Age of Rebirth

"There are indeed enemy planes attacking!" The phone in Major General Qing Shui's hand fell to the ground, and a voice came from the receiver, "Report to Your Excellency, Commander, the ground radar has detected that there are a large number of enemy planes attacking!"

Major General Qingshui was already stunned. He watched with his own eyes, bombs fell from the sky, smashed on the airport mercilessly, and exploded in the night, brilliant and terrifying fireballs. On the runway, there were rows of people who were too late to take off. The combat aircraft, like a living target, fell apart, and then submerged in the flames!

Combat planes filled with fuel and ammunition were constantly being killed. In the flames, they exploded into a larger ball of fire. From time to time, exploding oil barrels, like shells fired from their chambers, flew into the air and exploded suddenly When it opened, the fuel oil with flaming seeds scattered and splashed, causing even greater disasters.

There was a huge roar of explosions everywhere, reflecting the flames in the sky. The command tower where Major General Qingshui was located seemed to collapse violently. The air strikes under the night came quickly and suddenly. The purpose of the enemy plane's air strikes was very clear. , That is, the airport runway and the combat aircraft parked on the runway, and other buildings at the airport were miraculously not affected much.

Major General Shimizu was on the control tower, watching as the main airport of the No. 20 Air Force was turned into ruins under a burst of bombs, and the few hundred remaining combat aircraft in his hands were blown into balls of fire, and the fire was burning Get up and light everything that can burn.

Major General Shimizu clutched the back of the chair nervously with his hands. He knew that his lifeblood—the No. 20 Air Force was completely finished, and the main aircraft group was taken away under the bridge.It must have been lost, and now, the airport has been attacked by enemy planes again.Sadly, until now, I can only judge that this is the bomber group of the China Independent Division, not sure!

In just over 20 minutes, as suddenly and swiftly as an air strike that came suddenly, the roar of the engine quickly faded away.The incoming enemy plane disappeared suddenly, leaving ruins and wreckage everywhere, soaring fire and continuous explosions to the No.

Beside Major General Shimizu.Surrounded by a group of terrified staff officers, the blazing fire flickered on and off, reflecting ugly faces like dead people, "Pfft!" A mouthful of blood.Suddenly, it splashed out from Major General Qingshui's mouth.Immediately, his vision went dark and he passed out.

If time permits, according to Tang Qiuquan's fighting style and methods, he will never leave an inch of intact land for the Ogpari Field Airport of the No. 20 Air Force of the Japanese Army.In addition to the air strikes on the Japanese airport, there was also the task of air strikes on the Japanese beachhead in Melbourne.Time is tight!

After receiving the report that the carrier-based fleet had successfully bombed the airport of the No. 20 Air Force of the Japanese Army and had already started flying to Melbourne, Tang Qiuquan asked sternly, "Report the effect of the air strike!"

"Reporting to the commander, the expected air attack effect has been fully achieved. The Ogpari Field Airfield of the No. 20th Air Force of the Japanese Army has been completely paralyzed! The Japanese combat aircraft parked on the runway have also been completely destroyed by our fleet! There is no loss in the fleet !” The commander of the carrier-based aircraft formation succinctly reported.

"Okay!" Tang Qiuquan said with a rare smile on his stern face, "Immediately carry out the next bombing mission!"

"Successful?" Tang Qiusheng asked, looking at Qiuquan with a smile on his face.

"Well, I got it!" Qiu Quan nodded and said, "There is no loss in the carrier fleet!"

"The more than 7000 Japanese troops on Tasmania are still a problem!" Tang Qiusheng said without seeming worried, "Qiuquan, do you have a solution?"

"Puchi!" Qiuquan was happy, and said, "Brother Qiusheng is trying to find out about me. Well, let's do it. The current Tasmania Island is a dead place, and the more than 7000 Japanese soldiers on the island are the turtles in the urn." , and there is no air force, I will send a squadron of more than a dozen warships to block the Bass Strait! After the successful landing in Melbourne, it will not be too late to turn around and deal with the little devils on the island calmly!"

"Qiuquan, I think you can command ground troops to fight!" Tang Qiusheng joked with a smile.

"Combat staff officer!" Tang Qiusheng shouted, and a staff officer ran over quickly, "Order, the troops will immediately implement the Melbourne landing operation plan!"

The location of the Japanese No.20 40st Air Force's field airport - Ogpari, is located more than [-] kilometers northeast of Melbourne. Therefore, the air strike in Ogpari was not caused by the No.[-] Third Division of the Japanese garrison in Melbourne. Know.

Several main regiments of the division were ordered to urgently reinforce Adelaide. The defensive forces in the urban area of ​​Melbourne only had one regiment plus the gendarmerie. The rest were the logistics departments and agencies of the division. The strength of a wing to defend the huge urban area of ​​Melbourne is seriously insufficient. Therefore, the strength of the Japanese army on the beachhead in Melbourne is only a reinforced brigade with more than [-] people.

And Melbourne does not have the unique terrain conditions of Adelaide. It is a port city that is safe to defend, and there is no place to build fortifications. However, Melbourne is obviously not an area that the Japanese military command is particularly worried about defense.

Melbourne and Tasmania face each other across the sea, with Bass Strait in the middle, forming the horns of each other. On Tasmania, an independent brigade of the Japanese army is stationed, with a strength of more than 7000 people. Any enemy army that dares to tempt Melbourne must take into account the possibility of being flanked back and forth.

Lieutenant General Terao, the head of the No.40 Third Division, personally led the team to reinforce Adelaide. The defense power of Melbourne fell to Major General Matsushima, the chief of staff of the division. He temporarily acted as the commander of the Melbourne police. .

With a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, Major General Matsushima did not feel satisfied with being in power. He was a very cautious person. The war in Adelaide made him vaguely smell something strange. Therefore, the main force of the division rushed to help Adelaide. After Dryde, he increased the defensive force on the Melbourne beachhead to two and a half brigades, more than 4000 people, and strictly ordered officers and soldiers at all levels of the army to strengthen their vigilance.

At the Ogparry Field Airfield of the No. 20th Air Force, when it was attacked by the carrier-based aircraft group of the Independent Division, Chief of Staff Matsuda had just joined the Third Independent Brigade of the Imperial Australian Army stationed on Tasmania. Major General Takeuchi, head of the brigade, finished the phone call.

On the phone, Chief of Staff Matsuda asked Major General Takeuchi, "Commander Takeuchi Brigade, your troops are responsible for the defense of the Bass Strait. Have you noticed any unusual movements? Although the Australian war took place in Adelaide in the west, we here , may not be a pure land!"

Because the Independent Third Brigade had no direct affiliation with the No.40 Third Division, Chief of Staff Matsuda's tone was very polite, even somewhat humble.

As a result, in exchange for a burst of laughter from the head of the Takeuchi Brigade, "Matsuda Chief of Staff, you are worrying too much. My patrol boat brigade just sent back a telegram. Everything is normal in the current waters of the Bass Strait. Don't worry, those Chinese people No matter how long your hand is, you can't reach Melbourne right now!"

The head of the Takeuchi Brigade is very correct. The patrol boat brigade of the Third Independent Brigade has indeed conducted patrols in the waters of the Bass Strait. However, how far can the patrol boats with small tonnage extend? The boats did not notice it at all. On the sea west of Melbourne, the huge independent division troop carrier formation and escort fleet were approaching Melbourne. What's more, the activities of the Japanese patrol boats could not escape the monitoring of the independent division fleet's shipboard radar.

Chief of Staff Matsuda was relieved. He didn't know that the Ogpari Airport of the No. 20th Air Force was now a sea of ​​flames, full of ruins and wreckage. It was about to hit the beachhead in Melbourne, it was already late at night, and he fell asleep peacefully when he was sleepy.

"Boom! Boom!——Boom!" A violent explosion woke Chief Matsuda from his dream. He jumped from the bed barefoot to the ground, and ran out of the bedroom to the phone before he could even put on his clothes. Next to the machine, "I am Chief of Staff Matsuda, where did the explosion come from?" He called the duty room of the Divisional Headquarters.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, I received a report from the commander of the Melbourne beachhead defenders that the position has been violently attacked! I don't know where the enemy planes came from?" The officer on duty said in a hurry.

The phone in Chief of Staff Matsuda's hand fell to the ground. He knew that the enemy planes attacking the beachhead must be the fleet of the China Independent Division. Behind the fleet, there must be an independent division with an unknown number of troops approaching and bombing. The beachhead is just to open the way for landing, and Melbourne has become another Adelaide!

However, Chief of Staff Matsuda remained calm enough. He first called the head of the Takeuchi Brigade on Tasmania, notifying Melbourne of the air raid by the independent division's fleet, and asked the head of the Takeuchi Brigade to send troops immediately. Reinforce Melbourne.

Then, he called Colonel Murakami, chief of staff of the No.40 Fifth Division stationed in the north of Melbourne, and asked the No.40 Fifth Division to dispatch all troops to immediately reinforce Melbourne. Lieutenant General Choderao sent a telegram reporting that Melbourne had been suddenly attacked by troops from the Independent Division.

Chief of Staff Matsushima did a series of things in an orderly manner, but when he sat in the car and rushed to the division headquarters, he knew very well in his heart that his efforts were in vain, and Melbourne would definitely not be able to hold on!

At this time, the beachhead in Melbourne had turned into a sea of ​​flames. After the fleet's carrier-based aircraft group raided the Japanese field airport, they poured the remaining bombs on the Japanese army, blowing up the Japanese army's position like a furnace of boiling molten iron.

The escort warships that came later also began to join the ranks of shelling. The large-caliber naval artillery shells were no less powerful than aerial bombs. Chief of Staff Matsuda's cautious move was a disaster for the Japanese garrison in Melbourne!

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