Chapter 18 Wrinkles all over the face but also come out to act cute

The Japanese base camp notified Honma that the plan to invade Java was a month earlier than scheduled.For this reason, the 48th Division was transferred to Java. As compensation, the headquarters allocated the 65th Brigade to Honma. The 65th Brigade was originally a garrison regiment, or security force. Before the war, the brigade had only received one month of training, and lacked motor vehicles and heavy weapons and equipment.There were fewer soldiers and the quality was poor, but Honma didn't feel any particular embarrassment.The report sent by the Ministry of Intelligence showed that after the U.S. and Philippine troops fled to Bataan, they had become veritable secondary crops. The total strength of the troops was only 25,000. The morale of the troops and the health of the officers and soldiers were also terrible.

Faced with such an underdog, physique will not be a problem, age will not be a distance, and any weapon can be used to deal with it.What's more, the 65th Brigade is also a new force that has just entered the battle. At least the officers and soldiers are all strong and strong. As soon as he was optimistic, he was so optimistic that he gave up his side. The way Honma wanted to attack Bataan was not to fight, but to chase.In view of the dense forest in the middle of the Bataan Peninsula, the Japanese troops were divided into two groups. The 16th Division was spying on the west coast, and the 65th Brigade was chasing the retreating US troops along the east coast.

At noon on January 4, 1942, the 65th Brigade and the 48th Division handed over the front line, and at the same time received supplementary equipment such as tanks, mountain artillery, and field artillery.Akira Nara, the head of the 65th Brigade, was even more optimistic than Honma after picking up the bargain. He didn't take the resistance of the US military into his plan at all, and the following situation seemed to verify this fact.During the advance of the Japanese army, there was not even a shadow of the US military. This made Nara even more impetuous. However, Nara actually made a mistake about the position of Bataan's main defense line. It's not that he was timid and afraid to fight, but that you haven't been able to reach his defense line.

Before the war, the Japanese collected information about the Philippines in every possible way, but only missed the part of Bataan. As a result, they could not even produce a detailed combat map before the battle.Both Nara and Honma are actually crossing the river by feeling the stones. Another point that cannot be ignored is that the 65th Brigade is a small brigade, unlike the U.S.-Philippines, who used cars to travel. As a result, they marched 300 kilometers on foot, and their feet were swollen. At most, they could only eat the U.S. cars. Just smoke and dust. Some people commented that the replacement of the 48th Division was due to the extraction of all the molars from Honma’s mouth, because the 48th Division was not only strong in numbers, but also a rare mechanized corps in the Japanese army. They used vehicles instead of walking, so at least In terms of maneuvering speed, it can compete with the US military.

After changing the dentures of the 65th Brigade, there was no air leakage in the mouth, but everything changed. It is no wonder that Honma's mouth does not have a fever, swelling and pain. While the Japanese army was rushing on their way, even the U.S. troops who fell behind had entered the main defensive position.It is a pity that Nara is still kept in the dark. He also compared the U.S. military to a fleeing snake, and naively made a tactical concept: I want to catch the tail of the snake. If the tail is caught, the snake will definitely turn back and fight back. The snake whacked. Where is the snake's tail? On January 9, 1942, the advance troops of the 65th Brigade finally found clues at the foot of Mount Nati, and they found that there was an American position there.

According to Nara's instructions, the advance troops hurried forward to "catch the tail".Unexpectedly, this tail was no ordinary tail, it was like an iron broom. MacArthur set up three lines of defense for Bataan.As early as a year ago, he sent his intelligence department and engineering department to conduct a three-week survey of the peninsula, and then began to build positions and ammunition depots. All the projects took half a year to complete. This is a standard high-quality fortification, and the US and Philippine troops often conduct field exercises in the fortification.Mai Shuai believes that it has the ability to stop tens of thousands of enemy troops at least within half a year.

The Nadi Line was the first of the three lines of defense.Mount Nadi is 1,000 meters above sea level, and its ridges stretch to the coast, mostly in forested areas. Therefore, the defensive fortifications are mainly concentrated on the coastal road, covered with barbed wire and machine gun positions.The designers and builders did not forget to play the role of the forest, and they cleverly used the dense forest to build temporary artillery positions. The Japanese army broke into here recklessly, just like a person with unknown terrain suddenly jumped into someone's garden. The owner has long been waiting with a pole.

The terrain on the front of the defense had already been calibrated, and the US-made 150mm howitzer shells were fired without fail, hitting all the Japanese troops in the front row without leaving any armor.The advance team suddenly became a mess, and the rest of them quickly hid in the jungle.But it's not a problem to just hide, you have to eat.As soon as the fireworks were lit, the U.S. military saw it and fired again, so there was no need to eat now. The advance team was in a dilemma, so they had to lie on the ground hungry and count the shells. This became a joke after the end of World War II.

Nara was shocked when he received the report. Originally, he planned to use four old-style artillery to destroy the defense line to achieve the effect of "beating the snake". He never expected that the Bataan defense line would be so strong. The four old artillery pieces were obviously not enough, and Nara pushed all the mountain artillery, field artillery, heavy artillery, and tank artillery allocated to him to the front line.This is the first time since the Japanese army landed in the Philippines, a mixed artillery group was used to launch concentrated shooting.All the artillery fired fiercely as if they had eaten gunpowder. Some American veterans who had experienced World War I said that the intensity exceeded any battle they had experienced before.

Nara expected to kill the U.S. military with one punch, or at least suffer a concussion.But things backfired, the other side didn’t buy it, you use cannons, I also use cannons, you pretend to be a wolf with a big tail, I have hooks, points, blades, and thorns here, and none of them is idle . The Japanese attack ran aground.Based on intelligence, Honma thought that there were only 25,000 U.S. and Philippine troops in Bataan, but there were actually 80,000.In terms of morale, the U.S. and Philippine troops were not as frightened as Honma thought. On the contrary, it was widely rumored that the United States was about to send a large number of reinforcements to the Philippines.

At the same time, the U.S.-Philippines Army also has a major spiritual pillar, that is MacArthur.As a World War I hero who was more famous than Patton, Mai Shuai was determined and commanded well. The success of Bataan's retreat has proved this well. In addition, he was familiar with the terrain of Bataan, so almost every soldier believed that this was the case. The battle has begun. On January 10, 1942, MacArthur crossed the strait and came to Bataan from Corregidor Island in order to see the battle on the front line with his own eyes and to inspire the army. That morning, the West Coast Radio Station of the United States released a message: "Reinforcements are definitely on the way, and we must persist until the arrival of reinforcements." The release of this news and MacArthur's presence on the front line made the officers and soldiers very excited.MacArthur shook the hands of the officers and reassured them again: "Reinforcements are indeed on the way, and you will win if you persist." MacArthur was satisfied with the situation on the front line. After returning to Corregidor Island, he confidently told Philippine President Quezon: "I can stay in Bataan and Corregidor Island for several months." The tenacious resistance of the US-Philippines made it difficult for Honma to adapt for a while.On the day MacArthur went to the front line in person, he sent a letter of persuasion. In addition to fighting wars, one of Honma's amateur hobbies is to develop into the field of literature and art. He can do painting, poetry, and script writing.Now that he has engaged in art, Honma has a side of Qiong Yao's drama deep in his heart. In the letter, he first threatened with a guru-like tone: "Your fate is fixed, and the end is coming. How long will you have to resist?" When?" Then he changed the subject, praised the courage and fighting will of the U.S. military, and then told MacArthur "persuasively and persuasively", "Your reputation and honor have been preserved", and you will not be afraid of losing face if you come out and surrender. His face was full of wrinkles and he wanted to show off his cuteness. MacArthur didn't have time to play this kind of word games with Honma. He threw the letter of persuasion into the wastebasket.