Age of Rebirth

At dusk three days later, Lieutenant General Tang Qiuquan, the commander of the Navy Fleet of the Independent Division, commanded one of the two squadrons with six aircraft carriers as the core, escorting more than a thousand troop carriers. Slowly sailing into the waters off the coast of Melbourne, the other squadron was to escort the remaining troop carriers and docked in Adelaide.

As for Sydney Harbour, the journey is too far away, and it will take three or four more days to drift at sea, so it is not among the options for the fleet to stop this time. Tang Qiuquan has no plans to split the two squadrons again. The Allied Forces weakened the fleet's carrier-based aircraft forces. This time they came to Australia, not to fight the Japanese. Besides, it was not worth it for the Allied Forces that had no intention of letting them retreat safely!

Standing in the command cabin of the flagship, looking at the dimly lit Melbourne port on the pier, Tang Qiuquan couldn't help frowning slightly. Although he didn't hear the roaring gunfire, he could already smell the sky over Melbourne. The thick smell of gunpowder smoke made me feel the tense and terrified atmosphere pervading the port city.

Rear Admiral Xin Xiguo, chief of staff of the fleet, keenly observed the commander's expression, and asked, "Commander, what are you worried about?"

Tang Qiuquan shook his head slowly and said: "Actually, there is nothing to worry about. As far as the current situation in the Australian battlefield is concerned, the Japanese army does not dare to openly attack us, but if the fleet provides air fire for the retreating Allied forces [ Once [Ben Duan] novels are used as a cover, it is inevitable to fight with the Japanese aviation, and the number of our aircraft carriers is still insufficient!"

indeed.A squadron has three aircraft carriers, and the number of carrier-based aircraft is only more than [-]. Compared with the air power of the Japanese army in Australia.The difference was too great. If the Japanese army was determined to fight, the two squadrons of the First Fleet of the Navy would not be able to bargain, and the losses would definitely be very serious. This is a situation that Tang Qiuquan absolutely does not want to see.

Xin Xiguo said with relief: "Commander, we still have the fleet of the Southern Flying Group assigned to the fleet command. It is a huge fleet of more than [-] fighter regiments and six bomber regiments. It takes off from the Naval and Air Force Base of the Chagos Islands. The combat radius of the land-based fleet. It can completely cover the Melbourne area. As long as you give an order, you can appear in the sky above the war zone in less than an hour. The little devil wants to fight. Then fight, and see who has a hard fist?"

Tang Qiuquan glanced at his chief of staff with a smile, and did not speak. Xin Xiguo continued: "The six aircraft carriers ordered by the commander in Germany will be delivered by the end of next year at the earliest. Army aviation fleet. Our fleet carrier-based aircraft can control the air supremacy of the entire Australian battlefield!"

"Let's not talk about that. Have you sent the telegram to the Australian Allied Forces Command?" Tang Qiuquan obviously didn't want to get too entangled in this issue, so he changed the subject and said, "Order the fleet to enter the air defense state. The Japanese There are too many lunatics, it's one thing to dare to fight, we can't be careless!"

"Yes! Commander! I have notified the Australian Allied Forces Command of the fleet's imminent arrival in Melbourne!" Xin Xiguo replied concisely, "Before that, I ordered the fleet to enter the air defense state!"

Tang Qiuquan looked at Xin Xiguo appreciatively, nodded, looked across the sea, and looked at the port of Melbourne, which was becoming clearer and clearer in his vision, and twitched his brows a few times.

On the Melbourne Naval Port Wharf, the atmosphere this evening was quite tense. The Allied military police had already set up a cordon. Admiral Fernandez, under the protection of the guards, waited on the pier early. The expressions of the two people were obviously much better than before. Obviously, the independent division fleet arrived as scheduled, which made them feel completely at ease.

For the two commanders of the Australian Allied Forces, waiting for the arrival of the independent division escort fleet and troop transport fleet was unprecedented suffering. After the Japanese army cleared the cities in the southeastern part of Australia, they concentrated All the fast detachments launched a fierce attack on the periphery of Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. The three battlefields were concentrated on the front lines of Kingston, Geelong and Gloucester.

The ferocious limit of the Japanese attack was simply beyond imagination. The Allied troops defending the three places were filling and blocking the lives of soldiers. How did Lieutenant General Bachlisman and General Fernandez know that General Ito Genzaburo’s encouragement order , as if he had given blood to his subordinates, his eyes were red, and he wanted to take the heads of allied soldiers for meritorious service!

Fortunately, the main force of the Japanese army of more than one million is still far away on the line between Mannasir and Burke. It will not be able to reach here in less than a week. Otherwise, the two people will never have a chance to stand on the pier and welcome help. China's independent division fleet.

Bursts of loud sirens resounded in Melbourne Naval Harbor. When the huge fleet of the Independent Division Fleet, guarding countless merchant ships, appeared on the pier, in the sight of the Australian Allied officers, there was a burst of excitement on the pier. The turmoil, the feeling, is almost the same as the desperate situation.

These allied officers who are mainly British, Americans and Australians, if they were put in the past, they would not have the image of Chinese in their eyes at all. When they mention Chinese, they are definitely contemptuous and look at inferior people. Eyes, but it is different now. These Chinese people who could not see clearly before are now their own saviors.

If not, Lieutenant General Bachlisman and General Fernandez, who can be ruthlessly abandoned and despicably used among the Allied forces, Filipino soldiers and soldiers from other Commonwealth countries, would not condescend and come to the pier to greet them in person. .

No matter how noble I used to be, how much I looked down on the Chinese, but now my wealth and life are in the hands of the Chinese, lowering my posture is forced by the situation and must be done. The aloof Europeans and Americans are full of bitterness and loss at this moment!

Tang Qiuquan disembarked from the ship with only Chief of Staff Xin Xiguo and a dozen staff officers. He was not very interested in the Australian Allied officers who came to greet him. In his opinion, these blue-eyed, yellow-haired guys were just According to the commander's order, the things that need to be transported away this time are no different from a pile of goods!

Tang Qiuquan exchanged a few words with Lieutenant General Bachlisman and General Fernandez, and then said indifferently: "I need to go to your headquarters immediately to learn about the current situation on the Australian battlefield!"

Tang Qiuquan's indifference and bluntness made the two big bosses of the Australian Allied Forces feel uncomfortable, but they couldn't refuse the Chinese's request. After arriving at the Allied Forces Command, the two sides didn't have any pleasantries, and went directly to the topic.

Lieutenant General Wagner, Chief of Staff of the Australian Allied Command, introduced in detail the actual situation in the Australian battlefield. When he heard that the vanguard of the Japanese army was already attacking Adelaide, Melbourne and the outer areas of Sydney, Tang Qiuquan couldn't help but Frowning, "The situation in the Australian battlefield is even worse than I expected!"

"I need a clear answer from the Allied Forces Command. It will take a few days at the earliest for all Allied forces that can withdraw from Australia to assemble? It must be the most accurate time!" Tang Qiuquan went straight to the point. He couldn't let the fleet face directly Attack on the Japanese Army.

Chief of Staff Wagnazer glanced at the two commanders and replied: "According to the current battlefield situation, it will take two days for the Allied forces to assemble in Adelaide, and the troops assembled in the direction of Melbourne will need to be dispatched as soon as possible." In three days, it will take three days for the troops assembled in the direction of Sydney!"

Tang Qiuquan unceremoniously interrupted Lieutenant General Wagner's words, "Not including the direction of Sydney! The escort fleet of the Independent Division uses Adelaide and Melbourne as the boarding locations for the retreat of the Allied forces!"

As soon as Tang Qiuquan's words fell, Lieutenant General Bachlisman was fine, but General Fernandez quit. He suddenly got up and said angrily, "I never agree, General Tang, Sydney must not give up, that is The Australian Allied Forces Command, one of the three assembly points determined, you Chinese have the obligation and responsibility to assist all Allied soldiers who can retreat and evacuate from the Australian battlefield!"

Tang Qiuli looked in a little surprise. This blushing British man was very puzzled. He didn't know that this guy's nerves were wrong. Why did he look like a cat whose tail was trampled on?

Tang Qiuquan didn't understand the mood of General Fernandez at this moment. The three assembly locations confirmed, the other two were in Melbourne and Adelaide, mainly composed of American troops, but Sydney was dominated by British troops. More than 70.00% of the soldiers stationed in the Australian Army need to board the ship in Sydney Harbor. If the Chinese do not use Sydney as the place to board the ship, then the British army will be miserable!

It is necessary to walk from Sydney to the south side of the Australian mountains in the southeast, and travel long distances to Melbourne. It is a journey of several hundred kilometers and has to climb over the Kosciusko Mountains. Even if there is no Japanese flanking and interception, it will take more than a week at the fastest time to reach Melbourne.

But according to the momentum of the Japanese attack, can Melbourne persist for a week? The answer is yes, no. If the Japanese army intercepts and kills more than 7 British soldiers on the way, I am afraid that they will never reach Melbourne. Besides, Can the Chinese wait four or five days longer in Melbourne, at the risk of being attacked by Japanese ground troops and air fleets at any time?The answer is also yes, no, if it is me, I can't either!

Therefore, the Chinese fleet and troop transport fleet must be allowed to pick up more than 7 British soldiers in Sydney. That is the last remaining blood of the British Empire!It is the seed of the future restoration of the British Empire, the hope of all!

Admiral Fernandez can't afford to lose, and he can't lose, so he must ask the Chinese to list Sydney as one of the boarding places for the retreat of the Allied forces according to their own intentions, otherwise, Prime Minister Churchill will have to eat himself alive!

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