Chapter Fifteen: No More Emperor (Three)

  Three

  "Who gave this order?"

  Inside the Singapore Army HQ in Sembawang, Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who had not had a good rest for two consecutive days, gazed angrily at several generals in front of him who looked somewhat bewildered.

  "Who gave this order? I have already ordered the Navy to mobilize all transport forces to go to Riau and support the Army's retreat, who dared to order the Singapore Army to abandon its retreat and advance north?" For several days, he had been swirling in a diplomatic whirlpool between ASEAN and India, and he, who was always full of energy, now looked exhausted. He shouted hysterically, completely losing his usual demeanor.

  "It's me." A hoarse but firm voice came from behind Li Chenglong, this voice was like an invisible whip, Li Chenglong's body suddenly shook violently as he slowly turned around to face the white-haired old man in his eighties standing before him.

  "Dad, how did you come?"

  Li Chenglong hastily grasped the old man's hand, but the old man did not rush to answer his son's inquiry. Instead, he nodded casually at the various generals beside him and said in an extremely polite tone: "The great battle is imminent, everyone should go to their own posts!" Although the old man's voice was low and subdued, it contained an authority and majesty that made people dare not disobey, far surpassing Li Chenglong's roar.

  "Father, I have already spoken with the special envoy of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Gandhi. He promised that as long as Singapore remains neutral, India will respect Singapore's independence and sovereignty...". When only the two of them were left in the office, Li Chenglong couldn't wait to express his thoughts, but was met with a loud slap on the ear. "Cowardly, foolish." The old man calmly stood in front of the large electronic map on the wall of the office.

  "That's right, our Singapore is indeed a small place, and our strength is indeed insignificant in the face of powerful India. But all this is not a reason for us to choose to escape." The old man planned calmly on the map, as if preparing for the battle he had planned.

  "Ride the dragon, I won't say anything more about sacrificing oneself for the greater good or a few people's sacrifices protecting the majority, because you're already an adult controlling the fate of a country. National interests are always first and foremost, but can you imagine a country that abandons its allies and yields to the knife having any credibility or dignity? When Thais, Malaysians, even Vietnamese and Cambodians were bleeding to defend Malacca, we Singaporeans were making peace with the invaders? Ride the dragon, you truly are unworthy of being my son, Lee Kuan Yew." The old man became somewhat agitated towards the end.

  "Father, I'm afraid it's not well thought out. But even if we mobilize all our military strength, it's hard to change the current situation!" Li Chenglong tried to persuade his father again. "Hehe, India is indeed a giant, but it also has its weaknesses..." The old man smiled confidently, already sensing the Singapore war eagle flying over the sky of Shicheng.

  "Damn it, those Singaporean young masters really ran faster than rabbits......" Another intense barrage of Soviet-made M43 82mm mortars began, with shells densely pounding the position of the Cambodian Royal Army's 41st Engineer Battalion under Shan Yucheng's command. Crouched in his own command post, Shan Yucheng had already cursed Li Chenglong's female relatives hundreds of times in his heart.

  After the successful ambush of the Indian Army's vanguard in Tanjong Pagar, Shanmugam knew that it was impossible to resist the Indian army with his own strength. So after repelling the first attack by the Indian army, Shanmugam ordered his troops to withdraw from Tanjong Pagar and regroup with the main force of the ASEAN Allied Army along the Rochor River, rebuilding a new defensive system.

  Originally thought that the best-equipped Singapore Army could provide considerable support in long-range firepower, but the reply received was that the Singapore Army had received a new mission: to withdraw back to Singapore Island and prepare for homeland defense. The heavy artillery of two artillery battalions retreated towards the coastal swamp without firing a shot. The withdrawal of the Singapore Army almost disintegrated the entire Allied army, with the Kingdom of Thailand and Malaysian armies also planning to withdraw back to their homelands. Only Shan Yu-cheng's troops remained on the banks of the Rogan River, preparing for a last stand.

  "Battalion commander, the Indian Army's armored troops are coming again." Along with a wave of creeping artillery fire, a row of Indian Army T-72M tanks appeared in Shan Yucheng's binoculars. The Indian Army seemed to have taken advantage of the internal collapse of the ASEAN Allied Forces and broke through from the front with ease.

  "Damn it, didn't the Thai army say they would send tanks to support us?" Shan Yucheng knew his own strength and that it was almost impossible for his infantry to withstand the Indian army's armored charge in such a field battle. "The Thai army began to transfer towards Hatyai last night at midnight." A staff officer replied timidly. "What?!"

  Shan Yu Cheng grabbed the collar of that staff officer, and the withdrawal of the Thai army not only meant they no longer had tank support, but also meant that the 41st Engineer Battalion of the Cambodian Royal Army was completely exposed to the Indian army's gunfire.

  "Tell everyone to prepare for the worst."

  Shan Yucheng knew that at this moment he had no choice, and retreating now would mean that the 4,000 lightly armed infantrymen would have to face the armored cluster without any fortifications. It was better to fight to the end and try to survive in the midst of death.

  The Indian Army's tanks slowed down, and Shan Yu-Cheng knew they were waiting for the arrival of accompanying infantrymen. Sure enough, more BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles began to appear on the battlefield. "Get ready~~"

  Shan Yu-cheng knew that once the infantry disembarked and deployed, the Indian Army's attack would formally begin.

  At this moment, a familiar whistling sound swept over the top of Shanyu Cheng's head. Rows and rows of 155mm howitzers flew over the battlefield, exploding in the Indian Army's armored cluster. Most of the Indian soldiers had just rushed out of their infantry fighting vehicles when they were suddenly blown to pieces by the shells. Immediately afterwards, four "Apache" armed helicopters from the Singapore Air Force rose up from the jungle behind the defensive line of the 41st Engineer Battalion of the Cambodian Army, using "Longbow-Hellfire" missiles to target the Indian tanks on the battlefield one by one...

  December 11, 2007, on the third day after the full-scale outbreak of the Indo-Pakistani War, Singapore, which had maintained a neutral stance all along, joined the war. What kind of turning point will this bring to this brutal war? The whole world is watching with bated breath.