Shadow Spy

Chapter 478 Attacking the Big Island in full swing

On April 4, Li Junhao arrived at the Cavite Naval Base in Luzon Island, Philippines. Admiral Jonathan Wainwright, Commander of the U.S. Army in the Far East, and Vice Admiral Thomas Carson Kincaid, Commander of the Navy's 6th Fleet, led their generals. Wait for his arrival.

After not seeing each other for several years, Wainwright had not changed much and was still calm and capable. However, he was a little excited when he saw Li Junhao. In his heart, General Pan Sen was his noble man. It can be said that he benefited from his current general status. Defending Luzon was due to General Panson’s advance planning and preparation!

Later, Li Junhao convened them and the generals at sea and land for a simple combat meeting, put forward his battle plan, and required the three parties to come up with preliminary detailed combat plans within 24 hours;

Subsequently, he sent two telegrams respectively. The first one was to order the India-Burma Theater Command to notify the 121st Group Army to prepare for an attack, and board the transport ship to pick them up 24 hours later, to deploy Luzon and prepare to join the war;

The second one was to contact the Airborne Combat Command in Australia, find its commander, Lieutenant General Ridgway, and ask if he would be willing to send his airborne troops to participate in the war?

Li Qiwei heard that Li Junhao personally planned and commanded the Bay Island operation, and immediately expressed his willingness, but he needed to ask the Army Staff for instructions first...

Because Marshall was in Europe, General Arnold, the acting Army Chief of Staff, immediately agreed to Ridgway's application. He knew that this was a step given to the Army by General Panson and must be followed; and the 11th, 13th, and 17th troops currently training in Australia The three newly formed airborne divisions all had little combat experience. They just took advantage of the Bay Island Battle to practice their troops. They were taken care of by the land and sea troops, which was better than cooperating with the British army.

Li Qiwei immediately replied to Li Junhao that troops from three airborne divisions would depart for Luzon within 12 hours.

Originally, Li Junhao felt that the three amphibious armies plus the Gurkha Division with 25 troops were a bit insufficient to attack the Bay Island. Now with the addition of the 4 airborne troops from the three divisions and the 5-strong 121st Group Army, it was almost enough.
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On the 7th, the U.S. 5th Fleet, which was conducting the Ryukyu Campaign, dispatched a fast aircraft carrier formation to meet the Japanese Navy 2nd Fleet in the southwest waters of Kyushu to reinforce Ryukyu Island. Its carrier-based aircraft sank the Japanese battleship "Yamato" and 1 cruiser. 4 destroyers, cruisers and destroyers sank 7 Japanese submarines, thus eliminating the threat at sea.

However, during the battle, hundreds of Japanese army and navy aircraft carried out "kamikaze" suicide attacks on US ships, sinking 12 ships and damaging 24 in just one day. This made the commander of the 5th Fleet Admiral Spruance thought of Admiral Panson's words and regretted it endlessly! ——

On the 8th, Li Junhao reviewed and revised the compiled Gulf Island combat plan. While reporting it to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he ordered all participating troops to prepare...

At noon on the 9th, the entire 121st Group Army arrived in Luzon. In the evening, Li Qiwei also arrived with three airborne divisions. Everyone was very happy to see them.

In the next two days, preparations were perfected, and each department received its mission and prepared for battle... All aspects of the work were intense and orderly, which made Li Junhao very satisfied! He ordered the departure on the 12th and launched the attack in the early morning of the 13th.
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On the 11th, the Western Allied forces on the European battlefield arrived at the Elbe River and prepared to launch an attack in the southeast direction of Saxony.

On the same day, the U.S. Army landed on Ryukyu Island and its attack from the center of the island to the north was proceeding smoothly...
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At four o'clock in the morning on April 4, the landing force escorted by the 13th Fleet approached the Bay Island from three directions: north, west, and east. Thanks to the Ryukyu Campaign launched by the US military before, the Kaohsiung garrison of the Japanese Navy originally stationed on the Bay Island More than 7% of the fleet, navy and army aviation units were deployed, and there was no shore-based warning radar, so the arrival of the US fleet was not detected at all.

At 11:13, the 17th Airborne Division was in Taoyuan, the th Airborne Division was in Changhua, and the th Airborne Division was near Tainan. The three divisions began airborne operations on time... Their mission was to support the three landing points nearby. At five o'clock, Li Junhao personally commanded the First Army to land in Keelung in the north on the "Libei Zhong" amphibious command ship. Lieutenant General Smith boarded the "Luoshanji" amphibious command ship and commanded the Second Army to land in Taichung. Van Dege Lieutenant General Lift boarded the amphibious command ship "Appalachia" and commanded the Fourth Army to land in Kaohsiung.

On the sea outside the three landing points, the 7th Fleet's six aircraft carriers, six escort carriers, six battleships and other warships were divided into three squadrons to provide air cover and artillery support for the landing forces...

In order to ensure the suddenness of the landing operation, no air strikes were carried out in advance this time. This is because before the Ryukyu Battle, the US military had carried out continuous bombings on various airports on the Bay Island. Now all the airports on the Bay Island are basically unusable. , At present, the Japanese army cannot even assemble a large group of fighter planes that can take off to meet the enemy.

The Japanese aircraft that may come from Japan to support the defenders cannot get past the US 5th Fleet, which is conducting operations on Ryukyu Island. This timing is indeed excellent. Before the Ryukyu Operation began, the Japanese army mobilized a large number of sea, land and air forces from the Bay Island, leaving the Bay Island in its weakest state.

At the beginning of the Battle of Bay Island, the U.S. military had complete control of the air and sea, and only needed to deal with the Japanese ground forces; and after many deployments in various theaters, the Japanese 10th Front Army and the Navy's Kaohsiung garrison currently guarding the Bay Island, although they claim to still be There are 20 troops, but in fact, except for the 9th Division, which is a permanent division, the other troops are second-line or even third-line troops, with poor soldiers, equipment, and combat effectiveness.

In this case, the U.S. Marine Corps suddenly launched a landing operation, which directly stunned the defending Japanese troops!

The one making the fastest progress is naturally the First Army. Of course, this is not because the First Army is the strongest, but because the Keelung garrison is only the 6000th Independent Brigade with less than 75 people. It is just huddled in the dock area and does not even guard both sides of the dock. The beachhead!

The sudden attack of the three main brigades of the First Army shook itself. The 11th and 13th brigades, which landed directly from the beaches on both sides, left a battalion each to help the 12th Brigade encircle and annihilate the Japanese 75th Brigade. The main forces of the two brigades Head directly to the Keelung city behind the pier...

The Second and Fourth armies attacking Taichung and Kaohsiung respectively faced the Japanese 71st Division and the naval garrison at Kaohsiung. The difficulty was not much higher...

The three airborne divisions that landed in Taoyuan, Changhua, and Tainan in advance, except for some puppet troops and militia that were quickly eliminated, did not even encounter regular Japanese troops!

Before the Japanese army even understood the situation, several of the most important port cities on the Bay Island were lost!

(End of this chapter)