Happy Tycoon

Rabaul is located on the Gazel Peninsula at the northeastern tip of New Britain. It is surrounded by Blanche Bay and faces Simpsons Bay to the south.

　　 Speaking of Rabaul, what people think of the most is not that this city is the largest city on the island of New Britain, but the cruel history of war that this city has experienced.

　　 After the Australian Grace docked on the pier in Rabaul, Yang Jing and his party disembarked, and William Howard, as the captain, took the initiative to take on the task of tour guide.

Just like the brutal battles that the city has experienced, even if the city was once destroyed by a volcano, you can still see the military fortress built by Japan and the legacy of the U.S.-Japan war in this city. Mark of.

　　William Howard was familiar with Rabaul, and when they docked at the pier, the sun was still hanging in the western sky, so Yang Jing decided to visit the city before eating and staying. William Howard naturally acted as a tour guide.

"In 1910, the Germans first filled the mangrove swamps of New Britain to build a town and named it Rabaul Town, which in the local language means "Kuanua's Mangroves". After the First World War The ownership of Rabaul was transferred from Germany to the United Kingdom, and subsequently became the capital of the New Guinea territory of the British and Australian colonial authorities. Before World War II, the town of Rabaul was built as a local base."

　　Walking out of the dock, William Howard began to introduce the origin of the city to Yang Jing and his party.

"Have you seen these half-buried military fortresses? These military fortresses were all left by Japan himself. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and expanded its war of aggression against China into the Pacific War. Rabaul also became a target of the Japanese army. So the British and Australian colonial authorities evacuated all women and children in the town in December 1941. Rabaul was bombarded by the Japanese on January 23rd of the same year. At the beginning of the Battle of Bauer, tens of thousands of Japanese Marines landed in Rabaul. The Australian army was defeated and Japan completely occupied the surrounding islands with Rabaul as its base."

　　 "Captain Howard, why are you so familiar with here?" Guo Xiaoxiang asked curiously.

The captain smiled and said, "I'm not familiar with it. I grew up here. My grandfather was an officer who was stationed here after Japan surrendered. My father was born here, and so am I. Born and raised here."

After a pause, Captain Howard continued: "It's a pity that a volcanic eruption over 20 years ago almost destroyed the city. Otherwise, we can see more military facilities left over from World War II. ."

After feeling slightly, the captain continued to introduce: "After the Battle of Rabaul, Japan's Eighth Front Army, under the leadership of General Imamura Jun, built Rabaul into a stronger military base. Naval ship Ships, naval aviation, and army aviation, centered on Rabaul, attacked the surrounding Allied forces and communication lines. The Japanese army dug nearly a hundred kilometers of criss-cross tunnels in the Rabaul region as air-raid shelters to escape. Allied aerial bombing. By the end of 1942, about 110,000 Japanese troops were stationed in Rabaul, and more than 40,000 Japanese troops were stationed on the surrounding islands."

　　 "So many people? I seem to be very worried about being taken back by the Allied forces." Liu Zhaoming said from the side.

"Yes, Rabaul doesn’t look at the place, but the strategic position is very important. It’s a pity that Japan values ​​Rabaul very much, but for Americans, Rabaul is not that important. You know the United States back then. What do people think of the Pacific War?"

　　 Yang Jing, they both shook their heads.

Howard smiled and said: "In the eyes of Americans, the so-called Pacific War is just a'trip to Tokyo' in the eyes of Americans, except that MacArthur set out with the army from Australia, and Nimitz set out with the navy from Hawaii. That's it. The US Army and Navy also quarreled in the middle, and it was a big quarrel, and small quarrels occurred every day. The content of the quarrel was only for which way to go and who led the way. For the entire combat goal-occupation of Tokyo, it never happened. There have been quarrels."

"It's just that no matter which way the U.S. military takes, no matter who leads the way, it must pull out the nail of La Bao'er. MacArthur is going to borrow the aircraft carrier from Nimitz to attack La Baul before Guadalcanal. Meads certainly won't let MacArthur get over the border. So, the Solomon Islands battle broke out here in the first place."

　　 Yang Jing asked: "In the beginning, the U.S. military must have suffered a big loss in Rabaul, right?"

Howard nodded and said: "Yes, as the most important military base of the U.S. military in the Southwest Pacific, Rabaul is an important base that MacArthur had to take from the beginning. However, when the U.S. military is fighting within 50 to 100 kilometers of the coastline. It can be called invincible, but after leaving the coastline and entering the mountains, the US military's superiority in firepower and mobility suddenly disappeared. At the time, the US military did not realize this, so it was eaten when it attacked Rabaul. Not a small loss. In the entire battle of the Solomon Islands, the US army killed nearly 10,000 people. In Rabaul alone, no less than 3,000 corpses were dropped. However, I was not without losses, and the losses of ordinary Japanese soldiers were also That's all, even Yamamoto Fifty-Six, who planned the Pacific War in one hand, was finally beaten by the Americans on Bougainville on April 18, 1943, after taking off from Rabaul Airport by plane. "

"Later, the U.S. military realized that such a strong attack on Rabaul was not the right thing, so MacArthur and Nimitz adopted the'leapfrog tactics' and eventually skipped Rabaul to attack other Japanese military bases in the Pacific. , And finally relying on the deterrence of two atomic bombs to completely defeat Japan, and then when the Japanese army stationed in Rabaul led by the village today surrendered, the number of Japanese troops stationed in the Solomon Islands alone was still as high as 140,000."

Yang Jing nodded. Benefitting from living in the era of the information explosion, he has also learned part of the Pacific War. "Captain, if MacArthur still insisted on attacking Rabaul at the time, the US casualties would probably be the same. More than that, right?"

Howard nodded and said: "If MacArthur did not use leapfrog tactics decisively to jump over Rabaul, but continued to attack Rabaul, I am afraid the number of Allied casualties would be at least 30,000 or more. Imamura Both are still very well-versed, and the Americans don't get much light in front of him."

Guo Xiaoxiang asked strangely: “Then why didn’t the Americans block Rabaul with their superior sea and air power? Rabaul was only an overseas enclave after all, as long as the Americans blocked the sea and air around Rabaul. , Wouldn’t Rabaul’s supply be cut off? After a long time, I will definitely lose myself without a fight."

Howard glanced at Guo Xiaoxiang, shook his head and said, "Mr. Guo, things are not as simple as you think. As I said earlier, Imamura may not be a simple character. As a general of the Japanese army, this guy is already considered to be. He is a high-ranking figure in the Japanese military, but this man is different from other high-ranking Japanese military leaders. He is a very enlightened general and a rare good person among the high-ranking generals in Japan."

　　 These words made Yang Jing and the Chinese people feel a little unhappy. In the eyes of the Chinese people, those Japanese gangsters don't have a good person, they are all guys who should go to hell.

As if seeing Yang Jing and their dissatisfaction, Howard smiled and explained: "Imura Jun’s behavior is not judged by me, but a very fair evaluation of this man by many experts in later generations. In fact, in the rule of La When he was in Bauer and its surrounding areas, Imamura strongly restrained his subordinates. Therefore, the Japanese army did not carry out crazy burnings, killings and raids against the indigenous people. In fact, even the Dutch and Australian prisoners of war who surrendered were treated humanely as much as possible. In fact, Imamura Kyun Even in order to reduce the pressure on the livelihood of the residents of Rabaul, it is even more demanding to send agricultural technicians from the Bay Island to work there."

"Under Imamura's gentle policy, the 110,000 Japanese troops stationed in Rabaul had an extremely harmonious relationship with the local people. This allowed the Japanese Eighth Front Army trapped in Rabaul to cut off local supplies for two years. I can guard Rabaul very well. Because even without local supplies, under the policies of Imamura Kyun, Rabaul’s Japanese army can still be self-sufficient."

　　 "So amazing? If this is true, then this Imamura Jun is really a good person." Guo Xiaoxiang slapped his tongue.

Howard nodded and said: "In fact, there is another short story that can show that Imamura Jun was able to hold on to Rabaul for more than two years is not nonsense. This short story happened after Japan's surrender, and Imamura led his garrison in Rabaul. An anecdote that happened when the Japanese army surrendered to the Australian army."

　　A few people were quite interested, so I quickly asked Howard to talk about it.

　　 Howard said, amused all these people.

　　 It turns out that this is the case.

　　 In August 1945, General Imamura Jun, commander of the Japanese Eighth Front Army, boarded an Australian warship anchored in the Rabaul Sea and surrendered to the Australian Army. There was such a ridiculous dialogue during the surrender ceremony.

　　 Commander of the surrendered forces of the Australian Army: "How many people do you have?"

　　 Imamura: "In addition to the surrounding islands, there are more than 140,000 army, navy, and military members of the Solomon Islands and the Japanese Empire.

　　 The commander of the Australian Army was delighted: "It's nonsense again."

　　 Imamura: "These are all facts. We have brought all the roster, you can read it."

　　 Australian Army Commander: "Where are these people?"

　　 "Rabaul is around 100,000, and the surrounding islands are 40,000."

　　 "Why can't you see it?"

　　 "It's basically in the underground cave fortifications, nothing can't come out."

　　 "Then what do you eat?"

　　 "We have grain in stock, plus the grain we grow, so there is no problem for 10 years."

　　 "What about armed forces?"

"We have an arsenal, capable of self-production, and even aircraft can be assembled. The existing two Type Zero 21 and Type 22 fighter jets and one Type 100 Command reconnaissance aircraft are all assembled by ourselves. If we have time, we can still assemble them. Assemble more aircraft."

In fact, Imamura has not fully told the truth. He gathered all the science and engineering students, lecturers and professors of the Imperial University in the Eighth Front Army to set up a Weapons Research Institute. What did this research institute do~www.readwn.com~ Until now, no one has said it, only know that after the defeat, the people of this research institute returned to the original army, and all the finished materials and semi-finished products were destroyed.

　　The commander of the Australian Army can't figure it out: "Then what else do you surrender?"

　　 Imamura's face was full of circles: "I don't know, the emperor let him surrender."

　　 The commander of the Australian Army roused his heart: What should I do if there are 140,000 fully armed men and there are only a few boats here and only 3,000 people?

　　 Imamura saw the thoughts of the Australian commander and smiled: "It's okay, we really surrender. You will wait a few more days at sea, and I will notify you when the time comes."

　　 I saw that Imamura got off the warship and returned to Rabaul. Suddenly, countless Japanese people appeared on the ground and started to start construction. First, build a barracks for the Australian ghosts, beasts, and cows. Then set up a grass shack around the Australian barracks, which is the prisoner of war camp that you are going to live in. After setting it up, pull the barbed wire around the grass shack, and then polish the weapons and place them neatly, and then get into it yourself. I used the barbed wire, very well-behaved and honest.

　　 Imamura came to the commander of the Australian Army: "Now you can move in."

　　 3,000 dumbfounded Australian soldiers stayed in the middle of the 140,000 Japanese prisoners, airing on their backs from time to time: "Who is this his sister's prisoner?"

This anecdote is rather ridiculous, but it really shows that Imamura Jun is not easy. It can be said that Rabaul can become the only important Japanese military base that was not directly lost in the Pacific War, and it is closely related to Imamura Jun’s personal abilities. Inseparable relationship.