Rise of Australia

Chapter 889 Heavy casualties
In the nearby land, the most likely place to hide people is this seemingly dense forest.

The forest stretches to the hills not far away. It is densely covered with weeds and bushes, plus the lush leaves. It is obviously the best place to hide people.

Because of this, this forest, together with the nearby hills, became a key focus of the Australasian Air Force's bombing operations.

Since it is a key area of ​​focus, the bombing must not be random.

Just in the small forest at the foot of the hill, hundreds of bombs and dozens of missiles were dropped, directly razing the forest to the ground.

In the forest after the bombing, it is almost impossible to find a tree, not even a complete branch. The air was filled with the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood. The ground under the forest had been plowed several times by bombs, exposing moist soil that was charred and blackened with white smoke.

Division commander Murai Noo and infantry brigade commander Taro Tanaka happened to be hiding in the forest, where the Air Force bombed the most intensely.

Almost at the beginning of the bombing, Murai Noo and Tanaka Taro were unfortunately hit.

The good news is that the bomb landed on the rocks next to them. The bad news is that the bombs dislodged the rocks and pinned them down.

Such injuries were not fatal, but they did panic Murai Noo and Tanaka Taro. You know, the bombing by the Australasians is still going on. They are pinned down by the rocks and unable to move, so they lose the opportunity to actively evade.

The good news is that Murai Noo and Tanaka Taro don't need to panic. Shortly after being pinned down, another bomb accurately found them and exploded within two meters of them.

In the center of the explosion range, Murai Noo and Tanaka Taro quickly disappeared from the world smoothly, ending their crimes.

Unfortunately, there was only half a minute between being pinned by the rocks and the second bomb ending their lives, which obviously did not cause them much pain.

Not only Murai Noo and Taro Tanaka, but also the brigade commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade also disappeared in the bombing.

Taking things a step further, most of the headquarters of the Class A division were also turned into spare parts in this bombing.

This caused the command system of the Class A Division to almost be paralyzed, and coupled with the bombing, the entire division was in extreme chaos.

Although this bombing wasted a lot of bombs and missiles, the results achieved were quite good. The Type A Division dispatched about 1.3 troops. Just one carpet bombing caused the tens of thousands of Type A Division to lose at least half of its troops.

More importantly, due to the vast nature of carpet bombing, almost every formation of the Class A division lost troops, and some formations even lost commanders, which greatly affected the execution ability of the entire Class A division. .

After the bombing, the air force did not leave. It did not use the heavy machine guns carried on the planes to carry out another round of strafing in areas where the bombing was not serious.

In addition to attacking the island country's army and causing casualties to the island country's army, the air force's mission is also to delay the march of the island country's army.

Of course, judging from the current miserable situation of the island country's military, even if they successfully reach Naha, they will not pose much of a threat to the Australasian garrison in the Naha area.

In addition to this Type A division, the Type B division in the north of the main island is also worth noting. Although on the main island, the B Division only stationed one infantry regiment, which was about 5000 troops.

However, the combat effectiveness of Division B far exceeds that of Division C. If these 5000 men are not prepared, they will inevitably cause unnecessary casualties to Australasia.

The heavy machine gun fired again for a while, and after all the heavy machine gun bullets carried on the plane were used up, they reluctantly left the bombing zone.

At present, the air force's mission has been completed, and enough time has been bought for the garrison in the Naha area. The next task of destroying these Type A division soldiers will be left to the Army.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, and after confirming that the Australasian Air Force was completely gone, Nakamura Daiki, captain of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Brigade of the Class A Division, climbed up in fear and patted the clothes on his body with both hands. Tutu swallowed his saliva and ordered the messenger next to him: "Each department quickly counts the number of casualties. I will go to meet with the division commander."

The casualties were quickly counted. The Second Infantry Regiment had a total of about 4400 soldiers. Close to 1600 soldiers were directly killed, more than 500 were slightly injured, and more than 1200 were seriously injured.

This also means that after the bombing of the infantry regiment of more than 4400 people, there were only 1100 uninjured soldiers, and there were still only about 1600 soldiers with a certain degree of combat effectiveness who could be put into battle.

Nakamura Daiki took the casualty data of his infantry regiment with a worried look on his face and looked for the way to the division headquarters.

Because everything was heavily bombed, except for being able to vaguely identify the direction, the road was completely impossible to find.

But the good news is that that round of bombing almost flattened the nearby hills, but artificially created a plain, making it easier for Nakamura Daiki to get to the division headquarters.

But looking at the surrounding terrain that had been almost flattened, Nakamura Daiki felt a little uneasy. He was not sure whether the division headquarters was safe.

You know, the division headquarters not only has the division commander Murai Noo, but also the division's two infantry brigade commanders and other senior commanders.

If anything happens to the division headquarters, it will not only mean that the entire division will lose its command system, but it will also mean that their army has no hope of victory.

The Second Infantry Regiment was not far from the division headquarters. After walking for a few minutes, it was already close to the division headquarters.

But the closer he got to the division headquarters, the more uneasy Nakamura Dashu became. Because the bombing in this area was more severe, it also meant that the division headquarters had even lower hopes of survival.

"Your Excellency, Division Commander? Your Excellency, Brigade Commander?" Nakamura Daiki tried to call.

But no one responded at all. The area where the core strength of the division was supposed to be gathered seemed to be a no man's land, silent.

After swallowing his saliva, Nakamura Daiki raised his voice and continued to shout unwillingly.

"Nakamura-kun, this way." Suddenly, a voice interrupted Nakamura Daiki's call.

"Inada-kun, I'll be right over!" Nakamura Daiki quickly recognized who was calling him and responded happily.

Inada Matsuo is the staff officer of the Class A Division Headquarters. Because he is often close to the division commander Murai Noo, he is very familiar with the senior officers of the division, including Nakamura Daiki who is currently very worried. After taking a few steps forward, Nakamura Daiki realized something was wrong. The place where Inada Matsuo was located was not a division headquarters at all, and there were not even a few senior officers from the headquarters.

"Inada-kun, what is going on?" Daiki Nakamura had a bad premonition and asked quickly.

"Nakamura-kun, your Excellency the division commander and your Excellency the brigade commander, have all been killed in the enemy's bombing." Inada Matsuo looked sad and said something that shocked Nakamura Daiki.

"How is this possible?" Nakamura Daiki looked shocked, with a hint of gray in his face and despair in his eyes.

"Alas, Nakamura-kun, we have lost contact with the B Division. We have completely failed in this battle of Okinawa Islands." Inada Matsunan's face was full of despair, his face was pale, and his previous confident look was completely gone. .

Daiki Nakamura also looked desperate. He couldn't believe that the damage to the division was higher than that of his infantry regiment. Even most of the senior officers of the division had been killed or injured.

"How many soldiers do we have now?" Nakamura Dashu asked hurriedly.

If enough combat-ready soldiers can be retained, perhaps they still have hope of survival. But both Nakamura Daiki and Inada Matsuo knew that under such a crazy bombing by the Australasians, there might not be many combatable soldiers left in the entire division.

"The First Infantry Regiment of the Second Infantry Brigade only has about 1400 combat troops left. The combined regiments directly under the division only have over 1000 combat troops left. What about you? Your Second Infantry Regiment What are the casualties of the team?" Inada Matsuo looked a little heavy and reported a number that made Nakamura Daiki even more desperate.

"There are only about 1600 combat-effective soldiers in the Second Infantry Regiment." Nakamura Daiki looked gloomy, and his words made several people around him immediately give up hope.

The combined combat strength of the entire division is only 4000. With such a strength, let alone counterattack Naha, it is difficult to guarantee one's own safety.

What's even more terrible is that if the Australasians carry out another major bombing in a short period of time, these 4000 people are likely to be wiped out in the bombing.

After calming down his mood a little, Nakamura Daiki firmed his eyes, then looked at the few remaining officers at the division headquarters, and asked: "Gentlemen, do you want to die on the battlefield like this?"

Do you want to die on the battlefield like this?
If this question were asked before participating in this war, these officers would definitely have only one unified answer, that is, they can die on the battlefield in any way.

But the problem is that after experiencing the baptism of real battlefields, they all understand the cruelty of war. If the same question is answered now, they will obviously have different answers.

"Nakamura-kun, do you have any good plans?" The remaining senior officers of the division, including Inada Matsuo, all looked at Nakamura Daiki, with a glint of hope flashing in their eyes.

"If you want to survive, there are two ways." Nakamura Daiki glanced at everyone, and then said word by word.

"What can we do?" An officer asked impatiently, obviously impatient.

"The first way is to break out to the north and meet up with the garrison of the B Division. The B Division has a garrison of nearly 5000 people. Together with our army, we can barely put together an army of nearly people to resist a little resistance. Australasians can do it too," Daiki Nakamura said slowly.

Everyone pondered for a moment, and Matsuo Inada stood up first and asked: "What about the second plan? Nakamura-kun."

"The second plan is to surrender to the Australasians and seek international prisoner treatment." Nakamura Daiki paused and made a proposal that made everyone change their minds.

"Baga! This is absolutely impossible!" A staff officer from the headquarters immediately interrupted Nakamura Daiki's speech, looked at Nakamura Daiki sharply, and said angrily: "This is a betrayal of the Empire and His Majesty the Emperor. There's no way I'm going to surrender to those Australasians."

Although the surrounding officers did not speak, it could be seen from their facial expressions that they were still unable to accept the surrender to Australasia.

Daiki Nakamura was not surprised by their reaction, and said very calmly: "Since all the kings do not agree to surrender, we can only do our best to break out to the north. But the ugly words are ahead. Since we have decided to go all out to break out, I hope you all can lead your troops and fight to the death.

This is not only related to whether you can successfully break through to the northern Type B Division station, but also related to whether you can survive successfully.

I don’t want anyone to be a drag on us. If we really decide to break through, we must execute it firmly. "

"That's natural." Inada Matsuo nodded first and said: "The division's direct wing will fully cooperate with the actions of the 2nd Infantry Wing, and the military police will also supervise each unit to ensure the smooth execution of our plan."

After seeing several people nodding, Nakamura Daiki felt relieved. A trace of firmness flashed in his eyes and he said to everyone: "Then, please follow me, for the sake of our remaining survival." Hope, give it a try.”

"Hi!"

Under the mobilization of Nakamura Daiki, the remaining few thousand troops of the family division quickly took action.

Because it was related to their own life and death, all the officers tacitly chose to abandon those seriously injured soldiers.

Of course, before leaving, they also left a bullet for the seriously injured soldiers. If they really couldn't stand the torture, they could choose to deal with it themselves.

This is almost a tacit understanding on the battlefield. If they really encounter a situation where serious injuries are almost irreparable, soldiers will generally choose to help their comrades escape.

After all, in this situation, continuing to live is just a kind of torture. Current medical technology can hardly save the seriously injured. For these seriously injured, ending their lives is a kind of relief.

Of course, most of the lightly wounded people who could continue to move naturally joined the breakout queue.

After a short period of repairs, the army of about 4000 men was back in action.

Because of that bombing, the army lost a lot of weapons and equipment. In order to collect weapons and equipment for each soldier, it took nearly half an hour to clean the battlefield.

"Gentlemen, for the last glimmer of hope for our survival, and for our wives and children at home, please make one last effort with me. For survival!" Along with the instigative mobilization, more than 4000 soldiers came out in force heading north of the main island.

(End of this chapter)