When he arrived at the mouth of the cave, Major General Whiteman stopped and calmed down, what would his subordinates think when he saw his current appearance? Since he was crucified by MacArthur in the mountains of Calais, there was only a way out.

Seeing the army commander come back with a calm face, more than a dozen American generals, in their eyes, looked at Major General Whiteman with full expectation, these commanders of various American units, did not have too many extravagant hopes, only hoped that Commander-in-Chief MacArthur could allow the Third Army to withdraw to Manila, although in the end it was still a situation against the fierce Japanese soldiers, but after all, it was hundreds of thousands of troops leaning together, as the saying goes, "How bold are people!" ”

It was just a day of fierce fighting with the Japanese soldiers, and they did not lose an inch of land, but in the face of the Japanese soldiers who were not afraid of death, these American commanders were already terrified, and then look at the position of the Third Army now, the lone army stood out, just tens of thousands of people, under the attack of hundreds of thousands of ferocious Japanese troops, they did not know what kind of fierce battle they would face tomorrow?

Looking at the eyes of his subordinates, Commander Whiteman sighed in his heart, "As far as the morale and state of the current troops are concerned, it is no longer suitable to continue to block the Japanese army, since entering the Calais Mountains to be deployed, for nearly two months, facing the huge pressure of the Japanese army everywhere every day, the officers and soldiers, the courage in their hearts has been exhausted, especially the death of Chief of Staff Stilwell, the blow to the Third Army is even greater." ”

Commander Whiteman sat down, and then said, "I just had a phone call with Commander-in-Chief MacArthur, and the general ordered our army to hold out in the mountains of Calais for at least a week or more, to gain time for the deployment of the defense of Manila, now. Let's look at it specifically, how to fulfill the orders of the commander-in-chief! ”

As soon as Commander Whiteman's words came out, the American officers did not hide their disappointment in their eyes, and a brigadier general division commander stood up and said with some excitement: "Commander, have you truthfully reported the actual situation we are facing to General MacArthur, it is only a day of fighting. My division, with more than 2,000 casualties, will hold out for a week, and the troops will be exhausted, right? Does the headquarters not care about our life or death? ”

Major General Whiteman smiled bitterly in his heart, "Smart enough." Commander-in-Chief MacArthur's intentions. It is to let our Third Army buy time for his crazy plan to defend Manila at the cost of all the money," but he could not say these words to any of his subordinates. Otherwise, without the Japanese to fight, the Third Army would have the possibility of a complete rout and escape, and this is indeed the case. Can General MacArthur spare himself?

If you don't get killed by the Japanese, you have to be shot by him, look at the commander-in-chief, the means of dealing with the former chief of staff Stilwell, Whiteman is a hundred guts, and he does not dare to abandon the Calais mountain defense line and withdraw to Manila without authorization.

Commander Whiteman glanced at the division commander with displeasure, and said in a cold tone: "Brigadier General Sinyakir, please pay attention to your words, don't distract the army, your troops have casualties, and other troops, how can it be otherwise, Commander-in-Chief MacArthur, has promised that as the battle progresses, the Second Air Force of the headquarters will be sent to the battlefield in the mountains of Calais to provide the most powerful air fire support for all the defensive lines of our Third Army!" ”

After serving as the commander of the Third Army, Major General Whiteman, rarely reprimanded his subordinates so harshly, for a while, it shocked the generals of the American army, Brigadier General Sinyakir, opened his mouth, but did not say a word, sat down with an ugly face, and regretted this in his heart!

Why are you so brainless, pretending to be half a garlic, the losses are almost the same, the situation is the same, but I came out and shouted tired, and I was angry, isn't I a fool! Fortunately, this Commander Whiteman is not a ruthless person, otherwise, in order to boost the morale of the troops, it is a common thing to use himself as a prestige, and Brigadier General Sinyakil regrets and wants to slap himself a few times.

In the next meeting, there were no new tricks, Commander Whiteman, only emphasized the importance of holding the defensive line, but on the matter of air fire support of the First Air Force, several division commanders quarreled and quarreled, for only one reason, everyone wanted to get the most air fire support, but the First Air Force only had more than 300 aircraft, and if they were evenly distributed, the airspace of each unit's defense line was only a dozen or so.

The US generals are arguing more and more fiercely, all of them are like red-eyed chickens, Major General Whiteman's head is a few circles bigger, if possible, Major General Whiteman is eager to have his own planes in the sky over the Calais mountains, and there is no need for you to fight for me.

Seeing that such a quarrel was not a solution, Major General Whiteman proposed a compromise plan, the defensive direction of the unit, which was attacked by the Japanese army the most fiercely and under the greatest pressure, would use most of the air power wherever it was.

This is also reasonable, whoever is beaten harder by the Japanese will give him a fist, the meeting is over, in the huge cave, there are only a few staff officers and radio personnel, under the flickering candlelight, more and more empty and desolate, and it is already very deep, but Major General Whiteman has no sleep, he does not know, what kind of test his troops will face tomorrow?

At four o'clock in the morning of 11 August, a dull roar sounded behind the Japanese position, and then, countless shells, with a piercing shrill scream, pierced the pre-dawn sky on Luzon Island and landed on the US position, raising a cloud of crimson smoke.

The Japanese attack was also ferocious, but it was obvious that this attack, in terms of attack direction and tactics, had learned the lessons of the first day, and no longer took a certain place as the main direction of attack, but attacked the entire defense line of the US army!

The Japanese launched wave after wave of continuous attacks on the positions of the US Third Army, but the Japanese commanders obviously adjusted their tactics, no longer killing and wounding the US troops at the cost of the death of soldiers, but made full use of combat vehicles and artillery to repeatedly assault the US positions.

The death of Japanese soldiers decreased, and the American soldiers who were holding their positions and could not retreat half a step back could only brave the Japanese artillery fire and stick to the defensive line, or the American planes, which played the role of fixing the sea and the needle, and that direction was dangerous, Commander Whiteman sent most of the planes over, and fought fiercely all day, and the American troops miraculously held their positions, and still did not lose an inch of land.

However, it was the bitterness of the US pilots, each plane, at least four or five sorties, all of them were as tired as dead dogs, relying on these planes, the US Third Army, staggered for another day, can have such a result, Commander Whiteman is unbelievable, he can't believe it, this is his own troops?

However, when the casualties were counted, Commander Whiteman's joy turned to depression, and after a day of fierce fighting, the casualties of the troops reached more than 14,000, more than 3,000 more than on the first day, as for the casualties of the Japanese army, they were definitely less than their own, and in front of the position, the corpses of the Japanese soldiers were obviously not as many as yesterday's, and if they continued to fight like this, they would definitely not last for a week, and the troops would be lost!

As night fell in the mountains of Calais, and the sea breeze blowing from the Pacific Ocean blew away the smoke, Commander Whiteman truthfully reported the day's battle to General MacArthur in Manila, and the answer was, "I see, Whiteman, you did a good job, hold on!" I'm always following the battle in the mountains of Calais! "Put down the phone, Major General Whiteman has a temporary distraction, do you dare not insist, the answer is, of course, no.

That night, Major General Zhao Yuhe, chief of staff of the Independent Division, sent the information department sorted out by the intelligence department about the day's battle situation on Luzon Island to the desk of division commander Tang Qiuli on time.

Tang Qiuli carefully read the information and said to Zhao Yuhe: "The Japanese army obviously has the ability to break through the defense line of the American army in the Calais mountains, but it has never let go of the fight, the intention of fishing is obvious, but if it continues to be consumed like this, I don't know how many days the US Third Army can hold out. ”

Zhao Yuhe thought for a moment and said: "Division commander, suppose that MacArthur ordered the Third Army to abandon the defense line in the Calais Mountains and retreat to Manila, wouldn't it also achieve the purpose of increasing the defensive strength on the periphery of Manila?" Did he do this more than he gained? ”

Tang Qiuli shook his head and said: "At this time and that time, if the Japanese army just launched the Battle of Luzon, the American troops in the Calais Mountains were withdrawn to Manila, the current effect could be achieved, but now it is too late, the US Third Army has been tightly bitten by the Japanese army, if the Calais Mountains are evacuated, the Japanese army will chase after them, and the American troops who have no intention of fighting again will not retreat, but retreat, and the rout will rush into Manila, followed by the Japanese troops who are in hot pursuit. ”

"The U.S. defense line on the periphery of Manila will definitely be in chaos, what do you let the defending U.S. troops do, fight their own routs and the pursuing Japanese soldiers together, MacArthur saw this, so he did not hesitate to let the Third Army drag the Japanese army in the Calais Mountains even if it was exhausted, but what he didn't expect was that Ito Yanzaburo had a greater appetite, not only to eat his Third Army, but also to kill his air power!"

Zhao Yuhe shook his head and said with a sigh: "Division commander, the Americans fought this battle, it was a nest, if the Third Army had not retreated the defensive line for dozens of kilometers and gave up all the favorable terrain conditions that could be used, now, it would be impossible for the Japanese to take such a big advantage, that the commander of the Third Army, Whiteman, is simply a mediocre talent, the so-called incompetence of one general, exhaustion of the three armies, the reason why the US army has today's decline is not accidental!" ”

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