Age of Rebirth

"Then thank you brigade commander for your compliment!" Wang Libo said triumphantly, "I don't know whose soldier it is, the first regiment is the trump card of our brigade!"

"Don't be sentimental, you boy! I'm praising your regiment of scouts!" Jin Tieshan's head was full of cold water, "Why, if you are still not convinced, when you find a small group of scouts from little devils, you should immediately Take action, and you still have to come over to ask me for instructions? What if something unexpected happens while you are asking for instructions?"

"You, the head of the regiment, are getting more and more useless the more you become! I don't have any idea about common sense things?" Wang Libo's face suddenly collapsed, and he didn't know what to mutter in his mouth. Chief of Staff Cheng Shaofu couldn't help laughing. +,

A small-scale ambush that took place at the northern foot of the MacDonnell Ranges was too insignificant compared with the Hongda scene where millions of troops fought on the Australian battlefield, but it was of extraordinary significance and can be regarded as the decisive battle in Australia It also ruined the only chance for Lieutenant General Miura, commander of the Sixth Army of the Japanese and Australian Front, to discover that the independent division had appeared in the MacDonnell Ranges.

Near six o'clock in the morning, Tang Qiuli's armored command vehicle kept receiving telegrams from various troops, "Report to the division commander, all the troops of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps have arrived at the designated location and are starting to build fortifications!"

"Report to the division commander, all the brigades directly under the corps have arrived at the scheduled counterattack area, the troops are deploying, pay close attention to building fortifications, report to the division commander, all the armored units have arrived at the designated position, report to the division commander, the artillery unit has arrived at the designated position, and the artillery position is being built !"

Put down the telegram.Tang Qiuli leaned back on the seat, completely letting go of his heart.It's not easy, two corps plus armored and artillery units.Marched nearly [-] kilometers at night, braved the downpour, and rushed to the predetermined position. Although it was about half an hour later than the stipulated time, the Japanese army had not yet dispatched, which did not affect the overall situation.

Tang Qiuli was proud of his fighters and proud of having such an army. The big net of the McDonnell Ranges had been opened.Just waiting for more than 20 Japanese troops to rush in without realizing it, this place is destined to be the vanguard of the Japanese army on the middle road, and the burial place of 10,000+ soldiers!

Tang Qiuli half-closed his eyes, and moved his body comfortably. The gradually thinning rain dripped on the roof of the car, making an even "tick" sound, and the atmosphere in the car was very comfortable.

Chief of Staff Zhao Yu looked at the rain outside the window.After thinking for a while, he said to Tang Qiuli: "Master, should you send a telegram to Commander Feng to emphasize that the brigades of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps. Before the ambush starts, the key is to conceal your whereabouts. Any clues are possible. It aroused the vigilance of the Japanese commander, which led to the failure of the campaign attempt!"

Tang Qiuli opened his eyes.He smiled and said, "Yuhe, what do you think? For a unit like the Niangziguan Garrison Corps and a commander like Feng Jiwu, do you need the division commander to send a special telegram to remind you of such details?"

Zhao Yuhe was taken aback for a moment, then laughed at himself and said, "Master, I'm wasting my time!"

"If you care about it, there will be chaos!" Tang Qiuli said.

Around nine o'clock in the morning, the heavy rain finally stopped, and the dark clouds all over the sky quickly dissipated. Like a rout of soldiers, they fled to the south quickly. At around ten o'clock, the sky returned to clear, and the hot sun shone wantonly. When it comes down, it can illuminate the earth after the rain, and a layer of faint mist rises.

Lieutenant General Miura walked out of the tent, took a breath of air containing water vapor, and became cheerful in a gloomy mood, and said to Major General Ishikawa, the chief of staff, "The damn rain has finally stopped, and it has delayed us for four or five hours. Send the order, the first Sixth Army and Seventh Army units, start eating lunch immediately, set off on time at [-]:[-] p.m.!"

"Also, order the Fifth Division, which serves as the vanguard, to set off half an hour earlier. By the way, is there any news about the reconnaissance and search team they sent out?"

"Not yet!" Chief of Staff Ishikawa replied, "May I ask?"

"Oh..." Lieutenant General Miura didn't care at all, and said, "No need!" After a while, the Japanese camp in Kniston was filled with smoke, and more than 20 people lit fires almost at the same time. The meal, the scene was big enough, the cooking smoke quickly condensed into a layer of smoke clouds over the campsite, and drifted southward with the north.

At the northern foot of the MacDonnell Ranges, on a mountain peak, Feng Jiwu set up his regiment headquarters in a cave behind. At this moment, he is standing on the mountain peak, gazing at the northern sky, and he seems to smell a faint smoke in his nose. smell.

"The little devil is eating lunch!" Based on his years of experience in the battlefield, Feng Jiwu immediately came to a conclusion, and said to Zhang Hansheng, the chief of staff of the Corps: "Hansheng, order to go down, and the brigades should hurry up to eat lunch. I estimate that there will be two more In more than an hour, the Japanese army will appear in our field of vision!"

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the hottest sunshine in central Australia basically dried up the original muddy mountain roads. More than 20 Japanese soldiers, fed and drunk, began to march towards the MacDonnell Ranges. into the mountains.

The mountain road was rough and bumpy, and the chariots and gun carriages galloping past from time to time rolled up a cloud of dust. The division commander, Lieutenant General Miki, sat in the vehicle, frowned slightly, and said to the division chief of staff, Fukui, "What happened?" Didn’t the Vanguard Brigade report that a search and reconnaissance team has been sent out, and there is no news yet? I don’t know if this damn heavy rain has washed away the road in the mountains?”

"Division commander, this situation should not have happened, otherwise, the Vanguard Brigade will report! It is very likely that their search and reconnaissance team is continuing to conduct reconnaissance ahead!" Chief of Staff Fukui comforted.

"Dingling!" The phone in the cave rang quickly, and Colonel Zhang Hansheng, chief of staff of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps, came out of the cave and reported: "Commander, the first brigade commander Jin Tieshan reported that there is a At the position, the Japanese army was found, about a brigade of troops, advancing to the depths of the MacDonnell Ranges!"

"Order Jin Tieshan, continue to monitor, this is the vanguard of the little devil, the big head is still behind!" Feng Jiwu's position, through the binoculars, can also be vaguely seen, on the winding road in the mountain, the Japanese troops are blurred shadow.

More than an hour later, the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army also entered the mountainous area, but the Japanese army did not notice that on both sides of the road they were advancing, there was a regiment of nearly 30 soldiers from the Independent Division, watching them go with murderous looks in their eyes. In the past, and then in the future, the main force of the Japanese army divided into several roads drove past.

The situation quickly came to the attention of the division. Tang Qiuli calculated the time. Although the Japanese army is now advancing in multiple ways, the Sixth Army and the Seventh Army will all enter the ambush circle. It will be at least after eight o'clock in the evening. The army column is probably 20 to [-] kilometers long. Fortunately, the ambush circle directly under the corps covers almost all the areas that the Japanese army must pass through, and can completely swallow more than [-] Japanese troops.

Tang Qiuli thought of a possibility. The troops still need to hide for seven hours. Once the Japanese army sends out reconnaissance planes, the hidden troops will be fully exposed. The two corps have more than 50 troops, and it is impossible to be completely invisible. Without a trace, he immediately said to Zhao Yuhe: "Yuhe, send a telegram to Liu Cuigang, and pay close attention to the movement of the Japanese air force. Once you find that the Japanese reconnaissance plane is dispatched and is coming towards the MacDonnell Mountains, be sure to shoot it down!"

I don't know why, but the Japanese army did not send a reconnaissance plane to conduct aerial reconnaissance of its marching route. Perhaps, from General Ito Yanzaburo to Lieutenant General Miura, they did not expect that the independent division troops would be in the very unsuitable terrain conditions of McDonnell. An ambush was set up in Naishan Mountain. According to their intelligence and impression, the troops of the Independent Division were still on the front line of Lambina, more than 100 kilometers away.

As night fell on the McDonnell Ranges, the last Japanese military convoy drove past Jin Tieshan, the commander of the First Brigade of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps. He grinned and picked up the phone, "Commander, I am Jin Tieshan, all the little devils are coming in. In the mountains, should we close the door?"

"Wait for the order of the master, the explosives planted by your brigade at various mountain passes, can't be ineffective by the heavy rain?" Feng Jiwu asked worriedly.

"Commander, I'm not a novice, how can I make such a low-level mistake?" Jin Tieshan yelled unconvinced.

In the bumpy car, Major General Ishikawa, Chief of Staff of the Sixth Army of the Japanese Army, asked the commander, Lieutenant General Miura, "Commander, it is already past eight o'clock. Commander Okazaki just sent a telegram that the Seventh Army has all entered the mountainous area. , The same is true for our troops, should the troops start to camp and wait until tomorrow morning before advancing?"

Lieutenant General Miura looked out the car window at the dark and quiet mountainous area, shook his head and said: "No! We have been delayed for more than seven hours and we must get back. Besides, this is a mountainous area, so there is no room for camping. In case of heavy rain again, the situation will be even worse, order to go down, the troops will camp in the northern part of Lambina tonight!"

At around nine o'clock at night, the leading brigade of the Fifth Division of the Sixth Army of the Japanese Army was almost leaving the mountain. Tang Qiuli looked at his watch and said to Zhao Yuhe, "Let's go!"

In the dark night sky, countless red signal flares suddenly rose, like shining stars, rising slowly, illuminating the night sky, almost all Japanese soldiers saw this scene, Miura Naka Jiang also saw the signal flare, his pupils shrank suddenly, and a terrible thought flashed in his mind.

When the red signal flare reached its highest point, in the night, there was suddenly a loud noise like rolling thunder, and then, like a meteor shower flying from the sky, countless shells dragged their long tail flames, with piercing sharp tips. The howling sound fell overwhelmingly on the marching ranks of the Japanese army.

"Boom! Boom!—Boom!" The loud noise that shook the earth, the continuous flames, and the bombing points of the shells, one after another, ignited several fire dragons from north to south in the MacDonnell Mountains. The ambush of the Japanese Sixth Army and Seventh Army started!

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