On the first day of the 14 th Army's formal attack on the Manila Line, the commander-in-chief of the US army, MacArthur, was under tremendous pressure, and at the end of the day, the US and Philippine troops suffered more than 7,000 casualties.

There is another point, General MacArthur does not understand, according to the reason, the main defense, the Japanese main attack, the attacking side, the casualties will definitely be greater than the defensive side, not to mention, the Manila defense line has been in operation for more than two months, the fortifications and firepower points are complete, and all kinds of defense systems have achieved the best combination, and they dare not boast that they are impregnable, and it is not easy to break through.

According to MacArthur's own understanding, the attacking Japanese army would not have put so much pressure on the defensive line without paying more than twice as many casualties as the defenders, but the momentum of the Japanese army's offensive was like a never-ending wave, one attack wave went down, and immediately after, the next attack wave followed.

As for the previous breakthrough of the position of the 1st Regiment of the 7th Mechanized Infantry Division, it was the result of a hasty battle, and the Japanese army took advantage of the sneak attack, and MacArthur also noticed that the strength of the Japanese army would never exceed 80,000 to 90,000 people, and the battle in the Calais Mountains was not over, involving most of the Japanese army's strength. It's not so aggrieved to fight!

The Japanese army dared to take the initiative to attack the heavily defended Manila defense line with a force of 80,000 or 90,000 troops, and even beat its own 100,000 troops, which was too much to cope. Commander-in-Chief MacArthur was puzzled and depressed at the same time, and at this time, the major general of the intelligence department of the headquarters hurriedly came in.

When the tall chief of the intelligence department arrived in front of MacArthur, he first saluted, made a meritorious and triumphant posture, and then said: "Report to the general, after the efforts of the intelligence department. The number and strength of the Japanese troops attacking us have been figured out! ”

"Oh!" General MacArthur was in good spirits, and he was eager to know that this formidable opponent in front of him was the unit of the Japanese Southwest Pacific Dispatch Army. "Tell me the details!" He urged urgently.

The chief of intelligence reported: "The Japanese army attacking us is the 14th Army under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Southwest Pacific Dispatch Army. The commander of the army is Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta. The army has four main divisions and regiments, with a total strength of more than 73,000 troops, and is attached to a heavy artillery brigade, three field artillery wings, and two tank wings. ”

"What?" Commander-in-Chief MacArthur jumped up at once, and he was not surprised by Yoshihiko Haruta. A Japanese army commander could not get into the eyes of His Excellency the General, and he was surprised and annoyed that he attacked his own Japanese troops. With less than 80,000 men, the Manila defense line will be smashed into flames and full of holes, and if this information had come a day earlier, it would never have been the result it is now.

His Excellency the General will be very willing to accept Brigadier General Jonathan's proposal to give the Japanese a head-on blow, and now that he has obtained intelligence, Commander-in-Chief MacArthur felt panicked in his chest, raised his eyes and saw the Director of Intelligence, a little proud, waiting for his praise expression, the fire in his heart "boomed" and burned, picked up a copy of the document on the table, and slammed it on the big face of the Director of Intelligence.

Immediately, there was a burst of stinking scolding like five thunderbolts, scolding with joy, scolding the chief of intelligence with sweat on his fat face, and scolding other American officers, who were stunned and frightened, and did not know why His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, who has always claimed to be a gentleman, was so out of shape that he was like a shrew on the street, scolding the street?

MacArthur himself knew in his heart that if he didn't find a chance to vent this evil fire, he might suffocate himself to death, and after greeting all the female relatives of the intelligence chief several times in the most vicious language, His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, who was still angry, squeezed out a word from between his teeth: "Get out!" ”

It was purely a calamity, the intelligence director who was scolded by a dog blood spray, his face was sallow, while wiping the sweat on his head, he quickly slipped away like a mouse, his tall stature, he was half a cut short at that time, he also saw it, if he didn't leave, His Excellency the commander-in-chief, who suddenly went crazy, maybe he would do something irrational!

After scolding his subordinates, General MacArthur's heart was not much more comfortable, and he sat down in his chair tiredly, he was thinking about a serious question, only the attack of more than 70,000 Japanese soldiers had already made him feel pressure, if the main force of the Japanese army, which ended the battle in the mountains of Calais, with more than 100,000 troops, suddenly pressed on the Manila defense line, what would be the result? What about yourself?

The battle in the Calais Mountains could not drag on Ito Yanzaburo for a few days, MacArthur knew this very well, and he could not help but consider that once the Japanese troops of Yamamoto on Luzon Island had all hit the Manila Defense Line, what would he do, the only hope was the 100,000 reinforcements of the British, but which damn General Fernandez, who was still in a hurry and not panicked, the British were always so self-righteous and did not know the severity.

At this moment, General MacArthur felt a vicious pleasure in his heart about the British being beaten up by the Japanese, driven out of Indochina, and then ruthlessly repaired by Tang Qiuli and losing most of the Indian continent.

General MacArthur, with a heavy heart, stood on the top floor of the US military headquarters building in Manila, looking out in the direction of the battlefield, and in the dark night, he could see nothing except the sporadic sound of gunfire, and what he was worried about was not only the main force of the Japanese army that had ended the battle in the mountains of Calais, but also the Japanese air force that had killed his two air groups, which were more than a thousand planes, and the clouds were pressing on his head.

It's just that I don't have the slightest air power to use now, and it's been two days since the Battle of Manila started, but the Japanese planes have never appeared, which is very abnormal, what are the Japanese planes waiting for?

If the Japanese planes supported Yoshihiko Haruta's troops and attacked their own positions, the casualties of the troops would more than double, and the pressure on the defensive line would increase dramatically.

Almost unconsciously, MacArthur casually asked Colonel Kleist, the acting chief of staff, who was following behind him with a respectful face, "Kleist, according to your judgment, the Japanese army did not use aircraft to participate in the battle during the two days of attack, why is this?" ”

After waiting for a while, seeing that there was no movement, MacArthur looked up strangely, and saw the poor Chief of Staff Kleist, with a tangled face, and was thinking about it, looking at his embarrassed Cheng Dù, just like His Excellency the General asked him, where did God come from!

General MacArthur couldn't help but shake his head, he knew too well how much goods he had in his stomach as the chief of staff, and it was better to kill him if he asked him such a high-end question, if Stilwell was there, he would definitely give himself a satisfactory answer and be able to propose a feasible response, but ......, General MacArthur tried his best to get this ridiculous idea out of his heart.

I didn't want to embarrass the poor Chief of Staff Kleist anymore, so he said happily: "Okay, Kleist, don't think about it anymore, let's go back, tonight, you are on duty at the headquarters, if there is any urgent military situation, call me immediately!" ”

On 16 August, Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta commanded his subordinate troops, still adopting the previous tactics and launching an uninterrupted attack on the US defense line; Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta tasted the sweetness of this tactic and defeated the US troops at the expense of the smallest casualties; moreover, Lieutenant General Haruta also had a wonderful feeling that although he only had more than 70,000 troops and was facing more than 100,000 US and Philippine troops, the rhythm of the battlefield was in his own hands.

This feeling was quite wonderful, and he even wanted to keep fighting like this, and Lieutenant General Haruta commanded the troops to fight more and more easily, and every day after the battle, Lieutenant General Haruta presided over a combat review meeting, summed up experience, and worked out new methods, and the next day, he used them on the US soldiers, and they never got tired of it, and there was a tendency to become addicted.

MacArthur and Haruta seemed to regard the Manila battlefield as a bloody battle between nearly 300,000 soldiers on both sides, and tens of thousands of soldiers fell on the ground every day.

Yoshihiko Haruta knew very well that with the existing strength of the 14th Army alone, it would not be able to penetrate Manila, and even if it broke through partially, it would fall into the encirclement of the superior US and Philippine forces, and he would either be encircled and annihilated or beaten out, and he had already given up his original idea.

And MacArthur's heart was to hope that the Japanese army would always fight like this, and Ito's main force would be trapped in the Calais Mountains, so that the Manila defense line could be held for a long time, of course, he also knew that this was just a fantasy.

From the early morning of 14 August, when the Japanese 14th Army attacked the Manila defense line, and until the 18th, the losses of the US and Japanese troops were within the psychological tolerance of the commanders of both sides.

Senior General Ito Yanzaburo, who was encircling and suppressing the remnants of the US Third Army in the mountains of Calais, always paid close attention to the Manila battlefield, and he was very happy because he saw the situation he wanted to see the most.

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