As time moved into August 1937, the atmosphere within the Island Nation Government and military grew increasingly tense.
The plan to support Kyushu Island had failed. Only one-third of the originally scheduled reinforcements had crossed the strait. The rest had either been blocked on Honshu Island or had already become food for the fish in the strait.
Of course, such a minor problem no longer mattered to the Island Nation Government. If they could not prevent the Australasian Navy and Air Force from repeatedly bombing Tokyo Bay, the Island Nation would suffer countless casualties and immense property losses every day.
Even with a population of tens of millions, and even with an economy on the level of the great powers, they still could not guarantee how long they could endure such massive bombardments.
Therefore, the Island Nation Government and military had to strike back and, as far as possible, resolve the bombing threat facing the Island Nation Mainland.
Compared with the Army and the formless Air Force, the only force the Island Nation Government could perhaps rely on at present was the Island Nation Navy. Though it had suffered losses, it still retained considerable strength overall.
The Island Nation Navy still possessed seven battleships, seven aircraft carriers, three battlecruisers, twelve heavy cruisers, eleven light cruisers, fifty-three destroyers, and sixty-eight submarines. By any measure, it could be called a naval power.
The good news was that ever since the failed sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the Island Nation Navy had holed up in the ports of Hiroshima and Tokyo. Although this had allowed the Australasian Navy to successfully blockade the Island Nation's waters, most of the navy's strength had been preserved.
Even after losing another three battleships and two aircraft carriers in the bombing of Hiroshima, the losses were not crippling