An hour later, the first phase of the Nationalist Army's crossing of the river was completed, and all the officers and men of the New Fifth Division and the Second Marine Division crossed the Cagayan River at a very small cost of casualties.

The 18th Division of the Island Army is also an elite division in the end, and even when the command and logistics have been paralyzed, it still resists stubbornly, makes full use of the jungle advantage, and fights to the death with the officers and men of the national army.

At 6:30 a.m., reinforcements from the enemy's left and right flanks arrived, and the battle entered a stalemate.

The defense line of the Cagayan River of the island army is dozens of kilometers long, and the strength of the entire defense line exceeds four divisions, and the 18th Division is under attack, so other divisions and regiments naturally have to transfer troops to support.

But as soon as the troops crossed the Cagayan River, the collapse of the island army's defense line was an ironclad thing, and Liu Dakun did not give them a chance to breathe, and immediately ordered the two divisions of the second and third echelons in the rear to immediately drive up.

At half past seven in the morning, the entire defense line on the north bank of the Cagayan River, which was more than ten miles long, was completely divided into a pot of porridge, and it was not until after eight o'clock that the gunfire gradually became quieter.

At nine o'clock, the General Headquarters of the Yuanyi Group Army.

Chief of Staff Zhao Liangyu walked in with a happy face and said: "Commander, good news, Cao Guoliang and they have taken the east coast defense line of the 18th Division of the Island Army, and repelled the reinforcements of the enemy's left and right flanks. ”

"Good, good." Liu Dakun praised again and again: "Cao Guoliang did a good job, this time the 18th Division suffered most of the casualties, if we spread our feet to pursue, they don't even have time to pee, let alone build a third line of defense, in less than three days, we can break through their entire jungle defense line and appear north of Manila as scheduled." ”

Zhao Liangyu continued: "Yes, as soon as this opening is opened, the enemy has no intention of defending, just now Duan Ruyi also sent a message, they have also completed the first stage of crossing the river, and the enemy has entered the retreat stage." ”

Liu Dakun said with a smile: "Speaking of which, this time the knife should be the first to take the lead, if it weren't for him taking the little devil's command and cutting off the little devil's logistics, with the little devil's poison gas and poison bullets, our casualties would definitely have more than doubled, let alone so smooth and fast." ”

Speaking of the knife, Zhao Liangyu suddenly became silent, and this silence made Liu Dakun very nervous: "No...... Chief of Staff, you ...... Don't you tell me the knife is gone? ”

Zhao Liangyu shook his head and said, "The knife has lost contact." ”

Liu Dakun breathed a sigh of relief and said: "You scared me to death, that guy, as long as you don't see his body, then you must still be alive, with his ability, Lao Tzu doesn't believe that the little devil can take his life?" ”

Zhao Liangyu obviously didn't have Liu Dakun's nerves, and sighed: "You don't know the situation at that time, I'm afraid you won't be as optimistic as you think." ”

"What's wrong, what's going on?"

"They originally planned to end the battle in half an hour, which was a surprise attack, but the enemy was not slow to react and returned in time, and the surprise attack turned into an encounter, and they failed to enter the enemy's warehouse for the first hour. Cai Jiansheng, who was responsible for attracting the enemy's frontal fire and feints, temporarily changed his tactics and took the initiative to attack the enemy in order to cooperate with them. Zhu Fusheng, who was responsible for intercepting the enemy's reinforcements, was also forced to extend the blocking time, and there were more than 100 people left in the last withdrawal of their two units, and the cruelty of the battle can be imagined, and the knife They were completely surrounded by the enemy, and the danger was even higher, and until now they have not received the news that one of them came out alive, and the walkie-talkie cannot be contacted at all. ”

"So it's a matter of whether they successfully completed the task?"

"There is no doubt about this, according to the report of the aviation force, the Butterfly Valley is still full of smoke and flames, and the material warehouse must be burned clean."

Liu Dakun's face became solemn, he walked back and forth twice with his head picked, and said: "Order Cao Guoliang to speed up the attack, send more people to search near Butterfly Valley, and see people and corpses when they are alive." ”

……

Just when the Battle of the Cagayan River won a phased victory, the Airborne Division of the Mi Army also made a breakthrough, the troops broke through the enemy's outer defense line and marched into Manila, and the battle entered the street fighting part.

In the past few days, the airborne division has not been idle, and the blows of planes and heavy artillery against Manila have not slackened in the slightest, and tens of thousands of artillery shells and aerial shells are being smashed into Manila every day.

The U.S. military also fights with artillery fire, and the places that can be destroyed with artillery fire will never be attacked by soldiers.

Manila is the capital and economic and cultural center of the Philippines, with a population of more than 700,000, and most of the buildings in the city are wooden and flammable structures, which can withstand several days of carpet bombing.

Before the Mi army entered Manila, the island army and the innocent people in the city were killed and wounded, and the whole of Manila had become a ruin, with corpses strewn all over the field and rivers of blood.

But these are not in the eyes of the airborne division of the Mi army, they only know how to attack, attack frantically.

Once the army entered the city, the tanks cleared the way, and the helicopters above it provided fire support, and once they encountered a blockade, all kinds of artillery and shells would be smashed without hesitation, and then the infantry would advance.

The island army, which has completely lost air supremacy, can only resist such a fierce offensive, and the only way to do it is to retreat step by step.

It is said that the island army guarding Manila is the 1st Guards Division, and the commander of the division is Nishimura Takuma, who is known as the "flower of famous generals" in the island army, and this person is definitely not a good person.

Although the battle situation was extremely unfavorable for the island army, and the defense was almost impossible, he still ordered the soldiers to resist step by step, and pressed all the people in the city to the front line, which was used to block the bullets of the Mi army to slow down the attack.

In the rear, they wantonly destroyed urban buildings, burned houses, and blew up roads, bridges, and roads to delay the Mi army and prepare for a smooth retreat of the troops.

What is even more cruel is that a large number of people were slaughtered, burned, looted, raped, adulterous, and plundered the entire rear, and the whole of Manila has become a purgatory on earth.

In fact, at this stage of the campaign, the island army no longer has the value and significance of holding Manila.

The defense line of the Cagayan River collapsed, and Manila would immediately face the enemy on its back, so the fact that the Mi army could enter the city smoothly was actually due to the island army's deliberate retreat.

The forces at the front are gradually weakening, and the rear has actually begun to enter the retreat phase.

But the murderous island army was unwilling to hand over a complete Manila to the Americans, and single-handedly concocted this tragedy.

According to post-war statistics, more than 200,000 innocent people died in the war, and it is impossible to verify which of them were killed by the massacre of the island army and which were killed by the artillery fire of the two sides.