Chapter 1596: The road is narrow

However, the 237th Division and the 18th Division can barely be called elite, and they are both old opponents of the Yuanyi Group Army.

In Mandalay and Pingmanna, they fought one after another, and although they did not take advantage of the Yuanyi Army once, they were able to successfully escape.

However, after a year, they met again on the battlefield, who said that this is not a narrow road?

Two days later, the Yuanyi Army completed its preliminary deployment, and the large army began to advance towards Clark in two directions.

The first road (right road) is composed of the new 5th Division and Wang Teng's 2nd Marine Division, and the direction of attack is west of Clark.

This can not only reassure the Mi army, but also arouse the will to fight of the Mi army's airborne division, the "benefactor" is on the side of Manila, are you embarrassed not to try your best to attack?

The second road (left) was the Qing 211 Division and the Qing 212 Division, and their direction of attack was north of Clark, and the target enemy was the 237th Division of the Island Army.

The tank divisions directly under the division headquarters were divided into two, each with two tank regiments, and more than 80 medium and light tanks each.

The higher the degree of mechanization of the army, the higher the dependence on the road, it is difficult to leave the road, or even unable to maneuver, so large-scale tank combat is simply impossible.

Tropical mountains and jungles, steep and continuous, many cliffs and rain cracks and gullies, temporary construction of roads is not realistic, not to mention the large amount of work, and it is not convenient to use mechanical operations.

The original road is built along the river and valley again, rugged and narrow, mostly soil and gravel pavement, the road condition is complicated, many narrow roads, dangerous roads, steep slopes, many bends, lack of circuits, it is muddy and difficult to travel in heavy rain, once a landslide, mudslide or the enemy implements engineering blasting, it will make the mountain collapse and block the road, and it is difficult for the traveling convoy to detour or turn around.

Therefore, tanks and armored vehicles cannot be used in large quantities in tropical mountains and jungles.

But it is impossible not to use it completely, also because of the road factors, heavy artillery support fire cannot enter the jungle, if the enemy is in danger of defending the important sections on both sides of the road on both sides of our army's march, attacking with firepower, hindering and delaying the advance of our troops, tanks become the only best support firepower.

Of course, the specifics depend on the conditions of the battlefield, and this is just one example.

Behind the two armies, Liu Dakun also placed two divisions as the second and third echelons, ready to support at any time, which is also in line with Jiang Haoran's tactical concept of steady and steady fighting.

Entering the unfamiliar jungle, I don't know what the situation is inside, too many troops rush in, in the case of unfavorable transportation, it is easy to form congestion, and it is inevitable that there will be a situation of defeat like a mountain.

Therefore, with the first two divisions as the vanguard, it is in the direction of arrows. The latter two divisions are arrow shafts and arrow clusters, relying on arrow shafts and arrow clusters to push the arrows deeper and deeper, step by step, and flank protection is also naturally available.

This is Jiang Haoran's original "arrow-type attack" tactic, Liu Xianwei used it in the jungle of Homalin, and the effect was wonderful, swallowing an entire brigade of the island army with less than 10,000 troops, and that brigade belonged to the 18th Division in front of him at that time.

The former commander-in-chief of the enemy on the right was Cao Guoliang, deputy commander-in-chief of the Yuanyi Group Army and commander of the New Fifth Division, and the former commander-in-chief of the enemy on the left was Duan Ruyi, commander of the Qing 211 Division.

The two armies advanced in parallel, and the tanks and helicopters opened the way and rumbled forward.

The topography of Luzon Island is high in the north and low in the south, more than two-thirds of it is mountainous and jungle, and there are few plains, and this jungle runs through the entire central Luzon Island, with San Jose on its left and Baguio where the island army headquarters is located behind. To its right is Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

Such a critical area must also be a place for the island army to hoard heavy troops, so the advance of the army is also cautious and cautious.

There was no danger in the plains for dozens of miles, and not even a single soldier of the island army was found along the way.

On the right, Cao Guoliang stopped his troops only a few miles from the jungle.

The enemy is not fortified in an area of several tens of miles, and there will inevitably be heavy troops in ambush in the jungle, and it is not advisable for the army to enter rashly until the situation is clear.

There happened to be a small mountain village ahead, and Cao Guoliang called Wang Teng to go there in person.

Because of Jiang Haoran's strict order, the troops did not disturb the people all the way, although the road also passed through many villages and small towns, but as long as there was no obvious resistance force, the officers and men of the national army basically did not alarm the people and passed by quietly.

Even in the hot weather, many local women are dressed in revealing clothes, and the soldiers do not have evil thoughts, first, "evil" is not the nature of Chinese soldiers, and they are not islanders, and secondly, Liu Dakun has made a military order for this in front of the general seat, which is no joke, and if you disobey the military order, you will definitely be shot, who dares to take your head for the pleasure of a moment.

Cao Guoliang and Wang Teng drove to the village with a company of guards, and the cars stopped outside the village.

The soldiers entered first to check and make sure that they were okay, and then they entered in a huddle of the two.

The village was not large, there were only twenty or thirty households, and the common people did not seem to be very afraid, standing at the door or at the window looking at these heavily armed soldiers, with complicated and indifferent expressions, as if they were accustomed to such scenes, but there were also some people who clenched their spears and broadswords in their hands and looked at them vigilantly.

Cao Guoliang drove the interpreter forward and told these people that they were Chinese soldiers, who came to drive out the little devils for them and return them to a stable and peaceful life, and that they were their liberators, not enemies.

The soldiers took advantage of this opportunity and also kindly gave them some food and daily necessities.

The people slowly relaxed their vigilance and walked out of their homes, surrounding the interpreter and gossiping.

After a short time, the interpreter walked up to Cao Guoliang with an old man in his fifties and said that he was the patriarch of the place, named Augustin Maris.

Although Filipinos have Asian faces, their names have a Spanish flavor, which is also the result of hundreds of years of Spanish colonization.

Cao Guoliang warmly stepped forward to shake hands, saying that China and the Philippines are friendly, and that the Chinese soldiers will definitely help them drive away the little devils and give them a stable and peaceful place to live.

Augustin Maris was also very hospitable, and asked Cao Guoliang to wait at home to speak.

After entering the door, seasonal fruits were served to young and old, and Maris also took out some betel nuts and distributed them to Cao Guoliang, Wang Teng and the guards around him, and also took the lead in stuffing one and putting it in his mouth to chew to teach everyone how to eat it.

Entering the local customs, everyone also followed the same, one by one put the betel nut into the mouth to eat with relish, and did not forget to give a thumbs up and praise, and the atmosphere was very harmonious for a while.