Age of Rebirth

The defense lines of the Allied forces in the Flinders Mountains and Barrier Mountains in southwestern Australia are basically in a state of collapse. The resistance of the Allied forces is nothing more than lingering, and it is only a matter of time before the entire line is lost.

Right now, hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers of the imperial army, under the cover of chariot troops, are advancing in depth to the Allied defense line, and the progress is very smooth. Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, it is simply secondary to not paying attention to the battlefield in front of you What is the purpose of the northeast battlefield in the direction?

However, Chief of Staff Kawaguchi, who knows well that the commander-in-chief is a human being, had to think about it. I'm afraid the problem is not that simple. Relying on this breakthrough, the imperial army can directly attack the southeastern region of Australia, and the Ministry of Staff believes that it is necessary to strengthen the force in this main direction!"

"Well, as far as conventional tactics are concerned, Kawaguchi-kun's suggestion is very correct, but I don't want this result!" General Ito, who was in a good mood, was very patient, "The prerequisite for occupying Australia is to eliminate all the allies. army, and now is the best opportunity, Kawaguchi-kun, answer my question!"

Chief of Staff Kawaguchi replied succinctly: "Commander-in-Chief, according to the report of the Joint Air Force Commander, Major General Hashimoto Kara, he dispatched two brigades of reconnaissance planes to carry out intensive monitoring of the movements of the Allied troops on the northeast battlefield. According to the reconnaissance, it was found that the allied troops in the northeast direction are still fighting hard against the Imperial Army troops in the original defensive direction, and there is no sign of mobilization!"

"Yaoxi! Great job!" General Ito was beaming with joy. "Mr. Kawaguchi, convey my order. All the troops of the Seventh Army, Eighth Army, and Tenth Army. After completely breaking through the Allied defense line, except for leaving a small number of troops to encircle and wipe out the remnants of the enemy, the other main forces should immediately turn to In the northeast of Australia, attack the Allied forces in that direction!"

"Kawaguchi-kun, order the troops to be fast to prevent the Allied soldiers from escaping. What I need is a large-scale annihilation battle, and more than 40 Allied soldiers are all in their pockets!"

In fact, all senior Japanese officers, including Chief of Staff Kawaguchi.They all disagree with Commander-in-Chief Ito's decision.It is certainly a very brilliant record to wipe out more than [-] Allied troops on the line of the Flinders Mountains and the Barrier Mountains.

But in contrast, it is the best way to go south from the current breakthrough point and take the last foothold of the Allied forces, destroying the old nest of the Allied forces and the remaining Allied forces.It's just a fish in the net, you can catch it any way you want.

and.There is a second line of defense of the Allied forces beyond the Flinders Mountains and the Barrier Mountains, which are more than [-] kilometers deep. If all the time is wasted on annihilating the Allied forces on the front line, wouldn't it be for the second line of defense? Do the allied forces have enough time to prepare? By then, the imperial army that has completed the campaign will face another fierce breakthrough battle. Is the gain outweighed by the loss?

"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, I still hope that you can follow my advice. The imperial army in the northeast should maintain an offensive posture to contain the Allied troops. The imperial army in the southwest should quickly attack south!" Japan Among all the senior officers of the General Command of the Southwest Pacific Dispatch Army, only Major General Kawaguchi has the guts and face to argue in front of General Ito. After a while of cursing, even a big mouth came up!

General Ito's complexion was a little dark, obviously unhappy in his heart, and he said with burning eyes: "Mr. Kawaguchi, I know what you think, but as I said just now, that is a conventional method of warfare, an opportunity to wipe out the vital forces of the allies. , must not be missed, I don't want to have to worry about the remnants of the Allied forces behind me when I sweep across southeastern Australia, understand what I mean?"

"It's good to question the commander's decision, and it's the duty of the chief of staff, but if you are too stubborn, it may not be a good thing! It will hinder your vision of the battlefield!" In the last few sentences, General Ito emphasized his tone.

Having said all this, if Major General Kawaguchi doesn't understand, he is asking for trouble. Seeing that General Ito's decision could not be changed, Major General Kawaguchi stood at attention and said, "Yes, Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, I will resolutely carry out your order!"

In a cave in the south of the Flinders Mountains, the Allied Australian Forces Command is located here. Facing the increasingly unfavorable battlefield situation, the commander, Lieutenant General Barry Hessman, is still hesitating whether to launch from the northeast. Mobilize troops from the central direction to block the opening in the southwest direction.

Lieutenant General Wagner, the chief of staff, was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. He ran out of the cave from time to time to see the soaring flames from the shell explosion not far away, and then urged: "Commander, you should decide , Now, the Japanese army has broken through several of our defense lines in a row and approached the headquarters. If you don’t make a decision, once the Japanese army outflanks to the northeast, the battle situation will be unimaginable. If the headquarters does not move, I’m afraid..."

What I'm afraid, Chief of Staff Wagneradze didn't say anything, but the meaning was obvious. If the headquarters didn't leave, it would be a prisoner of the Japanese.

Disaster!Lieutenant General Bachlisman's rare hair is almost gray. An order is related to the lives of hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers. There are several problems that he cannot solve. If it is not good to mobilize from the northeast, one is whether there is time. In addition, is it possible to block the opening that the Japanese army broke through? Also, what if, as the chief of staff said, the Japanese army broke through the southwestern defense line and outflanked the northeast?

Lieutenant General Bachlismann's head was filled with all kinds of messy thoughts, and it was about to explode. At this time, a confidential staff officer ran over quickly and reported loudly: "Commander, chief of staff, confidential radio station , I just received a telegram from General Tang Qiuli, who claimed to be the deputy commander-in-chief of the Southwest Pacific and Southeast Asia theaters of the Allied Forces, and sent the telegram to the commander. The password was confirmed to be correct, and it was not forged by the Japanese army!"

"Tang Qiuli?" Lieutenant General Bachlissmann stood up "suddenly", his eyes widened in surprise. He was no stranger to Tang Qiuli. Although he had never met him, he I have heard it before, but there are many negative opinions. American generals, including the British, generally have a bad opinion of Tang Qiuli, a Chinese.

But for the Chinese army commanded by Tang Qiuli, who beat the Japanese horribly, from a military point of view, Lieutenant General Bachlisman still admires it.

Although Tang Qiuli served as the deputy commander-in-chief of his theater, and was his superior in terms of rank, the Allied Australian troops had never accepted his command. Now, thousands of kilometers away, The Chinese sent a telegram to himself, what was the content?

Lieutenant General Bachlisman took the telegram suspiciously and read it carefully. Obviously, he was very surprised by the content of the telegram. His eyes flickered and his face changed. Then, he handed the telegram to Chief of Staff Wagner, saying: "Staff Sir, look at the telegram, what do you think?"

Chief of Staff Wagnazer quickly read the content of the telegram, and said with a very serious and sincere attitude: "Commander, the order of Deputy Commander-in-Chief Tang came very timely. Withdraw to the second line of defense, so as not to be encircled by the Japanese army on the current battlefield!"

Compared with Lieutenant General Bachlissmann, Chief of Staff Wagneradze had a very good impression of Tang Qiuli, even grateful. This was also the good relationship Tang Qiuli had formed at the beginning.

When Japan dispatched troops in the Southwest Pacific to attack the Philippines, the U.S.-Philippines army commanded by MacArthur was beaten to the brim by Yanzaburo Ito, and was almost defeated. He desperately asked for help from the Allied Headquarters.

At that time, the Anglo-Australian army, under the mobilization of the commander-in-chief, Admiral Fernades, dispatched two elite troops of 10 troops to Luzon Island for reinforcements. Unexpectedly, when the British and Australian troops arrived in Luzon After the island, Lieutenant General MacArthur, who was the supreme commander of the Allied Forces in Luzon Island, actually ran away, took his wife and children, his lover, governess, and gold and silver treasures, and flew away by plane.

Leaving the British to take advantage of them finally caused the Allied forces on Luzon Island to retreat across the board and were forced to abandon Luzon Island and withdraw to Australia. If Tang Qiuli hadn't dispatched a powerful aviation fleet to provide uninterrupted escort, the remaining The 10,000+ British, Australian and US-Philippine troops will be sent to the Pacific Ocean by the Japanese Navy fleet in the Coral Sea to feed sharks. At that time, Chief of Staff Wagner was the commander of the reinforcements.

Regarding that past event, Chief of Staff Wagner is unforgettable. Although Tang Qiuli is not so friendly to the British Empire, personally, he is still willing to believe that this telegram is absolutely not malicious, because the failure of the Australian Allied Forces did not treat Tang Qiuli very well. what is the benefit?

Perhaps it was the attitude of Wagnazer's chief of staff, or Lieutenant General Bachlissmann believed that Tang Qiuli was an excellent commander who had repeatedly achieved success in the battle against the Japanese army. The contents of the telegram convinced him and made him He shook off his indecision.

"Chief of Staff, immediately issue an order. After dark, the troops in the northeast direction will break away from the contact of the Japanese army, retreat quickly, and rush to the second line of defense to gather. The troops in the southwest direction should immediately disperse and retreat southward. , The assembly point is the second line of defense!" Lieutenant General Bachlisman said hurriedly, "The headquarters will immediately move back and set up a new headquarters on the second line of defense!"

The sun was setting, and in the twilight, the Japanese aircraft that had been raging for a day disappeared. A group of senior officers and personnel from the Australian Allied Forces Command climbed into the car and galloped to the south amidst the rumbling gunfire. and go.

Lieutenant General Bachlismann left in such a hurry that he didn't even have time to clean up a few radio stations, so he simply blew up a few grenades!

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