The Japanese saw the changes in China, and because the Japanese army had long regarded China as the biggest opponent in Asia, they began to plan for the war against China very early. As the vanguard of the Japanese invasion of China, the intelligence department of the Japanese army had a very strong infiltration of China's military and political circles.

Although after taking over the military and political power of the Nationalist Government, Chen Feng integrated the resources of the military command department of the Nationalist Government, the intelligence agency of the former Eighth War Zone, and the intelligence department of Yan'an, and found out a large number of enemy and pseudo spies during this period. Even so, Chen Feng still firmly believed that there were still a large number of Japanese pseudo-spy agents within the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

In fact, it is precisely because of this that the military and political orders issued from Chongqing will soon be heard by the Japanese side, although sometimes only the slightest hint will be explored, but this will make many things on the Chinese side no longer a secret.

The more I learned, the more surprised and worried the Japanese became. Although they succeeded in assassinating Lao Chiang and Yan Xishan, China did not become as chaotic as they imagined, although there was some confusion in the army on the front line earlier, and it also caused the loss of many troops and territory in various theaters of China, but the Japanese army's attempt to capture Chongqing and completely eliminate the Chinese government failed.

What makes the Japanese side even more disgusting is that they have made so many efforts, and the biggest beneficiary of the most reluctance is Chen Feng, a sworn enemy. This famous anti-Japanese general in China, the largest warlord in the northern part of the country, has become the leader of China from the beginning, beating the pro-Japanese general He Yingqin.

After Chen Feng came to power, he quickly struck hard, and in just one month, he subdued the large and small warlords in China. After successfully settling the accounts of China's military and political power, the Yan'an side, which had always been at odds with the Nationalist Government, also expressed its willingness to accept the leadership of Chongqing, which really made the Japanese vomit blood.

It has been three months since the death of Lao Chiang, and in these three months, although the Chinese side has retreated several hundred kilometers along the entire line, it has gained a firm foothold, and it has also quickly completed a major reorganization, and the newly established 11 major theaters of war are developing at a jaw-dropping speed.

On March 20, 1942, the Japanese government and the headquarters held a joint meeting at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, at which War Minister Hideki Tojo submitted a report on the situation of the war against China on behalf of the army, according to which he was trusted. The Japanese base camp judged that China's military strength had reached at least 5 million. The Army accounts for 95% of the total strength.

In addition, China's economy is recovering rapidly, and social order is also being restored. The Chinese government seems to have reached some kind of agreement with the U.S. government as well as the Soviet government, and the U.S. and Soviet Union seem to be planning to transform China's industrial base. According to reliable information received by the intelligence services. The Chinese government is preparing to build dozens of large steel plants in Panzhihua in Sichuan and Anyang in Henan. The Hanyang Arsenal, which was already the largest arms factory of the Chinese government, is undergoing renovation.

All of this points to a worrying problem: the Chinese government's national power is growing rapidly, and China's national defense capacity is also rapidly improving. This was an intolerable provocation to the Japanese Empire, so the War Department of the base camp believed that it was necessary to launch a large-scale campaign against China on all fronts in the Chinese theater, and if it could defeat the Chen Feng regime in one fell swoop, it would certainly be good, but if it could not, then it could also hinder its development to a certain extent.

Hideki Tojo's report quickly caused a shock in Japan, originally since the Japanese successfully assassinated Lao Chiang, the Japanese troops stationed in China successively occupied most of Hunan, and then drove the troops of the Fourth Theater out of Guangdong, which made the Japanese top brass see a delusion, that is, the capture of the entire territory of China is just around the corner, but I did not expect this to be the case, so many people agreed with the strategic plan put forward by the base camp and concentrated their forces to fight against China.

However, at this time, the Admiralty raised objections, because the Japanese Empire suddenly transferred the main pathology back to the Chinese battlefield, so it gave the remnants of the United States and Britain in the South Pacific theater a chance to breathe, after a small half a year of recuperation, now the US Army and Navy are constantly being transferred from the US mainland to Australia, and the US Pacific Fleet, which was originally heavily damaged, has also been replenished, plus the mysterious Chinese fleet in the South Pacific, which has caused a huge threat to the Imperial Army and Navy in the South Pacific, It must be eradicated immediately, otherwise it is likely to affect the security of the Empire of Japan.

Although the War Department also agrees with the objections raised by the Admiralty, the rapid growth of the US military strength in the South Pacific region has indeed worried the Japanese Army, but the Army has confirmed that although the United States is actively organizing forces to prepare for a counteroffensive, since the US military strength in the Pacific has basically been destroyed, it is impossible to launch even a small campaign in a short period of time, so it is reasonable to settle the war on the Chinese battlefield first.

However, the Admiralty believed that it was precisely because the U.S. military had no counterattack capability for the time being that it should launch an attack on New Guinea and Australia, because according to the Admiralty's prediction, launching an attack on the Allied stronghold in the South Pacific would only require the transfer of 12 divisions and regiments, and it would take no more than four months to solve the problem in one fell swoop.

On the other hand, if an all-out war were to be waged against the Chinese government in accordance with the War Department's plan, with the combat strength and strength of Chen Feng's troops, this campaign would definitely not end in a short period of time. If we wait for the end of the battle on the Chinese battlefield to launch an attack on Australia, Australia is likely to be fledgling at that time, and it may not be as easy to destroy it as it is now.

Japan's navy and army have always been in contention with each other, one saying that it is to the east and the other is to the west, and no one is willing to take half a step back, and this time it is the same. The joint meeting lasted for a whole day, and no one on the navy and army could convince anyone, but on the contrary, the smell of gunpowder in the entire palace became more and more intense, and if it were not for the presence of the emperor, the army and navy would probably have already started to do such things, and they had already done such things more than once. Just when the two sides were at a stalemate, an unexpected event upset the balance.

On the night of March 20, 1942, the United States sent a formation of 16 bombers. Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle commanded the bombing of several cities on the Japanese mainland, including the capital, Tokyo. The plane took off from an aircraft carrier 1,200 kilometers from Tokyo and landed in China at the last point.

50 people were killed in Japan as a result of the air strikes; 252 injured; 90 buildings were damaged or collapsed. Among those bombed were Japanese diesel engine manufacturing companies. Nippon Steel Corporation Daiichi Iron and Steel Plant, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Corporation, Ministry of Communications Substation, National Textile Garment Corporation, Yokohama Manufacturing Company Warehouse, Nagoya Aircraft Factory, 1 military factory, 1 naval laboratory, 1 airfield, 1 temporary munitions supply depot. 9 power buildings. 6 large oil tanks, 1 garment factory, 1 food storage warehouse, 1 gas company. 2 other companies. Nagoya No. 2 Temporary Military Hospital. 6 elementary and junior high schools are on duty.

The damage caused by this air raid to the Japanese side was negligible, but it shocked the Japanese government and the public. Because before that, only the super fighters of China's Chen Feng were capable of bombing the Japanese mainland. According to the Japanese side's comparison of the wreckage of the fighter plane that shot down Chen Feng's unit, it was found that Chen Feng's plane used a new type of bomber that was super huge, and the wingspan and length of this bomber reached an astonishing 30 meters, and Hangzhou was more than 6,000 kilometers, which could easily take off from a city in eastern China and stay in the air in Tokyo for two hours before returning to China.

The Japanese side was powerless against such a powerful bomber, and could only constantly expand the warning radius as a passive defense. But I didn't expect to be bombed by American fighters outside of China. What is even more embarrassing for the side is that by comparing the Girod US fighters, they found that the American pilots were flying nothing more than the most ordinary B-25B Mitchell medium bombers.

The performance of this medium-sized bomber is average, and the United States can completely assemble tens of millions of them in a short period of time, but if the United States finds out the law and concentrates several thousand of these fighters to carry out air strikes on the Japanese mainland at that time, it will be a catastrophe no less than the Great Kanto Earthquake, so the Japanese government and the opposition unanimously decided to launch an attack on the US forces first, completely destroying the Allied stronghold in the South Pacific, and at the same time the Japanese Navy is looking for an opportunity to seize Midway Island and prepare for the capture of the Hawaiian Islands.

In late March 1942, the Japanese army decided to advance into the southwest Pacific Ocean, seizing Port Moresby on the island of New Guinea and Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands in order to control the sea and air supremacy in the region and cut off the sea communication line from the United States to Australia.

On 25 March, Vice Admiral Narumi Inoue, commander of the Japanese Fourth Fleet, sent Vice Admiral Takeo Takagi to lead the aircraft carriers "Shozuru" and "Zuizuru," two heavy cruisers, and six destroyers from Truk Island.

But what the Japanese side does not know is that their operation has long been known to the US military. After the U.S. military intercepted the Japanese movement information, Admiral Nimitz, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, ordered Rear Admiral Fletcher to lead the 17th Task Force to intercept the attack in the Coral Sea.

The 17th Task Force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet consists of 2 aircraft carriers, 5 cruisers, 9 destroyers, and 144 carrier-based aircraft.

On the morning of the next day, the aircraft carrier "Yorktown" attacked the Japanese fleet off the coast of Tulagi Island, sinking one destroyer and several small ships.

On 27 July, carrier-based aircraft from the Japanese aircraft carriers "Shozuru" and "Zuizuru" sank one US oil tanker and one destroyer. At the same time, US carrier-based aircraft attacked the Japanese landing convoy and escort formation, sinking the aircraft carrier "Xiangfeng." On the same day, Japan sent 27 torpedo planes and dive bombers with pilots who could fly at night to bomb the US aircraft carrier, losing 15 planes due to miscarriage, and another 8 were shot down by F4F-3 "Wildcat" fighters.

On the morning of the 28th, the aircraft carrier formations of the two sides dispatched carrier-based aircraft groups at a distance of 200 nautical miles to engage in a fierce battle. The U.S. military flew about 70 sorties and launched an attack on Takagi's fleet. The aircraft carrier "Zuihe" fled into the thunderstorm area and was protected from attack; The aircraft carrier "Xianghe" was shot and lost its combat capability. Japan flew about 90 sorties to attack US ships. The USS Lexington was shot and sunk, and the USS Yorktown was damaged. The United States lost about 70 aircraft, and Japan lost about 100 aircraft.

In this battle, the U.S. Navy sank a large aircraft carrier USS Lexington, a tanker, a destroyer, 65 aircraft, killed 543 people, and wounded another aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown; The Japanese Navy lost one light aircraft carrier, 69 aircraft, 1074 killed, and another aircraft carrier wounded. From a numerical point of view, it was clear that the Japanese Navy had a tactical victory in the Battle of the Coral Sea. However, what happened next made the joy of the Japanese Navy's just-achieved victory disappear without a trace. (To be continued......)