Age of Rebirth

Indeed, after shrinking all the troops on the battlefield in northern Australia to the front line of the east coast, General Ito Yanzaburo of the Japanese and Australian Front now feels like he is locked in a cage. This feeling is very real. $f,

The heavy troops of the Independent Division on the periphery of the curved line of defense were lured without sending out, which made General Ito feel great pressure. He understood that this damned China devil had started to play tricks and tricks again. With Tang Qiuli's current strength and equipment advantages, As long as the tactics of continuous onslaught are adopted without hesitating the casualties of soldiers, a big hole can be opened at any point in Mount Molloy, Cooktown and Townsville.

But Tang Qiuli did not launch a fierce attack. Instead, he placed himself in an arc-shaped defense line like vines and radish, surrounded him tightly, and never advanced aggressively. He pressed on step by step. It's getting more and more difficult.

There are two ways to break the siege of the independent division. One is to have reinforcements outside, and the inside and outside can be combined in an instant to break the encirclement. The other is to protrude from the encirclement and hold on to the spot.

But neither of the two methods will work, so there is no need to think about reinforcements. Now, all the overseas troops of the Empire of Japan are basically under his command, so how can there be reinforcements available?

As for the breakout, General Ito felt frightened when he thought about it. It was neither feasible nor feasible. Without the local logistics support, more than 100 million people broke through the siege, and they would still fall into a situation where they could not gain a foothold. Among them, each one was defeated.

General Ito can also see that when the Australian Front Army gathers on the east coast, the independent division will attack.Not all force, otherwise.The remaining half of the troops that can be gathered in one's own hands are not bad.

With the unpredictable military command ability of the Chinese devil Tang Qiuli.The excellent equipment and fast maneuverability of the independent division, the bravery and skill of the soldiers, and the absolute supremacy of the air are completely capable of doing this, but this damned China devil just didn't do it.

Therefore, General Ito also saw through his plot and surrounded but did not attack, just to trap the Australian front army to death.He was able to do this after the main force of the United Navy Fleet was annihilated. More than 100 million imperial soldiers gathered in an area less than 400 kilometers long and less than [-] kilometers wide. How much food consumption will be tomorrow is astonishing. quantity.

What's more, there are more than 100 million local residents in the encirclement, which are mouths waiting to eat.Cooktown, Mount Molloy, and Townsville are not places where the Australian Front Army hoarded a large amount of food and military supplies. The logistics supply from the mainland was interrupted for many days, and more than 200 million people are now sitting and eating.

Just now, Chief of Staff Akutagawa handed himself a report from the logistics department with a worried face.The report clearly stated, "According to the current consumption rate, the existing food and military supplies in the logistics department can only sustain all soldiers. The minimum consumption is about 20 days. After 20 days, the troops will not have a grain of food!"

"People from China, damn Tang Qiuli, you did it!" General Ito gritted his teeth and smiled wryly. Now, ensuring that the soldiers have food seems to be more important than fighting.

After racking his brains for two days, General Ito came up with two countermeasures. First, he sent a telegram to the base camp, requesting that logistics supplies be restored immediately. Strict military control was implemented in each occupied area, and a food and material rationing system was implemented.

The priority to ensure the supply is, of course, the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Army, followed by the more than 100 million local residents. According to General Ito’s order, the local residents, regardless of gender, age or age, have only three liang of food per person per day. Whether it is a wealthy businessman or a poor person, they are treated equally, as long as they don't starve to death.

Among them, there are many Australians who cooperated happily with the empire during the imperial army's occupation of Australia. These were once friends of the Great Japanese Empire, and now they are obviously cumbersome local residents.Get rid of them all to reduce food consumption.

Never thinking about these things, General Ito, who only commanded the war, now has to learn to live on a budget like a housewife. When I think of this, the majestic General of the Imperial Japanese Army feels a burst of sadness in his heart, even though the headquarters is from Australia. The plan to withdraw troops from the battlefield has been confirmed, but the most urgent thing at present is to feed the stomachs of millions of people and stabilize the morale of the troops.

But General Ito's hopes were shattered. How could Tang Qiuli let more than 100 million Japanese soldiers live peacefully in the encirclement, waiting for the arrival of the troop transport ship.

Le Yiqin and Liu Cuigang rushed back to arrange the mission of bombing the Japanese army targets in the encirclement after they left from their teachers. Before the plane took off, the two of them were in the cabin and carefully studied the details of the bombing operation. Fan, made a battle plan.

The Australian Battlefield Aviation Command of the Independent Division, the Southern Flying Group, and the divisional operations, with Mount Molloy as the boundary, Liu Cuigang's troops in the south are in charge, and Le Yiqin's troops in the north are in charge. The tactics adopted are the same, both With three bombers and six fighters as a mixed small fleet formation, they took turns to attack in the airspace of the encirclement, bombing the Japanese army day and night.

During the day, I don’t know how many bombers and fighter jets of the independent division dropped bombs and fired bullets above their heads. Even if it was a wisp of cooking smoke or a moving target, it would attract roaring bombs and clusters of machine gun bullets. .

It didn't stop at night. Any ray of light was the reason why Japanese soldiers couldn't see the sun the next day. Thousands of fighter jets and bombers from the Independent Division roared overhead day and night. After three days, not only Ito Yan General Saburo's nerves were almost deranged, and the spirits of the Japanese soldiers were about to collapse.

Three days later, even in broad daylight, the encirclement was completely silent, and there was no moving target in sight. At night, it was even darker, as quiet as a cemetery. There was a covering bombardment, the time was not fixed, and there was no pattern at all. The Japanese soldiers who were bombed and complained were even more miserable.

There are still quite a few Japanese artillery in the encirclement. They are all pure Italian heavy artillery. Naturally, they have their own arrogance. Can the artillery not beat the independent division planes in the sky, or the artillery on the ground?

In the first few days, when the artillery of the various corps of the Independent Division shelled, the Japanese artillery was not to be outdone, and immediately fired back. Who knows, they fell into a trap. At this time, the artillery of the Independent Division was unified under the command of Major General Zheng Yong, the artillery commander. command.

The artillery group shelling the Japanese positions was just a bait thrown by Zheng Yong. The purpose was to arouse the anger of the Japanese artillery. Simply put, it was fishing. After fighting back and forth for several days, the Japanese artillery in the encirclement suffered heavy losses. Later, they simply hid and did not fight back. Zheng Yong repeatedly said, "It's not fun!"

A deep underground basement became the new headquarters of the Japanese and Australian Front Army. The chief of staff, Major General Akutagawa, was holding a telegram. His face was a little flushed because of excitement, and he strode into General Ito's room and said loudly: "Your Excellency, Commander, The base camp received an urgent message, and the fleet full of food and military supplies has already set off from the mainland, and the Fifth Fleet and the Sixth Fleet of the Navy are all dispatched to escort. Another purpose of the fleet is to carry the first batch of evacuated troops."

General Ito received the telegram, read it silently, his face was not happy, he said: "Mr. Akutagawa, this is good news, arrange it immediately, let all soldiers know, so as to improve the morale of the troops!"

"Yes, Commander!" Chief of Staff Akutagawa agreed, and then said tentatively, "Commander, I think you seem to be very worried about the logistics supply and withdrawal of troops at the base camp this time?"

"Akutagawa-kun!" General Ito said with a worried face: "If you were the devil of China, Tang Qiuli, and you had the upper hand in terms of military strength, equipment, and battlefield situation, it would have passed more than a week before you launched an attack. Attack?"

"Absolutely not!" Chief of Staff Akutagawa replied affirmatively. After finishing speaking, his heart tightened suddenly, as if he had thought of something. He looked at the silent General Ito, who didn't say anything more, both of them were worried There was a heavy silence.

In the waters of the Solomon Islands, the independent division fleet has been ambushing here for more than a week. Fleet commander Tang Qiuquan and deputy commander Amosiyev have enough patience to wait for the target to appear.

On Honiara Island, about 40 kilometers away from the northeast of the fleet’s ambush area, the No.40 Nine Land-based Air Force of the Japanese Navy is stationed. Under normal circumstances, the No.[-] Nine Air Force’s reconnaissance aircraft, The range can completely cover this area of ​​the sea. The fleet of hundreds of warships and four aircraft carriers cannot be hidden in the unobstructed sea.

If the carrier-based aircraft is dispatched to shoot down the Japanese reconnaissance plane, it will undoubtedly tell the Japanese commander on Honiara that the independent division fleet is nearby. However, Tang Qiuquan chose to ambush under the nose of the Japanese No.40 Nine Air Force, Obviously well prepared.

The Fleet Land-Based Mixed Aviation Combat Brigade stationed on Irian Island is responsible for killing the Japanese No.40 Ninth Air Force reconnaissance aircraft and covering the ambush of the fleet. The combat radius of the fighter jets can even extend to Honiara Island.

As a result, the reconnaissance planes of the No.40 Ninth Air Force of the Japanese Army dispatched a batch, and then disappeared. Before disappearing, all of them sent back information without exception, "My reconnaissance crew was attacked by the Chinese land-based aircraft in the waters of the Solomon Islands. Attack of aviation fighter jets!"

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