Age of Conquest Reborn

At the entrance of the cave, Major General Whiteman stopped and calmed down. What would his subordinates think if they saw what he looked like now? Since he was nailed to death by MacArthur in the Calais Mountains, he could only fight with all his strength.

There's a way out.

Seeing the commander return with a calm face, more than a dozen US military generals looked at Major General Whiteman with expectation. These commanders of the US military units did not have too many extravagant hopes. They only hoped that Commander-in-Chief MacArthur would allow it.

The Third Army withdrew to Manila. Although it ended up facing fierce Japanese soldiers, it was still hundreds of thousands of troops standing together. As the saying goes, "How brave are you in numbers!"

It was only a day of fierce fighting with Japanese soldiers, and not even an inch of ground was lost. However, facing the Japanese soldiers who were not afraid of death, these US commanders were already frightened. Look at the current position of the Third Army.

, a lone army stands out, with just tens of thousands of people, under attack by hundreds of thousands of ferocious Japanese troops. They don't know what kind of fierce battle they will face tomorrow?

Looking at the eyes of his subordinates, Commander Whiteman sighed inwardly, "Based on the current morale and condition of the troops, it is no longer suitable to continue to block the Japanese army. It has been nearly two months since they entered the Calais Mountains to set up defenses.

Facing the ubiquitous and huge pressure from the Japanese army every day, the officers and soldiers had lost all their courage, especially the death of Chief of Staff Stilwell, which dealt an even greater blow to the Third Army."

Commander Whiteman sat down and then said: "I just had a phone call with Commander-in-Chief MacArthur. The general ordered our army to stay in the Calais Mountains for at least a week to gain time for the deployment of the Manila Defense War. Now,

Let’s study in detail how to fulfill the commander-in-chief’s order!”

As soon as Commander Whiteman said these words, the U.S. military officers looked extremely disappointed. Without concealing their expressions, a brigadier general stood up and said with some excitement: "Commander, have you prepared the situation we are facing?"

The actual situation was truthfully reported to General MacArthur. After just one day of fighting, my division suffered more than 2,000 casualties. It lasted a week. The troops would be exhausted. Could it be that the headquarters doesn’t care about our lives?"

Major General Whiteman smiled bitterly in his heart, "Smart enough, Commander-in-Chief MacArthur's intention is to buy time for his crazy plan to defend Manila at the cost of all our Third Army." However, he could not say these words.

Tell any of his subordinates. Otherwise, there is no need for the Japanese to fight. There is a possibility that the Third Army will be completely defeated. If this is the case, can General MacArthur spare himself?

If you don't get killed by the Japanese, you will have to be shot by them. Look at the commander-in-chief's method of dealing with former chief of staff Stilwell. Even if Whiteman had a hundred courage, he would not dare to give up the defense line in the Calais Mountains.

Withdraw to Manila without permission.

Commander Whiteman glanced at the division commander with displeasure, and said in a cold tone: "Brigadier General Xinyakir, please be careful with your words and don't undermine the morale of the army. Your troops have casualties, and other troops are not the same.

In this way, Commander-in-Chief MacArthur has promised that as the battle progresses, he will dispatch the headquarters' Second Air Force to the battlefield in the Calais Mountains to provide the most powerful air fire support for all the defense lines of our Third Army!"

After serving as the commander of the Third Army, Major General Whiteman rarely reprimanded his subordinates with such harsh words. For a while, it shocked all the US generals. Brigadier General Xinyakir opened his mouth, but did not say another word, with an ugly face.

Sit down and feel regretful!

Why am I so clueless? I'm pretending to be stupid. I've almost lost the same amount and the situation is the same. But I'm the one who complains and complains. Isn't that a fool? Fortunately, this Commander Whiteman is not a ruthless person.

Senior, otherwise, in order to boost the morale of the troops, it is a common thing to use oneself to establish authority. Brigadier General Xinyakir regretted it and wanted to slap himself a few times.

There was nothing new in the following meeting. Commander Whiteman only emphasized the importance of holding on to the defense line. However, several division commanders were furious about the air fire support of the First Air Force. The reason was that

One, everyone wants to get the most air fire support, but the First Air Force only has more than 300 aircraft. If distributed evenly, each unit's defense line airspace will only have a dozen or so aircraft.

The U.S. military generals became more and more noisy. They were all like chickens with red eyes. Major General Whiteman's head was a few times bigger. If possible, Major General Whiteman would like to have the skies over the Calais Mountains filled with his own planes.

, there is no need for you to fight over it.

Seeing that arguing like this was not an option, Major General Whiteman proposed a compromise plan. Most of the air power would be used in the defense direction of the unit that was under the most violent attack and the greatest pressure from the Japanese army.

This is also reasonable. Whoever beaten by the Japanese will help who helps fists. The meeting is over. In the huge cave, there are only a few staff members and radio staff. Under the swaying candlelight, the more empty and desolate.

It was already deep, but Major General Whiteman was not sleepy at all. He didn't know what kind of test his troops would face tomorrow.

At 4 o'clock in the morning on August 11, a dull roar sounded from behind the Japanese army's position. Immediately, countless artillery shells, with ear-piercing screams, pierced the predawn sky of Luzon Island and landed on the US military position.

, a purple cloud of smoke rose up, and the battlefield in the Calais Mountains, which had been silent for a night, began to become noisy again with the Japanese attack.

The Japanese attack was equally ferocious. However, it was clear that this time the attack had learned from the lessons learned on the first day in terms of attack direction and tactics. It no longer focused on a certain location as the main attack direction, but on the US military's attack direction.

The entire defense line, full attack!

The Japanese army launched wave after wave of continuous attacks on the positions of the US Third Army. However, the Japanese commanders obviously adjusted their tactics. They no longer inflicted damage on the US military at the cost of the death of soldiers, but made full use of them.

Armed with tanks and artillery, they repeatedly attacked U.S. military positions.

The number of deaths of Japanese soldiers has decreased. The US soldiers who were stationed on the ground and could not retreat even half a step could only brave the Japanese artillery fire and stick to the defense line. It was the US aircraft that played the role of a needle in the sea. That direction was dangerous.

Commander Whiteman sent most of the planes over and fought fiercely for a whole day. The US troops miraculously held their position without losing an inch of ground.

However, the U.S. military pilots suffered a lot. Each plane took off and landed at least four or five times, and they were all as tired as dead dogs. Relying on these planes, the U.S. Third Army staggered through again.

After a day, Commander Whiteman couldn't believe that such a result could be achieved. He simply couldn't believe that this was his own army?

However, when the casualty results came up, Commander Whiteman's joy turned into depression. After a day of fierce fighting, the casualties of the troops reached more than 14,000, which was more than 3,000 more than the first day. As for the Japanese army's casualties,

The casualties must be less than our own. In front of the position, there were obviously not as many corpses of Japanese soldiers as there were yesterday. If we continue to fight like this, we will definitely not be able to last for a week, and the troops will be wiped out!

Night fell in the Calais Mountains, and the sea breeze blowing from the Pacific Ocean blew away the smoke. Commander Whiteman truthfully reported the day's battle situation to General MacArthur in Manila. The answer he received was, "I understand.

Whiteman, you are doing a good job, hold on! I am always paying attention to the battle situation in the Calais Mountains!" After putting down the phone, Major General Whiteman was briefly absent-minded. Do you dare not to persist? The answer is of course no.

That night, Major General Zhao Yuhe, chief of staff of the ** Division, compiled information about the day's battle situation in Luzon Island compiled by the Intelligence Department and sent it to the desk of the division commander Tang Qiuli on time.

Tang Qiuli read the information carefully and said to Zhao Yuhe: "The Japanese army clearly has the ability to break through the US military's defense line in the Calais Mountains, but they never let go. The intention of fishing is obvious, but if it continues like this, I don't know.

The U.S. Third Army could still hold on for a few days. It seemed that MacArthur was prepared to sacrifice the Third Army to buy enough time for the British and Australian reinforcements to arrive. This move was cruel enough, but it hit the Japanese just in time to divert the tiger away from the mountain.

count."

Zhao Yuhe thought for a moment and said: "Division Commander, let's assume that MacArthur ordered the Third Army to abandon the defense line in the Calais Mountains and retreat to Manila. Wouldn't it also be able to achieve the same purpose of increasing the defensive strength of Manila's periphery? Isn't he doing more harm than good?

?”

Tang Qiuli shook his head and said: "At this moment, if the US troops in the Calais Mountains had been withdrawn to Manila when the Japanese army just launched the Luzon Island Campaign, the current effect could have been achieved. However, it is too late now.

Now, the U.S. Third Army has been tightly held by the Japanese army. If it evacuates the Calais Mountains, the Japanese army will pursue them. The U.S. Army, which has no intention of fighting anymore, will not retreat, but retreat, and the rout will rush into Manila.

, followed by the Japanese troops in hot pursuit."

"The U.S. military's defense line outside Manila will definitely be in chaos. What do you want the defending U.S. troops to do? Do they fight their broken troops together with the pursuing Japanese soldiers? MacArthur saw this and did not hesitate to let the Third Army

Even if they were exhausted, they still had to drag the Japanese army in the Calais Mountains. However, what he didn't expect was that Ito Yanzaburo had a greater appetite. Not only did he want to eat his third army, but he also wanted to kill his aerial troops.

strength!"

Zhao Yuhe shook his head and sighed: "Commander, the Americans fought this battle in vain. If the Third Army had not withdrawn its defense line for dozens of kilometers and abandoned all the favorable terrain conditions that could be used,

Now, it is impossible for the Japanese to take such a big advantage. Whiteman, the commander of the Third Army, is simply mediocre. The so-called incompetence of one general has exhausted the three armies. The reason why the US military is in today's decline is not accidental!"

(To be continued)