Dammasik Island is an island very, very close to the Malay Peninsula. There is only a narrow and elongated Johor Strait between it and the Malay Peninsula... The name is called the Strait, but its The main part is only about one kilometer wide, but it is quite long, more than fifty kilometers long. Moreover, this strait is not deep, and a causeway can even be used to connect the two sides. If it weren't for the fact that both ends of the Johor Strait flow into the ocean, this would just be a small river.
But just such a small river-like strait is Viscount Beresford's last hope, and it is also related to the national destiny of the British Empire, the Indian Empire, and the Great Tomorrow.
In order to maintain his position and buy time for the British Empire and the Indian Empire to reorganize their navies and put together a grand alliance against the Ming Dynasty, Viscount Beresford had to spend all his resources after gathering the defeated soldiers on Danmasi Island. All the energy was spent on the defense of the Johor Strait defense line.
This Danmasi Island is a long and narrow island, a bit like a leaf. The east and west ends are very narrow, and it can almost be counted among the two sides in the south. The defense on the south side of the island has always been very strong. The south side faces the exit of the Strait of Malacca... which is the throat of east-west shipping! Can the British Empire be on guard against it?
Since the time when the British Empire began to operate Damasi Island, the construction of military ports, forts, and fortresses in the south of Damasi Island has never stopped... Even in the years when Napoleon swept across the European continent, the British On the pretext of preventing the French expeditionary force from capturing Danmasi, they built two coastal defense fortresses on the beach in the south of Danmasi Island to suppress the situation.
Therefore, Viscount Beresford does not have to worry about the Ming Dynasty landing on Danmasi Island from the south. What he needs to worry about now is the 40 to 50 kilometers to the north of Danmasi Island, which is close to the Strait of Johor... This is also a breakthrough, and the 100,000 troops on Danmasi Island will be taken prisoners!
Of course, this one-kilometer-wide waterway, coupled with barbed wire, trenches, machine gun bunkers, and hundreds of light and heavy artillery and mortars, should theoretically be able to be defended by the 100,000 brave British and Indian troops.
But Viscount Beresford has been feeling frightened recently...so he will go to the Johor Strait defense line to inspect the defense line whenever he has time.
"Viscount, please rest assured that all the soldiers of the 11th Rifles Regiment of the Imperial Indian Army are determined to defend our position! If the enemy dares to forcefully cross the Strait of Johor, we will fight to the last man!"
"Viscount, all the soldiers of the 1st Gurkha Rifles Battalion are ready to sacrifice their lives for the British Empire. This time... we will not retreat until we die!"
"Viscount, we Sikhs are the bravest warriors. Even if there are ten times as many Japanese samurai, we can fight to the last man!"
"Viscount, we can swear to Allah that we will fight to the death..."
Standing in a row to pledge their chests to Viscount Beresford were four sergeants from the elite 11th Rifles Regiment of the Indian Army and the 1st Gurkha Infantry Battalion. Some were Hindus and some were Gurkhas (they were also Indians). Christians), there are Sikhs, and there are Tianfang believers.
Every one of them... looks upon death as if they were dead!
But their guarantees sounded a little unreliable to Viscount Beresford... They didn't dare to say that they could definitely hold on. They only dared to talk about "the last man", "fight to the death", and so on. "I will never give up".
When that time comes, won’t the Strait of Johor be breached?
Thinking of this, Viscount Beresford nodded towards the four sergeants who were not very talkative, and then strode to the four British and Indian infantry phalanxes neatly arranged in an open field in front of him - this was A Hindu phalanx, a Hindu phalanx, a Sikh phalanx and a Gurkha mercenary phalanx. The soldiers who make up these four square formations are theoretically soldiers of the Indian Empire. But their military uniforms and equipment are all very different, and it is impossible to transfer any soldier in any phalanx to another phalanx.
In addition, if curry-flavored English is not used uniformly, the soldiers in these four phalanxes have at least fourteen languages that are often spoken, and communication with each other will be a huge problem. These soldiers also spoke poor English, and almost all of them were illiterate and could not understand any written orders.
These people... probably don't understand what it means to defend the Indian Empire?
Therefore, Viscount Beresford decided to make something simple and easy to understand.
"You all listen to me!" Viscount Beresford said with a calm and dignified face, "I have issued an order to select 2,000 white officers and soldiers from the Malayan Army. Organize 20 battle squadrons and deploy them behind the Johor defense line. If any of you dare to retreat from the Johor defense line, the battle squadron will kill you all with machine guns... There will be no exceptions! Although I don't have I am absolutely sure to defend Danmasi Island, but I have the determination to make each of you sacrifice your life for His Majesty the Emperor and the Indian Empire!"
ah? Want to devote yourself?
Want to die for your country?
Just for those few rupees?
Now the soldiers of the 11th Rifles Regiment and the 1st Gurkha Rifles Battalion of the Imperial Indian Army were dumbfounded... They were soldiers just to earn a living, and they didn't earn much. Why do you still want a white man to supervise the battle with a machine gun? Isn’t this forcing people to die? You white masters are too bullying!
Thinking of this, the Indian soldiers in the four square formations all raised their arms and shouted.
“Long live the Indian Empire!”
"Long live His Majesty the Emperor!"
"Swear loyalty to the death..."
Hearing the cheers of these Indians, Viscount Beresford breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that these Indian untouchables are quite loyal to His Majesty the Emperor... There is still time to fight in this battle!
...
Viscount Beresford's telegram expressing his intention to urge the Indian soldiers on Damascus Island to serve the Empire loyally and die was quickly sent to the Royal Palace in Bombay, where he was studying the blueprints of new battleships with the Marquis of Nelson and Baron George Elliot. and technical indicators in front of Kaiser Wilhelm.
However, Emperor William did not immediately receive the telegram from Charles Elliot, but continued to study new battleships with Nelson and George Elliot.
There are currently two plans for new battleships. One is the "slow battleship" plan with a standard displacement of 25,000 tons proposed by Barrow Shipyard. The idea of this plan is that no matter how hard the United Kingdom works, it will not be able to surpass the Ming Dynasty in terms of power system. Then we might as well stop the hassle and just install a 30,000-horsepower triple-expansion steam engine on it, and then make the battleship's armor and firepower stronger. This ship can also fight a dozen.
The other plan is Armstrong Shipyard's 18,000-ton fast battleship plan... which is to compete with Ming Dynasty's new battleship. The plan advocates building a 45,000-horsepower steam turbine project. Using such a powerful power to push a ship with a standard displacement of 18,000 tons, the speed is at least 26 knots and 27 knots, so that the British Royal Navy and the Royal Indian Navy can adopt diplomatic-breaking tactics to defend India when the situation is unfavorable. and Australia.
"Your Majesty," said the Marquis of Nelson, "if we adopt the Barrow Company's plan, the keel laying of the first 25,000-ton battleship can begin this month, and the first new type battleship can be delivered within 16 months at the earliest. Battleship.
If we adopt Armstrong's plan, if the 45,000-horsepower steam turbine is delayed, our next situation will become very critical. "
George Elliot also agreed with Marquis Nelson's suggestion, "Your Majesty the Emperor, the new battleship plan must be forward-looking. If we are destined to be unable to defeat the enemy in terms of power, then having a few fast battleships after 24 months will not mean much." Meaningful, because by that time, the enemy already has 60,000-horsepower or even 80,000-horsepower steam turbines... By then, they can make 25,000-ton or even 30,000-ton ships run out of 28 knots At such high speed, our 18,000-ton fast battleship would still be dead if it encounters them!
So I suggest adopting the Barrow Company's plan, but at the same time speeding up the development of a 45,000-horsepower steam turbine, and starting to design a slow-speed battleship using a 45,000-horsepower steam turbine! Perhaps this should be a super battleship with a maximum speed of only 21 knots, a standard displacement of more than 30,000 tons, and eight 16-inch main guns! "
