Under the counterattack of American tanks and soldiers, the casualties of Japanese soldiers continued to increase, and there was a tendency to be surrounded, the commander of the Akiyama Brigade, whose face was covered with blood and a bullet, unfortunately knocked out one of the ears of His Excellency, the commander of the Major General's Brigade, and the image of a beast that looked hideous and ferocious.

Seeing that the situation on the battlefield is becoming more and more unfavorable to himself, if he continues to fight, he and more than 4,000 imperial soldiers will not be able to wait for the arrival of the main force of the brigade, and the opportunity will be torn to pieces by the swarming American soldiers, Akiyama, the major general hatefully slashed the war knife on the neck of a wounded American soldier, a stream of red blood, sprayed in the night sky before dawn, rudely pushed away the military doctor who bandaged his wounds, and then, with a loud roar, "Retreat!" "The Japanese soldiers fought and retreated, gave up the breakthrough that had been torn apart, alternated cover, and withdrew from the American positions.

Division Commander Jonathan, wiping the cold sweat on his head, he felt weak all over, it was really dangerous, he made up his mind, he ordered: "Immediately strengthen the fortifications, all the troops, immediately enter the position, prepare to counterattack the Japanese attack, artillery regiment, prepare for shelling!" ”

Then, he said to the chief of staff of the division: "Count the casualties immediately," Sitting on the wet ground, Division Commander Jonathan still had palpitations, but he had just fought with the Japanese army, and he was forced to use the reserves in his hands, so what about the next battle?

Thinking of this, Division Commander Jonathan was a little dazed and had a headache, he was quite dissatisfied with the commander of the first regiment, Colonel Hopkins, a reinforced infantry regiment of more than 5,000 people, defending a defensive line that was only six or seven kilometers wide on the front, and at the beginning of the battle, it was broken through by the Japanese army, how did he become the commander of the regiment? And, judging by their own experience, the strength of the attacking Japanese army. There will never be more than 5,000 people, how is this battle fought?

The chief of staff moved quite quickly, and after more than ten minutes, the casualties of the first regiment had been roughly counted, and after only 40 minutes of fighting, the casualties of the first regiment had reached more than 2,000 people, almost half of the troop losses, and Division Commander Jonathan was so angry that he was about to go crazy. He yelled at the chief of staff: "Convey my order, immediately remove Hopkins from the post of regimental commander and send it to the Military Justice Department of the headquarters, where he must be severely punished!" The post of head of the regiment is replaced by the deputy commander! ”

Hapless and poor Colonel Hopkins. It became the first to be dismissed from his post at the beginning of the Battle of Manila. Sent to the Commander of the Judge Advocate General's Office. The commander of the Akiyama Brigade, who had withdrawn beyond the range of US firepower, was also listening to the report of the chief of staff, "Your Excellency Brigade Commander, in this attack, two and a half wings of the vanguard of our brigade and regiment, with more than 4,000 troops, have been put into battle. The casualties were more than two thousand people, but, as far as I know, the casualties of American soldiers. More than us! What a pyrrhic victory! ”

"Brigade commander, this is a typical example of a surprise battle of winning more with less, I will immediately report the process and results of this battle to the division headquarters, so as to show the combat effectiveness of our Akiyama Brigade, we are the first Imperial Army unit to engage the US troops on the Manila Line, and it is worth celebrating such a result!"

The commander of the Akiyama Brigade snorted dissatisfiedly, the casualty figures of the Imperial Army soldiers and American soldiers, I am not interested or concerned, as long as I fail to keep the breakthrough, for the main force of the brigade, to create favorable offensive conditions, it is a failed assault battle, what is a tragic victory, in my Akiyama Shinsa's dictionary, there is no word "miserable victory", either a complete victory, or a broken jade!

After listening to the chief of staff, Major General Akiyama was a little angry, "The battle is like this, and there is a face to celebrate, what a guy who doesn't know shame, if it weren't for the presence of many officers and soldiers, he would definitely give him a few slaps in the face," Looking at the brigade commander's iron-blue face, he didn't say a word, and he didn't even sweep the corner of his eye to himself, and the chief of staff looked embarrassed, and he didn't say anything more.

Looking at the US military positions that were still bubbling sporadically, and the US soldiers were busy reinforcing the fortifications, the commander of the Akiyama Brigade gritted his teeth with hatred, and fell short, as long as he had 4,000 more troops in his hands, at this time, those Yankees would have already become corpses, instead of being beaten out by force after paying the price of more than 2,000 soldiers' casualties, although he was unwilling, Major General Akiyama did not plan to attack again.

I am not a madman or a fool, the reinforcements of the US army came up, and with more than 1,000 troops in his hands, he was going to die, but there was never such a good opportunity again, and Major General Akiyama's heart was very regretful!

Division Commander Jonathan, who was still on the position of the 1st Regiment, received a call from General MacArthur, the commander-in-chief, and after a brief report on the battle situation, Division Commander Jonathan knew that the entire Manila defense line, only the positions he defended, had a battle, and in other directions, not even a shadow of a Japanese soldier was seen, and his resentment against Hopkins Regiment Commander was even more difficult to suppress, and he even had the intention of shooting the guy who made the entire 7th Mechanized Division lose face.

And the next words of General Commander MacArthur made Division Commander Jonathan so angry that he almost scolded, "Division Commander Jonathan, with the combat strength and strength of your 7th Mechanized Infantry Division, relying on strong fortifications, can you be easily broken through by a small group of Japanese troops?" You have to give me a detailed report on this matter. ”

"A main infantry regiment, with more than 5,000 troops, in the face of a small Japanese attack, a small defensive battle, fought so badly, and talked about what to take the initiative to attack, is the commander's command unfavorable, or the combat effectiveness of the seventh division is problematic, don't try to catch the scapegoat, find more reasons from yourself, give you a piece of advice, hold your own position, don't always think about the limelight!" The tone is cold, and it is uncomfortable to listen to.

After speaking, Commander-in-Chief MacArthur hung up the phone, leaving Brigadier General Jonathan on the other end of the phone, his face was blue and his heart was numb, he never thought that when the war was coming, General MacArthur, as the commander-in-chief, would take advantage of a battle to take revenge on a subordinate with such a cynical sarcasm, I have never seen such a supreme commander, isn't he a bastard?

Major General Jonathan's heart was filled with sadness, and the future of the defense of Manila became more and more dim, and he lost the last bit of confidence in Commander-in-Chief MacArthur.

Because he took the opportunity to teach Jonathan, a guy with a long backbone in the back of his head, and Commander-in-Chief MacArthur, who was in a happy mood, was not happy for long, at about 3 o'clock in the morning of 14 August, most of the troops of the Japanese 14th Army arrived at the periphery of the American defense line in Manila, and all the Japanese troops who arrived invariably adopted the tactics of the commander of the Akiyama Brigade.

In the early morning of 14 August, it was no longer possible to be quiet, and on the front of more than 140 kilometers from Quezon City to Krabi Day, guns and artillery rang out everywhere, shouting and killing shook the sky, and the Japanese soldiers launched wave after wave of fierce attacks on the US positions like a tide, and with the arrival of the follow-up troops of the 14th Army of the Japanese Army one after another, they immediately entered the battle, and at about 6 o'clock in the morning, the Japanese offensive reached its climax.

Commander-in-Chief MacArthur finally realized the mood of Commander Jonathan, the defense line was in an emergency, and His Excellency did not understand how the Japanese attacking troops without artillery cover could defeat the American troops relying on strong fortifications, so hurriedly and wolfly.

The phone rang one after another, and the reports were all bad news, either the defense line of that unit was broken through by the Japanese army, or it was asking for reinforcements, otherwise, it would be impossible to hold on immediately, Commander-in-Chief MacArthur, while cursing viciously to the generals on the front line, had to painfully put two divisions plus five Philippine brigades into the strategic reserves, and threw them into the most critical direction.

Under the ferocious attack of the Japanese Fourteenth Army, the Manila defense line of the US army was like a broken ship leaking everywhere, and the US strategic reserves, which should have been used in a centralized manner, were scattered in all directions.

At about 10 o'clock in the morning of 14 August, MacArthur devoted all his forces to the offensive momentum of the Japanese 14th Army, relying on strong fortifications, superior troops and firepower, and barely contained the offensive momentum of the Japanese 14th Army.

Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta, commander of the 14th Army, after receiving the report that the attack of the various units had been blocked, sighed and gave the order to stop the attack and the troops to move to the battlefield to rest and recuperate.

Although he was very dissatisfied with the current result, Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta still gave the order to stop the offensive with a cool head, but he never admitted how tenacious the combat effectiveness of the US soldiers was, and if the strength was equal, Lieutenant General Haruta was absolutely confident that the current 14th Army was already in Manila.

After eight hours of hustle and bustle on the battlefield of Manila, as the Japanese army stopped attacking, it finally fell silent, General MacArthur, with a "click" in his throat, finally fell back into his stomach, secretly glad that he was not killed by the Japanese, but the mood that had just relaxed was immediately replaced by boundless melancholy, this was the first day, but it had just begun, what next?

On the morning of 14 August, in Singapore, Indochina Peninsula, division commander Tang Qiuli was in his office looking at a copy of the information on the Luzon and Manila battlefields that Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe had just delivered.

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