On the south side of the desolate Kimberley Plateau, there are occasionally a few explosions of shells from a distance.
A round of setting sun hangs in the mid-air of the undulating mountainous areas. Tanks and armored vehicles roll up the sky and roll forward along the valley on this wasteland.
This is the middle reaches of the Fitzroy River, which crosses the southeast of King Leopold Ridge. In this early winter season, the water flow is no longer visible in the dry riverbed.
A very fierce battle had just been held here. Dozens of destroyed tanks and armored vehicles in the red mountains were still emitting black smoke. The soldiers who were cleaning the battlefield were burying the bodies of the dead.
This was the first large-scale battle that broke out after the Republican Army entered Australia. An armored regiment of the 13th Army's avant-garde was blocked by an armored brigade of the Australian Army in this area. The two sides launched a tank battle.
The battle lasted for nearly two hours. When the Republican support troops were about to arrive, the enemy ran away.
Several military jeeps were parked next to a destroyed tank. Several technical officers got out of the car and were inspecting the tank with a fairly intact appearance.
"General Fang, the identity of the deceased belongs to the 3rd Division of the Australian Army. It can be confirmed that it is not an American." Two soldiers had just dragged a body out of the turret, and an officer carefully confirmed the mark on his body.
Then he said.
Fang Minghao nodded. The news of the enemy's Sherman tank troops appearing in the Fitzroy River attracted great attention from the highest authorities. Did the Americans really join the war? Whether they sent "volunteers" to Australia, this is all
It is necessary to confirm. This is the first time Fang Minghao has truly seen the situation on the battlefield with his own eyes. After a fierce battle, the Republican Army destroyed 23 tanks, including 4 35 Xin main tanks, which are known as the army ace.
The Australian Army seemed to have suffered greater losses, losing 23 Shermans and 41 weak Crusaders.
"The more difficult days are still behind." Fang Minghao inspected the situation of the destroyed Type 35 tanks. Three of them were penetrated with side armor, and the other one was penetrated with the rear.
The frontal defense of the Type 35 tank in the engine compartment is quite good, but this has shown that the enemy tanks can pose a threat to the main tanks of the Republican Army.
As the war progressed, the equipment and technical advantages accumulated by the Republican Army were gradually losing.
The Australian mainland was a bit too big. The Republican army initially advanced very quickly, but after ten days of further development, logistics support could no longer keep up. The troops had to slow down their pace of progress so that they could maintain the number of recruits.
Huge demand for supplies.
"We must take down Darwin Port, otherwise our actions in Australia will always be subject to restrictions!" General Jiang Chengyu, commander-in-chief of the Australian Front, looked a little serious after listening to Fang Minghao's report. He had realized the difficulty of fighting in Australia, and the whole of Western Australia was
Lack of fresh water, the resupply of troops is difficult. As the United States' military aid is continuously transported to Australia, the remaining military operations will become increasingly difficult.
"If we make another landing in Melbourne or Adelaide, will it force the Australian government to surrender?" The theater chief Ye Ju said, looking at the map.
"It is unlikely that the area concentrated most of Australia's air force, with almost 2,000 combat aircraft, and the aid from the Americans is still being sent over. The risk of maritime operations is too great." Jiang Chengyu said, "We can only do this."
Push it over from the land little by little.”
"This will be much slower. The port throughput capacity of Western Australia is very limited. Although we are stepping up the expansion of the port, these projects will not be put into use in the first half of the year at the earliest." Fang Minghao said, "WA
The terrain is very suitable for laying railways. Our supply is definitely not available by relying on cars. However, even if the railway is easy to make progress every day, it will be up to two kilometers, so we can only wait slowly.”
"There is no way to do this. Our maximum supply capacity now can only ensure the combat needs of 300,000 people. With this little force, it is not enough to sweep the entire Australian continent." Jiang Chengyu said, "Before the logistics situation cannot be completely improved, we only
Can launch some small local battles.”
The Australian Front Command is located in Port Derby, located within Golden Bay, which is very suitable as a naval base.
The Republican Army currently has three armies and three land combat divisions in Australia, and is currently advancing near the coast from both north and south. The focus of the current battle is to occupy the important port in the north, Darwin, and another important goal is the port in the southwest.
City of Perth.
At this time, Jiang Chengyu, Sa Shijun, Deng Keng and others were studying whether a major landing operation was carried out in the Darwin area. At this time, the communications section chief walked into the war room with a telegram.
Jiang Chengyu took the telegram and after reading it, he said to Fang Minghao: "You have to rush to Mombasa to report to Wei Zihao, there is an emergency mission there! The Navy will send a cruiser to send you and a few people over."
"Is it very urgent? What happened?" Fang Minghao asked.
"Oh, nothing big is going on. The Germans have begun to attack France, as we expected." Jiang Chengyu said, "but their attack speed is somewhat unexpected."
Fang Minghao set off from the Port of Derby on the "Hangzhou" cruiser that night. When he arrived in Montmarsia 10 days later, the British and French coalition forces had almost collapsed on the whole line. Hundreds of thousands of British and French coalition forces were besieged in the Dunkirk area and were already trapped.
Desperate situation.
After the French battle began, the main force of the German army commanded by Longdestedt quickly crossed the Ardennes area. The 19th Armored Army commanded by General Guderian broke through the Maas River defense line, which was defended by the French army in just 3 days.
The British and French coalition forces that entered Belgium were in danger of being encircled and had to retreat. The French army, which was stationed in the Maginot line, was also facing the situation of being attacked by the German army on both sides.
The German army's large-scale armored cluster was driving straight in. The speed of its advance and the power of its attack were far beyond people's imagination. The outdated French infantry were simply unable to withstand the impact of the armored cluster. The French army, which had an absolute advantage in numbers, was in front of the tank group.
It collapsed quickly.
The war only lasted for one week, and France's fate of defeat was irreversible.
Although people have seen the power of armored groups in Central Asia and India, the Republican Army is still much more conservative in the use of armored forces than the Germans. Generally, they only rely on the advantages of tank count and performance to break through the enemy's defense line
, only occasionally used the assault and division tactics of armored troops during combat on the southern coast of the Aral Sea.
The Germans' "blitz tactics" with gambling nature are enough to shock the whole world.
Because they won the bet!
The victory of the Germans made Comrade Mussolini, who had ambitions far greater than his ability, could no longer sit still. Seeing the French trend coming soon, the jealous Italians declared war on Britain and France and joined the war group. (To be continued)