Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> Hero of 1911

Text Chapter 1008 Xiaguan

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    The news of the victory in the Kerama Sea Battle was like a bolt of lightning that cut through the world shrouded in the flames of war.  Born from the sea, destroyed by the sea.  This sentence is the most appropriate to describe an island country like Japan. From the Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay) incident in 1853 to the humiliating "Japan-US Treaty of Friendship and Amity" in 1855 that broke the closed-door policy, the Japanese navy has grown from scratch.  Yes, from weak to strong, the Sino-Japanese War of 1891 established the status of a powerful nation in Asia. After the Tsushima Battle, it left Asia and joined Europe in one fell swoop, becoming one of the world's top five powers. Even the Washington Naval Treaty clearly listed Japan as the third largest power after Britain and the United States.  Three sea powers.

    However, when time passed to April 26, 1941, the former Combined Fleet officially came to an end.

    A fleet that had more than 600 ships and a total tonnage of nearly two million tons before the war was rapidly falling apart.  Starting from Kume Island, the fleet to Tsukahara was attacked, resulting in the destruction of all three aircraft carriers. In the 16-day "Kerama Battle", the Chinese navy personnel standing on the remains of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 fought bravely to pursue and exhausted their efforts.  , after a series of deployments, finally completed a naval battle that will be recorded in history.

    The two Kerama ambushes are even more classic.

    If the Battle of Tsushima established Japan as a world naval power, then Kerama was the stepping stone for the Chinese navy to become the world's top navy.  So at three o'clock in the afternoon that day, Yang Qiu rushed to the Capitol Building in Beijing and informed the whole country of the victory of the 'Kerama Battle' in the form of a parliamentary speech. The whole country was in a state of excitement!  Even the world has been 'scalded' by this strong wind!

    At the cost of 1 aircraft carrier sunk, 1 seriously damaged, 3 cruisers sunk, 4 damaged, 15 destroyers sunk, and 79 fighter planes lost, a total of 6 Japanese aircraft carriers, 3 battleships,  5 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, 17 destroyers, 22 torpedo boats, 37 submarines, 5 auxiliary ad hoc ships 419 Japanese aircraft of various types!

    In just 16 days, the Japanese combined fleet that once roamed Asia and dominated the Pacific Ocean before the war basically ceased to exist!

    In the evening of April 26, local time in the United States.  Roosevelt also announced the news of the Kerama Battle to the United States as soon as possible in his daily speech.  And admit that this is a major turning point in the world's anti-fascist war!  However, this news was very bad for the U.S. Navy personnel led by Kimmel and Nimitz.  Because they know.  The rapid defeat of the Japanese Navy means that the huge US Navy shipbuilding plan will be cancelled.  Unless the German navy becomes more powerful, except for the warships that are launched or have a high completion rate, the rest will definitely be required by Congress to be abolished, and then the naval funds will be transferred to the less successful army.

    Facts have also proved that they were right in considering the disadvantages of the Army.  Within a month after the Kerama Battle, the U.S. Congress canceled orders for more than 100 ships, including 38 Essex-class aircraft carriers and Alaska-class large cruisers, to save money for more urgently needed ships.  Escort aircraft carriers, destroyers, bombers and new Army tanks, etc.

    In the Battle of Wake Island, all elite members of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were killed, and the navy's strength and experience plummeted.  On the other hand, China, which Roosevelt always wanted to contain, took advantage of its advanced aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft.  It has not only built the world's largest navy (temporarily ranking first in total tonnage), but has also trained a large number of experienced officers with experience in modern aircraft carrier operations.  In the "Battle of Kerama", the two aircraft carrier battle groups' embroidery, landing on Ryukyu to set up decoys, and two ambushes were a stroke of genius.

    So as the U.S. Congress reduces naval spending, the ebb and flow of Chinese and American navies has distanced itself.  Even Roosevelt privately admitted that unless the German navy suddenly became more powerful or China and the United States went to war.  Otherwise, the U.S. Navy will be unable to shake China¡¯s strong position in the Northeast and Southwest Pacific.  Britain was also feeling sad. Not only did the former hegemon of the Seven Seas surrender the Southwest Pacific, but with the defeat of the Japanese navy, Malacca and Andaman were about to be annexed by "allies".  And the most unhappy one is undoubtedly the Kremlin!  The failure of the combined fleet also meant that Japan's defeat was inevitable. The thought of China's millions of troops hoarded on the southeastern coast turning around and heading west made even the hard-hearted Stalin feel like needles were pricking him.  A formal alliance with Germany had not yet been established, and if Japan surrendered, the Soviet Union would truly be alone.

    Only Asia.  Especially small countries and regions such as the Southwest Pacific are extremely excited.  Because the Chinese navy's sword to the south is just around the corner, which means that it has become a reality for them to learn from Vietnam and rely on China to completely get rid of colonies.  For a while.  The word ¡®Association League¡¯, which is very unfamiliar to everyone, began to appear in newspapers and radio

    However, for the Chinese navy, their journey is not over yet.

    On April 27, the Rainbow Bombing escalated again. The Chinese Air Force changed its tactics and reduced incidental casualties by dropping leaflets before bombing to notify Japanese civilians in advance of the evacuation. Then it adopted the new tactic of multiple batches and small-scale attacks in turns to attack the Japanese population.  Towns and industrial areas with more than 100,000 people, especially shipbuilding and other maritime areasfacilities, and began a 100-day ¡®targeted removal¡¯ operation.  In three months, a total of 370,000 tons of napalm bombs were dropped, and 77 Japanese towns, 23 seaports, 19 shipyards, 1,100 large and small factories, and 750,000 buildings were razed to the ground.

    On April 29, the third day after the victory in the Kerama Sea Battle, the remaining enemies on Iheya Island were completely wiped out. The navy and air force quickly built three field airports and transfer docks on the island.

    On April 30, three infantry divisions of the Chinese National Defense Force, protected by more than a hundred ships, landed on the Kerama Islands.

    On May 1, the Third Marine Division and the Army¡¯s 77th Army landed on Ie Island, only a dozen kilometers away from Ryukyu Island.  Although the Japanese 60th Division resisted vigorously, Ie Island was completely different from the previous islands and was undefendable. In front of more than 400 tanks and armored vehicles, the Japanese 60th Division only persisted for three days before being completely annihilated.

    On May 5, after eliminating all the island strongholds west of Ryukyu Island, the Chinese Navy dispatched 7 aircraft carriers, 9 battleships, 13 cruisers and 75 destroyers/torpedo boats, and also used field combat aircraft on Kume Island, Ipya Island and other islands.  , investing more than a thousand attack aircraft to protect 220 tank/dock landing ships, 170 merchant ships and a total of 1,100 various types of landing craft, and the Navy's 2nd, 3rd and 5th Marine Divisions.  and six infantry divisions of the army, escorted to the 20-kilometer shoal south of Cape Zanpa on Ryukyu Island to land.  Although most of the Japanese navy was destroyed, Umezu Yoshijiro had no intention of giving up Ryukyu, so the battle was extremely cruel.  In the end, after two days and two nights of brutal beachhead strangulation, 20 ships were sunk and more than 4,000 officers and soldiers died.  Only after the landing troops did they open the deep channel.

    In the early morning of May 8, it was learned that the deep passage was opened, and 15 amphibious tank battalions, 3 mechanized infantry divisions, and 20 infantry divisions passed through islands such as Kume Island and began to land on Ryukyu Island.  The news of the start of the Ryukyu Campaign caused a strong earthquake in the Japanese government and opposition parties.  Hirohito immediately summoned Tojo, Hirota and others to discuss countermeasures.  While the top leaders are panicking, a huge change is quietly brewing at the bottom of society¡ª¡ª

    Shimonoseki, this place name, may be second only to Japanese big cities such as Tokyo and Osaka in China at this time.  The reason is naturally clear to everyone.  The Qing government ruined China's coastal defense for more than 20 years right here.  If Britain and the United States had not taken advantage of the need to balance Asia in the late European War and forcibly regained Taiwan, perhaps the Chinese navy would not have landed on Ryukyu but on the treasure island today.

    Maybe it was because of the desire to cut off the connection between Japan and North Korea, or maybe because of psychological ill will. Anyway, in the rainbow bombing list, Kitakyushu District (Shimonoseki, Fukuoka and other areas) was listed as a second-class target after Tokyo.  Lasting for one month.  Not only was the Yawata Iron Works blown to pieces, but 40,000 tons of napalm and high-explosive bombs were dropped.  This kind of revenge has brought serious harm to the Kitakyushu region.  Standing in the mountains south of Hachiman and looking north, there are almost no upright buildings. The casualty record of 130,000 civilians is also the second largest casualty figure after the Tokyo area.

    There is no trace of the city, but densely packed temporary tents have been set up in the mountainous areas, where hundreds of thousands of homeless people gather.  Not because of how safe it is here, but because the Japanese government and military have restricted the movement of people in various districts in order to prevent homeless refugees from causing trouble.  Everyone has to live here.

    Early in the morning, Nan Tsering, like the refugees living here, pushed his cart out of the mountains and headed for the dilapidated Yawat Iron Works and the city.  This is his and everyone's only job.  Collect blasted scrap steel.  Faced with the continuous bombing by the Chinese Air Force, Japan's metallurgical industry has been completely paralyzed. In order to maintain military needs, the Japanese government ordered the collection of private iron products, called on citizens to donate iron at home, and exchanged scrap iron for food to send refugees to ruined cities.  Collect scrap steel.

    In the eyes of outsiders, Nan Tsering is a technician at Japan's Yawata Iron Works and participated in the development of Japan's vh armor steel.  But no one knows that he has two other identities. One is a senior spy of the North Korean intelligence agency lurking in Japan.  The last one is more secretive and is an officer of National Society International in the Kitakyushu region of Japan.  Using these identities, he successfully helped the Chinese National Socialist Party obtain the vh armor steel technology it had always desired, and applied it to the navy after adding his own technology.  Originally, his mission could have ended with his achievements, but he insisted on staying in Japan and continued to promote the development of the National Society in Japan.

    Relying on their working relationship, Nan Tsering and several partners quickly found a load of scrap steel, which meant they no longer had to worry about today¡¯s rations.  "Baga! It's too little, so I can only change it to a rice ball."

    "Have mercy on my child. I am also retired from the Navy. My child is going to starve to death"

    "No! You don't have a certificate of retirement! You must obey the orders of the base camp. Find steel and exchange it for steel. Go, go, go away!"

    In the train station at Yamaguchi, there was a long queue of people exchanging steel for rations.  A strong man, several people working togetherIn the wooden carts, women carried cloth bags filled with iron blocks, and even the children were driven, dragging or hugging the rusty steel in their hands.  In front of the crowd, a man with a sallow complexion and a leg that had been blown off was kneeling on the ground with his wife, holding their one-year-old child in their arms, desperately begging the soldiers to give him one more rice ball mixed with wild vegetables and grain chaff.  .

    But because the scrap metal he picked up was not enough, the sergeant in charge refused to give him more and asked the soldiers to drive him away.  The bright bayonets and the army's unwillingness to save their lives made the refugees feel an extremely cold feeling.  "It's Kusano-kun. Hey, I didn't expect that when he came back to farm, his leg was blown off by a small bomb from China. The navy didn't care about him and drove him back. These bastards, why didn't they go to defeat the enemy, but pointed their guns at it?  We! Aren't we just rice balls?!" Faced with the constant bombing and the butterfly bombs all over the mountains and plains, everyone talked a lot, resentful and sympathetic, but no one was willing to give him the few rice balls and scrap metal.

    The so-called military-civilian unity and the so-called Japanese spirit are so pale and weak at this moment.  Nan Tsering looked at the man and couldn't tell what he was feeling.  On the one hand, there is the good news that Japan is collapsing, but on the other hand, it is the cruelty that war brings to ordinary people.  On the other hand, it is the best opportunity for the development of national society in Japan.

    So he heard that this man was once a Navy sailor and decided to help him.  However, Nan Tsering did not give the rice ball to the man immediately. Instead, he followed the man's family a long way away. When he saw no one around, he quickly stepped forward and took out a rice ball: "This is for you, let the child eat it."  "

    "Thank you, thank you!" The retired sailor with a broken leg was in tears. He accepted the rice ball tremblingly and handed it to his wife tremblingly.  "I heard that you are in the navy, why do you want to retire?" After introducing each other, Nan Tsering took the initiative to ask about retirement.

    After the man named Kusano explained, Nan Tsering found out that Kusano was an ordinary sailor in the Sasebo garrison. Because Tokuyama was bombed, he temporarily evaded the customs with the destroyer.  It happened that his home was here and it was the busy farming season, so he asked for leave and planned to help his wife plant the rice seedlings before returning.  Unexpectedly, he happened to encounter a bomber dropping butterfly mines in the Kitakyushu area that night, so he accidentally broke his leg.  The most pitiful thing is that because he was injured while on vacation, he was ruthlessly ordered to retire without even receiving a Navy pension.

    "Kusano-kun, did wereally fail?" Nan Tsering pretended not to know the external situation and carefully took out a leaflet spread by the Chinese Air Force from his arms.  The leaflet was written very simply, to the effect that 'the war is not against ordinary Japanese people, but against Japan's top officials, the military and the Emperor's group'. In any case, it is just to instigate internal conflicts in Japan.  It would have been dangerous to keep such flyers secretly, but Kusano had long been discouraged. Coupled with the pension and forced retirement, his heart was full of resentment.  So I glanced at the flyer lazily, without even stretching out my hand, and said angrily: "Mr. Nam Tsering, you saved my life, so I don't want to lie to you. This time we really failed! A few days ago, I  My comrades-in-arms came to see me and told me that they saw the Mutsu return with wounds all over their bodies. They also said that the Nagato was also sunk in the battle, and Admiral Yamamoto and Lieutenant General Ugaki Matoi were all killed in the battle  This information is still kept secret and they dare not tell everyone.¡±

    After listening to the narration, Nan Tsering opened his mouth in surprise. After a long time, he deliberately patted his shoulder, looking very worried for him: "Kusano-kun, what will you do next? You are like this now  It won't work." He glanced at the broken leg.  Kusano also knew that with his current body, he could not collect scrap steel at all, so he looked back at his wife who was hiding in the distance and feeding her children rice balls, her eyes were red: "I am going to take Masako to Atami City in Sagami Bay.  The Admiralty has set up its base camp there, and the Mutsu and the final main force are there."

    Nan Tsering was overjoyed when he heard this. He didn't expect that by chance, he could actually find out such important information. He immediately said with concern: "Rehai, it's very far away! Your body, and you have been dismissed from the navy, you have to go there."  It¡¯s useless.¡±

    "I'm not going back to the Navy, I want to go somewherebeg, leave if I have the chance, go to the United States."

    "That's it. It just so happens that I'm going to Ito to join my brother, so why don't I send you both there so that you can take care of each other on the way." From the mutual introduction just now, Kusano already knew that Nan Tsering was once a employee of Yawat Steel.  The technician was not suspicious, so he just turned to look at his wife with rosy eyes.

    PS: At the airport, ready to go home!  The family of four spent a few days in Australia, sorry, sorry!

    (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please go to m. to read.)
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report