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Chapter 1780 is overwhelming

The report of the Air Force's successful surprise attack on the Philippines was transmitted back to the Longtan base camp by the radar airship in time. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

In the conference room, Huang Yu handed over the latest battle report to An Yi, and the big stone in An Yi's heart finally landed.

A wave of tiredness hit his heart, An Yi stood up and stretched his waist, and said to Yang Fei, Liu Qing, Shen Ziling and other brothers who were also relaxed: "The dust has settled, let's go back and rest!" The rest can be carried out according to the plan, and there will be no problems! ”

Subsequently, An Yi said to Huang Yu again: "Lao Huang, your air force must continue to pay attention to the front-line battle and beware of the counterattack of the Japanese army and naval aviation!" Although the Japanese fighters on Luzon Island have basically been destroyed, the carrier-based aircraft of the Navy and the army fighters taking off from southern Taiwan can still threaten the safety of our transport aircraft! The mistakes made by Americans and *** people, we must not make them again! ”

Huang Yuyi said with a smile: "Don't worry, our radar airship monitors the airspace of Luzon Island and the surrounding areas at any time, and because the radar is at an altitude of more than 20,000 meters, it can easily monitor the entire area of Luzon." Every move of the enemy is under the control of our army, and if something goes wrong in this case, I will resign myself without the chairman's accountability! ”

An Yi nodded: "Okay, I'll rest assured!" It is estimated that the navy has also reached the South China Sea west of Luzon Island at this time to intercept the transport fleet, and now the government and military will have to worry about this sudden appearance of the 'US fleet'. However, this time we are feints, and we will retract after a shot, I don't know how *** people will react when they suddenly see so many fighters and so many American warships......"

"It must be a fart, suspicious!"

After Yang Fei finished speaking, his expression became serious: "But after this fright, coupled with the fall of the surrounding areas of the Persian Gulf, I am worried that the Japanese army will strengthen the defense of Malaya, Burma and the border areas of the East Indies with us, and then we will be passive!" ”

"It's okay!"

An Yi said confidently: "It is also possible that after we show enough strength, the Japanese army will strengthen its attack on New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand!" After all, it is far away from our threat, coupled with a strong industrial base and rich minerals, which can greatly enhance the national strength of the mainland, and in turn promote the consolidation of the mainland's defense! ”

"I hope so!"

Yang Fei shrugged his shoulders and followed An Yi out of the conference room.

Everyone took the elevator to the outside of the base camp, only to find that the sun had hung on the mountain beam, the sun was extremely dazzling, and it took a while to cover their hands in front of them to get used to such a strong light.

......

At the Nikelgar Airport southeast of Manila, a tall, dignified-looking soldier stood in front of the airport command building, surrounded by a group of guards.

At this moment, MacArthur's eyes were bloodshot and haggard. From time to time, he raised his head to look at the western sky, then stroked his forehead and shook his head again and again with a wry smile, as if amused by his nervousness and anticipation.

MacArthur had a special affection for the Philippines. At the end of the last century, when MacArthur was admitted to West Point with honors, his father led a brigade of American troops, defeated the Spanish army, captured Manila, and became the US Governor General and Commander of the Armed Forces in the Philippines. After graduating from West Point, MacArthur served in the Engineer Battalion in the Philippines. When he returned to the Philippines after leaving his position as principal of West Point in 1922, he served as commander of the Manila Military District, and six years later as commander of U.S. forces in the Philippines, until he became chief of the U.S. Army General Staff.

Prior to the outbreak of the war, MacArthur, who had retired as a four-star general in the U.S. Army, resumed active duty in the Army, serving as commander of the newly established U.S. Armed Forces Command in the Far East, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general.

After receiving the replenishment of the United States' domestic troops, and also having an air force equipped with nearly 300 fighters, and at the same time, the Philippine Army was also equipped with the latest weapons, MacArthur was very confident that through air-ground cooperation, he would be able to drive the landed Japanese troops into the sea for three to six months, and at the worst of all, he would be able to hold out enough time for the United States to provide domestic assistance, and he formulated a detailed battle plan for this purpose, which was called the "Rainbow Five" plan by the US Department of the Army.

However, the harsh reality gave MacArthur a resounding slap in the face.

At the beginning of the war, the Philippine Air Force was completely annihilated, and due to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Pacific Fleet lost all its capital ships, completely lost air supremacy, and the sea connection between the Philippines and the mainland was severed. In the face of the Japanese navy, which had absolute superiority, the Philippine Islands had in fact become an isolated island, and MacArthur's long-term battle plan was quickly reduced to mere words.

Originally, MacArthur could have resisted stubbornly by transferring his troops to the Bataan Peninsula, but the U.S. military was defeated in successive battles in the Pacific region, especially the Japanese landing on Oahu, which made MacArthur, who was concerned about the progress of the war, agitated, and made mistakes and leaks frequently when directing operations, as a result, the Japanese army blocked the road from Manila West to the Bataan Peninsula, and could only do the final battle of the trapped beast in Manila.

With the three submarines that came to the rescue being sunk by the *** navy, MacArthur, who accepted Roosevelt's advice to withdraw to Australia and make a comeback, was already ready to die for his country, but the South China Republic on the other side of the South China Sea actually promised to send an air force to help.

MacArthur was skeptical of such a large-scale airlift in history, and with the South China Sea more than 1,000 kilometers in between. However, since Roosevelt, in his capacity as president, issued an order for full cooperation, MacArthur had no choice but to cooperate, and various units, especially several airfields around Manila, were assigned tasks to fully cooperate with the operations of the South China Air Force.

Out of distrust of the strength of the South China side, MacArthur did not bring the generals who were defending the various defensive lines in Manila today, nor did he let the Philippine government send personnel to greet them, and even his wife and children were not informed, but only brought his own guards and staff officers to the airport to see what was going on.

"Commander, do you think the South China side may send an air force to rescue us?"

MacArthur's retinue aide-de-camp, Sidney. Huff looked at his watch a little nervously, and when he saw MacArthur's uncertain look, he asked deliberately.

"Perhaps!"

MacArthur was really attracted to attention, and replied with some uncertainty: "It is a mysterious country, from the founding of the country to the present, the speed of development is very fast, and many times on land and in the air to defeat *** people, maybe it can bring us miracles or not." Of course, we can't expect too much, after all, we have to rely on ourselves in the land battle, and if the Japanese army launches continuous attacks, it will be difficult to hold on to the weak defense line around Manila! ”

"General!"

At this time, Major Lovery, a staff officer of the headquarters, ran out of the airport control room quickly, and his face showed a hint of joy: "I have just received news from the observation posts on the Bataan Peninsula and Corrigidor Island that a large number of warplanes are coming from the western sky and will soon reach the sky over Manila. ”

"Overwhelmed?"

The tall MacArthur walked up to Lovery and patted the uplifted subordinate on the shoulder: "Major, you won't get dizzy, will you?" Can airplanes fill the sky? How many planes does that get? ”

"It's-"

Major Lovery scratched his head and was about to answer, when a loud roar of the plane's engine was heard in the sky, and he couldn't help but turn his head to look. After only a few glances, he screamed and said, "Look, this is called overwhelming...... Oh my God, how many warplanes are there! ”

At this moment, everyone, including MacArthur, looked westward, only to see a dense group of planes flying from the western sky, which soon obscured the clear blue sky.

This is a huge formation of nearly 400 fighters composed of 30 AN-6 large transport planes and 30 escort A27 fighters that have just arrived on Luzon, plus a flight regiment that has already completed a surprise attack on three Japanese forward airfields more than 90 kilometers north of Manila.

The US and Filipino officers and men who were notified in advance, as well as the Japanese soldiers who were preparing to launch an attack on the Manila Line, were all stunned when they saw this terrifying aircraft group, but the shock of the Japanese army was eternal, and their heads were full of question marks, and they did not know where this wave of aircraft came from, and the US and Philippine officers and soldiers who were already mentally prepared were shocked only for a moment.

After the shock, the US military and Philippine officers and men on the ground all cheered loudly for the huge group of planes that were about to save themselves from danger, and took off their hats and threw them into the sky.

MacArthur was dumbfounded, and now he finally understood what it meant to be overwhelming, under the cover of the planes, the clear sky, which had been completely illuminated, dimmed again, and the "dark clouds" composed of the planes blocked the brilliance of the morning sun, so that Manila was shrouded in the shadow of the planes.

MacArthur wiped his eyes in disbelief and realized that all this was not a dream, and then he came to his senses, and hurriedly said to Major Lovery:

"The fleet of the South China Air Force is coming, and they are ready to meet it. Also, give your wife a call and tell her to be ready to evacuate at any time...... Oh my God, I forgot to inform the officials of the Philippine government to get ready, I wonder if they will complain about me......"

At this time, the airport was already prepared, the radio signal had already been contacted by the opposing group, and then large transport planes and fighter jets with a shorter range began to land on different runways one after another.

The first transport plane to land was a modified AN6 passenger aircraft, and after turning to the tarmac and stopping, the cabin door was opened. Major General Yang Kosky and Colonel Cheng Shiming, deputy director of the Operations Department of the General Staff, appeared at the gangway one after another.

MacArthur hurried to catch up.

Back in the last time U.S. Secretary of State Cordell. When Hull led a delegation to visit South China, MacArthur had an exchange with Zhao Dongquan, and knew that this general was a few high-ranking members of the South China army, and after hugging Zhao Dongquan cordially, he immediately asked loudly in an exaggerated tone:

"General Zhao, I don't know how many planes you have sent to the Philippines? Oh my God, you see this blue sky, the sky is full of planes circling, you know it's an airplane, you don't know and think we're flying a kite! ”

Zhao Dongquan didn't expect MacArthur to be so funny, and replied loudly with a smile: "Those who think that the person who flies the kite must have bad ears, at least now I have to listen hard to hear what General Douglas is saying......"

MacArthur laughed heartily and gave an American-style military salute to Zhao Dongquan, and then walked to several other South China generals behind Zhao Dong's body.

Wait until MacArthur and Li Yufu, Ipbel. Yang Kosky and Cheng Shiming shook hands and greeted loudly in the huge roar of the aircraft motor, couldn't help but smile and shook his head, and greeted: "Let's go, general, let's talk in the building in front, otherwise we can't stand it if we keep talking so loudly!" ”

"Good! Last time I said goodbye to Shinkyo, I also had a lot to talk to the general! MacArthur said as he beckoned his guests to the airport building.

Before entering the building, MacArthur raised his head again, glanced greedily at the group of planes hovering in the sky, and thought to himself how good it would be if this was an American fighter, so that he would no longer be afraid of the threat of the army, navy, and air force, and said that he might not be able to launch a counterattack against the Japanese landing force.

Looking back at the planes that kept landing on the airport runway, MacArthur suddenly felt ashamed, and said in his heart that he still underestimated the courage of the Chinese, but he did not expect to be so big as soon as he made a move!

......

Three hours later, a vintage truck waddled to a halt at the back door of the Manila Hotel. Lieutenant Colonel Huff was ordered to pick up Arthur's wife, Joan, and son, Arthur Jr. for evacuation.

In the large suite on the top floor of the hotel, Joan was hurrying to pack her things, stuffing food, clothes and a large pile of photographs into a large suitcase, and then, without forgetting to take her husband's medals and medals from a glass box, wrap them in a towel, and stuff them into the box.

Sidney. Lieutenant Colonel Huff entered the room, helped Mrs. Arthur pick up the suitcase, picked up little Arthur's three-wheeled stroller, hurried downstairs to get into the car, and drove away to the airport. At this time, the road leading to the airport was actually congested, and a large number of military trucks, cars, jeeps, and even horse-drawn carriages and ox carts were rushing in the direction of the airport.

At the airport, it was already 12 o'clock in the afternoon, and Mrs. Arthur was surprised to find Philippine President Quezon and other Philippine government officials, as well as the U.S. High Commissioner in Manila, Francis Murphy. Serge, already waiting there.

At this time, MacArthur had already received the news that the Japanese airfield on Luzon Island had been completely destroyed by the South China Air Force, and he was in a good mood, so he picked up his son and said to Joan: "You should withdraw to Indochina first, and the South China government has made all preparations for resettlement." I am the commander-in-chief of the Far Eastern Army, and I have to stay at the end! ”

Mrs. Arthur said with some concern: "However, I am worried about your ......"

MacArthur smiled and said: "It's okay, now the Japanese airfield on Luzon has been destroyed by the South China Air Force, as long as the perimeter defense line is not lost, I am safe!" Even if the Japanese army invades Manila, I can leave at any time without any problems! ”

Madame Arthur was slightly relieved, turned her head to look at the transport planes, fighters and bombers that were constantly taking off and landing at the airport, and asked curiously: "How many fighters have been dispatched by the South China side?" Is it enough for the withdrawal of troops? ”

"There are more than 300 large transport planes alone, and even if each plane transports 20 people, there are 6,000 people at a time. In a day or two, the lads in America can escape from the tiger's mouth! ”

MacArthur finished speaking, and then sighed: "But it can't be all transported, and some troops must be left behind." When the airfield is threatened by the Japanese, the airlift will be automatically suspended, so I have to worry about the rest of the troops...... The palms and backs of the hands are full of meat, and I can't give up it......"

Zhao Dongquan on the side comforted: "Our South China Air Force will try our best to suppress the attack of the Japanese army and strive to save more troops......"

At this time, a staff officer came to urge boarding, and arranged for the passenger plane to take off soon after Mrs. Arthur, his son, and Philippine government officials to make room for the next wave of landings.

MacArthur held his son in his arms and sent his wife on the plane. Serge and the others said goodbye.