"Good guys, most of them hit."

"No, Lao Xu, this is far worse than usual."

The B-17s that had not yet taken off were reduced to powder in the explosion, because they had been refueled and loaded with aerial bombs, and the scene of the death of individual B-17s was particularly shocking.

The planes seemed to come from hell, shrouded in flames and billowing black smoke, and the paint quickly disintegrated under the heat, revealing a shimmering silver aluminum alloy fuselage.

And then...... In the violent explosion of "boom", it turned into fragments and scattered around like a goddess scattering flowers.

The expensive $301,200 heavy, four-engine bomber was reduced to scrap metal — enough to buy 4,000 new M1 Garand semi-automatic rifles.

[Picture]

There were seven such destroyed bombers, and I don't know how the American soldiers with old Springfield bolt-action rifles felt.

The aerologbook and sortie report of the victorious Ming bomber formation recounts:

「…… The long plane guided the attack, the vertical trapezoidal formation, and the enemy's anti-aircraft fire was sparse, so the machine guns were mainly used, with a small number of anti-aircraft guns. The attack began at 17:54 with an airspeed of 150, and at least 60% of hits were observed, confirming that the three runways were seriously damaged, and the towers were visibly skewed to the naked eye. The results have been good."

The results of the air battle were far from good for the US military, and the Far East Air Force took to the air to meet 9 fighters shot down, while they shot down only 5 Ming fighters and 1 bomber.

The Ming pilots who were captured by parachuting said that there were 6 to 700 planes that had been deployed to target the Philippines, and that they had only mobilized them for the sake of command and control.

So no one in the Far Eastern Air Force could be happy - they had only 112 P-36 and 4 XP-40 fighters in total, as well as 34 B-17 and 12 B-18 bombers.

The role of the air force in war has been proven, and whether it is Asia or Europe, just as Du Hei's book "Air Supremacy" says, the air force can effectively determine the outcome of the war.

Both the Americans and the Filipinos knew that it would be impossible for the United States to send reinforcements for a while, and they would have to rely on themselves for a long time to come.

Lonely war, lonely resistance, lonely sacrifice.

However, the British and Dutch defenses failed, and the vast areas of Malaya and Dutch East Indo-Dutch were under the control of the Ming Dynasty.

The 100,000 captured officers and men of the British Commonwealth army are still working in the mountains and jungles of Burma and Siam, opening roads and bridges in the mountains and rivers, laying sections of sleepers and sections of railroad tracks.

Is there any point in such resistance?

This situation has put the morale of the US-Filipino forces in a very strange state.

It seems to be high and enthusiastic, far stronger than the loose and lax state of the British and Dutch armies a few months ago, but in fact, there is already self-doubt in my heart.

In the capital city of Manila, the streets and alleys of the city are a different story.

Manila has been the capital of the Philippines for more than 300 years, and today has a population of about 2 million, making it an international metropolis in the South Seas region on a par with Batavia and Singapore.

Ming planes dropped a large number of leaflets into the city of Manila, explaining that the independence promised by the Americans was nothing more than a trick and that in fact they were still secretly manipulating the Philippines.

The leaflets included many examples of U.S. forces crushing the Philippine Resistance, as well as pictures of the situation in Malaya, Sumatra, Java and other areas.

In addition, some warning notices also indicate targets that may be subject to air strikes, and people are advised not to go near dangerous places or risk the consequences.

The news of the Ming army's imminent attack caused the metropolis to completely lose its former state, and some timid but wealthy people chose to take the best step, fleeing the city in cars, buses, and trucks with their families and taking refuge in the countryside.

With a population of more than 2 million, Manila has a high population density, with tens of thousands of citizens living in many neighborhoods, which can be quite difficult to manage. The clouds of war have shaken people's hearts and crimes, and sporadic gunfire can be heard from morning to night — Manila police officers exchanging fire with robbers.

Whenever Ming planes appeared, M3 76.2mm anti-aircraft guns and M2 water-cooled anti-aircraft machine guns deployed near waterworks, power plants, and railway stations opened heavy fire into the sky.

The cannonballs exploded in mid-air in clouds of black smoke, and tracer shells scratched light marks.

However, the 76.2mm anti-aircraft gun could only be used to disrupt the aircraft formation, and the effective fire height of the 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun was too close, and the combination of the two did not work at all.

Such a futile counterattack is pointless except to frighten the enemy and embolden himself.

Some confident and arrogant Ming pilots even performed aerobatics over Manila, sometimes spiraling, sometimes somersaulting, and the shells fired by anti-aircraft guns often exploded hundreds of meters behind them, without the slightest damage.

The Chinese diaspora watched the scene excitedly, while the Europeans and Americans looked lost.

But how can you walk by the river without getting your shoes wet? There were still forgotten Ming planes that were shot down while slipping in circles at low altitudes.

At this time, those Europeans and Americans will raise their arms and cheer, applauding in the direction of the rising black smoke.

Despite all the speculation that the fighting was about to spread to land, the metropolis of Manila has not stopped functioning, and all institutions are working normally.

Public transportation is still in action, government departments are still open, shops and bazaars are still open, movies and performances are being shown in cinemas and theaters, and even the famous Manila Symphony Orchestra is still hosting their performances in the Grand Concert Hall.

「…… The marshal's aide-de-camp, General Jonathan Wainwright, inspected the Karnta barracks, the determination of the army is very strong, and the soldiers are maintaining artillery and tanks......

Radio broadcasts have not stopped, but the content about war and defense has increased, crowding out some of the original entertainment programs, and citizens can hear the president's speeches and calls on their radios, as well as all kinds of war news.

The Ming army's air raids on military facilities in various places lasted for three days, and the docks, airports, and railway shunting yards were bombed into ruins, and hundreds of air-dropped mines were floating in Manila Bay.

After the air force finished the attack, the Ming naval air force that followed carried out a fierce air attack on the Krabi naval base, and the Type 37 torpedo bombers used torpedoes or 500kg bombs to blow up the port area beyond recognition.

The blown up crane fell into the sea, making a large splash; Several destroyers were blown up and sunk at the berths, and a thick layer of heavy oil floated on the water......

The submarine combat units of the Asian Fleet were ordered to leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible and go to the vast sea to hunt down the Ming military transport ships.

In order to avoid hitting a mine and dying before the division could be dispatched, the US submarine chose to use low-speed underwater diving to pass through the blockaded Manila Bay.

However, the mines dropped by the Ming army were not only floating mines floating on the surface of the sea, but also semi-submersible mines - through mechanical controls and compressed gas cylinders, the mines happened to be stabilized at a certain depth underwater.

Therefore, the US submarines that tried to leave Manila Bay still suffered losses, after all, there will always be people on the battlefield who are unlucky.

The submarine USS Dolphin (SS-169) was sunk on the spot, killing all of them; The submarine USS Squid (SS-171) was badly wounded and surfaced, but sank before it could return to Cavite.

The most unfortunate was the USS Salmon (SS-184), which managed to pass through the blockade area, but had to float to recharge because of the depleted battery, but it was already dawn at this time, and it was not long before it was sent to the bottom of the sea by a bomb dropped by a Ming plane.

On the afternoon of October 3, aerial reconnaissance indicated that a large number of Ming fleets were approaching from the northwest and due north, which signaled the imminent arrival of a landing operation.

The US-Philippine coalition had long expected such a situation.

President Quezon, while confident and impassioned on the radio, is actually flustered.

In accordance with the plan drawn up before the war, the headquarters temporarily stood still, but several reserves were assembled near the railway station and hidden, ready to reinforce the place where the Ming army landed at any time.

The Philippines, surrounded by the sea and with many islands, has so many places that it is impossible to defend against it, and it is unrealistic to fortify it everywhere.

Although Douglas, who was awarded the honorary title of Marshal of the Philippines, enjoyed a sweet and moist life with his second wife, Joan Fairclos, in order to be worthy of his exaggerated annual salary of $18,000 and a special allowance of $15,000, Douglas still performed his duties more seriously.

He had personally inspected most of the coastal areas of the Philippines and could say that he knew everything about it, so he judged that the Ming army would most likely choose to land at Lingayan Bay.

Because the coastline and beachhead there are long and flat, quite suitable for large-scale landings.

And after the landing in Lingayen Bay, it was almost a flat river, only 150 kilometers from Manila.

[Picture]

In order to prevent the Ming army from advancing after the landing, he ordered Wainwright to supervise and carry out the plan in case of contingency.

Brigadier General Wainwright instructed his men to collect explosives from arsenals and mining explosives from civilian mining companies and to place them on major transportation routes and bridges leading to Manila, ready to blast them at any time.

While the soldiers of the United States and the Philippines were unhurriedly planting explosives, 9,000 soldiers of the 2nd Marine Brigade of the Daming Corps, led by Yan Chenwu, arrived at Lingjiayan Bay and immediately prepared to land in this excellent place.

At 7:46 a.m. on October 4, the weather was gloomy, the sea breeze was howling, and the distant place where the sky and the sea met was no longer distinguishable.

In order to ensure the smooth landing of the elite marines, the Ming Navy sent a considerable number of surface ships to escort and support.

Because it was too far away from the Dagu Naval Base in the south of Xiaoliuqiu, the planes of the Air Force and Naval Air Force could not provide long-term support here, so the light aircraft carriers Beiluo Shimen and Tiangang, which had just entered service, were sent to provide full support.

In addition, there were light cruisers Fenhe and Liaohe and more than a dozen destroyers, minesweepers, and landing ships.

The battleship Yuanfeng, which entered service in the seventeenth year of Zhichang, served as the flagship of this landing fleet, and this old battleship was no longer suitable for modern naval warfare, but it was still capable of shelling support tasks.

The menacing Ming landing fleet quickly cleared the floating mines in Lingayen Bay, and groups of fighters began to take off and land in turn, circling and patrolling over the fleet.

Although the start went well, the 2nd Marine Brigade ran into trouble when it landed.

The weather suddenly became bad, and people didn't realize the seriousness of the problem at first, but the wind and waves got bigger and bigger.

The small landing craft could not resist the forces of nature, and most of them deviated from the original course and landing site.

Coincidentally, the US Far East Air Force came to attack the Ming landing force in bad weather conditions.

The heavy bombers that Colonel Alex had worked so hard to protect did their part, and nine B-17s flew over the Ming fleet and dropped a large number of bombs on the warships below.

For the first time, the soldiers of the Ming army experienced carpet bombing... Or the power of a heavy bomber.

Because they were short-range bombing missions, the nine B-17s used an 8,000-pound payload scheme, and each aircraft carried 16 500-pound aerial bombs.

The 144 500-pound bombs that fell like hail blew up countless columns of water tens of meters high, and although none of them made a direct hit, the near-miss bombs still caused considerable damage to the light ships.

For example, the left side of the destroyer Shangqiu was torn open with a large hole, and hundreds of tons of water entered before the damage was controlled.

Compared with the losses caused by air raids, the deviation of the course caused by wind and waves is more fatal.

"It's really bad luck! Who is this God for? ”

"What's going on with weather forecasts? This shouldn't have happened these two days. ”

On the bridge of the battleship Yuanfeng, the officers were complaining, and everyone could see from the telescope that there was chaos on the beachhead.

This force majeure cannot be changed, and the troops cannot be complained about.

Yan Chenwu, who was speechless, could only sigh in his heart that he was unlucky, and he turned his head sideways and said, "Let's cover the naval artillery fire directly in depth." ”

The formation of the first echelon of the landing of the 2nd Marine Brigade was disrupted - the 2nd platoon of the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Battalion found that it was actually a regimental communication platoon that went ashore next to it? After the second battalion and the first team gathered the team, they found that the battalion headquarters and friendly units were missing?

The floating combat vehicle units that accompanied the landing of the first echelon were even worse, half of the two dozen Type 35 amphibious tanks sank due to wind and waves, and the remaining half also went ashore in an unfamiliar location.

The situation was so chaotic that the officers and men had to reorganize themselves as soon as possible and consolidate their beachheads, otherwise it would be dangerous to be counterattacked by the enemy at this time.

"Boom!"

The boom suddenly sounded, and the officers and men subconsciously lay down, and then lay on the ground and looked at the direction of the explosion.

"Anti-artillery!"

"Lie down!"

Immediately after that, one after another 75mm high-explosive shells fell on the beachhead......

When the Ming army landed on a large scale, Brigadier General Wainwright happened to be inspecting the positions of the 11th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army.

Excited to find that God was on his side, he immediately ordered all the artillery to bombard the Ming army that had already landed, and then sent a reserve to counterattack and drive it into the sea!

The number of heavy weapons of the Philippine army is not large, and the power is not great, for example, the 11th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army only has more than 30 75mm field guns.

Under the cover of seemingly effective artillery fire, about two battalions of Philippine infantry left the staging area behind the position and began to launch a counterattack on the beachhead to the southwest.

"His grandma drips! Rush over! ”

"Hit!"

The craters on the beachhead were still emitting green smoke, and the officers and men of the 2nd Marine Brigade either relied on the craters or lay behind the undulating terrain and opened fire on the dense enemy with rifles, light machine guns, grenades, and mortars!

(End of chapter)