There were still more than ten kilometers away from Kapatagan, and a regiment was completely lost. After Sawada saw Shinoda Hayabusa, he couldn't help but feel cold after hearing his adjutant's report. He opened his one eye wide and looked at the surrounding mountains and forests. I felt a trace of murderous intent bursting out of it, and after careful consideration, I reluctantly issued the order to camp on the spot.
Fighting at night has never been the strength of the Imperial Army, and it is still the Fourth Division. Regardless of Sawada Shigeru's personal troop commanding ability, his tactical literacy is still good.
When this order was passed on, it was immediately supported by the lower-level officers and soldiers. The Japanese soldiers happily set up tents and set up cordons. Their morale suddenly increased by at least ten percentage points. Shinoda Hayabusa noticed this while lying on a stretcher and became angry. I almost vomited blood again,
Shinoda Hayabusa had the experience of serving in the Sixth Division before. After being transferred to the Marine Corps, in his opinion, the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps was already low, but now compared with the Fourth Division, any Marine Corps Even though it was presented as a powerful army, the fire of hope in his heart was completely extinguished, and he no longer had any confidence in the war the next day.
In the headquarters of the aircraft carrier "Ryujo" Koizumi Minichiro, Koizumi listened to Hatano read out the call from Sawada Shigeru. The kid was so angry that he turned livid and threw a tea cup and a water bottle. He cursed "bastard, trash" over and over again. , ordered Hatono to call and question him. After calming down, he thought about it and looked at the terrain in the Kapatagan area again and again. In desperation, he had to surrender his identity and personally call Sawada Shigeru in order to force Akatsuki to do so. He hoped that they could fight a good battle tomorrow to help the entire army build confidence. In this telegram, he wrote: "The Americans will definitely withdraw to Australia. The next war in the Philippines will be between us and the Chinese." In the competition between the two countries, the imperial forces are limited. If they want to completely occupy the Philippines, they can only rely on the local people. When the Cadet Army was in the French Indochina Federation, they created the National Independence Liberation Army to compete with us. So in the final analysis, this will This is a battle for the hearts and minds of the Filipino people...If we fail, not only will the Filipinos lose confidence in us, but the Indonesians will also be shaken, so no matter what, please win this battle, I really ask for it."
Deep down in his heart, Koizumi already regretted integrating the Osaka Division into the Western Expedition Fleet. Originally, he hoped to use this action to create the fact that the Navy commanded the Army, thinking that it would create momentum for the Navy Ministry to further control the Military Headquarters, but now it seems , he obviously underestimated the bad nature of Osaka 4th Division, Shinoda Hayabusa, Rukawa Kenichi... These people are indeed capable, but now it seems that it is unreasonable to use them to change the fighting face of Osaka 4th Division. think,
In Koizumi's plan, once these people can change the combat outlook of his troops, they can gradually take over the positions of former senior leaders of the Fourth Division such as Shigeru Sawada in the future. After this approach fails, he has to continue to rely on Shigeru Sawada and others. With the power of people, Ouyang Yun's painstakingly planned "stealing the sky and exchanging the sun" plan finally had a chance to develop again. Wang Mingcheng, Jiang Yige and other low-level and middle-level officers of the former Fourth Division who were destined to be eliminated were able to surface. He became a talent that was once ignored by Koizumi.
It is necessary to mention the organizational issue of the Fourth Division here. The Japanese Army began to change the four-four system to the three-three system in the mid-1940s, that is, one division is under the jurisdiction of three regiments, and one regiment is under the jurisdiction of three brigades. However, because the Fourth Division has been on Hainan Island, it has always been a four-four system until it was driven out of Hainan Island.
The organizational structure of the Japanese Marine Corps is a two-two-three system, that is, each division has two brigades, each brigade has two regiments, and each regiment has three brigades.
After the Fourth Division fled to Singapore, there happened to be a big gap in its soldiers. Koizumi gave instructions to reorganize it according to the Marine Corps' organizational system. So the Fourth Division still had two brigades under its jurisdiction, but the size of the regiment had shrunk. Five brigades became three brigades,
There are two brigades, one is the 4th Brigade with Rukawa Kenichi as the brigade commander, and the other is the Shinoda Brigade with Shinoda Hayabusa as the brigade commander.
The commander of the fourth brigade was originally Gu Xianyi in Wang Mingcheng's disguise (he will be called Gu Xianyi from now on), but after Rukawa Kenichi took over, Gu Xianyi was demoted one level due to the impact of the defeat in Hainan. , was re-awarded as deputy brigade commander of the 4th Brigade,
Koizumi had plans for the Fourth Division, and Sawada Shigeru was well aware of this. The old Japanese had served as the brigade commander of the Fourth Division for more than two years. At the beginning, he had ambitions to change the structure of this unit through his own efforts. Appearance, of course, the formation of the Fourth Division's current style did not happen overnight, so after his efforts failed, he gave up. In addition, he was also very aware of the battle between the navy and the army in the military department. , so after being forced to evacuate to Singapore, there was no hope that there would be a chance to turn around.
This mentality resulted in his somewhat detached attitude, and was also the fundamental reason why he vigorously cooperated with Koizumi in transforming the Fourth Division, because he didn't care at all.
"Just think of it as doing your best for His Majesty the Emperor." The old devil once comforted himself,
Koizumi's heartfelt telegram was an exception. After receiving this telegram, the old Japanese carefully read it three times. The extinguished flame in his heart was slowly ignited. Then, he thought seriously about it for a long time with a battery lamp. , after thinking over and over again, I decided to give it one last try.
At about three o'clock in the morning, he personally drafted a telegram and sent it to Koizumi.
Koizumi was still awake at this time, and the Hosho aircraft carrier fleet led by Soma Masabumi had already sailed to the Verde Island waterway. He sent a telegram to ask for instructions whether to land directly from the nearby Calatagan area, or to directly attack the heavily guarded U.S. troops. of Manila Bay,
Koizumi was also hesitant about this. Through the intercepted U.S. military telegrams, he was sure that the withdrawal of U.S. troops in the Philippines would be a matter of time. He also knew that the maritime power of the Western Expedition Fleet alone was not enough to prevent the U.S. military from retreating to Australia. , then attacking Manila Bay at this time is a bit unnecessary. However, because the Combined Fleet Command called him again, hoping to capture MacArthur alive and hang the Americans in the Imperial Palace Square in Tokyo, so he decided to directly capture Manila Bay and then destroy Manila. The US military headquarters in the Philippines couldn't help but be very tempted.
Feeling that his brain was a little exhausted, the kid was about to go out to take a breath, and Hatano came in holding a telegram from Sawada Shigeru.
Sawada Shigeru sent this telegram in the middle of the night, with only one central meaning. He believed that the time to attack Kapatagan was not yet mature. He suggested waiting until the Hosho aircraft carrier fleet completely controlled Manila and established a land frontline airport. Moreover, he also mentioned Several of his officers believed that Koizumi could consider giving them more time to train the Philippine and Indonesian troops. In the telegram, Sawada Shigeru admitted unequivocally that without the addition of other new forces, the Fourth Brigade and the surrender to the Philippines alone would be impossible. The army is not the opponent of the student army at all, which will inevitably severely damage the morale of the defeated Philippine army. It is recommended to change the offensive battle into a protracted war, and use the superior aviation force to gradually consume the effective strength of the student army, while deterring the Filipinos and attracting them. Join the Imperial Army...