If it weren't for the sailors on the Akitsu Maru braving flying shrapnel and throwing all the large amounts of ammunition and fuel carried by the ship into the sea. I'm afraid that under the heavy firepower, this ship with a full load displacement of more than 10,000 tons would have been destroyed.
, the world's first true amphibious landing ship. Either it died under the gunfire of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, or it was destroyed by the explosion of the materials carried on its own ship and sent to the bottom of the sea.
But even if it is a fluke, if this ship can return to Japan, it may be difficult to participate in any operations without long-term repairs. In order to preserve the pride of the Japanese Army, it is also equipped with the most advanced equipment among all armies in the world.
Concerning the safety of the only aircraft carrier capable of landing, last month Yoshio made the determination to evacuate the ship first.
Faced with the intensive shore artillery firepower of the Anti-Vietnamese Army, the commander of the 43rd Army specially formed for this landing operation, Lieutenant General Yoshio Yoshio, gritted his teeth. In urgent discussions with the Navy Rear Admiral Shinki Ogata, who commanded the escorting naval ship,
After that, they still insisted on continuing the landing operation.
The navy sent ships to fire as close as possible to suppress the anti-union shore artillery positions. It also directed the naval aviation still in the theater to suppress the enemy's artillery fire. To cover the army and navy transport ships, at least all heavy weapons must be sent ashore.
To support the divisions that have landed. Even if they cannot advance, they must be able to hold on to the Qikou front line.
However, Rear Admiral Ogata Shinki also proposed that the light cruiser Nagara, which was currently seriously injured, be evacuated first. The Ryuta, which was still capable of fighting, was left behind to command the remaining destroyers and warships of lower levels to continue to cover the army's landing operations.
Hold on to the front line until all troops are ashore before evacuating.
Considering the idea of the base camp, Lieutenant General Yoshio not only agreed to Ogata Shinki's request last month, but also ordered that in addition to the Akitsu Maru that had escaped, the Shenzhou Maru that had been unloaded and had received a few shells but was not seriously damaged
.Accompanied by the cruiser Nagara, which was beaten to a semi-crippled state, and under the cover of a destroyer and a coastal defense ship each, it evacuated with the retreating fleet.
All the transport ships that have been unloaded, whether they are army or navy ships, are all evacuated and no longer stay on the Qikou line. Not only are they out of the range of artillery fire, but they are directly taking advantage of the last time when the sky is still bright.
Evacuate the war zone.
Under the insistence of these two men, the 9th Division and the 44th Division that participated in the landing, mainly the remnants of the 44th Division that had not yet landed, could only continue to carry out the forced landing despite the intensive artillery fire of the Anti-Alliance. All
The transport ship that had completed unloading, under the cover of two naval defense ships and a destroyer, drove at full speed along the passage it came from, not daring to evacuate the Bohai Bay in the slightest.
The first to retreat were naturally the two treasures of the Army, the Akitsu Maru and the Shinshu Maru, and the Navy light cruiser Nagara. Of course, this premise was that the Akitsu Maru, like him, received seven shells, and the superstructure was bombed into a mess.
If his brother Shenzhou Maru can pass through safely, Du Kaishan can leave a back-up for the Japanese naval fleet in the Laotieshan Waterway and return to the homeland safely.
It’s just that last month, Lieutenant General Yoshio, the idea of preserving the two amphibious landing ships of the Army was wonderful, but the reality was extremely cruel. In fact, the Akitsu Maru was not even able to get out of the Bohai Bay. This ship suffered a blow
Akitsumaru, who was seriously injured after a sudden punch, could barely sail with his own remaining power, but the tilted hull made it difficult for the ship to move.
Just when the ship sailed to the exit of the waterway, where the large Japanese warship hit the mine, the ship suddenly struck sideways like a god. As a result, it followed the footsteps of the navy. The two anchor mines triggered by it made the ship
The ship, which was already seriously injured, could no longer bear the added damage, and was directly bombed and sunk to the bottom of the sea.
Also implicated was a navy coastal defense ship that was carefully protecting the beloved ship of the Army. It also struck a mine while rescuing the Army ship engineers who fell into the water. This Sichuan-class ship with a full load displacement of only more than a thousand tons was also implicated.
The entire bow of the Hu No. 1 coastal defense ship was blown away by a Soviet-style M26 anchor mine. It quickly sank into the Bohai Bay with the entire crew in a matter of minutes.
Two more ships hit mines. No one from the remaining ships, whether they were from the army or the navy, dared to salvage the crew members who fell into the water. They could only carefully follow the route they came from. As for those in the Bohai Bay,
In spring, there are still some sailors struggling in the cold water, so they can only hope for the best and find a way to swim to the shore by themselves.
For Major General Ogata Shinki, who lost another coastal defense ship, but at most it was a little painful. The loss of the Akitsu Maru, a national treasure of the Japanese army, made Yoshio Kamizuki twitch. Although it is a military ship,
This is an inevitable outcome in a war. But for the loss of this ship, Yoshio Kamezuki still doesn't know how to explain it to the base camp.
The loss of the Akitsu Maru made Yoshio Kametsuki even less confident about the next step of the battle. Looking at the shells constantly falling on the coastline and beachhead area, Yoshio Kametsuki drew a picture in his mind of the landing operation planned by the base camp.
A big question mark. He no longer had any hope for this landing operation.
At the moment, he only hopes that the two divisions that have landed can move south to join the 120th Division when there is basically no hope of retreat, and it is enough to escape the danger. As for the base camp,
Lieutenant General Yoshio last month no longer dared to hope for an outflank or encirclement plan.
After issuing the order to Lieutenant General Hara Mori, the commander of the 9th Division who had landed, Lieutenant General Yoshio last month immediately gave the order to the commander of the North China Front, General Okamura Neiji, and the commander of the 12th Army who was responsible for commanding the operations in the Hebei-Shandong Border Region.
Lieutenant General Eitaro Uchiyama hoped that they could urge the 120th Division to speed up their actions, break through the resistance line facing the Anti-Japanese Alliance as soon as possible, and cooperate with the landing troops, or rescue these landing troops.
In fact, from the overall situation at hand, Lieutenant General Yoshio's decision last month does seem a bit reckless. But from the overall situation, his decision is not wrong. At this moment, the Marine Special Marine Corps is cooperating with the landing operation.
, as well as the Ninth Division and the 44th Division that landed, most of them have completed the landing. If we were to withdraw at this time, I am afraid the losses would be even greater.
Moreover, the remaining transport ships and landing craft on hand are not enough to withdraw these troops. However, most of the Navy's Type II landing craft and the Army's SS large landing craft are now in the shape of wreckage at the beachhead.
The navy's one-type landing ship cannot seize the beach.
The most important thing is that both the Type I and Type II landing craft have just begun to be mass-produced by the Japanese Navy. The Army's SS landing craft have all been discontinued. All the ones that have been built and are currently in service are in order to carry out this landing operation.
They have all been dispatched. Now even if landing ships are mobilized from the mainland, there are no ships to maneuver.
The large, medium and small landing craft that can be used for retreat have also suffered heavy losses and are already quite insufficient in number. If they are forced to evacuate, they will no longer suffer losses even on the beach. But based on the current number of surviving landing craft, a wave
At most, half of the regiment, which cannot carry any heavy weapons except light weapons, can be withdrawn.
Rather than being killed by intensive enemy artillery fire on the sea and beaches during the retreat, it is better to bite the bullet and send all the remaining troops and heavy weapons that have not had time to land ashore, striving to expand the control area. Or
If you want to say something unpleasant, you should first firmly establish your footing before saying it.
While making up his mind, Lieutenant General Yoshio last month issued a death order to Lieutenant General Yuan Mamoru, commander of the 9th Division that had landed earlier, commanding all troops that had landed, regardless of the 9th Division or the 44th Division, to fight with all their strength.
Attack the enemy in depth. Not only must the beachhead be expanded, but the enemy's artillery positions must also be found and eliminated at all costs to create conditions for subsequent troops to land.
And Major General Ogata Shinki was also very interesting. After receiving the order from Lieutenant General Matsuda Chiaki and seeing the tragic situation of the large fleet with his own eyes, he did not follow the order and abandon the army landing force. Instead, he left the light cruiser Tatsuta behind.
Under his own command, he cooperated with some light ships to cover the army and send all the remaining troops ashore before the tide fell.
Although both the army's Lieutenant General Yotsuki Yoshio and the navy's Major General Ogata Shinki knew that under the intensive artillery fire from the Anti-Japanese Alliance, this persistence would mean paying a higher price. Although the Japanese army would
Some of the transport ships withdrew beyond the range of the anti-alliance artillery fire, and then used landing craft to land.
Moreover, there are not many troops left who have not yet landed. The main reason is that the combat materials have not yet been sent ashore. But after all, the number of the lightest Zhongfa and Xiaofa landing craft and their transportation capacity are there. Although these landing crafts do not have a large transport capacity at one time
, it wins because of its flexibility and small goals.
Looking at the sea and the beachhead, there were destroyed landing ships everywhere. Last month, Yoshio and Ogata Shinji gritted their teeth and ordered all the Army's SS landing craft and the Navy's Type II landing craft to total nine, plus all
All the landing craft were also put in. Spread out as much as possible, and strive to send all the last soldiers, equipment, and supplies in one wave.
The remaining six amphibious combat vehicles of the Navy's internal fireboat force that have not yet landed will no longer use Daihatsu landing craft and Type II landing ships to seize the beach. Instead, they will be directly unloaded from the transport ship and waded into the sea for landing. Major General Ogata Shinki did this.
It's a bit of a fight. The navy, which has always been at odds with the army, is quite rare to do this for the army.
However, outsiders don’t know whether Major General Ogata Shinki really has such plans for the army. After issuing the order, the combat staff beside him only saw the Major General’s expressionless expression.
He stared straight ahead, not knowing what he was thinking.
But no matter what the reason for Major General Ogata's insistence is. This landing operation to support the army has cost the navy such a heavy price. In any case, the Japanese army cannot blame the navy as it did in the past.
When cooperating in combat, we can't work hard enough.
Last month, the persistence of Yoshio and Ogata Shinki made the commander of the Ninth Division, Lieutenant General Hara Mamoru, miserable. As the first wave of the Ninth Division to land, the main force has already landed. Forty-Four
The two infantry brigades of the division, the 92nd Regiment and the 94th Regiment, have also come ashore.
However, the troops that had landed only carried part of the artillery. Most of the reinforced artillery was either destroyed on the landing ship on the beach, or struggling hard on the sea. Some of them were even still on the transport ship on the sea.
Moreover, the artillery that had landed only carried the most basic ammunition. Most of the ammunition was blown into the sky together with the landing ship.
The most critical thing is that the landed troops and more than ten tanks were exposed on the bare, almost unobstructed beach. Under the cover of the enemy's rocket launcher fire, the losses were very heavy. Of the more than ten tanks, only
Even with three vehicles, it can still be launched. Under such circumstances, without sufficient fire support, how can this attack be carried out?