On the Zamboanga front line, in the headquarters of the 61st Infantry Division of the Philippines, Major General William Sharp slammed the telegram personally signed by MacArthur on the table in front of him, and said to the commander of the 61st Division, Marunan: "MacArthur is crazy, he actually let us Listen to the command of the Chinese. The Chinese are not familiar with the terrain here at all. If it is really their command, it would be better to abandon Zamboanga directly."
Malunan: "General, let's go."
"Let's go, let's go to the Chinese positions first and then talk."
He had just walked out of the headquarters when a shrill air-raid siren sounded. The American soldiers and Filipino soldiers outside suddenly ran around like bees that had exploded their nests. As they ran, they shouted: "No, the Japanese are attacking." Coming over."
The headquarters of the 61st Division was located on a three-slope fifteen kilometers west of Zamboanga City. Sharp and Marunan turned their heads to hope and saw twelve Japanese planes flying in neat formation towards their positions. Malunan's expression immediately changed and he said, "General, let's hide in the air-raid shelter first."
Sharp nodded, and the two of them immediately chose an air-raid shelter next to the headquarters and got into it, escorted by a group of guards.
MacArthur was worried about the impact on morale and had not yet made the attack on Pearl Harbor public. Therefore, although Sharp and others received combat preparation orders, they were not sure that the Japanese army would definitely launch an attack. Therefore, this round of Japanese air raids They seemed a bit abrupt, and even suspected of fighting without declaring it.
This round of air raids by the Japanese army was actually to test and lure the enemy. In the high-altitude clouds behind the twelve Type 97 warships, twelve Zero Fighters were slowly advancing at this time.
Less than five minutes after Sharp and Malunan entered the air-raid shelter, the sound of "oo" sounded and the Japanese planes began to drop bombs.
Aerial bombs fell on the position of the 61st Infantry Division. Soon, the Filipinos came to work, and the fortifications supervised by American soldiers were overturned in the explosion.
This round of air strikes lasted for about ten minutes before ending. A quarter of an hour later, it was confirmed that the Japanese planes had returned. Sharp, Marunan and others walked out of the air raid shelter. The two first inspected their own positions, and then looked at the neighboring positions not far away. The Xue Bingjun's position turned ugly, and Sharp cursed: "Why do these idiots only bomb our positions? It makes no sense."
Malunan frowned slightly and said, "Isn't our position too conspicuous?"
Sharp picked up his binoculars and looked towards the cadet army's position. In the trench closest to them, he saw several cadets dragging a section of tree and placing it on top of the trench. He thought to himself: "The Chinese are quite good at civil construction." Experts, is this why they can continue the stalemate with the Japanese army in South China?"
"Report, Major General Xiao Anbao, commander of the Second Brigade of the 1st Mountain Division, wants to see you." Suddenly, a U.S. Army second lieutenant reported to him loudly,
Sharp realized that the other party was here to accept the command, and his mood became more and more depressed. He gritted his teeth and said solemnly: "Please come over." Everyone is a major general, but he commands three divisions, while Xiao Anbao only has one brigade, so in In Sharp's view, even if a joint command was to be established, he should be the head coach. Naturally, he would not dare to disobey MacArthur's order, but it should be okay to give Xiao Anbao a little look. Otherwise, the Chinese would really think that he was missing out. They can't defend the Philippines.
Sharp made up his mind to give Xiao Anbao a swagger. However, since Xiao Anbao dared to take the initiative to accept the command, how could he be afraid of his mere swagger?
When the Japanese planes were still bombing, Xiao Anbao came out. Because he had previously made suggestions to Sharp, pointing out that the fortifications should be more concealed, and at the same time, some camouflage could be built to confuse the Japanese army, so the first sentence he said when he saw Sharp and Marunan That is: "Didn't I tell you to carry out camouflage? You can't withstand even one air strike. Once the Japanese army launches a landing, how will you defend it?"
Sharp was waiting for him to propose the transfer of command so that he could have an opportunity to have an attack. Hearing this, he was speechless. Facts speak louder than words. The Xuebing Army's position was unscathed. Not only was his position destroyed by the bombing, but the soldiers There were also a certain amount of casualties. If the Japanese army really chose to land here, how should they defend it? I was already angry, but now I was lectured again, but I couldn't refute it. Sharp's face turned red, and he was so ashamed and angry. die,
Regarding the establishment of a joint command, Sharp and Malunan have not conveyed it yet, so in the eyes of their subordinates, Xiao Anbao's lecture was a naked sarcasm. A brigade commander under Malunan immediately countered: "Our The position is destroyed. Isn't your position intact? If the Japanese army really launches a landing battle, it will be enough for your cadet troops to attack." After saying this, he saw Xiao Anbao and the several cadets behind him with unkind expressions. Staring at himself, he turned around and looked around, and found that the expressions of his colleagues all looked as if they were convinced. They thought it would be a good idea to sell Sharp. He became more and more interested, and continued: "If a complete defensive position alone can block the If the Japanese attack, then why do we need guns and artillery? All we need is a shovel, gentlemen, don’t you think so, haha.”
"Hahaha." The other Filipinos also laughed wantonly,
Amid the laughter of the Filipinos, Xiao Anbao's expression remained normal, but his guard and battalion commander Lu Da couldn't hold it in anymore. Lu Da glared at all the Filipinos and said to Xiao Anbao: "MD, you are such a bunch of trash. , Traveler, I think we should all do our own thing."
Xiao Anbao glared at him coldly and said: "Are the lives of brothers so worthless? Can't you see? If the little devil really launches an attack, these guys will definitely run away."
Lu Da's expression was stagnant, he touched his nose and said, "What should we do?"
"Wang Mintian, give them the telegram." Xiao Anbao said to the adjutant behind him,
Wang Mintian responded, stepped forward, opened the document package, and handed the two telegrams from the US military headquarters in the Philippines and the Second Expeditionary Force headquarters to Sharp at the same time. He said in English: "General Sharp, we are here to accept the order." You have the authority to command the army, please check it."
Everyone in the Philippines understood this sentence, and many people's expressions immediately became strange. The brigade commander said in a weird voice: "Is that wrong? Why are the Chinese commanding us? This is the Philippines."
"Shut up." Sharp shouted suddenly, then he read the two telegrams, signed his name and handed them back to Wang Mintian, saying: "I received the order, and I obey the order." Then he turned around. He said to Malunan: "From now on, you still have the 81st Division and the 101st Division will be under the command of General Xiao."
Ma Lunan looked at Xiao Anbao and said yes,
The Filipinos were in an uproar, while the American officers and soldiers behind Sharp looked at Xiao Anbao with an unkind expression.
Sharp and Xiao Anbao looked at each other and said expressionlessly: "I have handed over the command to you. I will wait and see how General Xiao defeats the Japanese army."
Xiao Anbao grinned slightly and said in English: "General Sharp, you are wrong. It is not how I defeated the Japanese army, but how we defeated the Japanese army. Is it just a matter of our cadet army to defend the Philippines? Or I can understand it as, You have no intention of holding on to the Philippines."
Sharp was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes widened in embarrassment; Marunan began to think thoughtfully.