While the Imperial Army's 1st Army was engaged in a fierce artillery battle with the Japanese across the Chikugo River, the Imperial Navy and the Marine Corps were working together to plan to capture Sasebo Naval Base, an important base of the Japanese Navy.

Since 1883, when Captain Heihachiro Togo of the 2nd Chou Ship entered the port to survey the Sasebo Naval Base, it has gradually been regarded as an important military port, and has developed from a small fishing village in the Edo period to an operational base and shipbuilding facility for the Imperial Japanese Navy. In 1889, the Sasebo Town Guard House was established here, making Sasebo the center of defense for western Japan and a base for military operations on the Asian continent. In the Battle of the Tsushima Strait in 1905, Togo, who had become a general, commanded the Combined Fleet from Hong Kong and defeated the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Empire.

During the confrontation with the Chinese Empire, the Sasebo Naval Base was also the permanent port of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet. In particular, after the Chinese Empire helped rebuild the Ryukyu Kingdom and made Naha Port the home port of the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Imperial Navy, Japan faced a greater threat, which made most of the warships of the Japanese Navy deployed at the Sasebo Naval Base, in order to be able to confront the Chinese Navy and be able to go out of the port to fight the Chinese Navy at the first time of the outbreak of war.

In addition, from the Sasebo Naval Base, you can directly enter the East China Sea, or go north through the Korean Strait to enter the Sea of Whales. It was very convenient to threaten the coastal areas or sea transportation routes of the Chinese Empire.

In this decisive battle with the Chinese Navy, the main force of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet also departed from the Sasebo Naval Base. Although, the main forces of the Japanese Navy have been almost annihilated by the Chinese Navy. However, in the Sasebo military port, the Japanese Navy also deployed several light cruisers and more than a dozen destroyers. If these light cruisers and destroyers were desperate to rush out of the military port and into the shores of the Reich. It would also pose a serious threat to the Empire's sea lines. In addition, the existence of the Sasebo military port also contained a lot of power in the Imperial Navy. If the Sasebo Naval Base can be destroyed in one fell swoop, then the Imperial Navy will be able to draw out all these warships and use them to blockade Japan.

A plan to attack Sasebo. It was mainly done by the Imperial Navy and the 3rd Marine Division. The Navy drew three 'Three Emperor-class' battleships, plus a fleet of heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers, to form a fleet that was specifically designed to deal with the shore defenses of the Sasebo Naval Base. Even though the Sasebo Naval Base has complete coastal defense facilities, the 410 mm main guns of the Imperial Navy's 'Three Emperor-class' battleships can also smash these coastal fortifications. In addition, the Imperial Navy's 'Three Emperor-class' battleships were relatively strong in defense, even if they were hit by Japanese shore defense guns in a fierce artillery battle. It doesn't hurt and doesn't cause fatal damage. Therefore, it is undoubtedly the most suitable to use the 'Three Emperors-class' battleships against the Sasebo Naval Base. Of course, it would have been better if the 3rd Marine Division had been able to attack from the flank and take the Sasebo Naval Base in one fell swoop. In this way, it will not be possible to let the latest warships of the Imperial Navy take risks.

The Yellow Emperor was born on September 6, 4621. The 3rd Division of the Imperial Marines has advanced to the rear of the Sasebo Naval Base. The reconnaissance battalion of the 3rd Marine Division had even touched the Japanese defense line just a kilometer from the Sasebo naval base.

Japanese troops at the Sasebo naval base. A Marine Corps brigade was deployed, as well as a brigade of the Japanese 18th Division, with a total strength of more than 8,000 troops. In addition, a shore defense artillery unit is stationed at the Sasebo Naval Base, which is responsible for manipulating the shore defense artillery in the naval base to deal with targets on the sea. If I add the officers and men of the Navy who were stranded in the Sasebo Naval Base. There are more than 10,000 officers and soldiers in the entire base. Of course, among them, only a brigade of the 18th Division of the Japanese Army and a brigade of the Marine Corps really have combat effectiveness. And they had to face the 3rd Division of the Imperial Marine Corps. A reorganized marine division totaled more than 18,000 people. In terms of troops, the Imperial Marines still had a decisive advantage. In addition, the Imperial Marines were able to receive support from the Navy's large-caliber naval guns. So much so that the Imperial Marines were able to gain a further advantage in battle.

On the morning of September 6, the Imperial Navy entered the sea just over a dozen kilometers from the Sasebo Naval Base. At this distance, the three 'Three Emperor-class' battleships of the Imperial Navy could completely shell the Sasebo Naval Base with large-caliber main guns. Of course, the Japanese Navy's coastal defense artillery can also hit here. It's just that it is difficult to say whether it will be able to hit the battleships of the Imperial Navy, which are moving at high speed on the sea.

After the defeat of the Japanese Navy, Vice Admiral Keisuke Okada, Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Navy, ordered the deployment of a large number of mines in the waters outside the Sasebo Naval Base. In order to clear these mines, the Imperial Navy mobilized more than a dozen minesweepers, and after three days of hard work, it was only after three days of hard work that a safe channel was cleared. Even if the Imperial Navy's 'Three Emperor-class' battleships were strong in defense, if they ran into mines, the losses would be relatively heavy. Therefore, the Imperial Navy's 'Three Emperor-class' battleships needed to avoid entering these mine-ridden waters during the bombardment of the Sasebo naval base.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "At 9 o'clock in the morning, the battleship 'Fuxi' of the Imperial Navy first began shelling. Three triple 410-mm guns tilted towards the Sasebo naval base. Ten seconds later, the shell fell into the Sasebo naval base, and there was an earth-shattering explosion.

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, we have been shelled. It's the China Navy that is shelling us with powerful battleships! A staff officer reported to Lieutenant General Keisuke Okada with a panicked expression.

"Damn! Ordered the shore defense artillery to immediately return fire. Lieutenant General Keisuke Okada immediately ordered.

Blocking shipping lanes with mines and blocking the nearby sea with shore defense artillery became the only tactics that the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet could defend itself. However, now that the Chinese Navy has actually killed again, this undoubtedly makes Vice Admiral Keisuke Okada feel as if the crisis is coming.

"Hey! Your Excellency Chief of Staff. The staff officer nodded.

A few minutes later, the Japanese Navy's shore defense guns began shelling. These coastal defense guns are available in 305 mm, 280 mm, 254 mm or 210 mm versions. Large and small, there are forty or fifty doors in total. It was also strengthened to the Sasebo naval base after the Japanese Navy lost its advantage in the face of the Chinese Navy. It was so that after the defeat of the navy, they could also use these shore defense guns to defend the Sasebo naval base.

However, after the Imperial Navy made up its mind to take Sasebo as well, these efforts of the Japanese Navy seemed somewhat insignificant.

"Boom!" A 410-mm armor-piercing projectile hit one of the batteries of the Japanese Navy. The reinforced concrete emplacement, which was more than a meter thick, was also not able to withstand the 410-mm armor-piercing projectiles weighing more than a ton. Armor-piercing shells penetrated the defenses of the battery, exploding inside the battery. The violent explosion directly tore the battery apart, and all the artillery inside was torn to pieces, and the 280-mm coastal defense gun was also destroyed.

The batteries of the Japanese Navy's shore defense guns were almost impossible to resist the Imperial Navy's 410-mm guns in defense, and once they were hit by 410-mm armor-piercing shells, there was often only one way, and that was to be completely destroyed.

However, the Japanese Navy's shore defense artillery is still trying its best to fight back. However, it is not so easy for them to hit a battleship that is moving quickly on the surface of the sea. Most of the shells fell to the surface of the sea, splashing columns of water into the sky, and nothing else.

While the Imperial Navy was heavily shelling Sasebo Naval Base, the 3rd Division of the Imperial Marine Corps, also from the north of Sasebo Naval Base, violently attacked the Japanese Army and Marine Corps lines.

Perhaps the Japanese did not expect that the Sasebo naval base would face an attack from the land direction. Therefore, their defenses are almost always aimed at the sea. As a result, the Japanese Army and Marine Corps, when facing the attack of the 3rd Marine Division of the Imperial Marine Corps, had few fortifications to rely on, and more could only resist hard.

The Japanese Marine Corps and the Army, in terms of combat effectiveness, were no match for the Imperial Marines in the first place. What's more, the Imperial Navy also transferred two heavy cruisers to provide them with artillery support. The Japanese Army and Marine Corps, under the shelling of the heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy, suffered extremely heavy losses and simply could not withstand the attack of the Imperial Marines.

In less than a day, the 3rd Marine Division of the Imperial Marine Corps broke through the Japanese defense line and entered the Sasebo Naval Base. At the same time, the Japanese Navy's coastal defense artillery around Sasebo will also destroy most of it. The light cruisers and destroyers anchored in the military harbor suffered even more disaster.

How long can the Japanese hold out in such a situation?

In the evening of the same day, the 3rd Marine Division of the Imperial Marines captured the headquarters of the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Navy. Vice Admiral Keisuke Okada, Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Navy, was shot and killed during the battle. Subsequently, the Imperial Marines captured the Japanese Navy's shore defense artillery positions from land, completely cleared the Japanese resistance forces, and occupied the entire Sasebo Naval Base.

The fall of the Sasebo Naval Base meant that the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy had been completely annihilated ever since. At the same time, in the entire western part of Kyushu Island, the Japanese army did not have any decent resistance force. If the Imperial Army's 1st Army could defeat the Japanese at the Battle of Kurume and the entire island of Kyushu fell into the hands of the Empire, there would be no doubt. (To be continued.) )

PS: The ninth update is here, brothers, are there still monthly passes and tips?