Age of Rebirth

"What?" Lieutenant General Barry Hessman yelled, and then rushed to Lieutenant General Wagner, the chief of staff, and shouted: "Impossible, there are four of our divisions in the direction of Massari. The depth of the defense reached more than [-] kilometers, and the position was broken by the Japanese army less than three hours after the start of the battle, how could it be possible?"

"Commander, it's absolutely true! On the phone, I can even hear the roar of Japanese tanks!" Chief of Staff Wagnazer replied with a pale face, "The front of the No. 12 Division's defense is prominent and has become The focus of the Japanese attack, moreover, the Japanese army dispatched an unprecedented number of tanks to carry out armored assaults, which we did not expect, the front line positions were quickly lost, and then spread to the second line positions!"

"The tanks of the Japanese army? Haven't we used the anti-tank weapons equipped by our troops?" Lieutenant General Barry Hessman asked angrily. He knew the so-called tanks of the Japanese army too well. The firepower of the machine gun can blow up the Japanese light tanks. How could the Japanese tanks have the upper hand?

"Used, all the anti-tank weapons equipped by the troops have no effect!" Chief of Staff Wagnazer shook his head and said, "According to this *top* point* small* theory, it can be judged that the Japanese army used new tank!"

"The new type of tank is related to the reinforcement of the Japanese troops on the Australian battlefield!" Lieutenant General Barry Hessman said through gritted teeth, "Chief of Staff, order the front artillery to shell immediately, concentrate all artillery fire, destroy the Japanese tanks, and block the breakthrough! Here No.12 Division Commander Pranad issued an order not to take half a step back. Even if the entire division is exhausted, the breakthrough must be blocked, otherwise, he will not escape the punishment of the military law!"

The Allied artillery, who hadn't shown up from the beginning, began to counterattack. One after another, the shells roared and fell into the Japanese tank group. The explosion sounded loud and the flames flashed.Gunpowder smoke filled the air, covering the battlefield in an instant, but.The effect of the shelling is still disappointing. Except for a very few Japanese tanks that were shot and caught fire, most of the Japanese tanks.Completely ignoring the shells falling like raindrops.Continue to roar and run over the Allied soldiers in the trenches with their tracks.

"Report to Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, in the direction of the breach, the Allied artillery began to counterattack, shelling our chariot troops with intensive artillery fire!" A major staff officer ran over quickly with a telegram.report to.

"Yo Xi! Great job!" General Ito said to Chief of Staff Kawaguchi with a smug smile. "Kawaguchi-kun, the Allied artillery has finally shown up. This is their last card. They ordered the dispatched army to break through the artillery and completely suppress the Allied artillery. They must be completely destroyed! Clear the way for the infantry to attack!"

An artillery battle of unequal scale and intensity unfolded in the darkness before dawn. The artillery shells of both sides interweaved and shuttled in the air, drawing dark red ballistics. Soon, the artillery fire of the Allies was surpassed by several times. The Japanese artillery, which was more than twice as large, was fully suppressed by the intensive artillery fire fired. A large number of Japanese tanks, covering groups of infantry, launched a fierce attack on the forward positions of the Allies.

The Japanese attack was so ferocious. The Japanese soldiers, stimulated by the powerful artillery fire and the omnipotent chariot, rushed to the Allied positions with roaring roars, and fought the hand-to-hand combat that the Japanese most admire. The bayonet stabbed fiercely into the chest of the Allied soldiers, the sound of iron clashing, the roars of soldiers on both sides, and the screams of the dying, intertwined together, blood splashed one after another, in the dawn air, there was nothing but choking In addition to the smell of gunpowder smoke, there is also a strong smell of blood!

At about [-] o'clock in the morning, the front positions of the Allied Flinders Mountains and the Barrier Mountains were in a state of emergency. Bad news came one after another. Except for the direction of Massari, which was first broken through, Milpa In both directions of Linka and Wonering, the Japanese army broke through.

Lieutenant General Barry Hussman stood in front of a large map with a pale face. The chief of staff, Lieutenant General Wagner, was reporting the battle situation with a bunch of telegrams. The No.12 Division's defensive position was the first to be broken through by the Japanese. A large opening with a width of more than ten kilometers was torn open. The No.12 Division suffered heavy casualties. The division commander, Brigadier General Pranad, was killed. More than a thousand people!"

"Except for the No.12 Division, the positions of the four divisions of our army in the direction of Massari were all broken by the Japanese army to varying degrees. "

"On the Mirpalinka line, the defensive positions of the Seventh Division, the Eighth Division, the 80th Division and the No.[-] Fifth Division were successively broken through by the Japanese army through openings of varying widths. At present, the soldiers of the four divisions are fighting Fighting fiercely with the Japanese infantry, but the situation is not optimistic, the casualties of the troops have already exceeded [-]/[-], the number of attacking Japanese soldiers is several times that of me, and the heavy weapons and equipment have an absolute advantage!"

"On the front line of Warnering, the situation is even worse. The defending British-Australian Ninth Army and No.11 Army, a total of six divisions, are in a bitter battle. The entire defense system is in disarray. , all lost, and are currently fighting fiercely with the Japanese army in the second-line position, but..."

"Stop talking!" Lieutenant General Barry Hessman interrupted the Chief of Staff with a painful expression, "Chief of Staff, what is the situation in the other directions besides Massari, Mirpalinka and Wernering? Has the forward position been lost as well?"

Chief of Staff Wagneradze looked at the telegram in his hand and reported: "Commander, according to the report of the troop commander, from Woernering to the northeast to Theodore, although the fighting was fierce, the Japanese offensive was not very serious. Violent, the casualties of the troops are not small. So far, the frontline positions are still in our hands, but the pressure on the troops is huge. I am afraid that they cannot last for too long. The number of Japanese troops they face exceeds our strength. More than several times!"

"Boom, boom, boom!" Suddenly, a dull explosion sounded outside the cave where the headquarters is located. The huge explosion made the ground tremble, and a staff officer rushed in, "Report to the commander, the staff Long, the Japanese army dispatched a large number of bombers to carry out heavy bombing on our frontier second and third line positions!"

"It's still coming!" Lieutenant General Barry Hessman said to himself, "The situation is very clear. The Japanese attack is mainly directed at Massari, Mirpalinka and Wernering in the southwest. Other directions The attack above is all to contain our army's strength, we can't reinforce the tight direction, and it's a feint attack, Ito Gensaburo has a good plan!"

A gambler-like blue light appeared in Lieutenant General Barry Hessman's eyes, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Chief of Staff, I intend to mobilize the troops in the northeast direction again, at least nine divisions, plus the troops who have already been transferred from the division. The three divisions mobilized from the Pakistani direction, with the strength of [-] divisions, counterattacked the Japanese army from the three directions of Massari, Mirpalinka and Wonering, and tried to block the breakthrough. Do you think it is feasible? "

"Commander, this move is very dangerous. Judging from the overall battlefield situation, the Japanese army's strength is more than double that of our army. If we deploy troops from the northeast, it will inevitably lead to weak troops in the northeast. If the Japanese army takes this direction as the main attack target and changes to a feint attack as the main attack, then we will be in danger of collapsing across the board, please think twice, Commander!"

"Moreover, there are hundreds of kilometers of roads from the northeast to the above-mentioned three areas, and they are all rugged mountain roads. The mobility of the troops is greatly limited. The mechanized troops cannot take advantage of their fast mobility. The troops have arrived, and the battle is over!" Chief of Staff Wagnazer still kept a clear head and put forward his own opinions.

There are a few more words that Chief of Staff Wagneradze did not say. Judging from the Japanese offensive posture, it is obvious that heavy troops and a large number of heavy equipment have been assembled in the southwest direction. In case the reinforcements dispatched by the commander arrive, the Japanese army will The battle has ended, and on the other hand, will the Allied reinforcements of the twelve divisions become the next target of the Japanese army, to put it mildly, sent to the door to be surrounded?

"Let me think again, Chief of Staff, you have to collect all the battle reports at any time! Life and death depend on one thought!" Lieutenant General Barry Hessman said wearily.

The Japanese and Allied troops fought until after nine o'clock in the morning. The sound of guns and artillery on the battlefield was still fierce. The sunshine of January in Australia penetrated the smoke of gunpowder on the battlefield and sprinkled warmly on the scarred earth. Taking a breath of the air full of the smell of blood and gunpowder, he looked up at the imperial fighter planes soaring in the sky, and said to the chief of staff, Major General Kawaguchi: "Mr. Kawaguchi, the offensive has been launched for more than six hours. What were the results achieved?"

"People are in good spirits on happy occasions!" Major General Kawaguchi blushed, looked at the telegram in his hand, and reported: "Commander-in-Chief, this attack has gone smoother than originally planned. The Army has already broken through the first and second positions of the Allied forces in the direction of Massari, and the Eighth Army of the Central Attack Group has made progress in the direction of Mirpalinka, which is no less than that of the left-wing offensive troops!"

"The Tenth Army of the right-wing offensive group, in the direction of Wernering, smashed the forward positions of the Allied forces to pieces and made rapid progress. After more than six hours of attack, the Allied forces suffered heavy casualties, while the casualties of the Imperial Army , Much lower than expected, Commander-in-Chief, it can be said that the victory is sealed! The defense system of the Allied Forces on the front line of the Flinders Mountains and the Barrier Mountains has completely collapsed, and the gate to southeastern Australia is open!"

"Hahaha! Yasai!" General Ito laughed loudly, and said, "Kawaguchi-san, do you think that the Allied positions on the front lines of Massari, Mirpalinka, and Wernering were completely destroyed by the imperial army of the Empire of Japan?" Break through, that British Fernandez, commander of the Allied Forces, no! Now it's the American Barry Hussman, what kind of actions will he take to save the defeat?"

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