The happy time was short-lived after all. The next day, the last day of October, Yang Zhen ordered Zhou Changfeng and Yan Chenwu to accompany him to the Governor's Mansion.
"What's the matter this time? Do you need to bring anything?" Yan Chenwu asked in confusion.
"War chess deduction." Yang Zhen answered concisely.
Several people immediately took a car and set off for the naval office where the self-study class was located, and arrived in a short time.
If the official offices of the Ministry of War still have an antique flavor in many aspects, then the official offices of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion appear to be much more "modern" - rectangular, six-story high, reinforced concrete frame structure, and the inclination angle of the double-sloped roof is very small, almost Level, using metal tiles made of galvanized steel sheets.
Of course, there are many details with Chinese style and summer charm, such as the volcanic wall on the eaves, and the window lattice with Chinese pattern and swastika pattern.
After crossing the threshold and taking the elevator up to the third floor, several people turned left and right and entered a spacious hall.
In the middle is a large long table, about a few meters long and wide, with a sand table on it. Six or seven staff officers are playing around it, while two colonels and a brigadier general are discussing.
This war game deduction did not exceed Zhou Changfeng's expectations. The huge sand table was a 1:1.5 million Nanyang area. It was very detailed and the terrain undulations were very exquisite.
"...I almost forgot, how many times is this this year?"
"I don't remember either. It was four or five times, right? It's really troublesome to compile this data."
The two staff officers walked over with six small boxes while muttering. After opening them, they could see small blue and red pennants inside, as well as some small square squares.
Yang Zhen looked at Zhou Changfeng and Yan Chenwu, stroked his beard and said with a smile: "How is it? See you for the first time, right? This is the most complete strategic deduction place in our country. There are more than a dozen such battle-level sandboxes."
Military operations in a vast area must be at the campaign level. In addition to the Nanyang region, the Metropolitan Governor's Staff Office also has operations in mainland China, Siberia, Central Asia, the Japanese Islands, etc.
There are battle-level ones and tactical-level ones, which are mainly aimed at some key strategic locations or cities, such as Singapore, Old Port, Shanghai, Batavia, Pearl Harbor, and San Francisco.
Yang Zhen waved his hand and ordered: "Remove and replace them with those from the Bataan Fortress area."
"Yes." The surrounding staff members all responded in unison.
After a while, after several people worked together to move the huge sand table, a new sand table was moved to the table.
This is about Fort Bataan and Fort Corregidor, both of which are important U.S. bases in the Philippines.
The Bataan Peninsula is located in the southwest of Luzon Island, and the Port of Manila is in the eastern part of the bay. The control of this place determines whether the important location of Manila Port can be used, and then used as a barrier to protect the Dutch East Indu that will be captured in the future. the northeastern flank.
Obviously, Americans cannot ignore such an important strategic location.
The Bataan Fortress is actually a preset defense line composed of a small number of permanent fortifications and a large number of semi-permanent fortifications. During wartime, it can accommodate a large number of troops to be stationed here for a long time. At the same time, new field fortifications will continue to be excavated and deployed for in-depth defense.
The Corregidor Fortress is more in line with the inherent impression of the word "fortress". It is built on an island, about 5.6km long and 2.4km wide. It is located at the entrance of Manila Bay and the Bataan Peninsula. Facing each other across the sea.
Such a geographical location determines that it must be a battleground for military strategists.
The Americans dug a large number of underground tunnels on Corregidor Island and built many powerful coastal defense artillery positions along the coastline. They also built a large number of reinforced concrete permanent fortifications and solid support points.
【Fortress of Corregidor】
At this time, a small staff major came over with a baton and introduced:
"Please see, there is a coast defense artillery regiment, an anti-aircraft artillery regiment, and some colonial security units permanently stationed on this island. But in wartime, I'm afraid it won't be long before heavy troops gather here."
"In subsequent deductions, we assumed that it added two more regiment-level infantry units, with a total strength of 6,000 troops excluding artillery. The firepower configuration was twenty preset artillery positions and twenty-four 75mm field guns. , eighteen 155mm howitzers, and sixteen 305mm coastal defense guns."
"This island has complete logistics supply and can store a large amount of supplies. It also has hospitals, power plants, fresh water plants, ice cream factories, soda factories, cinemas, golf courses, churches, etc. It can be said that it has excellent support capabilities and can be maintained for a long time. Morale.”
Ice cream factory? Soda factory? Cinema? golf course?
Did you go on vacation when you co-wrote it?
But considering that this was done by Americans, everything seems reasonable again.
Zhou Changfeng complained in his mind, and then noticed that there was a strange "small island" under the sand table, so he pointed at it and asked: "What is this?"
The little staff officer smiled, cupped his hands and said, "Mr. Zhou, you are from the army. You may not have heard of it, but you should know it well, Chief Yan, right?"
Yan Chenwu nodded, glanced at Zhou Changfeng, and then said lightly:
"This is eighteen miles south of Corogido Island. It's called 'Fort Drum'. It was originally a small reef island. In order to strengthen their control over Manila Bay, the Americans razed the entire island through blasting and excavation. Make a level ground and build a large fort on it.”
"This fortress looks like a battleship, with a length of over a hundred meters, a width of about 40 meters, and a height of 10 meters. The reinforced concrete on the sides is 11 meters thick, and the top is 6 meters thick. Some places are laminated with steel plates for additional reinforcement. "
"The firepower configuration is two battleship turrets, twin 356mm guns. These guns are similar to Nevada-class battleships, but they are actually shore defense guns. Then there are four 155mm field guns, four anti-aircraft guns, and a dozen anti-aircraft machine guns. .”
【Fort Drum】
After he finished speaking, Yang Zhen, who had been silent, spoke up, "Fort Drum guards Manila Bay. If it cannot be captured, the Port of Manila will be useless."
When Yan Chenwu just introduced it, Zhou Changfeng had already recalled this damn thing.
There is no need to talk about its "claim", it is a serious cement battleship that will never sink.
Historically, during the months-long siege, the more than 200 defenders suffered almost no casualties. In the end, they surrendered on their own initiative because there were no reinforcements from outside.
During this period, they kept fighting. When the Corogido Fortress was landed, this cement battleship provided long-range support with ferocious firepower, damaging and sinking a large number of landing craft and troop transports.
At the end of the war, the U.S. military who had counterattacked had a headache to solve this thing. Finally, it sent a task force to land, poured thousands of gallons of gasoline into it through the vents, and burned it to the ground.
"This time, assuming that the Bataan Fortress has been captured, you will act as the attacker and launch an offensive on Corogido Island." Yang Zhen raised his hand and glanced at his watch, and said in deep thought: "I'll give you all the morning to discuss peace. Plan and start deducing later.”
(End of chapter)
