Age of Rebirth

With a sound of "snap!", the commander of the Japanese Australian Front, General Ito Yanzaburo, slammed his teacup on the ground, and in front of the chief of staff, Major General Akutagawa, yelled at General Nagumo Chuichi, "Haka! Nagumo Chuichi!" The old bastard, he just let go of the air defense in northern Australia without even asking for instructions in advance, no, I want to truthfully report this matter to the base camp and ask the base camp to punish him!"

What made Admiral Ito furious was not only that the United Fleet did not even say hello, but went to carry out the latest mission of the Navy Command to open the air defense portal in northern Australia, and there were also [-] Imperial Army soldiers. Under the escort of the naval fleet, all the waters of the Solomon Islands were smashed. When he heard the bad news, Admiral Ito was so distressed that he almost passed out.

Two whole battles came here in the North American battlefield. The elite Imperial Army divisions would be of great use if they were put into the middle battlefield in Australia. Isn't it his responsibility to cause heavy losses to the Imperial Army?

Now, they acted without warning, and did not even give the Australian Front Air Force Command time to deploy troops in northern Australia. Also, once the deterrence of the combined fleet is lost, they will be entrenched on the opposite side of Australia. Irian Island and Whether the hundreds of thousands of troops of the China Independent Division on the Java Islands will cross the Timor Sea and the Arafura Sea and come to Australia from behind is not necessarily known.

It's really unreasonable, since I joined the Imperial Army, I haven't seen such a commander who has no regard for the overall situation. Admiral Ito even suspected that there is no latest mission from the Navy Command.It's completely up to that old bastard Nagumo Tadaichi to act on his own, no matter what he says.In name, the Combined Fleet is still under the control of the Australian Front Command.But I don't even know what the United Fleet is doing?

Admiral Ito became ruthless. Even if he used his own future as a bargaining chip to fight against the commander of the Imperial Australian Army, he would have to push Nagumo Tadaichi, an old bastard, from the position of commander of the United Navy Fleet. Otherwise, Maybe I will be pissed off by this old bastard?

The chief of staff, Major General Akutagawa, never said a word when his boss roared angrily.Seeing that His Excellency General was so angry that his face was distorted and his face was livid, he opened the drawer, took out a pen and paper, and wanted to send a telegram to the headquarters, so he said: "Commander, please calm down, the department has something to say!"

"Huh?" General Ito looked up at him angrily, and said, "Akutagawa-kun, if you want to persuade me, no need, I've made up my mind, Nagumo Tadaichi must be responsible for the incident of the [-] Imperial Army soldiers Yusha! "

"Hehe!" Chief of Staff Akutagawa chuckled.Then he said: "Commander, General Nagumo is a member of the Navy. If you want to move him, it will not be easy. Even if you send a telegram to the headquarters, I am afraid there will be no results!"

"Could it be that in the waters of the Solomon Islands, Yu Sui, an old bastard of [-] Imperial Army soldiers, Nagumo Tadaichi, shouldn't be fully responsible?" General Ito yelled angrily, but in his tone, the angry bullfight just now was gone. Imposing, he knew that Major General Akutagawa was telling the truth.

Chief of Staff Akutagawa heard the helplessness in his boss's tone, and further analyzed: "The staff department means that the matter of [-] soldiers from the Imperial Army is not a trivial matter, and it will definitely attract the attention of the General Staff Department and the Army Department of the headquarters. You don't need to express any opinions, and the headquarters will not let Nagumo Chuichi!"

"If you send such a telegram to the base camp at this time, you are suspected of making trouble, or it will cause dissatisfaction among the navy. Therefore, the suggestion of the staff department is to wait and see what happens. The most urgent task now is to make up for it as soon as possible. Withdrew, resulting in an empty air defense situation in northern Australia!"

General Ito stared at Chief of Staff Akutagawa for a long time, then sighed and said, "Okay, let's deal with it according to Akutagawa-kun's opinion, and send a telegram to Air Force Commander Okazaki, ordering him to start deploying air defense in northern Australia immediately. If there is another plane from the China Independent Division bombing the northern port of Australia, I will only ask him!"

The night is dark and the wind is blowing. Huge waves are surging in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The independent division fleet is sailing in the direction of Luzon Island and Mindanao Island. The speed of the fleet is not fast. In the command cabin of the flagship "Longlong", the commander Officer Lieutenant General Tang Qiuquan, Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Amosiyev, Chief of Staff Major General Ge Zhenzhuang, Deputy Chief of Staff Colonel Tang Yunfei, and other officers of the headquarters were all present.

Although it is already late at night, everyone has no sleepiness. Is the fleet using it as bait to catch the big fish of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet in order to implement the second phase of the campaign plan? This is a very dangerous thing in itself. The United Fleet bites. With the current strength of the fleet, there is not enough space between their teeth. Where is the gap in strength?

Even though it took less than a day to wipe out the Japanese Fourth Fleet in the waters of the Solomon Islands, Tang Qiuquan and the others were like a mirror in their hearts. If there was no land-based aviation mixed combat brigade commanded by Le Yiqin, after the first round of attack In the battle, almost all of the Japanese carrier-based aircraft were killed. Even if the above results are achieved in the next battle, the fleet’s losses will not be small. With the strength of the Japanese Fourth Fleet, it is not difficult to fight for both sides!

Therefore, to grasp the distance from the main force of the Japanese Navy's United Fleet, it is necessary to be very precise, so that Nagumo Tadaichi cannot be lost, and he cannot be caught. Tang Yunfei has arranged a large number of reconnaissance planes, so far However, no trace of the Japanese combined fleet has been found, and even Tang Yunfei personally flew a fighter jet to reconnaissance, but he did not find it.

Now, the fleet commanders sitting dull in the command cabin are all wondering in their hearts whether the Japanese Navy's joint fleet has been dispatched, and whether the plan of using the body as bait has worked?

A staff officer opened the door and came in, glanced at the silent commanders, whispered something in the ear of Chief of Staff Ge Zhenzhuang, and then Ge Zhenzhuang frowned, and after the staff officer went out, Ge Zhenzhuang said: "Commander , Deputy Commander, just received a report from the minesweeping detachment, about [-] nautical miles behind our fleet, a Japanese Lv-class submarine was found, tracking the fleet, they asked for instructions, should it be sunk?"

"Huh?" Tang Qiuquan and Amosiyev looked at each other, and then asked, "When did you find it? Is it the only one?"

Ge Zhenzhuang replied: "Two hours ago, the submarine hunting detachment discovered the target. So far, this one has been found. According to the submarine hunting detachment's report, the Japanese Fourth Fleet should have slipped through the net!"

"Why didn't you report it until now?" Tang Qiuquan was dissatisfied.

Ge Zhenzhuang explained: "The submarine hunting detachment needs time to confirm the type and position of the Japanese submarine, so that after receiving the order, it can be quickly sunk!"

"Deputy Commander, what do you think?" Tang Qiuquan asked Amosiyev, with a sly gleam in his eyes.

"Don't you have an idea?" Amosiyev also played charades.

"Hahaha!" Tang Qiuquan laughed, and said, "Zhenzhuang, order the submarine hunting detachment not to disturb the tail, let alone let the tail continue to follow if they notice that we have discovered it, it will be of great use!"

"In addition, please ask the intelligence department of the division to assist in finding out whether all the warships of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet in various ports in northern Australia have left the port and where they are going? And ask the intelligence department to pay close attention to their movements. If you have any information, you can directly contact the fleet. Contact the intelligence department!"

When the Fleet Command received the telegram of the great victory in the waters of the Solomon Islands, Tang Qiuli commanded the corps directly under the command and had already arrived in the Mabubar area of ​​Western Australia. After several days of hard marching, the troops had already walked out of the edge of the Great Sand Desert , Seeing the green plains, the soldiers who had been tortured by the edge of the desert for several days were all refreshed, and the marching speed of the troops was obviously faster!

The first brigade to the fourth brigade of the vanguard are less than a day away from the scheduled attack targets Sanggu and Mandola. , each defended by a brigade of the Japanese army, with a strength of about [-] troops, and the terrain is open, without a solid defense system, which is a difficult to defend and easy to attack target.

The more than [-] Japanese troops on the western front are in an offensive posture. There is no need to build a solid defense system on two unimportant targets. In addition, that area is already the rear of the Japanese army. The most elite field troops of the division came across from the middle.

Tang Qiuli used four mechanized brigades, with more than [-] people to attack, using the fastest movements and the most ferocious attacks to capture Sanggu and Mandola in the shortest time. As this line unfolded, before the Japanese army on the west road reacted, they blocked their retreat, and flanked Tang Qiusheng's Sulu Mobile Corps back and forth to annihilate the Japanese army on this road.

Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe sent the telegram sent by the fleet to Tang Qiuli. He read it carefully several times with the help of the car lights, and said: "Great news, the Fourth Fleet of the Japanese Army was wiped out in World War I." , I lost a little, this battle can be included in the classic battles of our army!"

"Based on Nagumo Chuichi's character, I'm afraid it won't work if he doesn't get angry. The goal of dragging the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy to the Southwest Pacific Ocean should be achieved! Yuhe, in the name of the division commander, issue an order to reward the fleet!"

"Master, the fleet uses its body as a bait to attract the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy. This is a dangerous move!" Zhao Yuhe said worriedly: "The comparison between the two sides is too disparate. Master, do you want to send a message to remind the fleet headquarters? one time?"

"No need!" Tang Qiuli said without hesitation: "As for the fleet's combat plan, the division commander will not interfere. What I am most concerned about now is when the first brigade to the fourth brigade will attack the target. After leaving the edge of the desert, the whereabouts of the troops may be exposed!"

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