Volume 2: War breaks out Chapter 25: Escape from Death (Part 1)
It would not be an exaggeration to describe the situation at the Imperial Navy Headquarters over the next two days as “tense” and “busy”.
This is also Tan Renhao's most appropriate feeling. He not only needs to learn from Major General Ji Xiaobin (who was promoted together with Liao Hanxiang and Wu Xianyu) about the things he should pay attention to as a fleet combat staff, but also has to complete the tasks given to him by General Liao Hanxiang.
Therefore, Tan Renhao took Hao Dongjue and Chang Jianxin, two companions who had just been promoted to majors, to the Imperial Navy General Staff to temporarily assist Navy Chief of Staff Liao Hanxiang in formulating a counterattack plan against the Japanese Navy.
When Tan Renhao learned about the current war situation, he felt a headache about the task at hand.
Within two days, the Japanese Navy and Army Air Force launched a massive bombing on all the empire's military bases and military ports in Southeast Asia. The ports of Surabaya, Lampung, Singapore, Pontianak, Tarakan, Manila, Cotabato, and Kinabalu, as well as the Imperial Navy and Army's air stations all became the targets of major bombing by Japanese bombers.
The remaining warships of the Third Fleet and the Southwest Fleet that had fled to Singapore were urgently evacuated to Colombo and Trincomalee. The remaining warships of the Second Fleet that had just arrived at the port of Jingang were urgently evacuated to Haikou and Sanya.
The Imperial Navy's warships disappeared from the waters of the South China Sea almost overnight.
The Japanese Army landing forces (the Japanese Navy has no Marines) have landed in Kuching and Jakarta respectively, and are rapidly advancing towards Borneo Island and the hinterland of Java Island. The Imperial Army troops and Marines stationed on these two islands have begun to prepare for retreat.
In addition, a Japanese landing transport fleet was gathering near Luzon Island, preparing to land on Luzon Island and Mindanao Island to the south.
Another Japanese landing transport fleet has arrived in the waters near the Lingga Islands, preparing to land in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula.
The failure of the Imperial Navy in the South Pacific was irreversible, and because the Third Fleet's main battleships were almost completely lost, the Imperial Navy's presence in the Indian Ocean was also greatly weakened. If the Japanese Navy could quickly sweep the South Pacific region, it would have enough strength and manpower to march into the Indian Ocean, cut off the sea route from the ports of the Kingdom of Burma to the Persian Empire, and even directly affect the direction of the Indian region in the war.
The situation is most tense in the Ryukyu Islands.
This was the focus of contention between the Empire and Japan.
If Japan wants to control the South Pacific region, it must occupy the Ryukyu Islands, which is a transit point on the sea route from mainland Japan to the South Pacific. If Japan cannot seize the Ryukyu Islands, then Japan’s troops in the South Pacific region will not be able to obtain sufficient logistical support and may have their logistics supply lines cut off by the Imperial Navy at any time.
If nothing else, if the Empire could deploy a few hundred bombers on the Ryukyu Islands, then all Japanese fleets would be within its threat range.
More importantly, the Ryukyu Islands are only a few hundred kilometers away from the Japanese mainland. The Imperial Navy's bombers can take off from here and bomb Japan's Kyushu, Shikoku, and the southwestern part of Honshu Island, while the Imperial Army's heavy bombers can bomb almost all industrially concentrated areas in Japan.
From a strategic point of view, the importance of taking the Ryukyu Islands is far more important than pacifying the imperial army in the South Seas.
Because of the destruction of the First Fleet, the Imperial Navy could no longer guarantee sea links between the mainland and the Ryukyu Islands, and the air force stationed on the island had also been completely lost.
Although the Army Aviation has been organizing support for the Ryukyu Islands and even dispatched bomber units to attack Japanese naval warships near the Ryukyu Islands, there has been almost no effect.
The Japanese Navy has concentrated . Within two days, the Japanese Army landing forces have occupied the Kerama Islands and several islands north of the Ryukyu Islands, and are rushing to build airports, military camps, etc. on these islands.
A landing transport fleet carrying at least 50,000 ground troops has appeared nearby, ready to launch the final landing operation on Ryukyu Island at any time.
The Imperial Navy has less than 20,000 ground forces stationed on the Ryukyu Islands, of which at least 5,000 are base civilian personnel and some ground crew members of the air force.
The loss of the Kerama Islands has made Naha Port lose its defensive value, and Major General Zhang Shouren, who commanded the defense of Ryukyu Island, has withdrawn his troops to the vicinity of Kadena Airport and rebuilt defensive positions there.
However, because a large amount of supplies were destroyed and the defenders did not have much heavy equipment, and even ammunition and food were extremely scarce, I am afraid that these more than 20,000 imperial soldiers would not be able to hold out for long.
There is also another very important battlefield, which is Jeju Island.
Jeju Island is the territory of the Kingdom of Joseon, but it is the empire's most important military base in the Yellow Sea.
Jeju Island is more than 300 kilometers away from Kyushu, Japan. The bombers deployed on the island can bomb all cities in mainland Japan.
Therefore, on the first day of the war, the airport on Jeju Island became the focus of Japanese bombers' "attention".
However, Japan did not immediately withdraw troops to launch a landing operation on Jeju Island. The main reason was that it did not have enough troops and all the ground forces mobilized by Japan had been used up.
However, as long as Japan can quickly capture the Ryukyu Islands, the next target will be Jeju Island.
Likewise, Jeju Island may be even more important to the empire than Japan.
If Jeju Island fell into the hands of Japan, the bombers deployed by Japan on the island would be enough to cover the entire Bohai Bay, and all the industrial cities and military bases of the Empire on the Liaodong Peninsula and Shandong Peninsula would be within its strike range. The Bohai Bay has always been the main activity area of the Imperial Navy, and Dalian, Qingdao and Weihai all have large shipyards.
If these shipyards were threatened and attacked, the strength of the Imperial Navy would inevitably be greatly reduced.
Moreover, the empire’s northern seaport will be completely blocked.
Judging from the entire war situation, the Empire is now in a very passive position, and all fronts are tense. The only Fifth Fleet that can attack is simply impossible to take care of every direction, and it is even unable to turn the situation in a certain direction.
This is not only a problem faced by the Imperial Navy, but also a problem faced by Tan Renhao. Where should the Fifth Fleet be placed and in which direction should the counterattack be launched? This makes it difficult for Tan Renhao to make a decision. He also does not have much hope for the counterattack. Creating a miracle is not as easy as imagined.
