1825 My New Daming

Temasek Island is an island very close to the Malay Peninsula. There is only a narrow and slender Strait of Johor between it and the Malay Peninsula. The name is called the Strait, but its main part is only one kilometer wide Up and down, the length is quite long, more than 50 kilometers.Moreover, the strait is not deep, and the two sides can even be connected by a causeway.If not both ends of the Johor Strait enter the ocean, this would be a small river.

But such a small river-like strait is the last hope of Viscount Beresford, and it is also related to the national fortunes of the British Empire, the Indian Empire, and the Ming Dynasty.

In order to maintain his position, in order to fight for the British Empire and the Indian Empire to reorganize the navy and piece together the time for the anti-Ming alliance, Viscount Beresford had to put all his energy into Used in the deployment of the Johor Strait defense line.

This Temasek 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 south sides.The defense on the south side of the island has always been very strong, and the south side faces the exit of the Strait of Malacca, which is the throat of East-West shipping!Can the British Empire take good precautions?

When the British Empire began to operate Temasek Island, the construction of military ports, forts, and fortresses on the south side of Temasek Island never stopped. Two coastal defense fortresses were built on the beach in the south of Temasek Island.

Therefore, Viscount Beresford did not have to worry about Da Ming landing on Temasek Island from the south.What he needs to worry about now is that the [-] to [-] kilometers north of Temasek Island leaning against the Strait of Johor has also been broken through, and the [-] troops on Temasek Island will all have to be captured!

Of course, this one-kilometer-wide waterway, coupled with barbed wire, trenches, machine gun bunkers, and hundreds of light and heavy artillery and mortars, the [-] brave British and Indian troops should theoretically be able to defend.

But Viscount Beresford has been feeling terrified recently. So whenever he has time, he will go to the Johor Strait defense line to inspect.

"Viscount, please rest assured that all the soldiers of the 11th Rifle Regiment of the Indian Imperial Army are determined to stick to their positions! If the enemy dares to cross the Strait of Johor by force, we will fight to the last man!"

"Viscount, all the soldiers of the 1st Rifle Battalion of Gurkha are ready to dedicate themselves to the British Empire. This time...we will never retreat!"

"Viscount, we Sikhs are the bravest warriors, even if there are ten times as many Japanese warriors, we can still fight to the last man!"

"Viscount, we can swear to Allah, fight to the death"

Standing in line to assure Viscount Beresford were four sergeants from the elite Indian Army's 11th Rifle Regiment and 1st Gurkha Infantry Battalion, both Hindus and Gurkhas (they were also Indians) Christians), there are Sikhs, and there are Christians.

All of them regard death as home!
However, to Viscount Beresford, their promises always felt a little unreliable. They didn't dare to say that they would be able to keep them. They only dared to say "the last man", "fight to the death", or "sworn to the death". .

At that time, won't the Johor Strait be breached?
Thinking of this, Viscount Beresford nodded to the four non-talkative sergeants, and then strode to the four British and Indian infantry phalanxes lined up in an open field in front of him—this is A Hindu phalanx, a Tianfang phalanx, a Sikh phalanx and a Gurkha mercenary phalanx.The soldiers who make up these four phalanxes are theoretically all soldiers of the Indian Empire.But their military uniforms and equipment are quite 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 of these four phalanxes have at least [-] languages ​​that they often speak, and communication with each other will be a huge problem.And the curry-flavored English of these soldiers is also poor, and they are almost all illiterate and cannot understand any written orders.

These people probably don't understand what it means to defend the Indian Empire?

Therefore, Viscount Beresford decided to say something that is easy to understand.

"Listen to me, all of you!" Viscount Beresford said with a solemn face, "I have issued an order to select 2000 white officers and soldiers from the Malayan Army. Organize 20 supervisory squadrons and arrange them behind the Johor defense line. If you dare to retreat from the Johor defense line, the supervisory team will kill you all with machine guns. There will be no exceptions! Although I have no absolute will to defend Temasek Island Sure, but I have the determination to make each of you die for His Majesty the Emperor and the Indian Empire!"

ah?Want to dedicate?
To be martyred?
Just for those rupees?

Now the soldiers of the 11th Rifle Regiment and the 1st Gurkha Rifle Battalion of the Indian Imperial Army were dumbfounded. They served as soldiers to earn a living, and they didn’t make much money. It’s a good idea, why should white people Where does the master supervise the battle with a machine gun?Isn't this forcing people to die?You white masters are too bullying!
Thinking of this, all the Indian soldiers in the four phalanx raised their arms and shouted.

"Long live the Indian Empire!"

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Swear allegiance to the death."

Hearing the cheers of these Indians, Viscount Beresford heaved a sigh of relief.It seems that these Indian untouchables are still very loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, and there are still some fighting!
The telegram from Viscount Beresford expressing his desire to urge the Indian soldiers on Temasek Island to die loyally for the empire was quickly sent to the Mumbai Royal Palace, where he was working with the Marquess of Nelson and Baron George Elliot on the blueprints and technologies of new battleships. Indicator of Kaiser Wilhelm.

However, Emperor William did not immediately receive the telegram from Charlie Elliot, but continued to study the new battleship with Nelson and George Elliot.

There are currently two plans for a new battleship. One is the "slow battleship" plan with a standard displacement of 2.5 tons proposed by Barrow Shipyard. Then just don't bother, just install a 3-horsepower triple-expansion steam engine on it, and then make the battleship's armor and firepower stronger, and this ship can also fight a dozen.

The other plan is the 1.8-ton fast battleship plan of Armstrong Shipyard, which is to compete with the new battleship of Ming Dynasty.The program advocates a 4.5-horsepower steam turbine program.With such a powerful power to push a ship with a standard displacement of 1.8 tons, the speed is at least 26 knots and 27 knots, so that the British Royal Navy and the Royal Indian Navy can adopt tactics of breaking diplomatic relations to defend India when the situation is unfavorable. and Australia too.

"Your Majesty," said the Marquis Nelson, "if we adopt Barrow's plan, the keel of the first 2.5-ton battleship can be laid this month, and the first new-type battleship can be delivered within 16 months at the earliest." battleship.

If we take Armstrong's plan, in case there is a delay in the 4.5 horsepower steam turbine, then our next situation will become very critical. "

George Elliot also agreed with Marquis Nelson's suggestion, "Your Majesty, the new warship plan must be forward-looking. If we are doomed to be unable to beat the enemy in terms of power, then having a few fast battleships after 24 months is not a big deal Significant, because by then, the enemy already has 6 horsepower or even 8 horsepower steam turbines. At that time, they can make a 2.5-ton or even 3-ton ship run at a high speed of 28 knots. Our 1.8 tons of fast warships encounter them or a dead end!
So I suggest adopting Barrow's plan, but at the same time speed up the development of 4.5 horsepower steam turbines, and start designing slow battleships using 4.5 horsepower steam turbines!Perhaps this should be a super battleship with a maximum speed of only 21 knots, a standard displacement of more than 3 tons, and eight 8-inch main guns! "