt an unprecedented setback to France's ambition to colonize the world.

It's a shame, a naked shame.

"Oh my God! What kind of idiots are these?
In less than three days, France, the country I love my whole life, will become the laughing stock of all Europe. This is something that can never be forgiven or accepted.

See those damn British people?

Their laughter was so sinister, it was another stab in the chest of the proud French.

I will not accept this humiliation imposed by the Orientals. I must strike back fiercely, using the most forceful means..."

The roar of French Emperor Napoleon III echoed in the luxurious court of the Elysian Palace. The ministers and attendants, who were all dressed in gorgeous clothes, were all terrified and looked extremely ugly.

When this shocking news came back, almost no one believed it.

It's outrageous. His grandmother opened the door for outrageous things... It's outrageous to the extreme.

However, the truth is so cruel. An urgent diplomatic letter from General Courbet, who was fighting in various provinces of Western Vietnam under the Saigon Governor-General's Office, confirmed that the bad news first brought by the British was indeed no joke.

This time, the French court was completely shocked.

The news could not be concealed at all. At least the British would publicize it vigorously to cover up the humiliation of Singapore's occupation, which would greatly reduce the pressure on London.

The way to avoid embarrassment is to use a more explosive news to cover up the previous explosive news.

Now

The Chu State became famous in Europe and severely slapped the faces of the two superpowers, Britain and France. In the past, only the stubborn Tsarist Russians dared to do such a thing, and the result was a heavy defeat in the Crimean War.

Although everyone was amazed at the courage of the young king of Chu, no one was optimistic about the future of Chu.

At this moment, many European kingdoms had sentenced the State of Chu to death.

There are so many wonderful people in this world, but most of them are like shooting stars, shining for a moment and then disappearing.

The King of Chu was no exception and his end was bound to be miserable.

The two great events that the Chu State had done were recently talked about with great relish by the various royal and aristocratic circles in the upper echelons of Europe.

Capture Singapore and massacre Saigon.

In the social circles of the upper class, if you don’t comment on these two major events and express your own opinions, you will be out of touch with the new international trends.

Thousands of miles away, the distant State of Chu stirred up a storm in Europe through its bold acts of war. In the changing situation, some people were shocked and angry, some were disappointed, and some were overjoyed.

Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor of Prussia, commented on this;
"The young king of Chu is undoubtedly an outstanding leader. He is able to use ancient Eastern wisdom to find opportunities in the changing situation and step on the right drumbeat.

I saw the shadow of French Emperor Napoleon in him..."

Such high praise from the enemy made the French Emperor Napoleon III smash his beloved Chinese porcelain, his anger level rose by 3 points, and he called the French government minister over and scolded him.

All this may be what Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck would like to see.

Why not add fuel to the fire and mess up the mentality of our arch-enemy, the French?

(End of this chapter)