"The British have deployed their troops along the line between Siam and Malaya and have started constructing defensive lines," the Air Force reconnaissance unit reported to the former headquarters of the Kra Military Region.

Zhu Yao wanted to listen seriously, but he just couldn't concentrate. After seeing Chen Ke's telegram for the first time a few days ago, Zhu Yao simply couldn't believe his eyes. In the military action that triggered the war, Chen Ke didn't mention a single word about it; instead, he questioned what exactly Zhu Yao meant by "bearing all responsibility" at the end of his telegram. Chen Ke simply and frankly asked what on earth the Party Committee of the Kra Military Region was trying to say.

This questioning didn't so much make Zhu Yao feel fear as it made him feel shame. Sometimes, having one's petty thoughts ruthlessly exposed creates a sense of unease even harder to bear than a severe scolding. Zhu Yao really didn't have these affectations before; he did it just this once and got exposed, making his sense of shame even stronger. The reconnaissance comrade didn't know about Zhu Yao's experience; seeing Zhu Yao's absent-minded appearance, he couldn't help but stop his report.

Seeing Zhu Yao's behavior, the Political Commissar first said, "Let's take a break for a moment." Then he invited Zhu Yao to go for a walk outside.

"Commander Zhu, our Party Committee prepares to write a self-criticism to the Military Commission this time. We recognize the mistake we made, we will pay attention, and we will carry out criticism and self-criticism. It's just that I'm afraid we might continue to commit it next time," the Political Commissar said.

"Ha!" For some reason, hearing this gave Zhu Yao a sudden lift in spirits. Guaranteeing resolutely not to make mistakes next time is absolutely unrealistic, although Zhu Yao's own sense of shame gave him a strong impulse to hope he would resolutely not make mistakes next time. But Zhu Yao could intuitively feel that if they wrote the self-criticism this way, this matter would likely be over.

The People's Party internally preached: "Treat comrades as warmly as spring, treat work as passionately as summer, treat individualism as the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, and treat the enemy as ruthlessly as the severe winter."

Warmth like spring means tolerance, and the prerequisite for tolerance is speaking the truth. The absolute number and proportion of guys in the People's Party who are "incorrigible" is not low. Or rather, except for a few outstanding comrades recognized as being able to pass the tests again and again, all comrades have done things that were incorrigible.

On this point, the People's Party's tolerance is no joke. The initial research subject of the Human Behaviorology major was People's Party members. Research into behavioral psychology across various industries in the industrial age has summarized quite a few basic laws. The purpose of doing this is not to find material to criticize anyone, but to attempt to find coordinates for every comrade to more easily determine their own positioning. To make more detailed preparations for psychological counseling courses.

However, the moment of relief did not allow Zhu Yao to completely put down his psychological burden; he still felt very ashamed. When seeing others unable to set their positions correctly, it would be a lie to say Zhu Yao didn't feel any mockery in his heart, so Zhu Yao especially couldn't accept that he himself also couldn't set his position correctly. Moreover, Zhu Yao discovered another problem, which was that he himself actually had thoughts of displacing his anger onto others.

The People's Party attacked the privilege mindset of Confucianism but also advocated learning from the advanced parts of some cultures. For example, the *Analects* is one of the important research materials for People's Party behavioral psychology. It tells a story: When Yan Hui was twenty-nine, his hair turned completely white, and he died prematurely. Confucius cried very sadly for Yan Hui's death, saying, "Since I had Yan Hui, the disciples have become closer (to me)." Duke Ai of Lu asked, "Which of your disciples counts as being most fond of learning?" Confucius replied, "I had a student named Yan Hui who loved learning. He never transferred his anger onto others, and he did not repeat the same mistake. But he unfortunately died early. Now that Yan Hui is dead, there is no longer such an excellent student to inherit and spread my ideals."

Zhu Yao knew very well that at the beginning of this matter, he might not have really thought he was overstepping his authority. And Zhu Yao knew very well that what he did had a high probability of receiving a commendation from the Military Commission. But first, Zhu Yao didn't want to struggle against "incorrect thoughts" within the Party Committee; after all, many comrades in the Party Committee were genuinely feeling uneasy. Seeing the unease of these comrades, Zhu Yao actually felt quite good in his heart. Zhu Yao could manage not to displace anger during the war, but this mood afterwards might not have much goodness in it.

The result was that just by feeling this gratification, the subsequent matters became completely chaotic. Not only did Zhu Yao himself start to talk nonsense, but in the end, Zhu Yao actually muddled along and sent that telegram together with the comrades.

It must be explained that Zhu Yao felt he had fought a beautiful battle at that time. If he could say a few beautiful words for the occasion, perhaps it would be even more appropriate. So Zhu Yao was actually somewhat obsessed, thinking perhaps Chen Ke couldn't see through this point. In fact, what Zhu Yao genuinely hoped was that Chen Ke could be like a "wise ruler," properly showing consideration for the subordinate's firm belief, and also echoing him to say some words that could raise Zhu Yao's status. After all, standing up to the Political Commissar's pressure to make the decision to open fire required immense courage. Zhu Yao had also undergone tremendous torture in his heart.

Looking at it now, Zhu Yao's thoughts had completely fallen through. Some thoughts that were very emotional were inconvenient to say directly during criticism and self-criticism. Yet precisely these thoughts were the driving force triggering the most erroneous actions. Some things are talked about every day and every year, just so that after comrades do them, they know what they have done; but when doing them, they just can't help it.

"Commander Zhu, what's done is done. Thinking so much now is useless. Let's continue working and do the work we should be doing right now well," the Political Commissar said to Zhu Yao. "No matter how ashamed you are, wait until after the battle is fought to be properly ashamed. Now is not the time for shame."

"Sigh..." Zhu Yao sighed.

The Political Commissar actually wanted to sigh too, but he ultimately held it back. "Commander Zhu, losing face in front of Chairman Chen is actually nothing. Chairman Chen never laughs at others. Let's just remember there was such a thing."

The matter could only be handled this way. Zhu Yao just found it difficult to dispel the unease in his heart. Like other comrades in the Party, he wasn't worried that Chen Ke himself would be that petty. Chen Ke was very strict about inappropriate thoughts, but he was very tolerant about the fact that comrades would make mistakes. Chen Ke was absolutely not someone who brought up old scores or settled accounts after the autumn harvest.

After the Political Commissar and Commander of the Kra Military Region returned to the frontline command headquarters together, the meeting could finally continue. At least when doing work, everyone was very practical and realistic; any unhappy matters would be forgotten completely in the work.

After carefully examining the British defensive layout, the frontline command immediately reached a judgment: the British were still adopting traditional tactics from World War I, organizing a heavy troop defense. The British forces defending Malaya numbered over sixty thousand, and there were about eighty thousand more in Singapore. These troops consisted of British home forces, Australian troops, Indian troops, and local Malayan troops. In terms of quantity, they weren't much to look at; in terms of quality, there was even less advantage to speak of.

"Are the British really preparing to commit heavy troops to this defensive line? Without naval supremacy, how will the British guard against their flank and rear being struck?" Zhu Yao was from a naval background, and he directly raised this question.

"The British are insufficiently prepared for the war, aren't they? Their first reaction is just this. After all, an imperialist war cannot mobilize the masses, especially the masses in the colonies," the Political Commissar offered his view on this.

For such a situation, the frontline command naturally came up with a tactic of seaborne troop transport to raid the British flank. The reason for doing this was that if they wanted a large-scale land offensive, they would have to invade Siam. Now that Siam was completely controlled by the British, Zhu Yao dared not to let the British fire the second shot, but he absolutely didn't have the guts to invade Siam without the Military Commission's approval.

On the contrary, attacking Malaya through Siamese territory south of the Kra Canal didn't pose any difficulty. The only problem was that the Kra Military Region's army only had two regiments. Facing an enemy totaling one hundred forty to fifty thousand, two regiments of army troops appeared too thin.

Once the plan was completed, the Kra Military Region sent a telegram to the Military Commission. The Military Commission gave orders very quickly. "These two regiments are to prepare to move south with Air Force coordination. The Military Commission has already sent new military bicycles to the Kra Military Region. We hope the troops will carry forward the spirit of fierce charging and fighting, moving south with full force under Air Force coordination."

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's military bicycles were very common in Southeast Asia. Unlike common bicycles, military bicycles used solid tires. Although slightly heavier, they wouldn't go flat. The load capacity was also sufficient. The bicycles had already arrived, and the vehicle-mounted equipment had also been delivered. Zhu Yao wasn't from an army background and had absolutely no confidence in two regiments moving south. Although the Kra region also had a tropical light tank battalion, with just a force of two regiments plus one battalion, no matter how he looked at it, they couldn't fight their way to Singapore. It was just that the Military Commission had issued the order, and it must be executed. The persons in charge of the Military Commission were all old soldiers with decades of experience; presumably, they wouldn't joke around recklessly.

On February 6, 1939, the day Poland declared war on China, the troops of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army—two regiments plus a light tank battalion—began to move south with Air Force coordination.

Zhu Yao knew the People's Party never counted on any decisive weapon, but this time the Air Force brought new bombs. According to the Air Force comrades, the power of these bombs was far beyond imagination. Since the Air Force guaranteed this, Zhu Yao didn't doubt it. After all, this was a cross-sea operation now; moving troops on a large scale required time, while a rapid offensive required racing against seconds. At this time, weapons with astonishing lethality were actually the most reliable. The problem was exactly how powerful these bombs were. The Air Force consumption was huge; trying to rely on the Air Force to annihilate defending enemies would require an unimaginable tonnage of bombs. If they had that energy, it would be more reliable to consider strengthening sea transport.

The British didn't know the news of the Chinese troops moving out. For these past few days, the British Air Force had been consumed at an unprecedented speed. On the day Britain declared war on China, the Chinese Air Force air-raided Singapore. The main targets were the airfields and forts. The British forts had a large amount of shelter protection, but the airfields lacked such defensive strength.

The Chinese Air Force was becoming increasingly powerful, and the British naturally knew this. It was just that Britain's latest fighter development process wasn't fast. Although the Spitfire fighter had begun production, the quantity was still very small. Despite the importance of Singapore, this small jewel on the British Crown, it was only allocated 12 of them. The rest were all obsolete goods like the Buffalo fighter.

Britain didn't expect that within a few hours after the declaration of war was issued, China's Air Force would visit Singapore. Bombs came down overwhelmingly from the sky. The Chinese Air Force used cluster bombs and steel ball bombs, aiming to completely destroy the airfields. After a barrage of bombs, the airfield runways were beaten to look like a pockmarked face, covered with large and small craters. The steel ball bombs scattered onto the British airport facilities like a violent storm. The planes on the airfield seemed to have been swept by heavy machine gun fire; in an instant, countless holes were punched into them. The landing gear of some planes was even snapped, and the planes collapsed on the ground like mud.

High-speed steel balls penetrated the roofs and walls of the hangars. Most of the planes, including the Spitfires, were hit. Some unlucky planes had their fuel tanks pierced, and the leaking aviation fuel was ignited by the high heat. Moments later, the planes were burned into piles of metal frames and pitch-black things that one couldn't tell what they originally were. Even the planes that didn't explode were full of holes; unless they underwent a major overhaul, planes that could maintain their original shape basically had no way to take off.

Just one bombing raid destroyed most of the combat power of the British Air Force in Singapore. Churchill was smart enough; seeing the situation was bad, he simply took a warship and fled to India urgently. Of course, the reason was very pleasant to hear: he was going to India to prepare counter-attack forces and coordinate the Indian Ocean Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet.

When the Chinese troops began moving south on February 6, the troops in Singapore and Malaya didn't even know the Navy Minister had run away at this time. They still thought this Navy Minister, characterized by his tough stance, was commanding the battle in Singapore.

The British forces in Malaya were mainly Indian troops and local Malay troops. Driven by the British units, they began to construct the "defensive line." Building a defensive line in the tropics is a very bullshit thing. One of the cores of a defensive system is trenches. In those humid areas, the ground is a humus layer; one shovel down, aside from withered branches and rotting leaves, there are large clusters of ants and other insects. These things crawling and wriggling around looked hair-raising. In some places, one could even dig out a "water well" after not digging for long. Even in relatively dry areas, after digging a trench, if it rained, the trench became a ditch.

British officers didn't have to work personally; the entire job was carried out by those recruited colonial troops. If these colonial troops were participating in the British Army's burning, killing, and looting, or suppressing ordinary people, they might have had some enthusiasm. But treating them as coolies, one could imagine their efficiency. Added to the rush of time, the troops sent to the frontline formed a "defensive line" in the mode of two large clusters.

Besides raiding Singapore's airfields, the Chinese Air Force had also been patrolling diligently these past few days, destroying every British plane they could find. They had a very clear understanding of the movements of these British troops constructing defenses in Malaya.

After the troops started moving south, 24 Chinese H-5 bombers led the way, dropping more than 200 bombs on the two British troop concentration points on the "Malaya defensive line." These bombs were scattered very widely, and their falling speed wasn't fast. Because the British troops and colonial troops had lost air superiority without an air force, they could only stare wide-eyed as these bombs flew down.

"Take cover, quick!" The British troops had some experience after all; officers commanded soldiers to hide in the woods, grass, and some simply ran into tents. The colonial troops just watched dumbly; a significant portion of the troops were seeing an air raid with their own eyes for the first time.

When less than one hundred meters from the ground, a large cloud of white smoke suddenly popped out from the rear of these bombs like a magic trick. The bombs, originally small in sight, abruptly turned into giant mushroom-like things.

Amidst crisp explosion sounds, 3 small bombs, each with a parachute, flew out from the belly of every bomb. The small bombs looked like cylindrical beer kegs, with a long iron rod extending from the bottom, floating downwards suspended under the parachutes. Subsequently, in a series of sounds much quieter than ordinary bomb explosions, the ground was instantly shrouded by clumps of white mist-like gas from the rear of those bombs.

The first batch of casualties appeared. The landing bombs didn't explode. They just stabbed into the soft ground, or bounced up on relatively solid ground. Some unlucky fellows were either smashed into meat paste directly by the bomb casings or had their bones broken and tendons snapped by the bouncing casings.

These bloody losses weren't considered large; in total, a dozen or so British and colonial troops suffered. Before the people on the ground had time to figure out what was happening, suddenly, thunder rolled, and the earth trembled. Immediately, centering on each bomb's landing point, the ground the size of dozens of football fields flashed with fire, trees fell and houses collapsed, and screams filled the air.

The Chinese Air Force saw mushroom clouds suddenly rising one after another on the ground. Bright orange-red flames rose violently from the ground, tumbling and expanding towards the surroundings and into the sky. After the bright flames shone for a dozen seconds, the shockwave in the air pounced on the high-altitude planes, making the planes bump up and down like turbulence.

More than an hour later, the two Chinese regiments arrived at the bombing site under the guidance of the tank unit. By this time, the enemies who could run had run completely away. What the Chinese troops saw at the scene was large patches of dense jungle leaning east and west as if hit by a hurricane; some places were completely destroyed so that the ground was almost visible. Those military tents and the machine gun positions just built with sandbags had all become ruins. Personnel were either scorched or died of suffocation, with heavy casualties. Strangely, the corpses of the dead were very intact, without traces of shrapnel killing, only their mouths were wide open. Extremely tragic were the soldiers who died inside concealed fortifications; they had all clawed their throats open before dying.

The faces of the dead were twisted; the fear and pain of death seemed frozen on their faces, making this place shudderingly terrifying, as if it were haunted.