Great time travel

Chapter 78, the final battle to conquer Australia
After the fall of Melbourne, the last position of the Allied forces in Australia, centered on Cape Shank, fell into a brief period of relative calm.

——The allied forces who were beaten into a frightened bird just now were able to hold the rest of the defense zone, thank God, and naturally it was impossible to launch a counterattack.

But the Japanese army also had its own troubles: before, various soldiers and horses attacked Melbourne on three sides, rushing too fast, although they tried their best to beat the master to death with force and random punches, they just beat the Australian to the ground.However, behind the various Japanese troops, there were also many sporadic small Allied forces and secondary strongholds that deviated from the line of communication.Now that Melbourne has been won, it is natural to turn around and gradually clear away the remnants on the road to prevent accidents.

In addition, after nearly a month of continuous attacks, the frontline Japanese troops were also generally exhausted. Most of the ammunition, food and fuel of the troops had been exhausted, and they had to be rested and replenished as soon as possible before these troops could regain their combat effectiveness.Otherwise, it will be dragged down alive.

As a result, in the next week or so, the Australian battlefield remained relatively "calm". Except for the bombardment of Japanese aircraft and the bombardment of the Japanese battleship formations at sea, the Japanese army on the ground did not launch the attack for a long time. Next attack.

However, even so, the tens of thousands of allied troops retreating to this small peninsula soon fell into desperation and could no longer hold on. The area of ​​Cape Shank is far smaller than the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines, and there is no air defense shelter for storing supplies, but the bombing and shelling intensity of the Japanese army is [-]% of that in the Battle of Bataan. More than double.

Therefore, before the Japanese army launched a large-scale offensive, food has become the biggest headache for the Allied forces.From the moment they retreated to Cape Shank, the rations of the Allied forces were cut in half. Then, as time went by, even the daily rations of the frontline troops were further reduced to one-third of the usual amount.The non-combatants and civilians in the rear hardly get a stable food distribution at all.After eating up the food they carried with them, they could only gnaw on the bark and grass roots, or look for seashells and crabs on the beach to satisfy their hunger-on the cold and rainy winter beach, these laughing things that are still common in summer are not so easy to find.Then because I ate unhealthy food, I had diarrhea and died alive.

At the same time, the draft horses pulling the carts and the mounts of the cavalry had no feed to feed, and the small amount of fodder left was eaten by the extremely hungry people!The commander of the Australian army, Admiral Thomas Bremi, had to order with tears in his eyes to kill all the army horses and donkeys, including his own beloved mount.Relying on the meat obtained from slaughtering these animals, the Allied forces on the Cape Shank battlefield barely postponed the time of food shortage until a week later.

In addition to food, housing is also a big problem - if it is in the tropics or summer, then camping for a few days is not a problem, but it is winter in Melbourne, although it is far less severe than the winter in Russia, Even warmer than a London winter, but enough to make a bum in the moor sick from the cold.The Allied forces and civilians who retreated to Cape Shank did not have so many houses and tunnels to accommodate them, and the number of tents was far from enough.They can only bite the bullet and start working to improve their living conditions. Those who have a shovel use a shovel, and those who don’t have a shovel use empty cans and spoons to dig out many holes that can barely shelter themselves from the wind and rain. At first glance, it seemed that everyone had turned into a large groundhog.

Then, the good weather in the Melbourne area ended again without warning, and the cold winter rain fell again over Cape Shank.Allied trenches and refugee burrows quickly turned into a vast quagmire.Many small burrows lacking support still collapsed at night due to water seepage, or were knocked down by Japanese bombs and shells, so those who fell asleep or avoided the bombing were instantly buried alive in them...

Those Melbourne refugees who were short of food, clothing, and weak were caught by the winter rain, and suddenly they either fell ill with a cold or suffered from digestive diseases. As we all know, the worse a person's living conditions are, the easier it is to get sick. When you are in poor health, it is difficult to get well once you get sick.

The real reason for the so-called "poor people who are in good health and can withstand the harsh environment" is because those poor people with poor health have long since been unable to withstand the poor living environment, and died early ascension to heaven, and those who can survive are hard-fated The dead species—in short, the body’s resistance was weakened due to hunger and cold, and soon tens of thousands of people in Cape Shank fell ill one by one, or were injured in the enemy’s shelling and bombing. The temporary hospital was overcrowded.However, Cape Shank's various medical resources, from aspirin for colds to gauze for surgery, are so scarce that doctors have no choice but to watch cold patients deteriorate and turn into typhoid and pneumonia … Even those who were lucky enough to be assigned to live in houses and underground bunkers without being exposed to the rain in the wild, suffered from dysentery one after another due to poor diet, and suffered from diarrhea.

What's more terrible is that even in such a situation of sickness and hunger, these unlucky people had to be driven by bayonets to dig trenches and repair fortifications day and night, and soon became exhausted due to the heavy construction intensity. Some civilians could not bear such hard labor and even hanged themselves or threw themselves into the sea.

Faced with all kinds of tragedies around him at this moment, Prime Minister John Katyn was helpless. He could only send wireless telegrams again and again, begging the United States to provide them with support.Although the Pentagon had just been blown off half of the Pacific Fleet by the typhoon, it still bit the bullet and made some efforts—first of all, it gathered a number of fishing boats and small cargo ships in New Zealand, and tried to smuggle through Japan several times in rainy and foggy weather. The fleet’s sea blockade, delivering supplies to the Australians, all failed: at this time, the number of Japanese naval ships assembled in the southern waters of Australia had reached more than 100, including aircraft carriers, battleships, and destroyers. It is naturally easy to seal such a palm-sized area around Kejiao so that it is airtight.As a result, these smuggling boats loaded with food and medicine either turned around and escaped from a long distance, or they were captured by the Japanese army even with their people and boats.

However, although these smuggling fleets organized by the Allied Forces failed to break through the blockade once, they still had some unexpected gains-in other coastal harbors outside Melbourne, some scattered soldiers of the Australian Federation were rescued. , and shipped them to New Zealand and Samoa one after another.

Then, since the sea route was impassable, the Americans tried to find a way from the sky. They tried their best to collect a batch of transport planes, took off from Tasmania in the south of Australia, and took advantage of the poor visibility in the early morning or evening to cross Bath. Strait, airdropped a little supplies to Australia trapped in Cape Shank.However, the Japanese flying team also reacted quickly and immediately organized a pursuit. The [-] transport planes dispatched by the first wave of the Tasmanian Allied transport plane formation and the [-] escorting fighter jets were all shot down by Japanese planes during their return flight. , and the Allied airfield on Tasmania was quickly carpet-bombed by the Japanese naval aviation, causing heavy losses in aircraft, personnel, and fuel supplies, and it was unable to continue to organize large-scale air transportation since then.Although the subsequent airdrops have not been completely cut off, they are only the size of one or two planes, and they are often shot down before reaching their destination.Even if it really flew over Cape Shank and dropped the supplies, and it didn't sink to the bottom of the sea, it would still be a drop in the bucket for the tens of thousands of people in Cape Shank.

——Hunger, cold, disease, lack of medical treatment, lack of food and clothing, and endless air raids and shelling... All kinds of sufferings are constantly tormenting the last ally on the Australian mainland. Army, making their lives worse than those Allied soldiers in the trenches of the French front in World War I: at least the Anglo-French coalition forces at that time did not have to starve.Although Prime Minister John Katyn is still trying to think of ways to encourage everyone, saying that an American fleet full of supplies and reinforcements is coming, and then the defeat will be turned into victory, but no one will take such words seriously anymore .

Before the official battle started, a decadent atmosphere full of despair and fear was already pervading among the hungry allied forces with green eyes.

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On September 9th, the small group of remnants in the rear had been basically wiped out, and the Japanese army, which had initially rested, finally launched its first tentative attack on the town of Hastings on the east side of the Allied line of defense, and only invested a brigade However, it turned out to be unexpectedly smooth—this unlucky town by the sea has been bombarded by Japanese navy ships with incendiary bombs and high-explosive bombs for half a month, and there are not even a few complete houses left. Before this small rural place, there was no ready-made strong defense facility, and it was difficult for even the tenacious engineers to rush to repair the fortification under continuous artillery fire... Therefore, the Japanese army easily broke through the Allied positions along the beach, and then skillfully outflanked them , A backstab completely tore up this vain line of defense.

Now that the east was broken through, the town of Balcombe, which faces Philip Bay on the west, was caught in the attack of the Japanese army on both sides, and naturally it could not hold it.Sick and hungry, the Allies abandoned Balcombe and its hard-earned trenches and staggered south along the coastal road.For a while, the road leading to the rear was crowded with allied soldiers with dirty clothes and emaciated faces. They all looked like walking dead.Everyone hasn't washed or shaved in days.The retreat quickly turned into a rout as Japanese planes bombarded and strafed the byways and coastal roads without scruple.All the troops were scattered in a chaotic retreat.The officers could do nothing about it, the only thing they could do was to pray to God.

What is even more sad is that by this time, these half-starved white soldiers had killed and eaten the last batch of pack horses and mules, and precious fuel oil was also used for heating fires, resulting in a small number of cars that were not destroyed. It was also turned into scrap iron because there was no oil to burn, so that the field guns on the forward positions were difficult to drag away, and it was too late to dig holes and bury them.

At the same time, the Japanese army, who was surprised that the enemy was so unarmed, also took advantage of the opportunity to invest in a large force and continued to pursue and attack the collapsed Allied forces.Lieutenant General Tsuji Masanobu himself charged forward in a tank and took the lead along the coastal road on the east coast of Phillip Bay, easily crushing the spontaneous resistance of the Allied forces in the chaos.Along the way to the south, you can see the tattered weapons, supplies, and equipment left by the Allied forces everywhere, as well as damaged vehicles and charred corpses, but there is almost no food to be seen.On the contrary, many of the trees near the road have been peeled off, revealing their white stubble.

On the morning of September 9, gunshots also rang out in the small town of Flinders, close to Cape Shank, where the federal government is stationed.Immediately, even the lighthouse at Cape Shank was planted with the sun flag.Prime Minister John Katyn had to take his Australian federal government team to transfer again, and retreated to the town of Sorrento, which is located at the southwestern tip of the Mornington Peninsula, and behind it is the exit of Philip Bay. There is no way to retreat except to commit suicide by jumping into the sea up.

However, the triumphant advance of the Japanese army at this stage came to an end - after withdrawing from Flinders Town, due to the abandonment of a large area of ​​land, the density of the Allied forces was greatly increased invisibly, and the terrain they were defending also changed from The coastal plains that are easy to attack and difficult to defend have become dangerous mountains and hills.Relying on the steep terrain of the "Red Hills" and "Main Ridge", the Allied forces only needed a small force, and with the artillery positions hidden in the mountains, they were able to withstand the Japanese attack.Therefore, the two sides once again temporarily formed a situation of stalemate and confrontation...

However, the time was now on the side of the Japanese, and as time passed, the Allied ration supplies became increasingly tight.Malnutrition brought more diseases, and fighting these diseases gradually depleted the soldiers, while they had to defend their positions against the constant onslaught of the enemy.The vast majority of Allied soldiers quickly became emaciated, hungry, sick, and so weak that they could not even lift a gun.

In the cold winter rain, Corporal Downey walked on the red hills with one foot deep and one foot shallow.In Melbourne, which has a temperate maritime climate, there is a lot of rain in winter. The ground on the frontline battlefield is completely soaked by rain, and the silt often sinks over the ankle when one foot is stepped on.Sometimes, if you don't walk well with one foot, the mud may reach your knees.The cold standing water will also flow into the shoes at this time, freezing the feet and even completely losing consciousness.

Unfortunately, although Corporal Downey was 12 careful, he still stepped into a deep hole.After a lot of effort, he pulled his left foot out of the deep mud with great difficulty, but the upper came out, but the sole remained in the mud.

"...Oh! Damn it!" Corporal Downey cursed in despair, and at the same time took out a dirty handkerchief to wrap up his left foot without a sole—he knew very well that in this desperate situation, , In the case of lack of supplies, it is absolutely impossible for me to get another pair of new shoes from the military supply office.And before he picked up a good pair of shoes from someone dead, his own foot was probably badly frostbitten.

Thinking of this, under frustration, Corporal Downey felt his stomach hurt again, and his hunger became even more unbearable—now the only rations given to them were spam lunch meat and canned sardines, ten people a day Eat and score two meals.

Although the officers are still trying to cheer up, saying that a merchant ship full of food and medicine will arrive soon, Corporal Downey has long given up hope for this. Everyone knows that they have been abandoned, and the next one is probably doomed Buried here——if it wasn’t for the fact that the Japanese army on the opposite side had a bad reputation and brutality, and it was said that they liked to torture prisoners of war to death, then the Allied forces trapped here would have raised their white flags and surrendered?
——However, unlike what this desperate soldier imagined, the United States of America has not always given up on Australia.Even in today's difficult situation with limited resources, the US Pacific Fleet did its best to send people over...

In the middle of the night of this day, the last position of the Allied forces, on the dark sea surrounded by reefs near the Mornington Peninsula, suddenly there was a slight noise, and then, accompanied by the rushing white waves, a small periscope appeared quietly. out of the sea
"...Confirm that the sea surface is safe and correct, the main ballast water tank is drained, the pitch-up is trimmed, and the ascent begins."

"...Yes, the main ballast water tank is drained, pitched up and trimmed, and floated up!"

After the captain gave an order, as the crew operated in an orderly manner, the compressed air was slowly discharged into the main ballast water tank, and the sea water was squeezed out.This made the US Navy's "Little Shark-class" submarine slowly surface with the bow slightly raised.

Then, Colonel Evans Carlson, the captain of the first special forces of the United States, who is now temporarily serving as the President's special envoy, got out of the submarine, landed in a rubber boat, and set foot on the Allied Forces with a letter written by President Truman. The last position held by the army on the Australian mainland...

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PS: Taiwan's political circle has become more and more crazy recently. It actually passed a resolution requiring the "National Party" to return to Japan the assets it received after the war—is it simply returning the entire island to Japan?Alas, since President Cai came to power, he has made a lot of fools in everything, and it seems that the only thing he has managed to do is to kill the blue camp.