afterglow

Chapter 427 Douglas the stupid dog; neuron-guided aircraft?

After the exploratory attack ended, the Ming army believed that it had figured out the general situation of the US-Philippine coalition forces on the Bataan Peninsula.

The next thing to do is to rest for a few days and wait for the arrival of subsequent supplies and the slow heavy artillery.

The Second Marine Brigade, the Third Tank Brigade, the 43rd Infantry Division and other units immediately stopped operations. Only small infiltration and reconnaissance teams at the squad and platoon level were still rotating around the clock.

The speed of the Second Field Heavy Artillery Brigade and the Second Battalion of Attack Tanks was so slow that it made people anxious. It had been so many days, and the two had just marched dozens of kilometers.

And behind them there is an even heavier unit - the [-]st Siege Heavy Artillery Brigade. The whole brigade has just unloaded all its heavy artillery ashore until today.

After all, those temporary pontoons were built against the clock, and even after reinforcement, they could only pass a dozen tons of tanks.

This kind of load capacity is not enough for the 16mm heavy field gun weighing 192 tons and the 21mm mortar weighing 320 tons.

The artillery itself is over the limit, not counting the accompanying crawler tractor.

In addition, two highly anticipated heavy-duty mortars have also been shipped from Guangzhou.

A few years ago, after learning that the Americans were further strengthening the permanent fortifications on the Bataan Peninsula, the Ministry of War secretly ordered two heavy mortars from the Tianjin Naval Arsenal in the hope of crushing the Bataan Fortress and Corogido Fortress.

The Tianjin Arsenal is mainly responsible for manufacturing the main guns of cruisers and battleships, and the mortars are not a problem. Two large-caliber mortars were quickly secretly delivered to service, and were operated by the specially formed independent [-]th Siege Heavy Artillery Battalion.

This special 416-type mortar has a caliber of 860 inches, which is 410mm, an armor-piercing projectile weighing 12kg, a muzzle velocity of 3m/s, and a maximum range of [-]km. The armor-piercing projectile falling from the sky can penetrate [-]m thick reinforced concrete.

In order to ensure its own strength, the armor-piercing projectile shell is made of nickel-vanadium-manganese alloy steel, and the warhead is made of tungsten-nickel-chromium alloy. Because the manufacturing cost is very high, the Ming Army only ordered three hundred rounds of artillery shells.

They expected that they would only need to fire a maximum of [-] rounds to destroy the core points of the fortress area, leaving an additional [-] rounds as a backup would be more than enough.

There is no official name for these two mortars, but someone from the [-]th Siege Heavy Artillery Battalion always joked about the various names of ancient artillery, so gradually it became a convention to call them "Faji [gòng] No. [-]" ” and “Faji No. [-]”.

On the side of the US-Philippine coalition, as the war situation stabilized, the officers finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But they knew that this was only temporary, and the Ming army would soon launch another offensive.

Many troops gathered here, giving the previously sparsely populated Bataan Peninsula a prosperous scene.

Since preparations have been made for long-term persistence here for many years, war-ready warehouses have been built in many places. However, after soldiers followed the map and walked to the marked location, they often found that these warehouses were in dilapidated condition, and most of the materials inside were damp and rotten.

Despite this, the soldiers still worked hard to be self-sufficient with local materials, and simple temporary supply depots, mills, veterinary stations, and slaughterhouses were built one after another.

Because they discovered that salt consumption had been underestimated during pre-war preparations, the U.S.-Philippine coalition forces had to open up some salt fields and use seawater to make their own salt.

After the coalition headquarters moved to Corregidor Island, it gradually returned to normal. Douglas, who was confident, continued to make impassioned speeches to boost morale, but he received bad news.

"Sir, 30% of the food stored in the past had to be discarded due to damage and spoilage. We underestimated the difficulty of long-term food storage."

The munitions director reported that although the ammunition in the Bataan Fortress area was quite sufficient, the food reserves did not meet the minimum standard.

Bagged food - things like rice and flour became moldy due to improper storage and were inedible. Only various canned foods were well preserved.

If the normal sufficient supply level is followed, all food will only be enough for forty days, and the rice will be exhausted in twelve days and the flour will be exhausted in 21 days.

There is also a fatal omission - in the medical supplies inventory, there is an abundance of various medicines and surgical equipment, which can be said to be piled up like a mountain. However, sterile gauze is in short supply, and in theory it is only enough to meet the needs of a few thousand people.

So this is why countries around the world have repeatedly emphasized the importance of logistical support. Any oversight or omission will lead to a big mistake.

Because of long-term considerations for long-term persistence, the helpless Douglas was forced to issue strict instructions.

The food supply standard for combatants is rationed at 80% of the previous level, while the food supply standard for non-combatants is reduced by as much as 50%.

But the problem is that this food may be basically enough for white-collar workers living and working in cities, but for service workers in the wild mountains and wilderness of tropical jungles, the total food calories they get every day is less than [-] calories, which is completely insufficient for normal activities. of.

Mosquito bites in jungle areas caused large-scale malaria and dengue fever. Overcrowding and poor sanitation conditions led to the rapid spread of cholera. Field hospitals were overcrowded, but 90% of the patients were diseases rather than injuries.

Although medicines are plentiful, recovery from illness takes time - even mild cases of dengue can take ten days to fully recover.

The large number of non-combat attrition has led to widespread shortages in frontline combat units. Some companies have only a few dozen men capable of carrying guns into battle.

What's interesting is that the Metropolitan Governor had no doubts about the U.S. military's logistical support capabilities and believed that they would hoard countless military supplies in the Bataan Fortress area.

So this means that the siege is ineffective. Sooner or later, we will have to fight head-on. It is better to attack it as soon as possible.

However, the intelligence in recent days has overturned this perception. The reconnaissance units of the frontline troops learned a lot of intelligence while penetrating in depth and capturing prisoners.

Prisoners confessed that the U.S.-Philippine coalition has now implemented a strict rationing system, and the frontline soldiers can barely eat, while the rear service personnel have no enough to eat at all, and various diseases are widespread, resulting in serious non-combat attrition.

After confirming that this was not a lie, the Ming army was overjoyed.

"Okay, very good, then let's postpone the attack."

"Tongzhi, I still need to ask the Seventh Army for its opinion, right?"

In a spacious duty room in the staff office of the Governor's Mansion, Cheng Han's brows were full of joy.

He raised his hand and shook it, and said: "No need, they are not stupid, this is not how you compete for credit. Hmm... seize the time and prepare, attack the heart first, and be besieged on all sides."

The attendant understood the situation, smiled and cupped his hands and said: "Yes, I will take care of the work immediately."

The Ming Dynasty is bound to capture the Philippines as soon as possible, so that the entire Southeast Asia can form a whole to facilitate systematic strategic layout.

However, it’s not so urgent that every second counts. A few days’ delay is acceptable.

Because of this, the Metropolitan Government quickly adjusted its strategy for the Bataan fortress area—from a simple assault to a siege and psychological warfare, supplemented by attacks to promote surrender through battle.

"That's good, so as not to break your teeth by chewing on this copper pea."

Attacking the fortification area 90.00% of the time will result in heavy casualties. Yan Chenwu obviously does not want his Second Marine Brigade to participate in the storming of the Bataan Fortress area.

From a public point of view, this is to reduce the casualties and losses of his subordinates; from a selfish point of view, if the exchange is ugly, he will lose face.

After the instructions from the Metropolitan Government were issued, the Ming Air Force's air raids basically stopped. Although groups of bombers still visit every day, the bombs dropped have been replaced by all kinds of leaflets.

The wording of these leaflets is shallow, and they are basically plain and simple sentences to ensure that ordinary soldiers with low education can understand them and to arouse their emotions.

The leaflet to Americans read: "This is not your land, you are not welcome, and Washington has abandoned you. Only surrender can end the evil."

A leaflet directed to Filipinos read: "Your ancestors fought hard and risked their lives to fight for the independence of Luzon. Don't you feel ashamed now?"

Propaganda targeting specific radio frequency bands was also launched, and various rhetoric was used to persuade the US-Philippine coalition officers and soldiers every morning and evening.

During the previous attack on Singapore, the Ming army temporarily converted the captured anti-aircraft listening devices into loudspeakers. Now they are doing the same thing, moving the anti-aircraft listening devices captured from Clark Airport and Iba Airport to the front line, playing a variety of American country music and ballad.

Now we are truly besieged on all sides in the new era.

Some flyers are even printed in color, with various delicacies printed on both sides, along with words such as "If you persist foolishly, you will never be able to eat them again."

What was even more tricky was that an officer from the [-]th Light Bombing Detachment of the Air Force suggested that it would be better to airdrop a small amount of physical objects, which would further damage morale.

The Ming army aircraft flew by as usual, but this time in addition to flyers flying all over the sky, how many parachutes were there?

And surprisingly, what was hanging under the parachute and slowly falling to the ground was a supply box.

The soldiers approached cautiously, opened it after confirming it was safe, and found that it was filled with canned luncheon meat, chocolate, and toffee!
These supplies were actually captured by the Ming army before - the US-Philippine coalition retreated hastily, and many munitions warehouses were not retreated and burned.

The Filipino soldiers immediately forgot about everything and swarmed over and started grabbing, while those who didn't grab it yelled in annoyance and resentment.

Although everyone was greedy, the US military troops maintained discipline and no looting occurred.

However, when the officers ordered these things to be sent to the rear for quarantine, the soldiers were still unhappy and collectively demanded that they be distributed equally. The opposition between officers and soldiers was inevitably highlighted.

The Ming army brainstormed and various words to persuade them to surrender were printed as leaflets, which were produced at a printing factory in downtown Manila and then transported to the airport to be loaded on bombers.

"You will get sick, we will get sick, but we are in a spacious ward in Manila and you are sitting on the dirt outside a field hospital tent."

"The British who surrendered in Singapore are in prisoner-of-war camps, where ample food supplies will be provided. Their work is only to build railways, and they can go home when the war is over."

Since the sea transportation lines have basically been cut off by the Ming Dynasty's navy, the defenders besieged on the Bataan Peninsula are in an isolated and helpless situation. Although Washington continues to promise to provide reinforcements, it is obvious that these are empty promises.

Time passed day by day, and the U.S.-Philippine coalition forces received no assistance.

The soldiers began to curse Douglass, who was a talker, and nicknamed him "Stupid Doug."

Because the pronunciation of "Doug" is similar to that of "dog", Mai Dashuai's nickname this time is equivalent to stupid dog.

The morale of the US-Philippine coalition officers and soldiers, who were sallow, thin, and riddled with diseases, was low. They believed that they had been completely abandoned.

A few brave soldiers escaped quietly at night and surrendered, but most people did not have the courage.

They painted a big V on their helmets, which stands for "victim", which means victim and cannon fodder, to express their protest and dissatisfaction.

I don’t know who invented a self-composed song that complained about the current situation, and it quickly spread.

"We're abandoned in the east of the world, and Uncle Sam doesn't care.

We have bullets, we have gasoline, we have tires, we have cannons.

Dad, no! Mom, no! Girlfriend, no! Food, no! "

Compared with the confused and lost Americans trapped on the Bataan Peninsula, the Australians in Darwin are much more determined and clear-minded.

The capital is Yingtianfu, the Forbidden City.

"Your Majesty, this is a frontline report. The Battle of Darwin is still undecided. The enemy and we have been fighting fiercely for three days and nights."

The Tang report compiled by the Governor's Office was promptly submitted to the emperor. Su Yiyi took it out from a small pile of memorials and handed it to the emperor.

This battle report was not written by someone from Zhou, but by a court commissioner appointed by the Ministry of War.

"...As of this morning, our army has broken the enemy's line and defeated the outer garrison in the field. Most of the enemy's troops have been defeated and retreated into the city, trying to hold on to the city and hold on to it. It is roughly as expected by Zhou Taizhao. The enemy's resistance is extremely tenacious, and the battle is so fierce. It’s really rare.”

"... It is roughly estimated that more than [-] enemy soldiers were killed and wounded in the ground battle, more than [-] enemy armored vehicles were destroyed, five enemy flags, large and small, were captured, and two enemy officers and assistants were captured alive. Our army also lost [-] soldiers. So many that Zhong Chenhan, the leader of the Eighty Regiment, died for his country.”

Zhu Lingjing was a little worried during this time, as her father's physical condition was worrying.

The war on the front line was also mixed, with the governor claiming that the enemy forces stubbornly resisting in Luzon would be defeated within half a month; but the landing battle in distant Australia did not go smoothly, and the battle report just now confirmed this.

[picture]

Meanwhile, Shoal Bay…

"The height is one thousand two thousand and the slope distance is four thousand! Normally!"

"I rely on!"

Two days later, the Ming fleet once again suffered a large-scale air attack.

All the anti-aircraft guns of minesweepers, destroyers, cruisers, battleships, and aircraft carriers were firing at full strength, and thousands of large and small caliber shells were fired into the sky at every moment.

Half of the sky was covered with gray and black smoke from the explosion of artillery shells, and the 20.8 mm tracer bullets fired by the small-caliber anti-aircraft guns were intertwined like threads.

Zhou Changfeng, with a solemn expression, observed the incoming Australian military aircraft through his binoculars. More than 20 bombers were rushing towards such intensive firepower.

"Don't worry, they don't have dive bombers, there's no threat..."

Before Lin Xunzhen finished speaking, Zhou Changfeng saw a strange scene - a Whitley bomber that was hit and caught fire actually corrected its course and dived straight towards the fleet!

He was stunned for half a second, and then shouted: "Fuck! Focus on stopping that one!"

(End of this chapter)