Chapter 48 Surrender is really not what I want

The characteristics of the Fourth Division's battles are: when it is strong, it is weak, and when it is weak, it is strong. People in Osaka are very realistic. It’s better to take it easy when fighting against a strong enemy. Let’s forget about the “Long Live Assault”. If you die as many as you can, you’ll be lucky enough to survive from the dead. If you’re missing an arm or a leg, go home and set up a stall Selling vegetables is not good. In their eyes, meritorious service and advancement are all floating clouds. Only when you are alive can you continue to negotiate conditions. If you die, you will be covered with medals all over your body, so what?

But the Osaka people are very cunning. Seeing that the defensive positions of the US and Philippine troops have been destroyed, and the troops are very weak due to long-term hunger and disease, they immediately became excited and realized that this is an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the fire. . If you can live without dying, who wouldn't want to make meritorious deeds and advance?So the Fourth Division seemed to have taken a stimulant, and swarmed up. Fighting until dusk, the division had broken through the first position of the Samat line of defense. Since the attack was smoother than expected, all the Japanese soldiers were smiling, while the morale of the US and Philippine troops was low. Many people even lost their will to resist when the Japanese bombing started.

Benma's sad face disappeared. He had expected the US-Philippines to resist fiercely, so the tactic he planned at first was to take every step and defeat them one by one. Now that the US-Philippines are in such a poor state, it is obviously unnecessary to be overly cautious. He withdrew all restrictions on combat and demanded a continual assault from the ministries, giving no respite to the opponent. Under the ferocious attack of the Japanese army, the Samat line of defense has been torn open many times.In order to plug the gap, Jin had to rush into the reserve team to counterattack. The reserves were mobilized, but the advance was extremely difficult, as every road was crowded with retreating troops.After finally squeezing to the front, the original defense force had long since collapsed, and the reserve force had no choice but to counterattack and defend on the spot to cover the retreat of friendly troops.

On April 5, 1942, the Fourth Division made another big splash. They captured the top of Mount Samat, and the US-Philippines' second line of defense in Bataan fell.Wainwright had been observing the battle on Corregidor Island, and he saw the plaster flag rising on Mount Samat. Wainwright called MacArthur, saying that the war was approaching its limit, implying that the fall of Bataan was a foregone conclusion.MacArthur was so anxious that he was restless. At this time, some people suggested that the U.S. and Philippine troops surrender, but MacArthur firmly opposed it. He called Wainwright again and ordered the U.S. and Filipino troops not to surrender under any circumstances. , but also to force the Japanese to pay the maximum casualties.

Before going to Australia, MacArthur had prepared to personally organize a counterattack, and since then he has set this counterattack that was not implemented as a contingency plan.In the telegram to Wainwright, MacArthur attached a contingency plan and told Wainwright that if the troops were short of food and ammunition, they would launch a counterattack to seize the Japanese supply base in Subic Bay. Subic Bay is on the Bataan Peninsula. According to MacArthur, the Japanese troops pushed forward and the rear was relatively empty, so the counterattack was entirely possible.Even if the counterattack failed and the supplies were not seized, the U.S. and Philippine troops could take advantage of the situation and sneak into the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare with the Japanese.

Subsequently, MacArthur sent a telegram to Marshall, requesting him to return to the Philippines immediately and personally direct the counterattack. Marshall certainly would not approve MacArthur to take another risk.Although Wainwright issued the last order according to MacArthur's intentions, he knew very well that the US-Philippines army, which was on the verge of collapse, could hardly carry out this order. The Japanese infantry artillery attacked day and night, and the situation in Bataan became more and more critical day by day. Soon the third line of defense, the Mariveles line of defense, could no longer withstand it. On the evening of April 8, 1942, the command post set up by King on Mount Mariveles was captured by the Japanese army, and the entire defense line was divided into two sections. King lost the position and effective force to launch a counterattack.

In his final report to Wainwright, King sent this: "In just two days, an army has disappeared without a trace, and we have no more means of organized resistance." The pier behind Mariveles Mountain was crowded with soldiers who broke down and tried to flee to Corregidor Island, but there were only a few boats available at the pier, and most of them had no choice but to face the sea and the The sky wailed hopelessly: "The living will become heroes, but those whose bones are left in Bataan will be despised by the world, because they lost." Resistance has long been ineffective, and what awaits the soldiers will be death.Jin was a general who was deeply loved by the soldiers. At the time of his death, he did not leave his soldiers and escape by boat alone. At the same time, he also knew that MacArthur would not allow him to surrender, but in order to save the lives of the soldiers, he was willing to stand up alone. accept all responsibility and consequences.

At midnight, King sent a military envoy with a white flag to contact the Japanese army for an armistice. He did not report the situation to Wainwright, because Wainwright had just issued an order not to surrender, and the report could not have been approved. Wainwright learned of King's decision at 6:00 am on April 9, 1942. Surprised, he asked King to reconsider, but it was too late. At 9 o'clock in the morning, wearing a brand new major general uniform, Kim drove to the Japanese army headquarters and surrendered his pistol.His actions meant that all the more than 50,000 U.S. and Philippine troops on the Bataan battlefield surrendered. This was the largest surrender in the history of the U.S. military, and it also caused the U.S. Army to suffer the biggest defeat since its founding.

When the news reached Australia, MacArthur felt extremely depressed. He said sadly: "I know this day will always come, but the news of Major General Jin's surrender still shocked me. The light disappeared, and I really don't know when I can wake up .” A few months later, three American soldiers fled from Bataan to Australia. What they revealed made MacArthur fall into greater and deeper pain.