Kazuo Fujii and Morio Shibata stood on the deck, with the blue sky and white clouds floating by.
Nearly two hundred ships drew white lines on the deep blue mirror-like sea. The scene of thousands of ships advancing in unison was spectacular and shocking.
Kazuo Fujii was the commander of the 3rd Division, and Morio Shibata was the commander of the 5th Division.
The two men smoked cigars and looked into the distance. The northern region of Zhongzhou was the dream place of all Japanese men with dreams.
Now, this dream is finally coming true.
Moreover, the Kingdom is also practicing large-scale sea transport.
More than one hundred ships of various kinds were requisitioned, including fifteen cruise ships for two divisions of more than sixty thousand soldiers.
If it were a normal cruise ship, it could carry about 2,000 people, but when it came to carrying soldiers, each cruise ship could carry about 5,000 people. Fortunately, it would take less than a day's voyage to reach the Middle Continent.
The rest of the ships carried various equipment and supplies, including various artillery pieces, armored vehicles, trucks, mules and horses, weapons and ammunition, etc.
In front and behind the periphery, there are escorts from various large and small gunboats.
Because of the recent changes in the Eastern Alliance's Coast Guard, the escort gunboats have gathered almost all of the Kingdom of Japan's naval forces.
Although according to various intelligence sources, most members of the Eastern Alliance were very dissatisfied with the Principality of Montenegro for provoking the war.
But it is still better to be cautious. It would be a pity if the personnel and all equipment and materials of the two divisions, as well as the large amount of strategic materials supporting the northern battlefield, were to be lost due to insufficient defense in the event of a surprise attack.
This is a battle of destiny that gathers the resources of the entire kingdom.
Today's huge fleet is naturally capable of handling any challenge.
Kazuo Fujii looked at the magnificent sight of the huge fleet sailing through the vast ocean, and said with a smile: "General Shibata, I never thought that we would have the opportunity to work together!"
Shibata Morio was a short and fat man with a protruding belly, smoking a huge cigar. He came from a top aristocratic family. After listening to what Fujii Kazuo said, he nodded with a playful smile on his face.
Suddenly, Shibata Morio said, "The wife of the Prince of Black Mountain Castle, I heard that the little princess is only ten years old?" His smile was a little lewd, "If it was thousands of years ago, would the defeated side offer the queen to seek peace?"
Kazuo Fujii was stunned and looked at Shibata Morio's shiny bald head. He heard that there were evil people inside, and it turned out to be true. What was he thinking about
When he looked up, Fujii Kazuo frowned slightly: "Something seems to be wrong?"
In the distance, there was a flock of birds, dense black dots. It was the migration season for migratory birds. Kazuo Fujii, who was a fisherman, was used to this kind of scene and didn't pay much attention to it.
But now, it was discovered that the flock of birds seemed to be coming towards the direction of the fleet, and there seemed to be a faint buzzing sound.
"Bring the telescope!" Kazuo Fujii waved to the side.
The guard hurried over and handed over the telescope. Kazuo Fujii picked it up and looked at the flock of birds.
Eh? Fujii Kazuo was stunned for a moment, "Strange, so many planes!"
There were densely packed propeller planes flying in the distant sky, probably hundreds of them. They were all small planes that could only carry three or four people. Their shapes were somewhat strange. So many of them gathered together to form a very neat formation. No one knew what they were doing. It was really weird.
The buzzing grew louder.
Shibata Morio, who was too lazy to pay attention to Fujii Kazuo's childish behavior, looked up at the sky.
Even with the naked eye, one could gradually see that this was a group of propeller planes arranged in neat formations.
On many ships, soldiers ran to the deck to see what was new.
They talked a lot and looked at the direction. The plane came from the East China Sea. Only in the East China Sea could there be so many planes, and they could fly together for fun.
Many people talked about it with envy. For them, taking a plane to see the sky was an unattainable dream.
"Go tell the first mate and ask the flag bearer to give a signal to let our ships disperse..." Kazuo Fujii felt more and more uneasy, and he waved to the guards and gave orders.
Shibata Morio immediately sneered, "Yifu, this is public waters, why do we have to show courtesy to people from the East China Sea?" He shook his head, "Besides, they are flying in the sky and we are walking in the sea, do we need to give way?"
Kazuo Fujii didn't say anything. The guards next to him looked at the two officers, feeling a little at a loss as to what to do.
At this time, the buzzing sound was already somewhat harsh, and the fleet of aircraft was about to reach the top of the fleet.
Suddenly, the plane at the front of the fleet suddenly fell down, and the planes following it also fell one by one.
Just as some soldiers who were watching the excitement on the decks of some ships exclaimed in surprise, they saw that these planes were not really malfunctioning, but were performing acrobatics. They seemed to be falling, but in fact the falling action was done with great agility. They were just quickly lowering their flying altitude and then suddenly diving towards their fleet, one after another, with graceful postures and formations.
And only then could it be seen that the fleet was divided into twenty or thirty columns, each column having three or four planes. At this moment, they were like a dense black flock of birds that suddenly dispersed, and transformed into dozens of black trails drawn by sharp arrows, swooping down fiercely towards the ships of the fleet.
Even though they didn't know what the other side was doing, all the Japanese soldiers watching the fun on the deck screamed in fear and ran away.
"Buzz." The loud buzzing sound of the "Sky Punisher" bomber equipped with a buzzer made Fujii Kazuo cover his ears involuntarily. At the same time, he was heavily thrown to the deck by the guards.
When he looked up, he could even see clearly that the pilot wearing an oxygen mask in the swooping black fighter plane was a Central Asian.
Then, suddenly, a number of black oval objects fell from the belly of the fighter plane, and the fighter plane quickly pulled up, almost flying over the top of the ship.
Before Fujii Kazuo could react, a series of violent explosions rang out, the ship shook violently, and he was blown away by the huge air wave and fell into the sea.
At this time, the entire sea was filled with explosions and ships on fire everywhere.
Dive bombing is a bomber combat method that is almost risk-free and has the ultimate in accuracy and power when facing targets with no air defense capabilities.
After all, the other side did not pick up rifles to shoot, and they became completely headless flies. Most of the machine guns and so on were in the cabin warehouse.
The bomber fleet of the Principality of Montenegro was almost more relaxed and efficient than in an exercise, and posed no threat at all. They dived-dropped bombs-pulled up, then dived-dropped bombs-pulled up, repeating the process again and again until all the bombs in the cabin, including those under the wings, were dropped cleanly.
During exercises, usually all bombs would be dropped in one dive to avoid having to drop bombs a second time.
A one-sided massacre with no chance of fighting back.
There were screams, explosions, and thick black smoke rising from the sea.
…
Kazuo Fujii was rescued by a small gunboat. At this time, the nightmarish bombing had ended.
But in the sky not far away, there were still a few extremely small propeller planes hovering, as if they were investigating something.
On the sea, there were ships on fire everywhere.
There were all kinds of hair-raising screams, and countless soldiers struggling in the sea, calling for help.
The ship that Kazuo Fujii was originally on was flying the flagship flag and was the largest gunboat in the Kingdom of Japan, called a destroyer.
Apparently, it had also been the focus of enemy aircraft attention. Half of the ship was now in flames, while the other half had sunk below the horizon and was gradually sinking.
"Drive over and see if General Shibata is still on the boat or among the soldiers who fell into the water!" Kazuo Fujii shouted.
The captain of the gunboat agreed and ordered the helmsman to turn the rudder away from the ships that were burning fiercely and go around the "Kato".
Kazuo Fujii looked blankly at the miserable state of the fleet that had just been so huge on the sea.
Almost all the ships loaded with ammunition exploded and caught fire, and some sank completely.
"Ah, troop transport, give me the telescope!" said Kazuo Fujii anxiously.
Of the twelve troop transport ships, half were sinking, and the rest were damaged to varying degrees. Some had their power systems paralyzed and were emitting thick black smoke, unable to move.
The soldiers who fell into the water were rescued by some ships that were still able to approach.
Many soldiers in the water were swimming hard towards the ships that had not yet sunk.
…
The small gunboat circled the flagship "Kato" several times but found no trace of Shibata Morio, but it did rescue several senior officers.
They could only turn a blind eye to the soldiers who were desperately calling for help in the nearby waters.
Kazuo Fujii paced on the deck, his head buzzing as he listened to the captain contacting various ships to summarize the losses of the entire fleet.
More than two-thirds of the large ships carrying personnel and supplies were sinking, and the rest were damaged to varying degrees. Many ships were seriously flooded, and some of them would probably sink on the way back to the port even if they were rescued by powerful ships. Not to mention that there would be no ships to rescue them.
However, the small gunboats were highly maneuverable and avoided the enemy's bombing. Or it could be said that the enemy's target was only the large ships, so many small gunboats were not damaged at all.
Kazuo Fujii looked up at the light little planes circling in the sky, and intuitively felt that the attack was not over yet. Were the other side going back to load bombs
Therefore, Kazuo Fujii decided to stay on this small gunboat instead of going to the larger ship that was less damaged.
"Those who are seriously damaged or whose power systems are paralyzed should be transferred to other ships immediately. We will return!" Kazuo Fujii made the decision almost instantly.
It has been more than four hours since we left the harbor, and it will take more than ten hours to reach the northern region of Zhongzhou, so, of course, we should return now, and quickly, so as to avoid the fate of total annihilation, right
Kazuo Fujii raised his head and looked at the small green plane hovering not far away with a heavy heart. Faintly, it was as if he saw the cold green eyes of a poisonous snake spying on him.
"Ah? General Fujii, there are a lot of supplies that can be taken away, and some of the power systems seem to be able to be repaired soon. During this period of time, wouldn't it be better for us to rescue more soldiers who fell into the water?..." The gunboat captain Yamada Taro was stunned.
"Just pass on my orders!" Kazuo Fujii made a murderous gesture.
Yamada Taro didn't dare to say anything more.
"Except for the small gunboats, all the large ships that can go should be ordered to return now!" Kazuo Fujii added.
…
More than an hour later, Kazuo Fujii sat dejectedly on the deck.
It just so happened that the ships that were seriously damaged were all from his division. As for the large ships that were still able to move, almost all of their senior officers were from the Shibata Division, and yet not a single ship had left yet.
They were all trying their best to rescue the soldiers who fell into the water and to salvage supplies from the ships that had not completely sunk.
The senior officers of the Shibata Division were in a mess because their leader's life or death was unknown and the place was in a mess. Soldiers who fell into the water and needed rescue were floating on the vast sea, with heads densely packed next to each other. There were also large ships that could be towed back to the port after repairs, and some of the ships were still loaded with tanks.
If I escape like this, I'm afraid I'll be tried by military court when I return.
Kazuo Fujii was completely unable to give orders and sat helplessly on the deck, feeling completely hopeless.
At this time, the whistle sounded and a troop transport ship began to slowly move away.
Apparently the number of rescue personnel sent up had reached the limit and they could not help any more by staying here, so they evacuated.
Kazuo Fujii stood up suddenly, only to see one of the small planes hovering in the sky following the troop ship.
Kazuo Fujii immediately felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave. It was clear now that he would report the location of the troop transport to those terrible planes that were launching a new round of attacks.
More than half an hour later, in the distant sky, amidst the terrifying buzzing sound, densely packed black spots appeared faintly, like a swarm of bees, covering the sky and the earth.
Kazuo Fujii had already been lying on the deck, too lazy to pay attention.
I must go back and apologize by committing suicide, and let myself sleep forever in the depths of this extremely peaceful ocean.
But I felt so confused, aggrieved and helpless. I could guess who the enemy was, but I couldn't be sure. I didn't even know where these horrible planes came from.
Are tens of thousands of loyal and brave soldiers of the Great East Japan Kingdom going to follow him blindly and go into hell
Death is not scary.
But how can there be any glory in dying like this? The legacy left to future generations is nothing but shame.
I am even more ashamed to face my ancestors.
Fujii Kazuo covered his face with his general's cap, wailed, slowly took out his pistol, and put it to his temple...