The phone call of Zhang Quan, the head of the logistics department, obviously made Tang Qiuli a little surprised, last night, in his own home, Zhang Quan gritted his teeth to blast Taormann and Sicordias away, but overnight, the British and American envoys cried and shouted to see Zhang Quan, and did not agree to all the requests, unlike Zhang Quan's excitement, after putting down the phone, Tang Qiuli felt that things had changed too suddenly, and there must be a reason!

Before he could figure out a clue, the special guard came in to report that Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe, Director of the Communications Division Chen Feng, and Director of the Intelligence Division Yu Deshui asked to see the division commander, and they hurried early in the morning.

The three of them entered Tang Qiuli's office, and Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe first said: "Division Commander, the battlefield situation on Luzon Island has changed, Director Yu, do you want the division commander to report!" ”

Yu Deshui, director of the Intelligence Division, took out a telegram and said: "Division Commander, according to the information we have intercepted, at about 4 o'clock this morning, MacArthur, his family and a female governess, took two planes and left Luzon Island, destined for the British-Australian arm-controlled zone in Australia. ”

"Oh!" Tang Qiuli raised his eyebrows in surprise, 120,000 troops, still on Luzon Island, fighting hard with the Japanese army, MacArthur, the supreme commander-in-chief, ran to Australia, no matter what the reason, it will have a fatal negative impact on the morale of the soldiers of the American and Philippine troops defending the Manila Line, MacArthur's approach is tantamount to escaping from the battle, that is a capital crime!

Tang Qiuli shook his head in disbelief and asked Yu Deshui, "Director Yu, who will command the current US and Philippine troops, and how is the battle situation of the Manila Defense Line?" ”

Yu Deshui replied, "Commander." According to the information obtained by our intelligence officers, MacArthur gave the order from the plane, handing over command to Brigadier General Jonathan, commander of the 7th Mechanized Infantry Division of the US Army, and appointing Brigadier General Jonathan as the commander-in-chief of the Manila Defense Line, with the rank of Major General, and Colonel Kleist, acting chief of staff of the US Southwest Pacific Theater Headquarters, as the commander of the garrison in Manila, and the rank of major general. ”

"As for the battle situation of the Manila Line, it is quite unfavorable to the American and Philippine forces, the 14th Army of the Japanese army Haruda Yoshihiko and its subordinate troops. For several days in a row, the onslaught on the defense line of the US and Philippine troops caused great casualties and pressure on the US and Philippine troops, and the defense line was broken through in many places, and the US and Philippine troops had already mobilized all their battle reserves. Only then did he barely block the breakthrough and continue to develop according to the current situation. within a week. Manila is bound to fall, and that's not even counting the impact of MacArthur's run to Australia! ”

Tang Qiuli quietly listened to Yu Deshui's report, without any comment, but said to Zhao Yuhe, the chief of staff: "Yuhe, according to your judgment, the British and American envoys suddenly asked for the resumption of negotiations. Is it related to MacArthur's escape from Manila? ”

Zhao Yuhe's eyes flashed with wisdom, and he replied with a smile: "Master, it's certain that this is the case." Although MacArthur was arrogant, lackluster in commanding operations, and very filthy in his actions, after all, he had been operating in the Southwest Pacific Theater for many years, and his existence was a reassurance for the soldiers of the US and Philippine armies, and once the news of his escape from Luzon Island spread among the soldiers, it would take away the last bit of spirit of the US and Philippine soldiers! ”

"The Manila defense line will collapse with a bang, and it will collapse without a fight, the reason is very simple, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief has run away, do ordinary soldiers still have the heart to sell their lives, I estimate that the US military top brass has learned the news and ordered the news of MacArthur's flight to be tightly sealed for ordinary soldiers, but how long can this bad news hold? They are more anxious than us, so it is not difficult to explain the reason why the British and American envoys suddenly changed their attitudes! ”

Tang Qiuli applauded and said to Zhao Yuhe: "Okay, this is an opportunity, Yuhe, you go to see Uncle Quan immediately and tell him, our conditions can be appropriately improved, this is not a danger of taking advantage of others, it can only be used, MacArthur fled in a hurry, but it brought us benefits, but I don't know, how will Roosevelt react after hearing the news?" ”

Zhao Yuhe's face was excited, and Tang Qiuli said to Chen Feng, director of the Communications Division, and Yu Deshui, director of the Intelligence Division: "Director Chen, Dian Lingle Yiqin, all the troops of the Southern Flight Group, immediately prepare to take off, I'm afraid the Americans can't wait!" In addition, pay attention to receiving the contact signals of the US and Philippine forces on Luzon, Director Yu, you should immediately rush back to the intelligence department and closely monitor the situation on Luzon. ”

Chen Feng and Yu Deshui left, in the office, only Tang Qiu was left, he set his eyes on the sunny sky, and shook his head in disbelief, no matter how he changed the course of history, at some stages, history still stubbornly continued to move forward according to the original direction.

Historically, more than 20 days after the outbreak of the Pacific War, the main force of the Japanese army landed at Inyain on Luzon Island, and on the same day, the Japanese army landed in Artimonan, and then carried out a centripetal attack on Manila.

Two months later, Manila fell, more than 70,000 American and Philippine soldiers were captured, the Japanese army cruelly treated American and Philippine prisoners, forced the prisoners of war to carry out a "death march" from Bataan to Karpas concentration camp in Tarlac Province, about 10,000 Filipino soldiers and thousands of American soldiers died on the road, this is the history of World War II, the famous Bataan death march in the Pacific theater, after the end of the war, the Karpas concentration camp survived the American and Philippine prisoners of war, only more than 30,000 remained.

On the contrary, after the Pacific War entered the stalemate stage, MacArthur, the defeated general, was appointed by President Roosevelt as commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific Theater, commanding more than 500,000 troops in the army, navy, and air force, including the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

In this regard, later generations of World War II historians are puzzled, including Tang Qiuli, can not understand President Roosevelt's appointment, if we talk about the strength of the US military in the Pacific region in the middle and late stages of World War II, it can be described as a fierce general, not counting the commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Nimitz, including the commander of the US Pacific Fleet's fast aircraft carrier formation, Rear Admiral Hasil, known as the "bull," and Vice Admiral Fidelrow, commander of the US Army's Sixth Army, and a large number of army and navy generals, including Rear Admiral Häsir, commander of the US Pacific Fleet's fast aircraft carrier formation, and Vice Admiral Fidelrow, commander of the US Army's Sixth Army.

In later generations, whenever Tang Qiuli saw the history of World War II in the Pacific War, he would cover his scrolls and sigh, "It can only be said that this guy MacArthur took a shit luck and fell into the eyes of President Roosevelt, just because he abandoned the troops and fled alone, in other countries, he would have been sent to a military tribunal long ago, but this guy just rose to the top, and when the Japanese were dying by Nimitz, he proudly commanded the troops, landed in the Philippines, and without much effort, he got the honor halo of a famous World War II general." ”

It's just that this time history repeats itself, the United States in the Pacific theater, far from what history records, there is still room to fight back, Australia has become the only place to save his life, MacArthur has taken the old path, in the face of the precarious war situation, Roosevelt, the cunning politician, what kind of measures will he make, whether he will borrow MacArthur's head to boost the low morale of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the US and Philippine armies, wait and see!

On the morning of 28 August, Washington, D.C., the White House, the Office of the President, and all the senior officials of the US Wartime Supreme Command gathered here, shining brightly and gathering high-ranking officials.

However, the faces of these bigwigs, who are usually high up and full of self-confidence, are absolutely not good-looking now, and there is only one reason: two express telegrams from Luzon, one of which was sent by Major General Jonathan, former commander of the 7th Mechanized Infantry Division of the US Southwest Pacific Theater and now the commander-in-chief of the Manila Defense Line, who was ordered to be ordered in danger and was forced by MacArthur to roast on the fire.

The other letter was sent by Major General Kleist, a close confidant of General MacArthur and the former acting chief of staff of the headquarters, Colonel Kleist, who was obedient to his superiors, and is now the commander of the garrison in Manila.

The two telegrams reported the same astonishing news: "The Supreme Command of the National Wartime Headquarters has been transferred to Your Excellency the President, at about 4 o'clock this morning, General MacArthur, commander-in-chief of the Southwest Pacific Theater, suddenly flew out of Luzon. ”

Brigadier General Jonathan and Colonel Kleist were wise, seeing Commander-in-Chief MacArthur, the telegram of appointment sent from the plane, the promotion and promotion, the two of them were definitely not lucky to fall from the sky and the excitement of smashing on their heads, but a cool breeze down their spines, a burst of fear, and they didn't have too much intersection, let alone friendship, and the two of them, in different places, actually came to the same conclusion, "I was made a substitute for General MacArthur!" ”

They are not fools, as far as the current situation in Luzon is eroded, the Manila defense line is precarious, and there is a possibility that the whole line will collapse at any time, and more than 100,000 Japanese soldiers with high morale will storm the Manila defense line, and maybe tomorrow morning, the Japanese soldiers will rush into the city of Manila, and even God cannot change the battle situation.

Brigadier General Jonathan and Colonel Kleist, full of bitterness and anger, did not accept the order at the brink of danger, but received a hot potato, or even a large bomb that could explode at any moment.

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