The Philippines has a standard tropical monsoon climate, the hottest month is May, and at the end of June, the rainy season begins, and the temperature begins to drop at this time, when the temperature is mostly between 25 degrees ~ 31 degrees.

Lingayen Bay, is a bay located in the northwest of the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Located between the island of Santiago and Cape San Fernando. The interior is a vast fertile field where tanks and other vehicles can gallop across the country, making it an ideal landing attack point.

For decades since the U.S. seized the Philippines, almost all military experts have believed that the ideal place for a hypothetical Japanese attack on Luzon would be Lingayan Bay, and that the battle would develop as they had assumed.

On 22 June, when the Japanese Combined Fleet attacked the US Navy in the waters off Guam, the Japanese Army and Navy Air Force also carried out a surprise attack on the US airfield and the Krabi (Luzon) naval base at the same time.

Six Condor-class aircraft carriers, converted from merchant ships, also participated in the raid on US military bases. In addition to blowing up the USS Lexington to the point that it was unable to sit and move in the harbor, it also attacked the US aircraft bases along the coast.

In the two days from 22 to 23 June, Japan's land, sea, and air raids destroyed half of the US heavy bombers and more than one-third of the fighters on land, thus creating conditions for landing operations.

Twenty-five days later, as the main force of the Combined Fleet, which had destroyed US Pacific ships in the Guam Sea, moved westward, the pressure on the US Army to strike here was further increased.

Akagi, Soryu, Feilong, Zuihe, and Xianghe, a total of five aircraft carriers, together with six escort aircraft carriers, participated in the air raid on the US land-based airfield. On the same day, the Japanese captured the Batan Islands, north of Luzon. Soon an engineering unit landed on the island and began to build a field airfield on the island.

The machinery used by this engineering unit to build the airfield. They were all "second-hand goods" imported from Germany four months ago, and when they arrived, the logo of the German Marines on the equipment had not even had time to erase - their predecessors belonged to the German Marine Corps, and in order to catch up with the war, the engineering units of the German direct navy even packed up the equipment and even the engineering personnel and shipped them to Japan.

In order to help the Japanese better familiarize themselves with this set of advanced equipment. The German navy even sent technicians and engineers to the construction of the island's airfield. In less than 32 hours, several improvised field airstrips were built on the island, laying the groundwork for the next military landing on Luzon.

Before the start of the war in June 1942, the U.S. military had deployed 580 planes in the Philippines, more than double the number in history, and the quality of the aircraft had also increased, with about 100 P38 fighters with the best performance.

Although the Japanese army's sneak attack in the early stage was very successful, it only destroyed more than 120 aircraft of various types. In the hands of MacArthur, the top commander of the United States in the Philippines, there are still more than four hundred aircraft at his disposal.

But. The biggest problem for the US military is that in the next few months, they will completely lose their naval supremacy in the western Pacific. The navy and army deployed here are all rootless trees and sourceless water, and they have no other support at all.

By 28 June, the landing operation against Luzon had begun as the Japanese had completed the transfer of aircraft in the Batan Islands.

In the early morning of June 28, over the sea west of Lingayen Bay. Ise, Hyuga, Fuso, Yamashiro, four battleships lined up. Opened fire on the positions of American troops landing on the beach.

The orange-red fire from the guns of the battleships shone in the dawn, and the huge roar of the guns reverberated along the coastline.

At the same time, another advance force, the Tanaka Detachment and the Kanno Detachment of the 48th Division (about 4,000 men in total), landed and occupied airfields at Apari and Vigan in northern Luzon on the same day, and gradually expanded their gains.

And five days later, in the other direction, the seemingly tranquil region of the southern Philippines in the early days of Mindan. Another Japanese landing unit also launched an attack in this direction.

The biggest difference from the historical Philippine campaign is that before the outbreak of the battle, the Japanese had seized Kalimantan Island and Sulawesi Island from the Dutch, plus the island of Taiwan in the north, forming a strategic flanking trend of one south and one north against the Philippines.

The initial attack on Luzon was a feint. The aim is to draw the attention of the US troops stationed in the Philippines to the north so as to create a void in the defense of Medan in the south.

MacArthur had more planes and troops than he ever had, but his strategy was even worse than it was in history.

His troops should not only beware of the Japanese troops who are encircling them from the south and the north, but also from the British "joking" with them in the direction of Palawan. You must know that a few days ago, the US Army Aviation stationed on Palawan Island had just fought with the British Royal Air Force in the skies over Mayaya, and even bombed the British base there. Although after the incident, because Britain and the United States did not want to go to war, the top leaders took a step back from each other after an emergency phone call. But only a few days had passed, and the situation was still unclear, so how could MacArthur not be wary of the British?

Facing enemies on all sides, enemies everywhere, and using troops everywhere is the embarrassing situation facing the US military in the Philippines now. Although the number of US aircraft and land forces stationed in the Philippines is twice as large as in history, the Japanese attack on US troops and ships is also far greater than in the same period in history -- because the Japanese army has only one target, and it can almost be said that the whole country is attacking with all its strength, which is completely different from the historical division of troops in multiple directions.

The U.S. military's poor strategic shape caused MacArthur to face the embarrassment of having trouble taking care of his head and tail, and taking care of his head and his waist empty.

The battleship Yamato and five other combat aircraft carriers, who had participated in the Battle of Guam, deliberately made a high-profile appearance in the waters off Luzon during the battle in the first few days of June, stormed the Luzon area for several days, and drew all the attention of the US military to the north.

At this time, the U.S. forces in the Medan area were empty, and the Japanese army easily completed the initial and most difficult landing operation.

On 12 July, the Japanese annihilated the American forces stationed on Mindan, and then, as if dominoes had been toppled, MacArthur's resistance in the Philippines quickly collapsed.

On 22 July, the southern island of Palawan was also captured by the Japanese "nearby".

After discovering that he had been "blown up successfully" by the Japanese army, MacArthur hastily transferred the troops to the north to the south, resulting in an empty force in the heavily defended Luzon area. The Japanese troops in this direction landed successfully on July 25. (To be continued......)

PS: This chapter is free, and it's kind of compensation for the loss caused by the wrong post I sent yesterday