The sun never sets.

The alliance sent troops to recapture Hong Kong, and drew main forces from the South China Sea Fleet and the Pacific Fleet to form a combined fleet, which swept across Southeast Asia by both sea and land.

At the same time, the Alliance sent a large number of troops to Australia to defend the People's Revolutionary League's mining sites in Australia. Without the suppression of the British government, it is hard to say what the Australians can do. After all, Australia mobilized 33 troops in the world war, and the Alliance deployed only one brigade in Australia. If the Australian army attacked in full force, it would be very likely that they would not be able to stop it.

This possibility is very low, because the Australian navy is not worth mentioning, and it is impossible to stroke the tiger whiskers of the alliance at this time. But what if? If that happens, the Australian troops may be completely wiped out.

The Alliance imported more than 82 million tons of iron ore from Australia last year, accounting for % of the total iron ore imports. High-quality Australian iron ore has driven the development of the Alliance's steel industry.

Even if the Australians didn't think of taking action at this time, the Alliance would find a way to make them do it. Australia has huge iron ore reserves, especially in the western region, but if there is a chance to liberate the whole of Australia, how can it be easily let go?

It would take some time to liberate Australia, and we had to wait for reinforcements to arrive before we could start. There was no need to be so troublesome for Southeast Asia. The Alliance had formulated more than a dozen plans to liberate Southeast Asia, and had a good grasp of Southeast Asia's geography and hydrology.

The Alliance had already investigated the British military bases, garrison numbers, equipment, etc. in Southeast Asia. The most important British military base in Southeast Asia was the Singapore Fortress, which controlled the Strait of Malacca and blocked the Alliance's access to the Indian Ocean. If this nail could not be removed, the Alliance's navy would have to take a long detour to enter the Indian Ocean.

The importance of the Strait of Malacca is slightly less than that of the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal. It is a strong military stronghold that the alliance must capture.

It is not possible to attack the Singapore Fortress with naval warships. The fortress is equipped with a large number of artillery. There are 54 large-caliber fortress guns alone, including the powerful 381 mm heavy fortress guns. Due to the deterioration of relations with the alliance, the British also deliberately strengthened the military strength of the Singapore Fortress, making the fortress's garrison exceed 5 people, the number of artillery reached 400, there are also hundreds of aircraft and a not weak fleet.

However, the deployment of the British artillery had a big weakness - most of the artillery night attack groups: 150, were deployed in the direction of targeting sea targets, and there were only a few guns of mm or above facing the Johor Strait in the direction of the land of the Malay Peninsula.

Therefore, the alliance's tactics were "sea blockade and army attack", namely: using the combined fleet to block the Strait of Malacca to prevent the British Far East Fleet from rushing into the South China Sea to disrupt trade; and the army, with the support of the navy, passed through Malaysia and headed straight for Singapore.

The commander of the Southeast Asia campaign was General Xu Wuji, who served as the head of the military observation group in Germany during the World War and was very familiar with the tactics of the British Army.

The Southeast Asia Front had a total of 11 troops, equipped with 170 tanks and more than 400 aircraft, in addition to a fleet of more than 20 warships. Most of the warships assigned to the Southeast Asia Front were outdated and old, but although outdated, the power of the naval guns was still strong. The firepower of a cruiser was equivalent to that of a heavy artillery brigade.

In the jungles of Southeast Asia, heavy howitzers are difficult to maneuver, but it doesn't matter, the navy has plenty of big guns. In addition to cruisers and destroyers, there are also two old battleships to cooperate with the army. The 305mm cannons on them are no longer the mainstream caliber in naval battles, but they are more than enough to support the army.

The only thing worth worrying about is that the navy's artillery should not miss the target. The explosion of a 305mm caliber shell can leave a large hole with a diameter of 8 meters on the ground, and can kill exposed people at the farthest distance of 300 meters.

Therefore, the army generally does not call for fire support from battleships. For the army, the supporting firepower of cruisers and destroyers is enough.

Chapter 749 Chaos

"The speed of attack must be fast!"

The tall Yamashita Fengwen stared at the Southeast Asian map on the table and said, "Leave all the 105mm howitzers behind. We will only take infantry guns and anti-tank guns. In addition to tanks, the only means of transportation are bicycles. This way we can move quickly in the jungle!"

"Attack forward regardless of the consequences, only in this way can we achieve ultimate victory!"

Yamashita Fengwen is about to turn 40, and is only a few years younger than the commander-in-chief of the front army, Xu Wuji, but their status is incomparable. He is only a division commander, while the other is the commander-in-chief of the front army, and there is an unknown number of levels between them.

So after getting the opportunity to lead troops into battle, Yamashita Tomoyuki formulated a radical offensive plan, hoping to gain great military merits in the war and pave the way for his own promotion.

However, as soon as his battle plan was submitted, it was immediately rejected.

The front army headquarters reprimanded Yamashita Tomoyuki and told him not to think too much about the "pig-snap tactic". The sword-taking tactic is a tactic that is used when one's own strength is at a disadvantage and is a last resort.

The Alliance's strength is now far superior to that of the United Kingdom. In Southeast Asia, not only is the Alliance's army stronger than the British, but its naval power is also overwhelming that of the British. All they need to do is push forward step by step. There is no need to choose radical tactics like Yamashita Tomoyuki's.

Xu Wuji did not really intend to push forward all the way. The combat plan formulated by the front army headquarters was full of the style of the People's Army. It was to attract the main force of the British army on the front, and then use airborne and amphibious landings to go around from behind, cut off the British army's retreat, and make the enemy into a big dumpling.

As long as the British army's manpower was eliminated, it would be a natural thing to capture the Singapore Fortress. This plan seemed ordinary, nothing more than "using the right tactics to win, using the unexpected tactics to win", and had many similarities with the "Sickle Blitz" tactics often used by the People's Army, or it could be said that the "Sickle Blitz" was modified and used.

From ancient times to the present, this tactic has been used countless times. "Central breakthrough" or "two-wing encirclement", there are so many tactical options, and many generals believe that the simplest one is the best.

The difficulty of the combat plan lies in the details. Whether it is an airborne or an amphibious landing, it is a very difficult operation and improper operation may easily turn into a disaster.

In order to implement the plan smoothly, the front's staff did a lot of work, transferred the Marines, prepared a large number of gliders, and prepared to let two old cruisers run aground to provide fire support for the troops.

Everything was moving in the right direction and the plan was proceeding smoothly. Just as the alliance was preparing for a landing operation, the main force of the British army on the Luanshan front suddenly retreated.

When the news reached the front army headquarters, Xu Wuji was very surprised. Could it be that the enemy had seen through the alliance's battle plan? This was not impossible. The People's Army's infantry tactics had improved a lot, but the battle plan at the campaign level had not changed much. It was not surprising that the British could guess the alliance's plan.

Aircraft reconnaissance and front-line troops brought back more information. The British army did not retreat, but collapsed. The combat effectiveness of the colonial troops has always been weak and cannot be compared with the British mainland army.

There were several infantry divisions transferred from the mainland in the British Far East Army, and their combat effectiveness was very good. Xu Wuji believed that those infantry divisions would be obstacles to the advance of the People's Army, but they were not. The British army fled together with the colonial troops.

"Should the landing plan continue?"

"continue!"

So much preparation and resources invested in the early stage cannot be wasted. Even if we cannot completely wipe out the British troops on the front line, we can still accumulate experience for amphibious operations.

Army Group B of the Southeast Asian Front launched an amphibious landing in advance. Under the cover of more than 20 warships, the People's Army launched an amphibious landing operation in Pahang. The British army only had a small number of colonial police forces in Pahang. Their weapons and equipment were very poor, and their morale was terribly low. After seeing the sea full of warships (in fact, many of them were transport ships), they immediately fled with their weapons.

The white sheriff first cursed the natives for being shameless, and then ran away. He comforted himself: I am not running away, but I want to pass the message back quickly!

The police station has a phone number, but it has been unreachable since three days ago. This happens frequently due to a lack of manpower and the lack of maintenance of various facilities.

The landing operation of Army Group B did not encounter any resistance, but there were still many problems. First, heavy clouds appeared on the sea, and the aircraft carrying the airborne troops lost their way. The radio on the aircraft also malfunctioned. By the time they flew out of the clouds, the aircraft had used up too much fuel. In order to avoid accidents with aircraft crashes and casualties, they had to suspend the airborne operation and return to the departure airport.

Secondly, mistakes occurred during the construction of the dock using barges, and several pieces of construction machinery were stuck in the shallow water. The commanders on the front line had no way to deal with those construction machines weighing dozens of tons and could only let them stay stuck in the water like some kind of strange totem.

The entire landing operation was full of chaos. The troops on land lost their organization, many people could not find their company, and the support weapons were not deployed to the designated location in time. Before the dock was built, the artillery could not land. If the enemy launched an attack at this time, the landing troops would definitely suffer heavy losses.

It was not until the third day, after the temporary dock was built, that the landing site was considered safe. A large amount of heavy equipment was transported ashore, and twenty modified tanks were also sent to the shore.

Subsequently, Army Group B continued to land and head towards Kuala Lumpur.

Apart from the initial confusion, the landing operation was generally smooth and tested the combat effectiveness of aircraft carriers. The carrier-based aircraft taking off from the aircraft carriers provided air cover for the landing troops and played a reconnaissance role.

In this era, the weight of bombs that carrier-based aircraft can carry is limited, and they can only perform reconnaissance and air cover. Attacks on fixed targets on the ground are still lacking, and the effectiveness of anti-sea attacks is unsatisfactory.

Aircraft carriers are very effective in attacking non-military ships such as merchant ships and transport ships. In clear daytime weather, aircraft are more effective than cruisers in breaking up commerce.

The aircraft cannot carry heavy bombs and heavy torpedoes, and cannot pose a real threat to battleships. Perhaps they can attack destroyers?

Aircraft have developed very quickly. From the earliest wood-covered biplanes, to metal monoplanes, and then to today's carrier-based aircraft, the performance of aircraft has been greatly improved, and air defense weapons have also been upgraded rapidly.

Some countries have begun to install anti-aircraft weapons on their warships. As long as carrier-based aircraft or more powerful land-based aircraft pose a threat to warships, the great powers will certainly fill their warships with anti-aircraft guns.

Chapter 750 Performance

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of the Federation of Malaysia. If the British army wants to withdraw to Singapore, they can either go through Pahang or Kuala Lumpur. As long as Army Group B captures Kuala Lumpur, the Southeast Asia campaign will be more than half completed.

When the vanguard of Army Group B crossed the jungle and arrived outside Kuala Lumpur, a part of the British troops had already withdrawn here. When it comes to betraying teammates and running away, the British army has always been at the forefront.

The vanguard of the People's Army that arrived in Kuala Lumpur was lightly equipped and had no heavy firepower support. The tanks that were transported ashore with great difficulty also fell behind. The supporting weapons only had light machine guns and a small number of mortars, and they had almost no ability to attack.

However, the defenders of Kuala Lumpur did not have much heavy equipment, and the retreating British troops lost all their technical equipment, suffering more than the vanguard of the People's Army.

The two miserable troops launched a series of battles outside Kuala Lumpur, with gunshots and explosions everywhere. The British army had more people than the frontline troops of Army Group B, and there was a big city like Kuala Lumpur behind them. Logically, even if the British army lost all its technical equipment, it would still be able to repel the vanguard of Army Group B.

Even if we take a step back, we can always rely on Kuala Lumpur's defense.

However, the British army did not have such a strong will to fight. When the gunshots and explosions sounded, the British army only resisted for less than two hours before fleeing. They did not even care about Kuala Lumpur, which was nearby, and fled in a swarm towards Singapore.

Before the tanks and follow-up troops of Army Group B caught up, nearly 10,000 British troops escaped. The British Army was experienced in retreating/escaping. Army Group B had already advanced at the fastest speed, but still failed to capture all the enemies.

After the tanks and follow-up troops arrived, Army Group B took Kuala Lumpur without much effort. Because it was close to the Alliance, there were many Lim Yongchangists in Malaysia. If it weren't for the Alliance's suppression, the Southeast Asian territory would have been full of insurgents.

Now that civil war had broken out in the British Empire, there was no need to continue using the old methods. After the People's Army arrived, the local party organization formed a team to welcome the Royal Army, and some colonial troops also joined the team with weapons to welcome the Royal Army.

Therefore, the People's Army easily cut off the retreat route of the British troops on the front line.

The British army was good at running away and knew how to adapt to the situation. After realizing that they had no way to retreat, the British troops who retreated to the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur readily laid down their weapons and surrendered to the People's Army in front of them.

The British troops in the encirclement resisted for three days at most, during which time they kept asking Singapore for reinforcements. After finding that there was no reinforcement, they chose the only way. The colonial troops collapsed faster than the British troops and surrendered faster. The fact that the British troops fled first greatly hit the morale of the colonial troops. The morale of the indigenous troops was not high to begin with, and after encountering such a shitty thing, few people wanted to continue to work for the British. They fired a few shots into the air and then raised their hands in surrender.

After annihilating the enemy forces in the encirclement, the People's Army took advantage of the situation and marched southward towards Singapore. The British army had lost the courage to fight in the field, and the frontline commander withdrew all the troops that could be found across the Johor Strait and concentrated them in the Singapore Fortress. Afterwards, the British engineers blew up the causeway connecting the Malay Peninsula and Singapore.

This caused some trouble for the People's Army's attack, but it did not stop the People's Army's advance. Yamashita Tomoyuki led his troops to cross the strait in small boats at night and sneak into Singapore.

The Singapore Fort had a large number of artillery pieces, but most of the artillery pieces stored in the fort were armor-piercing shells for attacking warships, rather than high-explosive shells for killing personnel. This made the British fortress artillery pieces largely ineffective.

As more and more People's Army troops landed, the British troops on the outskirts of Singapore gradually lost their strength and finally had to withdraw into the fortress. While the fierce fighting continued on the front line, the Allied Air Force launched a continuous bombing of Singapore. Although the current aircraft could not carry heavy bombs, the light bombs were enough for the British to bear.

As soon as the sun rose, the Allied Air Force would launch a massive attack to bomb and strafe Singapore. The British had already used up dozens of planes, and the fortress lacked anti-aircraft weapons. They had almost no means of countering the Allied air raids, and could only hide in bunkers and fortresses, enduring the attacks from the sky.

Being able to take a beating but not fight back was very demoralizing. The British army still had plenty of manpower and could continue to fight even if they lacked air defense equipment and high-defense missiles.

However, the British army chose to retreat, and withdrew the outer troops into the fortress, ready to be beaten.

Xu Wuji originally planned to land on the northwest coast, which was full of swamps and coffins. The British army's defense in the northwest was the weakest, so the Southeast Asian Front Army used it as a breakthrough point. However, the British army gave up the beachhead.

, then there would be no need to land from the northwest coast.

"The British no longer have the determination to continue fighting."

The army chief of staff analyzed: "There is a civil war going on in Britain, and Britain's colonies around the world have been divided up by the great powers. Even if the civil war is quickly decided and the British Army defeats the British Red Army, there is no way to transport reinforcements to Singapore within a few months."

"In other words, the fall of Singapore was a foregone conclusion. From the moment we took action, the fate of the Singapore defenders could not be changed."

Xu Wuji shook his head. "The British army's combat effectiveness has dropped too much. During the World War, the British army did not perform like this." He changed the subject and said, "But this is a good thing for us. Since the defenders of Singapore have lost their fighting spirit, we should send people to contact them and ask them to lay down their weapons and surrender, so that we don't have to waste any more effort."

"We can release a few prisoners, but we still have to be prepared for the attack. Only by putting more pressure on the British will they surrender honestly."

"Well, let the troops launch an attack from the northeast, first seize the dam, and then capture the Kranji water source. As long as Kranji is captured, the enemy will have no other way to go even if they don't want to surrender."

The defenders of the Singapore Fortress mainly relied on the water source of Kranji. Xu Wuji did not need to attack the fortress by force. He could win as long as he cut off the enemy's access to fresh water supplies.

The British army's fighting spirit was very low. They only put up a little resistance at the dike and the water source before retreating. However, Singapore did not surrender. After the People's Army occupied Kranji, the defenders in the fortress were in a state of water shortage. They dragged on for another four days until most of the defenders were so thirsty that their throats were about to smoke. Only then did the British garrison agree to surrender in Kaesong.

At the surrender ceremony, Xu Wuji asked the British garrison commander, "Once the water supply is cut off, you will lose. Why do you have to wait four days to surrender?"

"Because I am a general of the British Empire."

The British garrison's actions were full of hypocrisy, which Xu Wuji could not understand. They should either surrender early or fight to the last soldier. It didn't seem like the British were fighting a war, but more like performing a political show.

Chapter 751: Decisive

The defenders of Singapore surrendered. After liberating Hong Kong, the People's Army liberated the entire Malaysia and Singapore, but the war was not over. After liberating the Singapore fortress and controlling the Strait of Malacca, the People's Army moved westward along the coastline and entered Burma. After liberating Burma, the next target to be liberated was Bangladesh.

After the collapse of the British Empire, a huge power vacuum appeared throughout the world, and the Alliance could move freely in Asia without fear of being hit by the Royal Navy.

The once world's largest fleet was split up and its strength was greatly weakened. Moreover, Egypt was advancing towards the Suez Canal. Once the control of the canal changed hands, it would be even more difficult for the British fleet to interfere in Asian affairs.

While liberating Asia, the People's Army encountered some minor troubles in Australia. Contrary to the expectations of the Alliance Central Committee, after the civil war broke out in Britain, the Australians did not think about how to protect themselves, but wanted to expel the Alliance's strength as soon as possible. The descendants of those criminals were eager to solve the problem by force from the beginning. After sending an envoy to notify them, the Australian army appeared in the Alliance's sphere of influence.

The Australian government asked the Alliance to withdraw its troops from Australia and let Australia take over the mines, farms and everything else. The Alliance naturally could not agree to this request, and then the war broke out.

[People's Revolutionary League] I didn't expect the Australians to be so bold that they actually dared to initiate an attack. This time there is no need to even find an excuse for war. It was Australia that took the initiative to launch the attack. I don't know why these guys are so bold.

Do they really love their British father deeply? This is also possible. After the Alliance and the British Empire fought, Australia was also at war with the Alliance.

But if that were the case, Australia would not have changed from a British colony to a dominion. In the final analysis, money is still the key. The Alliance has invested a lot of money and manpower in the construction of Western Australia. The mining sites alone can generate more than a billion dollars in revenue each year, which is several times more than Australia's annual fiscal revenue.

If the mines in the west can be confiscated, wouldn't it be possible to sit back and collect money every year? The annual steel production of the People's Revolutionary League is constantly increasing, and more and more iron ore is needed. Australia is not worried that the People's Revolutionary League will not pay.

The Australians acted swiftly. As soon as the news of the outbreak of civil war in Britain came out, the Australian army began to mobilize. They wanted to push the People's Revolutionary League's garrison into the sea and create a fait accompli before the alliance could react.

Perhaps the Australian government's reaction was so intense because of fear. It was because they were afraid of the Alliance's strength that they had to act as soon as possible. Previously, the Alliance and Britain had an agreement that no more than one brigade of troops could be deployed in Australia. Now that civil war has broken out in Britain and the Alliance has fought with the British Empire, will they continue to abide by the previous agreement?

In addition, the strong support of the US government was also one of the reasons why the Australian government made up its mind. The Americans provided Australia with a lot of weapons, including rifles, machine guns, and aircraft and artillery, which were all sold and given away at a discount.

Just like the alliance supports Mexicans and Indians

In this way, although you can't make money, you can get other benefits. For Americans, the biggest benefit is to weaken the alliance.

If Britain explodes, Southeast Asia will definitely fall into the hands of the alliance. This is unquestionable. Maybe even India will become part of the alliance. If that happens, the strength of the alliance will be too strong.

The rapid expansion of the People's Revolutionary League must be curbed. Not only the US government thinks so, but Germany and other countries also think so.

For the United States, affairs in Asia are beyond its reach. Besides, the strength of the U.S. Army has always been weak, so affairs in Asia are left to Germany and other members of the Allies to deal with.

If Asia can't be controlled, then what about Australia? It can be controlled, right?

For various reasons, the Australian army fired the first shot in the counterattack against the invaders. The Australian government mobilized 10 troops in the first wave, ready to crush the resistance of the People's Revolutionary League with the force of a mountain.

While sending out troops, the Australian government also carried out extensive propaganda in various media, describing the Alliance as a brutal invader and claiming that the Alliance was the mortal enemy of the Australian people. The Australian government called on all people to unite against the outside world and drive the Alliance out of Australia.

"Australia belongs to Australians!" the local media shouted this slogan.

Before the Australian army launched an attack on the Union garrison, the Australian people launched a vigorous action to eliminate the "yellow monkeys". White people armed with various weapons launched a bloody massacre against the colored people in the vast land of Australia.

The Chinese and other people of color in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and other places were slaughtered. Australians not only carried out the massacre out of fear, but also enjoyed the pleasure of killing and raping.

There are Chinese who escaped from Sydney and brought back a lot of video footage, showing the barbaric nature of Australians. Compared with the Australians, the headhunters look like civilized people.

When the Australians began to gather troops, the Alliance troops stationed in Western Australia had already increased their alert level. More and more intelligence showed that the Australians were planning a large-scale attack, and the Alliance Central Committee ordered the Australian troops to immediately mobilize, distribute weapons, and pull out the planes and tanks secretly stored in the warehouse.

After receiving the order, Kamio Mitsuomi did not dare to neglect it. According to the response plan, he armed everyone who could be armed. He had been in Australia for so many years and knew how the Australian government disliked the alliance.

The Australian troops erected barbed wire on the roads, laid mines in important locations, and distributed ammunition to the troops. Everything was done in accordance with the specifications as if war had broken out.

Kamio Mitsuomi's decisiveness enabled the troops stationed in Australia to avoid heavy losses in the early stages of the war. The central government only asked him to arm the workers and peasants, but Kamio Mitsuomi directly recruited people into the army.

Armed civilians have a certain combat effectiveness, but they cannot be compared with real troops. The people are still the same people, and the weapons and equipment have not changed much, but after becoming part of the army, the combat effectiveness is incomparable.

Kamio Mitsuomi took a big risk by doing this. It would be fine for the farmers on the farm, even if the agriculture and animal husbandry would have a poor harvest, it would not be a big problem. However, the factories and mines had mission requirements. The steel mills built by the alliance on the southern coast needed a continuous supply of iron ore from Australia to keep the steel mills running.