Chapter 19: The Surprise Attack on Etajima (II)

However, for Principal Keno Kurita, an old navy, how miserable the army red deer was blown up is no longer a concern at the moment. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoBecause there is another bad news that makes him even more heartbroken: the Yamato-class No. 4 ship Kii, which is under construction at the Kure Port Naval Yard, has been blown up!

As the final battle weapon of the Japanese Empire, the Yamato-type battleship was supposed to have four sisters according to the original predetermined plan: Yamato, Musashi, Shinano and Kii. At the outbreak of the Pacific War, only the lead ship, the Yamato, was launched. Later, Musashi and Shinano were also completed and shipped one after another. Because of the harvest from the raiding of the South Seas, the financial resources and materials were quite abundant, and the performance of the Yamato-class ships on the South Sea battlefield was amazing, so the fifth Yamato-class battleship Mino was started at the naval factory in Yokosuka Town, and finally launched into service in the spring of this year and went to the Indian Ocean to participate in the Battle of Mumbai.

On the other hand, the No. 4 ship of the Kure Port Naval Yard, the Kii, first delayed the start of construction because it had to vacate the slipway to build an aircraft carrier and a fast troop carrier. Later, there was a bunch of messy accidents, and as a result, the construction progress fell behind the No. 5 ship, the Minono, and dragged on until now, the hull of the ship was finally 98% completed, and it was almost possible to launch the final procedures, but I didn't want to encounter this big bombing by the US military!

Obviously, the US forces, which had already landed in Japan, had quite accurate information on the internal situation of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and in the air raids, it was obvious that the Kure Port Naval Factory, where the battleship Kii was being built, was the number one key bombing target...... Fifteen 12,000-pound "earthquake bombs" nicknamed "goblets" hit the Kure Harbor Naval Yard, and together with other incendiary bombs and poison gas bombs, more than 1,000 workers were killed.

Three of the "earthquake bombs" accurately hit the Kii under construction, and the huge kinetic energy and powerful explosive yield caused the battleship to collapse immediately before it was launched, and three terrifying holes were dug out of the original intact hull. In the aft of the ship, in particular, not only was the No. 3 main turret a piece of steel waste, but a huge hole was cut underneath, which blew through three decks and shook the engine lines inside.

It is a pity that the battleship has not yet been launched, and it is not loaded with any fuel and ammunition, otherwise the mere explosion of oil bombs would have turned the ship into a steel twist.

When Principal Keno Kurita, who had hurried to inspect the situation, stood in the factory where the fireworks were still not extinguished, and asked the factory director if he could still complete the restoration and construction of the Kii, the factory director shook his head sadly, "...... No, Your Excellency. In order to repair the damage and complete the ship, I needed 16 partner companies, including the wartime headquarters, the Ministry of the Navy, the Ship Administration Headquarters, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, as well as more than 3,000 suppliers who provided parts...... Only a full-fledged Japanese empire could build such a great battleship. And now, the empire is reduced to a little broken wreckage. ”

In this regard, in addition to sighing, Principal Kurita Keno is also unable to think about it anymore......

After inspecting the Kure Port Naval Yard, which was almost in ruins, and encouraging the rescue team that was digging up survivors in the rubble, Kurita Keno was about to go to the field hospital to see if Jizaburo Ozawa, the president of the Naval University, had woken up, but suddenly remembered something very important:

Where has Admiral Inoue Narumi, the new commander of the Combined Fleet, who broke into his office at the moment before the bombing by US planes, somehow suddenly ran from Truk Atoll to Admiral Inoue of the Naval Academy on Etajima?

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One of the safest places in the entire Etajima Sea, on the legendary destroyer Yukikaze, which has its own auspicious aura, the new commander of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Narumi Inoue, with a large group of people, squeezed into the captain's room of the current captain Masamichi Nakasa Terauchi with a nervous and serious expression.

According to the introduction of Miss Xuefeng, the ship's mother, Comrade Wang Qiu, who claimed to be a "Comintern commissioner," was here manipulating the Doraemon plane black technology prop [Mini Reconnaissance Satellite], and using the photos taken by the satellite to show these people the scale and direction of the incoming US fleet.

In fact, Admiral Halsey had no intention of hiding his fleet at all, and from the very beginning had the idea of a hard-hitting attack. Unfortunately, after the collapse of the Imperial Japanese government, the intelligence capabilities of these remnants of the Japanese army in the Hiroshima area were really tragic, and even if they fought on their own soil, they became blinded and unaware of the incoming attack of the American army, and as a result, the naval aviation of the Halsey fleet achieved the miraculous effect of a surprise attack.

“…… Twenty-six regular aircraft carriers and light aircraft carriers, thirty-eight escort carriers, twelve battleships, twenty cruisers, more than one hundred destroyers and frigates, plus at least one hundred auxiliary ships, and the submarines hidden below the surface do not yet know how many ......"

Looking at the rows of steel giants covering the sea on the screen, Wang Qiu couldn't help but be slightly moved: he knew very well how desperately powerful the military industrial production capacity of the United States of America during World War II could be after it was fully mobilized.

In the other world, the Yankees raised a huge army of 12 million during World War II, while racing thousands of tanks and tens of thousands of planes on the European battlefield, while transfusing blood to Chairman Chiang's mud-like Nationalist Government across the Himalayas, and at the same time organizing a fleet of free steamers to take the North Pacific and Indian Ocean routes, using hundreds of ships of materials to aid the Soviet Union's steel uncle, in addition to piling dozens of aircraft carriers and hundreds of landing ships in the Pacific Ocean. With the strategic bombing that burns down a city every week, plus the atomic bombing, teach the Japanese devils how to behave...... In the end, the murderous Japanese devils were brutally abused from wolves to dogs, forcing these island dwarves to degenerate their cute skills......

At this time and space, the U.S. military has basically ceased fire in the European theater for more than half a year, and only the limited expenses for aiding Britain remain, and the vast majority of the power of the war machine of the entire United States at full power has been fiercely overwhelmed by the Japanese. It seemed normal that Admiral Halsey was able to quickly assemble such a large fleet on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, and inflict a fatal blow on the remaining native Japanese forces with a thunderous momentum.

On the other hand, although the reconnaissance effect of the [Mini Reconnaissance Satellite] made the Japanese Admirals look amazed, for them who already knew the existence of the ship and witnessed many miracles, no matter how amazing the principle and function of the [Mini Reconnaissance Satellite] were, they were a little numb. After all, they didn't really understand the difficulty of launching a satellite into orbit, but they had seen a huge factory born in the wilderness...... Instead of worrying about these technical issues, it is better to study and judge the current battle situation, which is a more important and fatal matter.

In short, Admiral Inoue Narumi turned around and took out a ruler and a map, and after a rough calculation, he found that the U.S. Naval Air Force set out from Tosa Bay to attack Kure Port, and even if it had to cross Shikoku Island and the Seto Inland Sea, the distance in a straight line would only be about 200 kilometers. This may have been a long distance in ancient times, but in the naval aviation confrontation of World War II, it was only a half-hour flight of bomber formations, and it was not an obstacle at all.

As for the US Army's B-29 four-engine strategic bomber formation, which bombed Kure Port, Etajima Island, and Hiroshima City at the same time, according to reconnaissance, it was all taken off from the Japanese mainland and occupied by the US troops in Tokyo, Yokohama, Chiba, or Sendai, which was less than 1,000 kilometers away from Kure Port. In addition, it is a traditional prosperous place in modern Japan, and even after the nuclear bombing of Tokyo, there are still many civilian and military airports left, and towers, hangars, and oil depots are all ready-made. As long as the U.S. military reinforces the runway a little, or lengthens the runway, and then uses the fleet to pull fuel and ammunition through, and then allows the B-29 to take off from Midway Island or Hawaii and transfer, then it is a ready-made air raid base. Well, you might be able to use even jet gasoline with the Japanese products you left over!

Although it is not known whether the Japanese troops in the eastern region had time to destroy the airfield and oil depot before retreating or evacuating. But even if they do this, with the engineering capabilities of the US military, as long as they directly use steel plates to pave the ground and lay quick-drying cement, it will only take a day or two to repair it......

Thinking of this, General Inoue Narumi couldn't help but feel a burst of despair: With such a huge disparity in strength, and his own side is not aligned, how can this battle be fought?

However, the captain of the Yukikaze, Terauchi Masamichi Nakasa, paid more attention to the other side of the matter: "...... Such a large U.S. fleet is located in Tosa Bay south of Shikoku Island? Less than twenty kilometers from the coast! And we don't know anything?! Could it be that all the people of Kochi Prefecture are dead?!! ”

He shook his fist excitedly, "...... As long as a plane rises into the air, a fishing boat goes out to sea, no, even a high-powered telescope is set up on a hill by the sea, you should be able to detect the enemy! Even if they were really sluggish and numb to the point of being incorrigible, after the air raid started yesterday, we should have at least radioed a warning from Kochi Prefecture when we saw so many planes flying overhead! ”

“…… Alas, I'm afraid that the people of Kochi Prefecture know everything, but they just didn't think to tell others! Especially the naval fleet of Kure Harbor! ”

"Schoolboy" shipwit Sophie. Yukifeng shrugged his shoulders and said, "...... According to the communications I have just intercepted, Kochi Prefecture had been informed at least the day before yesterday that there was a large American fleet loitering not far from the southern coast, and before the air raids began yesterday morning, the governor of the prefecture had issued a warning to all the cities and towns in Kochi Prefecture, ordering the fishermen of the prefecture to absolutely not go to sea, but it seemed that he had not thought to warn the navy on Kure Harbor's side at all. ”

“…… How can this be?! What a bunch of damn non-nationals! When a young naval staff officer heard this, his eyes immediately turned red with anger.

“…… Hehe, now that even the Japanese Empire is gone, where is there any distinction between nationals and non-nationals? ”

Snow Wind Lori pursed her lips, "...... If it is in normal times, of course, this kind of thing must be reported directly to the Tokyo base camp, otherwise it is a crime of dereliction of duty. But now that Tokyo has been razed to the ground, and the emperor and cabinet have been reduced to ashes, where should the Kochi Prefectural Office report? Moreover, Kochi Prefecture is not affiliated with Hiroshima Prefecture, and it is not even a neighboring prefecture, one is on the island of Shikoku and the other is on the island of Honshu. They were able to remind Wu Gang that it was selfless help, but even if they were silent and pretended to be deaf and dumb, they could not be said to have done something wrong. Besides, the people on Shikoku Island can't be sure that this American fleet is here to attack Kure Harbor! Maybe they were preparing for an air raid on Kyoto or Osaka? In this case, it is better to simply do more than less, just keep your mouth shut and not squeak. ”

“…… Again, it's on the good side. If the worse situation happens, maybe some counties and cities have secretly colluded with the US military! Otherwise, how dare the US military so confidently and boldly bring the fleet so close to the coast? Don't say anything impossible! Don't forget, even the remnants of the Guards Division, which were the 'Emperor's Imperial Soldiers', have now sold themselves to the 'Provisional Government of Japan' in Yokohama, regardless of national hatred and family hatred, and have become lackeys of the U.S. military. How can we expect other citizens to continue to fight faithfully? General Inoue Narumi said with a gloomy face.

INTERVIEWER This has happened in the history of Japan before, and as a people accustomed to obeying the strong, the Japanese are as famous for their steadfastness as their steadfastness. After the outbreak of the War of the Fall of the Curtain and the decisive victory in the Battle of Fushimi Toba, the next distance from Kyoto to Edo, the thousands of Eastern Expeditionary troops of the Meiji Imperial Court were bloodless all the way, and only in Kai Province fought a battle with the Hyakai Tou Qing of the Shinsengumi. There were so many other castles and feudal states on the Tokaido that they all surrendered without a fight, and in the end, even the Edo shogunate took the initiative to kneel.

Later generations often talk about the past of the end of the Edo period, and often relish the battles between the Shinsengumi and the Restorationists, but rarely think carefully about why, in the late Edo period, those Tokugawa retainers who were inherited from the Warring States period and the noble families, such as the descendants of the "Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings" of the year, and even the heads of the clans surnamed Tokugawa and Matsudaira, knelt faster than one when the building was about to fall. On the contrary, it was the Shinsengumi, a group of "temporary workers" who had been recruited by the shogunate for a few years, but they fought until the last moment in the ice and snow of Hokkaido, under the banner of the shogunate?

The reason is simple: in times of adversity, those with vested interests are always the softest in their bones, even if they have taken advantage of the old system. In fact, it is precisely because they have too many things in their hands that they think that even if they change dynasties, they will not become nothing, so they are always keen to exchange the fate and future of the country and the nation for personal gain, and even delusionally think of using the butcher's knife of the invaders to eliminate other people of the same kind and make their own power to a higher level.

The same is true today, after the Tokyo nuclear bombing, in the face of the U.S. Halsey fleet that came across the ocean, there were indeed Japanese cities that took the initiative to jump out to resist the U.S. invasion, but there were not many, a total of Nagoya, Hiroshima, Kyoto, etc., and to a large extent, they were all coerced by radical soldiers. Most of Japan's other prefectures and local governments have so far been frighteningly silent.

Even the will to fight of the native army seems suspicious. The Halsey fleet had previously swept through the major cities on the eastern coast of Japan, and at most the Japanese anti-aircraft artillery and aviation on the ground would resist only when the bombers were approaching, and they had never organized a tailgating pursuit.

As for the Japanese submarines, torpedo boats, and destroyers scattered in various ports in the northeast region, they did not carry out any decent sneak attacks or counterattacks, nor did they even take the initiative to go to sea to break the engagement and attack the US military's maritime logistics and transportation lines, but only rushed to the rear far away from the US troops.

In addition, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, and other chaebol tycoons have completely lost their face, and they are rushing to join the "Provisional Government of Japan" that advocates surrender, and treat the Americans as dogs' legs, in order to protect the wealth of their families...... As a result, the hundreds of thousands of Imperial Japanese Navy and Army assembled in Hiroshima looked around with grief and indignation, only to find themselves in a foreign country rather than fighting the enemy in their own homeland.

There was no all-people war of resistance, let alone the broken national jade, only the chaotic spontaneous resistance of a few soldiers.

If you compare it with history, it feels like a few hundred years ago after the fall of a certain prince in Japan's Warring States Period, the remnants of the party either hibernated and watched, or turned against him, or sent a letter to raise troops to avenge the master's family, and the vast majority of ordinary people stood by and watched the excitement, basically no different.

“…… According to what I've heard, the situation in Nagoya and Kyoto is also not good. A U.S. Marine Corps has landed in Shizuoka City, at the foot of Mt. Fuji, and is about to launch an attack on the 65th Division, which is holding Nagoya. The Nagoya defenders rushed to repair the fortifications and asked for help, but the whole country was silent. In Kyoto, although Major General Masanobu Tsuji's thief army was willing to support, it had only raised a total of less than 3,000 troops these days, and there was nowhere to raise guns and ammunition. Major General Masanobu Tsuji arrived in Hiroshima by plane the day before yesterday, hoping to receive help from the Kwantung Army. ”

After a moment of silence, the captain of the Yukikaze, Terauchi Masamichi Nakasa, spoke up and added, "...... It's a pity that looking at the current bombing of Hiroshima, the Kwantung Army and the Korean Army may not be able to do anything about the call for help in Kyoto and the war in Nagoya. ”

“…… Now that the location of the US mobile fleet (that is, the aircraft carrier group) is clear, can't we launch a wave of counterattacks? ”

A naval staff officer banged on the table indignantly, "...... Although there are no aircraft carriers left in Kure Harbor, there are still shore-based aviation units with thousands of aircraft, and there is also a modified aircraft carrier Condor, in Sasebo! Why can't you be beaten all the time? ”

“…… I'm afraid it's difficult, the US aircraft carrier mobile fleet retreated to the east one after another after the air raid ended, and what was displayed on the screen just now was a photo from 12 hours ago. Now they should have reached the south of the Kii Peninsula and were beyond the strike range of the Kure Port naval aviation. ”

Wang Qiu shrugged his shoulders and replied, "...... In addition, with the number of aircraft carried by this US fleet and the density of anti-aircraft firepower, it is very likely that the bombers and torpedo planes sent from Kure Harbor will not be able to break through the opponent's air defense circle at all, and will be beaten down by the Americans like turkeys. ”

“…… Indeed, the quality of the native pilots simply cannot be compared with the South Sea Front. If a submarine had been sent out in advance for an ambush, it might have been able to capture a little, but Kurita didn't do anything...... More importantly, most of us simply do not command the naval and army aviation forces here in Hiroshima. ”

Admiral Inoue Narumi said with a darker face, "...... In every sense of the word, they are not obliged to obey our commands. ”

Then, Wang Qiu discovered a new enemy situation from the screen: "...... Well, according to the newly taken satellite photos, the formation of B-29 'Super Flying Fortress' bombers arranged by the US military in Chiba Prefecture seems to have been dispatched en masse again a few hours ago! This time their bombing targets were ...... Kyoto! ”