Chapter 84, Summer in the Equatorial Ocean (End)
Finally, in the spring of 1946, under the coercion and inducement of the United States, the South American countries, excluding Brazil, which were the latest to participate in the war, also organized several groups of expeditionary forces to join the Pacific battlefield, bleeding on behalf of the American boys... Among them, about Twenty thousand South American legions jointly formed by Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay were transported to the Samoa Islands to prepare to participate in the counterattack in the South Pacific battlefield.
In the early stages of the war, the wealthy United States may have fully shouldered the logistics supply of these South American allies and provided them with food and supplies standard to the US military. But by 1946, because the battle lines were spread too wide, the U.S. military's logistics system was already stretched everywhere, and its attitude towards some minor allies and motley crews began to become stingy. The troops drafted from various countries in South America to participate in the war had to be sent by various countries. The government is responsible for its own logistics and shares combat costs. Due to the persistent corruption in these countries, even the small amounts of material aid provided by the United States have been largely deducted by corrupt officials in their own countries. So in the end, these South American soldiers almost walked onto the battlefield wrapped in old blankets and gnawing dry bread. The weapons in their hands were generally an era behind those of the US military. Most of them were old guns from the First World War. As a result, they were still on the front line. He was ridiculed by American officers and soldiers as a beggar.
If so, on the Pacific battlefield, Americans are fighting for their motherland, and Brazilians are workers who are paid to work, then the Spanish-speaking South American Legion is the unlucky guy who was forcibly pulled to do voluntary labor. It is natural to imagine how bad the enthusiasm is.
To make matters worse, the South American Legion stationed in the Samoa Islands not only has backward equipment and poor logistics, but also has a lot of internal problems. Since South American countries except Brazil are generally full of resistance to sending troops to participate in the war, it is completely forced by the United States. Under the circumstances, I managed to make some of the worst A miscellaneous army was thrown in to make up the numbers. Not only was there no hope for morale and combat effectiveness, but even the deployment of troops was delayed. As of the spring of 1946, the number of participating troops sent by Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay increased. There are only 20,000 people in total, which is only enough for a division.
Since the first batch of troops participating in the war from the South American allies were too small and fragmented to be easily mobilized and used, the "genius" Pentagon came up with a hybrid idea, drawing on the United States' experience in forming the "Rainbow Division" during World War I. The participating troops from the five South American countries formed a South American Legion.
——The so-called Rainbow Division was the advance team of the United States to participate in World War I. At that time, in order to show the unity of the people of all states in the United States, the Department of the Army combined the National Guards of 26 states and formally organized them into one division, the "Rainbow" 42nd Division. It means that this division is composed of people from all over the country, like a rainbow across the sky. According to the propaganda in American newspapers at the time, every state will be the first batch of personnel sent overseas. They are proud to have their men among them. The performance of the Rainbow Division on the European battlefield did not live up to the high expectations placed by the elders of each state.
According to the Pentagon's thinking, since the "Rainbow Division" during World War I could fully embody the "national unity" spirit of the United States at that time and inspire the morale of 100 million citizens, then today's South American Legion should also be able to embody the spirit of various South American allies. It is only right that the whole continent is united.
The problem is that although the "Rainbow Division" of the United States in World War I came from the 26 states of the United States, they were still compatriots from the same country. They were all selected elites and had sufficient logistical supplies. Naturally, their performance and combat effectiveness in all aspects were not the same. It will be bad. Although the soldiers of the South American Legion all speak Spanish and can finally communicate with each other, they are organized from five different countries. Just how to coordinate the command system is enough to make people confused.
What's even worse is that these troops of the South American Legion are all miscellaneous troops who are thrown out as cannon fodder in their own countries. Their discipline and quality can only be described as despairing. Now we have to force them together. If they didn't fight all day long until corpses were everywhere, it would have made people laugh.
To make matters worse, the so-called unforeseen circumstances are so-called. Not long after these resentful and overwhelmed South American soldiers arrived to station in the Samoa Islands, the United States had to shrink its defense line and completely abandon the South Pacific because the Halsey Fleet was destroyed by a typhoon. Counterattack plan on the battlefield.
After that, in the face of the menacing Japanese naval combined fleet, the US military, which had lost its sea and air supremacy, directly withdrew from the Samoa Islands, leaving these South Americans behind... Anyway, after collecting from the US military, When the order "I retreat, you cover, and we must fight until the last man fires a bullet" was given, all the officers and soldiers of the entire South American Army, including Second Lieutenant Isaac, had 10,000 alpacas running ferociously by on their lips... …
However, the situation is stronger than the people. At this time, the South American Legion is already riding a tiger and it is difficult to get off. Even if they want to escape, they are in the Samoa Islands in the vast ocean, separated from their hometown by the Pacific Ocean, and there is no ocean-going ship to go home. , in the end I could only close my eyes and resign myself to fate.
As a result, on the Samoa Islands abandoned by the US military, the newly arrived South American Legion had no choice but to bite the bullet and start arranging defenses. During this period, various disputes and mutinies broke out, and the entire army was divided from Germany - Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay. The conflicts and hatred between countries are definitely no worse than the various hatreds between European powers. Among them, Bolivia Asia and Paraguay had just fought a bloody and brutal Chaco War in the 1930s, and there are still various border conflicts. To lead such a broken team with deep internal contradictions is about as difficult as the East Asian commanders of later generations. The difficulty level of a China, Japan, North Korea and South Korea coalition force is about the same... and the commander of the South American Legion obviously does not have such incredible united front capabilities.
As a result, during the entire preparation process, the South American Legion was in a mess. In order to compete for the food, drinks and daily necessities left by the US military on the island, many fires and conflicts broke out sporadically. Officers from five countries spent the whole day They clapped pistols and played boxing at various meetings, and the legion commander from Chile was so angry that he suffered a stroke and was paralyzed... In the end, everyone seemed to be completely discouraged and gave up.
Anyway, based on what Lieutenant Isaac has seen with his own eyes in recent days, the regiment's top brass first abandoned all the small islands outside the Samoa Islands and withdrew everyone to Savai'i and Ubulu. on these two main islands. Then, no matter which country the troops were from, they all huddled into the strongest underground air raid shelters, like ostriches burying their heads in the sand, turning a blind eye to the approaching Japanese army.
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In short, after confirming that they had been abandoned by the Americans in the Samoa Islands, the 20,000 South American regiments made a commotion at first, and then they seemed to have become clay puppets, each hiding in the permanent solid defense fortifications left by the US military, sitting Watch Japanese planes Unrestrainedly bombing overhead, sit and watch the Japanese navy's minesweepers clear the minefields deployed by the US military around the island, sit and watch the Japanese battleships and cruisers block the doors and pour artillery shells on the island, and sit and watch the Japanese navy's frogmen underwater explosion The team swept away the underwater explosives and beachhead obstacles left by the US military... but there was no positive response. They did not even use the shore guns hidden under the hidden cliffs to fire on the enemy ships. It is not known what the top generals of the corps were thinking. What? According to Lieutenant Isaac, even if his artillery skills are poor and he is not very good at dealing with these big guys left behind by the US Coast Artillery, as long as he can shoot out the shells according to the instructions, even if he puts a It's good to embolden your own people! At least it's better than the lifeless approach now.
But the legion headquarters did not do this. To be precise, it did nothing, except pretending to be an ostrich and wasting time, just sitting and waiting to die.
Of course, if you pretend to be an ostrich, you still can't leave the reconnaissance work behind. Otherwise, if you are touched by a Japanese samurai by the bed one day and you don't know it, it will be too tragic. Therefore, after the radar station left by the US military was bombed by Japanese aircraft, some soldiers and low-level officers who were unfortunate enough to draw bad lottery tickets were forced to assume the duties of lookouts and were sent to various observation posts to use telescopes to detect the Japanese fleet and The movement of the plane.
Second Lieutenant Isaac from Argentina was one of the unlucky ones who got a bad lottery and was sent out to spy on the enemy. As a favor to an officer, he was assigned to an observation post on the top of a mountain. Although it is relatively desolate and remote, the advantage is that the altitude is high and the naval guns on the sea cannot hit it. Moreover, it is far away from man-made buildings, and the post itself is well disguised, making it unrecognizable from high altitudes, and Japanese planes will not drop bombs.
Compared to those observers who were praying to God while being shelled in the beach bunker, Second Lieutenant Isaac considered himself lucky.
Then, he noticed that the enemy ships that appeared on the sea today seemed a little different from usual - behind those warships that kept raining bullets on the shore with thick pipes, there seemed to be a lot more shadowy ships. The boats looked like...
"...That's...a Japanese landing ship! Damn it! They're probably going to land soon!"
Lieutenant Isaac cursed, turned around and picked up the phone, but there was no connection. He picked up the second one, but still couldn't get through. It was only then that he vaguely remembered that the two telephone lines leading from his post to the bottom of the mountain had been disconnected long ago, and there was no way to get through at all.
In fact, the current military and civilian telephone networks in the entire Samoa Islands, except for a few lines buried deep underground, have all been disconnected after Japanese warships fired their cannons, or were washed away by heavy rains and flash floods due to lack of maintenance. When the Americans retreated, they took the Samoan post office personnel and telephone soldiers with them. The South American Legion, who had dark eyes, only knew how to use the phone lines on the island, but could not repair them... Well, to be precise, they were too lazy to repair them, and they were even less willing to risk their lives to repair them under the overwhelming Japanese artillery fire.
Second Lieutenant Isaac sighed helplessly and took out a Motorola radio walkie-talkie from the corner as a last resort. After playing around with it for a while, he was even more frustrated to find that it seemed that the roof was damaged and water had leaked out from the rain. , even this thing has stopped working now.
He looked up at the dark, rainy sky and curled his lips. It seemed that he had no choice but to go to the legion headquarters by himself.
The road down the mountain from the outpost is quite difficult. The originally bumpy mountain road turned into a muddy pond when it rained. Amidst the annoying rain, the entire tropical island seemed to be covered in a steaming steamer. It became increasingly difficult for Second Lieutenant Isaac to walk in the mud, but this was not the worst part of the road.
The real danger is that after going down the mountain, as the altitude decreases, the safety protection brought by the height disappears, and there is a section of the road that must pass through the coastal plain where Japanese warships are shelling! Soon, the Japanese warship's shells began to explode around Lieutenant Isaac, which made him tremble with fear - such a large-caliber shell, as long as it got even a little closer, would definitely end up being shattered to pieces.
Second Lieutenant Isaac carefully walked through the humid and hot trees. There was not a single complete house in sight along the way, only various unidentifiable ruins and a shocking super giant crater. After the rain, it turned into a A turbid mud pond. Even the dense tropical vegetation has been severely destroyed, and the beautiful and charming mountains and forests behind the beach have almost all turned into hideous, ugly and devastated "bald mountains".
Suddenly, a long whistle like a train whistle suddenly sounded, which frightened him so much that he fell down in the mud like a dog...
The next moment, a spectacular and magnificent fireball slowly rose from the jungle hundreds of meters away, like a gorgeous fireworks feast. The huge impact showed a visible wave of hot air in the air, burning. With green trees and blades of grass. All living things near the crater were instantly turned into charcoal, and the damp trees further away were also forcibly ignited, causing large clouds of choking smoke to rise. The smell of damp wood smoke made Lieutenant Isaac cough violently, and he hurriedly rolled away. On the way, another burning palm tree brushed against his shoulder and collapsed, and the charred bark fell into his neck. He shook his shoulders, shook off the tree debris, and continued towards the headquarters.
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After about half an hour, Second Lieutenant Isaac, who was panting, covered in mud, like a mud monkey, and with a smear on his forehead, finally ran outside the entrance of the underground bunker where the headquarters of the South American Legion was located, and exchanged passwords. After that, he was led in by the doorman. First, he was asked to freshen up a little and change into clean clothes. Then he asked a military doctor to bandage his wounds until he was barely able to see people, and then sent him to see his superiors.
——The headquarters of the South American Legion is currently located in the underground shelter left by the U.S. Southwest Pacific Squadron. This is a huge bunker made of reinforced concrete. Most of the building structure is embedded fifteen meters below the ground. There are several layers of crossed logs on top of the cement to buffer the explosion. According to the design, it can withstand a one-ton bomb. A direct hit. The interior is equipped with its own power generation equipment and tap water system, forming a self-contained system and does not rely on external sources. In addition, there are kitchens, telephone switch rooms, cold storage, conference rooms, intelligence rooms, bars and a well-equipped field hospital.
In the eyes of soldiers from various South American countries, it is simply a giant safe that cannot be destroyed by any cannonball.
Therefore, after moving into this safe safe, the top generals of the South American Legion seemed to have turned into squirrels spending the winter, and immediately began to greedily pull all kinds of good things into it. In the cold storage, there are fresh beef, bananas, and cream shipped from New Zealand, cigarettes and sugar shipped from Hawaii, chocolate candies, milk candies, and cans produced in the United States, as well as various spirits that are favorites of soldiers... those The young women left on the island by the US military, whether white or indigenous, were forcibly recruited as "maids" by these passionate and romantic South American officers.
As a result, what is shocking is that while the Japanese naval fleet is bombarding the Samoa Islands day after day, various cocktail parties and dances are held in the headquarters of the South American Legion almost every day. Hundreds of officers at all levels, wearing beautiful military uniforms, sat together with one or two or three Samoan girls in their arms, feasting on steaks, fried fish, roast chicken, canned fruits, sausages, cakes and pasta, and drank endless drinks. Limited champagne, rum, juniper Liquor, beer and red wine, and from time to time they would play a few games of poker or billiards, or play the guitar and drunkenly sing love songs in Spanish, as if these guys had come to the South Pacific specifically for travel and vacation, rather than to fight the Japanese... …
Of course, the above-mentioned enjoyment is limited to middle- and senior-level officers. Ordinary soldiers of the legion can only hide in damp trenches and tents and chew dry bread, often without enough to eat. And low-level officers like Lieutenant Isaac could only get a few more cans.
So, when Lieutenant Isaac walked through the rooms filled with wine and moaning, he watched the waiters carrying wine bottles and dishes coming and going. Occasionally, a drunk woman came out of a certain wooden door. When he fell out from behind, his mood was really broken.
"...It's unbelievable. Now they still have the appetite to eat? And the energy to have sex with girls?! A bunch of bastards!"
Second Lieutenant Isaac muttered in a low voice, but did not dare to show any expression of resentment on his face - anyone with a little status in this headquarters could easily crush him to death. Then he made many twists and turns and finally found the intelligence room, where he met his immediate superior, Major Antonio.
Compared with other officials who are drunk and dreaming all day long, Major Antonio seems to be in a very conscientious state. At least he wasn't drinking in the office and there were no women around him. In short, Major Antonio patiently listened to Lieutenant Isaac’s report about the impending Japanese landing. At the same time, he forked the last remaining piece of beef from the plate in front of him, dipped it in the sauce on the plate, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it.
"...Well, you don't have to worry at all, Second Lieutenant, the matter will be taken care of. Everything is under our control."
Major Antonio said this vaguely. After swallowing the last bite of beef, he picked up a napkin and wiped the corners of his mouth. Then he picked up the water glass in front of him and took a sip of cool ice water. Then he slowly made a phone call and talked to someone. The general nagged for a while, and finally took out a document bag wrapped in oil paper and a brand-new eye-catching white flag from his desk, and handed it to the still stunned Second Lieutenant Isaac.
"...Okay, now follow me to the beach where the Japanese landed! This war that does not belong to us should end..."
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On the afternoon of September 26, 1946, relying on the fire cover of our own naval guns, about a thousand Japanese troops made a tentative landing on the eastern beach of Savai'i Island in the Samoa Islands. They thought there would be a fierce and bloody battle, but who knew But they only met a small group of negotiators at the beach who came to negotiate with white flags...
On the same day, after reaching an agreement with Japan, the South American Army in the Samoa Islands suddenly launched an attack. They disarmed and detained the few American pilots, sailors and ground crew remaining on the island. They then sent a clear message to the world, claiming that they were in the Samoa Islands. After a bitter battle, countless enemies were killed. However, the Japanese army was constantly flowing, with huge troops and ferocious firepower. However, our own side had run out of ammunition and food and was unable to survive. We no longer had the strength to fight, so we had to surrender in order to remain useful. At this point, the U.S. Navy's most important relay supply station and fleet forward base in the South Pacific, the Samoa Islands, was completely lost to the enemy. And the entire South Pacific front of the United States of America collapsed across the board, collapsing thousands of miles away, and could no longer be recovered... When the bad news reached Washington, in the Oval Office of the White House, Truman's voice unsurprisingly rang out again. The angry roar of the great president...