Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 298 Malayan Expeditionary Force
At dinner

Queen Zheng Li was already very pregnant. After a simple meal and a short chat, she felt tired and apologized to King Zheng Guohui of Chu.

So, with the help of two concubines, Siqi and Chunhua, she left the dining table and returned to her bedroom to rest.

The current Queen Zheng Li is an advanced pregnant woman. The palace ladies-in-waiting from the Li family are very experienced and have asked her to eat small meals frequently, eat light food, avoid meat, oil and spicy food, and mainly eat soups that warm the stomach and are easy to digest.

Keep walking around more every day to avoid having trouble giving birth to your first child.

Speaking of pregnant women, there are quite a few in the palace now.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was young and strong at that time. As long as he stayed in Ganquan Palace, he would sleep with her almost every day. Under his nightly conquests, his concubines Dongmei, Miaohua and Ruqin became pregnant one after another, with only the pregnancy coming in different months.

These concubines were submissive in front of King Zheng Guohui of Chu, answering every question and doing their duty with such a well-behaved appearance that King Zheng Guohui of Chu found it boring.

After dinner, he asked Qiao Yue and Su Meiniang to sleep with him, and then went to the large study on the third floor.

It was his habit to handle some government affairs every night.

Regardless of the number, in the dead of night, it is more appropriate to think about some strategic issues concerning the future direction of the State of Chu.

Concubine Dongmei served tea and placed more than ten organized memorials neatly on the table.

Seeing King Chu Zheng Guohui walking in with steady steps, Du Mei subconsciously kept some distance to prevent His Majesty's big hands from causing trouble.

Seeing this, King Zheng Guohui of Chu laughed and said, "Dongmei, I don't eat people, do I?"

Dongmei glanced at him with her snow-white face, leaving a look that said "you'll figure it out yourself". In this Ganquan Palace, only the doted Dongmei dared to release her childish behavior like this.

Dongmei was five months pregnant at this time and her pregnancy was a little obvious.

The beautiful face gradually lost its youthfulness, becoming rosy and pink like jelly, and her figure became fuller, adding the charming charm of a mature young woman.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu pretended not to care for a moment, turned around and stood in front of the imperial desk. He reached out and picked up a memorial and stood there reading it, looking quite serious.

Dongmei felt relieved upon seeing this, and tried to slip away lightly.

Just as he walked behind King Chu Zheng Guohui, Zheng Guohui turned around quickly and brought the delicate young woman's light body into his arms.

Dongmei was frightened by this sudden action and screamed, then she lay on Zheng Guohui's broad chest, her head feeling a little soft.

"Your Majesty, don't..." Dongmei said in a soft voice.

A large blush appeared on her fair face, and the look in her eyes when she looked up at King Zheng Guohui of Chu was so gentle that it seemed as if silk threads could be pulled out.

Dongmei's shyness ignited a fire in Zheng Guohui's heart. He immediately leaned over without hesitation and kissed her cherry lips...

A moment later
Dongmei then hurriedly straightened her clothes and left with a blushing face.

In the study

King Zheng Guohui of Chu lit a cigar with a smug look on his face, took a puff, and stood in front of the high-definition map hanging in the study, examining it with a meaningful look.

He glanced at the three mainland islands (note: Hainan Islands, Cebu Islands, and Tongzhou Islands). The defensive fortresses on these three islands were all clearly marked. The overall look was that there were many fortresses, which basically controlled the important straits between the islands.

From a defensive perspective, there are no obvious loopholes.

The overall fortress defense system of the Chu State was basically formed around the three main islands, especially around some important cities, which were all guarded by powerful coastal defense fortresses.

For example, the Pagoda Fortress in Zamboanga, the Estuary Fortress in Davao, the Strait Fortress and Dock Fortress in Cebu, the Corregidor Fort guarding Manila, the Cavite Fortress and the Fubomen Fort, etc., formed a relatively strict fortress coastal defense system.

But this is only limited to the main island and some outlying islands, and the defense of the outer islands is useless.

Angel Port in the Palawan Islands does not have any fortress defense facilities, and Xi'an Port, Dong Port, etc. in the Shangri-La Islands, as well as outer islands such as Guam and Saipan, have only a few coastal artillery batteries.

This is OK for dealing with a few pirate attacks, but it is totally inadequate for dealing with invading naval fleets.

In the eyes of King Zheng Guohui of Chu
As a country of thousands of islands, Chu must build a strong navy to protect its vast sea borders and safeguard the kingdom's territorial interests from infringement. This is the best solution.

The passive construction of coastal defense batteries is limited to the three mainland islands, which are also the basic base for the development of Chu's industry. Most of the industrial production capacity is on the three mainland islands.

This allowed the State of Chu to concentrate its limited forces and deploy targeted fortress defense systems.

The current layout of the coastal defense fortress made him quite satisfied.

Looking down, King Zheng Guohui of Chu's gaze rested on the East Malaysia region, with a thoughtful look on his face.

The British and French allied forces declaring war on the State of Chu had never happened in history, so there was no historical experience to draw on. He could only respond carefully with a mature historical perspective.

According to the estimation of King Zheng Guohui of Chu
Manila and the East Malaysian region will be the two key targets that the British and French forces will inevitably attack, and important forces should be deployed to respond.

Needless to say, Manila has done everything it can at the moment and is waiting for the enemy to attack.

In East Malaysia, it includes the three states of Brunei Darussalam, Sabah and Sarawak. It is located in the north of Kalimantan Island, very close to the Zamboanga Peninsula and can be reached by sea in half a day.

The Malayan Expeditionary Force was centered around the 1.32rd Expeditionary Division commanded by Major General Huang Shan, and was equipped with two new Royal Infantry Regiments, with a total strength of men.

The order issued by the Ministry of Military Affairs to the Malayan Expeditionary Force was;
Occupy and completely control the area, with Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei as the core, and hold on to and repel the enemy in the event of a possible large-scale invasion by the British and French forces.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu remembered that today's memorial included news about the Malayan Expeditionary Force. He turned and sat down behind the imperial desk. From the pile of memorials, he found the one submitted by the Malayan Expeditionary Force and began to read it intently.

This military report was written by Major General Huang Shan of the Malayan Expeditionary Force. After it was submitted to the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Minister of Military Affairs, Lieutenant General Qian Jiang, gave his instructions.

It’s mostly a detail;
After the capture of Bandar Seri Begawan in the Brunei Kingdom, the country's Sultan, royal family, religious leaders and more than 200 key members all hid in a manor in the far suburbs.

Who knew that a fire would be accidentally started and hundreds of people would be burned to death.

The exact number of people who perished in this inexplicable fire remains a mystery, with some saying over 300, others 700 or 800. However, the Brunei royal family, including all their relatives, perished in the fire, as did members of the religious community and some powerful families from the old Brunei Kingdom.

After learning about this

Lieutenant General Qian Jiang, the Minister of Military Affairs, was extremely dissatisfied and worried that this would trigger widespread fear among the various princely kingdoms in Southeast Asia, which would be counterproductive.

What was originally a just action to counter the unfair colonial war launched by the British and French forces caused unnecessary collateral damage. If it is not severely punished, it will inevitably have a bad impact on the various princely kingdoms in Southeast Asia.

Therefore, the Ministry of Military Affairs issued an order: Major General Huang Shan would be fined three months' salary and would not be considered for promotion within one year.

That is
He could be promoted in a year. However, considering that East Malaya is currently actively preparing for war and there are so many things to do, he is too busy to consider rewards in the short term.

Such punishment is equivalent to nothing.

When King Zheng Guohui of Chu saw this content, a slight smile appeared on his lips, and he continued reading without pausing...

more than a month ago
The Chu State's East Malaya Expeditionary Force successfully occupied the three states of Darussalam, Sabah and Sarawak, and deployed forces to force a large number of local indigenous people into labor camps and began to build defensive fortifications on a large scale.

The local fortifications were mainly trenches, bunkers and defensive strongholds. They were not limited to defending towns, but were mainly located on rivers, important roads, mountain passes and dangerous places. Indigenous convicts were driven to build city defenses, bunkers and barracks.

Large quantities of materials, such as cement from the Zamboanga Peninsula and steel bars and barbed wire from the Jinsha Steel Plant, continued to arrive by ship, fueling the local construction boom.

On the return trip
The transport ships would bring back thousands of local indigenous young women, who were very popular in the Tongzhou Islands. Nowadays, the price of the worst woman generally rises to more than 45 silver dollars, and the higher ones can reach three or four hundred silver dollars.

Indigenous women are cheap, but they are ugly, thin and old, generally over 30 years old. Although they can still give birth, they are far inferior to those plump young women.

Fortunately, the price is low and there is still a market.

The large amount of funds raised in this way, in addition to paying part of the kingdom's taxes, were all returned to the Malaya Special Administrative Region Government to be used for the next step of immigrant resettlement and urban construction.

The seat of the Malaya Special Administrative Region government is Bandar Seri Begawan. The first chief executive, Viscount Ho Sin, is the former chief of staff of the royal family and has been in office for two weeks.

According to the government immigration plan
Starting from October, Chinese immigrants will be concentrated in East Malaysia. In the three months of October, November and December, no less than 10 Chinese immigrants will be transported each month, with a total of approximately 12 to 38.

Two immigration fleets have arrived so far, transporting more than 2 people to Sabah and Sarawak respectively. The resettlement process is currently going smoothly.

Currently, Chinese immigrants are mainly resettled in mature farming villages and towns. The local male natives are enlisted in labor camps, and the female natives are subjected to predatory ship transfers, leaving behind empty villages and towns and land.

As long as some food, farm tools, oxen and seeds were distributed, Chinese immigrants could easily settle down.

Taking into account the war factors, the SAR government arranged these Chinese immigrants in the inland hinterland, at least 100 kilometers away from the bay, behind the blockade line of the Malayan Expeditionary Force.

In this way, the impact of war can be minimized.

Based on the same considerations
Most Chinese immigrants are sent to Sabah and Sarawak, and there are no plans to send them to Brunei.

If the British and French forces attack East Malaysia, the most developed city of Bandar Seri Begawan will definitely be the focus.

This is not only the headquarters of the Malayan Expeditionary Force, but also the seat of the Malayan Special Administrative Region government. It is the core area of ​​military and political rule, and its importance is self-evident.

Therefore

Bandar Seri Begawan gathered the main force of the Malayan Expeditionary Force, including two main regiments of the Expeditionary 7500rd Division and a newly formed regiment of people, totaling more than troops.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu also saw from the memorial that according to the prior deployment;
Militia groups from various prefectures and counties have landed in East Malaya in four batches. The total number of militia members is about 8600, coming from 14 prefectures and counties.

Most of these militiamen are local singles, and the government promised to give each of them an indigenous woman for free, for priority selection.

After being selected to join the militia, you will receive a monthly salary of three silver dollars, receive rewards for military merit, and be granted meritorious land. However, the merit is calculated half as compared to that of soldiers, but it is still very attractive.

Therefore, the registration for the militia groups organized by various prefectures and counties was very enthusiastic. After a period of military training, they were successively dispatched to land in East Malaya to assist the army in combat.

In the middle and late part of this month

Another six to seven thousand militiamen will arrive in East Malaya on transport ships and enter the relevant built bunkers and fortresses to prepare for the invasion of the British and French forces.

By the middle of next month
There will also be a total of no less than 7000 militiamen arriving on the transport ships. These militiamen come from 47 prefectures and counties across the country. All of them are unmarried singles who voluntarily sign up for recruitment.

Nowadays, most of them are training in various prefectures and counties, with each prefecture and county having three to four hundred or six to seven hundred people. They usually arrive in East Malaysia on transport ships, and no additional troop transport ships will be dispatched.

For example, militias from Cagayan Province and its various counties would accompany transport ships carrying porcelain, pottery jars, and ceramic jars to report to East Malaya. Some ships carried one or two hundred people, while others carried dozens of people.

When a ship goes to East Malaysia, these militiamen will board the ship with one or two days' rations.

Once on the boat, everyone found a place to stay.

If you can lie down, lie down; if you can sit, sit; if not, find a place in the pile of goods; as long as it doesn’t get in the way, it’s fine.

The militiamen from Jinsha County took a cargo ship transporting steel bars and barbed wire. They found a piece of cloth to spread on the cargo pile, and they could sit or lie down. It would take more than a day to arrive anyway.

The Ministry of Military Affairs equipped the Malayan Expeditionary Force with 2 militiamen as the main force to resist the invasion of the British and French forces. If the war situation was really intense and brutal, Chinese immigrants could be recruited locally.

More than 12 Chinese immigrants are sent to East Malaysia every month, not just for farming and colonization.

Weapons can be distributed when necessary and they can also be used as auxiliary forces.

Money makes the world go round.

There is no need to worry that these Chinese immigrants will not fight to the death. As long as the reward is high enough, they will all be brave men and will be no less capable than anyone else in fighting.

The colonial army of Chu State never had a shortage of things to do. As long as you showed bravery on the battlefield and made many military achievements, you would be rewarded with money, women, fields, houses, and shops. Whatever you wanted, you could get it. But who could resist such temptation?

(End of this chapter)