Chapter 410~411 The Great Retreat of Nakatsu and the United States Enters the War
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The Japanese Command, Chief of the General Staff of the Army General Headquarters, Prince Arisugawa Miyashihito, held an emergency meeting to discuss the war in Kyushu. Pen, fun, pavilion www.biquge.info// Baidu search into the search to quickly enter this site
In the conference room, officials were arguing.
"We shouldn't have sent more troops to Kyushu in the first place, and we should have made every effort to defend Honshu. Now, more than 200,000 elites have been lost in vain, and more than 300,000 troops are in danger of being annihilated by the counter-encirclement. ”
"Is it any use arguing about this now?"
"The matter has come to this, the key now is how to withdraw these 300,000 troops to this state, if there is any more quarrelling, I am afraid that the Chinese Emperor ** will have to take action."
"That's it! Don't be noisy! Prince Chihito interrupted everyone's quarrel and asked the chief of staff of operations, Nokeone Nakasa, and said, "Have you come up with a plan in the war room?" ”
Nokegen replied, "The war room has drawn up a plan that will be carried out in the Kanmon Strait between Kitakyushu Port and Shimonoseki Port. ”
Yamamoto Gonbei said: "The width of the Kanmon Strait is only a few kilometers, and it should not be a problem to transfer the army back to Honshu in a short time. ”
"You only know one thing, you don't know the other!" Prince Nehisa suddenly snorted coldly: "We all know that the Guanmen Strait is narrow, and hundreds of thousands of troops and millions of civilians can be withdrawn to this state in a short period of time. But doesn't the enemy know? The main forces of the enemy are carrying out a strategic attack on us, and their right flank is already approaching outside the castle of Kitakyushu. Our main force on the Mt. Aso line is still at least 100 kilometers away from the retreat site of Kitakyushu Port, and it will take at least a week for us to return to Kitakyushu, and it will take three days to cross the Kanmon Strait and return to Honshu. During this time, the enemy forces will not sit back and watch us retreat, they will use all their forces, even at any cost, to launch a fierce attack on Kitakyushu. With the enemy's land, sea and air forces, our retreating forces in Kitakyushu will suffer heavy casualties. ”
Shan County Youpeng nodded and said, "What the prince said is indeed the truth. Kitakyushu City is close to the Sea of Japan, and Shimonoseki on the opposite side is also on the Shimonoseki Peninsula, and with the powerful naval artillery attack capability of the Imperial Chinese Navy, it can hit from the west coast of the Shimonoseki Peninsula to the east coast, posing a serious threat to our retreating forces. At the same time, the air force of the Chinese Empire could take off directly from the air ports of Ulsan and Busan in Korea to bomb our retreating troops. With the strong combat effectiveness of the Chinese Emperor, the blocking troops deployed by our army in the foothold mountain of Kitakyushu may not be able to hold out for a week, and once the foothold is lost, our hundreds of thousands of troops will really be dumplings. ”
Saionji Gongwang said: "Kitakyushu City is one of the four major industrial bases of the Great Japanese Empire, and it has always been the key target of the Chinese Emperor's attack, although it is the closest to Honshu, but it is also the most dangerous place. The Chinese Emperor ** will definitely think that we are carrying out a great retreat there, and they will definitely launch an attack at any cost. ”
Prince Chiren nodded, turned to Ye Jinggen and asked, "Are there any other plans?" ”
Nokegen replied: "The second plan is to carry out a retreat operation at the Zhouyi Beach in Nakatsu City, which is located in the southeast of Kitakyushu City, in the rear of our army's defensive position, and all units can rush to the retreat point within three days, but it is also 90 kilometers away from the nearest port in Honshu, and it is very easy to be cut off by the Imperial Chinese Navy." ”
Yamamoto Gonbei said: "It's too dangerous, we don't have the right to control the sea, once the Imperial Chinese Navy finds out that we are carrying out a retreat operation there, and the navy blocks the Seto Inland Sea, then we will also be completely annihilated." ”
Chi Ren frowned, and asked again, "Is there any other plan?" ”
Ye Jinggen sighed and said: "The third plan is to give up the retreat and defend Kyushu, and when the main force is disabled, it will turn to guerrilla warfare." ”
Yama Prefecture Youpeng immediately objected: "No, the more than 300,000 troops staying in Kyushu have no effect, and they must be withdrawn to Honshu, otherwise Honshu's defense will become empty." ”
Prince Chiren nodded and said, "That's right! The state's existing forces were not enough to defend the long coastline, and the 300,000-strong army was the elite of the empire and had to be withdrawn. ”
Prince Nohisa said at this time: "There is another way! ”
Prince Chiren suddenly said, "Say it quickly!" ”
Prince Nohisa looked at the crowd and said, "Both places are in danger of total annihilation, one on land and the other at sea. The former has more hope of surviving, while the latter has no hope at all. So take the lesser of two evils and retreat in Kitakyushu! At least we have a glimmer of hope, and hopefully we can withdraw 100,000 people! ”
Youpeng in Shanxian suddenly said: "I think we have to lose some of our troops, why don't we break our wrists with strong men?" ”
Chiren asked, "What do you mean?" ”
Yama Prefecture replied, "Of the 300,000 troops, 150,000 retreated from Kitakyushu, and 150,000 retreated from Nakatsu. We let out the news that the Chinese Emperor ** thought that our main force was all retreating in Kitakyushu, so that the 150,000 people in Nakatsu could take the opportunity to withdraw. ”
Everyone sighed for a while, this price is really a bit big, but there is no more reliable way.
In the end, Prince Chihito decided to adopt the plan of Yamaguchi Aritomo and carry out the retreat from Kitakyushu and Nakatsu in two batches.
During the war, the Cabinet instructed the Admiralty to draw up a plan for organizing the retreat, codenamed "Operation Salvation". Under the full command of Vice Admiral Kojima Tsuki, commander of the Nakatsu Naval Port, the operation planned to evacuate 20,000 people per day from the three ports of Kitakyushu, Saeki Port, and Nakatsu on the eastern coast of Kyushu, and concentrated 80 ferries, 12 gunboats, and three submarines. In order to prevent detection by reconnaissance planes of the Imperial Chinese Air Force, the Japanese army strengthened its air cover force and deployed all 52 fighters produced overtime at the Kitakyushu airport, and were not allowed to participate in the war, but only attacked the reconnaissance planes of the Chinese Empire close to the Nakatsu area.
At 18:57 p.m. on November 2, the Admiralty of the Japanese Kingdom ordered the start of the "rescue operation", and the situation was even more dangerous than when the plan was made, and the right wing army of the Chinese Empire captured the city of Saeki, making the port of Saeki unusable. The port of Kitakyushu was too close to the Sea of Japan, and under the heavy shelling of the Imperial Chinese Navy's naval guns, and there were too many Imperial Chinese Air Force fighters there, it was bound to be discovered in the event of an operation, so the port that was originally intended to be used was only available to Nakatsu.
At the same time, the General Staff of the Chinese Empire believed that the Japanese army did not have sea supremacy and would not carry out retreat operations elsewhere, and the only location was at the port of Kitakyushu, which was only a few kilometers away from Honshu and suitable for a rapid retreat of the army.
As a result, the General Staff immediately instructed Xu Bangjie to capture Kitakyushu within three days and cut off the retreat route of the Japanese army.
On October 27, the Left Wing Army launched a fierce attack on the Japanese defenders of Mt. Adachi. But the Japanese resistance was particularly fierce, and it was foreseeable how much the Japanese army attached importance to the area.
After three days of fierce fighting, the Chinese Emperor failed to achieve the strategic goal, and the General Staff was very dissatisfied with Xu Bangjie, and several orders urged him to take effective measures to take Kitakyushu in early November and cut off the Japanese army's retreat route.
Xu Bangjie was under tremendous pressure from the upper peak, and had to take more severe orders to his subordinates to attack Adachi Mountain at any cost, but the effect was not obvious.
The Chinese Emperor ** invested 150,000 troops in Adachi Mountain, but Adachi Mountain could not deploy so many troops, so he could only take turns in battle. The Japanese deployed a division at Mt. Adachi and suffered heavy casualties under the powerful land, sea and air fire of the Chinese Empire. At the most tragic time, a squadron of the Japanese army had just changed its guard and entered the position, and it was completely annihilated in less than a minute.
Despite the fierce fighting, the Japanese army resolutely did not retreat, and almost blocked the steel torrent attack of the Chinese Imperial Chariot Battalion with a wall of flesh.
"Report to Commander Xu, after giving our 45th Army half a day, we promise to capture Adachi Mountain."
"There's no time! The Japanese army is crossing the Guanmen Strait, because the Guanmen Strait is too narrow, the Japanese army has deployed a large number of shore defense guns on both sides of the strait, and the Japanese army has laid a large number of mines on both sides of the strait, and our navy warships cannot enter in time to stop it, and we must break through Adachi Mountain within five hours and drive all the Japanese troops into the sea. ”
"In five hours, our Third Army guaranteed to take Adachi Mountain. [].”
The commanders and chiefs of staff of the 45th Army and the Third Army all stood in front of Xu Bangjie and begged him to give them another chance.
Xu Bangjie sighed and said: "I can't blame you, the Japanese army's desperate resistance at any cost, conventional tactics can't work in a short period of time." ”
Xu Bangjie thought for a while, then suddenly turned to the communications staff officer and said, "Pick me up from the Army Biochemistry Department!" ”
Chief of Staff Li Jishen asked, "Commander, you don't want to use poison gas bombs, do you?" Have you thought about the consequences? ”
Xu Bangjie sighed: "The General Staff gave me a death order, and it is resolute not to let these hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops retreat to Honzhou, and they must be eliminated." But now we can't break through the Japanese defense line on Adachi Mountain in a short period of time, and when the time comes, you and I will have to suffer if we go to blame. Rather than that, it's better to let me carry it alone. ”
Li Jishen had to admit that at this time, it was no longer possible to make sense, Shangfeng only paid attention to the result, and would not pay attention to the process at all.
"The use of poison gas bombs to fight will expose the empire to the condemnation of the international community, and the upper peak will definitely find you as a scapegoat."
Xu Bangjie said: "Let the cattle push and grind, you can't help but feed the cows grass, right?" I thought that as long as I quickly opened Adachi Mountain, captured Kitakyushu, and pushed hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops into the sea, this credit was not small, enough to save me, and at most I would be removed from my post. ”
As soon as the words fell, the communications staff officer had already connected to the Army's Department of Biology and Chemistry.
"I'm Xu Bangjie, and I'll immediately mobilize 1,000 poison gas bombs to be airlifted to Busan Air Base."
"Sir, is there an order from the General Staff? We can't give you gas bombs without an order. ”
"What's the matter? Hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops are fleeing, if you don't give me the gas bombs and let the devils go, then Shangfeng will blame you and be the first to shoot you. ”
"You can't do that!"
"That's all I have! Do you give or not? ”
"I'm sorry, but without an order from the General Staff, I forgive you for your orders."
"I said, how are you so brainless? I've already consulted with the General Staff, and the order will come down soon, we must race against time now, and even a second of delay in your delay may cause our attack to fail, do you know? ”
"This ......"
"Okay, don't worry, I'll take care of something happens."
"Okay, Commander Xu, let's prepare."
"Be quick!"
Xu Bangjie put down the phone, couldn't help but let out a long breath, and then ordered: "Go, tell the Busan Air Force to be on standby at the airport immediately, and as soon as the gas bomb arrives, immediately load the plane and throw it on Adachi Mountain." In addition, at the same time, all units should check their anti-poison equipment, and immediately launch a general attack after the poison gas bombs are dropped. ”
"Yes!" All the generals received orders and went down one after another to prepare.
At 2:10 p.m. on 2 November, the Ulsan Air Force and the Busan Air Force of the Imperial Chinese Air Force dispatched 400 H1N1 bombers, carrying 1,000 poison gas bombs and 200 white phosphorus bombs and gasoline incendiary bombs, to carry out a fierce bombardment of the Japanese Adachi Mountain position.
At the same time, more than 30 artillery positions and more than 400 artillery pieces of the Chinese Emperor opened fierce fire to suppress the Japanese positions and cooperate with the air force to drop poison gas bombs.
At 2:30 p.m., all poison gas bombs and white phosphorus bombs were dropped, and the entire 60-kilometer radius of Mt. Adachi was immediately enveloped in yellow-green poison gas, and the main position of the Japanese army in the center was even more intense, and thick smoke soared into the sky.
"Total attack begins!"
Xu Bangjie gave an order, and the various sharp knife companies of the Chinese Emperor launched a fierce attack on the Japanese position, not giving the Japanese army time to hide from the poison gas.
The Japanese army thought that the Chinese Imperial Air Force dropped ordinary bombs, and the Japanese army had also seen white phosphorus bombs, and they were used to it after a long time of fear. However, the Japanese army never expected that the Chinese Imperial Air Force would drop poison gas bombs this time.
Poison gas shells were sandwiched between white phosphorus shells and ground-fired artillery shells, flames and smoke were mixed together, and the Chinese Emperor had not used poison gas in a year since the war against Japan, so the Japanese army was not psychologically prepared for this. The Japanese army failed to detect the anomaly in time at first, and it was not until a large number of Japanese soldiers suffocated to death in a horrific state that it was identified as a poison gas bomb.
In less than ten minutes, more than 10,000 Japanese soldiers were killed and wounded, and the 18th Division of the Japanese Army, which had just been transferred to the defense of Mt. Adachi, was suddenly reduced by half, and all the Japanese troops on the front-line positions were killed.
As the Chinese Emperor launched a general attack, the Japanese army immediately transferred troops to replenish the front-line positions, but the Japanese troops who went up were quickly poisoned or burned by poison gas, and in less than ten minutes, the 3,000 Japanese troops invested were completely lost. Wearing a gas mask and wrapped up tightly, the Chinese Emperor ** rushed to the Japanese position.
The 18th Division of the Japanese Army counterattacked three times in a row, resulting in heavy casualties and was completely annihilated by the Chinese Emperor ** 40 minutes later.
At around half past three, the Chinese Emperor ** occupied Mt. Adachi and had a bird's-eye view of Kitakyushu City, northeast of the mountain.
Kitakyushu City is located at the northernmost tip of Japan's island of Kyushu, separated from Honshu by the Kanmon Strait, with Hibiki Beach in the Sea of Japan to the north and Shubo Beach in the Seto Inland Sea to the east. In 1887, the Chikuho Coal Mine was developed, in 1889 Moji and Wakamatsu Ports were built, in 1898 the Kyushu Railway and Chikuho Railway were built, and in 1901 the Yawata Iron and Steel Plant was put into operation. It was once known as the "pillar of the steel industry and the foundation of the military industry", and played the role of a modern industrial base in Japan. During World War I, the outline of the Kitakyushu Industrial Zone, which was dominated by steel, coal, chemicals, and mining machinery, began to take shape, and gradually became one of Japan's four major industrial zones.
The loss of the Adachi position closed the passage for the Japanese army to return to Shimonoseki in Honshu from Kitakyushu, and the Japanese army gathered two divisions to launch a counteroffensive from both directions at the same time against the Chinese Emperor**, who had just occupied Adachi Mountain, in an attempt to recapture Adachiyama. However, the firepower of the Japanese army was very different from that of the Chinese Emperor, and the goal of recapturing Adachi Mountain was not achieved at the cost of heavy casualties.
At this time, in the easternmost part of the Ogura Peninsula in eastern Kitakyushu, more than 50,000 Japanese troops and more than 30,000 wounded soldiers, as well as hundreds of thousands of civilians, were frantically rushing to board the ship. Men abandoned women, young and strong abandoned the old and weak, soldiers robbed civilian ships, and even shot each other. Riots have inevitably occurred.
And with the capture of Adachi Mountain by the Chinese Emperor, the Japanese army was wrapped in dumplings, which added to the chaos. In particular, hundreds of thousands of civilians, carrying countless personal belongings, have thrown them on the beaches, snatched boats to cross the sea, and some have even begun to swim across the strait with their bare hands.
"Knock knock!"
After occupying Mt. Adachi, the Emperor of China set up his artillery on the original artillery position of the Japanese army on Mt. Adachi, turned the muzzle, and carried out a fierce artillery bombardment on the city of Kitakyushu City under the mountain.
All artillery guns were specially selected to fire in places with a large number of people, whether they were Japanese troops or civilians, in order to cause greater chaos under the mountain and facilitate the infantry charge of the Chinese Emperor ** in the next step.
At 4:17, the artillery fire of the Chinese Emperor ** began to extend, and 30,000 Korean Imperial Allied troops took the lead, screaming and rushing down the mountain, and began to slaughter the chaotic Japanese troops and civilians, and then more than 50,000 Chinese Emperor ** launched a charge as the second wave, leaving more than 30,000 people as the third wave reserve.
At the same time, the Japanese fortified batteries on the anti-slope of Mt. Adachi were also occupied, making it impossible to block the sea in the direction of Mt. Adachi, and more than 20 hunting ships of the Imperial Chinese Navy sailed into the Kanmen Strait and quickly cleared the last mines blocking them.
On the waters of the Guanmen Strait, hundreds of ships of various kinds were carrying Japanese troops across the strait, and fighter planes and bombers of the Imperial Chinese Air Force were carrying out fierce attacks on the ships of the Japanese troops crossing the sea over the strait.
Everywhere there were bombed-out Japanese transport ships, and thick smoke billowed. The corpses of countless Japanese soldiers and civilians floated on the surface of the sea, and the waves that were originally white had turned blood red when they rolled up.
The chaotic Japanese army was fiercely attacked by the Chinese Empire's navy, land and air forces, and was already crushed, and there were ghosts and wolves howling and shouting of killing everywhere. More than 80,000 Japanese troops suffered casualties in less than an hour, and countless civilians were killed and wounded.
Kazuo Kozuka, the commander of the Japanese army on the Shimonoseki fortress on the other side of the Guanmen Strait, originally thought that all the Japanese troops would return to Honshu safely, but he never expected that the Chinese Emperor ** would suddenly break through Adachi Mountain, so that most of the Japanese troops died on both sides of the strait.
Just after five o'clock, the mines placed by the Japanese at the mouth of the strait were cleared, and the capital ships of the Chinese Empire sailed into the strait, quickly cut off the Japanese sea crossing, sank all the Japanese ships, and unscrupulously opened fire on the Japanese troops and civilians on the sea and on the beach, forcing the Japanese plan to retreat from Kitakyushu to failure.
In this battle, the Chinese Emperor completely annihilated more than 130,000 Japanese troops, and lost more than 6,000 people, mainly due to the huge sacrifices caused during the strong attack. Of course, the casualties of the Korean Imperial Allied Army, which served as cannon fodder, accounted for most of this.
However, more than 10,000 Japanese troops and tens of thousands of civilians still crossed the strait safely.
Kitakyushu was occupied by the Chinese Emperor**, and only more than 10,000 of the 150,000 Japanese troops escaped.
In addition, the only way for the 150,000 Japanese troops in the Nakatsu area to survive was Nakatsu and its nearby 40 kilometers of coastline.
Nakatsu is an ancient castle with a long history, since the 13th century A.D. has been an important port in the eastern part of the Wakoku Kyushu, in 1911 it was the seventh largest port in the Wakoku country in terms of throughput, with 7 deep-water berths for large ships to berth, 4 dry docks and 8 km long wharves, the port channel has been dredged, large ships can enter and exit freely, and the perfect breakwater and convex pier can effectively withstand the winds and waves of the English Channel, if these port facilities can be fully utilized, 150,000 days can be safely boarded in just a few days with all the equipment.
However, since the beginning of the war, the area has been fiercely attacked by the naval guns and carrier-based aircraft of the Imperial Chinese Navy, with all four docks destroyed, an 8-kilometer-long pier bombed into ruins, and even half of the urban area of Zhongjin being razed to the ground in air raids.
The only thing that can be used for ships to moor is a less than 1,200 meters long, and it is temporarily erected by wooden piles and planks, which is very simple, and the width can only be passed by up to 8 people at the same time, only on the sea side there is a concrete pillar, with a lighthouse, and there are some wooden piles around the embankment, which can also moorth ships in an emergency, but the current is relatively fast, and there is a certain danger when the ship is docked.
There are no port facilities and breakwaters along the nearby coastline, and there is a deep-water channel parallel to the shore not far from the coast, which is connected to the channel of the Zhongjin port area, but this channel is turbulent and full of reefs, which is quite dangerous to navigate.
There are three routes from Nakatsu to Honshu, and the route to Utsuko Port on Shikoku Island is the shortest, only 40 nautical miles, but the Left Wing Army of the Chinese Empire has already occupied the port of Saeki, and taking that route is easy to be discovered by the Chinese Emperor ** and provoke the Chinese Imperial Navy to come, so it cannot be used. The route to the port of Tokuyama Shimatsu was slightly longer, 65 nautical miles, but in order to resist the shelling of the Imperial Chinese Navy, the Japanese army had placed a large number of mines on the periphery of the port, which was difficult to remove and could not be used in a short period of time. The only one that can be used is the farthest port, Yamaguchi Port, which is nearly 75 nautical miles away and takes almost seven hours to complete.
Since the Imperial Chinese Navy believed that they had destroyed the port of Zhongjin, they did not send warships over for a long time. Although there is no threat of artillery fire from the Imperial Chinese Navy, all aircraft carriers have been assigned to the left and right legions to cover the army operations, so the surrounding airspace has been very safe recently.
The night before the capture of Kitakyushu by the Chinese Emperor, the first batch of 2,000 Japanese troops, mainly logistics troops, successfully left Nakatsu and returned to Honshu Yamaguchi Port.
As soon as the retreat began, there could be no more secrecy.
Soon, the intelligence officers of the Chinese Empire at the mountain pass discovered the retreating Japanese troops and immediately reported to the General Staff of the Chinese Empire. The General Staff initially judged that this was from Kitakyushu to Yamaguchi Port by boat, so it did not pay attention to it, and asked Xu Bangjie to quickly occupy Kitakyushu to prevent the Japanese army from retreating.
However, after the fall of Kitakyushu, there were still a large number of ships in the direction of Yamaguchi to unload the Japanese army, which immediately attracted the attention of the General Staff of the Chinese Empire.
As a result, the Imperial Chinese Naval Air Force quickly dispatched a large number of reconnaissance planes over Kyushu Island to reconnoiter in the Seto Inland Sea, with the result that three reconnaissance planes were shot down by Japanese aerial fighters near Zhouyi Beach.
This immediately made Xu Bangjie vigilant, the Japanese army had fighter jets again, but they did not participate in the air battle in Kitakyushu, there must be something more important. It is clear that at such times, there is nothing more important than covering the retreat of the Japanese army.
As a result, Xu Bangjie ordered 12 aircraft carriers to pass through the Kanmon Strait and enter the Seto Inland Sea, and a large number of fighter planes were lifted into the air to cover reconnaissance planes in the waters near Zhouyi Beach.
The reconnaissance planes covered by the naval aviation soon encountered interception by Japanese planes in the air, and after several air battles, the Japanese air force was completely annihilated for the fourth time, and more than 50 fighters were shot down.
The situation was urgent, and the Japanese Admiralty began to requisition civilian ships and ships along the coast, and even called on all those who owned ships to go to Zhongjin through the radio, and these shipowners knew very well what it meant for the Japanese to withdraw these Japanese troops, so they actively responded to the appeal of the Admiralty, and barges, tugboats, cargo ships, passenger ships, fishing boats, motorboats, and even private yachts all went to sea and sailed to Zhongjin.
A total of 693 ships joined the rescue process, mainly from mountain passes and six ports in southern Honshu, and then returned after picking up Japanese officers and soldiers in Nakatsu. The farthest port of Kure sent transport ships.
On 3 November, the 2nd, 4th, and 7th Air Squadrons of the Imperial Chinese Naval Air Force quickly dispatched and carried out a fierce bombardment of the port area and beaches of Zhongjin, dropping a total of 30,000 high-explosive bombs, 30,000 white phosphorus bombs, and gasoline incendiary bombs, and Zhongjin was almost razed to the ground.
The Japanese navy also went all out to salvage more than a dozen shore-defense ironclads, cruisers, gunboats, and submarines that had just been salvaged and repaired, and the warships full of officers and men had a very deep draft and even a little tilt, and the officers and men of the navy operated the ships with all their senses and passed at full speed through the Seto Inland Sea, where the waves were raging and the bullets rained down.
Despite the best efforts of the Japanese navy, due to the lack of small ships to quickly connect people from the beach to large ships anchored offshore, the retreat was slow, with only 7,669 men evacuated throughout the day.
Early the next morning, more than a dozen battle cruisers, light cruisers, hunting ships, and submarines of the Eighth Task Force of the Imperial Chinese Navy quickly rushed to the Seto Inland Sea and launched a fierce attack on the Japanese transport ships, destroying 203 large and small transport ships and killing more than 50,000 Japanese troops in the sea.
That night, the Japanese dispatched all their warships to cover the evacuation of 40 troop carriers. As a result, in front of the powerful battle cruisers of the Imperial Chinese Navy, one was sunk with one shot, and soon all the Japanese warships and 39 troop transport ships were destroyed, only one transport ship carrying 400 Japanese officers and soldiers fled to Shikoku Island, and the other more than 30,000 Japanese soldiers died at sea.
On November 4, the Imperial Chinese Navy blockaded the port of Zhongjin, and more than 20,000 Japanese troops were trapped in Zhongjin. Subsequently, the left flank of the Chinese Empire quickly advanced, and in the afternoon of the same day, it captured Lujin Mountain, the outer defense line of Zhongjin, and after destroying more than 10,000 Japanese troops, the remaining remnants of the Japanese army surrendered.
At this point, the Battle of Kyushu ended and ended with a complete victory for the Chinese Emperor.
During the entire Battle of Kyushu, the Chinese Emperor suffered 7,436 killed and more than 23,000 wounded, and the Korean Imperial Allied Army lost 52,431 killed and more than 100,000 wounded. The Japanese army lost more than 450,000 people, 12,546 people were captured, more than 4,000 people were missing, 13 of the 20 main divisions of the Japanese army were lost, 11 reserve divisions were lost, and the rest were local garrison troops.
During the war, the direct economic losses of the Japanese kingdom and Kyushu were 920 million dragon coins, more than 1.33 million civilian casualties, and about 3 million civilians were homeless.
In the war against Kyushu, the Chinese Empire spent as much as 560 million dragon coins on its military expenditure, and lost 110 million dragon coins after removing the plundered wealth.
After the Battle of Kyushu, the Imperial Diet was greatly dissatisfied, believing that the war against Japan was not cost-effective, and demanded that the next attack on Honshu and Shikoku be stopped, and that negotiations be made with the Wa State to try to make the Wa State pay reparations to offset the consumption of imperial fees.
The General Staff immediately stated that it would definitely plunder all the lost money in Kyushu, and instructed the Imperial Allied Army to continue plundering the major cities of Kyushu in order to offset the losses of the empire, and at the same time to appease the members of the Diet and win their support to continue the war against Japan.
However, plans have not kept up with the changes. Just as the General Staff was lobbying Congress to continue to support the war against Japan, an earth-shattering event occurred in the Americas, forcing the Chinese Empire to reconsider the issue of war against Japan.
On December 11, 1915, the United States joined the Allied powers in declaring war on the Central Powers, officially joining World War I.
The United States entered the war mainly because of problems from three fronts.
First of all, the United States has not entered the war because the US government before World War I was controlled by the Rothschild family, the financial oligarchy, and the Morgan and Rockefeller consortium behind the Republicans and Democrats could not get rid of the control of the Rothschilds. After the outbreak of the war in Europe, the Rothschilds suffered heavy losses in the property of European countries, and in the two years since the start of the war, a total of 2 billion US dollars has been lost, which is basically requisitioned by various belligerents or destroyed by war.
As a result, the strength of the Rothschild family has seriously declined, and the US financial consortium that has always been controlled by him began to fight back, and Morgan and Rockefeller turned their hostility into a jade silk for the first time, and united more than 70 US consortiums to form an anti-Rothschild alliance, forcing the Rothschild family to let go of its monopoly on American finance.
After Morgan and Rockefeller got rid of the control of the Rothschilds, they were bound to expand externally. The Chinese Empire, on the other hand, had a monopoly on Europe in terms of economy and trade, crowding out the United States. The huge cake of the European battlefield was enjoyed by the Chinese Empire alone, which obviously made them extremely envious and jealous.
As a result, Morgan and Rockefeller united hundreds of large corporations in an attempt to break the Chinese Empire's monopoly on European trade. They hoped to export arms and materials to Europe, but the Allies did not buy the United States, and Britain on the Allied side was the ancestor of the Americans, and in principle was willing to import materials from the United States, but due to the harsh export conditions of the Chinese Empire (not allowed to import American materials), the Entente needed the advanced weapons and equipment of the Chinese Empire, so they could not offend the Chinese Empire head-on. Britain said that unless the United States joined the Entente side in the war, it would be difficult to import supplies from the United States on a large scale.
Therefore, in order to get a piece of the big cake of Europe, Morgan and Rockefeller and other conglomerates began to encourage the US government to enter the war.
The second reason is political. Faced with the current complex international situation, the US government did not want to enter the war. However, the escalating military confrontation between China and the United States, as well as the issue of Japan, the contradictions between China and the United States have almost intensified. A large-scale arms race between China and the United States will sooner or later break out into war, and although the United States has tried its best to avoid war, the facts before them have proven that war between China and the United States will not be far off.
In 1914, there were 83 naval confrontations between China and the United States, and the Imperial Chinese Navy even sank more than 20 American submarines. The Chinese Empire is at war against Japan, and once Japan submits, then the United States will lose its bargaining chips to contain the Chinese Empire in Asia, and the two sides will confront each other head-on.
On his third visit to the United States, Japanese diplomat Hirobumi Ito once again stated Japan's importance to the United States and asked the United States to send troops to Japan's rescue.
The US Congress believes that it is impossible to directly send troops to Japan, because the gap between the US and Chinese imperial forces is too great, and the US side is not ready for an all-out war with the Chinese Empire, and the defense is okay, and it is impossible to take the initiative to attack.
Britain has always hoped to drag the Chinese Empire and the United States into the water, but the Chinese Empire's position is very firm, and Britain has tried many times to pull the Chinese Empire into the water, but without success. However, the United States, as a country of the same origin as Britain, gradually relented to the U.S. government after two years of persuasion. Especially in the Atlantic, it is true that German submarines have sunk American merchant ships, but there have also been many times when American merchant ships have been sunk by British submarines, in order to blame Germany and pull the United States into the water.
Of course, British submarines also tried to attack the merchant ships of the Chinese Empire, thereby blaming Germany and drawing the Chinese Empire into the Entente camp. But the merchant fleet of the Chinese Empire had a large number of frigates, and the anti-submarine power was very strong, and the British submarine once tried to get close to take action, but was discovered by the anti-submarine warfare ships of the Chinese Empire. Although the Imperial Chinese Navy did not know that it was a British submarine, it issued a warning in clear code, which frightened the British submarine and left in a gray manner.
The U.S. government also knew that the Chinese Empire had made a windfall in the two years of the European war, earning at least billions of dollars. The Chinese Empire's habit of eating alone made the United States very unhappy, and the huge European cake made American politicians want to eat a slice.
But there is only one situation that can get a piece of the pie, that is, the United States enters the war and joins the side of the Entente, so that it can justifiably export materials to the Entente countries without being hindered by the Chinese Empire.
At the same time, once the United States joins the Entente and starts a war against the Central Powers, then the Chinese Empire will not dare to start a war against the United States easily, and at the same time, the United States can also win over the Entente to put pressure on the Chinese Empire on the Japanese issue, so as to help Japan.
In this way, for various political purposes, the United States chose to join the side of the Entente and declare war on the Central Powers.
The third consideration is in the military aspect. Through the large-scale arms race with the Chinese Empire over the years, the United States has accumulated great strength, but it has no actual combat experience. By participating in the European War, it can not only help the Entente countries quickly defeat the Allies, but also test the military strength of the United States, and provide valuable practical experience for the possible outbreak of military conflicts or wars with the Chinese Empire in the future.
At the same time, after the United States entered the war, it would be able to justify a large-scale military development, and such an excuse would make it impossible for the Chinese empire to accuse the United States of threatening it. Once the United States helps the Entente to win the European war, then the United States will definitely intervene in post-war Europe, and at the same time, the United States will also get the help of the Entente camp to deal with the Chinese Empire in turn.
These three factors eventually led the United States to choose to join the Entente camp and declare war on the Central Powers.
Of course, according to the American custom, you have to find an excuse before entering the war.
In the last three months, Germany has sunk 33 American merchant ships (7 of which were blamed by Britain), causing nearly $30 million in US losses and more than 1,000 US civilian deaths.
At the same time, the U.S. Intelligence Agency intercepted a secret letter from the German General Staff Headquarters to the Mexican Minister of Defense, in which Germany expressed its intention to form an alliance with Mexico. The U.S. Congress then took out this secret letter and made a big fuss, saying that Germany intended to unite with Mexico to attack the United States.
The U.S. government used this as an excuse to make a big deal of propaganda at home. The deliberate exaggeration has aroused strong hatred among the American people. Thinking that the Germans were worse than the Chinese, not only ruining the American economy, but also killing Americans, and even attacking the American mainland, the anti-German voice suddenly increased. As a result, the U.S. Congress complied with public opinion and passed the 1915 Declaration of War Act, and the United States began a general mobilization for national war.
In terms of foreign slogans, the US government shamelessly declared that the United States would enter the war in order to liberate the people of these countries under the slogan of liberating the nationals of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Turkish Empire, Bulgaria, and other countries from the rule of their respective countries.
On January 26, 1915, the United States sent an official note to the German ambassador, demanding that Germany surrender unconditionally to the Entente, which apparently did not give Germany any opportunity to compromise. Kaiser Wilhelm II immediately scolded the United States, verbally refused, and demanded that the United States surrender to Germany.
As a result, the United States declared war on Germany that afternoon. The next day it declared war on all the countries of the Central Powers.
The entry of the United States into the war fundamentally changed the nature of the war in Europe, and all the major powers in the world, except for the Chinese Empire, were involved in it. The major European media officially named the war as the world's greatest.
On January 28, the United States issued a national mobilization order. With the U.S. economy squeezed by the Chinese Empire, and the U.S. census last year showing that the U.S. population exceeded the 100 million mark, the pressure on U.S. employment is very high. More than 3 million people who are struggling to find employment or are living in severe poverty have chosen to enlist in the military in order to feed themselves.
In this way, the US ** team expanded from 300,000 before the declaration of war to 1.5 million by the end of February.
On March 5, the first U.S. expeditionary force of nearly 400,000 troops boarded troop carriers and cargo ships and set off for Europe. According to the agreement reached by Britain, France and the United States, the first batch of 400,000 American troops can be assembled in Britain and Dunkirk, France without carrying weapons, where they will be fully armed with British and French equipment.
Of course, considering the low combat effectiveness of the American soldiers (compared to the European soldiers), these 400,000 American troops must also accept the command of the Allied High Command, so they have become the first batch of American cannon fodder on the battlefield.