Chapter 1313 Heavy Loss

The transport fleet of the island country has hundreds of transport ships and merchant ships. These transport ships and merchant ships crashed into four divisions of island army soldiers and their equipment. However, under the ambush of the German Navy's submarine force, nearly thirty transport ships and merchant ships were sunk. Such losses are undoubtedly very heavy for the 28th and 33rd armies of the Japanese Army.

Although, after the German Navy's submarine withdrew, the island army's transport fleet and navy warships carried out emergency rescue of the soldiers who fell into the water. But the final statistics found that the number of missing soldiers has exceeded tens of thousands. In addition, a lot of equipment was also lost, which will undoubtedly make the island army's next landing operations face great difficulties.

"Baga! The loss is so big. If we want to successfully land on Borneo next, I am afraid we will have to pay even greater losses!" Lieutenant General Sakurai Shozo's face was gloomy.

"Sakurai-san, this is inevitable. In fact, what Kawabe-san said is very clear, our operation this time is to take human lives to fill! Our two armies dispatched more than 80,000 people this time, and we don't know the end of the battle. After that, how much can be left.” Lieutenant General Honda seems to have seen through all this long ago.

With no way to seize air supremacy and the time is very urgent, the senior leaders of the island country army can only ignore the lives of soldiers. Attempt to use such tactics to achieve success. Of course, if it succeeds, the loss must be so small. But that's at least worth it. But if it fails, the loss is in vain.

However, such a decision is not something they can decide. Even if they are also lieutenant generals and commanders of the infantry army, they can barely be regarded as high-level officials. But in front of the real decision-making level, they still only have to bear it passively.

Among the generals of the Japanese army, there are quite a few lieutenant generals. But there are not many generals. This also gives the general a lot of power. Lieutenant generals have different powers depending on their positions. The rank of the commander of the front army is lieutenant general, the rank of the commander of the infantry army is also lieutenant general, and the rank of the division commander of the infantry division is also the rank of lieutenant general. Even the brigade heads of some of the older independent mixed brigades, as well as the military chief officers of some well-equipped independent troops, are also lieutenant generals. This is why Sakurai Shozo, Honda Masai and the commander of the Lanyin Front Army, Kawabe Shozo, are both lieutenant generals, but they can only bow their heads and obey orders.

Succeeding by sacrificing the lives of soldiers is a common tactic used by island armies. Since the island nation gradually began to rise, they began to use such tactics. Whether it is a meatball attack or a pig attack, it is essentially the same.

"It's not long before dawn. Once dawn, the Germans will definitely send planes to attack us. At that time, we may have to pay more losses. We must speed up and reach Borneo as soon as possible, and then launch Attack is fine. In that case, at least we won’t be sunk by German planes at sea, causing our soldiers to be drowned in vain.” Lieutenant General Honda then said.

Lieutenant General Sakurai Shozo nodded: "Order all transport ships and merchant ships to increase their speed to the maximum!"

In order to buy time, the island navy's transport fleet increased its speed to the maximum to ensure that it could reach the eastern coast of Borneo at dawn and initiate a beach landing.

In Brunei, the headquarters of the 23rd Army of the German Army, Lieutenant General William Adam, the commander, did not rest. He was waiting for news from the front. After learning that the navy's submarine force was eyeing the islanders' transport fleet. Lieutenant General William Adam knew that the island army's transport fleet would definitely be in bad luck this time. Of course, this is something Lieutenant General William Adam would be very happy to see.

"General, there is news from the navy. Ten of our submarines launched an ambush against the island nation's transport fleet and achieved great results. It is initially estimated that the island nation's transport ships and merchant ships were sunk by our submarines. More than 30 ships. At least tens of thousands of casualties were caused to the island army.” said Major General Erwin Vilo, chief of staff of the 23rd Army.

"Very good, very good! The army of the island country lost tens of thousands of people in the Sulu Sea. Next, they will pay more casualties if they want to land in the east of Borneo. I hope that we can take advantage of the current advantages to let The islanders shed blood during the landing operations!" Lieutenant General William Adam said.

Compared with the huge island army, the 23rd Army of the German Army is undoubtedly at an absolute disadvantage. This also makes it almost impossible for the 23rd Army to hold Borneo. Therefore, in order to preserve its strength, it is inevitable that the 23rd Army will eventually withdraw from Borneo. However, Lieutenant General William Adam did not want to evacuate so uselessly. He wanted to take this opportunity to make the island army pay a heavy price in Borneo. In this case, it can also prove the combat effectiveness of the 23rd Army to the German high-level. At the same time, it is also to prepare for future counterattacks.

"What's the situation with the air force? After dawn, it's time for them to play. At that time, they will be the main force against the islanders! If they can blow up the islander's transport ship at sea, then we can save a lot of money." less power." Lieutenant General William Adam said.

There were a lot of soldiers crowded on the transport ship of the Japanese army. Once the transport ship or merchant ship is sunk, the soldiers on it will naturally fall into the sea. But if those soldiers landed, the German army would have to pay a higher price if they wanted to wipe out these island armies. Under such circumstances, Lieutenant General William Adam naturally hoped to sink all the transport ships and merchant ships of the island army at sea.

"General, the 5th Aviation Group is ready. Dive bombers and ground attack aircraft will launch an attack after dawn. They will attack the island nation's transport fleet as much as possible." Major General Erwin Willow Said.

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, the next battle will be a test for our 23rd Army. Although we are not a first-line force, I hope that our performance is not inferior to that of the first-line troops. In this case, even if we have to Withdrawing from Borneo, we can also make the islanders pay enough!" Lieutenant General William Adam said.

"Yes, General." Major General Erwin Willow said. He knew Lieutenant General William Adam's intentions very well. In fact, this battle is a good opportunity for all officers and soldiers of the 23rd Army to gain military exploits.