At this time, Commander-in-Chief MacArthur was undoubtedly the most excited person, and after being pressed and beaten by the Japanese army for several months, the first large-scale counterattack achieved such results, although the annihilation of the Japanese troops was not many, at best about two or three thousand, but the expulsion of the Japanese army away from Manila, the successful recovery of the Calais mountain defense line, changed the situation of the battle on Luzon, and was an unprecedented record of the American army since the outbreak of the Pacific War.

Under the decline of the Japanese army sweeping through the Pacific theater and the repeated defeats of the United States and its allies, the counterattack on Luzon Island was like a lightning bolt that came out of the sky, illuminating the dark night sky and giving confidence to the Allied forces that had been repeatedly attacked.

Of course, General MacArthur has always considered himself a famous general, but he just needs a great victory to prove his ability, and the counterattack in Manila is the best gift, the situation is absolutely favorable to him, and he will certainly not let go of this good opportunity.

In the name of the commander-in-chief of the US Southwest Pacific Theater, he ordered the counterattacking Allied troops to make persistent efforts to take continuous offensive actions to not give the retreating Japanese troops a chance to breathe, and to restore the favorable situation in the Calais Mountains when Stilwell was in place.

General MacArthur even thought that it would not be difficult to achieve the goal of beating the Japanese army out of Luzon and investing more than 200,000 troops before and after, forming a battlefield advantage over the Japanese army. Personally sent a report to the U.S. High Command in wartime.

"At 4 o'clock in the morning of 24 August, the troops of the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations, the Supreme Command in Wartime, transferred to His Excellency, the troops of the Southwest Pacific Theater, launched a large-scale counterattack against the Japanese troops on Luzon Island, and by about 5:30 p.m. of the same day, the troops of the 14th Army of the Japanese Army, which had attacked Manila, had been repulsed to the mountains of Calais. And taking advantage of the situation to regain the defense line in the Calais mountains, the Japanese army suffered heavy losses and retreated step by step, and now, the battle is still ongoing. ”

"It is expected that by the morning of August 25. Our troops can establish a solid defensive line in the mountains of Calais, after a short rest. to launch an attack on all fronts. The ultimate goal of the campaign was to expel all Japanese troops from Luzon Island, and to report the latest battle situation at any time. ”

General MacArthur's mood was optimistic. He was still more subtle, and did not say that the hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops on Luzon Island were completely annihilated, in fact, this kind of thinking. The unstoppable spread in his heart.

However, in order to achieve this goal, it is far from enough to rely on the more than 200,000 troops who are now counterattacking, and after the report to the US wartime high command was sent, he ordered the Allied troops guarding the Manila defense line to dispatch more than 80,000 people again as the third wave of counterattack troops and immediately put them into the Calais mountain battlefield, which is a very heavy weight, because at this time the Manila defense line, the remaining allied troops, less than 60,000, most of them are still Philippine soldiers.

After arranging this qiē, MacArthur said to Colonel Kleist, the acting chief of staff: "Kleist, immediately transfer capable personnel to form a front-line command, and I will personally rush to the mountains of Calais to direct the counterattack against the Japanese army!" ”

When General MacArthur said these words, Chief of Staff Kleist saw that His Excellency's eyes were blazing and full of confidence in victory, but Chief of Staff Kleist still did not approve of His Excellency's personal command of the front.

He said: "Commander-in-chief, you are the supreme commander of hundreds of thousands of Allied troops, there is no need to personally rush to the front line to command, moreover, our only focus on Luzon is Manila, I personally think that it is more appropriate for you to command the overall situation in Manila than to go to the mountains of Calais to command the operation, after all, the front line is very dangerous, as your chief of staff, you must be responsible for your safety!" ”

Chief of Staff Kleist, when he said these words, his attitude was absolutely sincere, but unfortunately, he was not proficient in Chinese culture, otherwise, it would be more convincing to come to a few Chinese idioms such as "a gentleman does not take risks" and "handsome should not be taken lightly".

MacArthur smiled reservedly, he could hear that his chief of staff was sincere from the bottom of his heart, and he was concerned about his own safety, so he said in a tone of teaching his juniors: "Kleist, as a general, you should always be with your soldiers, for a soldier, the battle should be the whole of his life, the battlefield full of artillery fire, the smoke of gunpowder, is the stage of the general, but I still want to thank you, go and prepare, let's go immediately!" ”

As soon as Chief of Staff Kleist was about to leave, General MacArthur called out to him again, "Kleist, on behalf of me, you personally call Lieutenant General Wagnadze, and say that when I am on the front line in the mountains of Calais, the defense of Manila will get rid of him!" ”

General MacArthur, with self-confidence and optimism about the impending victory, rushed to the battlefield in the mountains of Calais with a capable command team, and according to his orders, counterattacked the Japanese Allied forces overnight, but was stubbornly resisted by the Japanese.

After Yoshihiko Harata's 14th Army retreated to a certain position, the strength of more than 90,000 Japanese troops staying in the Calais Mountains immediately rose up and fought in the northern part of the Calais Mountains, falling into a stalemate.

After several attacks, at the cost of more than 10,000 casualties, the Allied counterattack came to an abrupt halt in the Calais mountains, and when General MacArthur arrived, it was when the Allied counterattack force was beaten to the ground by the Japanese who were waiting for their work, and they could not advance a single step.

After the generals reported the situation, General MacArthur painfully found that the current position of the Japanese troops was the position that was previously given up by Major General Whiteman, the commander of the Third Army, that is, before Stilwell was killed, and ordered not to take half a step back.

That was the area with the best terrain conditions and the most favorable for defense in the entire Calais Mountains, and now General MacArthur had reason to hate the dead Major General Whiteman, who was itching his teeth, and if it weren't for this stupid pig-like guy, he would have shrunk the defense line in the Calais Mountains by an average of more than 30 kilometers, and would have surrendered the area conducive to defense to the Japanese, and now, the more than 200,000 Allied troops who had been thrown into the battlefield had compressed the Japanese army to the area of Naga and Mayon in the southwest of Luzon.

Obviously, the current situation does not allow the Allied forces to take advantage of the aftermath of victory to continuously attack the Japanese positions, in that case, it will cause great casualties to the troops, and moreover, the Allied soldiers who have been fighting continuously for a day and in the middle of the night are already very tired, which is not conducive to fighting again, and many heavy weapons are left behind.

In view of the actual situation, General MacArthur gave the order for all troops to move to the battlefield to rest and recuperate, wait for the heavy weapons to follow, and then launch a new offensive at 4 o'clock in the morning of 26 August, that is, more than 200,000 Allied soldiers were given nearly 24 hours of rest and recuperation.

From Manila to the Calais mountains, the gunfire rang out for nearly a day and a night, and gradually subsided, and at this time, more than 200,000 Allied troops were already in the Calais mountains, more than 200 kilometers away from Manila.

On the other side of the Calais Mountains, Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta, commander of the Japanese 14th Army, looked up to the sky and laughed at the dreary night, and ordered: "Send a report to Commander-in-Chief Ito immediately that our 14th Army has smoothly attracted the main forces of the Allied forces to the Calais Mountains, and successfully blocked the Allied counterattack forces in the middle of the Calais Mountains, and the battle is in a stalemate." ”

After giving the order, Lieutenant General Haruta instructed his adjutant: "Sue the cooking class of the military department, cook a table of authentic local dishes, and I want to have a few drinks with everyone!" ”

Lieutenant General Haruta's words made the senior staff officers around him dumbfounded, with a look of disbelief, too unexpected, did you hear it right?

Commander Chuntian, who was brave and good at fighting and short-tempered, was beaten all the way back to the Calais mountains by the Americans from Manila, not only did he not jump like thunder, but he also had the heart to invite everyone to drink.

Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta, of course, knew why his subordinates were strange, and he didn't say anything, took out a snow-white towel, carefully wiped his beloved ancestral war knife, and hummed a small tune from his hometown of Hokkaido!

At about five o'clock in the morning of August 25, MacArthur was awakened in his sleep by a hurried shout, "Commander-in-Chief! Commander-in-Chief! Urgent telegram! The voice was rapid, with great trepidation and nervousness.

MacArthur heard it, it was his chief of staff, Colonel Kleist, and he was annoyed in his heart, this guy just couldn't hold his breath, he was a big fart, and he rested on him, as if the sky was falling, such a person would never become a general, if there was anything urgent, he had to wake up early in the morning, last night, after the military meeting, it was already more than one o'clock in the morning, and he had just slept for more than three hours, and he was woken up, there were really no rules!

MacArthur frowned, put on his clothes, and shouted in a bad voice, "Come in!" ”

Colonel Kleist lifted the curtain of the tent and crashed in, sweating profusely, his lips were dry and white, and his face was as ugly as a dead fish. ”

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