Age of Rebirth

The attack of the R Army in the Calais Mountains was not sudden, and Ito Yanzaburo did not intend to hide his intentions. Starting from August [-]th, the R Army troops on the front line of the Calais Mountains have been mobilized frequently, and there are already signs of the attack .

After receiving the report from the forward troops, Major General Whiteman, the commander of the Third Army in the Southwest Pacific Theater, who was adapted from the former US Army Calais Mountain Battle Group, was startled. , Immediately report the situation to General MacArthur, commander of the Southwest Pacific Headquarters in Manila, and at the same time, ask for countermeasures.

Major General Whiteman was very nervous. He said this to General MacArthur on the phone: "Your Excellency, the r army troops confronting our army in the Calais Mountains have been mobilizing frequently since yesterday, and their offensive intentions are very strong. Obviously, in view of the location of our third army, once it is discovered that it has been breached, it is very likely to fall into the division and encirclement of the r army. Therefore, I ask Your Excellency, Commander, to first send reinforcements, and second, to allow the third army to attack. Fall back to the Manila line."

Major General Whiteman is telling the truth. Judging from the current position of the U.S. Third Army, it is definitely an isolated army. Except for a fixed line of defense in the Calais mountains, there are no friendly troops on the left and right flanks. There are more than 8 troops. Because of the lack of troops, Commander Whiteman spent a lot of effort to barely build two lines of defense. As for the strategic depth, it is impossible to talk about it.

Moreover, the current defensive position of the Third Army has extremely unfavorable geographical conditions. Major General Whiteman regrets it very much now. At the beginning, after taking over as the commander of the Third Army, he should not have shrunk the blocking line back from the original position on average. Ten kilometers.He handed over the advantage of the geographical advantage to R himself, and now he "" began to understand Stilwell's painstaking efforts. As far as the original blockade line is concerned, it is condescending and there are many terrains that can be used, which can reach [-] soldiers! [

In the current position, the r army occupies a favorable terrain, and the defense line of the third army has formed a momentum of overwhelmed by Mount Tai.It is a pity that there is no regret medicine to take. Major General Whiteman thought more than once, "If Chief of Staff Stilwell had not been killed in action, how would he deal with such a situation?"

Of course, Stilwell was dead.But Major General Whiteman knew.If Stilwell was still there, and still served as the commander of the U.S. Army in the Calais Mountains, he would not have to be such a master of the six gods, nor would he withdraw the blockade line more than ten kilometers out of timidity, resulting in the current passive situation. "It's a pity that the Texas cowboy is really a rare commander. His talent in campaign command surpasses that of Commander MacArthur." Major General Whiteman thought without regret.

After receiving the enemy report from Major General Whiteman, MacArthur carefully weighed the current situation. It turned out that there were more than 30 troops. After several fierce battles, the troops on the other islands were eaten by R himself. Including the third army in Calais, there are still about 19 troops that can be used for the defense of Manila, but about 11 are far from enough for the scale of the defense of Manila that I expected of.

Of course, excluding the Philippine First and Second Corps, there are more than 7 Filipino soldiers. If you add up all kinds of miscellaneous soldiers, the total strength of the US-Philippine army under MacArthur's command will reach about 28. In terms of the No. 14 Army of the R Army and several divisions and brigades transferred later, it is more than double that of the R Army. Even so, Commander MacArthur still has no foundation in his heart.

"" The reason why he insisted on defending Manila was that he didn't want to lose the foundation of his business for many years. The biggest reliance was the 16 British and Australian troops in Australia. After negotiations between the people, Australia was included in the defense scope of the headquarters of the Southwest Pacific Theater. That is to say, the 16 British and Australian troops are now under the command of Commander-in-Chief MacArthur.

The U.S.-Philippines troops on Luzon Island, together with Australia’s British and Australian troops, have a total strength of more than 45, basically reaching about half of the total strength of the R Army on the Southwest Pacific battlefield. The r army is several times more than that, and can form a local superior force. It can compete with the r army on Luzon Island. As for the r army troops on other islands, MacArthur does not think that they will join the Luzon battlefield.

The reason is very simple. The space capacity of the Luzon battlefield is so large. The US and r have more than [-] troops crowded here. R himself is not an idiot, so there is no need to use crowd tactics. It is certain that the R Army will not increase its troops to Luzon Island, that is, more than two months have passed since the outbreak of the Pacific War. If the R Army sent more troops to the battlefield of Luzon Island, it would have come a long time ago.

The r army has been slow to make such a deployment because it has concerns. This is General MacArthur's original intention to advocate the defense of Manila. Of course, he is not a mediocrity. In other words, the US-Philippine army on Luzon Island is in danger of being encircled and annihilated by the Japanese army. General MacArthur still has a way out, which is to withdraw eastward to Australia.

Therefore, the overall deployment of General MacArthur's Manila Defense War is as follows. Outside Manila, an arc-shaped defense system is formed, with Quezon City, Cavite, St. The three places of Cruz are the strategic support points of the defense line. In the north, west and south of Manila, a defense system with a defense depth of more than 680 kilometers has been built to protect the port of the Bollio Peninsula in the south. That is Manila. The only lifeline, connecting Australia.

With such a long arc-shaped defense system and such a large defense depth, in addition to the Third Army troops in the Calais Mountains, the US-Philippine army of about 18 in MacArthur's hands is far from enough. MacArthur urgently needs troops, but the connection between the Southwest Pacific islands and the mainland has been cut off by the Japanese navy, and he cannot get domestic support. Therefore, he has to mobilize all or most of Australia's 16 British and Australian troops to help Lu Song Island battlefield.

In fact, in late July, MacArthur had already sent a telegram to the British and Australian troops requesting reinforcements on the Luzon battlefield, asking the British to fulfill their obligations under the Allied Treaty, but at that time, the domestic government had not yet reached an agreement with the British. However, General Fernandez, the commander-in-chief of the British and Australian troops stationed in Australia, dismissed MacArthur's request in every possible way, emphasizing various reasons.

"Respected General MacArthur, my old friend, the United States and the United Kingdom were originally one, and they advanced and retreated together in many international affairs. Now, we are facing the same enemy r himself, the British Empire's troops stationed in Australia, marching to the Luzon Island battlefield, There is nothing wrong with fighting R himself together, but as far as the current situation is concerned, Luzon Island has become an isolated place, and after R himself occupies other surrounding areas, he is bound to form a siege of Luzon Island."

"Therefore, I sincerely suggest that old friends can choose to abandon Manila and withdraw the US-Philippine troops on Luzon Island to the east to Australia. A heavy loss can also increase Australia's defense forces, and using Australia as a base can prevent r's ambition to invade the entire Southwest Pacific region, I am in Australia, and I am eagerly looking forward to the arrival of my old friend!"

What he said was absolutely polite, but he did not send a single soldier. Moreover, he asked MacArthur to abandon Luzon Island, Manila, and retreat to Australia. Isn’t this against General MacArthur? With MacArthur’s own arrogance, how could he go to The Australian mainland is sheltered from the limelight, living a life under the hedge of others, guarding 10,000+ British and Australian troops, unable to use them, and their strength is beyond their means. The Manila defense line is as thin as a piece of paper, which made General MacArthur's eyes blaze with anxiety. Admiral, no affiliation!

Well now, that hypocritical British guy has become his subordinate. After receiving the telegram from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first thing MacArthur did was to send a telegram ordering Fernandez in the name of the commander-in-chief of the US Southwest Pacific Theater in time. General, mobilize [-] British and Australian troops to reinforce the Luzon battlefield.

Moreover, MacArthur, who is used to the boss, is absolutely not polite in the content of the telegram, "General MacArthur, the commander-in-chief of the Southwest Pacific Theater of the Allied Forces, ordered that General Fernandez, the commander-in-chief of the British and Australian troops, mobilize the First British and Australian Army Corps, The Second Army, with a total of 10 troops, will reinforce the Luzon battlefield. After receiving the order, the mobilized troops must rush to the Luzon battlefield with equipment and supplies within a week. Otherwise, I will According to the relevant clauses of the agreement, we will be held accountable!"

That is to say, the British came to Luzon Island to help with boxing, guns, ammunition, food and drink, and they took care of themselves. Admiral Fernandez, who received the order, was so angry that he couldn't figure out what was going on in the country. Boy, how did the "Entertainment Show" hand over the fate of the British and Australian troops to the arrogant Yankee MacArthur, and he also submitted his views on the situation in the Southwest Pacific to the Prime Minister and the General Staff. Obviously, Lu Song Island is already a dead end, and MacArthur's plan to defend Manila is a complete risky gamble!

To put it more directly, that MacArthur is a paranoid who wants to save face, knowing that he can't do it. This is not to say that Admiral Fernandez has such a wise strategic foresight that he can see through r's true intentions. But out of self-interest considerations, the 16 British and Australian troops are all the capital of Australia's defense. Once they come out in full force, what if the Japanese army attacks Australia, and I have no way out!

On other islands, the hundreds of thousands of r army troops who are standing still, who can guess what they will do next, r himself's way of thinking is different from normal people, but MacArthur's order came, and, in a tone Be tough, Admiral Fernandez, you have to send troops! [

(To be continued.)