Vol 3 Chapter 212: Bombing Sasebo

Tokyo, Japan
"Mr. Earl, Mr. Togo Heihachiro and Mr. Nanjiro, Mr. Koiso Kunio, please see you."
On the outskirts of Tokyo, there is a quiet and tranquil spring water villa. A pale-haired old man, wearing a traditional Japanese samurai costume, sits right under the eaves, and realizes it.
An old servant walked carefully to the front with a broken step, and stooped to report.
"Let them come in."
The scary old man with pale hair and beard opened his eagle-eyed eyes, it is hard to believe that such an old man can still have such an aggressive momentum, but this momentum is more A kind of suffocation for those who stay high.
From time to time, the old servant led an old man with the same gray hair, and two middle-aged men came in.
"Master."
All three were dressed in Japanese military uniforms. The oldest man was in the uniform of the Marshal, which was covered with ribbons and medals. The other two were in the uniform of Japanese generals.
This old man to the extreme is the Japanese sea soul-type character, Yamamoto Kwon. He was promoted by Togo Heihachiro.
Several people then entered the room and sat on tatami mats, drinking sake, and talking about national affairs while drinking.
"Master, we are here this time to ask you for your opinion on the situation."
After talking about the military development of the empire for a while, Nanjiro broke the peace first and asked this difficult question.
Sure enough, Yamamoto Quanbingwei shook his head slightly, pointed to the direction of Tokyo, and said, "I'm old now, I'm afraid I'm going to see the great of the sky soon, and the military affairs, you just have to take your own ideas."
"Master, you are the father of the imperial navy, and we hope to hear your teachings." As a marshal, the heroic Togo Heihachiro, although he is also a lot old, is getting old, but he is a powerful soldier. Wei still maintains basic respect. "Some people, they have betrayed the sacred duties of soldiers. They are trying to push the empire to the abyss of destruction. As an important empire minister, you should stand out. I, Togo Heihachiro, are willing to follow you, Lord Earl, for the future of the empire And make your last effort. "
Seeing that Yamamoto Kwon was still not talking, Nanjiro glanced at Xiaoji Guozhao, who had to bow his head and said, "Master, Saito went to the palace yesterday to see His Majesty the Emperor."
"Huh, he forgot the mission of the soldiers. With the support of Xiyuan Temple behind him, he didn't look at the army at all."
Nanjiro hummed, in his opinion, although Saito was a navy, he was a conservative, opposed to activism, and he was in complete disregard with the public opinion of Xiyuan Temple.
Yamamoto Quanbingwei smiled lightly, then raised his sake and took a sip. "The time passed so fast, we are all old in a flash, even Dongxiang Jun you can't escape the magic of time. Think about the Korean War, Lvshun mouthed the sea battle, battled the sea against the sea, and the Dongxiang monarch made great achievements. He defeated the Russians and the Chinese, and was the first hero of our imperial navy from weak to strong. "
"It all depends on the cultivation of adults. If it is not old, I would like to lead the army again, and it is better than that group of waste." Togo Hirahachi sincerely said.
Yamamoto Kwon nodded, no matter what, and then said, "The Great Japanese Empire is an island nation located in East Asia and borders China, North Korea, and Russia. North Korea is my empire colony, and the Chinese and Russians defeated me several times. Only our empire can Go to the height of Asian powers.
Today, however, our navy has failed again and again. I heard just now that after the Bohai Sea battle, after losing 70% of the carrier-based aircraft and a Fuso battleship, the fleet commander Yamamoto 56 ordered an evacuation. Although the empire's elite navy power was preserved, almost all of its carrier-based aircraft were lost.
We lost again. "
Faced with three former imperial military officers who focused on listening to their own words, Yamamoto Quanbing continued: "Since the Sino-Japanese War began, we have achieved great results in the land war and occupied the entire Northeast China This is a remarkable achievement. As an island nation, the empire actually occupied the northeast of China, which was much larger than the mainland.
However, the Chinese named Zhang Shusheng changed the war and changed the Sino-Japanese showdown.
The Battle of Jinzhou, we lost. The Beijing-Tianjin Campaign, we lost. We lost in the naval battle of Tianjin. We lost the battle of Shenyang, and we lost the battle of the Bohai Sea.
Guys, please tell me, what is left of the Empire?
The navy, which is the foundation of the country, was scared to retreat at full speed. Can the empire fight against the great Chinna?
Is Yamamoto 56 timid? No.
Is there not enough battleships in the Empire? No.
Is the Empire's naval shipbuilding capabilities worse than the Chinese? No "
Maybe it touched my heart. Yamamoto Quanbingwei looked up with a big mouthful of wine. "Since the war between China and Japan, I have thought a lot, because this is probably the last time I paid attention to the war in the empire. That day. After a long period of observation, I came to a conclusion.
When the Chinese were still weak, we could defeat them with a good navy, an elite army, a fearless offensive spirit, the tenacity of Bushido, and loyalty. Today, however, they have a modern army, a modern navy, and a large depth of homeland defense advantage that we must face.
Once the navy is defeated and the war continues, it will only bring down the entire empire battleship. The Chinese have used the British and the defeat of the empire to tell the world that the future naval battle will be the battlefield of naval aviation. "
"However, the Chinese negotiating requirement is that the empire must admit defeat. This is unacceptable to the imperial soldiers. Her Majesty was deceived by those politicians conspiring to betray the country." Xiaoji Guo Zhao hated.
Yamamoto Kwonbei did not answer his question, but instead said another thing, "Two days ago, Lord Xiyuan Temple Gongwang sent me a letter, which he said was given to him by Matsui Ishigen. Letter I read what I wrote on it and it makes sense. "
"Master, what's written on it?" The other three had no chance to see the letter.
Yamamoto Kwon shook his head, "The empire may have chosen the wrong enemy and the wrong time from the beginning. By the end of the war's reflection period, the trauma has been repaired and strength has been restored, the empire may have real opportunities. You Go back, everything, obey the Emperor's decision. Your Majesty is now a wise monarch with strategic vision. "
Then he waved his hand and signaled to drop off.
The three departed sadly, and even Togo Heihachiro didn't figure out what his old boss meant, but it was clear that the old boss actually supported the emperor's petition and supported the truce negotiations.
Oneself and others also want to win over the veteran, so as to force the palace to recommend, it seems that this road does not work.
After Togo Heihachiro and others left, Yamamoto Kokuhei took out the letter in his personal collection from his arms and said to himself: "If this person was born in an empire, he must be the backbone of the empire. He was right, the Chinese It is difficult to stop the rise of the Empire. The empire ’s living space does not need to be burned with the Chinese jade. Our target can be South Asia or the Soviet Russian Far East. There are also rich resources and the same vast land, but without exception, these territories In the past, they lacked sufficient strength to resist the imperial army.
If one day, the Soviet Russians are finally dragged down by Europe and the British and French powers are dragged down by Europe, then the Far East of Russia and South Asia of Britain and France will be the real basis for the empire to take off. If these two strategic goals can be achieved, I will be dead and rest assured for the Empire. "
Following the Emperor's announcement to the National People's Republic of China and the Chinese government's response statement, Japan suddenly fell into a great anger. However, in just three or four days, Japan's opposition voice seemed to disappear. You know who you are and what forces are working from behind. Those who sit quietly, government employees, those who threaten to resign, those celebrities, and government officials. The students marching and demonstrating, the newspapers that condemned the tide, all turned, began to reflect on the war, and began to face the rise of the Chinese.
The Japanese who were forced to study China found out that, unknowingly, Chinese products had been spread all over Japan, some were imported directly from Hong Kong, China, and some were imported from Western trade traders. Although they were labeled with the United States or other countries, Pulled to Japan, tearing the labels on the lower layer, but you can see the four Chinese characters made in China, from cars, radios, washing machines, televisions, to stockings, cosmetics, lighters, high fashion, etc., almost all There is a Chinese presence.
In fact, the Chinese government refused to sell advanced products to Japan. After investigation, Japanese newspapers found that these extremely popular products in Japan are actually older generations of Chinese products, which are far more domestic and foreign sales than Chinese. European and American products are worse.
In other respects, the local textile enterprises, clothing enterprises, grain processing enterprises, small machinery production enterprises, etc., which have been crushed by the Chinese economy, have been unknowingly crushed by the Chinese.
Previously, their bankruptcy was attributed to the economic crisis and the adverse effects of war.
But now, the Japanese have only discovered in reflection that, since two or three years ago, these factories can no longer receive overseas orders, and domestic orders have gradually been occupied by unknown "Western imports."
With the progress of the war, many problems have been covered, and economic bankruptcy has been classified as the continuation of the economic crisis, but few people have previously discovered that these are the signs of China's economic rise.
"The empire is being surpassed by the Chinese in all aspects"
This new China's threatening argument not only did not make the Japanese more hate China, but found a self-consolation excuse for the failure of the war.
It is not that the empire is too weak, but that the Chinese are getting stronger and stronger. Japan needs to face up to this gap, and maybe ending the war is also a good choice. Then, Japan can learn from this powerful neighbor and improve itself quickly as before.
When the wind and turbulence prevailed in Japan, an emergency event finally determined the direction of Sino-Japanese relations in the short term.
November 17, 1933
Han Jing, Zhang Shusheng's office.
After repeated discussions and demonstrations, Zhang Shusheng finally picked up the red phone on the table in person. "Implement the C plan immediately."
This is not an ultra-large-scale strategic operational plan, but it is one of several operational plans that the Navy has already formulated. In order to implement high-level decisions on the direction of the Sino-Japanese war, the C plan was formulated to accelerate the end of the war.
China cannot be beaten forever and needs to fight back. China cannot be dragged into this Sino-Japanese war forever. Therefore, Zhang Shusheng urgently needs the Navy to complete this C plan. Otherwise, the protracted war will affect the far-reaching strategic arrangements for the entire Chinese nation. The revival is very bad.
A complicated but clear combat plan was drafted six months ago under the careful formulation of the Naval Staff.
A seemingly simple order, the premise of ensuring its implementation, is the result of long-term efforts of the naval staff, Chinese agents in Japan, and the naval fleet.
On November 20, 1933, the sixth day of the Chinese government's response statement.
Over the East China Sea, there are no clouds. However, under the reflection of the rising sun, dense reflections of light appear over the East China Sea. If anyone can fly to the clouds, they will be stunned. It is a whole hundred fighters.
"It's so pretty."
Over the entire East China Sea, under the reflection of the rising sun, a fleet of 55 fighters and 49 bombers is like a golden raptor swimming across the sea of ​​clouds.
On the C-32 bomber No. 55, the gun operator Wang Han couldn't help but praise, and at the same time he picked up his registered Shuguang camera and clicked to record the aircraft group on the side of the porthole. In the background of the entire sea, the aircraft group Quite spectacular.
A perfect aerial close-up.
Packed up with satisfaction, as a member of the Naval Air Force, Wang Han is also a part-time reporter for the military newspaper. He can take some photos and send them to the internal military newspaper without affecting the operation.
In front of the aircraft group, as fighters are all J-2 fighters, and the J-2 fighters driven by Tong Tianming are one of them.
Looking at the densely packed planes outside the portholes, Tong Tianming felt bloody.
This mission was issued three days ago. After the special fleet left some bluffing warships, the main force quickly went south secretly, entered the East China Sea immediately after replenishing in Qingdao, and then turned to sail towards Japan.
After crossing the China-Japan midline position, less than 200 kilometers from the Japanese mainland, the Chinese Navy special task force finally took off this batch of large-scale fleets.
Thinking of this combat mission, Tong Tianming couldn't help laughing at himself. He used to think that the brothers of the bomber forces were not as smart as himself, often shooting down one or more Japanese aircraft in one battle. Today, however, they can bomb the Japanese mainland more comfortably than themselves.
The mission of the fleet was to shoot down backward Japanese indigenous aircraft while destroying the enemy's scarce anti-aircraft fire. The bomber group all carried high-explosive aviation bombs of 100 kg, 250 kg and 500 kg. Among them, several C-32 mountain-type bombers carried some incendiary bombs for verification purposes.
Looking at his front, left and right, and even those fighters and bombers below, he looked at the wings and portholes of the aircraft that shone in the sun, and he had a dreamy feeling.
For the first time, for the first time ever, China, we can actually bomb the Japanese mainland and burn the war to Japan, giving them the final blow.
"At the beginning of the war, we were still being beaten passively. Even biplane wooden planes were poor. In just two years, we were able to counterattack Japan and force the brutality of the war on the Japanese."
Tong Tianming reached out and touched the one-inch-sized wife's photo in the cabin, and said with a smile, "Wife, I love you. From today, our children will not hear the horror story of the devil. Because, This time the Chinese passed. "
Sasebo Naval Base, Japan.
Early in the morning, the Japanese in the military port got up early. As one of Japan's most important military ports, the Sasebo Naval Base was one of the busiest military ports. Not only here is the modern shipbuilding industry, but also Japan's second and third fleets, which have remained after many Sino-Japanese naval battles.
In these days, the Sasebo Naval Base has been more busy than usual, because here is the special task force of Yamamoto 56. With the loss of carrier-borne aircraft, Yamamoto 56 decisively ordered the task force with up to 5 battleships to retreat. Although it also lost an old battleship, the "Super Crossbow" battleship Fuso, but However, two aircraft carriers and the remaining four battleships were preserved.
"The empire's navy is still strong, but in the face of the Chinese naval aviation unit, we can only be passively beaten." Although it was early in the morning, Yamamoto 56 was a little drunk. Compared to his drunken colleagues, Yamamoto is very demanding of himself, but this time, he was hungover.
The entire empire, including this loss, was sunk by the Chinese as many as four battleships, but there are still as many as six battleships available, King Kong class, Fuso class, Ise class, Nagato class .
Any battleship has a larger displacement than Chinese warships, and any battleship is larger than the Chinese main gun.
However, it was the Chinese aircraft carriers whose displacement was not even as good as that of the Imperial battleships, but they drove the Japanese fleet back from China to Japan as if they were catching ducks.
He was willing to bear the responsibility for the defeat of the battle, but he could not watch the remaining imperial navy main force sink in China.
"Did the era of battleships really pass ..."
This was the deepest thought in his heart. Although he was unwilling to accept it, the facts told him that it was true, especially when he saw with his own eyes that the battleship Fuso was bombarded by the Chinese locust-like carrier aircraft. However, when there was no fighting back, he finally realized the importance of aircraft carriers in modern naval battles.
"As long as five years, the empire can have at least ten aircraft carriers, and by then, maybe we will no longer be afraid of the Chinese. They only have three."
This is also the reason why three books and fifty-six dare to retreat decisively. The empire can change the battleships to aircraft carriers, so that the empire can quickly have more aircraft carriers in the short term, instead of letting them be sunk meaninglessly.
Looking at the two battleships in Sasebo's harbour, Yamamoto's fifty-six heart was uneasy. The other ships have gone to several other naval bases. The two King Kong-class battleships will form the second and third fleets to defend the homeland.
"Huh? What sound?"
Suddenly Yamamoto heard some strange sounds, almost looking subconsciously towards the sky, and his face turned pale.
"The Chinese are coming ..."
"The fighter team pays attention to cover and suppress the anti-aircraft fire points, the bomber formation and the torpedo formations pay attention to the attack. Boys, the free attack has begun, and use your fruits to meet the Japanese."
When the command of the fleet commander finally came from the radio command channel, the pilots from the carrier aircraft carrier of the Chinese aircraft carrier were all crazy.
"Oh roar"
Tong Tianming was as excited as the other guys, but calmly pulled the joystick of the plane and immediately started to descend and dive.
According to the detailed distribution map of the Sasebo base sent to the pilots two days ago, Tong Tianming easily found an air defense fire point.
Looking at the growing ground in his field of vision, looking at the Japanese soldier who had just run to the antiaircraft gun, it seemed that even the pupils were scared to enlarge his eyes, Tong Tianming resolutely pressed down the cannon firing button.
"Boom boom boom ..."
The high-explosive fighter artillery guns were replaced. Although the caliber is not large, it is best to deal with such anti-aircraft gun positions. However, the high-speed guns fired seven or eight rounds, and the Japanese air defense anti-aircraft gun position fell into a sea of ​​fire. .
"Da da da……"
A Japanese anti-aircraft machine gun air defense spot finally fired, but before Tong Tianming flew by, a J-2 flew by. In the stern dive sound, a short shot, dozens of aviation machine gun bullets held it up. The anti-aircraft machine gun smashed, and even the man with the gun tore.
boom
boom
There were explosions everywhere. After the low explosion, the bomber units behind the fleet also started to bomb, and the torpedo and dive attacker units also began to dive.
"Hahaha, a big fish"
A torpedo attacker first entered the horizontal combat position and looked at the giant battleship dozens of meters away. The pilot roared loudly: "Fast, fire the torpedo."
The torpedo operator in the attack aircraft suddenly aimed at the huge battleship not far away, held his breath, and finally launched the torpedo.
"嗤 ... 嗤 ..."
The torpedo was like a big fish turning over the waves, and began to run towards the battleship. With a distance of tens of meters, a few breaths arrived. The battleship anchored in the port could not resist at all.
"boom……"
The battleship jumped suddenly with a huge explosion, and a torpedo warhead weighing several hundred kilograms tore a huge hole near the battleship's waterline, and the seawater poured in madly in an instant.
",Again."
The pilot of the torpedo attacker drove the aircraft sharply. There were two heavy torpedoes on the aircraft. This torpedo attacker named Great White Shark was newly developed based on the previous experimental torpedo attacker. A real torpedo striker or horizontal bomber.
However, before the Great White Shark entered the horizontal launching position again, two bombers flew at a nearly dangerous low altitude, and four 500 kg-class aviation bombs landed on the battleship like eggs.
"boom……"
To make matters worse, after the waterline was penetrated, the upper deck was penetrated again. Finally, an aerial bomb hit the ammunition compartment at the end, causing a violent explosion. The entire battleship jumped suddenly, and immediately It began to break from the bow position and slowly sink into the port.
This battleship is finished, and even if it can be salvaged in the end, it can only be recycled as scrap iron.
The same scene was staged on another battleship and several Japanese warships.
A huge fighter formation of dozens of fighters and 49 bombers left Sasebo, one of Japan's largest naval bases, with no resistance.
Except for occasional anti-aircraft guns on warships and anti-aircraft fire from naval ports, even the airport of Jungang did not take off a plane. In the first wave of air raids, all these old-fashioned planes were blown up on the runway.
"Hahaha ... the shipyard"
When the H bomber team rushed over the shipyard for the first time, they actually found two behemoths in the shipyard, the Japanese battleships, waiting quietly inside the shipyard.
The four bombers of the H bomber squad dropped all the bombs without the need for a fighter escort.
"boom……"
The only C32 mountain-type bomber in the bomber squad dropped two incendiary bombs in a row, and when the sky was shining, important facilities of the entire shipyard were caught in a sea of ​​fire.
In the firelight, there were Japanese shipmen running constantly. They didn't even know where the enemy came from, they were swallowed up by the fire.
After bombarding airports, warships, shipyards, oil depots, etc., the aircraft group bombarded the Japanese barracks, port facilities, and even port buildings indiscriminately until all the ammunition was thrown at this Sasebo naval base. Before starting to return home.
In just ten minutes, ten minutes, the original peace and quiet of the Sasebo Naval Base turned into a ruin, soaring fire, buildings and warships smoking smoke, wrecked airplane debris, and semi-sinking warships. Warships that burned keels and smashed ships were everywhere.
Of course, there are more dead bodies. Under the bombing of this scale, the Japanese army at the Sasebo naval base also suffered heavy losses. Besides, the two military barracks were bombed by more than a dozen heavy aviation bombs. In the sky, thousands of Japanese soldiers were killed before they even picked up a rifle and opened fire.
"Happy, it's so happy, goodbye Sasebo, I hope there is still a chance to come"
The Chinese pilots pulled up the plane, and the plane that dropped all the bombs was extremely light. The pilots operated the plane, circled it, and then reluctantly left the Sasebo naval base.
No one knows, the Chinese do n’t know, not even the Japanese themselves, how their navy rookie, General Yamamoto 56, survived the Chinese airstrike ~ EbookFREE.me ~ Only one of the guards who was killed by the plane's fire before seeing their commander of the naval fleet ran into a toilet. Coincidentally, luckily escaped a 100 kg-class aviation bomb that subsequently exploded.
An air attack that lasted only ten minutes resulted in the sinking of two Japanese battleships, three cruisers, seven destroyers, and more auxiliary ships. In addition, Sasebo Airport and Sasebo Naval Shipyard were all bombed into ruins. The loss of personnel reached more than 2,000 people, and nearly a third of the naval force was wiped out in this sudden and incomparable air strike.
The construction of local air defense airports was lagging behind, the military harbor airport was not vigilant enough, and the lack of early warning radars, the Japanese mainland was finally hit by a local air strike when it was least likely to be bombed.
When the emperor received the airstrike report, he didn't even dare to imagine that a few days ago, the Chinese were stubbornly cutting off Japan's maritime supply line, but now they have come to bomb their homeland.
At the end of November 1933, the day after the Sasebo naval base was attacked, Japanese Prime Minister Saito formally submitted to China a negotiation request based on defeat.
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