Rise of Australia

Chapter 931: Bombing Hiroshima
On July 1937, 7, military operations in Australasia officially began.

The island countries have a much larger population than Australasia. If the war enters a stalemate, Australasia will suffer a lot of unnecessary losses.

Therefore, in the formulation of the war plan, Arthur asked the staff to minimize casualties and end the war as soon as possible.

The battle plan given by the General Staff was for approximately 80 troops to launch an attack on the island nation of Kyushu and land on the beaches of Nagasaki and Kagoshima.

The remaining 220 million troops launched an attack along the line from Osaka, Nagoya to Tokyo, and tried to attract as many island country troops as possible to garrison.

It can be seen from this plan that the attack on Australasia will mainly focus on important cities on the island such as Nagasaki, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo.

You know, the island country itself is a country with a small land area and a large population, so the defense of such important cities must be the most stringent.

So the question is, why should Australasia concentrate its attacks on these cities where there must be many island nation troops stationed?

In fact, there is only one purpose, which is to concentrate the island country's military power as much as possible and carry out a devastating blow.

Yes, regardless of whether the islanders were prepared or not, Arthur had already planned to use atomic bombs in this war.

No matter which city it is, as long as a large number of island country troops gather there, it is within the range of the Australasia nuclear strike.

As to whether a nuclear strike would cause massive casualties among the people of the city or island nation, this is also within the scope of Australasia's consideration.

The day before the bomb was dropped, Australasia would warn the island governments to evacuate their people in the form of a diplomatic warning.

As for whether the island government will listen, that is not something Australasia should consider.

As for the relationship between the island government and Australasia after the war, there is no need to consider that, because after this war, the island government will not exist at all.

In order not to arouse the suspicion of the island government, the attack on the Australasian side remained real until the final atomic bombing was completed.

This also means that both the Aboriginal army and the Australasian army are bound to suffer considerable casualties in this war.

But this is not entirely a bad thing. The greater the casualties of a country, the greater the damage it has suffered in this war. With a little influence on public opinion, this has become the cost of this war in Australasia.

Otherwise, when all the European warring countries faced millions or even tens of millions of military and civilian casualties after the war, the total number of military and civilian casualties in Australasia was less than one million, which was a bit too special.

The most reliable way is to inflict casualties on the island nation, because with the powerful air force and navy, the offensive of the island nation's army can be controlled, thus achieving the goal of controlling casualties.

If it were on the European battlefield, the German army would show no mercy if any mistakes occurred.

Faced with this terrifying German army and the exaggerated combat record it had created, even the Australasian army had to approach it with a more cautious attitude.

On July 7, Australasia launched the first attack on Kyushu Island.

There is only one important city on Kyushu Island, and that is Nagasaki, located in the westernmost part of the island.

It is worth mentioning that this city is also the city where the United States dropped an atomic bomb, but it is not as famous as Hiroshima, where the first atomic bomb was dropped.

But this is normal. Nagasaki is currently just a small city with a population of less than 25. Compared with big cities like Nagoya and Tokyo, Nagasaki can only be regarded as a rural area.

But it is precisely around this city with a population of less than 25 that nearly 20 combat troops are deployed.

And it's not just Nagasaki. Almost every city from south to north on Kyushu Island has a large number of troops stationed there. Important airports and military strongholds also have many troops stationed there.

On the day the full-scale offensive was launched, more than 3000 aircraft flew towards the island nation, of which nearly 1200 were Australasian bombers.

These bombers carried large numbers of bombs to the island nation, focusing on cities such as Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo.

At first, the islanders thought it was just a bombing as usual, but when the dense swarms of planes in the sky arrived in Tokyo, the islanders discovered the problem.

This was no ordinary bombing of Australasia; it looked more like a precursor to a full-scale offensive.

There were two main targets for the bombing of Australasia. One was Tokyo, the capital and largest city of the island nation, and the other was Hiroshima, a city located in the western part of the island nation.

Logically speaking, Hiroshima is not qualified to be compared with Tokyo. Not to mention Hiroshima, even the three cities of Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Sakata are not as important as Tokyo alone.

But for Australasia, the bombing of Hiroshima was even more important than that of Tokyo in this combat mission.

why?

The main reason is that most of the island nation's navy is stationed at the Kure Naval Arsenal in Hiroshima, which is also one of the most important naval bases on the island nation.

The purpose of the Australasian Air Force's bombing of Hiroshima was not to target the urban area of ​​Hiroshima, but to target the coastal ports and arsenals where a large number of naval forces were stationed.

In order to ensure that the landing operation in Australasia would be foolproof, the General Staff decided to launch another large-scale bombing on the island nation's military bases and naval ports before launching the attack.

The purpose of this bombing was to completely eliminate the air force and naval threats to the island nation's homeland and turn the landing battle into a war between the two countries' armies.

In this case, it became necessary to destroy the island nation's navy. As early as in the previous bombing of the island nation's homeland, Australasia had already caused great damage to the island nation's army aviation team. Only one tenth of the island nation's army's aviation team remained, and it could not pose any threat to the Australasia Air Force at all.

However, because the island nation's navy has been hiding in the port of Hiroshima, it has not suffered too severe a blow so far.

The island nation established the Second Naval District in Hiroshima and has built a large number of repair ships and shipbuilding facilities since the end of the last century.

At present, it not only has the largest shipyard in the island country, but also the largest ship repair factory in the island country, etc. It is the main source of the island country’s navy.

Precisely because of Hiroshima’s importance to the development of the island nation’s navy, not only are a large number of coastal defense batteries deployed along the coast, but there are also many anti-aircraft batteries and machine guns specifically used for air defense.

In order to solve the problem of the island nation's navy once and for all, the Australasian Air Force dispatched thousands of aircraft to bomb Hiroshima, including more than 300 bombers.

In order to deal with the possible naval forces stationed in Hiroshima, this fleet of aircraft was not only equipped with the most advanced missiles in Australasia, but also all equipped with the latest jet engines. The war had already broken out, and Arthur was not afraid of exposing his cards. Moreover, jet engines were the trend of the times, and it was even possible that all countries were already researching them.

Therefore, even if Australasia does not expose its jet engine trump card, in the next few years, some countries may still develop jet engines and invest in military research.

The scene of thousands of planes bombing Hiroshima was very spectacular. The scale of this air raid on the island country was even comparable to the air war between Germany and Britain.

Australasia also has a quantitative advantage over the island nations' air forces, and even a considerable advantage in quality.

But Arthur is not the German Prime Minister, and Arthur will not interfere with the strategic implementation of the Air Force. Arthur only cares about the final result of the bombing.

The entire air raid lasted more than 12 hours, with many planes going back and forth and bombing more than 2 or 3 times.

The effect was also obvious. In this super-large-scale bombing, at least five military airports on the island were effectively destroyed, more than 5 aircraft were destroyed, and at least tens of thousands of casualties were caused.

The biggest piece of good news came with the attack on Hiroshima.

Although Hiroshima's air defense force is the most important part of the island's air defense deployment, such air defense force does not pose such a great threat to the Australasian Air Force, which is composed entirely of jet aircraft.

Under pressure from Hiroshima's air defense, Australasia sank a total of five main warships of the island nation, including three battleships and two aircraft carriers, and severely damaged at least dozens of small and medium-sized warships of the island nation.

Although it is not enough to seriously damage the island nation's navy, the loss of five main battleships is enough to make the island nation's navy feel pain for a long time.

More importantly, without these five main battleships, the strength gap between the island nation's navy and the Australasian navy will become increasingly larger.

However, the island nation was not an absolute soft persimmon. During the bombing, more than 400 Australasian aircraft were shot down, nearly half of which were shot down over Hiroshima.

This is normal. After all, in addition to a large number of air defense facilities, Hiroshima also has a large number of aircraft on the navy's aircraft carriers.

However, compared with the losses suffered by the island countries in this air raid, Australasia's losses seem insignificant.

After the 12-hour bombing, the islanders thought they could breathe a sigh of relief.

But just a few hours later, the next round of bombing in Australasia arrived.

This round of bombing was different from the previous round of heavy bombing, as only about 800 aircraft were dispatched.

The target of these 800 aircraft was not the entire island country, but the most important areas of attack on the first day, namely Nagasaki and Kagoshima.

The main purpose of this bombing was to destroy the island nation's coastal defense facilities and create sufficient opportunities for a large number of transport ships and landing ships to approach the island nation's coast.

Australasia had already accumulated enough experience when landing in the Ryukyu Islands. In particular, there was a Type A division defending the Ryukyu Islands at that time, which was the most powerful military organization in the island country.

Now, when facing the island nation's army again, especially the Kyushu Island garrison which is mainly composed of Type B and Type C divisions, the pressure on the Australasian army is far less than imagined.

The troops responsible for attacking Nagasaki were 25 Philippine troops and 10 Kalimantan troops. The combat effectiveness of the Philippine troops was slightly stronger than that of the Kalimantan troops, and was barely enough to serve as the main force in this beach landing battle.

After all, with the support of the Australasian Navy and Air Force, its firepower can be said to be not inferior to that of the island countries, and it may even be slightly ahead.

This also has to mention the disadvantages of an island country with a narrow land area when conducting a defensive war. The navy of Australasia can threaten every coastal city of the island country, and the naval guns carried on the warships are completely the nemesis of the island country's coastal defense facilities.

How powerful are naval guns?
To be honest, many people don’t have a basic concept.

You know, the power caused by naval guns above 406 mm is unimaginable for ordinary people.

Even when attacking facilities on land, it can usually penetrate nine meters thick concrete.

This is nine meters!
If it falls on the ground, it will create a huge pit with a diameter of about 15 meters and a depth of about six meters. This is the result of calculations by the Australasian Navy.

Used to bombard enemy fortresses and coastal defense batteries on the coast, it would be a completely devastating blow.

In the attack on Kyushu Island, Australasia deployed 3 battleships, 2 battlecruisers and 1 aircraft carrier, and the power and number of naval guns were fully utilized.

The effect was also very significant. At the beginning, the coastal defense fortresses of the island army caused great casualties to the landing Australasian troops.

Many Filipino soldiers were penetrated by the fire from the fortress as soon as they stepped onto the shore without any preparation.

But after the Australasian navy opened fire, the situation completely changed.

Australasia doesn't care about the cost of artillery shells and funds. For Arthur, as long as he can occupy the island country, the benefits will completely exceed the cost of occupying the island country.

After all, this is a country with a population of over 6000 million, and its industry and economy are of a certain scale. The annual revenue it can generate is definitely much greater than that of the Philippines and Kalimantan.

Although it was impossible for an island nation to be a colony of Australasia, economic and military control over it was possible.

Even if the military occupation lasts only one year, the benefits are unimaginable. If long-term economic control can be achieved, the island nation with a population of 6000 million will become a dumping ground for industrial products in Australasia.

Although this may not be a good thing for the people of the island, it is a huge fortune for Australasia, where colonies are relatively scarce.

Under the relentless bombing by the navy and air force, the 20 defenders of Nagasaki suffered heavy casualties in just a few days.

Especially on the first day of bombing and attack, the island nation suffered losses of more than 2 people in Nagasaki, and at least tens of thousands were injured.

For the next three days, the casualties of the Nagasaki garrison did not fall below 3 per day, and even on the third day the casualties exceeded 2.

In just four days of attack, the islanders lost nearly 10 troops.

Although the casualties on the Australasia side were also high, even more than those on the island countries, since the landings were all from the Philippines and Kalimantan, Australasia itself suffered only the consumption of artillery shells and economic losses.

(End of this chapter)