Chapter 50 Prince Consort War Gilded

With the fall of Bataan, Corregidor Island had become an isolated island in Manila Bay, and the external traffic by sea, land and air was cut off, and the Japanese army also took advantage of the situation to complete the siege of this isolated island.From Honma's point of view, as long as the siege is maintained and the island is not attacked, Corregidor Island will surrender due to running out of ammunition and food just like Bataan. The days like this will not be very long, and you can count them with your fingers . But now that even Bataan has been taken down, is it possible to leave a fortress that is only four kilometers away from the southern tip of the Bataan Peninsula from attacking?The taste is like honey rubbed on the nose, you can smell it, but you can't lick it, it makes people unwilling.

Although siege is also a tactical method, it is rarely used in the Japanese army. The main reason is that it feels lacking in momentum and cannot show the "like rainbow fighting spirit" of Japanese soldiers.In the depths of Honma's heart, he actually thinks so, and he tends to be conservative and prudent only because he suffered a big loss when he attacked Bataan for the first time. The seemingly easy process of occupying Bataan this time is like picking up gold ingots in the middle of the night, which makes Honma's evil heart ready to move again-the war is like a thousand horses galloping, and we can't wait any longer, let alone the kind of people in the base camp. The mentality of desperately trying to save face will not allow me to wait, so let's fight!

On April 10, 1942, Honma issued an order to prepare for an attack on Corregidor Island.It was the artillery group that blasted the Bataan defense line before. After the order was issued, the Japanese army immediately began to deploy artillery positions. There are heavy artillery and giant cannons here, and there are also ones over there, and the volume is even larger.As a symbol of the United States' defense of the Philippines, Corregidor Island is a highly modern military fortress. The caliber is also above 200mm on average. Based on the sea distance of four kilometers, the defenders of Corregidor Island can see the activities of the Japanese army with the naked eye. You have to ostentatiously arrange artillery positions. Their 300mm artillery is not a vegetarian.In this way, the Japanese army could only work secretly, and it was not until three days later that the deployment of the concealed position was finally completed.

No one expected that it would take so much effort to build a position, which caught both the base camp and Prince Shenghou by surprise. Sheng Hou is the son-in-law of Emperor Hirohito. He was born in artillery. He was gilded in the Battle of Nisso Nomonkan, but the gilding was not smooth. The Japanese artillery could not compete with the Soviet artillery. During the artillery battle, a wheel of a cannon wheel exploded and injured Shenghou.Seeing that the situation was not good, the base camp hurriedly sent a plane to take Sheng Hou to the rear. The Bataan artillery battle gave Sheng Hou another opportunity. He was eager to show his strength in front of his father-in-law, so he repeatedly asked for volunteers to join the war on the grounds that the royal family wanted to serve the country first.The General Staff Headquarters was very troubled by this, if you don't agree, the son-in-law will not let you go; if you agree, if there is a mistake like the battle of Nuomenkan, there is no way to explain it.

Finally, he came up with a clever solution. It was estimated that the war in the Philippines was about to end, so he let Sheng Hou set off.The wishful thinking of the base camp is to let the prince make enough money without risk, and at the same time use this to flatter the emperor. However, due to the delay of the attack, when Sheng Hou arrived, it was the day when the artillery battle started.When he came, he couldn't turn around and slip away. Sheng Hou immediately reported to Honma and asked to be sent to the artillery headquarters ahead. On April 14, 1942, the Japanese bombarded Corregidor Island, and Wainwright ordered a counterattack.

The level of the American gunners was not bad. An artillery squadron fought vigorously and threw a full 300 kilograms of shells into the Japanese artillery positions, causing the Japanese soldiers to scream.The other squadrons were not far behind, scrambling to "sell their own shell porridge" to the other side. The biggest disadvantage of the U.S. artillery is that they do not have the assistance of the Air Force. To determine who to shoot, they can only look at the map, or rely on the observation post set up at the commanding heights, otherwise the opponent's artillery will be beaten to the ground.In comparison, although the Japanese artillery can use balloon observers to indicate every target on the island, because the US artillery positions are mainly located on the reverse slope of the high ground, there are also problems with unsatisfactory observation and shooting effects.

The artillery battle lasted for nearly a week, and the outcome was undecided. The eyes of the whole world were focused on it. The United States issued a broadcast to foreign countries: "Singapore has fallen, and Corregidor Island is safe and sound." Similar content was promoted day and night, and it was played repeatedly tirelessly, which greatly affected the mood of the 14th Army.Needless to say, Sheng Hou, who came all the way to gilt, was locked up as soon as he arrived. Although he stayed in the artillery headquarters and was not in danger of being blown to death, the sound of artillery was rumbling all day long, and he didn't know when he would be able to get out of the trap, no matter what. A very unfortunate thing.Honma and the others were even more troubled, anxious secretly. When the Japanese soldiers on the front heard the American broadcast, they could only grit their teeth and scream, "Let's see!"

It seems that Honma has returned to the predicament of the first Bataan offensive and defensive battle, but on April 19, 1942, a shell changed the entire battle situation.