This day was the Japanese Navy Day, the anniversary of the victory of the Russian fleet by Togo Hirahachiro's command of the joint fleet against the Russian fleet (from May 27 to 28, 1905, the Japanese United Fleet led by Togo Hirahachiro defeated the Russian fleet in the Tsushima Strait, and since then, May 27 was designated as the Japanese Navy Day). Since the beginning of the war, the Japanese Navy has been arrogant in the Chinese Sea and the Western Pacific for a while, but since the beginning of the Southeast Asian War, the God of Destiny seems to have been getting further and further away from the Japanese, especially after the Battle of Sumatra, the joint fleet has almost lost its offensive ability and has been in a passive state of being beaten.

Before going to war with Germany, the top Japanese naval leaders believed that they had the support of the Americans behind them, and they could get enough fuel in this war, and they did not realize that they were under the huge threat of the German-Austrian alliance's counterattack. But now, due to the pressure from the Atlantic, the Americans were too busy to take care of themselves, and the Japanese had to face the anger of Germany and Austria and the Chinese. With their existing industrial capabilities and technical level, Japan was unable to adapt to a comprehensive world war. They had to modify their original plan. As one of the members of the allies, Japan must prepare to fight against the two most powerful naval powers in the world at the same time - the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Far East Joint Fleet. This is almost half of the sea power of the two major naval powers.

Although Japan was among the world's industrial powers before the war, they only surpassed Italy, and became the seventh largest industrial country in the world after the United States, Germany, the Soviet Union, the Austrian, Britain and France. But in fact, Japan's industrial capacity was only one-quarter of that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and its steel output was only one-seventh of that of Germany. Compared with these real industrial powers, Japan was like a child, with no power to fight back in a real duel.

In the eyes of the Japanese, this large-scale and protracted war is not Japan's responsibility itself. Both Germany and Austria have been supporting China behind the scenes, which has made Japan deeply trapped in the Chinese battlefield. In the end, the military was forced to launch a war that they were not willing to engage in. They never realized the problem of their invasion of China, and it seemed that they were just "innocently" dragged down by the Russians.

From a military perspective, Japan lacks many necessary conditions for a large-scale modern war: strong industrial capabilities, vast strategic depth and sufficient strategic natural resources. As the war progresses and becomes more and more prolonged, Japan is exhausted by the war, and natural resources, especially important strategic resources, are on the verge of exhaustion. If it were not for the support of the Americans, Japan would have probably even consumed the aluminum for the manufacturing of aircraft.

Due to the large-scale "submarine strangle war" carried out by the Axis powers against Japan, as merchant ships lost more and more, the resources of the entire Japan were on the verge of exhaustion. If the situation of the war did not change significantly, it would probably be half a year later. The Japanese fleet would even consume all the fuel for going to sea to fight, and then the entire joint fleet might become a decoration.

The joint fleet on Navy Day did not have a festive atmosphere at all. Commander Yamamoto, who was on the Yamato, looked sad and listened to his subordinates' reports with concern. Since the early morning, bad news has been coming, and the entire Ryukyu Islands are suffering from large-scale attacks. The aviation forces stationed there are basically no time to react, so most of them were destroyed at the airport.

Now, the joint fleet had to forcefully dispatch, but what was the ending? Yamamoto could not see any chance of victory at all.

In the Okinawa waters, Admiral Wilmotz Yankel commanded the Axis Combined Fleet to carry out suppressed air strikes on Okinawa's airports to ensure that the subsequent landing transport fleets would suffer from air strikes. Because they were particularly worried about the attacks of the Japanese land-based air force, there were only 32 bombers and torpedoes on each aircraft carrier, and the rest were all equipped with fighters. At the same time, bombers taking off from airports along the southeastern coast of China are also continuing to carry out large-scale bombing of Japanese airports on Taiwan Island, leaving the enemy without the energy to support Okinawa's operations.

On May 29, Admiral Haye and Admiral Wang Chongwen also led a fire support formation composed of 7 battleships, 6 cruisers and 16 destroyers from Qingdao Naval Base to the Ryukyu frontline to provide firepower reinforcements for the landing operations, and implement pre-fire preparations for each landing site.

The Japanese army on the entire Xiandao Island Island had less than 2,000 people. Faced with the attacks of the Axis fleet and two Marine Divisions, they had no power to fight back. The landing troops composed of the Second Austrian-Hungarian Marine Division and the First Chinese Marine Division basically did not encounter any strong resistance and easily occupied the entire Xiandao Island Island Island. There was no suspense in the entire landing operation. Wherever the Sino-Austrian coalition went, the Japanese army was covered with jade and the next one was broken.

The combined fleet hiding in the Seto Inland Sea had no choice but to take advantage of the opponent. The news of the "Yazaku" of the defenders made General Yamamoto feel extremely upset.

Although the Battle of Xiandao was extremely smooth for the Axis Alliance, it was completely different for the Japanese. Since the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, it has been rampant at other people's homes. This is the first time that the Japanese who are evil people have been beaten to the door of their homes.

When the news reached Japan, the crowd was immediately angry, and Yamamoto felt unprecedented pressure.

However, the "ghosts" of the Axis powers did not understand the troubles of General Yamamoto and continued to besiege the Okinawa Islands, believing that the joint fleet was invisible. Moreover, the Axis powers that took over the islands of the Axis powers immediately began to build large-scale construction, and a large number of bulldozers, excavators, road rollers and dump trucks were transported to the island to build airports on Ishigaki Island, Nishimoshima and Miyako Island.

It is tolerant, but who is unbearable? Under the huge pressure of the base camp, Yamamoto had to bite the bullet and lead all the main forces of the joint fleet to go south to block the offensive of the Axis fleet.

"It's finally started!"

On the bridge of the aircraft carrier "Baihai", Sa Shijun was silently reciting in his heart. He was holding a telegram that had just been transferred from the "Frederiki Grand Official": At 11:10 am, he found that the enemy's main fleet sailed out of the Fenghou waterway, including five aircraft carriers and about 10 battleships. Our team is continuing to monitor and track.

The telegram was sent from the southeastern waters of Kyushu Island by a Chinese reconnaissance submarine that was closely monitoring Japanese ports and waterways. It reported the location, route and speed of the squadron of enemy ships. It was obvious that the enemy had finally dispatched.

This is a situation that the Axis fleet is eagerly anticipated. Since the coalition captured the Philippines, the main force of the Japanese fleet has hid in the local bay, leaving the Axis powers helpless. Although long-range bombers sent by the Strategic Air Force have also attacked them several times, the results have been very little.

Now they are finally out!

The staff officers were marking the location of the enemy ships on the chart in the war room with red ink. This was at noon on June 3, 1942, when the weather was the hottest. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!