The first thousand and ninety-four chapters fall short
The answer is yes. Half an hour later, just when MacArthur breathed a sigh of relief and thought that the Japanese army was at the end of its rope, something unexpected happened. More than a hundred Japanese fighter planes appeared over the battlefield, and the first discovery was relayed back from the frontline scouts. From the time the Japanese planes reported to the time when the Japanese fighter planes appeared in the field of vision, this process never took more than twenty minutes. Twenty minutes was not a short time, but it was far from enough for MacArthur, even though the U.S. military's combat efficiency had improved. Even though they strengthened the construction of air defense forces, just like the contradictory relationship, no matter how tough the shield was, it still belonged to the defensive side and could not take the initiative. So, just as MacArthur was most worried about, the war began to deviate from the direction he expected and gradually diverged. out of his control.
"What I was sure of at the time was that General Sasaki was quite emotionally conflicted when he decided to launch the attack. Now I know that the reason why he did this was because he knew at the time what damage it would cause to the Allied forces. However, Then again, General Sasaki only acted according to orders. It can be seen that the movements of the US military were already anticipated by Koizumi Minichiro..." This is what a well-known Japanese military historian later wrote in his historical biography "Pacific War" Because Japan was actually under the control of China at that time, other well-known military historians in the world, especially the United States, generally criticized him as flattering the Chinese government and not an objective conclusion.
At that time, Shota Sasaki's true identity had been made public. In China, he was a national hero. In Japan, he was also an elite spy in positive propaganda materials. Of course, because he was actually responsible for the failure of the US military's New Guinea counterattack. The biggest factor is that Westerners, especially Americans, certainly cannot have words of praise for him, so he has become a figure on both ends of the spectrum of "whether he is a hero or a criminal" in the West. The scapegoat for failure.
"Hundreds of bombs fell from high altitudes, and the brothers could only run around looking for possible bomb-proof bunkers... At first we thought victory was easy, but now we know that this is just a trap set by the Japanese..."
"We are very surprised why the fighter planes guarding our airspace suddenly disappeared. If they are still there, I think the Japanese Air Force cannot be so rampant..."
...These words are taken from the memoirs of several surviving American soldiers in the Battle of Wabao. Through the memories of these American soldiers, it is not difficult for us to judge that the result of the battle at that time was that the Americans lost. As for how miserably the Americans lost, maybe we You can find out below from some of the top secret documents from the U.S. government.
"The North African battlefield has always been of great concern to the government. However, due to the failure of the counteroffensive in New Guinea, the government considered Australia's security issues and had to transfer a large number of troops that had originally decided to go to North Africa to Australia. As a result, the Chinese gained the Opportunities for North Africa to make a mark…”
"On the surface, General MacArthur's dismissal seemed to be an unfavorable punishment from the White House for his command of the New Guinea counterattack. In fact, the author believes that this was a compromise between the US government and the Japanese army and the Chinese government. The reason why the government sent troops to New Guinea at any cost , defeating Japan and seizing the dominant position in the Pacific is the ultimate goal. Regrettably, although the government is determined to be unprecedented, the frontline officers and soldiers are not up to par. In this era when victory determines everything, the U.S. government is therefore suppressed by the Chinese government. It’s inevitable…”
In Chongqing, after the news that "MacArthur led the remnant army to retreat to Australia" was verified, in the conference room on the third floor of the Supreme Command, Ouyang Yun stretched and said, "What a pity." Then he stood up and strode away.
"Yankee." Feng Yuxiang stood up immediately, said a few words, then shook his head and left.
Among all the people, Chen Cheng looked the ugliest. He sat there frozen, as if his troops had lost the battle.
"How could this happen, MacArthur?" Zhang Xueliang stood up and looked at Chen Cheng and said, stopped mid-sentence, then stood up and left.
"Mud can't hold up a wall." It was Bai Chongxi who said this. He looked at Chen Cheng as he said, then picked up his document bag and left with the same stride.
"Old Chen, Americans are really not worth looking forward to. I say, you should face reality." Song Ziwen was the last one to rush to the conference room. The reason why he came here is because he now has another identity as the United Nations Coordinating Ambassador.
From the original standpoints of Song Ziwen and Chen Cheng, the former should be the die-hard "American Party". However, because he and Ouyang Yun were getting closer and closer, Song Ziwen was increasingly influenced by the latter, and gradually became After seeing through the essence of the United States, he gradually began to disdain it. But now, because of this failure of the US military, it is foreseeable that he will definitely ignore the existence of the United States in the United Nations even more.
When Chen Cheng became the "American Party" is still a mystery within the Supreme Command. However, considering that during the central government era, he was the second person under the veteran generals, and after Chiang Kai-shek became the president, he became the number one person in the central military. It seems that it is not difficult to understand his current pro-American stance. Of course, because Americans are so unsatisfactory, his tendency is now more like a failed investment.
Returning to the Wabaluo front line, when a large Japanese force appeared on the left wing, that is, in the west direction, the US front-line commanders led by Simon did not take it seriously. However, when more than a hundred Japanese fighter planes appeared above their heads, Simon and others Everyone was shocked.
On the battlefield, what are the armored forces most afraid of? For Americans, the Japanese ground special attack forces are certainly one of them, but compared to the Japanese air forces, the special attack threat on the ground can simply be ignored.
When General Jin summoned his fighter jets back, although Simon and others were surprised, they did not express much dissatisfaction. The sense of honor of the military was at play. Simon believed that he could defeat the Japanese ground troops in front of him with his own strength. Does it mean that we can't fight without the support of the air force?" However, this does not mean that they have the courage to face the Japanese air force directly.
Therefore, when densely packed Japanese troops appeared over the battlefield and began bombing recklessly, shooting at U.S. tanks and infantry, Simon's 3rd reinforced armored brigade was the first to collapse.
The Americans had no choice but to collapse. Take the Third Reinforced Armored Brigade as an example. Although their tanks were equipped with anti-aircraft weapons, the Japanese pilots were prepared to "break the enemy" before taking off. Therefore, not only did their anti-aircraft firepower fail, Being able to stop the Japanese Air Force's offensive made the Japanese pilots even more excited.
One side was timid and the other attacked bravely, and the results were no exception. From this point of view alone, it is not an accident that MacArthur's counterattack on New Guinea ultimately failed.