Before the Second Expeditionary Force landed on the Philippine Islands, MacArthur was planning to establish a joint command. To this end, he exchanged telegrams with Marshall no less than ten times and even got angry, but in the end he failed to get any practical information from Washington.
Support. After seeing the power of the Xuebing Army, the old American became even more enthusiastic about it. When official channels failed, he turned to private channels. During this time, he got very close to Guo Kui, and this was his idea.
The U.S. and Philippine troops combined have nearly 200,000 people, including land, sea and air. The Second Expeditionary Army has less than 40,000 people. If a joint command is really to be established, the Americans will definitely be the boss. This is exactly what Ouyang Yun is most interested in.
Taboo. Ouyang Yun once paid special attention to this matter. At that time, he said very bluntly: "I don't believe the Americans! The lives of American soldiers are precious, aren't the lives of our trainees precious? I can help them fight the war.
, but I will never stupidly send my brothers to be cannon fodder. Lao Guo, you can fight the Japanese, but you must firmly grasp the initiative, remember!?"
With the Commander-in-Chief's special care, Guo Kui was not interested in forming a joint command at all. The old American man mentioned it once a few days ago, but got no response and made a big fuss. But now he mentioned it again, but there is nothing he can do about it.
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Guo Kui and Huang Hua had discussed this issue before coming to MacArthur. They also felt that if they wanted to defend Zamboanga, they must establish a joint command headquarters to uniformly command all participating troops. Of course, in order to firmly grasp the initiative within their own
The bottom line is that the highest decision-making power of the Joint Command naturally belongs to the Second Expeditionary Force. The old American man brought it up first, which saved them a lot of saliva. Guo Kui and Huang Hua looked at each other and said: "Under the current situation,
It is necessary to establish a joint command. We have only one requirement: the frontline combat troops must be under the unified command of our army. Moreover, our army has the power to punish those troops and generals who fail to fight well!"
"Impossible!" MacArthur flatly refused: "Two generals, please note that we are in the Philippines now. Moreover, the main force in this battle must be our American Far East Force."
"No, no, no -" Guo Kui shook his head: "Commander-in-Chief, I don't agree with what you said. Yes, this is the Philippines, and we are just guest troops. But based on my observations during this period, although your army also claimed
Elite, but not enough to challenge the Japanese army. Therefore, if you really want to defeat the Japanese attack this time, you must rely on our Second Expeditionary Army!",
Guo Kui was so brazen that MacArthur laughed angrily and glared at him: "What do you mean, without your Xuebingjun, we wouldn't be able to win this battle?"
Guo Kui looked at him calmly and said firmly: "Yes!"
Huang Huadao: "General MacArthur, we still don't know how many marines the Japanese have dispatched, but they have aircraft and naval guns. On this point, we have lost. Let's make an assumption first. Even if we are willing to move the mountainous area
The command of the second brigade is entrusted to you, but do you have the confidence to persist until the mixed fleet arrives with the current troops in Zamboanga?"
"Do you have this confidence?"
"Yes! Fight with less and fight with more. Our student army has no shortage of examples of this. Even if the Japanese have 20,000 people, I think if they are commanded by General Xiao Anbao, he will definitely be able to hold on for twenty-four hours!"
"What if we lose? If Zamboanga is lost, then we will be passive as a whole!"
"There is no such thing as a chance. The war is a gamble. If it is commanded by our army, our Second Mountain Brigade will be the main force. They have nearly 4,000 people. If the Japanese army does not have aircraft and naval guns, I think they can at least be worth it.
Ten thousand Japanese troops. Even if there are 20,000 Japanese troops, your army's 61st Division, 81st Division and 101st Division, plus the garrison of Basilan Island, total more than 20,000 people. How can they even defeat the 10,000 Japanese troops?
But?"
MacArthur fell into deep thought with a gloomy face. As a soldier, honor comes first, and the ownership of command is undoubtedly related to this. In the Philippines, the number of American soldiers is not large, but they are the absolute main force of the US-Philippine joint force. Not only that.
, the commanders of all front-line units of the joint force were all Americans. They were used to dictating to the Philippine army, but now they had to change their roles and become the one who was guided. MacArthur felt that even if he could endure the humiliation and accept the heavy burden, the officers below would also
I don't agree. In that case, the establishment of the joint command will only be counterproductive.
The old American man had a gloomy look on his face when a communications staff officer came in shouting a report. While unfolding the folder, he said: "Your Excellency, Commander, there is a call from Washington. Our country has declared war on Japan."
When he passed by Huang Hua, Huang Hua took a quick look, his eyes immediately widened, and he asked the staff officer in an unbelievable tone: "Did the Japanese Combined Fleet sneak attack on your Pacific Fleet?"
In order to avoid causing panic to the troops below, MacArthur ordered the news to be blocked. Therefore, Guo Kui and Huang Hua had just learned of the news.
Guo Kui was also surprised and asked MacArthur: "When did it happen? How is the war situation?"
MacArthur knew that he could no longer hide it from them, so he glared at the communications staff officer and said in a deep voice: "I have just received a domestic notification that the Japanese Combined Fleet dispatched seven aircraft carriers and several auxiliary ships to sneak attack me at around one o'clock local time.
Pearl Harbor Naval Base, our Pacific Fleet - annihilated!" He almost said the words "annihilated" through gritted teeth, and the old American man actually had tears in his eyes.
"The Japanese mainland is several thousand kilometers away from Hawaii, right?" Huang Hua murmured, then shook his head and exclaimed: "md, the Japanese are so fucking crazy!"
However, Guo Kui thought of the Western Expedition Fleet's sudden crossing of the Sulu Sea Line and said: "It seems that the Japanese attack on Zamboanga has been planned for a long time! Commander-in-Chief MacArthur, make a decision quickly. The military situation is like a fire, and it has already been
Too much delay!"
MacArthur stared at them again and said word by word: "The battle of Zamboanga will be commanded by General Xiao Anbao. However, if they can't insist on the mixed fleet coming for reinforcements, then the highest decision-making power of the joint command must belong to us!"
Guo Kui: "No problem! However, please let General Sharp cooperate with General Xiao's work."
"There is no problem with this. I will generate electricity and ask Sharp to fully cooperate!"
"Then it's decided! MacArthur, now that things have happened, let's think about what's next. The Japanese may be rampant for a while, but I believe that the one who wins in the end must be the righteous party!" Guo Kui left this sentence