What were the consequences of Japan's bombing of Darwin Harbour in World War II?

What were the consequences of Japan's bombing of Darwin Harbour in World War II?

1942, 19 In February, the Japanese army dispatched 188 fighter planes and naval submarines to raid Darwin Harbour, Australia. Darwin harbor, which was not prepared for any war, was paralyzed in an instant.

Even the medical ship with the Red Cross logo in Darwin Harbour was not spared, and the Japanese attacked the Red Cross, which eventually led to about 1500 casualties of the Australian army and the Anglo-American Coalition forces. Most military equipment, such as military aircraft and warships, was destroyed.

Since then, Japanese planes have attacked seven other towns in Australia 64 times, causing hundreds of innocent casualties. The reason why the Japanese army attacked Darwin Harbour is that it is not only an important military base of the Allied Forces, but also a transit point for providing materials for the battlefields in Southeast Asia.

In addition, as the nearest Australian seaport to Japan, this port has special strategic significance. Capturing this place can block the logistics supply of the battlefield in Southeast Asia and greatly alleviate the military pressure faced by the Japanese army. Darwin Harbour invaded Australia for the first time in World War II, which triggered a fierce revenge fire in Australia.

The revenge war between Australia and Japan began in New Guinea, the largest island in the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese army deployed 200,000 troops on the battlefield in New Guinea.

During the war, the Australian army used "leapfrog tactics" to cut off the Japanese logistics supply. Then the Australian army came to catch turtles in a jar. First, the no-man's land was leveled with powerful artillery fire, and then the Japanese army was gradually surrounded, narrowing their scope of activities.

In the end, the Japanese army could only hide in the bomb shelter. The Australian army didn't capture or destroy them, so it left these Japanese troops to fend for themselves without food and water.

Because New Guinea has a tropical rainforest climate, it is hot and rainy all year round, and it is very humid and sultry. Some Japanese soldiers died of heatstroke, and many people died of tropical diseases. During this period, all Japanese soldiers who voluntarily surrendered were finally executed on the spot by the Australian army.

In this way, less than 5% of the last 200,000 Japanese troops survived. Such a high mortality rate is also extremely rare in the history of world wars.

After the war, the search team sent by Japan only found the remains of more than 20,000 people, while more than 65,438+/kloc-0,000 Japanese troops had no bones.