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Volume 1 On the Songhua River Chapter 1707 Tug of War

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    On the first day of Yoshihiko Haruta's Fourteenth Army's official attack on the Manila Defense Line, it put great pressure on the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army, MacArthur. At the end of the day, the U.S. and Philippine troops suffered more than 7,000 casualties. No wonder  General MacArthur was filled with worry. Seven thousand troops a day would be exhausted in less than a month.

    There is another point that General MacArthur does not understand. Logically speaking, if he is the main defender and the Japanese army is the main attacker, the attacking side will definitely suffer more casualties than the defending side. Moreover, the Manila Defense Line has been in operation for more than two months, and the fortifications  It is fully equipped with firepower points, various defense systems, and has been optimally combined. I dare not boast that it is impregnable, nor can it be broken easily.

    According to MacArthur's own understanding, the attacking Japanese army would not put so much pressure on the defense line unless they suffered more than double the casualties of the defenders. However, the momentum of the Japanese army's attack turned out to be like a never-ending wave.  Go down, and then the next attack wave will follow. Isn't the Japanese army afraid of casualties?

    As for the previous breakthrough of the 1st Regiment of the 7th Mechanized Infantry Division, it was the result of a hasty battle and the Japanese army taking advantage of a sneak attack. Moreover, MacArthur also noticed that the Japanese army's strength would never exceed 80,000 to 90,000.  Man, the battle in the Calais Mountains is not over yet, involving most of the Japanese army. At this moment, he actually regrets it. If he had followed Jonathan's suggestion, he would take advantage of the Japanese army's coming from afar and its unstable foothold.  , take the initiative, maybe the battle now will not be so frustrating!

    The Japanese army dared to kill thousands of troops.  He took the initiative to attack the heavily defended Manila defense line, but also defeated hundreds of thousands of his own troops. He was struggling to cope. What was going on? Commander-in-chief MacArthur was puzzled and very depressed at the same time. At this time, Major General of the Intelligence Division of the headquarters  The director hurried in.

    The tall director of the Intelligence Department, when he arrived in front of MacArthur, first saluted.  With a proud attitude of having made great achievements, he then said: "Report to the General, after the various efforts of the Intelligence Department, the numbers and strength of the Japanese troops attacking us have been clarified!"

    "Oh!" General MacArthur perked up. He urgently wanted to know whether the powerful opponent in front of him was the Japanese Southwest Pacific Expeditionary Force.  "Tell me the details!" he urged eagerly.

    The director of the Intelligence Division reported: "The Japanese army attacking us is the Fourteenth Army under the jurisdiction of Japan's Southwest Pacific Expeditionary Force. The commander of the army is Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta. The army has four main divisions with a total strength of 70,000  More than 3,000 people are assigned to a heavy artillery brigade, three field artillery regiments, and two tank regiments. "

    "What?" Commander-in-Chief MacArthur jumped up. He was surprised that Yoshihiko Haruta, a commander of the Japanese army, could not get into the eyes of the general.  What surprised and annoyed him was that the Japanese troops attacking him, with less than 80,000 troops, would have destroyed the Manila defense line with smoke and fire and be riddled with holes. If this information had come one day earlier.  It will never be the result like this.

    Your Majesty the General will be very willing to accept Brigadier General Jonathan's suggestion and give the Japanese a head-on blow. Now that the intelligence has been obtained is of no use, Commander-in-Chief MacArthur feels that his chest is clogged.  He looked up and saw the Director of the Intelligence Department, a little proud of himself. Waiting for his compliment, the fire in his heart suddenly burned. He picked up a document on the table and threw it on the head of the Director of the Intelligence Department.  Big face.

    Immediately, there was a burst of curses like thunder, and the curses were so heartfelt that sweat broke out on the fat face of the Director of Intelligence. The other U.S. military officers were dumbfounded and frightened by the curses. They didn't know that the Commander-in-Chief, who always regarded himself as a gentleman,  Your Majesty, why are you so out of your mind, like a shrew on the street, swearing in the street?

    MacArthur knew in his heart that if he did not find an opportunity to vent this evil fire, he might be suffocated to death. After using the most vicious words to greet all the female relatives of the Director of Intelligence several times, the general manager was still angry.  Your Excellency, Commander, squeezed out one word from between his teeth, "Get out!"

    It was a completely unintentional disaster. The head of the intelligence department was scolded by a bully. His face was sallow. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and scurried away like a mouse. His tall figure was half shorter at that time. He could also see it.  If you don't leave, the Commander-in-Chief who suddenly went crazy may do something irrational!

    After scolding his subordinates, General MacArthur didn't feel much relieved. He sat down on a chair tiredly. He was thinking about a serious problem. The attack with only more than 70,000 Japanese soldiers had already made him feel more stressed. If it ended  The main force of the Japanese army, hundreds of thousands of troops fighting in the Calais Mountains, suddenly pressed against the Manila defense line. What would be the result?  What should I do?

    The battle in the Calais Mountains cannot delay Ito Yanzaburo for a few days.?Knowing this very well, he had to consider what he would do once Yamamoto's Japanese troops in Luzon defeated the Manila defense line. His only hope was the British reinforcements of 100,000 troops, but who the hell is Fernandez?  The general is still calm and calm, but the British are always so self-righteous and do not know the importance.

    At this moment, General MacArthur felt a vicious pleasure in his heart that the British were first beaten by the Japanese and driven out of the Indochina Peninsula, and then severely repaired by Tang Qiuli, losing most of the Indian continent.  It's a schadenfreude after a disobedient little brother suffered a big loss.

    General MacArthur, with a heavy heart, stood on the top floor of the U.S. military headquarters building in Manila, looking towards the battlefield. In the dark night, he could see nothing but sporadic gunfire. What he was worried about was not just the end of the war.  The main force of the Japanese army fighting in Laishan District came over, and the Japanese air force killed two of its own air forces. There were more than a thousand aircraft, and they were like dark clouds weighing on their heads.

    ¡°It just so happens that I don¡¯t have any air power that I can use now. It has been two days since the Battle of Manila started, but the Japanese plane has never appeared. This is very abnormal. What are the Japanese planes waiting for?

    If Japanese aircraft support Yoshihiko Haruta's troops and attack their own positions, troop casualties will more than double, and the pressure on the defense line will increase dramatically. MacArthur instinctively feels that Ito Genzaburo is brewing a big conspiracy, but what is it specifically?  There is no way to know such a conspiracy. The more he thinks about it, the worse his mood becomes. He feels like he can't breathe.

    Almost unconsciously, MacArthur casually asked Colonel Kleist, the acting chief of staff who was following behind him with a respectful look on his face, "Kleister, according to your judgment, the Japanese army did not use aircraft to participate in the two-day attack."  ,why is that?"

    After waiting for a while and seeing no movement, MacArthur looked up strangely and saw poor Chief of Staff Kleist, with a troubled look on his face. He was thinking hard with his eyebrows crossed. Seeing how embarrassed he was, he asked the general, "Who is God?"  It¡¯s the same as where it came from!

    General MacArthur couldn't help but shake his head. He knew very well how much money his chief of staff had in his stomach. To ask him such a high-end question, it would be better to kill him. If Stilwell was here, he would definitely give him a satisfactory answer and  Can propose feasible countermeasures, however.  .  .  .  .  .  , General MacArthur tried hard to drive this ridiculous idea out of his heart.

    Not wanting to embarrass the poor Chief of Staff Kleist anymore, he said with a low tone: "Okay, Kleist, don't think about it anymore, let's go back. Tonight, you are on duty at the headquarters. If there is any emergency military situation,  Call me now!"

    On August 16, Yoshihiko Haruta commanded his troops and still adopted the previous tactics to launch an uninterrupted attack on the U.S. defense line. Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta tasted the sweetness of this tactic and defeated the U.S. military with minimal casualties.  You have to pay attention to one thing and lose the other. Moreover, Lieutenant General Springfield also has a strange feeling. Although he only has more than 70,000 troops and faces hundreds of thousands of American and Philippine troops, the rhythm of the battlefield is in his own hands.

    This feeling was quite wonderful. He even wanted to keep fighting like this. Lieutenant General Springfield commanded the troops to fight more and more smoothly. After every battle, Lieutenant General Springfield held a battle review meeting to sum up experience and develop new methods. Second  For days, it has been used on U.S. soldiers, who enjoy it endlessly and have a tendency to become addicted.

    MacArthur, who was initially in a hurry, gradually adapted to Haruta Yoshihiko's style of play and was able to take corresponding countermeasures. The number of U.S. casualties no longer increased. MacArthur and Haruta Yoshihiko seemed to treat the Manila battlefield as a battle between two sides.  Nearly 300,000 soldiers fought bloody battles, and tens of thousands of soldiers fell on the battlefield every day during offensive and defensive drills.

    Haruta Yoshihiko knew very well that the current strength of the Fourteenth Army alone would not be able to penetrate Manila. Even if it were to partially break through, it would be surrounded by the superior U.S. and Philippine troops and would either be surrounded and annihilated or beaten out.  The original idea has been abandoned.

    In MacArthur¡¯s heart, he hoped that the Japanese army would fight like this forever, with Ito¡¯s main force trapped in the Calais Mountains. In this way, the Manila defense line could be held for a long time. Of course, he also knew that this was just a fantasy.

    From the early morning of August 14, when the Japanese 14th Army attacked the Manila Defense Line, and continued until the 18th, the losses suffered by the US and Japanese troops were within the psychological tolerance of the commanders of both sides. The Japanese attacked, the US defended, and both sides  You come and go, the battle is going on all the time, but neither can do anything to the other side. The battlefield in Manila is a delicate balance.

    General Ito Genzaburo, who was encircling and suppressing the remnants of the U.S. Third Army in the Calais Mountains, was always paying attention to the Manila battlefield. He was very happy because he saw what he wanted to see most.???face.

    (To be continued)
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