World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

"Order all ships: take up gun positions. Change course to 210 and reduce speed to 8 knots. Load high-explosive shells into main guns. Target: Yokosuka Harbor Dock No. 1."

The orders were relayed via light signals and radio. The four giant ships began to slowly turn, aligning their starboard sides with Yokosuka Harbor. The turrets began to rotate, and the massive 380mm gun barrels slowly rose, pointing at the target more than twenty kilometers away.

In the fire control radar room of the Yangtze River, operators are working diligently.

"Target data locked: Distance 28,200 yards, bearing 153 degrees. Wind speed correction... complete. Ballistic calculation... complete."

"All turrets report: Loading complete, ready to fire at any time."

All the data converged on the fire control officer. He looked toward the bridge, awaiting final orders.

Zhang Zhen picked up the communicator: "Attention all ships, this is live-fire artillery bombardment. I want you to perform at the level you've been training with—fast, accurate, and ruthless. First salvo, test firing. Second salvo, all guns firing simultaneously. Understand?"

The turrets responded, "Understood!"

"Okay." Zhang Zhen took a deep breath. "Fire control officer, listen to my orders—"

He paused for three seconds. Those three seconds seemed exceptionally long in the quiet bridge.

"Fire."

Yokosuka Port, coastal defense fort, 10:25 AM

Major Morita, the commander of the coastal defense battery, lay sprawled in front of the observation instrument, his eyes fixed on the four giant ships on the sea. His palms were sweaty, and his fingers, gripping the instrument's handle, trembled slightly.

"How far?" he asked the rangefinder next to him.

"Twenty thousand... twenty-eight thousand or more!" The rangefinder's voice trembled with tears. "Sir, our artillery's maximum range is only nineteen thousand! We can't hit it! We simply can't hit it!"

Morita knew, of course, that they couldn't win. But he had to do something. He was the coastal defense commander; the enemy was at his doorstep, and he couldn't do nothing.

"All gun positions! Aim at the enemy ship! Load!" he yelled into the communicator, even though he knew it was pointless.

Inside the gun emplacement, the artillerymen were frantically operating the massive 240mm coastal defense guns. The gun barrels slowly rotated, rising to their maximum elevation angle, but everyone knew that this elevation angle corresponded to a maximum range that was still at least nine thousand meters short.

"Sir, enemy ships... enemy ships' turrets are rotating!" the observer screamed. "They're aiming at us!"

Morita's heart sank to the bottom. He knew what was going to happen next. In the East China Sea, this was how the Kongo was sunk—unable to reach the enemy, it was bombarded by enemy fire.

But he did not back down. He was an Imperial soldier, and this was his position.

"Prepare for artillery fire!" he gave the final order, then rushed toward the bunker.

Almost at the same time he rushed into the bunker, a shrill sound came from the sky.

That wasn't the sound of a single shell. It was the sound of dozens, even hundreds, of shells simultaneously tearing through the air, like the sighs of countless death gods, coming from the distant horizon, growing closer and louder.

"Lie down—"

Before the words were even finished, the first shell landed.

It didn't land on the gun emplacement, but in the harbor, near Dock No. 1. A massive column of water shot skyward, at least fifty meters high. Then came the second, the third…

The explosions rang out in unison, shaking the earth. Morita lay prone in his bunker, feeling the entire ground tremble as debris and dust rained down.

He looked up and peered through the observation hole. The sight of the harbor was unforgettable.

The No. 1 dock was hit directly. The 380mm high-explosive shell exploded in the center of the dock, turning an old destroyer undergoing repairs inside into pieces. The dock's concrete structure was torn apart, the locks were twisted and deformed, and seawater rushed in.

Immediately afterwards, the ammunition depot was hit. The continuous secondary explosions were like firecrackers, one after another, fireballs rising one after another, and thick smoke obscuring half of the harbor.

The warehouse area on the dock was also hit. Those warehouses storing food, clothing, and spare parts were turned into an inferno in the explosion. Burning debris was thrown into the sky and then fell like raindrops.

What's most terrifying is that all of this happened outside the range of the coastal defense artillery. Morita and his men could only watch helplessly as the port was destroyed.

"Fire! Return fire!" A young artilleryman couldn't take it anymore, jumped out of his bunker, and rushed towards his gun position.

"Come back!" Morita roared.

But it was too late. The artilleryman had just reached his position when another volley of shells rained down. This time, one landed near the gun emplacement. The massive shockwave sent the young artilleryman flying, slamming him against the wall like a rag doll, before he collapsed limply, motionless.

Morita closed his eyes. Not with sadness, but with numbness.

The bombardment continued. Round after round. Four battleships, with thirty-two 380mm main guns, poured steel and fire onto Yokosuka Harbor at a rate of one round per minute.

The entire port had become hell. Flames, thick smoke, explosions, screams...

Meanwhile, the enemy, 28 kilometers away, didn't even need to see the specific damage effects; they only needed to fire round after round according to the predetermined coordinates.

Is this war?

No, this doesn't even qualify as a war.

This was just a... one-sided massacre.

A brutal and desperate massacre caused by a technological gap.

Tokyo, Army Ministry Building, 11:00 AM

The phone rang incessantly, like a death knell. Army Minister Okaichi's office was already packed with high-ranking officers. Every face was etched with anger, shock, and a hint of…fear.

"Yokosuka was bombarded? When did that happen?!" Okaichi shouted into the phone.

The voice on the other end of the phone was that of the duty officer from the General Staff Headquarters: "Just now, Your Excellency! The four battleships of Lanfang appeared off the coast of Yokosuka, at least 28 kilometers from the shore, and began shelling from outside the range of the coastal defense guns! Docks No. 1 and No. 3 were destroyed, the ammunition depots exploded, and the port facilities were severely damaged! Casualties... casualties are still being tallied!"

"Where is the navy? What is the navy doing?!" Okaichinosuke's voice was almost a roar. "Where are their warships? Where are their coastal defense guns? Are they just going to stand by and watch the enemy come knocking on our door?"

"The navy... all of its capital ships have withdrawn to the inland waters. Coastal artillery... its range is insufficient..."

"Not enough range? Then what are they building all those cannons for? Just for show?!" Okaichi slammed down the phone, turning to face the assembled generals. "Did you hear that? The enemy is at our doorstep! They're shelling our naval port right in front of our capital! And the navy, that bunch of useless trash, can't do anything but run away!"

Chief of the General Staff Yoshimichi Hasegawa's face was ashen: "We must retaliate! We must send the navy! Even if we can't win, we must fight! We can't let the enemy be so arrogant!"

"The Navy will not launch an attack." A calm voice rang out. It was the Vice Chief of Staff, a relatively rational admiral. "Minister Yamamoto made it clear yesterday that the Navy's current mission is to preserve its strength and avoid a decisive battle."