Manila Bay, Philippines.

The sun had been setting in the South China Sea for a while, and the peaks of Malinda on Corregidor Island blocked the last moments of its afterglow. Vast expanses of dark clouds blocked the dusk sky, making the night early and gloomy.

Corregidor Island resembles a tadpole at the entrance to Manila Bend. The tail of the "tadpole" is hidden in the shadow of the mountain peak, and it is called Cape Kuinan. On the south shore of the headland is a small bay with the only trestle in the bay. It's barely a seaport.

Once again, the silence of the place was shattered by the fighting that spread throughout Manila, and the small harbor was shrouded in shallow waters, where steamers lay and most of the pier was burned, leaving only charred stumps.

As the night of Manila arrived, there was a temporary silence, except for the distant glow and sound of cannonballs occasionally interrupting the howling of the icy wind. Manila Bend was empty, leaving only the Japanese troops waiting for the attack.

A figure gradually appears on a building in Manila Bay, and the whole of Manila Bay is reflected in the eye. He is the Japanese Army Lieutenant General Honma Masaharu, that is, the Japanese Army Lieutenant General, who lamely drove MacArthur out of the Philippines. Let MacArthur's sentence: It is impossible to capture the Krabi fortress in 100 years with a million troops, has become a laughing stock. This Japanese lieutenant general, known as a poet general, does not have much of a bright spot except for being a little timid.

Of course, a large part of the defeat of the United States in the past was due to contempt for Japan. The United States has always regarded China as its imaginary enemy, but Japan has not regarded China as its imaginary enemy. Especially after the defeat and reparations. It can be said that the Japanese military has a deep hatred for China.

Although the Japanese Army did not have the actual combat experience gained on the land of China in this era, with the determination to take revenge on China and under more rigorous training, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army was no worse than that of later generations. If we add that the armed forces are more advanced, then today's Japan is more than a little bit stronger than the Japan of World War II in later generations.

The United States underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army, which became a very important reason for the defeat. Although Uncle Sam did not take seriously the contempt for Japanese soldiers in the American newspapers, the yellow military uniform was fat, the trousers were loose, the legs were ridiculously short, the soldiers seemed to be wrapped in dirty and smelly yellow paper, and the officers carried swords that were extremely disproportionate to their height, like dolls.

In fact, the Americans also overestimate themselves. The Philippine army is too poorly equipped. There were not enough field artillery, there was not enough ammunition, there was no air force worth mentioning, only a symbolic navy. Many of the soldiers were Filipinos hired on a temporary basis. And it's all weird. Yellow muscles on the face. Malaise. When you have time, you take a nap, when you have money, you smoke opium, and when the gun sounds, you scatter birds and beasts. For them. Being occupied by Japan is the same as being colonized by the United States. Just as the Americans ruled and colonized Spain, those Spaniards didn't come far and die for the whites.

It was with so many factors that the United States was defeated, and it was MacArthur who faced a timid and crappy Japanese general who gave him a lot of opportunities, but he still lost. Leaving the Philippines in disgrace.

For MacArthur, he was 10,000 kilometers away from his homeland, and that land of his own was not so friendly and reliable. Roosevelt did not trust him and was his nemesis. He thought many times that if there was no polio man in the White House, maybe he MacArthur could have been in the White House.

Time passed, and MacArthur, who had already fled to Australia, received an order to cooperate with the Japanese army. To him, it was as if he were watching one of the most ridiculous operas of the century, not on Broadway, but in a dilapidated wooden shack in the ghetto.

No matter what MacArthur thought at this time, Masaharu Honma, who drove him out of the Philippines, did not have the slightest pride at this time. The Chinese offensive came so fast that before he could give an order, the hundreds of Japanese fighters stationed in the Philippines, and even the Yamazaki bombers of a wing, were buried under the Chinese bombers, and they were all finished.

Masaharu Honma, who is standing on Manila Bay at this moment, is dripping blood in her heart! Especially when I saw the bow of the two warships in the bay, the whole hull had completely submerged into the sea. This is the current Japanese Navy in the Philippines, and when all Japanese navies in the South China Sea were withdrawn, Nagumo Tadaichi left him a cruiser and a destroyer.

Masaharu Honma, who was still counting on the effects of these two warships, has only endless despair at the moment. With the arrival of a large number of Chinese bombers in the Philippines to bomb airfields and important military facilities, followed by Chinese fighter planes, the Japanese air force was further emptied. Along with this, there were also naval guns of the Chinese Navy, and in the rumbling sound of artillery, mixed with bombs dropped by the carrier-based aircraft of the Chinese Navy, all valuable targets in the entire Manila Bay were eliminated.

Masaharu Honma, who thought that China would immediately carry out a landing battle, once again made a mistake, and when he ordered his troops to quickly deploy to the beachhead, it was not the Chinese marines who were ushered in, but another heavy artillery.

The overwhelming shells blew up Honma Masaharu's arrangement, and in the distance, China's huge fleet group was cruising on the sea at all times, far away from the firing distance of the offshore anti-aircraft guns, and carried out an uninterrupted attack on the entire bay.

The obnoxious Chinese Air Force has once again visited and destroyed all the shore artillery on Manila and destroyed the anti-aircraft weapons that Manila has. This bay city, which has already been banned from a baptism of war, has once again ushered in a more fierce war raid.

The combined attack of the sea and air, the entire city and the surrounding Japanese fortifications were basically plowed several times.

The attack lasted a whole day, and at dusk this shelling ceased temporarily. And Masaharu Honma had the courage to step out of the bunker and inspect Manila Bay, which was already covered in bruises.

He weighed down his tidal wave of emotions: frustration, disappointment, pain, powerlessness. Today, he was not aware of the number of telegrams of inquiry he had received from the base camp, including Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister and Minister of War, Sugiyama Moto, Chief of Staff, and Hirohito himself.

The rebukes and telegrams sent by these "big shots" made Honma Masaharu a little crazy. Although Japan's remaining air forces engaged in fierce air battles with the Chinese jet fighters, they also achieved some modest results in conjunction with anti-aircraft firepower. But none of this can change the passive situation of the entire Philippine garrison, so in the face of the accusations of the base camp, Honma Masaharu can only swallow bitter water in his stomach.

Now, in his opinion, only the combined fleet of the empire can save the Philippines. But he didn't dare to expect the Combined Fleet to dare to come here, the South China Sea region has always been China's territory. Although he is more timid, timidity does not equal stupidity. Without too much consideration, he also understood that as long as the Combined Fleet dared to appear in the South China Sea, it would face an overwhelming number of Chinese fighters, and even if the Combined Fleet was strong, it would soon be drowned in the Chinese fighters.

It is precisely because of this that as soon as the slightest sign of signs is revealed, the Japanese Navy, which had been staying in the waters of the occupied zone, immediately withdrew from this area in order to avoid the attack range of Chinese land-based fighters. Most of them went to the Indian Ocean, and a small part of the Combined Fleet cruised in the Indian Ocean, intending to catch the Chinese Indian Ocean Fleet. By the way, cover the transport ships of the Allied forces in support of India.

Just when Masaharu Honma had nothing to do but look at the bay and stared, a Japanese soldier Osa hurried towards him with a telegram. When he came behind Masaharu Honma, he bent down and said:

"General, call from the Tokyo base camp."

"Read." sighed helplessly in his heart, Honma Masaharu knew that he couldn't hide from it.

"Hey, the telegram ordered Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma, commander of the Philippine Dispatch Army, to carry forward the prestige of the Imperial Army of the Great Japanese Empire, to defend the territory of the Great Japanese Empire, even if the last man fights, he must not cede the Philippines to China China. …… Reinforcements....... ”

After listening to the content of the telegram, Honma Masaharu breathed a sigh of relief, originally he thought it was an order from the base camp to remove him, but it turned out to be the opposite.

While this telegram made Honma Masaharu relax a little, it also gave him a glimmer of hope. Although the navy was unable to support the Philippines and no reinforcements arrived in a short time, the base camp also gave Honma Masaharu a very relaxed room to detour. They did not strictly order Honma Masaharu to do anything, but asked him to take advantage of the terrain of the Philippines and immediately launch a defense in depth once the landing battle failed.

Taking advantage of the narrow island terrain and the long-term fortifications built in the Philippines, the Philippines launched a continuous blockade and dragged most of China's troops to the Philippines.

The base camp is also trying its best to send reinforcements to the Philippines, and the American troops in Australia will also immediately go to the front, as long as Honma Masaharu can resist the Chinese attack, reinforcements will arrive in the Philippines. The longer he held out, the more reinforcements would come back to him.

Moreover, the U.S. Air Force in Australia will also do its best to support him and cooperate with him in attacking the troops blocking China's landing in the Philippines.

This telegram is indeed a booster, at least after reading the contents, Honma Masaharu does not have so much despair in his heart. As long as it is as the telegram says, then he is not without a chance.

"All departments in the rear were ordered to immediately carry out material control, and it was necessary to ensure that the troops could hold out for three months and that food and ammunition were safe. and strengthen and deepen all the fortifications, and build new defensive fire points along the roads.

Tell all the soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army that the time has come to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, for the victory of the Imperial Holy War, in order to wash away the shame that China has brought to the Empire, and let China see the military might of our Imperial Japanese Army. For the sake of the empire, crush China. (To be continued.) )