That night, Yue Weihan, who had just finished dinner, urgently summoned Liu Yi, Cao Xinglong, Li Yulong and other confidants to the headquarters. Although senior generals of the expeditionary force such as Luo Youlun, Dai Anlan, Liao Yaoxiang and Sun Liren had gradually integrated into Yue Weihan's system,
At the critical moment, Yue Weihan obviously still trusted his direct subordinates more.
However, when Yue Weihan revealed his plan, Liu Yi and others immediately went into a panic.
"What, airborne in Manila!?"
"Chief, you can't be serious, can you?"
"Didn't you say you airborne into Bangkok? Why did you cross the South China Sea and airborne into Luzon Island all at once?"
Seeing that Liu Yi and others obviously couldn't accept this idea, Yue Weihan suddenly frowned and said angrily: "What are you shouting about? What are you shouting about? I'll discuss something with you guys, and you will give me this? It's a bit constructive.
Do you have any opinions? If you really can’t think of it, get out of here.”
Liu Yi and others immediately fell silent.
However, Cao Xinglong walked to the map, picked up a square ruler and drew for a long time before he said in deep thought: "Basically, the straight-line distance between Yangon and Manila is about 2,500 kilometers, and the range of the Allied DC-3 transport aircraft is 2,600 kilometers
kilometers, if the load is reduced and two auxiliary fuel tanks are attached, the range can be increased by about 500 kilometers, so it is no problem to complete the airborne landing."
"Airborne landing is not a problem, the problem is how to come back after airborne landing?" Li Yulong said, "The distance between Yangon and Manila is close to the limit range of DC-3 transport aircraft. In this case, the transport aircraft carrying the special operations brigade and
It is impossible for the escorting fighter jets to return from Manila. This is really like going without a return!"
"His grandma," Chi Chengfeng said, "The key question is, why are you going to Manila?"
Liu Yi and others all turned their attention to Yue Weihan, yes, why go to Manila?
"Save people!" Yue Weihan nodded and said in a deep voice, "Go and save a US Army team, or rather save a person!"
"Commander, what are you talking about?" Chi Chengfeng almost jumped up when he heard this and hissed, "What the hell, did he let the special operations brigade land in Manila at the risk of never coming back, just for a Yankee!?"
Liu Yi and others were also shocked. Yue Weihan has always been reluctant to accept Westerners' opinions. At the Songhu battlefield, Yue Weihan even showed extremely strong hostility towards the British troops across the New Junk Bridge. But today,
Why did Yue Weihan go out of his way and even sacrifice the entire special operations brigade to get a Yankee?
"This is not an ordinary American." Yue Weihan sighed and said in a solemn tone, "This American's name is Douglas MacArthur. His father is a veteran who won the Congressional Medal in the American Civil War. MacArthur himself also
He participated in World War I and later served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army."
"Among the American military, MacArthur is a legend. As a cadet, he is the best-achieving graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point since its founding a century ago. As a principal, he is the youngest graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point since its founding. You know that West Point Military Academy is in the U.S. military
Her status in the minds of officers and soldiers? She is like the existence of Whampoa Military Academy in the hearts of ***!"
There was something Yue Weihan didn't say, but Liu Yi and the others vaguely heard it.
MacArthur's status in the hearts of the American people is like Yue Weihan's status in the hearts of the Chinese people!
"MacArthur may be a great American general, but why should we save him?" Li Yulong said, "Just because the U.S. government has aided China with a large amount of American weapons and equipment? But in fact, while the U.S. government is assisting us with weapons, they are also
I have also been rewarded, because we have a common enemy!"
"You don't need to ask about this. I naturally have a reason to save people." Yue Weihan waved his hand and said, "You'd better do a war game as soon as possible. Due to confidentiality requirements, I can't mobilize the combat staff of the general staff to simulate it.
This is the deduction, so I can only trouble you a few. How about we get started?"
Liu Yi, Cao Xinglong and others could only look at each other and smile bitterly, and immediately began an intense war game.
The war game deduction lasted until two o'clock in the morning the next day before the results were finally obtained. From the results of the deduction, it was possible to land in Manila by air. Since the Japanese army had not yet installed radar stations in Southeast Asia, and Manila was far enough away from Yangon, the Japanese army
It was simply impossible to imagine that the Allied forces would land in Manila, so the probability of a successful airborne landing was as high as 70%.
The key to the problem is the persistence of the airport after the airborne landing is successful, as well as the transportation issues for the evacuation of the US military.
According to the information provided by Nanzo Yunzi, there are not many Japanese troops stationed in Manila. There is only one guard brigade and less than three infantry squadrons. However, there are two field divisions less than 50 kilometers away from Manila, namely the 6th Division and the
The 38th Division, these two divisions are currently besieging MacArthur's U.S.-Philippine coalition forces on the Bataan Peninsula.
In order to rescue MacArthur and even the trapped American officers and soldiers, the special operations brigade must resolve the battle within half an hour, quickly seize the Manila Airport before the Japanese motorized infantry arrived, and then hold on to the airport for at least six hours, waiting for the Allied forces
A second batch of transport planes flew in more reinforcements from Yangon.
During this period, the special operations brigade must fight alone, and it is impossible to obtain any air and ground support!
However, even if everything goes well, there is still a problem that must be solved, that is, how to provide the fuel needed for the transport aircraft to return?
Japan does not produce oil to begin with, and its domestic fuel supply is already very tight, so it is impossible to hoard too much aviation fuel in Manila. Without enough fuel, Allied transport planes and fighter jets can only make one-way voyages. MacArthur and
Naturally, it was impossible for the trapped American officers and soldiers to escape.
"Fuel is not a problem." Faced with Liu Yi and others' doubts, Yue Weihan said calmly, "When the Japanese army attacked Manila, they also used airborne troops. The US military in the Philippines was caught off guard. The combat readiness warehouse near the airport was immediately
After being lost, the tens of thousands of tons of aviation fuel stored in the warehouse also fell into the hands of the Japanese army, and only half of them have been consumed until now!"
"Okay, that's no problem." Liu Yi said with a wry smile, "However, after the special operations brigade landed in Manila, it was almost impossible to land in Bangkok. In other words, the plan to blitz the Kingdom of Siam in the air was aborted.
, the 100,000 Japanese troops currently in the jungles of Shan State are very likely to escape."
"Alas, the plan to attack Siam was indeed bankrupt." Yue Weihan sighed, with a lot of regrets in his heart.
However, in comparison, it is obviously more important to save MacArthur and tens of thousands of American soldiers, and then force the US government to carry out large-scale industrial assistance to Burma, because even if the 100,000 Japanese troops in the Burmese jungle escaped, they would only be able to escape a little bit at most.
It only makes it more difficult for the expeditionary force to sweep across Southeast Asia, but once Myanmar's industrial base is built, it will be a great achievement!
After a pause, Yue Weihan immediately added: "However, the 100,000 Japanese troops currently running around in the jungles of Shan State may not be able to escape back to Siam alive. It is not that easy in the primeval forests of the Shan State Plateau and along the Salween River.
passed!"
Although the primitive jungles of the Shan State Plateau are not as dangerous as the Yeren Mountains in the Hukham Valley, they are not much less dangerous. In history, except for one of the Chinese expeditionary forces that entered the Yeren Mountains and then moved to India, the other went through the Shan
Bang Plateau, the result was also heavy casualties, more than 40,000 people entered the mountains, but in the end only less than 2,000 people returned home alive.
Shan State Plateau, deep in dense forests.
Major Ono was marching forward with difficulty with more than a hundred Japanese soldiers.
This group of Japanese soldiers is an infantry group belonging to the Japanese Guards Division. When they first arrived on the Shan State Plateau, there were nearly a thousand people in this infantry group. But after more than half a month, only a hundred or so people were left.
Major Ono was now completely desperate. He felt that it would be difficult for his troops to get out of the jungle.
Thinking of his beautiful wife in his hometown, Major Ono couldn't help but feel heartbroken.
Before entering the jungle, Major Ono could never have imagined that the tropical rainforest could be so dangerous.
Snakes as thick as buckets, leopards that sneak up at night, ferocious and hungry tigers, spiders as big as fists, leeches with wings, and countless mosquitoes, humans have entered the tropical rain forest.
, from predator to prey in an instant, with almost no power to fight back.
However, the biggest enemy is not this.
Humanity's greatest enemies are hunger and thirst!
One hundred thousand Japanese troops entered the primitive jungle. In just three days, they ran out of fresh water they carried with them. Soon the thirsty soldiers began to drink the dirty water in the jungle. Soon, scarlet fever, dengue fever, relapsing fever, malaria, etc.
Various malignant infectious diseases began to spread rapidly among the military.
In normal times, such an infectious disease would be nothing at all.
But in the jungle where there is little medical treatment, such an infectious disease can be fatal!
Soldiers who contracted the disease soon began to have a fever, and then vomited and had diarrhea. After two or three days, all that was left of a strong man was a gaunt skeleton. Some soldiers fell down while walking.
When the soldier in front found out and came back to look for him, he found that the soldier had been eaten by the swarms of ants until only a white skeleton was left.
The lack of water can at least be overcome, because even in winter, Myanmar often rains, and some rain can still quench thirst. However, after entering the jungle for seven days, most of the dry food carried by the Japanese troops was eaten up and they were thirsty.
If you can catch some rainwater to quench your thirst, where will you go to raise food if you run out of food?
The Shan State Plateau has high mountains and dense forests, and there are not many indigenous people living there.
Hunting? There are a lot of wild animals in the jungle, but when a hundred thousand troops pass by, how many are left?
Basically, starting from the tenth day, the troops that entered the jungle later had to starve. The troops that passed in front even scratched and ate the bark of the trees along the way, especially large creatures such as tigers, leopards, and pythons.
Even the shadows disappeared. Starting from the tenth day, the non-combat attrition of the Japanese soldiers began to increase explosively.
Before the Japanese army entered the Shan State Plateau, each division, brigade and infantry brigade had all designated marching routes. According to the designated marching routes, Major Ono's infantry brigade needed to cross the entire Shan State Plateau and then cross the Salween River.
, to enter Siam, but now we don’t know where the Sarman River is, and there are only about a hundred troops left.
"Pfft." A Japanese soldier was so hungry that he had no strength and fell to the ground while walking.
"You, and you, help him up, quickly!" Major Ono gave the order, and immediately two Japanese soldiers rushed forward feebly, helped the fallen Japanese soldier up, and then
In such a short time, more than a dozen ants gathered around. After the Japanese soldier was helped up, he still chased him for several miles.
After walking a few hundred meters further, there was sudden lightning and thunder over the dense forest, and soon there was a heavy rain!
In less than a moment, more than a hundred Japanese soldiers were all soaked in the rain. Major Ono knew that his troops were now facing the threat of collective death. Because they were suddenly hit by a heavy rain during the march, they could easily catch a cold.
It would be fine in normal times, but in this primeval forest where there is little medical treatment, it can definitely be fatal!
Fortunately, the vanguard who was exploring the path actually discovered a cave!
In addition to the guard posts remaining outside, Major Ono immediately ordered the troops to enter the cave to take shelter from the rain.
Half an hour later, the rain stopped. The Japanese soldiers who were on guard outside the cave never saw anyone coming out of the cave, and they couldn't even hear any sounds coming from the cave, so they darted their way into the cave.
I saw Major Ono sitting near the entrance of the cave with his sword in both hands, his eyes closed, as if he was asleep.
Looking along the entrance of the cave, I saw more than a hundred Japanese soldiers lying on the ground. They were all like Major Ono, with their eyes closed tightly, as if they were asleep. Maybe they were really asleep, because
The previous continuous march was really too tiring and exhausting. Even the fine steel made of iron could not bear it, let alone human flesh and blood?
The Japanese soldier deliberately stepped harder, but Major Ono still showed no reaction.
Only then did the Japanese soldier realize that something was wrong. He rushed forward and stretched out his hand to check the breathing of Major Ono. Only then did he realize that Major Ono had already run out of breath! The Japanese soldier was horrified, and when he reached out to check the rest of the Japanese soldiers
, they were all exhausted, and more than a hundred people actually died silently, and they didn’t even know how they died!
"Ghost, ghost!" The Japanese soldier was so frightened that he immediately went crazy. After turning around and rushing out of the cave, within a few dozen meters, he fell headlong into a turbid pond. Before the Japanese soldier could get up,
, hundreds of leeches and ants had already swarmed over, and within a few minutes, all that was left of the Japanese soldier was a white skeleton.
Seventy years later, a Chinese scientific expedition team discovered this cave while searching for gold deposits in a valley on the Shan State Plateau near the west bank of the Salween River. When the scientific expedition team members peeled away the rotten vines and walked into the cave, they were shocked.
It was discovered that there were more than a hundred white bones intact in the cave, and there were also a large number of severely rusted Japanese ordnance scattered in the cave.
With rich experience in jungle operations, the Chinese scientific expedition team quickly restored the historical truth. This should be a Japanese army that was defeated on the Shan State Plateau during World War II. They should have entered this cave while taking shelter from the rain, and then died collectively.
Miasma, miasma, is the real killer hidden in the tropical jungle!