Glorious Mission 1937

"On September 16th, Showa 25, the moon was like a hook and there was no cloud. The four corps of our army have deployed their battles, and the ten flags on the [-]-kilometer-long front face each other from a distance. There are enough artillery... This attack is not invincible The reason.” This is a passage written by Masaharu Honma, the general commander in charge of the Bataan campaign, in Shiye’s battle diary.

According to Honma's estimate, winning should not be a problem, but it will take at least ten days to completely defeat the [-] to [-] US-Philippine troops.

On the other side of the front line, 30 American and Filipino troops who are mentally exhausted are busy setting up defensive positions. Although Chen Feng's troops are transporting supplies, compared to the nearly 7000 American and Filipino soldiers, Chen Feng's troops have less than [-] aircraft The materials and ammunition that helicopters can provide are far from enough to meet the consumption of the army. The meager supply of materials directly leads to the fact that only [-] of the [-] American and Filipino soldiers are listed as "combat-capable" personnel. Yet three-quarters were debilitated by malaria.

On the morning of October [-]st, the weather was fine.At nine o'clock, after all the Japanese army had a hearty breakfast, the shelling began.Filipino troops had never experienced such heavy artillery fire, and the shells seemed to be exploding one upon the other.The bombardment reminded American veterans of some of the heaviest German artillery fire during World War I.

The bombardment has not stopped yet, and the bombers of the No.20 Second Flying Wing of the Japanese Army flew in a complete formation and dropped a large number of bombs on the two and a half kilometers long position in front of Mount Shamat.This is a new type of aerial bomb that the U.S. military has never seen before. The bomb does not explode when it hits the fortifications.The fortifications did not explode until they were drilled into the fortifications. The fortifications built by the US and Philippine troops were as vulnerable to the Japanese aerial bombs as paper.

Of course, this is related to the quality of the US military's fortifications, especially due to the lack of earth, stone and concrete on the island, most of the fortifications are built with bamboo, wood and earth materials. How strong can the fortifications built with bamboo, wood and earth be? .

There are many bamboo forests on Bataan Island. After being shelled and bombed by the Japanese army, the bamboo clumps burst into flames.The U.S.-Philippines didn't care about this phenomenon at first, and the soldiers even lit cigarettes with burning bamboo sticks.Then the bushes, dry as charcoal, caught fire.The heat was unbearable.

American soldiers and Filipino soldiers jumped out of the bunker one after another.Flee to the second line of defense.Here, the trees have been bare by shellfire, and the ground is barely covered.The defenders thought it was safe here.Unexpectedly, a gust of wind blew.Flames shot across the open field.Burning the dense woods behind.Now the soldiers were surrounded by fire.Hundreds of people were burned alive, and those who managed to escape from the fire circle were like frightened wild animals, desperately fleeing to the rear.Bring on a panic.

At 600:[-] pm, under the cover of thick smoke and fire, Japanese infantry and tanks began to roll southward, barely encountered any resistance, and broke through a three-mile-long gap in just one hour.General George Parker, the commander of the Philippine Second Corps guarding the eastern half of Bataan, did not know the news until evening, and ordered a total of [-] reserve troops to plug the gap, but it was too late.

By evening of the next day, Lieutenant General Akira Nara's troops had taken the area west of Mount Shamat, and fresh reinforcements from Shanghai surrounded the other side of the rocky ridge.

Just as the American and Filipino soldiers in the trenches on Mount Shamat were praying in the morning light, shells roared overhead.As soon as the artillery fire stopped, the Japanese army began to climb the mountain. Not long after noon, the Japanese army had planted a sun flag on the peak.As expected by the Japanese base camp, as soon as this mountain was occupied, the entire Bataan defense line of the US military was crumbling.

Parker desperately ordered a counterattack, but was defeated.By noon the next day, the left flank of his corps had disintegrated.In this way, there is no longer any force that can prevent Nara's troops from going all the way to the end of Bataan Island.

While the left-wing defense line collapsed, the right-wing defense line was still maintained.East of Mount Shamat, Brigadier General Clifford Blummel attempted a counterattack with the 31st Division, but the collapse of the left flank forced him to retreat.He began building a new line of defense along the San Vicente River without any orders.Armed with a garland, he drove the demoralized remnants to new positions by threats and abuse.

Hattori, who came from Tokyo, stood on the top of Mount Shamat and watched the battle at the bottom of the mountain. As the most important staff officer in the base camp, General Umezu Yoshijiro, she was one of the main planners of the Bataan battle.

Watching the battle below, he was very excited. The plan made in Tokyo has been successfully achieved step by step. This is not only his success, but also the success of the entire Great Japanese Empire. As a soldier of the empire, he feels extremely proud .

Not far to the west, Hattori could see Nara's troops relentlessly sweeping towards the scattered American troops like a tidal wave.To the east, troops brought in from Shanghai had begun to attack Bloommel's hastily erected new line of defense.By nightfall, the only thing standing in the way of Honma's complete overthrow of the defenders was this line of defense - and it wouldn't last long.At dawn, Bloommel came across a convoy of trucks heading back as he was making his rounds. "The San Vicente line has been breached!" shouted an American soldier in the first truck.

This time, not even Bloommel could stop the rout.It was indeed frightening to see the American troops fighting and fleeing like this, and a group of Filipino soldiers rushed towards him.He waved his gun and ordered them to stand in line on both sides of the road. Suddenly, a shell exploded on the road, and then fell one after another.The soldiers fled south, shoving past him.The general was furious and wanted to grab some of them, but he couldn't catch any of them.

The defense on Bataan Island finally collapsed. When the news of the defeat of the defenders on the front line reached the rear, the American and Philippine troops and people in the rear were in despair.Most of the soldiers abandoned their positions before the arrival of the Japanese army. The fleeing American and Filipino troops came out of the jungle and flocked to the protrusion of the peninsula. run.Chaos is everywhere, and these exhausted people move with terror.

In Mariveles, a small town on the southern tip of Bataan, only a few boats were evacuating the remaining refugees to Corregidor, while others had been dragged into the bay and sunk.The scattered hordes of soldiers who had fled here watched the lucky few leave the docks: they were going to Corregidor to live comfortably with those who fled the battle - thirsty, plenty of water, hungry , canned food, and gentle nurses, they can sit safely in the Malinda tunnels waiting for the mile-long fleet to come and pick them up, they will be heroes, and those whose bones are thrown in Bataan will be killed The world despises them because they lost.

On the evening of October 10, a distraught Wainwright called King, Commander-in-Chief of the Bataan Line, from the Malinda Tunnel at Corregidor, ordering him to send Jones' 5st Corps northward.

King relayed the order to Jones, who responded bluntly, "Any attack is absurd and impossible."

Everyone knows that further fighting can only mean unnecessary casualties.At twelve o'clock at night, King summoned the chief of staff and combat staff.There was no debate at the meeting and the situation was hopeless.Wainwright did not dare to disobey MacArthur's clear order to attack to the end, but King decided to bear the burden by himself.

As a commander, he knew very well that his actions would be in violation of military orders, and even if he survived in the United States one day, he would be brought to a military court.But the lives of [-] soldiers are more important than his personal honor.

"I have decided that Bataan will surrender!" This was King's decision.

"I didn't speak to General Wainwright because I didn't want him to take any responsibility," King told the officers present, and the meeting broke up after King made his decision.

Four hours later, Wainwright was reported to Wainwright by night watch officers in the Malinda tunnels that King had surrendered.The anxious General Wainwright yelled into the phone on the other side, "Tell him not to do this!"

But it was too late, Wainwright did not dare to neglect, and immediately sent a telegram to MacArthur: "At six o'clock this morning, without notifying me or obtaining my consent, General Kim raised the white flag to the commander of the Japanese army. When I heard the news, I myself disagreed with the move and gave orders not to surrender. It was told that it was too late and nothing could be changed, the action had already been taken..."

At [-] o'clock, General Kim put on his last clean uniform and took his adjutants, Major Agil Tisdall and Major Wade Coethlon, in a jeep and headed to the front line. He was going to see the Japanese commander Honma Yaqing's representative discusses the details of the surrender.

Geno Nakayama arrived in a shiny black Cadillac, and the senior combat staff officer from Honma asked Kim through an interpreter if he was General Wainwright.

"No. I am General Kim, Commander-in-Chief of Bataan Forces." Kim replied.

"Go and find Wainwright. If he doesn't show up, the Japanese army cannot accept the surrender." Zhongshan was puzzled and ordered.

"My troops are no longer combat units. I want the bloodshed to stop."

"Surrender must be unconditional."

"Can our troops be treated well?"

"We are not savages. Are you willing to surrender unconditionally?"

Kim nodded.He said his saber was left in Manila.With that said, he put the pistol on the table.

........

The US-Philippine army surrendered, and the only remaining Corregidor could not last long. The US-Philippine army seemed to have come to an end.

At the same time, on the battlefield in China, the largest encounter since the beginning of the war was about to break out. The most elite First Division of the Japanese Army and the 4th Mechanized Infantry Division under Chen Feng had the same purpose and met unexpectedly on the outskirts of Tongliao. , A shocking encounter broke out. (To be continued..)