A new Shiro-class destroyer carried the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet Yamamoto Isoroku and sailed into the bombed Sasebo naval port. What appeared in front of him was a tragic scene that made people cry. He looked down through the heavy rain.
Gazing at a heart-wrenching picture
It was a shattering scene. A layer of dark heavy oil floated on the water in the entire harbor. The battleship Haruna rolled over at the anchorage, revealing its red bottom. The Hizen and Shubo were still emitting thick smoke. These two ships were almost trophies from the Russo-Japanese War.
It became two ruins.
Several fire boats were spraying seawater on the still-burning battleship Kirishima. The British-built battleship Kong was stranded in the seabed mud on the shore. Only the slightly injured Kirishima was still leaning against the side of the pier.
, the broken mizzen mast was placed diagonally on the right deck of the hull, and a transport ship lay next to it.
The cruisers Ooi and Kitakami of the 3rd Torpedo Squadron sank on one side of the channel, with only the blackened upper part of the bridge exposed. The area around the shipyard was full of ruins, and the heavy tower crane that collapsed was broken into several sections and smashed onto the dock.
Several transport ships were salvaging the bodies of sailors who surfaced in the oil-filled seawater.
The bombing also caused wooden houses in the entire port area to burst into flames. Two blocks were burned to a white ground, with almost no intact buildings.
Yamamoto walked in the port area, which was filled with black ashes. Along the way, he could occasionally see charred bodies that firefighters had just lifted out of the rubble.
In the headquarters building on the second floor of the Sasebo garrison in the middle of the Matsuura Peninsula, the commander-in-chief of the Sasebo garrison, Shiozawa Yuichi, with dull eyes and a tired expression, greeted Lieutenant General Yamamoto who came to inspect. The Republic Fleet's bombing of Kyushu Island triggered
There were drastic changes in the top leadership of the Japanese Navy. Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yoneuchi and Chief of Military Affairs Osamu Nagano resigned. Former Combined Fleet Commander Yoshida Zengo became the Navy Minister. Vice Admiral Yamamoto, who was the Vice-Admiral of the Navy, was transferred to Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet.
"The navy has suffered heavy losses, and it really failed everyone's expectations!" As soon as they met Shiozawa Koichi, he bowed to Yamamoto and apologized.
"This kind of thing is not your responsibility. The entire Imperial Navy has no concept of air defense, which led to today's consequences." Yamamoto looked at the frustrated Shiozawa Koichi and said. The two were classmates at the Eda Marine School, and they were also very disappointed.
Good friend, Shiozawa Yuki has been involved in such an unfortunate incident, and I must try to excuse him no matter what.
"Have the losses been calculated?" Yamamoto asked after arriving in the war room.
"Preliminary statistical results are that the Kirishima of the third team was severely damaged, but not hit by torpedoes, the Kongo and Hiei were hit by two torpedoes and stranded, and the Haruna was hit by four torpedoes and capsized. There were also two coastal defense ships,
Two cruisers, three destroyers and four transport ships were sunk. In addition, port facilities and shipyards were severely damaged. It will take at least five months to resume normal production. There were approximately more than 5,000 casualties in the air raid."
"They are trying to eliminate our industrial capabilities. The Yawata Iron Works is finished. Kitakyushu was almost razed to the ground by the Chinese. The military headquarters in such an important place did not arrange air defense. This year, the empire's steel output will be sharply reduced to less than one million.
Tons, you all have to make the most difficult preparations." Yamamoto looked sad when he said this. Such a result was the result of what he, Minister Yonei, Narumi Inoue and others had done before the war started.
Everyone had foreseen this, and this was also the main reason why they strongly opposed the premature war with Republican China. Yonei, Inoue, Yamamoto and others were scolded as "Japanese traitors" by the radical young officers in the army. Those lawless radicals
The officers publicly threatened to get rid of these "traitors". In response, Yamamoto was prepared to be assassinated, and even wrote a suicide note to express his feelings.
"Is it possible to carry out a retaliatory attack on the Chinese shipyards and ports?" Yamaguchi Tamon, the chief of staff of the Second Division who accompanied Yamamoto during the inspection, asked the commander of the China Task Force Island who hurriedly led the fleet back from Naha.
Taro Tabōta.
"It is unlikely that our fighter planes taking off from Taiwan will be discovered by the Chinese as soon as they take off. Every time the air force takes off, it will encounter Chinese fighters that have been prepared." Military Affairs Minister Narumi Inoue said, "China
People have installed many facilities similar to transmitting radio antennas in the coastal area, and the information sent back by the intelligence department is that it is a new type of electronic detection equipment. However, due to the extremely strict confidentiality measures of the Chinese people, no specific information in this regard can be obtained."
"This is important information. We have to ask the British for help, otherwise we will always be in a passive position of being beaten." Yamamoto was shocked in his heart. The nearest distance between Japan's military airport in Taiwan and the coast of China is 180 kilometers. The Chinese people
It would be a very scary thing to be able to detect such a distant sky.
With worries, Isoroku Yamamoto hastily ended his inspection in Sasebo. He needed to rush to Tokyo as soon as possible. "Work hard, and the Imperial Navy will soon be back on its feet, just like we did in 1905."
Before leaving, Yamamoto patted the shoulder of Colonel Eijiro Matsuura, the captain of the battleship Kongo who had suffered a head injury, and encouraged him. When he said this, he did not have much confidence in his heart.
China and the United States have ended their honeymoon period.
For many years, the United States has maintained a close cooperative relationship with the Republic in order to curb Japan's expansion, especially providing a lot of military assistance. However, this good cooperative relationship changed subtly after Roosevelt came to power.
Firstly, the Republic's growing economic strength has already surpassed Japan's and has posed a substantial threat to the global economic interests of the United States. Secondly, the Communist Army's rapidly growing military strength has already been demonstrated during the Northeast Incident in March 1.
It was made clear that the Republican Army actually had the ability to drive the Japanese out of Manchuria if they wanted to.
Another point is that the rapidly growing Republican naval strength is enough to threaten the American dominance in the Pacific.
A strong Japan is not something Americans want to see, and a strong China is certainly not what Americans want either.
It would be best if the Chinese could fight to the death with the Japanese, fighting to the death.
When the opportunity came, the British provoked a war with China. Of course, the Americans were happy to sit back and watch, waiting to reap the benefits. In the early days of the Nanyang War, the Americans still adhered to the attitude of "honorable neutrality."
But as the war progressed, Roosevelt's attitude increasingly shifted to support the British and Japanese sides.
While the Republic Navy won the "Dongsha Naval Battle", the Americans expanded their export quotas of steel, oil, rubber, aluminum and other strategic materials to Japan. Roosevelt even planned to send troops to intervene in the war in Southeast Asia. However, this matter was due to domestic issues in the United States.
Isolationist voices were particularly strong and the Republican Army quickly ended the Nanyang Campaign and finally gave up.
"Where will the Chinese people's next goal be?" In the President's Office of the White House, Roosevelt was sitting in a wheelchair, looking at the huge world map on the wall, but his eyes were a little confused.
In essence, Roosevelt was a white supremacist racist, and this American leader who once received the Rhodes Scholarship also wholeheartedly implemented the original intention of the establishment of the Rhodes Scholarship - to promote English hegemony around the world. And now the British
Losing the colony made him both happy and worried.
He saw the opportunity to bring down the British Empire from the throne of world hegemony. This was an opportunity for Americans to dominate the world. On the other hand, he was very worried about the rise of the Chinese, which would make him pursue the belief of global English hegemony for decades.
Became a failure, he wavered between American hegemony and stifling the revival of Eastern civilization.
Once upon a time, the two were not contradictory, but now the rapid rise of the Chinese has made him feel the horror of Eastern civilization. This is a battle between race and civilization.
Does America need this war?
In Roosevelt's eyes, the answer was yes.
The Great Economic Crisis of 1929 caused the free market economic system led by the United States to collapse. Increasing tariff barriers hindered trade between countries. Although he won a winning streak, Roosevelt knew very well the real effectiveness of his so-called "New Deal"
It is actually far from the achievements boasted in newspapers. Although it is recovering from the trough, the U.S. economy is still in trouble and cannot extricate itself.
The United States really needs a war to revive its ailing economy.
The question is how the United States will participate in this war. This is something that needs to be measured carefully.