Age of Rebirth

In the early morning of June 40, the No. 40 Division, No. 40 Third Division and No. [-] Fifth Division of the Japanese Army stayed in the area of ​​Ivanhoe, Boao Dun and Ararat for a day and a half. He paid a heavy price for the order of Lieutenant General Morishita, the commander of the Japanese Army in Australia, to stand by.

Lieutenant General Tang Qiusheng, deputy commander of the Independent Division, commander of the Sulu Mobile Corps and commander of the Australian Campaign Command, mobilized twelve mechanized infantry brigades, six tank brigades, five artillery brigades and the Wuzhenjiang Air Force of the Corps, More than 23 troops launched a full-scale attack on the Japanese army at [-] o'clock in the morning. The battlefields were spread out in Ivanhoe, Boao Dun and Ararat.

First of all, in the direction of Ivanhoe, the four mechanized infantry brigades under the command of Yu Guanghan, with the strength of two brigades, secretly crossed the Lachron River and encircled more than 40 Japanese troops from the No.[-] Division from the two wings. .

Yu Guanghan commanded two mechanized infantry brigades to launch an attack from the front of the Lachlan River to the Japanese army on the other side of the river. More than a hundred heavy artillery shells poured the first round of shells on the unprepared Japanese camp. The large-caliber shells shattered the tranquility before dawn. In an instant, the No. 40 Division of the Japanese Army was thrown into a In the sea of ​​fire!

Then, the six "Thunder" rocket battalions fired a volley, and the rockets dragged a long tail flame, whistling across the surface of the Lachlan River tens of meters wide, and landed on the Japanese camp. The big killer, the Japanese barracks immediately burst into flames.

Lieutenant General Suzuki, the head of the No.40 Division of the Japanese Army, was amidst the deafening sound of artillery.Those who were awakened by the shock, his division headquarters were relatively far behind, and hadn't been affected by the artillery fire for the time being.

When Suzuki Division Commander ran out of the tent in disheveled clothes.He was immediately shocked by the scene in front of him, and his brain went blank. In the sky with the dawn light, countless shells trajectories, weaving into a huge fire net, and under the fire net is the camp of his troops.

There were billowing red clouds of smoke everywhere.The east bank of the Lachlan River has become a sea of ​​flames, and the ground is surrounded by violent explosions.It kept trembling, as if it would collapse at any time, "Boom! Boom! Boom!" Several large-caliber shells exploded less than 500 meters away from the division headquarters.The shock wave that swayed.Scrape the nearby tents into the air like blowing a piece of paper.

"Order the troops to disperse immediately to avoid the shelling of the Chinese army!" Division Commander Suzuki shuddered and finally came to his senses, shouting hoarsely, but unfortunately, no one heard his order except the panicked soldiers running around. .

Major General Kobayashi, chief of staff of the division.He ran over with a few guards in three steps, and shouted: "Your Excellency, Commander. Our camp was bombarded by the Chinese army in all directions. The imperial army had no time to react. Lost contact! Please retreat immediately!"

"Retreat?" Lieutenant General Suzuki looked at his chief of staff blankly, where should he retreat?

Chief of Staff Kobayashi saw that the head of the division had lost his mind, so he leaned into his ear and shouted loudly: "Your Excellency, head of the division, for the present plan, the only way to retreat is to Boao Dun and join the No.40 Third Division Otherwise, our losses will be even greater!"

The words of Chief of Staff Kobayashi reminded Commander Suzuki, who trembling his lips, said with a pale face: "Mr. Kobayashi, you should immediately contact Lieutenant General Terao, the commander of the No. 40 Third Division, and ask him to send troops to support our division." The regiment retreats, and immediately report the situation that we have been attacked by the Chinese Independent Division to Lieutenant General Morishita, the commander of the Imperial Army in Australia!"

After 10 minutes of shelling two, Yu Guanghan issued an order, "Order, the troops start a frontal attack! Order, the ninth brigade and tenth brigade surrounded by two wings, start to attack!"

Hundreds of tanks rumbled towards the two bridges on the Lachron River. Behind the tanks were groups of infantry. When the tanks rushed to the bridge, the tank soldiers were pleasantly surprised to find that the two bridges were intact. , in the simple field fortifications at the head of the bridge, dozens of light and heavy machine guns of the Japanese army were helplessly spewing dense bullets, and mortar shells fell from time to time, and the Japanese army was desperately resisting.

The light and heavy machine gun bullets hit the armor of the tank, making a "crackling" sound, and sparks splashed up. However, for the heavy tanks equipped by the armored troops of the Independent Division, it is not even a tickle!

This was another major mistake made by Suzuki Division Commander. He didn't even think of ordering engineers to plant explosives on the two bridges over the Lachron River. Once attacked from the other side of the river, they would immediately blow up the bridges. At least, they could It takes more than an hour for the lagging independent division to attack the troops head-on. On the cruel battlefield where every second counts, more than an hour can almost change the outcome of a battle.

However, Lieutenant General Suzuki cannot be blamed for his incompetence and lack of vision as a commander. He initially received an order to quickly reinforce Adelaide. Naturally, he would not be so stupid as to blow up the two bridges on the Lachlan River and give himself more than 2 The soldiers added to the blockage, and later, the order received was to stand by on the spot, whether to retreat north or continue to reinforce Adelaide, it is not yet determined, and the bridge will not be blown up.

What's more, Lieutenant General Morishita, the commander of the Japanese Army in Australia, and Lieutenant General Suzuki, the commander of the No.40 Division, never thought that the independent division that had just landed in Adelaide would give up even the necessary short rest. , and immediately launched an attack on the Suzuki Division.

"Are the two bridges on the Lachron River intact?" Yu Guanghan looked suspiciously at the deputy director of the Corps' Operations Department, "Isn't the little devil so stupid?"

The deputy director of the Operations Department said very positively: "Yes, Chief of Staff, I just received a report from the No. 11 Brigade Commander Zhao Shoushan that the armored troops are clearing the Japanese defense forces on the bridge. Now, they have advanced to the bridge. At the east end, no explosives planted by the Japanese army were found!"

"Hahaha!" Yu Guanghan laughed happily, "God help me too! Order the attacking troops to disrupt the Japanese army at the fastest speed! Take advantage of the chaos and annihilate them!"

Standing on the armored command vehicle with the sunroof open, Wang Yiwu leaned out half of his body and held up the binoculars, looking at the position of the No.40 Division of the Japanese Army, which was already in flames. Colonel Wan Shuangquan, the chief of staff of the brigade, said anxiously behind him: " Brigadier, the frontal troops have already started to attack, why hasn't the chief of staff issued an order for our brigade to attack, why don't you send a telegram to remind us?"

"I'm more anxious than you!" Wang Yiwu replied in a muffled voice, "Shuangquan, have you seen that the shelling of the frontal attacking troops knocked the little devil out of his head at once, as long as it is No.11 Brigade and No. The 12th brigade crossed the Lachron River, and more than 3 people were holding back their energy, like hungry wolves, I guess we won't get any benefits!"

"Report to the brigade commander and chief of staff. We have received an order from the headquarters to let our brigade launch an attack on the Japanese army immediately!" A communication staff officer's report immediately made Wang Yiwu and Wan Shuangquan both smile.

Wang Yiwu retracted his body, touched his face full of stubble, and said viciously: "Shuangquan, order the brigade to belong to the heavy artillery regiment, give me a good bombardment of the little devils, after 10 minutes of shelling, the tanks cover the troops, Attack across the board, order the third regiment to immediately move quickly to the high ground fifteen kilometers away, and firmly nail it there!"

Wan Shuangquan quickly issued an order to the troops. Immediately, dozens of large-caliber heavy artillery pieces on the artillery positions of the [-]th Brigade joined the frontal troops' shelling with earth-shattering roars.

Wang Yiwu listened carefully to the sound of the cannon that shook the ground, lit a cigarette happily, and picked up the walkie-talkie, "I am Wang Yiwu, Lao Shi, and you are also fighting there? Hahaha, let me just say, We can't let the two of us run for hundreds of kilometers in vain, well, I have sent a regiment of troops, yes, to block the road that the little devil is running to the east!"

"What? You also sent a regiment, strengthen the regiment? Add a battalion of tanks? What? And a battalion of heavy artillery!"

"I said, Old Shi, you are not kind. They say that you have a lot of ghost ideas in your stomach. I see that you are right. Whose credit is for blocking the escape route of the little devil? , don't care about you, my regiment is under your command, we have to fight in front of Zhao Shoushan and Geng Zhijie, otherwise, we won't get any benefits, you say it's not old stone?"

"This Shi Jue has black hands!" Wang Yiwu muttered, and then shouted to the driver: "Drive! Move quickly, keep up with the attacking troops, and don't hide behind!"

The sudden attack of the independent divisions on the left and right wings, like two sharp machetes, slammed on the Japanese soldiers, making the Japanese No. Suddenly fell into a desperate situation.

More than 40 minutes after the start of the attack, Wu Zhenjiang's mixed aircraft group also came to join the battle, attacking from the front, pinching left and right, and double firepower from the air and the ground. The casualties were heavy, and it was impossible to organize effective resistance.

"Division Commander, the No.40 Third Division, was also attacked by the independent division of China, with its superior forces and firepower. It was too busy to take care of itself, and it was impossible to send troops to support our division's retreat!" The roar of tanks getting closer , Chief of Staff Kobayashi reported in frustration.

"What does the Australian Army Command say? Is there a new order?" Lieutenant General Suzuki asked desperately.

Chief of Staff Kobayashi shook his head in dismay, "Morishita missed me, more than 2 Imperial Army soldiers!" Lieutenant General Suzuki yelled nervously, then pulled out his command knife violently, and slammed it into his stomach.

A burst of severe pain spread throughout his body, and when he was dying, he saw the bombs pouring down from the bombers of the Independent Division in the air, getting bigger and bigger in his pupils, and finally exploded into a ball of flames that devoured everything.

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