Chapter 625: Java Landing (3)

While the 200th Division advanced in depth, the Navy Marine Corps Second Division launched a simultaneous operation, splitting its forces into two routes to cooperate.

One route swept the remaining Japanese Army along the beachhead's left and right flanks, securing the landing's side‑wing and completely eliminating any chance of a Japanese counter‑punch.

The other route followed closely behind the 200th Division's rear, steadily advancing to occupy villages and towns along the way, taking over local districts, eradicating hidden remnants, and stabilizing the newly seized area to prevent enemy counter‑attacks.

The two premier units had clear divisions of labor and tacit coordination: one led the main assault, the other held the line; one provided depth, the other controlled the field, quickly tearing open the Japanese core defensive line on Java Island.

At this point, the battle situation on Java Island became completely clear.

The Nankai Fleet continued to blockade and suppress at sea, sealing off the Japanese Navy's maritime retreat and supply routes.

Dai Anlan personally led the two elite flagship infantry to land successfully, breaching the inland defenses, with his spear pointing straight at Jakarta, the core stronghold of Java.

The Japanese Army, which had relied on a century‑old coastal fortification to hold out, now found itself passively surrounded, having lost its outer shield, key transport routes, and all reinforcement supplies, trapped in the isolated fortress of Jakarta, its destruction inevitable.

This meticulously planned Java landing, at a minimal casualty cost, secured an overwhelming strategic advantage, laying the decisive foundation for the final recapture of Jakarta and the complete eradication of the Japanese in Nanyang.

Upon learning that the South China Grand Army had landed on Java and was pressing toward Jakarta, while the Combined Fleet remained stalled in Australian waters.

Terauchi Hisaichi immediately sent an urgent telegram to the Tokyo Imperial General Headquarters and directly called Shanben Wushiliu, pleading earnestly and firmly for the main force to rush to the Dongyindu qundao.

In the call, Terauchi Hisaichi's tone was full of anxiety and urgency, repeatedly arguing: "Commander Shanben Wushiliu, the Nanyang is in grave danger! The Dongyindu qundao is the Empire's lifeline of resources; now the 38th Division is besieged in an isolated city, the Java defensive line is on the brink of collapse, and if Jakarta falls, the entire Nanyang resource zone will fall wholly into South China's hands!"

"We earnestly request the Combined Fleet to immediately dispatch its main battle group southward to aid the Dongyindu qundao, break South China's maritime blockade, and rescue the Nanyang defenders!"

Terauchi Hisaichi had already lowered his stance.

Facing Terauchi Hisaichi's urgent plea, Shanben Wushiliu, bitterly resigned, could only truthfully report the deadly shackles of the Australian front.

Shanben Wushiliu's tone in the telegram was also very helpless, heavily replying: "Terauchi‑san, I fully understand the importance of the Nanyang and the dire straits of the frontline troops; it is not that I deliberately sit idle. Now the Empire's 2nd and 5th Divisions are mired in the Australian quagmire, with all supplies and flank security tied to the Combined Fleet alone."

"If my fleet leaves Australian waters, the American Army's land‑air forces will launch full‑scale air strikes on the ground main force, and the two elite divisions will be completely annihilated. Compared with losing the Nanyang, the survival of tens of thousands of elite Imperial infantry is even more fundamental to the war's foundation; I truly have no troops to spare, no ships to send!"

Terauchi Hisaichi still would not give up, repeatedly petitioning the headquarters, pressuring Shanben Wushiliu, even proposing to dispatch a small detachment of ships southward for rescue without committing the entire main force.

Yet after the Tokyo Imperial General Headquarters assessed the overall situation, it ultimately rejected all relief proposals.

The high command deeply knew that Japan no longer possessed the capital for two‑front warfare; the Australian main theater took precedence over the Nanyang occupation, sacrificing a peripheral colony to preserve the main elite forces was the only reluctant choice.

Terauchi Hisaichi's multiple pleas and persistent arguments ultimately all fell flat.

Holding tens of thousands of Nanyang remnants without naval cover, air support, or follow‑up supplies, he could only watch helplessly as the South China forces steadily advanced, gradually eroding Japan's entire rule over the Dongyindu qundao.

This was Japan's most fatal strategic deadlock at present.

The Japanese Army in Australia was caught between a rock and a hard place: its offensive could not break MacArthur's Brisbane defensive line, and retreat would be pursued by the American Army, leaving it to rely on the Combined Fleet's sea presence to barely hold the situation.

Moreover, the Combined Fleet was tightly bound to the northeast Australian sea area, forced to stay on guard and contain the American forces, with no troops, combat power, or mobility to pull south for retaliation against South China or to aid the Nanyang.

Earlier, the Liao nei qundao naval battle saw the Japanese Nanyang Sub‑Fleet suffer a disastrous defeat, losing many warships, carrier aircraft, and elite sailors, already shrinking the Combined Fleet's strength dramatically.

Now, with the remaining fleet's limited manpower and crippled combat power, it must both maintain the long Australian sea supply line and guard against American sea‑air raids, leaving it utterly unable to open a second front in Southeast Asia.

Since the disastrous Liao nei qundao naval battle, the entire strategic situation in Southeast Asia has been completely rewritten.

The South China Navy's single strike crushed the Japanese Nanyang Main Fleet, seizing complete sea control over Southeast Asia, and then swept through Sumatra, Malaya, and Singapore.

Now they are landing on Java, directly targeting the Japanese's last Nanyang core stronghold, Jakarta.

In everyone's view, given Shanben Wushiliu's character, he would never tolerate a newborn force dealing a heavy blow to the Japanese Navy and gnawing at the hard‑won Nanyang occupation; he would surely gather the Combined Fleet's main force to sail south for revenge, cut off South China's Java offensive, and rescue the trapped Japanese remnants.

Yet the thunderous retaliation expected by outsiders has not yet arrived.

The Japanese Combined Fleet still remains stationed in the northeast Australian sea area, holding position, watching coldly as South China sieges and clears the Japanese in Southeast Asia.

This seemingly strange silence does not stem from Shanben Wushiliu's fear or unwillingness to fight, but from the heavy constraints of the current battlefield.

The Japanese Combined Fleet has long been mired in a quagmire, utterly immobile, with no capacity to rush to Southeast Asia for retaliation.

Inside the Japanese Fleet's command room, the atmosphere was oppressively dead, the sea chart densely marked with the enemy‑friendly situations of the Australian and Nanyang battlefields.

Shanben Wushiliu stood before the chart, his face grim, brows knotted, his fingertip pressing the red line over the Brisbane sea area, eyes full of helplessness and anxiety.

Beside him, Nan Yun Zhong's posture was taut, his expression weary; the days of stalemate had already left the fleet commander exhausted in body and mind.

"Commander, the South China Navy is advancing like a hot knife through butter in the Nanyang; Java and Sumatra have fallen one after another, the 38th Division is besieged in an isolated city and could be wiped out at any moment. May we draw some main battle ships southward to aid Java and intercept the South China fleet?"

Nan Yun Zhong was the first to speak, his tone urgent: "The defeat at Liao nei qundao has tarnished the Empire's naval prestige; if we continue to let South China unify the Nanyang, the Empire's years of gains there will be handed over completely!"

Shanben Wushiliu slowly shook his head, his voice heavy and helpless: "Nan Yun‑san, it is not that I refuse revenge or to aid the Nanyang, but we simply cannot move. If the Combined Fleet withdraws from Australian waters, the entire Southern Theater will collapse, with consequences unimaginable."