On November 5, Austro-Hungarian marines made a forced landing in Subic Bay, just over 120 kilometers from Manila. In charge of the defense of Subic Bay was the Southern Luzon Army under the command of General Parker, with a total of 25,000 troops in two Filipino divisions, but as soon as the Austrian army was engaged, it quickly collapsed and retreated all the way to Manila.

At this time, only two days into the Philippine campaign, MacArthur realized the gravity of the situation, and he could not wait for reinforcements from home to be wiped out. Now the air force is gone, the navy is gone, and only the poorly equipped Philippine Army is left to resist the all-out onslaught of the Axis forces. After the landing of the main Axis forces at Linga Bay, the fighting lasted only two days and two nights, and the Philippine defenders were in a state of collapse on all fronts.

The Axis powers' operational intentions were very obvious, and they were ready to carry out a north-south flank attack, encircle the main forces of the United States and the Philippines in the open and flat area of central Luzon Island with Manila as the center, and then completely annihilate them in one fell swoop. In order to avoid the annihilation of the whole army, there was only one way out, that is, to immediately take the initiative to retreat the troops to the Bataan Peninsula northwest of Manila Bay, where strong fortifications were built, that is, to return to the original "orange plan".

On the evening of 6 December, MacArthur made up his mind and ordered all his troops to immediately begin the "Orange Plan" and retreat to the Bataan Peninsula by radio.

The battle to defend Luzon ended before it had even begun.

MacArthur and Philippine President Quezon retreated to Corrigidor Island in a torpedo boat in the evening.

"Admiral Hart has given the order to the commander of the submarine forces, Rear Admiral Rockwell, to retreat, and now we have no naval support except for some torpedo boats. But the retreat of our army at Lüvin and nearly 30,000 Song troops went very smoothly, and the Axis forces somehow suddenly slowed down the attack, probably because of a lack of necessary fuel. No sooner had MacArthur arrived on Colligidor than Chief of Staff Sutherland kept him updated. In Northern Luzon, the Chinese offensive suddenly slowed down, allowing the U.S.-Filipino forces to withdraw safely from Manila to the Bataan Peninsula.

To the north of Luzon, General Wainwright gathered his scattered forces and held three improvised defensive lines, and he ordered more than a hundred bridges to be blown up. Delaying the enemy's offensive as much as possible, forcing the pursuing Chinese troops to slow down the pursuit. This was the most successful aspect of General Wainwright's command, and he finally boosted the morale of the repeatedly frustrated American-Philippine forces and enabled them to muster the courage to work to protect the retreat of General Parker's 18,000 troops in South Luzon.

Right now. A large number of U.S. military vehicles poured into the Bataan Peninsula from all directions, and U.S. and Philippine troops and tens of thousands of panicked civilians flocked to Bataan, some on foot, some in ox carts or horse-drawn carts, and for several days, the retreating troops from Manila and the main force of General Wainwright heading south. When they meet, the roads are even more crowded.

It was strange to the Americans that for several days, the Axis air forces, which had absolute superiority, did not launch a large-scale air raid and allowed the US-Philippine forces to safely withdraw to the Bataan Peninsula.

"General, most of our troops have now successfully withdrawn to the Bataan Peninsula, and the enemy seems to think that we have retreated on all fronts, and instead my attention is focused on Manila. So far, 90,000 troops and nearly 30,000 Filipino refugees have successfully retreated to the Bataan Peninsula. We now have the capital to hold on, just as the Spaniards did back then. Sutherland said.

"Thank God!" MacArthur said. He felt that he was very lucky that the Axis commander had clearly made a big mistake in turning a blind eye to his retreat and allowing him to safely withdraw his troops to Bataan. However, when Sutherland mentioned the Spaniards, he began to feel uneasy. The main factor in their victory ultimately depended on naval reinforcements, and if they did not have support from the sea, they would have been trapped alive on the Bataan Peninsula like the Spaniards.

"There is no doubt that we will win the entire Southeast Asian campaign! However, judging by the current situation and the latest intelligence. The Americans did not seem to appreciate our 'good intentions', and the main forces of the US Pacific Fleet withdrew to Hawaii after arriving at Wake Island. "In the general headquarters of the coalition forces in Hanoi, the representative of the Chinese side, General Jiang Baili, looked at the telegram he had just received and said to the chief of the general staff of the coalition forces, General Lendulik.

"It's up to MacArthur to put pressure on Washington to move their navy." William? General Liszt stood in front of the map and said indifferently: "Even if the Americans are not fooled, it is a pleasant thing to be able to capture a US Army general alive at the beginning of the war." ”

"Now the Japanese are retreating from the Malay Peninsula, and with the current situation, it is difficult for us to follow the campaign plan and prevent the British and Japanese from retreating to Australia through the East Indies." "Now that the enemy still has about 1,600 combat aircraft, the navy does not dare to take too many risks and break into the Java Sea, thus cutting off the enemy's retreat." ”

"The army is only responsible for operations in Indochina, the Philippines and the Malay Peninsula, and the operations in the East Indies are the business of the navy, and we are only responsible for taking over the security thereafter." Admiral Liszt said that the division of spheres of influence in these occupied areas is also a headache, Germany and Austria want to control the Malay Peninsula and the Strait of Malacca, and the interests of the Chinese, who dispatched nearly a million army and navy during the entire Southeast Asian campaign, also need to be adequately compensated, and the Italians will certainly demand a piece of the pie.

The German and Austrian emperors had already held talks in Berlin on this issue, and the Chinese in Southeast Asia accounted for about one-third of the total population of the region, and without the cooperation of the Chinese, it would be difficult for Germany and Austria to gain stable rule in this region. Of course, there is another way, which is to use the local indigenous people to "exclude Chinese" and drive the Chinese out of this area, but this will certainly cause a rapid deterioration of relations with China, which is not in the interests of Germany and Austria.

The final draft of the division of spheres of influence was to entrust Burma to China, which was also a traditional Chinese vassal state, and to compensate Borneo to China. The Malay Peninsula and most importantly Singapore were ruled by the German Mandate, while Austria-Hungary received Sumatra.

The islands of Java will continue to be handed back to the Dutch, and in order to win over the Spaniards, the Philippines will be returned to Spanish rule, while the Italians will be compensated for the islands of Timor and Maluku, and the Germans and Austrians will divide the rule of Illian Island equally.

As for Australia, it is true that Germany and Austria have no plans to invade there at this time.

And the fact that Australians are scared is only their problem. (To be continued......)