In mid-February 1831, the war on the Malay Peninsula seemed to be descending into endless sit-ins and confrontations.
Before the end of last year, the Ming Empire launched a stormy offensive, which in a few weeks wiped out the defense system of the Malay Peninsula that the British had worked hard to build for a century, and its troops were directed towards the Strait of Johor. Unfortunately, their offensive momentum had been completely exhausted by that time, and the British seemed to have anticipated this situation, so they had already built an impregnable Johor defense line before the war broke out.
This is a solid seawall relying on a slender strait and Danmasi Island, a series of defense facilities inside and outside the dam, hundreds of barrel artillery deployed 3-5 kilometers behind the dam, and 100,000 An almost impenetrable line of defense composed of Indian warriors who were heavily armed and determined to die for the British Empire's cause of colonizing India.
In the view of Viscount Beresford, the commander-in-chief of the British and Indian forces, there was no way for the Ming army to capture Damasi Island except for a long-term siege. However, the far-sighted British Empire had already considered the possibility of Damasi Island being besieged decades ago.
Therefore, Damasi Island has existed as a fortress island that can be defended for a long time. All the peaceful residents on the island were moved to Malacca City, so that when the island was besieged, the "useless population" on the island would be reduced to a minimum, leaving only a small number of family members of middle- and senior-level British officers.
In addition, the British also built a large number of warehouses on Danmasi Island to store grain. A reservoir system that can collect and store rainwater has also been built, which has solved the water needs of hundreds of thousands of people on the island.
After the siege of Tamasi Island, Viscount Beresford began to make long-term plans and began to implement strict food rationing on the island. Everyone could only get 80% of the supply, which could have lasted for 12 months. The food supply was enough to last the defenders 15 months.
15 months later... Even if Danmaxi Island was forced to surrender, he completed the tasks assigned by His Majesty the Emperor. After the war, he was still a hero who defended the British Empire.
Although the prospect of becoming a hero has become clear, Viscount Beresford does not lie down and become a hero. He still diligently patrols the defense lines in the Johor Strait every day, and today is no exception. The Lord Viscount rode his beloved Indian fold horse early in the morning. Under the protection of dozens of white officers and guards who also traveled on horseback, he left his headquarters on Bukit Timah Hill and headed for the south bank of the Johor Strait. Conduct an inspection somewhere.
Of course, he was going to inspect that position every day. No one knew in advance when he would arrive. Therefore, all British and Indian officers and soldiers along the entire defense line must not relax in the slightest, otherwise the commander-in-chief will become angry, and the consequences will be very serious.
Today, the destination chosen by Viscount Beresford is to inspect the Woodlands Beach position closest to the Malay Peninsula on the entire defense line. Different from the solemn silence he saw in various positions in the past, this time before he entered the camp behind the defensive zone, he heard a burst of noise. He was stunned for a moment, then he raised his big ears that were a little bit catchy and tightened his brows.
Because he first heard a very loud voice speaking a language that he could not understand at all. Although the voice spoke human language, humans certainly did not have such a loud voice. It was mostly played through loudspeakers and loudspeakers. . He didn't remember that there was such a thing on the defensive position at Woodlands Beach, so it should be the Ming army on the other side broadcasting.
At the same time, he also heard countless mixed human voices, and vaguely heard someone crying!
What's going on? Why are you crying? What fake news are the Chinese loudspeakers blasting? Why did you scare the brave British and Indian warriors to tears?
Thinking of this, he quickly rushed into a temporary camp built close to the embankment. As soon as I rushed into the camp, I found that the playground was crowded with panicked Indian Asans. Some were shouting loudly, while others were kneeling and crying. A few white-skinned British soldiers were blowing their whistles with all their strength and waving their whistles from time to time. The riding whip in his hand whipped the Indian soldiers lying on the ground, as if trying to restore order.
Seeing Viscount Beresford rushing in on horseback, a white-skinned major sweating profusely ran over and gave a military salute.
"Major, what happened?
What happened? Are your people crazy? "
The major actually nodded and replied: "Viscount, my people seem to be crazy..."
"Crazy?" Viscount Beresford was almost driven mad by the major, "Then, why are they crazy?"
Yes, why are you crazy?
The major thought for a while, "Viscount, just twenty minutes ago, when my people were doing exercises, a broadcast suddenly started from across the strait... My people started going crazy when they heard the broadcast. Some of them went crazy first. , and then madness seems to be contagious..."
"There is something wrong with the broadcast!" Viscount Beresford interrupted, "Do you know the content of the broadcast?"
"No, I don't know..." The major shook his head, "The language used on the broadcast was not English."
"Then you won't ask?" Viscount Beresford roared angrily. "Hurry up and find an Indian who is a little more crazy and bring him to me. I will personally ask him why he is crazy!"
Ask a madman why he is mad... It is a pity that Viscount Beresford did not study medicine.
A "madman" with a bearded face and a red turban was quickly brought to Viscount Beresford by the major. Before the viscount could ask questions, the "madman" saluted to the viscount and then reported in curry-flavored English. Said: "Report to Commander, His Majesty the Emperor is dead and the Indian Empire has fallen apart..."
What?
Viscount Beresford stared at the major with his eyes wide open, and said to himself: "How do you lead the troops, you idiot? You drive your soldiers crazy... Do you abuse them every day?" "
At this moment, the "crazy" bearded soldier spoke again: "Commander, I am not talking nonsense, it was said by the Ming army's loudspeaker!"
Do you believe what the enemy says?
Viscount Beresford was speechless. It turned out that this was not madness, but stupidity!
How can this fool become a soldier? Don't you test your intelligence when recruiting soldiers?
The major also realized something was wrong at this time, and scolded him with a straight face: "Singh, how can you believe what the enemy says?"
"Sir, those are not the words of the enemy, but the words of our people using the enemy's trumpet."
The logic of this "idiot" is still very clear.
"Our people?" The major was stunned.
"It's not your people, it's our people." The fool said, "The people speaking through that loudspeaker are not the same person, and they are not using the same language... They are from various states in India and use the local Indian language. Indians! The only Kannada I can understand is Mysore...and I speak it very proficiently. It cannot be Chinese."
There are hundreds of languages in India, among which there are twenty or thirty languages that are widely spoken. Let alone the Chinese, even the British, who have ruled India for more than a hundred years, cannot understand them.
"Then what did they say?" the major asked.
"They said that Emperor William died in early January this year, and Queen Victoria who came to the throne was only 12 years old and could not get the support of the princes of the Indian princes, so the princes of the princes became independent from the Indian Empire with the support of the Ming Dynasty. Now Mysore, Sikhs, Hyderabad, Jhansi, Kanpur, Meerut, Lucknow and Delhi have all become independent... Nepal, Jin Kingdom and Afghanistan have all sent troops to India , Ming’s army is also in Bengal! The Indian Empire... is about to end!"
"Nonsense, complete nonsense!" Viscount Beresford roared angrily, "His Majesty the Emperor is in good health and the Indian Empire is unbreakable. That is the enemy's psychological warfare!"
