Age of Rebirth

The Japanese bombardment was extremely ferocious and intensive, with unprecedented intensity. Groups of shells continued to roar and land on the Allied positions. In an instant, the depths of the Allied positions were shrouded in smoke and flames. Bach The air-raid shelters and artillery holes invented by Lieutenant General Lisman were originally sharp weapons against the superior artillery fire of the Japanese army. Relying on these anti-aircraft holes, the Allied soldiers on the ground have withstood the Japanese attack many times.

Now, these artillery holes still have not lost their function, but the Allied guards on the position have changed.

General Ito Yanzaburo, commander-in-chief of Japan's Southwest Pacific Dispatch Force, chose the right time to attack. It was the Allied troops who were ordered to retreat and left the second line of defense. After three hours, they were ordered to stay where they were. When the Allied troops were busy taking over the air defense positions, the Allied troops on the second line of defense were all moving, most of them exposed to the wild.

Moreover, the preparations before the Japanese attack were carried out extremely covertly, and the Allied Command did not receive any information in advance. Otherwise, Lieutenant General Bachlisman, even if he was incompetent, would not have dispatched the first batch of troops at this time. The order to retreat, but for the 80 million Allied forces on the forward positions, it is not a big move to mobilize about 20 troops for defense. Important information reporting.

By accident, it was purely a coincidence, and luck finally came to the Japanese. General Ito won the first prize, and the first round of shelling suddenly launched had an amazing effect. The dense shells fell on the Allies who were busy taking defense. In the pile of army soldiers, where the fire started, broken limbs and fragments, mixed with mud, flew into the air.

The density of shelling is so great.On all the positions of the Allied forces, the flames of the explosions were connected into one piece, and the explosion point was connected with the explosion point.The earth seemed to be lifted up from below by a huge force, constantly rising and flying away.The shock wave caused by the explosion spread out in the air with a strange howl, and the shrapnel swirled in every inch of space. Amidst the flames and the sound of the explosion, the bodies of allied soldiers turned into dust in the smoke.

General Ito's offensive deployment is similar to the previous offensive method, a frontal attack.But the biggest difference is that this time it is all out, and no reserves are left. On the hundreds of kilometers long front, the Japanese attacking spearheads have reached dozens of points. The previous secondary direction has also become the main breakthrough of the Japanese army. lot.

When General Ito formulated the combat plan, he called this tactic "offensive on all fronts, multiple breakthroughs. Leave no room, the last blow!" He emphasized this in his orders to the various attacking troops. "Therefore, in order to implement the determination to completely annihilate the Australian Allied Forces, after the offensive begins, all participating troops must aim to break through the Allied Forces' positions!"

"Once in a certain direction, after breaking through the Allied positions, it is not necessary to seek the effect of encircling and annihilating the enemy forces on the spot, but to use the most swift action to quickly attack in depth. Even if it is a regiment or a brigade, it must With a fearless and brave spirit. Go straight to the southeastern direction of Australia!" In a word, fight deep into the Allied positions desperately!

After more than 40 minutes of shelling.Looking from where General Ito's former enemy headquarters is located, the Allied positions have been engulfed in a sea of ​​flames, "Yoshi!" General Ito nodded in satisfaction. Looking from his own direction, the effect of the shelling seemed unexpectedly good. ah!

A staff officer whispered a few words in the ear of Major General Yamaguchi, the chief of staff. Major General Yamaguchi walked up to General Ito and reminded: "Commander-in-Chief, Major Noda, commander of the joint air force of the dispatched army, will send a telegram that the air force requests to fight!"

"Hmm!" General Ito pondered for a while, shook his head and said, "The battlefield is chaotic at night, the imperial infantry is about to launch an assault, the air force joins the battlefield, and it is easy to cause accidental injury, call Noda back and continue to stand by!"

The artillery fire from the Japanese army rumbled deep into the Allied positions. They had just experienced a horrific baptism of steel. Before I had time to rejoice that I was still alive, I heard the roar of tank engines and the wild shouts of Japanese soldiers all over the mountains and plains amidst the receding artillery fire.

On the second line of defense, the Allied soldiers who had been fighting with the Japanese army for several months suddenly changed their faces. They knew that this was a fierce Japanese infantry and began to charge. Army soldiers bit the bullet and entered the forward positions that had been blown to nothing. At this time, many soldiers realized that too many comrades around them had disappeared.

More than an hour later, General Ito finally heard the news that made him ecstatic. Chief of Staff Yamaguchi ran over with a face full of joy, "Report to Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, and received a report from the No. 11 Fifth Division of the No. 70 Army. The division has already broken through the Allied positions in the direction of Berry, and is now heading for a deep attack!"

"Yoshi! Bring the wine!" General Ito yelled, a rare gaffe, he should be excited, this is the Allied line of defense, he fought for several months, but failed to break through a single place, now, finally After tearing a hole, with a good start, there is no need to worry about a good result. It is worth drinking three cups!

"Commander-in-Chief, I find it strange that although the Imperial Army's attack this time has stronger firepower than ever before, the 75th Division broke through the Allied positions in just over an hour, and, yes In the direction of Berry, which is the most heavily defended by the Allied forces, the staff thinks it is very strange!" Chief of Staff Yamaguchi looked at General Ito, raised his neck and poured a big mouthful of sake, and said cautiously.

"Huh?" General Ito stopped moving, narrowed his eyes and asked, "Yamaguchi-kun, what's your opinion?"

Chief of Staff Yamaguchi thought about it and replied: "I sent a telegram to ask Lieutenant General Okamoto, the commander of the No.70 Fifth Division, and he replied that the resistance of the Allied forces in the direction of Berry is much weaker than before, not weapons and equipment. Therefore, the department has a bold guess, whether some allied forces have already begun to retreat?"

"Huh?" General Ito's eyes flashed, "Send a telegram to Okamoto and ask him to interrogate the captured prisoners and find out the situation!"

"Commander-in-Chief, in the No.70 Fifth Division, no prisoners of war were executed on the spot!" Chief of Staff Yamaguchi said with a wry smile.

"I knew, this guy Okamoto would definitely do this!" General Ito's tone did not mean to blame him at all. He knew Lieutenant General Okamoto too well. This guy is completely crazy at the sight of blood. It's fun, let's just say that killing a few prisoners of war is a massacre of the city, which is nothing more than normal.

"Order other troops to interrogate a few more prisoners of war, find out the situation, and report to the headquarters immediately!" General Ito didn't quite believe Chief of Staff Yamaguchi's guess.

The situation did not come, but the headquarters received telegrams from various units one after another, "The 90th Division has broken through the Allied positions and is advancing in depth!" Among them, the battle with much lower intensity has already broken through the Allied positions and is expanding the results of the battle! The first..."

Within three hours of the start of the offensive, the dispatched army headquarters received telegrams from more than a dozen attacking troops, all of which reported the same news, "Break through the Allied positions and attack in depth!" General Ito had to believe that his staff A long guess, because it seemed too easy to break through the Allied positions.

Later, the reports of several troops interrogating prisoners of war confirmed Chief of Staff Yamaguchi's guess. However, this is not important anymore. The army's second line of defense, and the Allied troops holding on to the second line of defense, were cut into countless disconnected breakpoints by the Japanese army. The Allied defense line was riddled with holes and collapsed in an instant.

For these divided Allied forces, after the collapse of the defense line, it was a catastrophe to be ordered to be divided and surrounded by the Japanese army. However, countless Japanese soldiers who had killed red eyes seemed not interested in the fish in these nets. , leaving only a small number of troops to encircle and annihilate, most of them roared past the breakthrough, stepped on the corpses of countless allied soldiers, and rushed towards the southeast like a tide!

Commander Lieutenant General Bachlisman, who commanded the first batch of evacuated Allied troops, and Deputy Commander General Fernandez, were in chaos at the moment. The Japanese attack was too sudden. When they received the report from the front, Bach Lieutenant General Lisman, as if struck by lightning, his eyes went dark and he almost passed out.

After waking up, Lieutenant General Bachlisman stayed in the second position, and the commanders of the various troops who stood up sent telegrams. Now the only thing he can do is to order the troops to hold on tight. However, to send a telegram, There was no response at all, as if nothing came to him. What he didn't know was that the allied troops on the second line of defense were now surrounded by the Japanese army, and there was no way to escape!

At this time, the Allied forces in Australia are facing the biggest problem, whether the Allied forces on the second line of defense can withstand the full-line attack of the Japanese army, and whether the Allied forces that are already halfway will continue to the scheduled southeast assembly point retreat?

Should we keep going, or order the retreating allied forces to turn around and go back?Neither of the two could make up their minds, they couldn't make up their minds, and when they hesitated, several hours passed, and the bad news finally came. The second line of defense was completely broken by the Japanese army, and the line of defense collapsed. Leaping over, the two of them, together with Lieutenant General Wagner, the chief of staff, discussed it and decided to report the fatal danger encountered by the Australian Allied Forces to the Allied Forces Headquarters immediately.

Then, the three giants of the Australian Allied Forces sat blankly in the tent, listening to the approaching gunfire, while anxiously waiting for the Allied Forces Headquarters. In fact, it was an order from the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. The lives of myself and hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers in Australia were handed over to people thousands of miles away. This is almost like waiting to die!

(to be continued) (to be continued) r466

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