Yes, it will work if you don't ever intend to use glow plugs. Still requires two batteries only you connect parallel instead of in series. A single battery is going to give marginal cranking amperage.
Replaced the pony on my D4-c with a 12 volt starter and it works very good.No glow plugs, cold I give it a whiff of ether and warm it fires right up.Coldest I've started it was about 10F.Used a single 4D battery.