Phnom Penh.

The Fourteenth Army and the Sixteenth Army of the Japanese Southern Army have lost most of Annam and Siam. The remnants of the two divisions have gathered around Phnom Penh and are making their final resistance.

The headquarters of Masaharu Honma and Jun Imamura also moved together, so everyone got together and had company when they hit the road.

On June 20, while fighting to retake Taiwan and attack Singapore, the Chinese Southern Expedition Army launched a general attack on the remnants of the Japanese 14th Army and the 16th Army.

As of 10 a.m., a large number of frontline troops had been defeated and annihilated, and many counties and towns around Phnom Penh had been captured by the Chinese Southern Expedition, leaving less and less space for Masaharu Honma and Jun Imamura to move.

The two of them had been busy directing their respective troops to resist, and could not spare the energy to pay attention to the situation in other places.

At 11:00 am, after many hours of continuous attacks, the Chinese offensive weakened slightly.

Both Masaharu Honma and Imamura were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

The two sat opposite each other in the headquarters, licking their chapped lips at the same time.

Because they were too nervous and anxious, their faces looked very ugly.

His heart was still beating like a drum and without calming down, a senior staff officer said to the two commanders:

"Contact with the Marshal has been completely severed. The base camp speculates that Singapore may have been completely lost."

As soon as these words came out, both Imamura and Honma Masaharu stood up at the same time, their faces full of disbelief.

Masaharu Honma snatched several telegrams from the staff and read them at a glance, the look of despair on her face becoming more and more obvious.

They slumped back onto the chair again, their faces turned earth-colored.

All the staff officers and communications officers and soldiers in the command headquarters saw their performance. For a moment, everyone froze on the spot, feeling sad or confused and desperate.

The phone and radio continued to ring, and no one seemed aware of it.

Juichi Terauchi was a Japanese field marshal, and his prestige in the entire southern army was unmatched.

After hearing the news, the last bit of resistance in many people's hearts slowly dissipated.

"Even a military god like the Marshal has been killed. Is there really any hope for the Japanese Empire?"

The blow is fatal. When the news spreads, the morale of the Fourteenth Army and the Sixteenth Army will be greatly shaken, which is likely to affect the overall battlefield situation.

The mentality of Imamura Jun and Honma Masaharu is also collapsing, and they have no time to care.

In Clay, more than 200 kilometers away from Phnom Penh, the three commanders of the three armies of the Southern Expedition, Samurai Min, Zeng Jian, and Cao Bin, gathered together and discussed the situation of the entire southern battlefield in a relaxed manner.

When the Japanese 14th and 16th armies met, the three armies of the Southern Expedition Army also met victoriously in the Mekong River Plain.

"I just received a telegram from the Southern Expeditionary Army Headquarters that the Western Fleet captured Juichi Terauchi alive!"

Samurai Satoshi handed the telegram to the other two commanders-in-chief, and then burst into laughter.

After reading the telegram, Cao Bin and Zeng Jian were equally happy from ear to ear.

"The Western Fleet has succeeded, and the headquarters requires us to increase our attack intensity. The battle in Indochina must be completely ended before July!"

Samurai Min laughed and said:

"The next direction of the advance has been made clear, and that is Indonesia!"

"Oh!" Cao Bin thought thoughtfully,

"I'm going to have a fight with the old beauty!"

"Yes." Samurai Min said:

"What we are liberating now are colonies of several European and American countries. The Commander-in-Chief has never said that these countries' colonial rule over the Malay and Indonesian regions is legal."

"It means that as long as our army moves into these places, even if these places do not belong to us in the future, we can still gain the initiative in negotiations and maximize our interests!"

Zeng Jiandao:

"There are only 10 days, which is a bit tight."

"Do we formally persuade Imamura Jun and Honma Masaaki to surrender?"

"Terauchi Juichi has been captured alive. If persuading him to surrender is effective, the next battle will be simpler and easier."

"Strive to free up the army to go further south as soon as possible!"

Warrior Min and Cao Bin naturally agreed with Zeng Jian's opinion.

They can now be said to be generals who opened up new territories, but in the future they will leave their names in Qing history.

Starting from the afternoon of the 20th, the news that Marshal Juichi Terauchi, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Southern Army, was captured alive by the Chinese Navy spread on the battlefield in the Mekong River Plain.

The Japanese soldiers were short of food and ammunition, and their clothes were in tatters. The war had been very cruel to them, and they all persisted with their last shred of will.

When they heard the news that Juichi Terauchi had been captured alive, most Japanese soldiers instinctively refused to believe it.

However, the Southern Expeditionary Army would not let them off easily. On the first day, they only verbally persuaded them to surrender. On the second day, they would receive documents and photos of the surrender.

…………

At 14:00 on June 20, 1943, the Marine Corps of the Western Fleet held an entry ceremony in Singapore.

Because the entry ceremony was held temporarily, there were no special formal arrangements and receptions.

Five thousand naval officers and soldiers participated in the city entry ceremony, and their military appearance was in good order!

The fighting in the city is basically over, but gunshots and explosions can occasionally be heard outside the city.

The resistance army composed of various forces is reaping the fruits of victory, and the city is in chaos.

The entry ceremony was held under such circumstances.

"Tap tap tap......"

The Marines walked up the blood-stained Central Street with neat steps, and the three-sided military spikes gave off a chilly glow in the afternoon sun.

The common people stood on the street and watched, with curiosity and confusion in their eyes.

Having been colonized for too long and enslaved by the Japanese for two years, many locals did not expect that the Chinese army would liberate them, and they could not accept it in a short time.

Most white people are frantically plundering the property left by the Japanese. They want to grab more things before the Chinese army officially enters.

Only the suffering Chinese and overseas Chinese sincerely welcomed the entry of the Chinese army. They also had tears in their eyes and were so excited that they could not speak.

Although only 5,000 people attended the city entry ceremony, the demeanor of a strong army was fully demonstrated.

No one dared to cause trouble in front of such an army. The rebels who were collecting property everywhere gradually calmed down and gave up their main military facilities to the army entering the city. They also sent people to negotiate with the Chinese Navy, hoping to share the fruits of victory.

After the city entry ceremony, the Western Fleet also specially arranged for the prisoners of war to parade through the streets.

Juichi Terauchi and Tsuka Nakagao, who were captured alive, bore the brunt of the attack.

Behind the two men were more than 600 dejected ordinary soldiers.

The warships of the Western Fleet carried many Chinese and foreign reporters. The city entry ceremony and the prisoner of war parade were a carnival feast for the reporters.

The clicks of cameras kept ringing, and dedicated reporters were active in all walks of life in Singapore.

Intelligence agents from various countries also took the opportunity to take many photos, and this place became the most attractive place in the entire Eastern battlefield.

It is conceivable that the cover of tomorrow's newspaper will be the prisoner photo of Juichi Terauchi; the front page headline will also be about the battle that took place in Singapore.
Chapter completed!