Chapter 663: The Battle of Tokyo Bay - The General Arrives in Person
The Manchurian Army pioneered poison gas warfare, annihilating more than 20,000 Japanese troops in one fell swoop, causing more than 50,000 Japanese troops to lose their combat effectiveness, of which nearly 30,000 suffered strong sequelae, and more than 80 percent of them suffered irreversible damage such as blindness and ulceration. The Japanese army general Saigo Takamori was blind, and although the army major general Noli Akitong was not disabled, because of the long-term stay in the poisonous gas, the skin ulcerated in a large area and was completely disfigured.
Such a huge result made the Manchurian officers ecstatic, but it also sounded the alarm bell for them, and such a thing as poison gas bombs must be used with great caution. Moreover, after seeing the terrible mustard gas, because it was suspected that the poisonous gas on the original position had not dissipated, the Manchurian army did not dare to launch a counterattack. The tenacious Japanese army was like a nail, still firmly nailed to the position of the Manchurian Army. They endured the great pain of poisoning, but they still held on fearlessly, and of course they also gave up on the intention of further attack.
"Contact the British consul as soon as possible, how can the Manchurians use such a terrible weapon? Is there a way for the British to cope? Tokugawa Yoshiki in the rear looked at the tens of thousands of wounded who were wailing in pain, and every hair on his body exploded, this is really terrible, if the Manchurians use this weapon on Japan in large quantities, not only Japan will be exterminated, but the Japanese will also be exterminated. Tokugawa was at a loss for help, so he could only hurriedly ask the British for help, hoping that the British would understand what this high-tech weapon was, how to defend it, and how to treat these wounded.
The British were very face-saving to the former general Zhengyi, and soon sent a large number of experts and medical personnel to study the situation of the wounded and actively treat them. Tokugawa Keiki was very moved, and he saw the seriousness of the British. The British experts patiently recorded the condition of each wounded and asked the Manchurians in detail about the situation when they used this cruel weapon, and how long the wounded stayed in the area where they were attacked. But Yeli Qiutong, who was also a wounded, was not moved by the behavior of the British at all, and was very disgusted. When the British were busy for a long time, and then informed Tokugawa Yoshiki that they didn't know what it was and didn't know how to deal with it, Nori Akiki was even more disgusted.
"Gentlemen of England are so loving!" After sending off the British experts, Tokugawa Yoshiki still did not forget to admire.
"Another bunch of hateful bastards!" Yeli Qiutong, whose face burned incomparably, scolded directly behind his back.
"Yeli-kun, don't be rude!" Tokugawa Keiki was very angry, a samurai should not have such ungrateful words, if it weren't for the fact that Nori Akiki was never from his side, he would have punished him with the majesty of a general.
"General, you are too kind!" Yeli Qiutong shook his head helplessly, Tokugawa Keiki is a simple and kind and very naïve guy, he is too easy to trust some things. Yeli Akiki is also a little lucky, if Tokugawa Yoshiki is not such a person, the ending of the Fall War is estimated to be rewritten.
"Alas! The British have done their best, and we must not be angry! Tokugawa Yoshiki was really innocent, and he thought that Nori Akiki cursed the British because the British failed to solve the problem.
"They did their best, they did their best to collect everything about the cruel weapons of the Manchurians, but they were only for records, and they didn't give us any explanation. They did their best to heal our soldiers, but as soon as they got better, they stopped and never healed a single man. They are just using us to experiment with the new weapons of the Manchurians, let us be cannon fodder, to test the Manchurians for them, and the profits they get back have been collected by them! "It can be regarded as the wild force of the old rivers and lakes, and it can be compared to Tokugawa Keiki, who can only be regarded as a fledgling, and he can see much more clearly, the British are not here to help, they are just here to learn about the new weapons of the Manchurians.
"This is the sorrow of a weak country!" Tokugawa Keiki was not stupid, and he understood it all of a sudden, but he could only sigh except for lamenting.
The intermittent landing battle lasted for seven days and seven nights, but the battlefield did not change much. The Manchurian Army occupied the beachhead and even opened up several more beachheads. The Japanese army began to expand its eyes along the positions left by the Manchurian Army, and wanted to build a dam against the sea, firmly blocking the Manchurian Army's advance. The Manchurian Army sent three divisions and two brigades, including the mercenary division that slaughtered the city one after another, to land, and the strength of the Japanese army increased to 200,000.
The Japanese, who were good at learning, danced frantically with shovels according to the layout of the positions left by the Manchurians, and more than doubled the position. They couldn't make reinforced concrete bunkers, but they also built many masonry bunkers, and deployed their rare Gatling guns and Armstrong guns. Although in the face of the heavy artillery of the Manchurian Army, these tofu scum were a little hanging, but the Japanese army, which had no way to retreat, could only give it a go. The Japanese defenses were strengthened, the firepower of the Manchurian Army was also increased, and the main forces of the Yellow Sea Fleet, the North Sea Fleet, and the East China Sea Fleet were all concentrated. As far as the eye can see, the sea is densely packed with steel warships, and it looks so terrifying.
Responsible for coordinating the overall situation of the battle in Tokyo Bay is none other than Goxinga's favorite general Actun, a veteran general who is about to become the sixth boss in the army. Acton's plan is not to seek merit but to seek no fault, he has long passed the age of pursuing miraculous feats, and steady and steady is his style. In Acton's view, the best way to do so at the moment was to use artillery to deplete the enemy's vital forces, and infantry advance was an unwise choice.
The coastal defense line composed of 200,000 Japanese troops perfectly inherited the positional warfare routine of the Manchurian Army, although the Manchurian Army with heavy artillery to open the way will definitely be able to gnaw down, but the casualties are definitely not small, so why attack them? The best way is to drag on and consume the Japanese army every day. Even if they can't be killed for a while, they can wait until the attack troops from the east, south, and north directions come to the city of Tokyo. At that time, if the coastal defense line is attacked inside and outside, the Japanese army will inevitably be easily encircled and annihilated. If the Japanese army could not afford to launch an attack, the offensive and defensive forces would be mutually exchanged, and it would be much easier for the Manchurian army to massacre them again. With this idea in mind, Acton smoked and drank tea every day, except for ordering the opening of cannons, and did not mean to be impatient at all, until several huge ships sailed into Tokyo Bay.
At the end of the day's sectional bombardment, in the afterglow of the setting sun, the ships began to retreat towards the anchorage, ready to rest in formation. However, the destroyers, cruising around the perimeter and taking on the task of vigilance, spotted several giant warships approaching at high speed. The destroyers quickly sent back the news, but instead of being on guard, they told Acton to prepare for it, and they saw the eight-star flag on the mast of the warship, and on the largest of the battleships, the colorful eight-star flag appeared, which represented the presence of the general.
After the Far East War, Guo Xing'a, who promised not to interfere with the command of the front-line troops, seemed to have broken his word and gained weight, and the Manchurian general Guo Xing'a appeared on the front-line battlefield again. Of course, Guo Xing'a did not come empty-handed, he brought the five main ships of the Nanyang Fleet to fight in the battle, "Green Water", "Qingbo", "Bitao", "Ape Sheng", and "Xiaomeng". The main guns of the Sea Lion-class cruisers and Seawolf-class destroyers are very powerful, but because of their tonnage, they are still inferior to the battleships in terms of caliber. The caliber of 158 mm was still slightly insufficient for the firepower of the opposite shore, and the heavy guns of the battleship of 248 mm caliber were sufficient. Worried about the lack of naval artillery firepower, Guo Xing'a deliberately transferred five battleships back from the Nanyang Fleet, and because he was too worried, he personally sent these big guys over.
"Uh......h Woo...... Hooray, hooray! ......" As a bright multicolored flag fluttering in Tokyo Bay, the deafening whistle of the fleet and the shouts of the army on the shore resounded through the four fields, even the many gray-haired Tokugawa Yoshiki and Saigo Takamori, who had adapted to the darkness, were alarmed.
"What's wrong?" Saigo Takamori, who was in darkness in front of him, listened to the terrifying cheers of the Manchurian army, and anxiously asked the students who served him beside him. This cheer made Saigo Takamori feel that it was extremely terrible, this was a cheer from the depths of the soul, the morale of the Manchurian army had more than doubled, something terrible must have happened. Xixiang had just returned from inspecting the position, and the coastal defense line was still firmly controlled by the Japanese army, and there was no omission.
"The Manchurian Army has sent a few more very huge warships, they may be cheering for this!" The student held up his binoculars and looked at them for a long time, but he noticed that there were some larger ships on the surface.
"Huge battleship?" Saigo's brow furrowed.
"There are five of them, all of them very large ironclad warships. It looks a little bloated, not as smooth and beautiful as other warships, but it is really big, six or seven percent larger than the largest warship of the Manchurian Army before! The student watched carefully for a while, and then told Saigo Takamori what he had seen.
"No way! There are many huge warships of the Manchurian Army, they already have an absolute advantage in firepower, and they will never cheer so much for a few battleships! You're taking a closer look and paying attention to the details, something special must have happened! Saigo urged his students eagerly, not believing that things would be so simple.
"There's really nothing left, there's really nothing special about it except for a slightly different flag on a giant ship!" The students tried to observe for a long time, but still did not make any new discoveries.
"The flag is different? What's the difference? "I heard the British say that Manchuria used the flag rule of Saigo Takamori, and his heart suddenly beat faster.
"It's the same eight-star holding the sun flag, but with some colorful hanging tassels around it!" The students didn't understand Saigo's nervousness at all.
"He's coming!" Saigo was a little desperate, and he was blind, but he might not be the opponent of the world's number one general.
"He's finally here!" Tokugawa Yoshiki, who had just asked about the cause and effect, also knew that the person who ruled the party with the same name as the general like him had come.