Ito's plan was simple, effective, and vicious: First, all the troops were dispatched to carry out a ferocious all-front attack on the US positions with the greatest attack intensity, and to put on a posture that was bound to break through the US defense line in the Calais Mountains, thus creating a situation in which the US Third Army's defense line was in a state of urgency everywhere, so that the Americans would send out all their fighters in order to keep the defense line from being breached.

After yesterday's air battle, the number of US fighters will not exceed 400, and the number of fighters of the three Japanese Army Air Forces will reach more than 1,000 on the whole, and the number of fighters of the three Japanese Army Air Forces will reach more than 1,000 on the whole.

After killing the US planes, the Japanese aircraft group dispatched bombers to support the ground forces, comprehensively broke through the defense line of the US Third Army, and according to the plan of General Ito, left the strength of three divisions and regiments, in the Calais Mountains, divided, surrounded and annihilated the US Third Army, and then, with Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Harata's 14th Army as the assault force, directly pounced on Manila, if the battle was carried out according to the plan, tomorrow evening, the troops of the Imperial Southwest Pacific Dispatch Army would be able to reach the city of Manila!

After Chief of Staff Kawashima announced the deployment of the campaign, Senior General Ito said: "Gentlemen, the time of the start of the battle is exactly 4:30 a.m. on August 13, that is, in the early morning of tomorrow, Haruta-kun's troops will withdraw from the first attack wave, and the other troops, after breaking through the US defense line, along the breakthrough point, and directly take Manila. You won't have an opinion, right? ”

Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta was so excited that he trembled a little, Huo Ran stood up and replied loudly: "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, Chuntian thank you for giving such an honor to the Fourteenth Army, before seven o'clock tomorrow evening, I will be under the city of Manila to welcome your arrival, I really want to see the treacherous and cunning General MacArthur, when the time comes." I will invite him to drink our Japanese sake, and then, as the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. Army captured by our Imperial Japanese Southwest Pacific Dispatch Army, will be escorted to Tokyo. Dedicated to His Majesty the Emperor! ”

The other Japanese generals sighed. Oops. Who said that this guy Yoshihiko Haruta is a cannon barrel, a tendon, look at what others said, high-sounding and arrogant, with a heart and face, to the emperor Xià to offer prisoners of war. This is an excellent and good idea, the imperial palace to offer prisoners, probably only the ancient Chinese, would have such a wonderful idea. How could this guy Haruta think that the Japanese generals who attended the meeting immediately looked at Yoshihiko Haruta!

Admiral Ito was even more excited with red faces, he found more and more that Haruta was cute, after catching MacArthur, he was escorted back to the mainland and presented to His Majesty the Emperor, but the supreme commander of a regional headquarters in the United States, with this alone, can overshadow the limelight of the Navy and win the appreciation of His Majesty the Emperor and the bigwigs of the War Department.

Ito patted Yoshihiko Haruta on the shoulder cordially, and said with encouragement: "Haruta-kun, you must get this honor for the dispatch army, we are all looking forward to it!" Then, Ito said to the three army aviation commanders: "Kashima-kun, Araki-kun, Kuroda-kun, gentlemen, Ito is here to ask you, tomorrow's war is related to the overall situation of the Empire's Southwest Pacific Theater, let us fight together for the Japanese Empire and His Majesty the Emperor!" ”

The Japanese generals went, stood up in unison, and shouted loudly: "I am willing to serve the Japanese Empire and His Majesty the Emperor, and if I don't fight, I will win!" The sound reached the outside of the tent, containing a bloody murderous aura!

Then, the Japanese generals left with confidence, ready to deal a fatal blow to the US Third Army tomorrow, if Le Yiqin had the opportunity to learn the content of the Japanese military meeting, he would definitely slap the table and scold, "The Japanese are really not fucking things, air ambushes, originally Lao Tzu's patent, stunned by Ito, the old devil to plagiarize, the little devil steals things fast enough, if you meet the little devil's air force next time, you will definitely give you bastards, come to an air ambush, tell sù little devil, master is master!" ”

That same night, in the office building of the Singapore Military Control Commission, Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe delivered another piece of information on the battlefield on Luzon Island on 12 August to the desk of division commander Tang Qiuli on time.

Tang Qiuli flipped over for a moment, raised his eyebrows, and said: "Yuhe, today's casualties of the U.S. army are unusually large, and the Japanese army has also dispatched fighter jets, judging from this, tomorrow, it will be the decisive battle between the air power of the United States and Japan, Ito beat the U.S. Third Army too hard, and at this time, MacArthur will inevitably use all the hole cards, and the reinforcements of the British and Australian armies will not come for a long time, forcing the U.S. Third Army to fight hard with the Japanese army in the mountains of Calais!" ”

Zhao Yuhe asked: "Division commander, if the air power of the US army is completely wiped out by the Japanese air force, in your judgment, what kind of countermeasures will MacArthur take?" ”

Tang Qiuli said with a smile: "It's not if, but for sure, for three days in a row, Ito ordered the Japanese army to attack with pure infantry to show weakness, just today, sending a small number of fighters caused huge casualties of more than 17,000 US troops, putting the greatest pressure on the US Third Army, and basically achieving the goal of transferring US air power!" ”

"After the loss of US air power, if I were MacArthur, I would immediately abandon Manila, take advantage of the opportunity not to be surrounded by the Japanese army, and withdraw east to Australia as soon as possible, otherwise, if I want to get out, it will be difficult, but looking at MacArthur's posture now, he is not ready to evacuate Luzon, and his last hope is more than 100,000 British and Australian reinforcements on the Australian mainland!"

Zhao Yuhe shook his head and said with emotion: "Since Luzon Island is a dead end, why is MacArthur so stubbornly persistent, I really can't understand the thoughts and practices of this American!" ”

Tang Qiuli was just about to explain, "Jingle bell!" The phone on the table rang urgently, and he picked up the phone, "Is it the division commander, I'm Le Yiqin, now, there is an important situation to report to you, the three major groups of the first fighter regiment of the flight group, along the line of the Strait of Malacca, carried out routine air patrols today, found a squadron of Japanese fighters, deep into our side, and when the three teams chased over, the little devil had already run away!" On the phone, Le Yiqin's loud voice came clearly.

Tang Qiuli asked quietly: "Oh, since this kind of thing has happened, in response to this situation, Le Yiqin, do you have any very safe way to deal with it?" ”

When Le Yiqin heard this, the division commander did not train himself, it seemed that there was a door, he said: "Division commander, the little devil is deliberately crossing the line, it is a deliberate provocation, we must give a resolute blow, my plan is that tomorrow I will lead the team, dispatch two fighter regiments, to Sumatra Island, to engage in the little devil, is it also a warning, the Singapore Navy and Air Base, and the little devil is separated by a strait, and it only takes more than 20 minutes to come and go!" ”

Tang Qiuli's eyebrows gradually raised, and said: "Le Yiqin, your appetite is still too small, I have accurate information, tomorrow morning, the planes of the Americans and the Japanese will be over Luzon Island, a decisive battle, it is a large air battle of nearly 2,000 planes, are you interested in mixing it up, and easily kill all the Japanese and American planes?" ”

Le Yiqin was like a doping, his eyes lit up, his heart blossomed, and he secretly thought to himself, "Oh, it's such a good thing, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I'm rich, I can kill the planes of the Americans and the Japanese at the same time, hey, just think about it, it's exciting," just about to answer loudly, he suddenly felt that there seemed to be something wrong, why was there a bit of gunpowder in the teacher's tone?

Le Yiqin said cautiously: "Division commander, if you approve the Southern Flying Group to fight, I can guarantee that no matter whether it is the plane of the little devil or the plane of the Yankees, none of them will be able to escape!" He said these words in a tentative tone.

Suddenly, I heard the teacher roar angrily, "Le Yiqin, what a great majesty, do you have a long head?" Listen, tomorrow's routine air patrol route will not allow one of your fighter planes to fly over the center line of the Strait of Malacca, and keep me away from the battlefield on Luzon, otherwise, you will be my staff officer forever! ”

Le Yiqin broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly said: "Division commander, I review, I should not rush to fight, I promise, the air patrol group of the Southern Flying Group will definitely carry out your orders!" Putting down the phone, Le Yiqin let out a sigh, wiped the sweat from his head, and muttered with palpitations: "It's so dangerous, and I almost didn't become a staff officer!" However, it's a pity, it's a big air battle with more than 2,000 planes, there is no way, you can't participate, just look at it! ”

Zhao Yuhe was on the side, listening to it with great joy, and when he saw Tang Qiuli put down the phone, he said: "Division Commander, you are lighting Commander Le's death hole, as soon as I heard that he asked him to be your staff officer, I was so scared that I broke out in a cold sweat!" ”

Tang Qiuli said helplessly: "This Le Yiqin, sometimes it's unbelievably smart, and sometimes, it's so impulsive that you want to kick him a few times, Yuhe, believe it or not, if I approve him, Le Yiqin dares to take a regiment of fighters to stir up the airspace where the Japanese and American air forces are fighting!" ”

Zhao Yuhe replied honestly: "Division commander, I absolutely believe that even if he only has ten fighters, he will dare to mix in!" ”

Tang Qiuli also said very seriously: "I also absolutely believe that this guy can really do that!" After saying that, the two of them burst out laughing!

At 4:00 a.m. on 13 August, nearly 1,000 artillery pieces covered with camouflage nets slowly raised their thick and hideous muzzles on the Japanese artillery position, pointing at the US position.

(To be continued) (To be continued.) )