Not long after the disastrous defeat at Midway Island, and half a month after the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces ceased their offensive and shifted to a defensive posture. Perhaps the Japanese base camp believed that the Chinese battlefield had become calm now, and the losses were also heavy, and they had lost their ability to sustain
There won't be any big moves in the attack ability to resist the alliance for the time being, so there won't be much to worry about in a short period of time.
It is absolutely possible to completely solve the problem of the Pacific battlefield first, and then concentrate on relocating its forces to solve the problem of Manchuria. On the day Yang Zhen arrived in Yan'an for the meeting, the Japanese Southern Army took advantage of the power of victory in the Battle of Midway Island, and under the powerful navy and air force
Under cover, they bypassed the island of New Guinea, which had not yet been fully occupied, and suddenly landed on the Australian mainland.
Unexpectedly, the Japanese army would suddenly attack their own Australian army before the battle for New Guinea Island was over. They were stunned by the sudden attack by the Japanese army. The two Australian brigades that hurriedly responded to the battle, under the rapid Japanese offensive,
They were beaten and retreated continuously. On the same day, the Japanese troops landed and completely established their foothold.
After the landing Japanese troops gained a foothold, they immediately turned to a rapid offensive regardless of the fact that their troops were not yet fully in place and supplies were being unloaded. In just two days, they successively broke through three lines of defense of the Australian Army and penetrated into the Australian interior for thirty years.
remaining kilometers.
If it were not for the low level of mechanization of the Japanese army, the first batch of tanks that were put into landing was only about 20, resulting in the attack not being very fast. And the follow-up troops were not able to land quickly due to interference from US and Australian aircraft, resulting in insufficient troops being put into the attack. I am afraid that
Judging from the Japanese army's consistent attack speed and method, the Japanese army that penetrates deep into the interior will not stop within a distance of thirty kilometers.
The Japanese army suddenly sent troops to attack Australia before the battle for the island of New Caledonia was concluded. This not only caught the Australian army by surprise. What was even more serious was that the Australian army was fighting fiercely with the Japanese army on the island of New Caledonia at the moment.
, the entire supply line and retreat was cut off.
If this Japanese army is not dealt with as soon as possible and is allowed to run rampant in Australia, it will not only affect the entire combat plan of the US military in the Pacific battlefield, but also lose the best and largest base for counterattack in the Pacific battlefield. This will undoubtedly have fatal consequences for the entire Pacific war situation.
Influence.
The Australian Army, which is fighting hard against the transferred Second Division on the island of New Guinea, will also be in a situation of being attacked from both sides. Although the unit only has 5,000 people, it has only four of the most elite troops in the Australian Army.
The division is currently on the battlefield in North Africa. These five thousand people are already one-third of the last elite troops of the Australian army.
The Australian mainland was invaded, and the two most elite divisions of the Australian army fighting in the North African battlefield rushed back to support. However, it would take time for the main force of the Australian army to return for reinforcements, and they would not be able to rush back to join the war in a short time. The Australian army's mainland defense force was very strong.
Unable to cope with the Japanese attack.
The U.S. military, which had already entered southern Australia and was preparing to kick off the counterattack in the entire Pacific theater on Guadalcanal, had no choice but to change its forces to cooperate with Australia's troops staying on the mainland to deal with the massive Japanese attack. It took over the burden of the Australian battlefield and
Allow the remaining Australian troops to continue fighting in the Middle East to reduce the pressure on the British army in the Middle East battlefield.
On the third day after the Japanese army broke through and landed on the beach, a patchwork Marine Division of the US Army and two brigades of the New Zealand Army immediately entered the battlefield. They tried to establish a defense line outside the Japanese-controlled area to stop the Japanese offensive.
Buy time for the arrival of the main Australian army and new US military reinforcements.
While the Marine Corps responded quickly, the U.S. Navy's South Pacific Fleet transferred all sea and air forces originally intended for Guadalcanal to the waters surrounding Australia. A dispute broke out with the Japanese Navy's escort fleet on the northeastern coast of Australia.
A small-scale naval and air battle.
The U.S. Navy took advantage of the combat sea area, within the combat radius of the Australian aviation base, and the long range and numerical advantages of its own aircraft. It concentrated a large number of army and naval aviation forces, and with the cooperation of the Royal Australian Navy and Air Force, fought in this naval battle.
A small-scale victory.
In this battle, the U.S.-Australian coalition forces used a U.S. light cruiser, a U.S. destroyer, and two Australian destroyers to be sunk, and a total of 377 aircraft from the U.S. and Australia were shot down. A group of aircraft urgently transferred from the Atlantic Fleet before the war
The aircraft carrier was attacked by Japanese bombers and was seriously injured.
It sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku, one heavy cruiser and one light cruiser, and five destroyers. It severely damaged the light aircraft carrier Ryūjo, the battleship Hiei, and two heavy cruisers. The Japanese naval escort fleet had no choice but to evacuate Australia.
Northeast Coast Battlefield.
During this battle, the U.S. Navy not only severely damaged the Japanese naval cover fleet, but also intercepted and dispersed the Japanese landing fleet that had completed unloading and was preparing to return. It also sank five of the transport ships in one fell swoop, providing two escorts for the transport fleet.
The old cruisers Azuma and Izumo.
It initially contained the main force of the Japanese 23rd Army in Rabaul, continued the momentum of reinforcements on the Australian battlefield, and temporarily cut off the supply channels of the Japanese army on the Australian battlefield. The victory of this naval battle also changed New Caledonia.
There is a fierce battle between the Chinese and Australian troops on the island, and the embarrassing situation of being attacked from both sides has re-opened its connection with the mainland.
In this naval and air battle on the northeastern coast of Australia, the U.S. military won its first naval victory since the outbreak of the Pacific War. This gave the U.S. military, which had suffered consecutive defeats and lost large areas of land since the war began, a great encouragement. It regained ground midway
After the Battle of the Island Sea, morale recovered from almost hitting rock bottom.
But in this naval and air battle, the U.S. and Australian forces paid a heavy price. Although the ship losses were negligible, one aircraft carrier attacked with nearly a hundred carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based aircraft that had an absolute advantage over the Japanese military, and
Due to the bloody massacre of land-based aviation Zero fighter jets that took off from the Japanese-controlled area on the island of New Guinea, only five carrier-based aircraft remained.
Almost all the U.S. Army Air Forces taking off from the shore, as well as the Royal Australian Air Force's more backward combat aircraft, were shot down. The outcome of this air battle was similar to the previous battles in Southeast Asia, Midway Island, and the Coral Sea. The entire air battle
The whole process has become one-sided.
Whether it is the F-4 Corsair carrier-based aircraft of the U.S. Navy, the P-39, P-40 fighter jets of the Army, or the Hurricane fighter jets of Australia. In the face of the absolute advantage of the Japanese army in zero combat, there is simply no way to fight back. The entire northeastern sea of Australia
, has almost become a graveyard for American and Australian aircraft.
In this naval and air battle, the US and Australian armies lost more than 300 combat aircraft, or even half of all fighter jets, while the Japanese army only lost less than 30 Zero Fighters. Every time the US and Australian armies took off for combat,
Their commanders checked their names off the roster because they knew those pilots might never come back.
If it weren't for the TBD dive bombers of the U.S. carrier aviation force and the Blenheim light bombers of the Royal Australian Air Force, which used zero combat to be entangled by their own fighter pilots at all costs, and risked their lives to dispatch without having control of the air.
It sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku and severely damaged the light aircraft carrier Ryūjō.
The entire Japanese fleet lost most of its air cover and was unable to withstand continued losses, so it had to quickly withdraw to Rabaul. In addition, the Japanese army and navy aviation forces were at odds and had never acted together, leaving the United States and Australia
Army air crews can get a little breathing space.
This sea battle took place on the northeastern coast of Australia. You can witness the local naval battle. I am afraid that the US-Australian coalition forces still cannot achieve any victory. However, although they paid a heavy price, it was even greater than the Japanese army's losses to some extent. Especially
It was the aviation force, and the cost of the losses was quite staggering.
Although the victory of the naval battle supported the land battle to a certain extent, it made the landing Japanese troops vulnerable to enemies from both sides, cutting off their access to reinforcements and supplies. However, the Marine Corps participating in the battle on the ground was not very impressive, and its performance was not as good as its equipment.
and the Australian army whose numbers are inferior to theirs.
Obviously, it was just a fledgling regiment. Only one regiment was the First Division of the US Marine Corps that had completed all training. It was obviously out of shape and had insufficient training. The division had just entered the battlefield and was defeated by two Japanese regiments before it had time to start. The first batch of troops was invested.
The three regiments on the battlefield, together with the 18,000 attached troops, only managed to escape less than a third.
The rest either died in battle or followed the footsteps of their comrades in the Philippines and entered Japanese prisoner-of-war camps. Almost all the equipment put into the battlefield was destroyed or discarded. In the battle of more than ten B-17 large bombers regardless of cost,
Under the cover of carpet bombing, they barely regained their footing after withdrawing more than 30 kilometers from the battlefield.
And if it were not for the U.S. warships risking all costs, braving the air strikes of the Japanese naval aviation and the bombardment of the 240mm shore guns disassembled from the Philippines set up by the Japanese army on the coastline, more than a dozen ships would concentrate on attacking the Japanese.
The coastal positions opened fire in depth, creating the illusion that the U.S. military was about to land from behind the Japanese army, and distracted the Japanese army's attention.
Coupled with the army and navy aviation entering Australia, and with the cooperation of all the Royal Australian Air Force, all remaining flying aircraft were mobilized to desperately stop the Japanese offensive. Maybe the two and a half divisions of the Japanese army committed to the Australian battlefield
, will sweep across Australia.
The reason why the war situation in Australia did not deteriorate to the end was that the United States and Britain were really grateful to the Anti-Japanese Alliance for attracting back two of the Japanese troops originally planned for use in the South Pacific in the previous battle. As a result, the Japanese military deployed troops from the originally planned four divisions.
The number of regiments was reduced to two divisions plus two regiment-level detachments. The number of tanks invested was also reduced to half.
The strength of the troops dropped by half, leaving the Japanese army stretched in terms of troop deployment after landing. In each battle, the use of troops could only be refined as much as possible. The shortage of tank troops, when the terrain is more conducive to defense,
, also reduced the assault capability of the Japanese landing troops.
At the same time, Australia's remaining troops on the mainland are somewhat insufficient in number because the main force is on the North African battlefield. However, these participating troops are actually the most elite troops of the Australian Army. Not only are they all British-made equipment, but they also have combat effectiveness.
Also quite strong.
When fighting the Japanese army, the combat effectiveness they unleashed far exceeded that of their colleagues who were third-rate motley crews on the battlefield in Southeast Asia. Especially when the Japanese army had already reached home, the combat effectiveness unleashed by the Australian army was even greater.
amazing.
After the Australian army recovered from the initial sudden attack, under the cover of the only two regiments of Maltida II infantry tanks and the new British twenty-four-pound field artillery, the resistance was strong and
The intensity was extremely fierce. However, the number of troops was too small to fully withstand the Japanese offensive.
But before the U.S. reinforcements arrived on the battlefield, these Australian cowboys had contained the Japanese offensive to a certain extent in some locations. However, the defeat of the U.S. military, coupled with its own excessive casualties in previous battles, lacked
In addition, it also hindered the Australian army and could only continue to shrink its defense line.