The Battle of Kobe was the largest loss of the Chinese army since the Battle of the Japanese Islands, and the Japanese army used the cover of darkness to gather a large number of troops and launch a surprise counterattack against the Chinese army. Caught off guard, the Chinese army lost more than 5,300 people, and although the headquarters quickly responded and mobilized reinforcements to counter-encircle it, the losses were irreparable.

It is strange that the front-line commanders have not been held accountable by the General Staff, and they are very helpless, and the military leadership, including Lu Liang, must be able to tolerate the mistakes of the generals. A large number of high-level genetic officers are flooded at all levels of the army, and young generals such as Jiang Fangzhen have not yet fully matured, and there are still signs of excessive maturity. Compared with creative and flexible humans, genetic people are undoubtedly much inferior, just like the school achievers, who often do not mix well as those students with poor grades and playfulness after entering society.

The 200,000 Japanese troops who were surrounded simply surrendered neatly, which almost became the norm in the battle during this period of time - the Japanese army resolutely resisted and launched a decisive assault from time to time in the face of the Chinese army with superior firepower, and surrendered immediately after suffering huge casualties and being surrounded by the Chinese armored forces. The spirit of the little devil gradually disappeared, the royal family disappeared, and he had to experience the cruel blows of the Chinese army, and the militaristic ideas accumulated in a short period of time showed signs of collapse.

However, the collapse of the Japanese army was much slower than planned by the General Staff, and the ideal scenario would be that after taking out the Japanese imperial family and the military and political leadership, the Japanese would completely lose their fighting spirit in the chaos and then surrender to the Chinese army. The lowest expectation was also that the Japanese resistance at the front line was extremely low, and the Chinese army quickly advanced to Tokyo Bay and then occupied the entire Japanese archipelago.

The little devil can't be inferred by common sense, and the top brass of the Chinese army is also a little whimsical. The attack on the top did bring great confusion to the Japanese top and dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the army, but it was still very early to say that it collapsed. The military department and the local generals reached an agreement to try their best to conceal the news of the demise of the imperial family, and strictly forbade the collection of leaflets thrown by the Chinese air force, saying that they were rumors of the enemy. To prove this, the military department also issued forged royal declarations and military orders to the soldiers.

The relative seclusion of information made it easy for Japanese soldiers to believe the words of the officers, and even if some doubted it, they would not risk being shot everywhere. This allowed order to be restored to the army quickly, but the good times did not last long, they lacked food, medicine and ammunition, and the army could be replenished for several months if civilians were not taken into account. Between ensuring the supply of the army, giving up the lives and deaths of civilians, and distributing food to civilians, the top brass of the Japanese army was quite contradictory.

The death of the top brass further promoted the young people, and Isoroku Yamamoto, who served in the government, became the head of the external liaison department, and his main task was to make secret contacts with the British and Americans, and to bring good news to the military top brass that the Allies and the United States had taken the initiative to attack China.

This is somewhat self-defeating, but the Americans and the British have become a lifeline for the Japanese army, and it is also their hope that they will be able to hold out against the Chinese army. Ten days ago, an American-flagged merchant ship secretly docked in Hokkaido, and when the Chinese army was tightly sealing off the coast of the Japanese archipelago, the British merchant ship could only sneak in. However, this is not too difficult to do, the Japanese coastline is too long, and the Chinese navy cannot completely block the Japanese coast even with the assistance of radar.

The merchant ship departed from San Francisco and headed north along the west coast of North America, stopping at Alaska for a while before turning southwest and passing through the Aleutian Islands to Hokkaido. In addition to carrying some ammunition and medicine, there were also four Americans, three British, and one Russian, who were the first representatives of the military of the three countries to arrive in Japan after the start of the war, which attracted great attention from the Japanese leadership.

The news brought by the Americans and the British was very exciting to the Japanese -- as long as the Japanese could hold out for two months, the British army would launch an attack on the Chinese army from Southeast Asia, besieging the Philippines and Hainan Island in China. Russia will launch simultaneous attacks from Central Asia and the Far East, while the United States will launch a decisive naval battle to recapture the Hawaiian Islands and regain the initiative in the Pacific theater.

The Japanese actually believed their nonsense! The British were eager to hold China in the palm of their hands, and what they were most afraid of was that the colonies in Southeast Asia and South Asia would be threatened by the Chinese army, and it would never be possible to take the initiative to provoke China. Moreover, China was also one of the main suppliers of materials to the Entente countries, and Britain could obtain raw materials from the colonies, but the shortage of industrial products could only be obtained from the outside world, especially military products, and China's production capacity was much stronger than that of the United States -- Britain had already placed an order with the Chinese shipyard for 50,000-ton freighters, which were expected to be delivered within six months, and they were still paid for in advance and then delivered.

The Russians were even more open-minded, they were indeed strengthening their forces in Central Asia and the Far East, and they did not mobilize troops from the East, even if the European battlefield was fierce. Because on their opposite side, the Chinese army also deployed a powerful army, and no one dared to underestimate the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army, and what Nicholas II feared most was a sudden attack by the Chinese army on its Far East and Central Asian territories, and it was a principled policy to pacify China.

The empty vernacular is not very convincing, and the Americans know this, and in order to enhance their persuasiveness, a large number of British and American merchant ships were hired by the military to carry massive strategic materials and open up a North Pacific route. The main trouble of merchant ships was not icebergs, waves, and low temperatures, but Chinese warships. The cruisers and large-tonnage destroyers had extended their range to Sakhalin and the northern tip of the Chiba Islands, and what was even more amazing was that they were able to accurately spot the merchant ships and capture them by force. The seaplanes and shipborne radars carried by warships are their clairvoyance, especially radar, which is also a cutting-edge technology unique to China, and even the Military Research Committee has only just begun to contact this level.

Having lost two large merchant fleets, the Americans changed their shipping strategy and let the merchant ships disperse and make up for the losses with numbers. Of the ten merchant ships, only three reached Japan on average, and most of the rest were captured by Chinese warships, which meant that the Americans acted as logistics captains for the Chinese army.

The massive losses were somewhat outweighed by the losses, but it was the established plan of the Americans and the British to take advantage of the Japanese to gain time. It would be even better if the Japanese battlefield could be turned into a quagmire and the Chinese army could be completely trapped in it. Compared to the Chinese army's attack on the United States, the cost of losing some merchant ships is much cheaper. The British and the Russians made the same calculations, China was a country full of expansionist aspirations, and Lu Liang was an extreme nationalist, and he did not hide his eyebrows with Germany. What was the other goal of the Chinese state after defeating Japan? It's okay if it's the United States, but what if it attacks Southeast Asia, Australia, or even South Asia? Those places with abundant resources are difficult to keep the Chinese people unmoved.

At the northern tip of the Chiba Islands, a 4,000-ton freighter, the Kraken, a British merchant ship flying the American flag, is moving slowly. After being hired by the U.S. government, he went to Japan with a load of food.

Captain Jones was standing on deck, the wind and waves were strong, and the icy water hit Jones's face, making his nerves tense. In addition to the low temperature of the sea and the unfamiliar route, the main reason that made him nervous was that he was about to enter the search range of the Chinese warship. He did not want to take this dangerous route, but he could not stand the thought of the merchant ship owners, and the US government paid a lot of money, and promised to provide remuneration and compensation to the merchant ship owners even if the merchant ship was captured by the Chinese army.

Who knows if the Chinese will be good-natured and just capture rather than sink the freighter? At the end of the day, all the risks have to be borne by these crews. I heard that there was a record of being sunk by a Chinese submarine before the merchant ship, and I hope not to run into those fierce beasts under the sea.

"Captain, lunch is ready!" The first mate staggered over to Jones and said.

"Add food to the crew, I'm afraid that after being captured by the Chinese, I won't be treated so well!"

"We are very lucky, as long as we arrive in Japan and unload the cargo, even if the Chinese army finds out when the ship returns empty, it will not do anything to us." The first mate said lightly, the wind and waves have become smaller, and even the mood has improved a lot.

Unfortunately, the luck of the Kraken came to an end, and as soon as Jones and the first mate finished speaking, a Chinese warship emerged from behind the island more than 10,000 meters away. As long as you are discovered, don't think about escaping, and you must not show the intention of escaping or resisting, sighing, Jones ordered the merchant ships to stop moving, turn off their engines, and wait for the Chinese warships to accept.

The battleship stopped a thousand meters away, and then the two dinghys were hoisted down, and half an hour later thirteen Marines boarded the Kraken, Captain Jones and his crew lined up on the deck like soldiers waiting to be reviewed.

"Gentlemen, I'm Jones, the captain of the Kraken, and all thirty-five crew members are here, and here's the cargo list. Please don't hurt us! Jones had been trained before setting sail and knew what to say to save his life when he encountered a Chinese warship.

The Chinese soldiers in front of him seemed to understand English, and the leading soldier nodded and took the list, and three soldiers stood nearby with weapons in their hands, and the muzzles of their guns were faintly pointed at everyone. The rest of the soldiers split up and walked to the interior of the cabin, inspecting the cargo, engines, and searching for the crew members who were in hiding, clearing up the safety hazards, and looking skilled without the commander's orders.

The first mate was very interested in the weapons of the Chinese soldiers, he was born with a big heart, and even looked forward to what was going to happen next - he had not yet been to the legendary and mysterious Huaxia!

However, the first mate kept staring at the opponent's weapon, which could easily be misunderstood, and the soldier raised his rifle and scolded the first officer. Everyone didn't understand it, but it should mean "be honest".

There was a commotion among the crew, and Jones immediately raised his hands to signal everyone to calm down. On this sea, everyone's lives are completely in the hands of these Chinese soldiers, and it is really normal for a few people to die, and no one will pursue it. (To be continued.) )