As soon as a ray of sunshine shone on the beach of Leyte Island, thousands of cannons of the Chinese Army began to fire. The shells trailed a long trail across the sky and poured onto the island. Groups of aircraft roared past the parked
Above the ship in Leyte Gulf, it flew towards Leyte Island. In an instant, thick black smoke columns rose from the ground.
At 8:30, on the sparkling 20-kilometer-wide blue sea, countless small black spots appeared rushing towards the coast. They were landing ships full of landing soldiers.
The landing went smoothly. The soldiers crossed several kilometers of sea in landing craft and then waded onto the beach, encountering little resistance.
Powerful and accurate naval gunfire has razed the few U.S. military strongholds near the beach to the ground. The U.S. military has long hid on the mountains overlooking the coast and drilled into the solid rock caves dug there to avoid the launch of Chinese naval battleships.
It is bombarded by artillery shells with a diameter of 406 mm and a weight of 1,000 kg.
The resistance encountered here was very weak. The Chinese ** team successfully occupied Leyte Island without paying any price.
Now, it was MacArthur's turn to worry.
He didn't know how confident he was to defend Luzon 1 when the Chinese launched a massive attack.
He has only 140,000 armed forces, including 19,000 US troops, 12,000 Philippine troops, 110,000 militiamen, and 108 light tanks. He has only 150 aircraft, including 35 B-17 bombers and P-40
There are 72 fighter jets, and the rest are outdated Philippine Air Force aircraft. There is only one airport that can be used by B-17 heavy bombers.
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However, he previously told the command authority in Washington that "there is no problem here." On the one hand, it shows that he is prepared, and on the other hand, it also shows that he has a paralyzing mind that underestimates the enemy based on mistakes in strategic judgment.
After MacArthur put down the phone, he hurriedly put on his clothes and drove to the US Army Far East Command located at No. 1 Victoria Street in Manila. At this time, deep down in his heart, he still did not believe that the Chinese would soon attack the Philippines.
At about 3 o'clock, he came to the office, where his assistants were already waiting for him. They seemed a little overwhelmed, and they were not very clear about the situation at that time. They didn't know how to respond, and they were just waiting for instructions from the commander-in-chief.
The b-17 took off and began to detect the movements of the Chinese. 1.
Around 11 o'clock, the B-17 bombers circling in the air returned to Clark Airport one after another. Three reconnaissance aircraft preparing to carry out reconnaissance missions were equipped with photographic equipment, and 15 bombers were equipped with bombs. P-17 bombers belonging to Iba and other airports were equipped with photographic equipment.
40 fighter jets were also parked on the apron for refueling or maintenance.//*...*//After a period of busyness, most of the pilots went to have lunch one after another, and the aircraft were parked on the ground of the airport in an orderly manner·Airport
There is not a single fighter jet conducting combat patrols in the sky, let alone air cover. This is the most fatal mistake among all the mistakes.
At 11:45, the radar soldier at Iba Airport discovered that the screen showed a large number of aircraft forming a forward triangular formation, divided into several groups and approaching Luzon Island. He was shocked and immediately called the Air Defense Alert Department of the Far East Aviation Command.
After receiving the report, the director of the division immediately called Clark Airport, but the line was out of order and could not be reached. He switched to the radio station to call, and the operators had gone to lunch. The director was furious and ordered
All radio stations kept calling Clark Airport, but no phone answered. Finally, thank God, a captain on duty at Clark Airport finally finished his meal, returned to the duty room, and picked up the phone receiver. When he heard
A piercing air raid siren was sounded soon after the announcement, but it was too late.
At 12:25, the rumbling aircraft motors and air defense sirens sounded almost simultaneously over Clark Airport. The first wave of 54 bombers of the Chinese team, under the cover of dozens of "Saker" fighter jets, had already emerged from the clouds.
, began to bomb the neatly arranged aircraft at Clark Airport. A string of black and gray bombs roared and swayed down.
The air raid siren and the rumble of the plane made everyone at the airport wake up immediately. Several pilots who reacted very quickly ran to their planes, climbed into the cabin, quickly started the engines, and slid across the runway and flew into the sky.
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But those who moved a little slower were hit by bombs. Black Chinese fighter planes roared past the airport, dropping a series of bombs.
Most of the planes had no time to take off and became dead targets for bombing by Chinese fighter planes. Explosions were heard one after another, and fireballs and smoke rose from the ground!
The plane exploded and caught fire in the blink of an eye, and was blown to pieces. Some Chinese fighter planes chased the fleeing people and began to fire wildly with machine guns. Some of the busy ground crews were in a panic to assist the pilots.
After boarding the plane, some were so frightened that they squatted on the ground holding their heads and allowed Chinese fighter planes to shoot and bomb them.
The entire attack lasted for about an hour. With almost no resistance, Chinese fighter jets destroyed all the aircraft parked at Clark Airport, including 18 B-17 bombers and 55 P-40 fighter jets, giving the U.S. Far East Air Force a
A fatal blow. The air power that MacArthur relied on to defend the Philippines was destroyed on the first day of the war. The Chinese army won the air superiority to attack the Philippines.
In the following days, the Chinese squadron continued air raids, and the losses of US military aircraft further increased. When they were almost exhausted, MacArthur had to order Brereton to transfer the remaining aircraft to Australia. On November 23
On the same day, Brereton left the Philippines with his last four fighters.
Following the fatal blow to the U.S. air force, the U.S. naval power is also in danger.
On November 24, more than 80 bombers of the Chinese Navy, supported by 52 fighter jets, attacked the Cavite Naval Base in Manila Bay.
The bombing lasted for 2 hours, and Chinese fighter planes carried out bombing attacks one after another. The bombs flashed and set off waves of explosions and billowing smoke in the military port, shaking the entire base.
Fires were raging everywhere.
Finally, a worrying situation occurred.
The fire spread to the base ammunition depot and detonated 233 super magnetic detonator torpedoes stored by the submarine force. The big explosion caused a series of explosions, causing all the torpedoes to explode. The terrifying scene was as frightening as a volcanic eruption.
At that time, MacArthur's wife and their 3-year-old son, Arthur Jr., were standing on the rooftop platform of the Manila Hotel. Seeing this horrific scene, they hurriedly hid in the bedroom in despair.
Admiral Hart, commander of the U.S. Asia Fleet, stood on the roof of the Martian Building, his headquarters only 600 meters away from the base, and witnessed the catastrophe with his own eyes. The blast of air from the explosion made him unable to stand, and he could barely control it.
He kept himself from crying and murmured to himself: "Our submarine. Our secret weapon." Afterwards, he reported to his superiors: "The fire burned from one side to the other, the entire naval shipyard and the Cavite port.
1/3 of the area was engulfed by fire."
At the same time, Chinese aircraft also bombed the Subic Bay Naval Base.
Admiral Hart was devastated: his naval base was completely destroyed, and the submarine force, his main means of confronting the enemy navy, was severely damaged - two submarines were blown up, including the new submarine "Sea Lion" and others.
Five ships were injured, especially the ace in his hand - the self-guided torpedoes used to deal with large enemy ships and prepare for decisive offshore battles, all of them were wiped out at once. After this air attack, the strength of the U.S. Navy's Asia Fleet was severely damaged, and the base area was destroyed.
In addition to leaving his submarine force to continue the harassment operation, Admiral Hart had to flee south in a hurry with the surviving ships, retreating to the Dutch East Indies.
At that time, MacArthur divided his army forces into several groups to defend several different areas of the Philippine Islands in preparation for beachhead defense. They are:
Jonathan.
The Northern Luzon Force commanded by General Wainwright. This is regarded as the most elite and most combat-effective force. Responsible for the defense: Apali, Vigan beachhead is most likely to become the main landing area of the Chinese *** 110 miles northwest of Manila
The central plains area of the Lingayen Bay coast where large-scale fighting is most likely to occur serves as a defensive position for U.S. forces once they retreat to the Bataan Peninsula.
George.
Lucena troops commanded by General Parker.
Responsible for the defense of the Bicol Peninsula.
Albert.
The Southern Luzon Force commanded by General Jones is responsible for controlling the coast from Bataan to Legazpi.
Cherno.
The Visayan forces commanded by General Wayne are responsible for defending the central islands.
William.
The Mindanao forces commanded by General Sharp are responsible for the entire defense of the island.
By this time, the Far East Air Force had been destroyed, the Asian Fleet had withdrawn, and air and sea supremacy had fallen into the hands of the squadron. Having lost an important pillar to implement offshore defense, MacArthur still held on to his beachhead decisive battle.
He insisted on the plan. He believed that the war had just begun. According to the Orange Plan that the United States had prepared for many years, reinforcements from the United States would soon arrive. He was looking forward to some miracle happening. In fact, President Roosevelt and Army Chief of Staff Marshall both
Send a telegram personally saying:
"Reinforcements are being organized"!
However, all the rescue that MacArthur hoped for soon came to nothing. In late November, Chief of Naval Operations Ernest.
Admiral Kim canceled all naval plans to assist the Philippines because he was worried about the interception of the Chinese fleet.
There is no hope for Philippine maritime support and maritime supplies, and the besieged Philippine defenders can only rely on themselves to hold on.
On the evening of November 25, the captain of the submarine "Fish" of the U.S. Navy's Asia Fleet, which was patrolling near Lingayen Bay, discovered through the periscope that there were wisps of black smoke on the sea in the distance, stretching for dozens of miles, and it was murderous.
approaching Lingayen Bay.
"This must be the Chinese landing fleet, the Chinese team is coming!"
The captain was so frightened that he closed his eyes and hurriedly reported to the base: "The enemy invasion fleet has been discovered." At the same time, he ordered the submarine to dive quickly and lurked motionless on the seabed, watching the enemy fleet swagger past overhead.
Afterwards, the cowardly captain was quickly dismissed!