In the dark night, the troops of the Japanese 14th Army, which were divided into several roads, rushed towards Manila like a torrent in the dark night.

Colonel Kleist, acting chief of staff of the US military headquarters, was so frightened that he almost fell backwards and fell from his chair after reading the statistics of the Japanese troops counted by the War Department sent by the staff officer.

It's too scary, according to the intelligence summary, the Japanese troops rushing to Manila reached an astonishing 300,000, Colonel Kleist's first judgment was that it could be the Japanese troops from several other directions who joined the Luzon battlefield, otherwise, where would the 300,000 Japanese soldiers come from?

This is not to blame the reconnaissance units of the US army, which can only see all the roads, whether they are roads or side roads, everywhere are the footsteps of Japanese soldiers marching in a hurry, the whispered shouts of Japanese officers, the artillery trucks dragging artillery, the trucks full of soldiers, and the tank trucks that rumble past.

With the principle that we should rather say more than underestimate it, the reported figures on the number of Japanese troops found have increased several times out of thin air, and the figures added by all US reconnaissance units together cannot but become an astonishing number.

Colonel Kleist didn't dare to delay, as if burning his buttocks, he rushed out of the staff and ran quickly to Commander-in-Chief MacArthur's office, in the panicked posture of the American headquarters. It caused a flurry of panicked speculation.

The situation was urgent, Colonel Kleist, who didn't care about etiquette, banged on the door with a "bang", and General MacArthur, who was looking at the map intently, was taken aback, and glared angrily at the chief of staff, who was already a miserable white chief of staff, and angrily reprimanded: "As a soldier." What kind of system is it to be so panicked? ”

The Chief of Staff of Kleist, who did not care about explanation, hurriedly shouted: "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, the situation is urgent. Received reports from reconnaissance units that there were about 300,000 Japanese troops. It's coming towards Manila. It is expected that at about three o'clock in the morning, the forward troops of the Japanese army will be able to meet our army! ”

"What?" General MacArthur exclaimed in surprise, and the sweat on his head came down at that time, and his heart and liver trembled. Oh my God, more than 300,000 Japanese soldiers with high morale and like wolves, like wild waves, their own Manila defensive line. It would fall apart in an instant, and with trembling hands, he took the statistical table from Colonel Kleist's hand and looked at it quickly.

Looking at it, his brows furrowed, and then, with a burst of irrepressible anger, he slammed the statistics table on the face of his chief of staff, and roared angrily: "Idiot! Long brain, such a statistical table, you also believe that on the battlefield of Luzon, the total strength of the Japanese army is only about 160,000, where did it come from more than 300,000, a bunch of nonsense, Kleist, I am very disappointed with your table! ”

Ignoring the stunned Colonel Kleist, General MacArthur continued to roar: "What kind of hellish reconnaissance intelligence is this, the number of the incoming Japanese troops, weapons and equipment, divided into several routes, the most prominent is which direction, how many troops, all of them are not, this is also called reconnaissance intelligence, live hell, tell those bastards in the reconnaissance troops, find out the details of the Japanese for me!" ”

Colonel Kleist opened his mouth, he didn't care about the insults of His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, as for those few pages, hitting him in the face, it was equivalent to a massage, but worried that he would underestimate the enemy, according to his own judgment, the Japanese troops who rushed to Manila, if not 300,000, had to have more than 200,000, he said expectantly: "Commander-in-chief, you must not underestimate the enemy, even if the intelligence of the reconnaissance unit is wrong, make a discount, there are still 150,000 Japanese troops!" ”

General MacArthur, with light blue eyes, circled around a few times, and already had a rough judgment in his heart, according to the report of the reconnaissance unit, the battle in the mountains of Calais is still ongoing, the Third Army has not been completely wiped out by the Japanese, and the Japanese troops who came to attack Manila will not exceed 100,000 people, maybe less, and he said to Colonel Kleist, who was anxious: "Immediately notify the commanders of each unit and go to the headquarters for a meeting to discuss countermeasures!" ”

The commanders of the various units of the US army soon gathered at the headquarters, and General MacArthur was not polite and briefed him on the situation, of course, the strength of the Japanese troops attacking Manila was the number after his own judgment, about 80,000 to 90,000, not the astonishing 300,000 in the previous statistical table, if that was really the case, I am afraid that a few people would be stunned on the spot.

After the briefing, General MacArthur asked: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Battle of Manila is about to officially start tonight and early tomorrow morning, this is our first confrontation with the Japanese army in Manila, I want to hear your opinions!" ”

Brigadier General Jonathan, commander of the 7th Mechanized Infantry Division, was the first to stand up and said: "Commander-in-chief, according to intelligence, we can make the following conclusions: the Japanese troops attacking Manila have a strength of about 80,000 to 90,000 people, at least divided into eight or more routes, and the strength of each road is only more than 10,000 people, and the advance speed of the Japanese troops on each road is not the same, and there is a certain distance between the periods. ”

"Therefore, I will dispatch all our troops, take one or several of the more prominent routes of the Japanese army as the target, and carry out a surprise attack on them with absolute superiority in strength and firepower, not seeking total annihilation, only heavy losses, and a quick victory, and then, quickly withdraw to the defense line, so that we can not only hit the sharp spirit of the Japanese army, but also kill and injure a large number of Japanese living forces, and my seventh mechanized division is willing to be the vanguard of one of the roads to raid the Japanese army!"

It should be said that Brigadier General Jonathan's construction is in line with the reality of the battlefield and has great operability, and the Japanese 14th Army's multi-way advance, like an open slap, exhausts all the troops on the Manila defense line, and can definitely do it by cutting off one or several fingers, especially not seeking total annihilation, but only heavy losses, and a quick victory, which exhausts the essence of this combat method in one sentence.

Brigadier General Jonathan's Jianyì, among the American generals attending the meeting, resonated, since the outbreak of the Pacific War, the US military units have been defeated repeatedly, beaten by the Japanese, have lost hundreds of thousands of troops, lost important areas in the southwest Pacific, to say that these American generals in their hearts, do not hold their breath, it is wronged, but the shape shì is stronger than people, the Japanese army is strong, and it is in the stall of its vigor, the blocker is invincible, and the US generals who are willing to turn over the battle can only cry out in vain!

Several U.S. generals who were eager to turn over the battle also spoke one after another, "Commander-in-Chief, the construction of Division Commander Jonathan is also an urgent idea in our hearts, this is a once-in-a-lifetime fighter, which can not only hit the Japanese army, but also boost the morale of the army and the people, and add more favorable conditions for the defense of Manila, Commander-in-Chief, I hope you can approve the plan of Division Commander Jonathan, our troops are ready to go, just waiting for your order!" ”

Several US generals saw the fleeting warplane, and they were blushing freely and bent on war, but they did not notice that Commander-in-Chief MacArthur's face became more and more gloomy and ugly, and later, he was almost on the verge of going berserk.

"Smack!" With a muffled sound, Commander-in-Chief MacArthur slapped the table fiercely, making several American generals who were on the rise look at each other, and only then did he notice that the Commander-in-Chief's face had turned red like a pig's liver.

MacArthur's fierce gaze flashed, and he tried his best to suppress his angry feelings, and said gloomily: "Enough is enough, confused! Immature! You only saw the so-called fighters, but you didn't see the dangers hidden behind the seemingly fighters, quick battles, easy to say, put all our forces into the battle to attack the Japanese army, the Manila defense line is not defended, have you thought of the consequences? ”

"Once we can't get a quick victory, all the troops are entangled by the Japanese army, and we can't quickly inflict heavy losses on the Japanese army, and we can't get out of the battlefield, and the follow-up troops of the Japanese army who ended the battle in the mountains of Calais catch up, what will be waiting for us? Another total annihilation or heavy losses? Have you thought about it? ”

"Leaving the strong fortifications to rely on, annihilating the enemy in the field, this is an adventure in itself, we have only one purpose, never take the initiative to attack, rely on the existing fortifications to hold on, wait for the arrival of reinforcements, after going back, go all out on guard, if there are any more frivolous fighters, you know the consequences, disband!" This is not just an opposition, but a naked threat.

After speaking, leaving a room of generals looking at each other, General MacArthur turned around angrily and left, Brigadier General Jonathan and several American generals who were in charge of the battle, only had a helpless wry smile, and lamented in their hearts, "It's over, a great fighter, just lost like this, hey, no way, who let this old guy be the commander-in-chief!" ”

It is true that if the plan of Brigadier General Jonathan is followed, it is impossible for the Japanese 14th Army to be completely annihilated, but it will definitely suffer the greatest losses, and it is normal to lose tens of thousands of people, so Commander Yoshihiko Haruta made the right bet, perhaps, this Japanese general who was eager to fight saw through the weak nature of MacArthur, and dared to take such an offensive method.

At about 2 o'clock in the morning of 14 August, most of the vanguard brigade of the 103rd Division of the 14th Army of the Japanese Army finally arrived at the periphery of the Manila defense line of the US army.

Before he could catch his breath, the Japanese commander raised his sword in his hand and ordered: "Target, the US defense line, kill the machine!" ”

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