Kanda Masa was really depressed, but he had to accept the orders of the base camp and stick to the island that could no longer be held.

The Japanese army in New Guinea was at the end of its rope, and the remaining days could only be counted in days.

"Shimada-kun......" waited until the destroyer on which Yamashita was riding left the airstrip, and then Kanda Masang turned sideways and called out to Shimada Nakasa, who was standing at the far end of his right.

"Your Excellency General Kanda!" Hearing his current supreme boss shouting to him, Shimada Nakasa immediately walked over, bowed his head and agreed, "What do you command?" ”

"Alas......" sighed, Kanda Masa remembered the order he had received last night, and looked at Shimada Nakasa in front of him with complicated eyes.

In his heart, he couldn't help but sigh that if a person's life is good, he can really save his life.

After he sighed, he slowly opened his mouth and ordered: "I have received an order, this afternoon, you and Iijima Nakasa will command all the planes, leave New Guinea, and fly to Malaya to stand by!" ”

This order was really a life-saving order, and it saved the lives of all the Japanese pilots and ground crews on the islands of New Guinea.

With this order, they will move to the relative safety of the island of Malaya before the island is occupied by the American army.

"What? Don't fight? Fall back? Although he had been looking forward to this order in his heart, when this order really came, Shimada Nakasa was still surprised.

On the one hand, he couldn't show a happy expression on his face, after all, this expression was too hateful for Kanda Masasan.

On the other hand, he really wants to fight, hoping that he can stop the counterattack of the US military and help his motherland regain the initiative through his own fighting.

But the reason in his heart had repeatedly told him that his persistence was useless, and that even if he died in New Guinea, Japan's fate could not be rewritten.

"Let's retreat? And what about air defense tasks? Shimada Nakasa, who was standing on the side, pressed his command knife and asked eagerly.

Although he didn't want to give up his life in this place, he was also frightened by such an order.

Abandoning his compatriots on the ground and leaving the battlefield with his fighter jet was an absolute humiliation for the samurai of the Empire of Japan.

This is the attitude of the Japanese soldiers in the face of war, they do not want to die, but they are willing to die on the battlefield for his Majesty the Emperor.

"Air defense? Air defense is no longer needed in New Guinea. Kanda Masa sneered, and then said, "Execute the order!" ”

Shimada Nakasa glanced at Iijima Nakasa, and then the two of them had to stand up and bow their heads, and took the order: "Hey! ”

Then, seeing Kanda Masa leave, the two of them glanced at each other, and they both seemed to see each other's relieved expressions in each other's eyes.

"We must save our strength and fight the enemy to the death in Malaya!" Shimada Nakasa also pressed the command knife and said to Iijima Nakasa.

Whether in the navy or the army, whether in naval aviation or army aviation, Japanese officers like to carry a katana to prove that they have not forgotten the glorious traditions of the Japanese samurai.

Even in the cramped cockpit of an airplane, Japanese pilots liked to carry a katana in the way.

These outlaw-like pilots would rather not carry a life-saving parachute than carry a long knife to accompany the funeral, let alone high-ranking officers like Shimada and Iijima.

"A true samurai must obey the orders of His Majesty the Emperor!" Iijima also found a high-sounding reason for his retreat.

Then, the two men walked back and gave their men the order to retreat from the base camp.

After returning to the base, the branches used to block the view were removed, revealing the improvised airport runway, and the ground crew of the Japanese Army Air Force worked hard to launch the fighter jets hidden between the woodland.

New Guinea had about 20 ME-109E fighters and 30 KI-43 Hayabusa fighters left.

Ground crews overcame the difficulties of repairing aircraft on tropical islands and ensured the availability of these aircraft.

The pilots, including Shimada and Iijima, all boarded their planes, piloted the valuable equipment, and were ready to take off.

Ground crews waved from the edge of the runway and watched the fighters take off as if they were taking off to meet American planes.

And this time, the Japanese planes were no longer there to intercept American bombers taking off. They will be in formation in the air and will never return.

"What about these ground staff?" Before boarding the plane, Iijima saw the ground staff who were already a little yellow and thin because the food was getting worse and worse, and asked Shimada who was packing his bags.

Shimada also glanced at the ground crew who had been working for him for 20 days in the distance, and said, "I heard that they will leave on the next transport ship, they are not combat personnel, and they should not be left here." ”

Because the order was too urgent, Shimada, as the commander of the army aviation, did not receive an order for the deployment of ground crew.

So he's also guessing, and he's just heard. The specific command message was in the hands of Kanda Masa, who told Shimada that the ground crew would leave New Guinea by boat.

One after another, Japanese fighters took off and formed in the sky. It had been a long time since the Japanese soldiers on the ground had seen such a large-scale of their own planes taking off for battle, and they all let out enthusiastic cheers.

Unfortunately, the cheering lasted less than ten minutes before it came to an abrupt end, as the Japanese infantry on the ground discovered that the friendly planes were flying in the western direction of New Guinea.

The American airfield was to the south, but the Japanese planes flew away to the west. What this means, in fact, everyone knows in their hearts.

It has to be said that this made the morale of the Japanese defenders on the ground extremely low, and the attack of the American army that day was also very smooth.

The Japanese retreated several kilometers back, abandoning large positions in the plains. And the U.S. forces did not continue the offensive after completing the day's advance mission, and they were also afraid that the Japanese would launch another large-scale counterattack like a few days earlier.

Shimada Nakasa, who flew to Sulawesi to standby, and Iijima Nakasa, never waited for their ground crew.

Because the transport ship that took these ground crews out was sunk by a US submarine, these unlucky ground crews could only take up arms and join the ground battlefield as ordinary infantrymen......