When news of what happened in Shanghai was reported back to Japan, the whole country was furious and clamored everywhere for Japanese samurai to go to Shanghai and kill the man who had humiliated the empire.
However, the military has very little interest in this, and they simply cannot care about such trivial matters as "civilian disputes."
Since the military took control of Japan, all taxes, finances, and budgets have been heavily tilted towards the military industry. All industries related to people's lives have been greatly reduced. Military supplies that have nothing to do with life include aircraft, tanks, and machine guns.
, cannons, all are growing crazily.
A large number of weapons and equipment were manufactured, and a large number of young people joined the army!
Fifty percent of the entire country's fiscal revenue is used for military expenditures.
In a few years, Japan's military expenditure increased sevenfold, machine guns increased by 10.8 times, tanks increased by 30 times, and automobiles increased by 20 times.
Japan's military strength has grown rapidly in this crazy preparation for war!
However, the fiscal deficit has also been growing year after year. The public debt is increasing every year, and the deficit is growing year by year. The economy has reached the brink of collapse.
Once the economy collapses, it will be an avalanche of disaster. From the military to the political, from the private sector to the royal family, no one will be spared.
Japan has no choice. From top to bottom, from inside to outside, Japan is on the verge of madness! They put everything on the card table!
There is only one thing I want,
war!
There is only war,
Japanese workers work fourteen to five hours a day, and their daily grain is calculated in grains. Even under such circumstances, they are still patient.
And they are paranoid that as long as we start a war, we can defeat China just like in the Sino-Japanese War! China will give us everything we need!
This beast, with its hungry and crazy eyes, has been firmly fixed on the map of China.
…
Of course, the country is well aware of this crazy preparation for war and has seen it all.
Take the Kwantung Army in the Northeast as an example. After being crippled, within a few years, the Second Division was rebuilt and four new divisions were added. The strength of the entire Kwantung Army increased sharply from less than 20,000 to 10.
Ten thousand.
And each division is equipped with heavy weapons such as aircraft, tanks, and heavy artillery, and light and heavy machine guns are distributed to each squad.
The weapons and equipment comprehensively crush the Chinese army, and the combat quality of individual soldiers is even worse.
The commander of the Northeastern Army, Seishiro Sakamoto, even clamored crazily to destroy the Northeastern Army within seven days!
The staff department has conducted countless simulated combat simulations, all of which resulted in disastrous defeats.
If a large-scale group army decisive battle occurs in the plains, Japan's mechanized superiority will crush the Chinese army.
Therefore, neither the Northeast Plain nor the North China Plain can be used as a battlefield for decisive battles.
Many people in the army suggested to Chiang Kai-shek that we should choose the venue for the decisive battle ourselves, and the most suitable place is,
Shanghai!
First, if the Chinese army is crushed by the opponent in a decisive battle on the plains, the opponent will inevitably sweep and drive south from north to south, all the way to the plains. The result will be completely disastrous. Choosing Shanghai can avoid the opponent's heavy weapons and mechanization
The advantage will greatly bring the combat effectiveness of both sides closer.
Second, Shanghai is the largest city in the East. European and American powers have great interests in Shanghai and are very likely to intervene in the war.
Third, after the war in Shanghai began, the opponent's strategic direction changed from the original north to south, going down the trend, to an upward attack from east to west, from low to high. Moreover, even if they were defeated for a moment and retreated all the way, there would still be a vast area left to defend.
The rear can be supported.
Chiang Kai-shek agreed to this proposal and proposed that "the Japanese troops in Shanghai should be driven into the Huangpu River!"
Officers at all levels were extremely excited and began to secretly replace their regular troops with the Shanghai Security Corps!
…
On the evening of August 9, outside Shanghai Hongqiao Airport.
Japanese Marine Special Marine Lieutenant Oyama Isamu was extremely anxious. He and his men were stopped outside the airport. The other party bluntly told them that this was a strategically important Chinese military area and could not be entered.
In the opinion of Oyama Isamu, are there any places in Shanghai that Japanese soldiers cannot enter? What the other party did was really going too far!
The purpose of his coming here is to receive information that China has secretly transferred regular troops to Shanghai. He needs to go in and investigate. Although they are constantly increasing Shanghai's military strength, if the Chinese army wants to do the same, it must not be allowed to do so.
Allowed!
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but get angry and drove his car towards the gate, preparing to force his way in.
"Bang, bang bang bang..." intensive gunfire sounded,
Oyama Yongfu was shot to death randomly. Before he died, he finally confirmed that there were indeed regular troops hiding here!
The death of Isao Oyama gave Japan a taste of war.
Immediately ordered the Marine Special Marine Corps Headquarters in Shanghai and the Third Fleet to be on alert.
The Navy mobilized the aircraft carriers "Ryujo" and "Hōsho" to stand by offshore Shanghai, and also ordered the "Kaga" aircraft carrier, which was originally planned to go to the Soviet Union, to go with it.
On August 13, the 87th and 88th divisions, the ace divisions with all German equipment, were deployed.
On August 14th, the Battle of Songhu officially began!
But it was the Air Force that took action first.
Following the instructions, the Air Force took the lead in dispatching 76 aircraft sorties to bomb the Japanese headquarters, docks, and warehouses in Shanghai.
However, Japanese fighter jets arrived quickly and the two sides started fighting in the air.
There is a huge gap between the two sides in terms of quantity and quality of aircraft.
Every time the Chinese Air Force launches a sortie, it must single out more than ten aircraft from the opposite side.
Faced with such a disadvantageous situation, the Chinese Air Force still shot down 28 Japanese aircraft!
Faced with such humiliation, Japan Airlines Captain Ishii committed suicide by disemboweling himself!
Unfortunately, the glory of the Chinese Air Force was short-lived.
Every pilot knows his or her end, which must be - martyrdom for one's country!
After the war started, Japan reacted quickly and began to increase its troops in Shanghai on a large scale.
All the forces that could be mobilized by China were also gathering towards Shanghai. For a time, all the railways in China were filled with troop carriers, and they all had the same destination - Shanghai.
From the common people to the soldiers, everyone in China believes that this battle will be won!
However, the reality is that the army failed to even achieve its first goal!
In order to drive the Japanese troops stationed in Shanghai into the sea before Japanese reinforcements arrived, the elite German 87th and 88th Divisions launched an attack on the Japanese Navy Special Marines Headquarters!
However, the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet, stationed on the Huangpu River and around Shanghai, provided strong fire support. The Chinese army's two consecutive attacks suffered heavy casualties and failed to conquer the target!
Among them, the flagship of the Third Fleet, the cruiser Izumo, has four 203mm-caliber main guns and can wipe out a platoon of Chinese troops in one salvo!
With these fleets present, the Chinese army is struggling.
Just when the war reached a stalemate
On the night of the 15th, the Izumo suddenly sank, along with more than a dozen ships from the Third Fleet!
According to the survivors' recollections, their ship was attacked by a special weapon. The underwater part of the hull was torn apart from the outside, and it was attacked one after another. In less than ten minutes, the Izumo was torn apart by ten pieces.
There were many openings, and a huge amount of river water poured in crazily. In an instant, the Izumo sank to the bottom of the river!
The same happened to other ships, and countless elite Imperial Navy personnel were killed.
Survivors request, please investigate by any means what weapon they were attacked by!
This kind of weapon is extremely powerful, attacks with extremely high frequency, and is silent and hard to guard against!
The navy is the lifeblood of the empire!
And this kind of weapon,
It will definitely be the most deadly threat to the Imperial Navy!
