General Fernandez, commander-in-chief of the British forces stationed in Australia, was shocked into a cold sweat by his own thoughts, with the consistent practice of that Chinese Tang Qiuli, this possibility, not nothing, otherwise, there is no way to explain the reason for his sudden action.

Admiral Fernandez, with the consistent thinking of the British, to judge this great thing that fell from the sky, that is, interests, don't talk to me about any illusory morality, or the obligations of the allies, if that Chinese Tang Qiuli really cares about this, he will not hesitate to cut off such a large piece of meat from the British Empire, the more he thinks about it, the more he feels that his judgment is correct.

Then, accepting the help of the Chinese himself is an act to lure the wolf into the house, and Admiral Fernandez, who was just about to call out to the staff officer, to stop the head of the communications office, Colonel Griffith, not to send the telegram that gambled on the future and fate of the whole of Australia.

However, when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back, there was a serious practical problem, in front of him, if there was no escort from Tang Qiuli's aviation troops, the 100,000 troops evacuated from Luzon Island would be a piece of fat in the mouth of the Japanese Navy, and if they couldn't wait to see the Australian mainland, they would become 100,000 souls at the bottom of the vast Pacific Ocean.

In the end, Australia will fall into the hands of the Japanese, Admiral Fernandez, sadly found that neither the Japanese nor the Chinese, with their current strength, he could not fight, trapped in a beast back and forth in the room, racking his brains to weigh the pros and cons, calculating the gains and losses, and finally, he came to an unavoidable conclusion, at least in the current situation. It was much better for Tang Qiuli's troops to intervene in Australia than to let Australia fall into the hands of the Japanese.

At the very least, the relationship between the British and the Chinese is that of the Allies, and even if Tang Qiuli is insatiable, he does not dare to openly invade Australia, and all of them are based on a Chinese idiom after driving the Japanese out of Australia. To describe Admiral Fernandez's difficult choice, "the lesser of two evils," is the best way to describe it.

Now that he has made a decision, Admiral Fernández has a sense of relief in his heart. At the same time, there is also the helplessness of not being able to control your own destiny. After wandering around for a while. Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief actually fell asleep with peace of mind, a kind of calmness that depended on fate.

When I received a call back from the British, it was already late at night on August 24, and from the afternoon, the radio of the division headquarters. Just keep calling, but fate is always in contact, over there, the first echelon formation of Le Yiqin's fighter and bomber troops. They have already begun to assemble at the Singapore Field Airport, and here, the British are like sinking into the sea, and they will not come out despite thousands of calls, and Colonel Chen Feng, director of the Communications Department, is so anxious that he is sweating profusely.

Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe was also restless, I don't know how many times he ran to the telecommunications room, but the division commander Tang Qiuli was not in a hurry at all, drinking tea, looking at a book, with a calm look of an old god, as leisurely as he wanted.

Later, seeing that Zhao Yuhe was so anxious that he was about to go crazy, he put down the book in his hand and said: "Yuhe, it's useless to be anxious, I can't contact the British, they should be on the way to retreat, and they don't have time to turn on the radio, you go to tell Chen Feng, don't worry, just keep the normal call, I judge that at night, you should be able to get in touch." ”

Zhao Yuhe said with a wry smile: "Division commander, can you not be in a hurry, we have thousands of troops and horses here, and there is no news from the British!" Tang Qiuli smiled and didn't speak again, Zhao Yuhe really couldn't sit still, and ran to the telecommunications room to wait for news.

As Tang Qiuli judged, when the radio contacted Fernandez, His Excellency the poor commander-in-chief was on the way to escape, chasing the wolf-like Japanese soldiers behind his buttocks, and he didn't even have time to stand still, let alone turn on the radio.

Therefore, after receiving the reply from the British, it was already late at night on August 24, Zhao Yuhe and Chen Feng hurriedly returned to Tang Qiuli's office, Zhao Yuhe said: "Division commander, the British have finally been contacted, they call back, as soon as they obey our arrangement, immediately, they will send the contact information of the British task force and the troop carrier formation, that Admiral Fernandez, at the end of the telegram, said that the lives of 100,000 British and Australian soldiers are handed over to you!" ”

Tang Qiuli said a little strangely: "Oh, the British agreed so happily, it doesn't conform to their usual style!" ”

Zhao Yuhe said: "Division commander, at this time and that time, the British are now cornered, transporting a fleet of 100,000 soldiers, floating in the Pacific Ocean, just a fleet without aircraft carriers to escort the ship, even a fool knows that the Japanese will not let go of such a good opportunity, your shot, that Fernandes, is not as if you have seen God, I judge that it is the British fleet, and the Japanese deliberately left, otherwise, on the day the Australian War began, it would have become a pile of scrap metal!" ”

Tang Qiuli smiled and said to Chen Feng: "Director Chen, after establishing contact with the British fleet, immediately transfer the contact information to the Air Command of the Southern Flying Group, and telegraph to Le Yiqin to act according to the predetermined plan!" ”

At midnight on 24 August, Senior General Ito Yanzaburo, commander-in-chief of Japan's Southwest Pacific Dispatch Force, and the commanders of the two naval fleets exchanged telegrams with Vice Admiral Yoshihiko Haruta on Luzon Island, thus gaining a comprehensive understanding of the war situation.

In the Luzon battlefield, MacArthur, after paying the price, finally withdrew all the troops in the Calais Mountains to the Manila Defense Line, although there were some losses in the troops, to General MacArthur's slight relief, most of the troops lost were the Philippine First and Third Army Corps, and the losses of the American army were not large, and the Japanese offensive forces seemed to be unsustainable, and did not immediately pursue them.

This gave General MacArthur time to adjust his deployment, and after contacting Lieutenant General Wagnadze, chief of staff of the British and Australian armies, who was at sea, he learned that the troop carrier formation had not encountered any interception in front of him, and began to arrange for the retreat.

Lieutenant General Wagnerdze, who had just received a telegram from the commander-in-chief, Admiral Fernandez, knew that his troop carrier formation would be escorted by the aviation of the independent division, and I don't know for what reason, Lieutenant General Wagnardze did not relay the news to General MacArthur at the same time, and likewise, Admiral Fernandez, who was lost in his soul, did not remember about it.

And the commander of the 14th Army of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta, was never happy in his heart, this battle was fought in a nest, obviously a great opportunity to annihilate the enemy, but he couldn't let go of his hands and feet to fight, and he wanted to give this credit to those guys in the navy, if it wasn't for the order of Commander-in-Chief Ito, who tied his hands and feet, the 100,000 British and Australian soldiers could run away by boat? That's fine, let the Navy guys take advantage of it.

The telegram was sent to the headquarters of the dispatch army, explaining his thoughts, but the answer was, "Order the 14th Army to still not change the established tactics in order to maintain appropriate pressure on the US Manila defense line, and not seek to break through the US defense line in a short period of time and occupy Manila City!" ”

Vice Admiral Haruta doesn't understand, what kind of bullshit order is this, let go of 100,000 British and Australian soldiers, that is a concession to the navy, is it possible to let go of the US and Philippine forces, and then give a big gift to those shameless bastards in the navy?

Lieutenant General Haruta couldn't figure it out, and felt aggrieved in his heart, with the current battlefield situation on Luzon Island and the rhythm of the battle, he was completely in his own hands, and the US and Philippine troops were completely in a passive defensive posture, and with the current morale of the 14th Army, Lieutenant General Haruta did not dare to boast that he could occupy Manila on the same day, but it only took three days for the imperial soldiers to plant the sun flag on the tallest building in Manila.

The more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I felt in my heart, Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta personally drafted a telegram to Commander-in-Chief Ito, the words were not so fierce, and I could also understand the embarrassment of His Excellency the General, and I should let my boss know about the grievances in my heart!

If there was no admiral agitation, Admiral Ito, who was in a very good mood, took the telegram from Yoshihiko Haruta and said to Rear Admiral Kawashima, the chief of staff, with a sigh: "It's really unimaginable that the navy is so insatiable and has to make inches, I have already given up the great credit of annihilating 100,000 British and Australian troops, but the order of the General Staff is to continue to carry out the plan of annihilating the main forces of the Allied forces at sea, and I see the shadow of the Admiralty in this order!" ”

Chief of Staff Kawashima, knowing that his boss was not happy, persuaded him: "General, your analysis is completely correct, this order was issued by the base camp and even His Majesty the Emperor in order to balance the psychology of the navy, but after in-depth analysis, it may not be a good thing for our troops!" ”

Seeing that Admiral Ito showed a look of attentive listening, Rear Admiral Kawashima continued: "The Allies lack escort warships, and it is precisely when the navy sees this that they will spare no effort to fight for the opportunity and achieve brilliant results at almost no cost, of course they will not let it go, and the encirclement and annihilation battle at sea can be repeated, knowing that you are commanding the Imperial Army to attack Australia, MacArthur on Luzon Island, you can definitely see that Luzon Island is already dead, and he will give up." ”

"Withdrawing there, it's a problem, Admiral Yamamoto's combined fleet, blockading the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean and cutting off contact with the US mainland, MacArthur wants to escape from death and withdraw to the mainland, it is obviously impossible, in this way, only retreat to Australia is the only choice, doesn't this give the navy another opportunity to create a zào to annihilate the enemy, so the navy will definitely tear its face to fight, with this order, it is not surprising!"

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