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Volume 1: Songhua River Chapter 1683: MacArthur's Battle of Manila (Part 1)

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    The Japanese attack in the Calais Mountains was not sudden, and Ito Yanzaburo did not intend to hide his intentions. Starting from August 9, the Japanese troops on the front line in the Calais Mountains were mobilized frequently, and there were already signs of the attack.  .

    Major General Whiteman, commander of the Third Army of the United States Southwest Pacific Theater, which was adapted from the former Calais Mountain Battle Cluster of the US Army, was shocked after receiving the report from the frontline troops. The Japanese were about to take action, and he did not dare to neglect it.  , immediately reported the situation to General MacArthur, commander of the Southwest Pacific Headquarters in Manila, and asked for instructions on how to deal with it.

    Major General Whiteman was very nervous. He said to General MacArthur on the phone: "Your Excellency, Commander, the Japanese troops confronting our army in the Calais Mountains have begun to mobilize frequently since yesterday, and their offensive intentions are very serious.  Obviously, given the position of our Third Army, once it is discovered that it is broken through, it is very likely to fall into the division and encirclement of the Japanese army. Therefore, I request your Excellency, Commander, to first send reinforcements and secondly to allow the Third Army to  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 absolutely alone. Except for the fixed defense line in the Calais Mountains, there are no friendly troops on the left and right flanks. There are more than 80,000 people.  The troops were distributed on a front of more than 100 kilometers. Due to insufficient troops, Commander Whiteman spent a lot of effort to barely build two lines of defense. As for strategic depth, there was no talk at all.

    Moreover, the current defensive position of the Third Army has extremely unfavorable geographical conditions. Major General Whiteman now regrets that after taking over as commander of the Third Army, he should not have shrunk the blocking line evenly back from its original position.  More than ten kilometers.  He gave up the geographical advantage to the Japanese. Now he began to understand Stilwell's painstaking efforts. As far as the original blocking line was concerned, there were many terrains that could be used from a high position, which could withstand 50,000 soldiers!

    At the current position, the Japanese army occupies favorable terrain, forming a overwhelming force against the Third Army's defense line.  Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine. Major General Whiteman thought more than once, "If Chief of Staff Stilwell had not been killed in action, how would he have responded to such a situation?"

    Of course, Stilwell was killed.  But Major General Whiteman knew.  If Stilwell was still here and still served as the commander of the US military in the Calais Mountains, he would not have to be so confused, nor would he withdraw the blocking line for more than ten kilometers out of cowardice, resulting in the current passive situation.  "What a pity that Texas cowboy is. He is a rare commander. His talent in campaign command is better than that of Commander MacArthur." Major General Whiteman thought with regret.

    After receiving the enemy situation report from Major General Whiteman, MacArthur carefully weighed the current situation. It turned out that there were more than 300,000 troops. After several fierce battles, the troops on several other islands were all eaten by the Japanese.  In hand, including the Third Army in the Calais Mountains, there are still about 190,000 troops that can be used for the defense of Manila. However, it is only about 110,000. For the scale of the Manila defense that he expected, it is  far from enough.

    Of course, excluding the 1st and 2nd Philippine Corps, there are more than 70,000 Filipino soldiers. If all are added together, the total strength of the US-Philippine army commanded by MacArthur will reach about 280,000. Compared with Luzon  The Fourteenth Army of the Japanese Army on the island and several divisions and brigades transferred later were more than double the size of the Japanese Army. Despite this, Commander MacArthur was still unsure

    "" The reason why he advocated the defense of Manila was of course that he did not want to lose the foundation of his business for many years. His biggest reliance was the 160,000 British and Australian troops in Australia. After hard work, the United States Wartime High Command had already  Through negotiations with the British, Australia was placed under the defense scope of the Southwest Pacific Theater Headquarters. In other words, the 160,000 British and Australian troops were now under the command of Commander-in-Chief MacArthur.

    The U.S. and Philippine troops on Luzon Island, plus the British and Australian troops in Australia, have a total strength of more than 45 people, which basically accounts for about half of the total strength of the Japanese army in the Southwest Pacific battlefield. As far as the current situation of the Luzon Island battlefield is concerned,  The strength of the troops is several times greater than that of the Japanese army, which can form a local superior force. It can compete with the Japanese army on Luzon Island. As for the Japanese troops on other islands, MacArthur does not think that they will join the Luzon Island battlefield.

    The reason is very simple. The space capacity of the Luzon battlefield is so large. There are already more than 400,000 troops on both sides of the United States and Japan. They are crowded here. The Japanese are not stupid. There is no need to use human sea tactics. Another point is that General MacArthur  It is certain that the Japanese army will not increase its troops on Luzon Island. That is, more than two months have passed since the outbreak of the Pacific War. If the Japanese army had sent more troops to the Luzon Island battlefield, it would have arrived long ago.

    The reason why the Japanese army has not made such a deployment is because it has concerns. This is General MacArthur¡¯s original intention in advocating for the defense of Manila. Of course, he is not a mediocre person, and he must?Considering that if the Battle of Manila fails to achieve its intended purpose, or that the U.S. and Philippine troops on Luzon Island are in danger of being surrounded and annihilated by the Japanese army, General MacArthur has another way of retreat, which is to withdraw eastward to Australia.  .

    Therefore, the overall deployment of General MacArthur's Battle of Manila is as follows. An arc-shaped defense system is formed around Quezon City outside Manila.  The three places of Manila, Cavite, and Santa Cruz are the strategic support points of the defense line. A defense system with a depth of more than 20 kilometers has been built in the north, west, and south directions of Manila, and every effort is made to protect the southern part of Boliluo.  The peninsula port is Manila's only lifeline to Australia.

    With such a long arc-shaped defense system and such a large defense depth, excluding the Third Army troops in the Calais Mountains, MacArthur's existing approximately 180,000 U.S. and Philippine troops were not enough.  MacArthur urgently needs troops, but the connection between the southwest Pacific islands and the mainland has been cut off by the Japanese navy. He cannot get domestic support. Therefore, he can only mobilize all or most of Australia's 160,000 British and Australian troops.  Rush to aid the battlefield on Luzon Island.

    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. However, 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-Australian forces stationed in Australia, evaded MacArthur's request in every possible way, emphasizing various reasons.

    "Dear General MacArthur, my old friend, the United States and the United Kingdom were originally one body, advancing and retreating together on many international affairs. Now, we are facing the same enemy Japan himself, the British Empire's Australian troops, marching to the battlefield on Luzon Island,  There is nothing wrong with fighting the Japanese together, but as far as the current situation is concerned, Luzon Island has become an isolated island. After the Japanese occupy other surrounding areas, they will inevitably form an encirclement on Luzon Island. "

    "Therefore, I sincerely suggest that old friends can choose to abandon Manila and withdraw the US-Philippine troops on Luzon Island eastward to Australia. In this way, "Rebirth of the Battle Years" can avoid your troops being attacked.  A heavy loss can also increase Australia's defense strength. Using Australia as a base can prevent the Japanese from occupying the entire southwest Pacific region. I am in Australia and eagerly look forward to the arrival of my old friends! "

    I was absolutely polite, but he did not send a single soldier. Moreover, he asked MacArthur to abandon Luzon Island, abandon Manila, and evacuate to Australia. Isn¡¯t this going against General MacArthur? With MacArthur¡¯s own arrogance, how could he go to  The Australian mainland was sheltered from the limelight, living a life dependent on others. The hundreds of thousands of British Australian troops were unable to use it, and the troops could not make ends meet. The Manila defense line was as thin as a piece of paper. General MacArthur was so anxious that his eyes were burning and he was jumping around. There was nothing he could do.  General Fernandez, no affiliation!

    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 promptly send a telegram in the name of the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Southwest Pacific Theater to order Fernandez to come in.  General, mobilized 100,000 British and Australian troops to reinforce the Luzon battlefield.

    Moreover, MacArthur, who was used to being the boss, was absolutely unkind in the telegram. ¡°General MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Southwest Pacific Theater, ordered General Fernandez, Commander-in-Chief of the British-Australian Army, to mobilize the First Army Corps of the British-Australian Army from now on.  The Second Army, with a total of 100,000 troops, is to reinforce the Luzon battlefield. After receiving the order, the mobilized troops must arrive at the Luzon battlefield with equipment and supplies within a week. Otherwise, I will  Be held accountable according to the relevant terms of the agreement!¡±

    In other words, the British came to Luzon to help, and they had to take care of their own guns, ammunition, food and drink. General Fernandez, who received the order, was so angry that he couldn't understand what was going on in the country.  Son, how did the "entertainment show" leave the fate of the British and Australian troops in the hands of that arrogant American MacArthur? He also submitted his views on the Southwest Pacific war situation to the Prime Minister and the General Staff. It is obvious that Lu  Song Dao is already a dead end, and MacArthur's plan to defend Manila is a complete risky gamble!

    To put it more directly, that MacArthur was just a paranoid man who wanted to save face and did something he knew he couldn't do. This does not mean that Admiral Fernandez had such wise strategic foresight that he could see through Japan's true intentions.  But out of self-interest considerations, the 160,000 British Australian troops are all the capital of Australia's defense. Once they are all out, what if the Japanese army attacks Australia? I won't even have a way out!

    On other islands, hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops are standing still. Who can guess what they will do next? The way of thinking of the Japanese is different from that of normal people.So, MacArthur's order came, and in a tough tone, General Fernandez had to send troops!

    (To be continued.)
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