Chapter Eighty-Four: The Summer of the Equatorial Ocean (End)

Finally, in the spring of 1946, under the coercion and temptation of the United States, the latest South American countries except Brazil to participate in the war also organized several groups of expeditionary forces to be sent into the Pacific theater to shed blood in place of the American boys...... Among them, about 20,000 South American Corps, which was jointly formed by Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay, was transported to Samoa to prepare for counteroffensive operations in the South Pacific theater. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

In the early days of the war, the deep-pocketed United States may still fully bear the logistical supply of these South American allies, providing them with the standard diet of the American military. However, by 1946, because the front line was too wide, the US military's logistical system was already tight everywhere, and its attitude toward some minor allies and miscellaneous armies began to be stingy. And because of the chronic corruption in these countries, even the small amount of material aid provided by the United States has been deducted by the corrupt officials in their own countries. So in the end, these South American soldiers almost went to the battlefield wrapped in old blankets and nibbling dry bread, and the weapons in their hands were generally one era behind the US army, most of them were old guns from the First World War, and as a result, they were ridiculed by US officers and soldiers as beggars for food when they arrived at the front line.

If so, in the Pacific theater, the Americans fought for their homeland, and the Brazilians were migrant workers who were paid to work, then the Spanish-speaking South American Legion was the unlucky bastard who was forcibly pulled to do compulsory labor, and its morale and enthusiasm were terrible, which can be imagined.

What is worse is that the South American Corps stationed in the Samoan Islands is not only poorly equipped and logistically poor, but also has a pile of internal problems -- because all South American countries except Brazil are generally full of resistance to sending troops to participate in the war, and it is completely under the forced pressure of the United States that they have barely managed to throw out some of the worst miscellaneous armies to make up the numbers, not only do they have no hope of morale and combat effectiveness, but even the movement of troops has dragged on, and as of the spring of 1946, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay have sent troops to participate in the war, adding up to only 20,000 people, only enough for the size of one division.

Because the first batch of troops of the South American allies were too small and scattered to be mobilized and used, the "genius" Pentagon came up with the idea of mixing and drawing on the experience of the United States in forming the "Rainbow Division" during World War I, and formed the participating troops of the five South American countries into a South American corps.

- The so-called Rainbow Division was the advance team of the United States in World War I. At that time, in order to demonstrate the unity of the people of the American states, the War Department combined the National Guard of the 26 states into a division, the "Rainbow" 42nd Division. The implication is that the division is made up of people from all over the country, like a rainbow across the sky, according to the propaganda of the American newspapers at the time, so that every state will be proud to have its men in the first batch of people sent overseas. And the performance of the Rainbow Division in the European battlefield did not live up to the high expectations placed on the fathers and elders of the states.

According to the Pentagon's thinking, since the "Rainbow Division" during World War I could fully embody the spirit of "national unity" of the United States at that time and inspire the morale of 100 million people, then today's South American Army should also be able to embody the "continental unity" of all South American allies.

The problem is that although the "Rainbow Division" of the United States in World War I came from 26 states in the United States, they were still compatriots of the same country, and they were all selected elites, and the logistical supply was also sufficient, so their performance and combat effectiveness in all aspects were naturally not bad. The soldiers of the South American Legion, who all speak Spanish and are able to communicate with each other, are organized from five different countries, and the mere coordination of the chain of command is enough to confuse people.

What's even worse is that these units of the South American Army are all motley troops thrown out as cannon fodder in their own country, and their discipline and quality can only be described as desperate. Now they have to be pinched together, and in the end, if they don't fight all day until the corpses are all over the field, it should make people laugh.

To add insult to injury, not long after these resentful and bewildered South American soldiers arrived in the Samoa Islands, the United States had to shrink its defensive line and completely abandon its counteroffensive plan in the South Pacific theater because the Halsey fleet was destroyed by a typhoon.

Later, in the face of the menacing Japanese Navy's combined fleet, the US military, which had lost its sea and air supremacy, directly withdrew from the Samoan Islands, leaving these South Americans to take the tank...... Anyway, when I received the order from the American army, "I retreat, you cover, and fight to the death until the last man is shot", all the officers and men of the entire South American Legion, including Second Lieutenant Isaac, had 10,000 alpacas running ferociously past each other......

However, the situation is stronger than people, at this time, the South American army is already difficult to ride a tiger, even if they want to escape, in the vast ocean of Samoa, separated from their hometown by a Pacific Ocean, there is no ocean-going ship to go home to sit, in the end they can only close their eyes and resign themselves to fate.

As a result, on the Samoan Islands, which had been abandoned by the US military, the newly arrived South American Legion had no choice but to start arranging defenses, during which various disputes and mutinies broke out, and the contradictions and hatred between the five countries of Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay were by no means much worse than the various enmity between the European powers, among which Bolivia and Paraguay had just fought a bloody and cruel Chaco War in the thirties, and there are still various border conflicts. The difficulty of leading such a routed team with deep internal contradictions is about the same as the difficulty coefficient of commanding a coalition of China, Japan, North Korea and South Korea in East Asia in later generations...... And the commander of the South American Legion obviously does not have such a united front ability against the sky.

As a result, during the whole process of preparing for the war, the South American Legion was in a mess, and there were even sporadic fires and clashes over food, drink, and daily necessities left by the American troops on the island...... In the end, everyone seemed to give up completely in frustration.

In any case, according to what Ensign Isaac had seen with his own eyes in recent days, the top of the regiment had first abandoned all the small islands on the outskirts of Samoa and withdrawn all the men to the two main islands of Savai and Ubulu. Then, regardless of the country's troops, they all retreated into the strongest underground bomb shelters, like ostriches with their heads buried in the sand, turning a blind eye to the approaching Japanese army.

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In short, after confirming that they had been abandoned by the Yankees in the Samoan Islands, the 20,000 South American regiments first made a commotion, and then they became like clay puppets, each hiding in the permanent and strong fortifications left by the American army, sitting and watching the Japanese planes bombing indiscriminately overhead, sitting and watching the Japanese navy's minesweepers clear the minefields laid by the American army around the islands, and watching the Japanese battleships and cruisers blocking the doors and pouring shells on the islands. Sit back and watch as the Japanese Navy's Frogman Underwater Explosion Team swept away underwater explosives and beachhead obstacles left behind by the U.S. military...... But there was no positive reaction, not even using those shore guns hidden under the hidden cliffs to fire at the enemy ships, and I don't know what the senior generals of the regiment were thinking - according to the idea of Second Lieutenant Isaac, even if his own artillery skills are very bad, and he is not very good at these big guys left over from the American coastal artillery, as long as he can shoot the shells out according to the instructions, even if he makes a sound to strengthen his own people's courage! At least it's better than the current lifeless approach.

But the legion command did not do this, nothing was done exactly, except to waste time by pretending to be an ostrich, just sitting and waiting for death.

Of course, if you pretend to be an ostrich, you can't leave behind the reconnaissance work, otherwise it would be too tragic if you were touched by a Japanese samurai on the side of the bed one day. As a result, after the radar station left behind by the US military was blown up by Japanese planes, some of the soldiers and junior officers who were unfortunate enough to draw bad lots were forced to assume the duties of lookouts and were sent to various observation posts to reconnoiter the movements of the Japanese fleet and planes with binoculars.

Second Lieutenant Isaac from Argentina was one of the unlucky people who unfortunately drew a bad lot and was sent out to reconnoiter the enemy's situation. As a preferential treatment for officers, he was assigned to an observation post located at the top of the hill. Although it is relatively desolate and remote, the advantage is that the altitude is high, and the naval guns on the sea cannot hit it. And far from the artificial complex, the post itself is so well camouflaged that it is not recognizable from a high altitude, and Japanese planes will not come to drop bombs.

Compared to the observers who prayed to God in the beach bunker and received shells, Second Lieutenant Isaac considered himself lucky.

Then he noticed that the enemy ships that appeared on the surface of the sea today seemed to be slightly different from usual—behind the battleships that were constantly pouring bullets and rain on the shore with thick pipes, there seemed to be a lot more shadows of the ships. Those ships look like ......

“…… Is that...... Landing ships of the Japanese! Damn it! I'm afraid they're going to go ashore soon! ”

Second Lieutenant Isaac cursed, turned around and picked up the phone, but it didn't work. He picked up the second one, but it still didn't work—it was only then that he vaguely remembered that the two telephone lines leading from his outpost to the bottom of the mountain had long since been broken and could not be reached at all.

In fact, the entire Samoan islands' military and civilian telephone networks, with the exception of a few lines buried deep underground, have been blown up one after another after Japanese warships have fired guns, or have been overwhelmed by torrential rains and flash floods due to lack of maintenance, and the Americans have taken the Samoan islands' post office personnel and telephone crews with them as they retreated. And the black-eyed South American Legion will only use the telephone lines on the island, and will not repair them...... Well, to be exact, I was too lazy to repair, and I was even more unwilling to risk death in the overwhelming artillery fire of the Japanese to rush to repair it.

Second Lieutenant Isaac sighed helplessly, pulled out a Motorola radio walkie-talkie from the corner as a last resort, and then fiddled with it even more frustrated to find that it seemed to be due to a broken roof and water seepage, and even the thing was now dead.

He looked up at the gloomy and rainy sky and pouted, it seemed that he had to go to the Legion headquarters on his own.

The road down the mountain from the outpost was quite difficult, and the original bumpy mountain road turned into a mud pond when it rained. In the annoying rain, the entire tropical island seemed to be covered in steaming steamers, and Ensign Isaac struggled through the mud, but it wasn't the worst stretch.

The real danger is that after descending the mountain, as the altitude decreases, the safety protection provided by the altitude disappears without a trace, and there is a section of the road that must be passed through the seaside plain that the Japanese warships are bombarding! Soon, the shells of the Japanese warships began to explode around Ensign Isaac, which made him tremble - such a large-caliber shell, as long as he got a little closer, would definitely end up in pieces.

Ensign Isaac cautiously navigated through the damp and hot trees, and there was not a single intact house in sight as far as the eye could see, except for the unrecognizable ruins and the shocking supercrater, which had been reduced to muddy mud pools after the rain. Even the dense tropical vegetation has been severely destroyed, and the beautiful and charming mountains and forests behind the seaside beach have almost all turned into hideous, ugly, and devastated "bald mountains".

Suddenly, a long whistle like a train whistle sounded suddenly, and his expression changed in fright, and he hurriedly threw himself into the mud with a dog......

The next moment, I saw a magnificent fireball slowly rising from the jungle hundreds of meters away, like a splendid fireworks feast, and the huge impact force showed a scorching wave visible to the naked eye in the air, burning the verdant trees and blades of grass. All life in the vicinity of the crater was instantly charred, and the damp trees farther away were forcibly ignited, emitting large clouds of choking smoke. The smell of burning smoke from the damp wood choked Ensign Isaac with a violent cough and hurried away. On the way, another burning palm tree grazed his shoulder, and the charred black bark fell into his neck, and he shook his shoulder, shook off the debris, and continued on his way to the headquarters.

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After about half an hour, Second Lieutenant Isaac, panting, covered in mud, like a mud monkey, with a color on his forehead, finally ran to the door of the underground bunker where the South American Corps headquarters was located, and after exchanging passwords, he was led in by the janitor. First, he was asked to freshen up a little, change into clean clothes, and then asked the military doctor to bandage his wounds, and then he was barely able to see people, and then sent him to see his boss.

- The headquarters of the South American Corps, currently located in an underground shelter left behind by the U.S. Southwest Pacific Fleet. It was a huge bunker made of reinforced concrete, most of which were built fifteen meters below the ground, and the cement roof was covered with several layers of cross-logs to cushion the explosion, which was designed to withstand a direct hit from a one-ton bomb. Inside, it is equipped with its own power generation equipment and water system, which is a self-contained system and does not depend on the outside. In addition, there is a kitchen, a telephone switchboard, cold storage, a conference room, an intelligence room, a bar and a well-equipped field hospital.

In the eyes of soldiers in South America, it is simply a giant safe that cannot be destroyed by any shell.

Therefore, after moving into this safe and secure safe, the high-ranking generals of the South American Legion immediately began to pull all kinds of goodies into it greedily as if they had become squirrels for the winter. Fresh beef, bananas, and cream from New Zealand, cigarettes and sugar from Hawaii, chocolate candy, toffee and canned goods from the United States, and a variety of military favorite spirits...... The young women, both white and indigenous, who were left behind on the island by the American military, were forcibly recruited as "maids" by these passionate and romantic South American officers.

As a result, it was astonishing that while the Japanese naval fleet was shelling the Samoan Islands day after day, the South American Corps headquarters was holding drinking parties and dances of various names almost every day. Hundreds of officers of all ranks, dressed in beautiful military uniforms, sat with one or two or three Samoan girls in their arms, feasting on steaks, fried fish, roast chicken, canned fruit, sausages, cakes, and pasta, drinking unlimited amounts of champagne, rum, gin, beer, and red wine, and occasionally playing a few games of poker or billiards, or playing guitars and drunkenly singing love songs in Spanish, as if they had come to the South Pacific for tourism and vacation, and not to fight the Japanese......

Of course, the above enjoyment was limited to mid- and high-ranking officers, and the ordinary soldiers of the regiment could only hide in damp trenches and tents to chew dry bread, and often did not have enough to eat. And a low-ranking officer like Ensign Isaac was only able to get a few more cans.

So, when Ensign Isaac walked through the drunken and coquettish rooms, watching the waiters with bottles and dishes in their hands going back and forth, and occasionally a drunken naked woman falling out from behind a wooden door, he was really devastated.

“…… It's unbelievable that they still have the appetite to eat? And the energy to roll the sheets with the girl?! A bunch of bastards! ”

Ensign Isaac muttered quietly, but didn't dare to show any resentment on his face—anyone with the slightest stature in this headquarters could easily pinch him to death. Then he made a twist and turn, and finally found the intelligence room, where he met his immediate boss, Major Antonio.

Compared with the other officials who were drunk and dreaming all day long, Major Antonio seemed to be in a very conscientious state. At least he didn't drink in the office and didn't have a woman around him. In short, Major Antonio patiently listened to the report of Ensign Isaac about the imminent landing of Japanese troops. At the same time, he vigorously picked up the last remaining piece of beef from the plate in front of him, dipped the sauce on the plate, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed.

“…… Well, you don't have to worry at all, second lieutenant, things will be taken care of, everything is under our control. ”

Major Antonio said this vaguely, and after swallowing the last bite of beef, he picked up a napkin and wiped the corners of his mouth, then took a sip of cool ice water from the glass in front of him, and then made a slow phone call, chatted with the unknown general, and finally took out a paper bag wrapped in oiled paper from his desk, and handed a new and eye-catching white flag to Ensign Isaac, who was still stunned.

“…… Okay, now come with me to the beach where the Japanese landed! It's time for this war that doesn't belong to us to end......"

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On the afternoon of September 26, 1946, relying on the fire of their own naval guns, about 1,000 Japanese troops made a tentative landing on the eastern beach of Savai'i Island in the Samoan Islands......

On the same day, after reaching an agreement with the Japanese side, the South American Legion in the Samoa Islands suddenly broke out, disarmed and seized a small number of American pilots, sailors and ground crews remaining on the island, and then telegraphed the world in clear code, claiming that they had gone through hard battles in the Samoan Islands and killed countless enemies, but the Japanese army was endless, huge in force, and fierce in firepower, but its own side ran out of ammunition and food, could not continue, and had no strength to fight, so it had to surrender to keep its useful body.

At this point, the most important relay supply depot and fleet advance base of the US Navy in the South Pacific, the Samoan Islands, was completely lost to the enemy. And the entire South Pacific front of the United States of America has collapsed on all fronts, and it will be impossible to control it for thousands of miles...... When the bad news reached Washington, the Oval Office of the White House unsurprisingly resounded again with the angry roar of President Truman......