Rabaul is located on the Gazel Peninsula at the northeast end of New Britain. It is surrounded by Branche Bay and faces the Simpsons Bay to the south.

When it comes to Rabaul, what people think of the most is not that this city is the largest city on the New Britain Island, but the cruel history of war that the city has experienced.

After the Australian Fengcai stopped at the dock in Rabaul, Yang Jing and his group got off the boat, and William Howard, as the captain, took the initiative to take on the tour guide.

Just like the cruel battles this city has experienced, even though the city has been destroyed by a volcano once, the military fortress built by the Japanese and the traces left over from the US-Japan War that year can still be seen in this city.

William Howard was very familiar with Rabaul, and when they were docking at the pier, the sun was still hanging in the west sky, so Yang Jing decided to visit the city first and then have a meal. William Howard naturally acted as a tour guide.

"In 1910, the Germans first built a town on the swamp of mangroves in New Britain and named it Rabaul Town. In the local language, it is "Mangroves of Kuanua". After World War I, Rabaul's ownership was transferred from Germany to Britain, and then became the capital of the British and Australian colonial authorities' territory. Before World War II, Rabaul Town was built into a local base."

After walking out of the dock, William Howard began to introduce the origin of the city to Yang Jing and his group.

"Did you see these half-buried military fortresses? These military fortresses were left by the Japanese back then. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, expanding the original war of aggression against China into a Pacific War, and Rabaul became the target of the Japanese army. So the British and Australian colonial authorities evacuated all the women and children in the town in December 1941. In January 1942, Rabaul was bombed by the Japanese army. On January 23 of the same year, the Battle of Rabaul began. Tens of thousands of Japanese marines landed in Rabaul. The Australian army was defeated, and the Japanese completely occupied the surrounding islands with Rabaul as the base."

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

The captain smiled and said, "It's okay to be unfamiliar. I grew up here since I was a child. My grandfather was an officer stationed here after the Japanese surrendered. My father was born here, and I was born here."

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

After a little emotion, the captain continued to introduce: "After the Battle of Rabaul, the Japanese Eighth Front Army, led by Army General Imamura Tsubasa, built Rabaul into a stronger military base. Naval ships, naval aviation and army aviation and other troops took Rabaul as the center to attack surrounding Allied troops and transportation lines. The Japanese army dug nearly 100 kilometers of crisscrossing tunnels in the Rabaul area as air raid shelters to avoid Allied air 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? It seems that Japanese people are very worried that they will be taken back by the Allied Army." Liu Zhaoming said from the side.

"Yes, Rabaul is not big, but its strategic position is very important. Unfortunately, the Japanese value Rabaul very much, but for Americans, Rabaul is not that important. Do you know what Americans thought about the Pacific War back then?"

Yang Jing and the others shook their heads.

Howard said with a smile: "In the minds of Americans, the so-called Pacific War is just a 'trip to Tokyo' in the minds of Americans. However, MacArthur led the army to set off from Australia, while Nimitz led the navy to set off from Hawaii. The US Army and Navy also quarreled in the middle, and there were big quarrels every day. The content of the quarrel was just for which way to take and who led the way. However, there had never been a quarrel for the goal of the entire battle - occupying Tokyo."

"It's just that no matter which route the US military takes, no matter who leads the way, they have to pull out the nail, Rabaul. MacArthur had to use an aircraft carrier to attack Rabaul himself before the battle started in Guardiola. Of course, Nimitz would not let MacArthur cross the boundary. So, the Battle of the Solomon Islands broke out here at the beginning."

Yang Jing asked: "At the beginning, the US military must have suffered a great loss in Rabaul, right?"

Howard nodded and said, "Yes, as the most important military base of the US military in the Southwest Pacific, Rabaul was an important base that MacArthur had to take at the beginning. However, when the US military fought within 50 to 100 kilometers of the coastline, it was invincible. However, after leaving the coastline and entering the mountainous areas, the US military's advantage in firepower and maneuverability disappeared. At that time, the US military did not realize this, so it attacked Rabaul at the beginning.

At that time, I suffered a great loss. In the entire Solomon Islands, nearly 10,000 people died in the Battle of Solomon Islands, and no less than 3,000 bodies were left behind in Rabaul alone. However, the Japanese were not without losses. It was fine for ordinary Japanese soldiers to lose. Even Iroku Yamamoto, who planned the Pacific War, took off from Rabaul Airport on April 18, 1943 and was finally killed by the Americans on Bougainville Island.

"Later, the US military realized that it was not the right thing to attack Rabaul in such a strong force, so MacArthur and Nimitz adopted the 'leapfrog tactic' and finally skipped Rabaul to attack other Japanese military bases in the Pacific, and finally relied on the deterrence of two atomic bombs to completely defeat Japan. Then, when the village led the Japanese troops stationed in Rabaul to surrender, the number of Japanese troops stationed in the Solomon Islands alone was still as high as 140,000."

Yang Jing nodded. Thanks to the era of the information explosion, he also knew some of the Pacific War. "Captain, if MacArthur insisted on attacking Rabaul at that time, I'm afraid the number of casualties of the US military would be more than that?"

Howard nodded and said, "If MacArthur had not decisively adopted the leapfrog tactic to skip Rabaul, but continued to attack Rabaul, the number of casualties in the Allied forces would have reached at least 30,000 or even more. Imamura is still very good, and the Americans would not benefit much from him."

Guo Xiaoxiang asked strangely: "Why didn't the Americans blockade Rabaul with their superior sea and air power at that time? Rabaul was just 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? Over time, Japan will definitely lose without a fight."

Howard looked at Guo Xiaoxiang, shook his head and said, "Mr. Guo, things are not as simple as you think. As I said just now, Imura is not a simple person. As a general of the Japanese army, this guy is already a senior figure in the Japanese army, but this person is different from other senior Japanese army leaders. He is a very enlightened general and a rare good person among the senior Japanese generals."

These words made Chinese people like Yang Jing and others feel a little unhappy. In the minds of Chinese people, there is no good person for those Japanese people, and they are all guys who should go to hell.

As if seeing Yang Jing and the others' dissatisfaction, Howard explained with a smile: "Imura Jun's character is not my judgment, but many experts from later generations have a very fair evaluation of this person. In fact, when ruling Rabaul and its surrounding areas, Imura Jun strongly restrained his subordinates. Therefore, the Japanese army did not carry out crazy burning, killing and looting against the indigenous people, and even if they treated the surrendered Dutch and Australian prisoners of war, they tried their best to give humane treatment. In fact, in order to reduce the livelihood pressure of Rabaul residents, Imura Jun even asked to send agricultural technicians from the Bay Island to work locally."

"Under the Huairou policy of Imamura Jun, the 110,000 Japanese troops stationed in Rabaul had a very harmonious relationship with the local people. This allowed the Eighth Front Army trapped in Rabaul to guard Rabaul even if the local supply was cut off for two years. Because even without the local supply, under the various policies of Imamura Jun, the Japanese troops in Rabaul were able to be self-sufficient."

"So amazing? If this is true, then Imamura is really a good person." Guo Xiaoxiang said astonished.

Howard nodded and said, "In fact, there is another small story that can also show that Imamura was able to hold on with Rabaul for more than two years. This small story is an interesting story that happened when Imamura led the Japanese troops stationed in Rabaul to surrender to the Australian military after Japan surrendered."

Several people were very interested and quickly asked Howard to give a lecture.

Howard's speech made these people amused.

So that's what happened.

In August 1945, General Imamura, commander of the Eighth Front of Japan, boarded the Australian warship anchored on the Rabaul Sea and surrendered to the Australian army. There was such a ridiculous conversation at the surrender ceremony.

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

Imamura: "In addition to the surrounding islands, there are more than 140,000 troops and naval soldiers in the Greater Japan Empire of the Solomon Islands.

The commander of the Australian Army was amused: "I'm talking nonsense again."

Imamura Tsubasa: "These are all facts, we have brought all the rosters, you can see them."

Australian Commander: "Where are these people?"

“There are 100,000 surrounding Rabaul and 40,000 surrounding islands.”

"Why can't you see it?"

"It's basically all in the cave fortifications underground, so I won't come out if I have nothing to do."

"Then what do you eat?"

"We have the food we have stored, plus the food we grow ourselves, so there is no problem for 10 years."

"What should we do if we are armed?"

"We have an arsenal that can produce it on our own and even assemble the aircraft. The two existing Zero-21, 22 fighter jets and a Type 100 Command reconnaissance aircraft are all self-assembled. If we have time, we can assemble more aircraft."

In fact, Imamura has not told the truth completely. He gathered all the science and engineering students and lecturers and professors of the Imperial University in the Eighth Front Army to set up a Weapon Research Institute. No one has ever said what the institute has done yet. He only knows that after the defeat, the people from this institute returned to the original troops, and all the finished semi-finished products of all materials were destroyed.

The commander of the Australian Army couldn't figure it out: "Then why do you surrender?"

Imamura's face was confused: "I don't know, the Emperor asked the surrender."

The commander of the Australian Army was thrilled: The Japanese actually had 140,000 fully armed people, and there were only a few ships here, and only 3,000 people. What should I do?

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

Imamura dropped the warship and returned to Rabaul. Suddenly, countless Japanese people began to build a large-scale construction. First, build a military camp for the Australian ghosts and cows, which was beautiful and of good quality. Then, build a straw shed around the Australian military camp, which was the prisoner-of-war camp where they were ready to live. After setting it up, they pulled a barbed wire around the straw shed, polished the weapons and placed them neatly, and then got into the barbed wire. It was very regular and honest.

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

3,000 amused and crying Australian soldiers just lived among the 140,000 Japanese prisoners, and from time to time they were airing on their backs: "Who is the prisoner of this sister?"
Chapter completed!