Age of Rebirth

Major General Kawaguchi, Chief of Staff of Japan's Southwest Pacific Dispatch Army, is scheming, insidious and cunning. He is a very qualified staff member. He is an old subordinate who has followed General Ito for many years. He is an absolute confidant. The disastrous defeat of the division was also due to the joint efforts of the two of them. After going through those miserable days, it can be said that both business and personal relationships are quite deep.

Hearing General Ito's call from the staff officer, Major General Kawaguchi immediately realized that his boss must have a new move, and this was related to the increase of troops sent by the headquarters to the Southwest Pacific, so he hurriedly cleared the table. case, rushed to General Ito's office.

Familiar with the door, Major General Kawaguchi has obtained General Ito's permission to enter his office at any time without knocking on the door. His loyalty and respect, this reading is also what General Ito is most satisfied with his chief of staff.

"Bang bang bang!" Major General Kawaguchi knocked on the door, and reported formally: "Report to Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, Kawaguchi is here under orders!"

"Please come in!" General Ito shouted gently, seeing Major General Kawaguchi's very formal expression, he complained, "Kawaguchi-san, how many times have I told you that you can come into my office at any time, you don't need to be so formal And restrained!"

Major General Kawaguchi smiled and asked, "Commander-in-Chief, what do you want me to do?"

"Kawaguchi-kun, the additional reinforcements sent by the headquarters will soon arrive at the Australian battlefield. What do you think about this matter?" General Ito asked calmly.

General Ito asked very vaguely, but Kawaguchi almost became a roundworm in his stomach.How could he not know the commander-in-chief's intentions, so he replied truthfully: "Commander-in-chief, are you considering launching the most violent attack on the Allied forces on the line between the Flinders Mountains and the Barriel Mountains in order to complete their meritorious service?" In one battle, all of Australia will be occupied!"

"Hahaha! Those who know me, Mr. Kawaguchi!" General Ito said with a hearty laugh, "Mr. Kawaguchi, the base camp has increased our troops. But it also brought pressure. His Majesty the Emperor asked the empire to send troops to the southwest Pacific, Within three months, the allied troops will be wiped out. The Australian war will end. Then, the main force of the dispatched army will quickly return to Kalimantan and Sumatra to prevent the Chinese army from attacking the imperial-occupied area. Know what you think?"

Major General Kawaguchi knew General Ito's ambition. After the war in Australia, the next step was to send troops to attack the mainland of the United States, but the order from the base camp was completely opposite.This made General Ito feel very uncomfortable, when sending the telegram from the base camp.Your Excellency the general couldn't help complaining a few words, saying that the orders from the base camp were putting the cart before the horse, and did not grasp the strategic rereading, typical blind command!

However, Major General Kawaguchi understands his boss and his deepest thoughts. Rather than saying that General Ito needs to create more brilliant achievements, it is better to say that the General is trying his best to avoid fighting with the troops of the Chinese demon Tang Qiuli, so he would rather The command post is attacking the mainland of the United States, and it is not willing to return to the imperial occupation area, and once again face to face with that daunting opponent!

Of course, Major General Kawaguchi would not say these words hidden deep in his heart, so he solemnly said: "Commander-in-Chief, His Majesty's decree gave us a three-month deadline. Therefore, all future offensive operations , must be carried out around this decree, and the return to the imperial occupation area should be ordered by His Majesty the Emperor himself, and no one can change it. This is a battle plan drawn up by me and my colleagues in the staff department. Commander-in-Chief please review!"

"It seems that Kawaguchi-kun is already prepared!" Admiral Ito said approvingly, took the document casually, and looked at it carefully, "Kawaguchi-kun, you are going to invest all the troops of the Empire's Southwest Pacific Expeditionary Force to launch this Offensive action? However, have you considered that in your battle plan, you will send troops to launch an all-round attack, and the current Allied forces rely on the defense lines of the Flinders Mountains and the Barrier Mountains, and have built strong The defense system is easy to defend but difficult to attack!"

"Such an all-round attack will cause great casualties to the troops! If the dispatched army suffers too many casualties, even if they return to defend the occupied area of ​​the empire, their strength will be greatly damaged. Those bigwigs in the base camp will inevitably stir up trouble again. , Three months is enough for us to arrange it calmly, Kawaguchi-kun, your battle plan is a bit risky!"

"It's a little risky!" Major General Kawaguchi said without hesitation, "However, Commander-in-Chief, have you ever thought about it? We know from intelligence that the Allied Forces have opened up a new route to increase troops in the Australian battlefield, that is to say, The Imperial Navy's blockade of the United States has not played its due role in cutting off the Allied troops and logistical supplies on the Australian battlefield,"

"If we don't end the war in Australia quickly, with the continuous arrival of Allied reinforcements, the strength of the Allied forces on the Australian battlefield will continue to increase, and the empire's military strength will no longer be superior. Future battles will not be easy! You Don't forget, the first batch of more than [-] reinforcements from the Allied Forces has already landed at the Port of Melbourne!"

"Oh, this matter is nothing to worry about. A mere [-] reinforcements are not enough to change the dominant position of the Imperial Army on the Australian battlefield!" General Ito said indifferently, "I hope that the reinforcements from the Allies Bring some more so that we can gather and annihilate them! How many reinforcements can come within three months for a journey of tens of thousands of kilometers!"

"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, the Ministry does not think so!" Major General Yamaguchi said seriously, "With the great assistance of Tang Qiuli, the devil of China, the Allied reinforcements reached the Australian battlefield faster than we imagined. Moreover, the Allied forces All the weapons, equipment and logistics supplies for the reinforcements were provided by the Chinese, but in just over [-] days, more than [-] Allied reinforcements arrived on the Australian battlefield, and the speed is evident!"

"Once the Australian battlefield becomes stalemate, and within three months, you cannot complete His Majesty's order, the first person to be blamed is you, Commander-in-Chief. Tang Qiuli, the devil of China, launched an attack from the southern peninsula to the occupied area of ​​the empire. At that time, you will bear the huge responsibility, Commander-in-Chief, you must consider this reading!"

"Oh!" General Ito's eyes became serious, and he had to pay attention to Major General Kawaguchi's words, "Kawaguchi-kun, keep talking!"

"Yes! Commander-in-Chief!" Major General Kawaguchi continued, "My offensive plan, although it seems risky, is based on the imminent arrival of the first batch of reinforcements. After the offensive is launched, the casualties may not be like yours. So worried!"

General Ito became interested and said, "Yamaguchi-kun, please tell me carefully!"

"Commander-in-Chief, the first batch of troops dispatched by the base camp to the Australian battlefield are eight first-class divisions, all equipped with the latest weapons and equipment developed by the empire. Leaving aside light infantry weapons, as far as I know, every Each division is equipped with a large-caliber howitzer brigade with 120 large-caliber howitzers. This latest type of howitzer is quite effective against strong fortifications and is a sharp weapon for negotiating the enemy's solid defense system!"

"The eight artillery brigades are more than a hundred large-caliber howitzers. Concentrating these artillery on two to three main breakthrough directions can completely destroy the Allied defense system in a short period of time. Moreover, each division The regiment also has a tank squadron equipped with the latest '97-type converted tank', with [-] new tanks. Battle of the car troops!"

"The new howitzer and the new tank are the powerful weapons for the imperial army to break through the defense lines of the Allied Flinders Mountains and Barriel Mountains. In addition, your Excellency Commander-in-Chief can order the joint air force of the sending army to cooperate with tanks and artillery Troops, launch this large-scale attack, so that the imperial army can wipe out the Allied troops in the shortest time with the least casualties and end the Australian war!"

"Yoshi!" At this point, General Ito had fully accepted Chief of Staff Kawaguchi's battle plan. He looked at Major General Kawaguchi cunningly and said, "Mr. Kawaguchi, apart from the two or three main assault directions, the other assault directions are Your suspicious tactics, the purpose is to disperse the main attack direction, the thickness of the Allied defense forces!"

"Nothing can be hidden from the insightful eyes of the Commander-in-Chief!" Major General Yamaguchi slapped his ass without showing any traces, and continued: "Commander-in-Chief, during the Australian campaign, the casualties of the troops dispatched in the Southwest Pacific were controlled within a certain range. The biggest advantage of the latter is that you can have enough strength to allocate part of the troops to carry out His Majesty's order and return to defend the imperial occupation area, while most of the troops still have the possibility to take on the important task of attacking the mainland of the United States!"

The last paragraph can be said to have reached General Ito's heart, his face suddenly glowed red, and he said to Major General Yamaguchi: "Yamaguchi-san, follow the battle plan you made and improve it, and then, Conduct drills among the relevant troops, after all, coordinated land and air combat is a method of warfare that the Imperial Army is not very familiar with. In this regard, I will give you full authority to implement it, Yamaguchi-san, don't worry about it!"

Seeing that General Ito was persuaded without much effort, Major General Yamaguchi was also quite happy in his heart. He stood up abruptly and said loudly: "Yes! Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, the Ministry is willing to serve the Empire of Japan and you!"

The two giants of Japan's Southwest Pacific Expeditionary Force, after some plotting, are ready to attack the Allied forces retreating to the southwestern part of Australia.

At this time, a large-scale welcome banquet was being held in a hotel in Canberra, the headquarters of the Allied Forces. They didn't know that more than one million Japanese soldiers had already sharpened their swords!

(to be continued) (to be continued...)