afterglow

Chapter 448 A late surprise attack; a unique punishment

The headquarters of high-level combat units is located behind and has a small number of directly subordinate guard units. Generally speaking, it is impossible to successfully "decapitate".

It is already good if a small enemy unit can penetrate the front line. If it continues to penetrate to the rear, it will not only be easily exposed, but it will also be impossible to determine where the target is.

Only when the situation is chaotic and you happen to be lucky, can you successfully catch a big fish by combining these two factors.

For example, in the historically failed Operation Market Garden, on the first day of the battle, a group of British paratroopers accidentally killed a German major general.

At that time, after the British 1st Airborne Division carried out an airborne landing west of Arnhem, the German army experienced a communication interruption. The situation was urgent. Major General Friedrich Cushing, the commander of the city defense, wanted to find out what the situation was, so he foolishly went there in person. Go to the front line to inspect the specific situation.

Moreover, he only brought the driver and two guards with him, and the journey was smooth when he went there. When he returned, he encountered a group of British paratroopers and was shot to death on the spot without any suspense.

The partial division led by Youzi Tao was blocked at the last stronghold of the Kokoda Trail - the town of Luna.

The Australian 53rd Militia Battalion and the Papua Militia Battalion stationed there were subjected to continuous fierce attacks and showed wavering and cowardice, but they successfully delayed the Ming army, preventing it from breaking through and threatening the rear of the Australian army.

The shrewd wanderer Tao guessed this situation from the beginning, so he made two preparations in time and recruited some death squads from more than a thousand officers and soldiers.

These fifty people included two officers, six non-commissioned officers, and 64 soldiers from the Ming Army and the Southern Army. Half of them were equipped with submachine guns and automatic guns, and also carried two mm mortars; each person carried not only his own In addition to the ammunition and dry food, they also need to help carry an extra mortar shell.

When the main force of the partial division was storming the enemy's position in Luna Town, these fifty people quickly broke away from the team and climbed over the mountains and ridges to penetrate behind the enemy's rear.

Most of these officers and soldiers born in the southwest borderland have been playing, hunting, and collecting medicine in the mountains since childhood, and they are quite familiar with this environment. They took up ladders, plowed vines, and crossed streams along the way. They crossed a complex terrain of 20 kilometers in a straight line and nearly 40 kilometers in actual distance all day and night, and successfully reached the rear of the Australian army.

Some people lost their footing and fell off a cliff while walking, some people accidentally sprained their feet and injured their feet; some people suddenly passed the incubation period of malaria and developed an attack on the way...

The base and bipod of one of the mortars were lost, leaving only half of the barrel.

They were wandering around behind the Australian army like headless flies, not knowing where to attack, and finally climbed to a high ground to observe their surroundings.

A scene about a kilometer away came into view - a slender whip antenna, SUVs and sedans, officers pacing back and forth.

Obviously, this is most likely a headquarters. As for whether it is a basic headquarters, a reserve headquarters, or an artillery headquarters, it cannot be clearly determined.

There seems to be no better choice at the moment, so just treat this command as... a guarantee.

"Wait! Wait a moment, it looks like these guys are going to move."

"I guess I'm going to retreat and run away."

Everyone decided to be patient and wait and see for a while.

They are very aware of the weight of the burden on their shoulders. More than a thousand officers and soldiers in the partial division have suffered a lot. If they cannot play their role, then everyone's sacrifice and efforts will be in vain.

The more than 40 exhausted suicide squad members lay down or nibbled on some chocolate and drank some sweet black tea, seizing every opportunity to regain their strength.

After more than half an hour, when he saw more enemies leaving the headquarters and getting on their vehicles one after another, the lieutenant who led the death squad decided to take action.

The few people responsible for the artillery operation struggled to hold on and fine-tuned the aim of the deployed mortars.

The mortar, which had lost its base and bipod, was not missing either. It could still be fired by holding the gun barrel for rough aiming.

The soldiers, who were sure that the big fish would not let go, used two cannons to fire a total of more than twenty rounds, which lasted for fifty seconds, and the target was completely destroyed.

The basic headquarters of the Australian 8th Division was unlucky enough to receive a round of shelling. The Australian officers and soldiers with poor morale thought that the rear of the line was safe, but they were still attacked, causing everyone to panic.

"I can't believe it, how did they get here?!"

"Come here, medic! Where is Lieutenant Armstrong?"

The small 64mm mortar shell will certainly not be able to damage the strong headquarters fortifications - its construction index is to withstand direct hits from 4-inch grenades.

However, the personnel of the 8th Division were evacuating, and many people, including the division commander, Major General Vernon, were preparing to take the car, which was very fatal.

There were more than thirty casualties, eight of whom were killed on the spot. Major General Vernon Sturdy was seriously injured, with six or seven shell fragments and broken glass all over his body...

The attack on the division headquarters was undoubtedly very serious, and the original orderly retreat plan almost collapsed.

Fortunately, the Australians were quite clever and were not too rigid to stand by, so after it was determined that the basic command post had suffered heavy casualties, the chief of staff took over command about an hour and a half later.

But on the battlefield where every second counts, it is already deadly enough. The Ming army, which is attacking across the entire front, has not left any breathing room for the Australian army.

At 6:12 a.m. the next day, it was still dark and the sun was about to rise.

The combined use of quinine and Guizhi Fuling Pills was very effective. Zhou Changfeng had a good rest that night and had the illusion of recovery when he woke up.

The hustle and bustle of the battlefield has ceased, the sound of gunfire no longer exists, and peace has once again returned to the war-torn Papua Peninsula.

He tried to move his hands and feet, but he still felt a little weak. "How are the pursuing troops? They weren't ambushed, were they?"

Zhao Hanfeng, with a relaxed expression, walked from the side holding a stack of telegraph newspapers, "The three pursuing troops have all stopped. Nothing went wrong."

"That's almost it. The remaining remaining soldiers will not pose a threat if they are defeated."

"Yes, it's time to withdraw our troops and return to camp."

A small number of remnant enemies with only light weapons would not be hindered if they retreated into the jungle. If they were on the Eurasian continent, it would be a headache, because these stragglers might appear at any time to attack the communication lines.

However, this is Papua New Guinea. There are no railway lines of communication to attack. As long as the port city of Moresby is controlled, everything will be fine. The defeated soldiers have no way to threaten the sea lines of communication.

Therefore, just let them fend for themselves. If you are really worried, you can also send a few gunships to patrol around in rotation.

In this battle, the Moresby defenders—the Australian 8th Infantry Division, the 12th Independent Field Artillery Regiment (Battalion), and the 3rd Independent Light Tank Company—suffered annihilating blows. The 8th Division was severely damaged by the Ming army in the Java Battle in the middle of this year. It later retreated to Australia to replenish its troops and rest, and has now been basically wiped out.

The division commander, Major General Vernon, was seriously injured and could not receive effective treatment during the retreat when medical conditions were scarce, so he died.

This is how the second phase of Operation Void Dazzle came to a successful conclusion.

In this battle, excluding the Torres Strait naval battle, the Ming army's participating troops annihilated more than 12,000 Australian troops, with the majority killed and wounded, and only more than 5,000 prisoners captured, and they were basically non-combatants.

As an isolated defender, the Australian army suffered a high casualty ratio, almost one to one. Half of the more than 6,000 casualties of officers and soldiers died.

In addition, more than 2,000 remnants of the enemy scattered to the northwest to break through and fled into the rugged jungle-covered mountains of the Papua Peninsula.

The casualties of the Ming army were not small. There were 4565 combat casualties, of which 1183 were killed, died of illness, or died of illness. In addition, there were a large number of non-combat casualties caused by malaria and dengue fever, reaching a huge number of 5105.

Fortunately, they were fully prepared before the war. Anticipating that this would probably be a hard battle, the Thirty-seventh Division prepared the 109th Regiment for reinforcements, so they did not rely entirely on the Thirteenth Division and the First Marine Brigade.

Relatively speaking, the total casualties this time were greater than those in the Battle of Darwin, but because of the rotation of reinforcements, the troops were not injured.

The high-intensity fighting made spoils scarce. The Ming army captured very few, including only 9 repairable barrel artillery pieces, 16 armored vehicles, 35 trucks and off-road vehicles.

But looking more optimistically, the biggest prize is that the city of Moresby did not suffer much damage, and the dock facilities are generally intact, unlike Darwin, which was basically reduced to ruins.

The performance of the Luxun amphibious command ship was unsatisfactory. Zhou Changfeng was very dissatisfied with the many chaos and mistakes and simply moved the command headquarters ashore, which made the entire ship very ashamed.

Therefore, after the battle, someone from Zhou issued a unique punishment instruction——

In the next half month, the Luxun's food quota was on par with the army's. Officers who dared to cook on the stove were severely punished, and the abundant food saved was provided to the sick and wounded.

Such a punishment was unheard of, and it directly caused all the officers and soldiers on the ship who were accustomed to navy meals to cry for their fathers.

The army's second-class station food standard (occupation security status) is one pound of rice or flour, five ounces of potatoes or sweet potatoes, two ounces of meat, one pound of vegetables, fifteen grams of salt, ten grams of sugar, three grams of tea, and ten sticks per day. Cigarettes or the same amount of tobacco, 250 ml of beer or 100 ml of wine, 50 g of eggs or egg powder, 5 g of condensed milk, and 100 ml of soy milk.

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This seems to be a rich meal, but it still pales in comparison to the Navy's food standards. It is difficult to transition from luxury to frugality. For the officers and soldiers of the Luxun, such punishment is really painful.

"There are still many people who are in a lax state of mind and do not pay attention to their responsibilities. I am too lazy to care about who they are. You can do your own internal review. This is the first time to go into battle. There are extenuating circumstances and no severe punishment. , next time...be careful to kill the sacrificial flag."

Mr. Zhou's reputation has always been good. No one dared to take his words as a joke. If he really ate peanuts, there would be no room for explanation.

The successful capture of Moresby was a milestone step in the Ming Dynasty's southern expedition. As a result, the Australian Corps finally had an advanced base to attack the Australian continent.

Pang Lingqi, who was in Surabaya, sent a congratulatory message and said that the 37th Division would board the ship from now on and come to Moresby to replace the 13th Division, which suffered heavy casualties.

During the battle between the Ming and Australian armies at Moresby, the Lexington was attacked by four B-17s.

However, the accuracy of horizontal bombing is not high, and the B-17 fleet will be intercepted and interfered by Ming army fighter jets.

Although the Lexington was hit by three 500-pound aerial bombs again, none of them could penetrate the 50mm thick deck armor, so there was still no risk of sinking.

Finally, when Moresby's defenders retreated, the Lexington finally arrived at Zilaza. Two barges in the port quickly took over from the Beipanjiang and slowly towed the captured aircraft carrier into the port.

Unfortunately, Zilaza's maintenance capabilities are very low and can only protect warships of less than 10,000 tons. Therefore, the Lexington can only do some simple repair work here, try to restore its own power, and then go to Xingzhou or Guangzhou.

"It's not easy. Every time I almost cripple a division. If I really go to Australia in the future, I don't know how difficult it will be."

At the headquarters of the 1st Marine Brigade, Yao Liangchuan lamented the difficulty of the battle.

In the past, it was easy to deal with colonial armies like the British-Indian Army and the Dutch-Indian Army, but when it came to actually dealing with the regular army, the difficulty increased sharply.

Xie Wancheng said nonchalantly: "Supervisor, it's not uncommon for such wars to result in millions of casualties. How many are there now? Besides, our vast empire is full of people, so this price is just a drop in the bucket."

Because of the actual example of the European War, the government and the opposition also have a vague concept.

In the European War, 99.5 people died in the UK, 124 million people died in Italy, 169.8 million people died in France, and 247 million people died in Germany... but not much.

The Ming Dynasty now has about 6.9 million people. Although the low degree of industrialization means that the mobilization rate cannot reach the level of European industrial countries, the huge base is here, and the number of troops and casualty tolerance are still exaggeratedly high.

Even based on a low mobilization rate of 5%, which barely affects industrial and agricultural production, the available military resources are as high as 3450 million people.

Moreover, today's series of battles have proven that the exchange ratio between the Ming army and the armies of other powers is close. Even if we are pessimistic and assume the worst, the exchange ratio of one to two is still terrible.

Besides, no great power in the world is willing to mobilize tens of millions of troops to fight to the death, right?

The advantage of a large population in a time of total war is undoubtedly huge.

The characteristics of the Pacific War as a naval and air war made it difficult to realize the demographic advantage. What was needed was strong naval and aviation forces, as well as elite soldiers responsible for landing operations.

However, the shipbuilding industry is a manufacturing industry that is both labor-intensive and technology-intensive. This is good news for the Ming Dynasty. The imperial court could mobilize a huge number of workers to dig a lot of new dry docks for dumplings.

While the dry dock is being excavated, laborers can receive simplified, crash course training during this time.

Capital ships will be limited by the production of equipment, equipment, and weapons, so the number that can be built at the same time is limited, but this is not the case for auxiliary ships. Simple freighters and escorts use coal-burning triple-expansion steam engines, and almost as many as they want can be built.

At that time, the United States will have the Liberty Wheel and the Victory Wheel, and Ming Dynasty will also have the Small Paddle Wheel and the Big Paddle Wheel.

It's great that you have more than a dozen shipyards starting construction on freewheels at the same time, but when I dig hundreds of new small dry docks to build paddle wheels, how should you respond?

Zhou Changfeng looked at the vast sea and was distracted for a long time, and finally made up his mind: "No, we must improve our mobilization level this time. We can't wait for those people from the Consultative Yuan to grind!"

(End of this chapter)