Tieling rock, dense with trees

Torrential rain and strong winds, the roar of war horses on the waterside of the wasteland

The fire is united, and the sky is full of red

Comrades!

Ruizhi even if Songjiang is born late

Get up!

Charge boldly

Day by day, the northeast is restored, and the sky is dawning

……

On February 7, 1943, just after the Spring Festival, the officers and men of the newly formed Far Eastern Front Army embarked on the journey again. In the snow, the soldiers braved the bitter cold all the way north, and rushed to Yongji, which later became the city of Jilin. (Note: Different from the current Yongji County, Yongji was a county attached to Guo, and the county was in the same city)

At that time, the main force of the Japanese Kwantung Army was confronting the main force of the Second Theater on the front line of Changchun, and the troops and equipment were all pinned. The Yongji side did not have many troops and lacked heavy equipment.

In the face of the fierce right hook of the Far Eastern Front, it was simply unable to deal with it, and coupled with the lack of food in the city at that time, it was impossible to hold on, so it had to flee north with the Japanese expatriates in a hurry. Pursued by the Far Eastern Front, they suffered heavy casualties and starvation. However, due to the looting before the Japanese army left, the local famine in Yongji was also severe.

After Liu Shuai sat in Yongji, he immediately asked the Second War Zone to allocate a batch of materials to relieve the victims in the city. The situation on the ground was quickly stabilized.

Subsequently, the Far Eastern Front handed over Yongji to the First Army, and its main forces rapidly advanced eastward along the railway from Yongji to Yanji. The reason why Liu Shuai wanted to take Yongji first was because this railway could save a lot of time.

The Japanese also knew the value of the railway, so they destroyed the railway during the evacuation, causing the entire section of the road to be paralyzed. Fortunately, due to the enemy's rush on time. The retreat was hasty, so the damage to the railway was not serious. The local railway workers were extremely supportive of the war effort, and after working day and night, the entire line was finally opened to traffic a week later.

Woo-woo, amid the roar of the train, one train after another headed towards Yanji. With the help of the railway, the main force of the Far Eastern Front quickly seized the Yanji, Tumen, Hunchun, Longjing, and Helong areas located at the junction of China, North Korea, and Russia, and rushed to repair the ports and airfields in the local area to prepare for the reception of the US fleet.

At the same time, the Far Eastern Front also dispatched more than 1,000 elite troops to join the Korean Volunteers and directly infiltrate Hyesan, Mosan, Hoeryeong, Namyang and other places in North Korea. Prepare to meet the large force to cross the Tumen River.

……

March. The south of the Yangtze River is already red and willow green, but the north is still covered in silver. Due to the cold some time ago, the US military stopped large-scale military operations in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands for a time, and occasional air raids also took off from Shenyang and other places instead. The intensity and intensity of the blow have been significantly reduced.

This allowed the Japanese to linger for a while. Except for the Kwantung Army. The rest of the Japanese are eager to make this winter a little longer. A little colder, preferably the Glaciers of the Fifth Period, arrived earlier and froze all the Americans to death in Kamchatka.

However, the ice floes in the Sea of Okhotsk have not yet melted. A large fleet sailed out of the fog of the Kuril Islands.

The flagship battleship "Iowa" was sent to the Eighth Fleet as a command ship as soon as it was launched for sea trials.

It was followed by seven huge aircraft carrier battle groups, USS Enterprise, USS Saratoga, USS Essex, USS Yorktown, USS Valiant, USS Hornet, USS Franklin.

In particular, the performance of the last five Essex-class aircraft carriers has been greatly improved due to the use of a series of latest technologies. For example, in order to prevent Japanese raids and suicide attacks, its deck was strengthened to the maximum extent that it could withstand direct bombardment of 500 pounds! At that time, most of the Japanese bombs were less than 250 kilograms, and they couldn't sink even if they were left there to blow up the little devils.

At the same time, in order to protect against Japanese torpedo attacks, it was also redesigned and strengthened below the waterline. Not only are there many watertight cabins, but there is also a breakthrough in waterproof performance.

This series of reforms made the Essex-class aircraft carrier the strongest and most durable aircraft carrier at the time. In the original history, the aircraft carrier of the US Pacific Fleet was left alone in the end, the "Enterprise", and after the Battle of Kuah Island, the "Enterprise" also suffered heavy losses and was almost completely destroyed.

However, the seventeen Essex-class aircraft carriers have fought many fierce battles with the Japanese army since they were launched, and none of them have been sunk! Whether it was a bomb bomb, an airplane collision, or a torpedo impact, the Essex-class aircraft carriers stubbornly carried it and became a miracle in the history of World War II. Of course, this miracle is actually a comprehensive manifestation of American industrial power.

What is even more rare is that, because of the huge consumption during the war, the Essex-class aircraft carrier was designed and built using standardized procedures from the very beginning, and the construction of the shipyards began at the time of the movement with uniform standards.

All the weapons and equipment on the ship, including the flight deck, armor, power plant, and even the carrier-based aircraft, are produced on the assembly line. Adopt a standardized large-scale industrial production model, and roll out the construction of large shipyards on the east and west coasts of the United States. It is being produced in large quantities at an unimaginable rate.

In just one or two years, 17 ships were built and put into service at once. Several of these Essex-class aircraft carriers took only 14 to 16 months to build. This is the US way of bombing ships, relying on the strong production capacity of the defense industry to pile up the opponent to death.

As soon as the huge U.S. fleet arrived on the coast of Hokkaido, Japan immediately exploded. At this time, due to the defeat in the naval battle of the Kuril Islands and the heavy bombing of the mainland by the US military, Hideki Tojo, a war maniac who felt powerless, had already taken the blame and resigned. Since Japan was no longer available, he was replaced by reserve general Kuniaki Koiso.

Although Koiso Kuniaki is an army general, he is a straw bag in military affairs and a wall grass in politics, so the army junior and powerful factions look down on him, which makes Koiso's life very difficult.

According to the tradition of the Japanese Army, the military can be roughly divided into two parts: military orders and military administration. Among them, the chief of the army general staff is responsible for military orders, and the minister of war is responsible for military affairs.

The military order was one, and the chief of the General Staff, General Umezu Mijiro, obviously did not let Koiso Kuniaki interfere. Lieutenant General Qin Hiko Saburo, deputy chief of staff, even openly said to Xiao Ichi: "The prime minister who does not understand the modern art of war should not talk about combat, okay?" ”

Kuniaki Koiso, who was slapped in the face, had no choice but to decide to use Ishihara Waner as the Minister of War. On the one hand, they want to compete with the army for power. On the other hand, I really want to find a way out for the current Japan.

Ishihara was a well-known "slow progressive" who advocated encroachment on China rather than swallowing it up, because he had been sidelined for many years when he opposed the expansion of the war of aggression against China in '37. An ambitious and capable person like him is certainly not willing to lose his power and status.

So now Koiso Kuniaki took the initiative to come to the door, which made Ishihara feel very happy, so he asked, "I wonder how His Excellency the Prime Minister intends to solve the current crisis?" ”

Koiso Kuniaki hurriedly said: "I also have to ask Ishihara-kun for advice!" ”

Ishihara told Xiao Iso that he would definitely not be able to fight, and if he continued to fight, he would have to destroy the country and destroy the species. His opinion was to abandon the so-called "local decisive battle" and "100 million jade pieces" plans, and hurry up to negotiate with Chang Kaishen. Let's get out of the quagmire of China first. Then, on the condition that there are still some troops on hand as bargaining capital, we will negotiate an armistice with the United States and obtain a better condition.

"Nani?" When Xiao Iso heard that this was not a surrender, he hurriedly shook his head and objected: "Ishihara-kun, it is not yet certain that there is no hope of winning the final battle. If we hold on for a little longer. Maybe there will be a turnaround for Europe. ”

Ishihara rolled his eyes helplessly. This is the part of the battle. There's a fart turnaround! Even if Germany had destroyed the British, the Americans would have taken out Japan first. No matter who wins or loses, what does it have to do with Japan?

Koiso Kuniaki is still unwilling. He added: "Then we should also find a way to win a war, and then seize the opportunity to negotiate a peaceful armistice." ”

Ishihara Waner thought that it didn't make sense with this SB, so he had to say that he couldn't get sick and let him toss. Koiso Kuniaki had no choice but to look for people everywhere, but no one wanted to wade into this pond. When there is no way out, there is finally someone willing to help. Who, someone sent the former Minister of War Sugiyama Moto, nicknamed "Fool Yuan". Yes, the stinky eldest sister has taken a fancy to the stinky big brother, and these two two goods are considered to be together (stinky).

Sugiyama Moto's ideas are more radical than Koiso Kuniaki's, and he is somewhat similar to some of the bigwigs of the national army. He strongly advocated stubborn resistance to the US military and a scorched earth battle.

After returning to the post of Minister of War, Sugiyama immediately threw out his "decisive operation" plan, deciding to concentrate 53 divisions, 22 independent mixed brigades, 2 tank divisions, 7 independent tank brigades, and 4 anti-aircraft artillery divisions on the mainland, with a total of 2,250,000 troops in the army and 1,300,000 in the navy. Prepare more than 10,000 planes (there can't be so many, and most of them are suicide planes) to attack the landing US troops.

And that's not even counting, and at the same time there will be a general mobilization of the whole population. At that time, the total number of male adults in Japan reached 7,130,000, and the conscription standard was to be more than 148 cm tall, weigh more than 45 kg, and requisition people over 50 years old and people with disabilities, so as to expand the number of divisions to 169!

In addition to the regular army, Sugiyama also intends to involve civilians in the battle against the "rice animals". At that time, there were 28,000,000 men between the ages of 15 and 60 and women between the ages of 17 and 45 in Japan.

The most nonsense thing is that due to the lack of weapons, Sugiyama Motomo actually planned to let the "National Volunteer Combat Team" use cement cast grenades and bamboo guns and crossbows to fight the American army. I don't know how that cement grenade compares to the homemade grenade of the Eighth Road.

Immediately after the promulgation of this plan, Japan vigorously built permanent fortifications in Hokkaido, Sakhalin Island, and other places, and the National Volunteer Combat Corps also used bamboo guns to assist in the defense, preparing to use flesh and blood against the US aircraft artillery. Its specific plan is to defend against the attacking American forces through an out-right war of resistance, and to take advantage of the opponent's unstable foothold to destroy them before they can build a bridgehead.

"Target enemy shore fortifications, open fire!"

When the U.S. fleet arrived off the coast of Hokkaido, it immediately assumed a landing posture and launched a heavy artillery bombardment on several ports.

Thundered...... Under the blow of naval artillery fire, the Japanese defenders suffered heavy casualties, and those "permanent fortifications" that had been temporarily repaired were simply devastated and vulnerable under the direct hits of large-caliber shells. Of course, this is also related to Japan's lack of cement and steel, after all, the fortifications of civil structures cannot withstand the bombardment of large-caliber naval guns.

Moreover, the Japanese defenders could not withdraw yet, on the one hand, because they were forced by the strict orders of their superiors. Those who retreat without permission will be killed! On the other hand, although the U.S. military is now making a feint, as soon as you withdraw, maybe he will really attack. This trick was also often used by the Japanese army against the Chinese army in the past, and now the feng shui is turning, which can be regarded as the retribution of the present world.

“Cool!” The American troops shouted excitedly and fired constantly. Under the intensive artillery fire, the Japanese position was quickly bombed into a pile of rubble, but the Japanese soldiers had to continue to fill it, and even the division commander was forced to hold a gun in the trench.

After playing out a base as much as you want. The U.S. fleet departed again. Then change ports and continue firing. From the slash of the Shiretoko Peninsula, to what Abashiri, Tokoro, Wakibetsu, Monbetsu, Kobe, Yumu, Edami, Pentonbetsu, Cape Soya, Wakkanai...... The large and small seaports in the north of Hokkaido, one of them are counted as one, and they have been ravaged by the US military.

At the same time as the ship's guns were reckless. Carrier-based aircraft were also not idle. However, Hokkaido was originally an important area to be bombed. The island's valuable towns have long been bombed. The carrier-based aircraft unit had no choice but to reluctantly attack the second-level small towns and even villages.

From Japan's point of view, this is clearly a precursor to a forced landing in Hokkaido. So he hurriedly drew troops from Honshu Island to reinforce them. Of course, the U.S. military doesn't matter, anyway, if there are many people and few people, they will be bombed. One side was desperately bombed, and the other side was desperately filled, and Hokkaido soon became a flesh mill.

Just when the attention of the Japanese army was drawn to Hokkaido, a detachment with two battleships and five Independence-class light aircraft carriers as the core suddenly passed through the Soya Strait from the Sea of Okhotsk and entered the Sea of Japan.

The five light aircraft carriers "Independence", "Princeton", "Belle Forest", "Coppens", and "Monterey" were all dispatched.

Due to the loss of air supremacy in Hokkaido, and the fact that the U.S. fleet was sailing as close to the Soviet side as possible, Japan did not notice the movement of this fleet.

Of course, according to the strength of the U.S. subfleet, even if the Japanese found out, it would be useless. Don't look at it as a light aircraft carrier, the Independence-class aircraft carrier can carry a full 45 aircraft. The Japanese escort aircraft carrier, which could only carry twenty or thirty aircraft, was no match at all.

Moreover, in this operation, the US military deliberately strengthened the level of defense against Japanese submarines. At that time, the US military mainly relied on three types of aircraft for anti-submarine warfare, the first was the PBY-5 "Catarina" seaplane, which was generally carried by battleships or cruisers, and the other two were land-based bombers -- the B17 "Flying Fortress" and the B24 "Liberator" bomber.

At the beginning of World War II, the performance of anti-submarine aircraft was very backward, and the search for enemy submarines could only rely on searchlights and the naked eye. Whether you can find it or not depends on luck.

As a result of the previous ineffective anti-submarine operation, it led to the sinking of the "Wasp". The US military learned from the painful experience and immediately set about making improvements, and made a great breakthrough.

One is an airborne search radar, the other is a sonar buoy. Airborne radar I believe everyone understands, sonar buoy is a kind of detection device, generally airdropped by aircraft on a certain sea surface, once the submarine passes near it, it will soon be detected. As soon as the movements of the Japanese submarine were discovered, US planes would immediately rush to the area and send the submarine to the western sky with cannons and depth charges.

Some time ago, when the U.S. fleet first arrived near Hokkaido, it encountered Japanese submarines many times. The Japanese also wanted to repeat the glory of the "I-19" submarine, but in the face of the new technology and new equipment of the US military, they became meat buns and dogs, and there was no return. This was also one of the main reasons for Japan's failure.

After the defeat of Nomenkan, Japan sent personnel to investigate, and it took three months to do a lot of research, and the final conclusion is threefold:

First, firepower is more important than a white-knuckle assault

Second, you can't use mental power to fight (firepower)

Third, staff officers should give up the pride of being a good man

It should be said that this conclusion is very well summarized, but under the suppression of the high-level, that staff officer has been beaten into the cold palace since then. The ones who are reused are some brain-dead who firmly believe in "bushido".

When Hideki Tojo was prime minister, some of his subordinates suggested that the equipment of the Japanese army should be improved. Hideki Tojo said, "In order to win, material arming is important, but spiritual arming is even more important." Matter is always finite, and it is the spirit that is truly infinite. ”

Uh, right down to business!

Soon, by mid-March, the American fleet had managed to reach the vicinity of Peter the Great Bay, on the outskirts of the port of Vladivostok.

However, after repeated reconnaissance by planes dispatched by the army and navy, it was discovered that there were a large number of Japanese in the Vladivostok area. The streets and campsites were crowded, and the nearby fields were full of tents.

Most of these people were evacuated here from the Russian Far East and Northeast China, and there were also Japanese puppet agents of the Manchurian army, military police and other department staff, as well as some pioneer regiments, Manchurian and Mongolian companies. In short, there is a mess, a whole super refugee camp.

Due to the loss of food supplies from South Manchuria, North Manchuria simply could not feed so many people, so most of the "surplus" people came to Vladivostok by order or spontaneously, trying to return to the Japanese mainland from here.

From time to time, Japanese ships came to transport men and supplies, presumably in order to maintain their military presence in Northeast China and at the same time to withdraw surplus personnel to the country in order to strengthen the defenses of Northeast Japan.

Given the strength of the Japanese forces in the Vladivostok area, neither side was sure to take it in one fell swoop. After many consultations between Zheng Huzi and Admiral Arnold, it was finally decided to temporarily divide the US detachment into two.

One of the battleships and three aircraft carriers continued to blockade Peter the Great Bay. Another battleship and two aircraft carriers, as well as a large number of replenishment ships, continued south to deliver weapons and equipment for the Far Eastern Front near the mouth of the Tumen River.

At this time, the Far Eastern Front had completely taken control of this area, and several field airfields had been built for US carrier-based aircraft to transfer to the field. A simple wharf was also built on the left bank of the Tumen River at a place called Baishazhou. Because the corner of the wharf is far into the sea, it is jokingly called the old dragon head by the soldiers, so this port is also called the dragon head port.

After the U.S. fleet went south, it resupplied the Far Eastern Front directly at Longtou Port. Since then, the Far Eastern Front has changed its guns and its equipment has been comprehensively upgraded.

Subsequently, Zheng Huzi ordered the construction of a road from Yanji to Longtou Port. At the same time, the U.S. side has also renovated and upgraded the Longtou Port, which has greatly increased the port's throughput, and U.S. aid materials have begun to flow to Northeast China through Japan.

At this point, a sea passage was finally opened between the Second Theater and the US North Pacific Theater, which made the two sides more closely linked and laid a material foundation for the strategic idea of advancing east and west. Of course, it also hastened the demise of Japan. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you very much for the monthly pass of the 676262, and the total collection has also broken through the 6000 mark, thank you for your support! It's probably too late to double today, but try to get it earlier tomorrow.