The shelling time of the Japanese shore-based artillery was only a short ten minutes, but this was enough, more than 3,000 rockets covered all the Japanese shore-based artillery positions in the combat area, and the Japanese artillery and artillery together became flesh and blood and parts flying in the sky in a burst of explosions like a sea of mountains, shrouded in a sea of fire!

The sudden shelling of the Japanese shore-based artillery positions achieved unexpected results, and the Japanese shore-based artillery, which was still vigorous just now, immediately fell silent, and the purpose of the battle had been achieved, and the gunboat detachment commander decisively issued an order, "All gunboats, immediately leave the battlefield and return to the formation!" ”

After receiving the report from the commander of the forward position, Lieutenant General Shinno, commander of the Fifth Army of the Japanese Army, had a "bang" in his head at that time, and what he was most worried about had happened, and the army of the independent division intercepted and killed the Yokoyama Brigade was only one of its purposes, attacking Sumatra, perhaps the main purpose of the Chinese people, otherwise, they would not attack their own shore-based artillery.

As a result, the second telegram immediately flew to Commander Ito Yanzaburo on Luzon Island, "Commander of the Fifth Army, Shinno Urgent, reported that at about 5 o'clock in the morning of August 8, the fleet of the Independent Division, after intercepting the troop transport fleet of the Yokoyama Brigade, launched a fierce attack on our Sumatra Island!" Most of our front-shore artillery positions have been destroyed, and the headquarters judges that this is a harbinger of the imminent landing of the troops of the independent division! ”

It's no wonder that Vice Admiral Xinye is so nervous, that the devil Tang Qiuli dispatched the fleet to attack his own artillery, obviously, it is to clear the obstacles for the subsequent infantry landing, in the face of such a fierce and famous super heavyweight opponent, Vice Admiral Xinye, who has more than 60,000 male soldiers, can't help but be frightened, how many famous seniors in the imperial army. All folded in the hands of this person, Lieutenant General Xinye did not think that he and the Fifth Army could go a few rounds in Tang Qiuli's hands!

At the same time, Lieutenant General Shinno also secretly wondered why Tang Qiuli, the devil of China, chose to attack Sumatra without making any stops after capturing Singapore. Could it be that in Tang Qiuli's eyes, among the more than one million troops of the Imperial Japanese Army, the Fifth Army is the best soft persimmon?

Although this conclusion made Lieutenant General Shinno very uncomfortable. But an irrefutable fact lies in front of you, yourself and the Fifth Army. I've been targeted by this branch of the devil! So. It was imperative to immediately ask the commander-in-chief of the Dispatch Army, Senior General Ito, for help, otherwise the Fifth Army alone would not be able to stop the troops of the Independent Division from landing on Sumatra.

General Ito Yanzaburo. Looking at Lieutenant General Xinye's emergency telegram, he was shocked in his heart, "According to Xinye, this is Tang Qiuli's troops. At the beginning of the all-out offensive in the Southwest Pacific, the problem was serious, and the dispatch army had not yet completely solved MacArthur's troops, and now, it was necessary to turn around and deal with the greatest enemy of the Great Japanese Empire, which involved the question of the shift in the strategic direction of the Empire. ”

Although he is the commander-in-chief of the dispatch army, but this matter is too big, and the opponent is too fierce to call the shots, Admiral Ito said to the chief of staff, Major General Kawashima: "Kawashima-kun, immediately report this matter to the base camp, order all units under the dispatch army, enter the combat state, prepare to counterattack the landing attack of the independent division, order the Qingchuan Air Force, prepare for battle, and wait for my order!" ”

At this time, the life or death of the Hengshan Brigade is no longer important, the rest of the Hengshan Brigade was intercepted and killed by the independent division fleet when crossing the sea, Tang Qiuli's appetite, if he is not satisfied with the Singapore and Hengshan Brigades, and takes the opportunity to attack Sumatra in turn, then Xinye's report is true, and the first battle with that terrible opponent will take place on Sumatra Island, and the Qingchuan Air Force will be dispatched to buy enough time for his own deployment of troops.

Chief of Staff Kawashima did not immediately convey the order, but reminded, "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, there is no information that Tang Qiuli's troops have launched signs of a full-scale attack on the existing occupied areas of the imperial army, and moreover, the troops of the independent division only attack Sumatra, which is not in line with the convention, is it that which of the devils does not have the strength to attack in an all-round way, obviously not, he has gathered hundreds of thousands of troops in the Indochina Peninsula alone. ”

"Therefore, Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, it is better to wait a little longer, and wait for Commander Xinye to clarify the situation, and then the troops can enter the combat state, but there is no need to report to the base camp immediately, otherwise, once this fact is not the case, the impression given to His Majesty the Emperor and the base camp is that we sent troops to panic, lie about the military situation, and anticipate the enemy, which is also a great loss to your image!"

Chief of Staff Kawashima, what he said is reasonable, how could General Ito not think about it in this way, but in case it is the truth, wouldn't he have delayed the military plane, and the base camp will be held accountable, and he will also have no good fruit to eat, and now, the safest way to deal with it is to rather believe it than not to believe it, and it is better to be reprimanded by the base camp and ridiculed by his colleagues than to be beaten in front of the devil's troops!

General Ito also knows that Kawashima, who has followed him for many years, is for his own good, and the construction proposed is also an old saying, but the matter is serious, and he can't help but report it, he sighed slightly, and said: "Kawashima-kun, I understand your intentions, it is related to the fate of more than one million soldiers in the southwest Pacific region, and it is better to be reprimanded by the base camp and criticized by colleagues than to delay the military aircraft, not to mention, we have repeatedly fought with the devil Tang Qiuli of China, this person is insidious and cunning, and there are many irregularities in the use of soldiers, There's no guarantee that he won't do it this time, so report it to the base camp truthfully! ”

After receiving an urgent telegram from General Ito Yanzaburo, Prince Zaihito, chief of the general staff of the base camp, did not dare to delay, if it was really as Ito said, the empire was going to face great trouble, and Prince Zaihito drove to the palace, this matter was too big, and he had to report to his emperor brother.

Emperor Hirohito's eyes were blue, obviously due to lack of sleep or overindulgence, and he knew that without a hundred thousand urgent military affairs, his very likable royal brother would not disturb him in the early hours of the morning.

After Zaihito finished reporting the situation, Emperor Hirohito sighed and said to himself: "That devil of China, finally made a move, the empire voluntarily gave up Singapore, can't it satisfy your greedy appetite?" "If this person is not eliminated, it will be difficult to realize his ambition to expand his territory and dominate Asia and the Pacific.

Then, he asked Prince Jae-in, "Jae-in, what do you think about this matter?" Is the situation really as bad as Ito said? ”

To tell the truth, Prince Zairen, who is the chief of the general staff of the base camp, is also skeptical of Ito Yanzaburo's telegram, and on the way to the palace, he has also carefully analyzed it, judging from all factors, Tang Qiuli has no possibility of taking action against the Japanese Imperial Army in this case, this Chinese devil has captured Hong Kong, and then he has taken action against Singapore, which has long been expected, as for sending troops to attack Sumatra, it may not be a fact.

But his thoughts are the same as Ito Yanzaburo, that is, he would rather believe what he has than what he doesn't, after all, Sumatra and Singapore, only separated by the Strait of Malacca, intercepted and killed the Yokoyama Brigade, maybe it was a fuse, or rather, it was the prelude to Tang Qiuli's troops to attack the southwest Pacific on a large scale.

Prince Zaihito thought about it for a while, and said cautiously: "Brother Huang, the younger brother thinks that Ito Yanzaburo's response is correct, and none of us dares to guarantee that the devil of Shina has an attempt to attack, so be ready to fight." ”

Emperor Hirohito obviously hesitated, and said: "Opening up two battlefields at the same time, for us, has reached the limit of military strength, my opinion is that I ordered Ito's subordinates, don't act rashly, go all out to be on guard, and wait and see Tang Qiuli's movements, even if this despicable and hateful devil really attacks Sumatra, we must also deal with the US troops under MacArthur before we can turn around, and Tang Qiuli will have a duel between the male and female, in two directions, the empire can only take care of one first, fortunately, Tang Qiuli did not launch a full-scale attack!" ”

Prince Zaihito, apparently, did not agree with the actions of his own emperor's elder brother, but there was no enough reason to convince him, so he no longer insisted on his opinion, and after returning to the General Staff, he immediately sent a telegram to Ito Yanzaburo, repeating Emperor Hirohito's edict.

On the morning of 8 August, more than 1 million Japanese troops occupying the islands of the southwest Pacific were in a state of high tension, and Commander-in-Chief Ito on Luzon Island was even more nervous with sweaty palms, and the situation on the battlefield where he was located was even more dangerous than that place; on the one hand, there were still more than 100,000 American soldiers on the line from the Calais Mountains to Manila, and they had not been wiped out, and if Tang Qiuli's troops reached a tacit understanding with MacArthur and then stabbed themselves in the back, the imperial army would face a situation of being flanked from the front and rear.

It was not until near noon that he received a telegram from the commander of the Fifth Army, Vice Admiral Shinno, saying that the enemy alarm had been lifted, and that the fleet of the Independent Division had only carried out a wave of attacks on the shore-based artillery of the Fifth Army.

After reading the telegram, Admiral Ito breathed a sigh of relief, but felt weak, thank God, he was no longer in the mood, and the stinking scolding of the dog's blood spray was a meal of Shinno, before the dispatch of troops to solve the Americans, there was no extraneous incident, and he was already very grateful to Amaterasu for his favor.

The same report was immediately fed back to the Japanese mainland, and Emperor Hirohito, who received the report, was so angry that he was angry, but he had no defensible reason, and punished the two front-line commanders Ito and Shinno, who had been worried in vain all morning, and had nowhere to vent, and then, in the name of the base camp, ordered General Ito Yanzaburo to immediately organize a large-scale offensive on the battlefield of Luzon and beat the bottom line of the Americans!

On the morning of the same day, Tang Qiuli led all the members of the Singapore Campaign Command into the city of Singapore, where the smell of gunpowder had dissipated.

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