MacArthur's deputy, Jonathan? Maj. Gen. Wainwright called the Philippine army "a rabble" who ran around trying to hold on to a crumbling front, but to no avail. "Hardly a single unit is fully mobile, all the units are poorly trained, they are poorly equipped. Not a single division or unit was assembled for exercises or training. "His staff was understaffed and lacked trained staff; Most Filipino soldiers did not even have basic infantry equipment such as steel helmets, trench digging tools and blankets. That night, Wainwright pleaded with MacArthur for permission to transfer the only American division into the battlefield in order to halt the enemy attack and give the Allies enough time to carry out their plan of action to retreat to Bataan.

MacArthur inspected the battlefield during the day and heard the news that the Japanese army was landing in Ramon Bay, just sixty miles southeast of Manila, and he realized that the danger was extreme. At dawn, more than 7,000 men of the 16th Division of the Japanese Army landed and advanced in depth, and the Philippine 51st Division, which had dispersed into the hills, actually did not put up any resistance. The landing of this second force, which launched Masaharu Honma's pincer offensive against Manila, gave MacArthur a deeper understanding of the military catastrophe he faced. After 40 hours of frustration, he radioed his commanders that night: "Carry out the 'orange' operation." "His decision was made too late, but not yet to carry out the plan of action for the retreat to Bataan in the worst case. He threw the only American division and three Chinese divisions in his hands into the battlefield to cover the retreat of his troops. About 80,000 troops from the United States and the Philippines began to retreat. The U.S. and Chinese Volunteer Army, which were in cover, had to deal with attacks from both sides, while also collecting food and ammunition scattered everywhere, which was necessary to continue the fight. MacArthur personally led a Chinese division to defend Manila, rather than declaring Manila an "undefended city," as the staff had suggested. MacArthur prepared to evacuate his staff and dependents to the fortified island of Corregidore, knowing that it would take more time and effort to complete the plan for a retreat that was too late.

The Chinese volunteers, who had just arrived in the Philippine battlefield, showed high will to fight and good qualities, and they dealt a head-on blow to the advancing Chinese army, which encountered real resistance for the first time since it landed in the Philippines and retreated because it could not stand the blow. Under the blow of the 1st Division of the Chinese Volunteers, the Yue army attacking Manila left more than 2,000 corpses and fled, and the invincible tank troops of the Yue army were also fatally attacked, and for the first time Yue himself found that their tanks were so vulnerable in front of the Chinese anti-tank guns, and the Chinese volunteers also tried to launch a counterattack, but finally gave up because of insufficient artillery fire (the Chinese volunteers were much better equipped with light weapons than the Yue army, but lacked heavy equipment).

Thanks to the efforts of the Chinese volunteers, the offensive of the Chinese army was forced to slow down, buying valuable time for the retreat of the American and Philippine troops, and MacArthur was able to calmly organize the retreat and begin to strengthen the fortifications on Corregidor Island.

Although the situation in the Philippines has improved due to the efforts of the Chinese volunteers, it is still not optimistic, and the situation on the battlefield in Hawaii has further deteriorated.

The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the ambassador to the United States handed over a letter of state to US Secretary of State Hull, succinctly replying to the US proposal and announcing the severance of diplomatic relations with the United States, that is, the two countries would enter a state of war, and that Ben would wholeheartedly fight for the freedom and liberation of Asia. The full text is less than 1,000 words, and there is not a single sentence that drags mud and water. In Tokyo that afternoon, Emperor Momoto issued an edict declaring war and broadcast it to the world. The mad Americans then declared war on him.

After capturing Wake Island, Nagumo Tadaichi was ordered by Yamamoto Isoroku to launch another attack on Hawaii. In the early morning of December 28, Hawaii time, Nagumo Tadaichi ordered another air raid on Pearl Harbor. The first wave of attacks was carried out by torpedo bombers and dive bombers. 54 bombers and 78 dive bombers attacked, and 36 fighters protected air supremacy. After the first wave of attacks ended, the planes returned to the fleet parked 180 nautical miles north of the island to replace them with alternate pilots, and after replenishing fuel bombs, Nagumo ordered a third wave of attacks. After the second wave of aircraft returned, the alternate pilot carried out the fourth wave of attacks.

This time Nagumo's fleet had a total of 800 aircraft, which was only enough for two waves of attacks, and the attack alone was enough, the problem was that to capture Pearl Harbor now, it was necessary to attack continuously. The "four-stage tactic" of replacing people without changing planes came into being. By the time of the fourth attack, there were only two or three American planes left over Hawaii. Nagumo's fleet lost 75 aircraft that day, but completed the initial suppression of Pearl Harbor. Most of the U.S. ships at Pearl Harbor were sunk, and many of them were dragging billowing smoke. All the anti-aircraft radars of the US military were destroyed, and the air defense positions were slightly damaged. The runway of the main airport was riddled with craters, the airfield's gasoline depot was destroyed, and the hangar was damaged. The land fortifications suffered some losses, but the strong coastal batteries were not badly damaged. In the fourth wave of attacks, the Japanese army sank a large steamer that was evacuating outside the harbor, blocking the shipping lane, leaving all the American ships in the harbor with nowhere to hide.

The next day, the Nagumo fleet switched to attacking other airfields outside Oahu, destroying dozens of US planes, destroying all air defense radars, and damaging hangars, runways, and fuel depots at various airfields.

At the same time as being subjected to a terrible attack, the US military also dispatched a number of seaplanes to search for it, and discovered the Second Air Fleet in front of Nagumo, and dozens of US torpedo planes and bombers came one after another to launch a fierce attack on the aircraft carriers; although they were intercepted by the "Gale" fighters and most of the US planes were shot down, the strong attack of the US pilots still caused great losses to the squadron, and the US pilot Captain Williams directly crashed into the deck of the "Canglong" aircraft carrier after the plane was hit, making the "Canglong" The ship was heavily damaged, the ship caught fire and was forced to withdraw from the battle.

On the third day, Nagumo's fleet turned back and attacked Oahu, destroying the airfield facilities that had just been repaired, and sinking and damaging more than a dozen U.S. ships. The US military, which had lost the air defense early warning system, was in a difficult situation. On this day, American seaplanes and anchorages were also bombed. It can be said that Hawaii's air defense system has collapsed.

The Nagumo fleet continued to bomb for four days, three waves a day, seriously weakening the defenses of Pearl Harbor.

On the night of January 1, 1942, a submarine sent the frogmen unit to the beachhead of Pearl Harbor. Early the next morning, the frogman troops destroyed a number of coastal batteries in a routine air raid in the morning, and the Japanese army took the opportunity to start a landing and engaged in a fierce battle with the US Army and Navy stationed on Oahu. On the night of the 2nd, the 1st Mountain Infantry Regiment landed on the flank of the defenders and quickly established a landing ground. Qian Zhengxin led a squadron to break into the rear of the American army, and with the help of the island's spies, he quietly entered Honolulu. The following night, the army raided the Hawaiian Governor's Palace and the Hawaiian Radio Station, captured the Hawaiian Governor, and published a letter to the Hawaiian people on the radio, encouraging the Hawaiians to stand up and fight for reading power and freedom.

Before the American troops completed the encirclement, the commando team went into the mountains and forests, and returned to the line of defense of the mountain infantry regiment with the governor himself. By this time, the 4th Wing of the 8th Division had already disembarked from the landing ground of the Mountain Infantry Regiment. Unfortunately, due to the long-term turbulence at sea, seasickness was serious, so he could only stay in the fortifications and fight. But in any case, the U.S. military is no longer capable of pushing the Chinese army into the sea.

At the same time as the 4th Division landed on Oahu, the main forces of the 3rd Division landed on Kauai Island. Skilled in jungle warfare, the Japanese army quickly defeated a small number of American defenders and occupied the entire island.

U.S. submarines began to attack the fleet continuously, causing damage to two destroyers. The Japanese army, which happened to be attacking from the Marshall Islands, conquered Johnson Island and captured a large amount of supplies. At this time, Vice Admiral Nagumo's fear flared up again, and he applied to go to the south to rest for a while, leaving the Third Air Fleet to continue to support the Hawaiian operation, but was sternly resigned by Yamamoto Isoroku: "Now is the critical moment!" The success or failure of the Hawaiian war was related to the fate of the entire war. Even if the whole fleet sinks, Hawaii must be defeated! The enemy will soon fight back, concentrate all your strength and defeat them! ”

Yamamoto's hunch was correct, and at this time, the US Navy skillfully assembled a number of escort aircraft carriers and freighter-converted auxiliary aircraft carriers at Midway Island, and the repair of the "Manila Bay" was quickly completed. Two aircraft carrier task forces quietly pounced on the Tsuyamoto Air Fleet near Hawaii.

After coordination, the Japanese army concentrated its forces on the submarine base and the naval long-wave radio station in Hawaii and occupied them. The Japanese army captured a number of U.S. submarines. The U.S. submarine, which was still at sea, had to sail to Midway Island to get supplies. The air fleet lifted the crisis. Vice Admiral Nagumo decided to carry out the plan of "destroying the enemy by aviation".

The so-called air plan to destroy the enemy refers to the operational plan of using aircraft carriers as a striking force to destroy the US naval fleet. In view of the gap in the number of warships and the gap in ship-building capabilities between the United States, the "nine-stage decisive battle" plan that was planned to be implemented not only required the use of a large number of warships, but also could not guarantee success. Therefore, the Navy turned to the theory of air superiority, and studied the gradual weakening of the US Navy through the continuous elimination of small US fleets by naval aviation, so as to prevent the United States from gaining sea supremacy until the conditions for a decisive battle were met. This plan was essentially a kind of movement warfare and guerrilla warfare at sea, but it was unexpectedly adapted to the situation at this time.

The fleet quickly completed its rest at its temporary anchorage on Kauai Island. The 1st Air Fleet headed southwest, the 2nd Air Fleet was busy supporting land operations, and the transport ship regiment temporarily avoided the north. The army set up a patrol cordon with seaplanes taking off from Kauai Island.

On 6 January, the Chinese army's seaplanes spotted a task force of US Navy aircraft carriers attacking from the southwest. Vice Admiral Jizaburo Ozawa, commander of the 2nd Air Fleet, reported on the enemy situation while fighting hard. The two sides engaged in a large-scale air battle in the waters southwest of Hawaii. The "Tianlong" was hit by two bombs and withdrew from the battlefield with billowing smoke, and the "Pancheng" also retreated after gathering the planes. The U.S. pilots reported sinking two aircraft carriers, and the U.S. commander, believing that he had wiped out the military air force in the area, decided to go north to destroy the transport regiment in order to relieve Hawaii. As a result, the US aircraft carrier task force was attacked by a massive air raid by the Nagumo Fleet that was waiting northwest of Hawaii, and the aircraft carriers "Long Island" and "Manila Bay" both caught fire and failed, and they were forced to abandon and sink their ships, and the remnants of the ships were withdrawn to Midway. The next day, the covering fleet of the Nagumo fleet arrived at the battlefield and rescued more than 100 American sailors and pilots floating on the sea. The USS Coral Sea returned to Midway Island upon hearing the news, and the Battle of Hawaii ended in a complete victory.

Although the battle at sea was over, the battle on Oahu was still very fierce, and the U.S. troops resolutely resisted with the strong fortifications they had operated for many years, causing great casualties to the Japanese army.

At the beginning of the new year in 1942, news of a disheartening defeat poured into the White House, as Roosevelt and his military advisers sat together and reworked over a common strategy for a global war. And Tokyo is celebrating its victory in the Battle of Hawaii. The Imperial General Staff Headquarters formulated its strategy on the basis of the assumption that Germany would quickly defeat Britain and force it to withdraw from the war, and that the United States would have to sacrifice the Pacific Ocean in favor of protecting its interests in the Atlantic. Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, the new hero, realized that the outcome of the matter might be exactly the opposite of what was expected, and he was dissatisfied that some people were "blindly happy" and "spoke as if the end of the war had already been decided." He worries about the "competence and insight" of his top boss in Tokyo. "Britain and the United States may be underestimating, but from their point of view, it's like a dog they feed bites their own hand." He reminded his fleet commander that "the United States has made up its mind to engage in full-scale operations in the near future." ”

The Americans did cry out for an all-out war of revenge; However, according to the "Rainbow 5" battle plan, American strategists have decided to let the army and navy concentrate their forces on defeating Germany while holding the defense line in the central Pacific. Britain will not be invaded for the time being; But it still threatened to be forced to surrender, as German submarines using "wolf pack tactics" were biting through the Atlantic supply lines, and the non-stop bombing of German aircraft was struggling Britain to cope.

January 23, when Henry? Sir Bonnard flew to Singapore from Air Force Lieutenant General Brooke? When Popham took command, he learned that a defensive plan to stop the Japanese invasion of Malaya along the Perak River, south of the Siamese border, was failing. Yamashita Fengwen's well-planned and coordinated attack was overwhelming, and the 400-mile-long Malay Peninsula was conquered by almost one-third of the army. The army occupied many tin mines and rubber plantations, and constantly broke through the British defenses and divided the British positions.

In the Philippines, another 10,000 troops of Masaharu Honma landed in Ramon Bay to add a striking force behind the southern pincer movement, which is now less than 90 miles from Manila. In this fierce air battle, the Japanese army saw for the first time a Chinese "Skylark" fighter that could confront the "Gale," which they were proud of, and a total of 22 "Gale" were shot down in the battle, while the U.S. military also lost 31 "Skylarks." As the offensive of the Japanese army became more and more intense, MacArthur's final steps to retreat to Bataan had been made. The remaining patrol boats of the U.S. Asian Fleet have retreated to the bays off the west coast of Luzon to take refuge, and the submarines have retreated to the ports of Borneo and Java. Ammunition and supplies from the bombed military port of Cavite were transported day and night to the fortified island of Koregidor to save them from being blown up by explosives. The 22 US "Skylark" fighters on Luzon Island drove back the bombers that came to attack him, allowing General Britton to fly away on the last US transport plane. MacArthur pleaded with him as he said goodbye, "I hope you will tell the people outside about our efforts in order to preserve my reputation as a warrior." ”

In order to prevent Manila from being destroyed by the war, MacArthur decided to withdraw from the city, and a Chinese volunteer division and an American division defending the city alternately covered the other side's withdrawal positions, and took a ferry from the war-torn land under the cover of "lark" fighters in the air.

A few hours later, MacArthur himself was the last to board the Don Estabane and cross the 30-mile-wide channel to the tadpole-shaped island of Corregidor that guards the gateway to Manila Bay. Philippine President Manuel? Quezon and his senior political axe officers were huddled aboard the boat along with the rest of MacArthur's staff and family members. The bottom compartment of the ship was stacked with gold and silver bars of the Philippine political axe. The desperation of the passengers contrasts sharply with the silvery moonlight of Manila Bay; But when a beautiful [***] official sang "The Star-Spangled Banner Never Falls", there were still many people who sang along.

At Pearl Harbor, which had been hit by numerous air raids, people's hearts were similarly heavy. Nimitz found that morale on Oahu was already low after the attack, and even worse after the failure to rescue Wake Island and the fall of various Hawaiian islands. And Ernest? Admiral King's arrival in Washington dispelled the gloomy atmosphere that gripped the U.S. Department of the Navy. He attended the meeting on the afternoon of 30 January with General Marshall. At this meeting, for the first time, the head of the United States sat down with the head of the United Kingdom as a formal ally

(To be continued)