A few hiccups are innocuous, and progress on the front lines is generally very smooth.
Before this, some people were skeptical about the Metropolitan Governor's expectation of "putting down all resistance in the Japanese Islands in one and a half months", but now it seems completely reasonable?
In early spring, everything recovers, the temperature in Nanjing has gradually warmed up, and it will soon be the most pleasant time of the year.
In the morning, the Forbidden City was filled with palace maids performing their respective duties. Most of them walked leisurely and looked relaxed. Working in the palace sounds high-end, but once the novelty wears off, it feels very different from ordinary errands.
The abolition of eunuchs was an inconspicuous but influential event during the constitutional period. It directly stopped some people from sending their children into the palace as slaves. At the same time, the practice of some powerful people among the people who castrated boys as slaves without authorization also gradually disappeared.
As a result, the waiters in the Forbidden City, strictly speaking only in the "palace city", are basically women.
Men... there are some, but they are indeed very few. These new era eunuchs can be said to be retro in a sense - not all eunuchs in the Qin and Western Han Dynasties were eunuchs.
If it were not for the assistance of a series of machines and equipment brought by the industrial revolution, the large number of boys and girls would definitely affect the normal operation of the Forbidden City, because there was always manual work to be done in the palace, and the weak strength of the palace ladies was difficult to do.
For example, floor mats must be laid in many areas of palaces and palaces. Mats are used in summer, felts are used in winter, and carpets are used in spring and autumn. This is the so-called custom of "every floor must be carpeted". Each of these thick things is several square meters in size and is quite heavy. You can imagine how troublesome it is to transport them.
"...Our Second Army was obstructed by the local resistance forces and was slightly damaged. However, the soldiers were courageous and fearless. The enemy forces failed to stop our army. As of last night, Tokyo was surrounded on three sides."
In the Hongde Hall next to the Qianqing Palace, Lin Xi stated the latest progress to the emperor in very clear words.
The latter simply asked: "Has there been any change in the official attitude?"
"No change, still respectful." Lin Xi pushed up his glasses and continued: "That was the third public statement yesterday, and there should be another one today."
"Okay." The emperor thought for a while and then asked: "I heard that some people in the court are making nonsense, saying that they want to arrest and kill all the resisters?"
"There is such a thing, but it should be a joke, and no one takes it seriously."
"It is not advisable to underestimate the national consciousness of the Japanese. It is easier to find trouble than to get into trouble."
"What your Majesty said is absolutely true. For a place like Japan that has been relatively independent and independent for thousands of years, excessive policies will not be worth the losses."
The Ming Dynasty's strategy for dealing with Japan basically originated from a memorial written many years ago. Today's policies are based on it and have been improved, but the core is "conferring chiefs, dividing territories, making promises, and controlling envoys", which is used both to suppress and appease.
Although he currently lacks influence, the emperor, who has a long history, has inherent advantages. As long as the publicity is in place, he is very suitable as a figurehead who can unite people's hearts on the surface.
Just like the canonization of Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the Wanli period, the emperor is now re-canonized as the King of Japan to continue to maintain the actual state of separate vassals and prevent any one party from becoming dominant and making it difficult to unify all national power.
At the same time, the overall policy is mainly tolerant and does not forcefully change customs. Instead, it changes its customs by opening sinology schools and overseas students, thereby alleviating and eliminating people's resistance.
In view of the large number of illiterate people and the lack of resources in the archipelago, following the art of envoys, try to absorb all talents in Japan. The remaining large number of low-quality people can be attracted to remote areas through propaganda to engage in reclamation and construction work; it is also good to recruit them as servants. s Choice.
After more than thirty years in office, I am afraid no one knows the current situation of the Ming Dynasty better than Zhu Shiyan.
Future wars will affect the destiny of the country, and any unnecessary investment of resources should be avoided. The conflict was so intense that the local garrison was overwhelmed and had to invest more troops to forcibly maintain stability?
The Ming Dynasty had suffered such losses in Annan as early as the Yongle and Hongxi years. It is still necessary to learn from history.
Therefore, the overall policy emphasized by Zhu Shiyan is that one should not take the initiative to cause trouble, but must resolutely suppress local troublemakers.
This day is March 10th, 7:15 in the morning, thirty-nine hours after landing.
"Has the latest casualty statistics been released? Why haven't the supplies arrived yet? It's already an hour late!"
Because he had some insomnia last night, Zhou Changfeng woke up a little later today. After learning that the supplies had not arrived yet, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.
Damn it! Unilaterally crushing the situation, the enemy didn't even conduct artillery bombardment or air strikes, and the supplies couldn't be delivered on time? This is purely a human issue.
Xie Wancheng clasped his fists and said: "Four more people died of serious injuries last night, and then there are a few more who are sick. The supplies should be arriving soon."
"Send someone to investigate. You don't take war seriously at all."
"yes."
At this time, Xiao Li on the side suddenly saw something strange.
He pointed to the sky in the northeast and asked doubtfully: "Didn't our plane just fly back? Why are there a few more coming?"
About two minutes ago, three dive bombers on reconnaissance patrol missions returned from the inland direction and flew towards the aircraft carrier on the sea.
But why are there so many more planes now? One, two, three... five?
Zhou Changfeng raised his telescope and looked, only to see five dark green-painted biplanes flying slowly south. Their fuselage parts seemed to have had their logos scrawled across them.
"Hiss... I'm going!" He suddenly realized that the situation was not good, and immediately shouted urgently: "Quick! Report to the fleet that an enemy plane is incoming!"
Since there are people in the army and navy who support the call of "resistance to prove bloodiness and bloodiness in exchange for respect", then naturally there are pilots in the army and aviation who agree with it.
A dozen pilots from the Second Flying Group flew old and outdated Bulldog fighter jets manufactured by the British Bristol Company to carry out this carefully planned air attack.
They were originally ordered to transfer to Ashikaga City and wait for the Ming army to come and take over, but they flew away against the order.
During the past few days of waiting, they had been looking for opportunities to observe and record the takeoff and landing patterns of the Ming Dynasty's carrier-based aircraft. After planning, they officially put it into action today.
The five Bulldog fighter jets were divided into two groups. The two in one group were responsible for fighting with possible Ming fighter jets, thus creating an opportunity for the three in the second group to attack.
They climbed to a high altitude early, waiting for the Ming army's carrier-based aircraft to return before descending to follow them.
The distance of a few kilometers was too short for the aircraft. As soon as the fleet received the warning telegram from the Marine Regiment, the lookout post had already seen these approaching enemy aircraft.
"Woo——"
"Everyone on the ship enters combat positions!"
The shrill and piercing air defense sirens sounded on each warship. Sailors who were going to the toilet, eating, smoking, chatting, and no matter what they were doing, immediately ran to their posts.
The two Type 37 carrier-based fighter jets hovering over the fleet also sensed the incoming enemy. After communicating with their wingmen, the lead aircraft quickly adjusted its course and prepared for a dive attack.
Below, dozens of warships including minesweepers, destroyers, light cruisers, heavy cruisers, battleships, and aircraft carriers all pointed their anti-aircraft weapons in the direction of the five enemy planes.
"Double-wing single engine, five. Altitude 1120, speed 190, direction 67, binding!"
Based on the results of calculations based on data such as height, speed, direction, etc., one of the gun crew members used a special wrench to bind the time to the mechanical fuse of the 128mm naval gun. After the shell came out of the chamber, it would start counting down and explode at the predetermined height.
The destroyer Cangzhou was the first to open fire. Several rounds of 128mm anti-aircraft fragmentation bombs exploded at a height of more than a thousand meters, and clouds of black and gray smoke bloomed under the white clouds.
The enemy aircraft formation was divided into two, three of them continued to fly towards the enemy, while the other two turned to climb and prepare to engage.
Slow biplanes were almost like living targets for battleships in the middle and late stages of the war, but it was different now. The navies of the major powers had not yet figured out the best combination of anti-aircraft firepower.
The Americans are still using 12.7mm machine guns and 28mm "Chicago Piano" anti-aircraft guns, which lack medium-caliber anti-aircraft firepower, and the performance of small-caliber anti-aircraft weapons is poor.
The Russians used a combination of 12.7mm machine guns and 76.2mm naval guns; the British were equipped with 40mm "bang bang" guns in addition to the 12.7mm machine guns, but their performance lagged behind, so the British, who wanted to save money and trouble, chose this option. Multi-door assembly, quantity makes up for quality, with double, quadruple, and even eight-unit installations appearing.
The Ming Navy used 20.8mm anti-aircraft guns and 128mm naval guns, supplemented by a small number of 12.8mm anti-aircraft machine guns as supplementary firepower.
The three Bulldog fighter jets persisted in approaching in the face of heavy artillery fire. The explosion caused the aircraft to continuously undulate and tremble, and high-speed fragments carved holes in the wings and fuselage skin.
As the distance and height dropped, the twin 20.8mm guns also opened fire, and countless tracer bullets made conspicuous light marks!
"Bang-bang bang-bang-"
In the blink of an eye, the ferocious fire net woven by the entire fleet almost completely enveloped those aircraft.
Compared with the huge Ming army fleet, a few aircraft seemed really small. Such a fearless sight of small and big things made the Ming army soldiers both contemptuous and emotional.
The 20.8×112mm armor-piercing incendiary bomb containing 40,000 joules of kinetic energy hit directly on the front of one of the Bulldog fighter jets. The engine was instantly destroyed and thick black smoke burst out.
In the next few seconds, another six or seven artillery shells hit it. The right wing was almost cut off, and the entire aircraft fell into the sea like a kite with a broken string, causing a huge splash.
The fate of the other two planes was not much better. Facing the blazing fire net, they were shot down one after another.
A 100-kilogram (100-kilogram) aerial bomb mounted on one of the planes was detonated due to the huge impact when it crashed into the sea, exploding a water column of 20 to 30 meters high.
The three incoming enemy planes were all destroyed, and the officers and soldiers of the fleet breathed a sigh of relief.
But at this moment, another plane suddenly appeared from the clouds and dived downwards at high speed - it broke away from the fight with the Ming army's carrier-based fighter jets.
"Enemy plane!!!"
Although the response was half a beat slow, the fleet's anti-aircraft firepower still covered it.
Because it was originally intended to perform dogfighting missions, this aircraft was not actually equipped with aerial bombs at all.
The dark green-painted Bulldog fighter jet was hit by several shells and emitted white and black smoke. However, under the control of the pilot, the entire aircraft pointed directly at the nearest and more valuable battleship Zhanghe.
A near-vertical dive was much more difficult to intercept than the previous three aircraft flying level. Such an extreme dive almost caused this old aircraft manufactured ten years ago to disintegrate on its own.
The sailors widened their eyes and looked in extreme shock at the increasingly larger aircraft approaching at high speed.
"Wha-boom!"
A large fire suddenly broke out in the middle of the Zhanghe hull, and a twin 20.8mm anti-aircraft gun was destroyed.
Gasoline leaking from the plane caused a fire, and some shells were detonated. The raging fire and successive explosions frightened the surrounding sailors.
"Damage control team, hurry up! Put out the fire!"
"Report how it went!"
On the bridge, compared to the somewhat flustered officers around him, the captain of the Zhang He behaved very calmly.
This is a battleship. As long as the armor box is not damaged, it will not sink even if everything and buildings above the deck are destroyed.
He recalled the previous scene where the three planes were easily shot down, and said firmly: "It doesn't look like a mistake. I'm afraid it can be attributed to poor coordination of anti-air weapons."
At this time, in the distance, the last Bulldog was also shot down by a Ming army fighter jet. It dragged gray-black smoke and fell into Tokyo Bay.
At this point, all five aircraft that bravely defended the Turkish army were destroyed.
This operation did not have much effect. The suicide ramming was only a scratch for the battleships with strong armor and powerful guns.
Four of the battleship sailors were killed and thirteen wounded, which objectively was nothing compared to the five pilots and five aircraft.
At 14:22 in the afternoon, the sun is soft and the breeze is blowing. This should be considered a good time for spring outings.
However, in Tokyo, which has been affected by the war, except for the people in the concession who are still in a good mood to welcome the new day, I am afraid that no one else has that kind of mentality.
A fire reconnaissance by the 7th Infantry Division on the right wing kicked off the Ming army's siege of Tokyo.
In the direction of the offensive that the 1st Marine Regiment was responsible for, the enemy was the defeated remnants of the Fujiwara detachment and a brigade sent for reinforcements by the Takahashi detachment.
This is a small factory area, originally there was a textile factory and a shoe factory.
The resistance army occupied three factory buildings and water towers, using them as solid support points, and then built field fortifications around the factory area and deployed defense lines.
But such a defensive mode was of no use in Zhou Changfeng's opinion, and he couldn't help but feel a bit desolate.
"This is a plan to wait for death." Zhao Hanfeng said calmly.
A few seconds later, horrific bombardment from the Zhanghe and Yongping descended on this area.
More than 800 kilograms of high-explosive bombs destroyed one-third of one of the factory buildings in one shot. Bricks and tiles were scattered in all directions, and a slowly rising column of gray smoke was dozens of meters high.
The collapsed water tower fell to one side and hit a factory building nearby. The remaining industrial water poured out in a gush.
"Is the breakthrough team in place?"
"It's all on the line."
"Okay." Zhou Changfeng nodded and waved: "The first battalion has entered the offensive starting position."
(End of chapter)
