kingnovel Chapter 1276 The Results of the Battle
Chapter 1276 The Results of the Battle
The Japanese navy, which was still planning its operations, was stunned by the bombing. Although they knew that a trip to Southeast Asia might result in significant losses, the Japanese expatriates in the region genuinely needed their protection.
However, the bombing of Goryeo's positions was something they hadn't expected. Li Shaoyi had previously organized several bombing raids, but later stopped them because the strategic value of the area was considered too low. Although there were many bombs, they couldn't afford to waste them.
It was from that time that the Japanese believed Li Shaoyi would no longer bomb Korea, so they began some transshipment plans within Korea. So far, they were doing quite well. Who knew that just as the supplies were being transported from Northeast China, planes from the 72nd Army Group arrived.
In this bombing, more than 1300 people died, more than 1100 were seriously injured, more than 3000 were slightly injured, and more than 600 people went missing.
It can be said that this caused them very serious damage. Of course, Ma Leizi also knew that this was a result only from the first bombing. If they wanted to achieve the same result in the next bombing, it probably wouldn't be so easy. The Japanese weren't stupid; after suffering a loss once, they would definitely learn from it.
Of course, that wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing was that all kinds of supplies transported from Northeast China, at least more than 17000 tons, were destroyed in the flames. That was the most heartbreaking thing for the Japanese.
The Japanese never cared about their soldiers, because they were all hired for a mere nine-cent postcard. However, the vast amounts of supplies and grain plundered from Northeast China were what the Japanese were most anxious about. The war in China was raging, and food was extremely important. They could bear the loss of so much grain now, but if things continued like this, wouldn't the grain from Northeast China be unable to be transported out?
Overland transport isn't impossible, but the problem is its extremely low efficiency. Furthermore, many areas along the route are occupied by the Chinese army. Could they possibly transfer the grain from rail to truck? If so, it would take forever, possibly several months, for the grain to reach the south.
In peacetime, this timeframe wouldn't be a big deal; we could simply buy some locally. But now it's wartime, and the local people are sworn enemies with them. How could we possibly sell them grain? Many people would rather perish with the grain than let the Japanese eat a single grain of our rice.
The Japanese General Staff immediately convened an emergency meeting; they needed to reach a decision regarding the 72nd Army's bombing raid. They had previously considered attacking the island city again after bombing Korea. However, just as they were preparing, Mareiko suddenly ceased his air raids on Korea.
According to the Japanese newspapers, their combined fleet's assembly frightened the Ma Lei Zi, so they dared not cause trouble on our Korean territory. Actually, it was the intelligence department that sent the telegram, and when we dropped our bombs, they only hit worthless targets; the valuable targets had already been mostly destroyed.
If we continue airstrikes against Korea, the value of our bombs might not even be enough to cover the cost. Therefore, intelligence suggests that we wait a while before bombing Ma Lei Zi, until the Japanese have completed their infrastructure construction. We can't exactly drop bombs on farmland, can we?
Li Shaoyi was aware of this situation at the time. No matter how much we didn't care about bombs, we couldn't possibly use bombs to bomb his farmland.
So the Japanese took advantage of this situation and spread the word that their combined fleet's assembly had scared the Fourth Army into not continuing their air raids on Korea. This showed that these guys had backed down, and that the combined fleet's prestige in Northeast Asia was still intact.
Many ordinary Japanese people believed it at the time, and many even held various celebrations. Now, with another bombing of Korea, it's a slap in the face, and a very loud one at that. Many Japanese newspapers are asking whether we misjudged the situation back then.
Although a number of government and military officials have denied the incident, it's clear to anyone with common sense that they likely stopped the bombing for other reasons, but certainly not because of the threat from the Combined Fleet. If there's a threat, isn't there still a threat from the Combined Fleet now?
The Japanese government and military didn't know how to explain the situation either. So when reporters raised the question, they simply beat around the bush. It was their specialty, after all. When dealing with other military units, these same people could answer questions truthfully. But when it came to the 72nd Army, beating around the bush had become an unspoken rule among high-ranking government and military officials.
They've suffered enough losses in this regard. They used to boast about how many members of the 72nd Army they'd wiped out on the battlefield, but the problem is, they lacked solid evidence. When you published such claims in the newspapers, Li Shaoyi would immediately order his men to publish numerous photographs; some newspapers even devoted almost entire pages to photos.
This is quite interesting. You just said you wiped out a large number of people, but you have no photos to show, just empty words. Li Shaoyi, on the other hand, never makes baseless accusations; he only publishes the photos that are required to be published. Comparing the two, who is lying? Isn't it obvious?
Of course, this bombing wasn't all bad for the Japanese Navy. At least, there were far fewer voices within Japan urging them to head to Southeast Asia.
Before this bombing, merchants in Southeast Asia were very important. But after this bombing, the transport of supplies from the north to the south has become the most crucial. If the 72nd Army Group were to blockade the sea routes, it would be a fatal blow to us. The best course of action is to concentrate all our naval forces and reopen the sea routes.
In this situation, the Second Squadron of the Japanese Combined Fleet received orders to prepare to go to the Jiaodong waters to seek opportunities for combat, led by two aircraft carriers and one battleship.
After the news was released, Ma Leizi knew that the other party had published fake news.