Chapter 1197:

In the clear sky, eighteen fighter jets roared by, pulling out long white smoke at the tail of the plane, looking very beautiful. The roar of sweeping down from high altitude also made people on the ground stunned. It was hard to believe that the plane would make such a roar. In fact, even for professional soldiers, the roar of those planes was enough to surprise people. (Niuwen Novel~ Read novels online)

Douglas MacArthur was no exception. It was the first time he heard such a strange whistling sound of a plane. He couldn't even be sure whether it was the sound made by the plane's engine. He suspected that the strange whistling sound might have been caused by the vibration of the air, because the flight speed of those planes was astonishingly fast. Preliminary observations were that their speed should be more than 900 kilometers per hour.

"Fili, is that a Chinese fighter jet?"

MacArthur walked out of the hidden woods and asked the adjutant who was following him.

"It should be, Mr. Marshal."

The adjutant nodded, then took a few steps forward, got on the jeep, and started the car, waiting for MacArthur to get on.

Just now, the guard saw the plane coming from behind and hurriedly pushed MacArthur into the woods on the roadside. Now, the plane flying very fast in the sky is already the second formation that flew over their heads. No one knows whether more planes will appear behind, so they decided to send Marshal MacArthur to a safe place as soon as possible.

"Marrior" is one of Douglas MacAs' many titles. Its full name should be "Philippine Field Marshal". At the same time, MacArthur is also a lieutenant general of the US Army and also serves as the current Secretary of Defense of the Philippine Republic. A US general serves as the Secretary of Defense of the Philippines. This is also the main reason why the Asian Union refuses to recognize the current Philippine regime. From the perspective of the Asian Union Security Council, the current Philippine government is actually just a puppet government under the control of the United States and has no autonomy. Any decision it makes actually reflects the will of the US government, but the voice of the Philippine people cannot be expressed. The real ruler of the current Philippines is actually this MacArthur.

It should be said that MacArthur never expected that the Philippines under his rule would be attacked by the Asian Union. He once believed that as long as the US military still occupied the large and large islands and major transportation routes of the Philippines, Asian countries would continue to remain neutral. It was under the influence of this mentality that when the US government sent a telegram to ask MacArthur what he thought about the plan to use the Philippines as a base for the US Navy and Air Force to attack Japan's maritime transportation line, MacArthur did not hesitate to answer "no objection at all", and also demanded that the submarines and bombers be sent to the Philippines as soon as possible to preside over the attack on Japan's maritime transportation line. He was therefore officially appointed by the US government as the supreme commander of the US Southwest Pacific Theater. This is undoubtedly a high honor for a US general who had retired once in 1937.

With the support of the US government, MacArthur was confident that he would build the Philippines into a counterattack base for the US military in the Southwest Pacific region, and he was always preparing for this idea. He even expanded the scale of the Philippine Army. Once the US military's strategic counterattack in the Pacific direction begins, the US military will fight side by side with the Philippine army and attack Tokyo.

However, MacArthur's grand idea was quickly hit by the Asian Union. With the passage of the Asian Union Security Council Resolution 01, a military intervention operation against the US military in the Southwest Pacific was launched quickly. According to the Asian Union's resolution, the Philippines' territory, territorial waters, and airspace are not allowed to be used by the US military, nor are the Japanese military.

However, it is the US military that controls the Philippines now, not the Japanese military, so the target of the Asian League security forces can only be the US military.

To put it more clearly, in MacArthur's view, the target of the Asian League's resolution 01 is the United States, not Japan, and the US government obviously agrees with General MacArthur's judgment and submitted formal protest documents to the Chinese ambassador to the United States to protest the "straight-down" practice of the Asian League, especially the Chinese government.

However, the protests of the US government did not play any role. The military operations of the Asian League security forces were launched on time. After 0:00 on January 5, 1944, the US military set up near the Philippine capital Manila began to be bombed by the Chinese Air Force one after another. It was at that time that MacArthur left Manila not to avoid air strikes, but to stabilize the morale of the troops. Because just the day before the Asian League's resolution 01 officially came into effect, a Filipino army unit mutiny occurred. If the morale of the Philippine army cannot be stabilized as soon as possible, perhaps soon, high-quality anti-American armed forces with American weapons and trained by the US military will appear on the Philippine Islands. Once guerrilla warfare spreads to the Luzon region, the situation will collapse immediately, and MacArthur will also flee back to the United States in a panic on the charge of "losing the Philippines".

But when MacArthur arrived at the mutiny camp, he was greeted by an empty barracks. All the weapons and ammunition in the barracks were removed, and all the soldiers and officers were not sure where to go. Just as MacArthur led senior Philippine government officials to search for the lost army everywhere, a message came. A unit in Philippine Army uniform appeared on Mindulo Island. They attacked the political and economic center city on the island, and immediately announced that they had left the "colonial rule" of the United States and surrendered to the Philippine government in exile. The current office of the Philippine government in exile is in Tianjin, Tianjin, China.

Judging from all signs, it was the mutiny Philippine Army that launched a "rebellion" on Minduro Island. They obviously robbed ships after the mutiny, sailed to Minduro Island, and occupied the local capital. Minduro Island is southwest of Luzon Island. The island itself is not large in size, but it faces directly to the South China Sea. Once it is used as a stronghold by the Asian League security forces, it will pose a direct threat to Manila's security.

Therefore, MacArthur decided to immediately dispatch US troops to Mindulo Island to suppress and eliminate the "rebels".

When Manila was attacked by the Asian League security forces air force, MacArthur had been commanding the US military to suppress the "rebellion" there on Minduro Island. It took him only two days to eliminate the Philippine "rebel" unit on Minduro Island, and then hurried back to Manila to take charge. Since the sky was not very safe, he could only choose sea and land. Now, the US Army Lieutenant General is on his way to Manila, and at this time he is only twenty kilometers away from Manila Bay.

It was also here that MacArthur saw the first high-speed aircraft that could fly at a speed of 900 kilometers per hour. Intuition told him that it was a Chinese aircraft, because the US military does not have that kind of high-speed aircraft at all. The fastest fighter was the P51 Mustang fighter, but that kind of propeller fighter could not fly at a speed of 900 kilometers per hour, which made MacArthur very worried whether Manila could hold it.

Getting into the jeep, MacArthur urged the adjutant to arrive at Manila Bay as soon as possible. He wanted to return to the headquarters immediately and contact the US government, asking the US government to approve his combat plan as soon as possible and declare war on China and the Asian Alliance.

The convoy accelerated toward Manila Bay, but it was not fast, because the road was full of bomb craters, which were caused by bombs from Chinese Air Force bombers, which affected the speed of the car. Several bridges along the way were obviously air strikes, and the two bridges had been destroyed. Fortunately, it is dry season and the river is not deep. Otherwise, General MacArthur would have to take a detour back to Manila.

It was almost noon, and MacArthur finally saw the sky above Manila Bay. Obviously, the Chinese Air Force once again raided the port facilities. From any perspective, the Chinese Air Force was definitely not a simple "air ban mission", but it was actually more like a firepower preparation before a strategic offensive.

Are the Chinese going to carry out landing operations in the waters near Manila Bay? In this regard, MacArthur was very worried. He knew very well that the landing operations initiated by the China National Team in Malaya and Muscat. In fact, those two landing operations were very successful and had been regarded as a "model combat mode" for landing operations by various military powers. Even the Japanese landing in Hawaii was copied by the experience of the China National Team. Facts have proved that the China National Team is very good at landing operations. It is hard to say that they will not carry out landing operations on a coastline on Luzon Island.

With a little uneasiness, MacArthur boarded a traffic boat that came to pick him up, crossed from the south bank of Manila to the north bank, and returned to Manila City at 1:00 pm to the U.S. Army Command.

"Sir, China is likely to carry out landing operations on Luzon. This is the reconnaissance intelligence sent by the Air Force in the morning, as well as the navy's reconnaissance intelligence. All signs indicate that a special mixed aircraft carrier formation of the Chinese Navy is approaching the coast of Luzon. The planes bombing Manila today are likely to take off from that aircraft carrier formation."

As soon as he returned to the headquarters, the Chief of Staff handed over several documents to MacArthur, and the contents in the documents made him even more worried.

"Please send a telegram to the White House and tell them that I am ready for retreat, but if we need to stick to Manila, then we will also turn Manila into Stalingrad in Asia, where we will resist the Chinese and all countries and forces that are hostile to the interests of the United States until the strategic counter-offensive of the U.S. in the Pacific begins."

"Yes, sir, I'll go and shoot the telegram right away."

The Chief of Staff quickly completed the telegram and delivered the call from the US government to MacArthur's desk in time.

The US government's order is very simple, with two contents:

First, there is no need to stand firm in Manila. General MacArthur should withdraw all the retreating U.S. troops to the southern part of Luzon, and declare Manila an unguarded city.

Second, immediately pardon all leaders of the Hooker movement, including Louis Taluke, Jesus Rava, and others who have been imprisoned by MacArthur in Mindanao prison, and escorted them to Manila, asking them to come forward to organize a new Philippine government and Congress, and this operation must be completed before the US troops evacuate Manila.
Chapter completed!