Age of Rebirth

Zhao Yuhe's expression was very tangled, and he sorted out his thoughts, and said, "Master, let's say, if the Japanese army brought back more than one million troops from the North American battlefield, it was not used to defend the Australian mainland, but to recover the islands in the Southwest Pacific , what will you do?"

"Um"?Tang Qiuli was startled, and thought for a long time before saying: "Yuhe, on the battlefield, any possible thing will happen, but your hypothesis will not happen. In terms of strategic position, land area and strategic depth, Southwest Pacific Compared with the Australian mainland, the Japanese are very clear about the importance of the islands and the Australian mainland, and they will not lose sight of the basics!"

"Master, I'm assuming that if the Japanese army really did this, how would you deal with it?" Zhao Yuhe said stubbornly. △,

"Hehehe!" Tang Qiuli laughed lightly, and said, "You, the countermeasure is very simple, I just let it out. In this way, the Japanese army will form a situation of spreading their troops and stationing on various islands. I will take the Australian mainland as an example. Relying on the Indochina Peninsula, they formed a flanking attack on the islands in the Southwest Pacific, giving full play to the advantages of land-based aviation, and carried out uninterrupted air strikes and bombings on the Japanese garrison on each island.”

"Then, I will transfer Deputy Division Commander Liu's Dongzhi troops to go south, and Dongzhi has more than [-] troops. Chen soldiers will be stationed in the Indochina Peninsula, and then we will fight another Southwest Pacific War. There are not many clubs left, you say, would the Japanese do this? If you were Hirohito, would you do this?"

"No!" Zhao Yuhe shook his head and said, "Master, maybe I'm worrying too much, the occupational diseases of the staff!"

"To be able to think of this. It's commendable!" Tang Qiuli said, and he was very quick to understand this point. "A staff officer just fills in the gaps, and his thinking is not thorough enough. If you are not careful, you can't be a staff officer. To be honest, I hope the Japanese will do this. The Southwest Pacific region will become the cemetery where the last heavy Japanese army group is buried!"

The discussion between the two ended here. After Zhao Yuhe left, Tang Qiuli couldn't help rethinking his assumptions several times.Think of all kinds of possibilities, and prepare a response plan in your mind, and then go to rest.

In the Australian battlefield, with the arrival of more than a dozen mechanized brigades and more than 50 troops directly under the corps, Lieutenant General Tang Qiusheng, the commander of the Australian battlefield of the Independent Division, has nearly [-] troops, which is different from the retreat in northern Australia. of Japanese troops.Basically the same.

According to the division's order, Tang Qiusheng issued a combat order to the southeast mobile corps and the troops directly under the corps in mid-July, and all the troops were divided into four groups.

Take the first to eighth brigades of the Corps directly under it.There are a total of 14 troops in eight brigades, five artillery brigades, and three tank brigades attached to the Armored Forces Command.Taking Perth as the starting point for the attack, the northward offensive was directed at Karenburu and other places in northern Australia.Major General Liu Hongzhang, commander of the First Brigade directly under the Corps, will command the troops in a unified manner.

The Ninth Brigade to the No.16 Brigade directly under the Corps.A total of eight brigades with a strength of 13 people, plus four artillery brigades and three tank brigades attached to the Armored Forces Command, started from Adelaide in southern Australia, and attacked Darwin and other places in northern Australia in the north. Commander Major General Battle.

Taking the first to seventh brigades of the Southeast Mobile Corps, a total of seven brigades with a total strength of 11 troops, plus four artillery brigades, and one tank brigade attached to the Armored Corps Command, the starting point for the attack is Roto in southern Australia. Northward to attack Burketon and other places in northern Australia, the commander is Major General Yu Guanghan, chief of staff of the Southeast Mobile Corps.

From the 14th Brigade to the No.10 Brigade of the Southeast Mobile Corps, there are a total of seven mechanized infantry brigades with a strength of about [-] people, plus five artillery brigades, and four tank brigades attached to the Armored Forces Command. Attack Newcastle in southern Australia The starting point was to attack Cairns and other places in northern Australia in the north. Lieutenant General Tang Qiusheng, the deputy division commander and commander of the Southeast Mobile Corps, personally commanded the attacking troops along the way.

The four attacking forces are spaced at an average distance of [-] kilometers, and they advance side by side in order to support each other and support each other at any time. Moreover, each attacking force is divided into different attacking arrows, even covering the east-west width of the Australian continent.

The nearly 50 troops of the Independent Division on the Australian battlefield roared from south to north with an astonishing momentum. They attacked the city and seized the territory along the way, making rapid progress. The killed Japanese army was defeated and retreated steadily. past.

The garrison areas along the way of the Japanese garrison in Australia are already weak. Where can such a sweep be tolerated, even a decent line of defense cannot be organized. In some areas, the Japanese garrison forces rely on the natural terrain conditions and the original defense system to try to prevent independence. Advancement of division troops.

However, to fight such a large-scale offensive and defensive battle, the commanders of the independent division troops are familiar with the road, and the powerful artillery provides effective fire support for the independent division's offensive troops. When encountering difficulties, they will immediately organize Hundreds or even thousands of heavy artillery were fired, and tens of thousands of shells smashed past, and there was ruins in front of them. Then, the tanks covered the infantry and charged.

In just over ten days, the offensive of nearly 50 independent divisions advanced to the line from Jericho to Newman in central Australia. The Japanese army lost nearly 8 local garrison troops.

Faced with the pressure of the soldiers from the Independent Division, he did not know that the commander of the Japanese Army in Australia who was about to be dismissed, Lieutenant General Morishita, the commander of the No.11 Army, felt great pressure. . The 11th Army has more than [-] troops, deployed on the line from Sangu, Walkup to Huonden, forming the first line of defense.

Then, nearly 30 troops were withdrawn to Australia from the island battlefields in the Southwest Pacific and reorganized, and 10 of them were sent to strengthen the first line of defense. The remaining nearly 20 troops were deployed in the The line from the Kimberley Plateau to the Flinders River forms the second line of defense.

Although he holds a heavy army of 60 soldiers, Lieutenant General Morishita knows that among these troops, only about 30 people can fight. Those who are afraid of fighting, their morale is low, the organizational system is incomplete, and there are many shortages of commanders at all levels.

It is a unit that can fight, but compared to the imperial army that has withdrawn to Australia, as for challenging the independent division of China, he has no confidence in his heart, and there is a more serious problem of heavy equipment. The imperial army stationed in Australia It belongs to the second-line army. In terms of heavy equipment, it is far inferior to the troops of the North American Combat Command.

Lieutenant General Morishita, who was in a state of desperation, sent several telegrams a day to the base camp for emergency help, explaining the current dangerous situation of the Imperial Army on the Australian battlefield. He said in the telegram: "If the Imperial Army in Australia cannot get troops and equipment If there are no reinforcements from above, then, in a month’s time, Australia will fall to Tang Qiuli, the devil of China!”

In all fairness, Morishita was a bit alarmist. Within a month, the troops of the Independent Division on the Australian battlefield would not be able to take down the huge Australia and annihilate nearly 60 Japanese troops, but what about two or three months later?

After rushing to the base camp, Lieutenant General Morishita took a small boat and went to the flagship of the Navy United Fleet "Nagato" to visit the fleet commander Admiral Yamamoto. Lieutenant generals cannot be compared with General Yamamoto.

Therefore, Lieutenant General Morishita didn't feel ashamed if he condescended to visit General Yamamoto. What's more, he had to come to worship this god. The aviation team has less than [-] combat aircraft, and the armored troops are even more pitiful. There is only one tank brigade, and the artillery is not up to the table.

The sole purpose of Lieutenant General Morishita's visit to General Yamamoto is to ask him to dispatch carrier-based aircraft to carry out large-scale bombing and air strikes against the rapidly advancing independent division troops, so as to relieve the pressure on the infantry on the ground and support them until the arrival of reinforcements. He knows that , the United Fleet has this strength.

After the two people met, their eyes were full of bloodshot eyes, and Lieutenant General Morishita, who was exhausted, didn't care about politeness, and put forward his request directly, with a tone of begging, "Commander Yamamoto, please be sure to lend a helping hand, otherwise , the result of the empire on the Australian battlefield is worrisome!"

General Yamamoto, who was resting in the port of Darwin in northern Australia, knew what a terrible situation the Australian battlefield was. Unrecoverable mess.

However, General Yamamoto was more hesitant to dispatch carrier-based aircraft. In a word, according to intelligence, the aviation of the China Independent Division is also quite powerful in the Australian battlefield. Compared with Le Yiqin's land-based aviation, The result of the three-day war left a shadow in his heart, or a psychological barrier, and he instinctively didn't want to face off against the independent division's land-based aviation again!

Seeing the hesitation on General Yamamoto's face, Lieutenant General Morishita refused to let go of his plea. In the end, General Yamamoto agreed to dispatch carrier-based aircraft troops immediately to provide air fire support for the Imperial Army's ground troops who were fighting hard.

The next day, the carrier-based aircraft fleet of the Japanese Navy's combined fleet and the two air groups of the Japanese Army in Australia dispatched more than a thousand combat aircraft to prepare for a large-scale bombing of the Independent Division.

Battlefield Commander Tang Qiusheng, ever since the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet was stationed in northern Australia, he has been guarding against the Japanese. On the field airports in southern Australia, an independent division attacked the Australian Air Force. More than 800 fighter jets were waiting in full force. The brigade commander, Colonel Wu Zhenjiang, was gearing up and waiting for Tang Qiusheng's order every day.

The troops of the independent division attacked northward, but there was no aviation team, but Wu Zhenjiang was so anxious that his eyes were red, and he called for battle several times, but the answer he got was, "Continue to stand by!"

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