Age of Rebirth

Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta's judgment was correct and he was very confident that the main force of the Allied forces around Manila was attracted by the imperial army's weak tactics to the front line of the Calais Mountains. The Allied forces on the Manila defense line would not There are more than 5 people, and they must be second-rate or even third-rate troops with weak combat effectiveness.

As long as you quickly defeat the blockade of the Allied forces in the middle of the Calais Mountains, you will be able to come to Manila that night. How can the more than 10,000 second- and third-rate Allied soldiers be your opponents, not to mention the [-]+ imperial army The fighting spirit of the soldiers is like a rainbow. Once the [-] British and Australian troops in Luzon are reinforced, and they learn that Australia is being attacked by the main force of the imperial army, they will inevitably return to help. pace.

Looking at the terrain conditions, the hastily constructed second line of defense in the Calais Mountains was no match for the Manila defense line with deep trenches and high walls. The Allied defenses in the Calais Mountains and Manila, Lieutenant General Chuntian They have all commanded troops to attack, so they naturally know the severity.

For this reason, Commander Haruta Yoshihiko's adjusted deployment became more and more fierce. He used the [-]rd, [-]th, [-]th, and [-]th divisions of the [-]th Army as the main assault force. With the most ferocious attack, they quickly broke through the Allied positions, and then, ignoring hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers, they went straight to Manila. The follow-up troops surrounded and annihilated the Allied troops on the central line of the Calais mountains.

Lieutenant General Chu Tian only uses the four divisions directly under his command, which is somewhat selfish. First, so much credit should not be given to other troops assigned to him. Second, he still believes in the combat effectiveness and attack of his own troops. force. [

After giving the order, Lieutenant General Haruta, whose face was full of red, couldn't help admiring Commander-in-Chief Ito, if it wasn't for His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief.At the military meeting on the eve of the expedition to Australia, I left myself alone and taught the opportunity face to face. With my own brains, I definitely couldn't think of such a sinister and vicious trick. Also, my style of commanding operations just likes to fight and rush , It seems that there is a gap between himself and Commander Ito.It's still big!

Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta was even proud of his modesty. At this moment, a communications officer hurried over, "Report to Your Excellency, Commander. An urgent call has been received from the headquarters!"

"Oh!" Lieutenant General Chuntian received the telegram a little unexpectedly, and thought to himself: "Commander Ito is really a worry. He is far away from the battlefield in Australia. He is still concerned about the battlefield in Luzon Island. The meaning of the call is not to ask. How the battle is progressing, I am also careless, and did not report the situation in time," he secretly blamed himself.

But.After Lieutenant General Chuntian read the content of the telegram, his expression changed dramatically. The staff officers around him saw the expression on His Excellency the Commander's face.At first, it turned red to the color of pig liver, and then turned to iron blue, his throat was like a bellows, he was panting heavily, the muscles on his face twitched, his eyes were staring, the few senior staff officers closest to him, even You can smell the smell of gunpowder coming out of Your Excellency the Commander!

Although I don't know what the content of the telegram is, but from the commander's expression, I can see the danger signal. Just when a large group of staff members are worried that Lieutenant General Chuntian will run away on the spot, suddenly, Lieutenant General Chuntian Roared, "Why is this happening?"

Then, he dictated a telegram in a fierce tone, and said viciously: "Immediately send it to the headquarters of the dispatched army as quickly as possible, to reach Commander Ito directly. If it is within 10 minutes, I have to If you don’t get an answer from His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, you’re all going to die!”

Turning around, I saw a large group of staff officers looking at each other, and roared, "Baga! Stupid pig! Pass on my order, all troops suspend operations, and stand by where they are!" Only then did the staff officers vaguely understand that this telegram from the headquarters of the dispatched army Roughly.

Standing on Australian soil, General Ito Yanzaburo shook his head in resignation after receiving the gunpowder-smelling telegram from Lieutenant General Haruta Yoshihiko, and handed the telegram to Major General Kawashima, the chief of staff beside him, and said: " Shima-kun, take a look, that fellow Chuntian is showing his temper again!"

Major General Kawashima opened it, and sure enough, Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta's telegram was quite unfriendly, "Your Excellency General Ito of the Southwest Pacific Dispatch Army of the Empire of Japan, on the occasion of our No. Offi and other allied troops, when they captured Manila tonight, suddenly received an order from the headquarters to stop the attack, which really surprised the staff and made them unbelievable!"

"In front of us, the situation on the battlefield of Luzon Island is quite favorable for the imperial army. More than [-] allied troops are retreating in panic. The imperial army has already launched a full-line attack. Such a great opportunity to wipe out the enemy, I don't know What is the basis for your order, Commander-in-Chief? If your Excellency the General cannot give Haruta a reasonable reason, Haruta will not hesitate to risk violating your military order and march straight to Manila. !"

After reading Yoshihiko Haruta's telegram, Chief of Staff Kawashima said something meaningful, "Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, Haruta-kun is such a strong general! If you have such a strong general, why not sweep the Pacific Ocean!"

General Ito laughed, very proud, paused, and said: "Kawashima-kun, let's report the original situation to Chuntian, otherwise, I am worried that this guy will really disobey my military order and attack Manila if he has a bad temper. , and wiped out hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers on Luzon Island, you should write the telegram yourself!"

Chief of Staff Kawashima nodded, deeply convinced, and hurriedly returned a telegram to Lieutenant General Haruta Yoshihiko.

In fact, ordering Haruta Yoshihiko, who was fighting smoothly, to stop attacking the Allied forces on Luzon Island, from the heart, was by no means the original intention of Commander-in-Chief Ito, but the result of a compromise with the navy. As a result, General Ito himself also felt panicked.

The successful attack on Australia this time is of course inseparable from the support of the navy, and the navy has dispatched two fleets, and it is not willing to play a supporting role, to be a green leaf, to set off the army's record.

Therefore, the commanders of the two fleets of the Japanese Navy jointly called Admiral Ito and put forward a request to urgently return [-] British and Australian soldiers from the battlefield of Luzon Island to the Navy to solve the problem. The reason is very simple. The army has already captured cities and territories in the Southwest Pacific battlefield one after another, and it has gained enough limelight. Anyway, it is time for the navy to fight a decent battle.

After receiving the tough telegram from the navy, Admiral Ito was very annoyed and embarrassed. If you don’t agree, the navy will definitely not let it go, and the matter will have to go to the headquarters or even His Majesty the Emperor. At that time, maybe there will be something What kind of trouble is coming to you!

In addition, when Admiral Ito formulated the action plan to attack Australia, he intentionally neglected the navy, and he had a knot in his heart. He was also afraid that the navy would make use of the problem. It will be difficult to do.

Promise, I feel aggrieved in my heart. It is only a matter of time before the Allied troops on Luzon Island are resolved. That is the last military force of the United States in the Southwest Pacific battlefield. It is really unwilling to hand over such a great contribution. , At the same time, Admiral Ito was very angry, and the navy took food from his mouth. [

General Ito, who was in a dilemma, discussed the pros and cons with Chief of Staff Major General Kawashima, and finally, Chief of Staff Kawashima made him make a decision.

The words of Chief of Staff Kawashima were objective and calm, and he said: "General, it is an undoubted fact that the Imperial Army has won a complete victory in the current situation of the war. As a participant in the Southwest Pacific Campaign, the Navy will never endure it. The achievements are all created by the army, so even if we ignore their request, the navy will complain to His Majesty the Emperor."

"And His Majesty the Emperor, in order to balance the navy's eagerness to make contributions, he will definitely take into account the feelings of the navy. At that time, the headquarters will issue an order, and we will have to obey it. Rather than being passive, it is better to take the initiative. If we look at the results of the entire Pacific battlefield , Even if the navy wins one or two battles, it cannot be compared with our army's record, so, general, my personal suggestion is to order Haruta-kun to stop the attack and give the navy the opportunity!"

General Ito, after listening to his chief of staff's incisive analysis, clapped his hands and applauded, and then he got the order that almost made Lieutenant General Haruta Yoshihiko vomit blood on the spot.

In the call back to Haruta Yoshihiko, Chief of Staff Kawashima took great pains. He not only explained the background of the order, but also pointed out to him the tactics to be used next. Lieutenant General Haruta repeated this long telegram. After reading it several times, I rolled my big eyes again, pondered and digested it for a while, and finally felt the taste of it, and my face gradually returned to its normal color.

After scolding the navy guys several times in his heart, Lieutenant General Chuntian changed his tactics, retracting the four outstretched fists, changing from a quick breakthrough to a flat attack. The [-] British-Australian troops who assisted Australia successfully boarded the ship and forced the US-Philippines under MacArthur to abandon Luzon and flee south to Australia.

The Japanese army suddenly changed the attack method, slowed down the attack speed, and reduced the intensity of the attack. MacArthur, who was in a hurry, was suddenly under pressure, and he was able to free up his hands and make a planned retreat. Although he didn't know what caused it, but This is also a rare opportunity, it would be an idiot not to take advantage of it!

By the afternoon of August 25, most of the Anglo-Australian troops returning to Australia had boarded the ship, and MacArthur also successfully withdrew about half of the troops from the Calais mountain battlefield to the Manila defense line.

That afternoon, Major General Le Yiqin, the commander of the Southern Aviation Group of the Independent Division Air Force, flew his own fighter jet from Myitkyina Base to Singapore Airport.

(To be continued) (To be continued.)