The troops had an early dinner at half past five in the afternoon, and then they were ready to go on the road. Gu Xunlei arranged the First Cavalry Division at the front, let Zhang Xiaolin be the vanguard, the infantry division was in the center, Gu Xunlei's headquarters also advanced with the infantry division, and the second cavalry division stayed behind, responsible for covering the baggage troops. Because the other two infantry divisions had not yet followed, Gu Xunlei could only arrange a part of the infantry to be responsible for the delivery of supplies.

Along the way, the troops did not encounter many attacks, although Zhang Xiaolin's vanguard troops encountered the US army several times, but they encountered only the stragglers of the US army, which did not pose a threat at all. In addition, U.S. fighter jets and bombers did not appear here, and they were probably busy dealing with the Marines to the south.

All afternoon, Gu Xunlei was thinking about how to fight this combat operation, and what worried him was not the air threat of the US army, but the huge strength of the dozen or so divisions in Bradley's hands. After going ashore, the fleet's reconnaissance planes simultaneously sent battlefield information to the ground troops, and Gu Xunlei had already received more than a dozen pieces of battlefield information.

Bradley's mobile unit was attacked by carrier-based bombers after it set off, and the theater fleet has been operating on the north side of the battlefield, responsible for blocking the American troops moving south, and has achieved good results. But by now, the U.S. military had made clear the direction of the attack of the Imperial Marines and the Army, and after MacArthur sent the second batch of mobile troops, he also organized at least five divisions of troops to go south, and let Bradley rush to the landing site as quickly as possible, and it was necessary to destroy the Imperial troops before the second batch of landing troops landed. At this time, even if the disabled part is removed, Bradley still has at least 12 divisions in his hands, and Gu Xunlei only has 5 divisions at most!

The disparity in strength made Gu Xunlei have to think more carefully about the next combat operation, of course, he was not afraid. When on the Russian battlefield, on the Western European battlefield. Gu Xunlei has fought more with less many times. Especially in 24 years, Gu Xunlei used 20 divisions of troops on the Russian battlefield to contain an enemy four times his size, and finally waited for the arrival of reinforcements. Won the battle. And now, the strength of the U.S. military is only two and a half times that of him, and Gu Xunlei still won't take this gap to heart. If you take into account strong ground fire support, air support. and the superior tank strength, then Gu Xunlei is even more confident.

As a good general, even if the enemy is much weaker than you, you will not take it lightly. Before victory, Gu Xunlei will not be careless.

Before the troops hit the road, he organized more than a dozen staff officers and asked these officers to compare and analyze the aerial reconnaissance photos sent by the fleet, and make a rough judgment on the size of the US armored forces. Through the comparative analysis of these aerial reconnaissance photos, Gu Xunlei got a relatively clear answer. That is, the current number of tanks in the US army is about the size of one and a half cavalry divisions of the Imperial Army, with only about 350 tanks, and some tank destroyers and self-propelled guns. Other than that. The transport vehicles of the US army were destroyed a lot, and most of the infantry units did not have enough transport vehicles. Therefore, the speed of the march of the troops will definitely suffer. However, this does not preclude the possibility that Bradley would concentrate on these vehicles to form the vanguard, leaving the rest of the infantry units behind to follow the advance on foot.

After the troops were on the road, Gu Xunlei has been studying the terrain of the battlefield, which can be said to be the most important work. The impact of geographical conditions on the army is even more obvious, and it can be said that any ground battle revolves around the terrain, and what kind of terrain is used to fight what kind of tactics, just like the inability to use tanks on a large scale in the mountains. It is difficult to build a solid defensive position on the plains. And any army commander is familiar with the effects of terrain on the battlefield and when deploying for battle. Geography must be taken into account.

There is a three-way junction between the road between Armidale and Tamworth, with Tamworth to the south and Volka to the east, and Port Macquarie to the east. Therefore, Gu Xunlei decided to set up the front command in Volka, which is also the last line of defense. In addition, there is an inland river to the south of Volka, which flows from the south side of the road fork, and the bridge here must be controlled, otherwise the American troops may go directly to Tamworth and then kill from the south to the landing site. Because it is already in the southern part of the Great Dividing Range, the battlefield is dominated by hilly terrain, which is not very suitable for tank troops, but it will not completely restrict the play of tanks like mountainous terrain, and the hilly terrain is more suitable for tanks to ambush, which can be regarded as an advantage for the defensive side.

Based on these circumstances, Gu Xunlei also had a general idea of combat operations. The troops arrived at Volka in the middle of the night, and Gu Xunlei also had a complete battle idea, and he called several main commanders over.

"I'm based here with my front command." Gu Xunlei marked Volka on the tactical map, "This will also be our last line of defense, no matter what, we must stop the pace of the American attack here." ”

Several commanders looked at the map, and the battlefield was a bit narrow, which limited the movement of tank troops, but at the same time limited the input of the American army, so that the American army could not devote all its forces to attack, which was relatively beneficial to the defending side.

"The U.S. military will come from the north." Gu Xunlei marked the direction of the arrival of the US troops on the map, "Judging from the battlefield intelligence sent by the reconnaissance plane, the US troops will arrive at noon tomorrow at the earliest, and will arrive at the latest tomorrow evening." Therefore, we only have one night to deploy defensive positions. It's a bit rushed, but it's the only time we have. ”

"That's enough for us to put up a defensive position." The commander of the infantry division immediately looked at Gu Xunlei.

"The infantry division is to deploy two lines of defense north of Volka." Gu Xunlei marked the location of these two lines of defense on the map, "The defense line should be configured in depth, and I will leave the artillery in Volka to provide direct fire support for the infantry." In addition, when deploying the defensive line, pay attention to the deployment of mortar artillery positions, pay attention to covering the flanks, if the US troops cannot attack from the front, then they can only choose to break through from the flanks, therefore. The defense of the flanks was quite important. ”

The commander of the infantry division nodded, he knew this very well, the most vulnerable part of the infantry position was the flanks.

"Also. How many troops are needed to hold this bridge? Gu Xunlei looked at the infantry division commander.

"This ......," the colonel's officer hesitated, "at least three battalions if it is necessary to defend for five days." ”

"Impossible, if three battalions are deployed here. Then the defensive line north of Volka would be extremely vulnerable. Gu Xunlei hesitated, "I gave you two battalions, plus a mortar platoon, and enough ammunition and supplies, are you confident that you can block the attack of the American army here?" ”

The colonel's officer sighed. "General, can we blow up the strong beam if necessary?"

"Yes, and I'll have a reserve team here to support you if necessary."

"That's fine. I personally went here to direct the battle, and it shouldn't be a problem to hold out for five days. ”

Gu Xunlei nodded, and then looked at Zhang Xiaolin: "Zhang Xiaolin, the First Cavalry Division is deployed to the north of Volka. The main task was to cover the flanks of the infantry positions, and to fortify them in the northeastern direction of the infantry positions. Prevent U.S. forces from bypassing from the east. The terrain is relatively flat and there are no rivers blocking it, so you'll have to be prepared for a decisive battle with enemy tank units. ”

"No problem, as long as the Yankees dare to come, I will let them go and never return!"

"Don't talk big words in the front, there is no joke in the army, when you can't fight, don't come to complain."

Zhang Xiaolin scratched his scalp, and then laughed.

Gu Xunlei shook his head. Then he said to Weng Yu: "The Second Cavalry Division is deployed between Volka and the three-way junction, if the American army wants to divide us from the middle of our defensive line." You're going to have to stop the American attack here. In addition, if the American army detours from the east, then you will have to fight out, attack the flank and rear of the American army, and cooperate with the 1st Cavalry Division to annihilate the American army. Also, you have to help the infantry hold the bridge, you know? ”

Weng Yu nodded honestly this time and didn't say anything big.

"Wait a minute, I'll build the headquarters, and you guys go and mobilize the troops first."

"General ......" At this time, the commander of the infantry division asked a question, "We don't have reserves?" ”

"Reserves?" Gu Xunlei laughed, "Now, my guard battalion is the reserve. In addition, General Yuan Ye has promised that two other infantry divisions will be sent to us at noon tomorrow, and this is our main reserve. If the U.S. troops can arrive at noon tomorrow, then they will definitely be the vanguard, and the scale will not be too large, and if the U.S. troops arrive tomorrow evening, then our reserves have already arrived. ”

Hearing Gu Xunlei's explanation, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Several officers knew very well that in defensive operations, the most crucial thing is the reserve, and if you want to block the enemy and complete the defensive combat mission, you can't win without a strong reserve. Therefore, when deploying defensive tasks, any commander will leave himself reserves. Gu Xunlei will have to leave the battle reserves, while the front commanders will leave the tactical reserves. For example, in positions that require a battalion to defend, most of the time only one or two companies of troops will be deployed, leaving the rest in reserve and sending them in if necessary. If two infantry divisions could serve as reserves this time, the chances of victory would be much greater.

After several officers left, Gu Xunlei came to the outside of the armored command vehicle, and the officers and men of the guard battalion were busy building the front line headquarters. He walked around the temporary assembly site, then called a staff officer over and asked him to send a telegram to Yuan Ye asking about the situation of the other two army infantry divisions. Yuan Ye also quickly sent a reply telegram, the two army infantry divisions had arrived at Port Macquarie, were preparing war supplies, and would be on the road before dawn, and they would definitely be able to reach Volka Town before noon. After receiving Yuan Ye's telegram, Gu Xunlei was a little relieved.

After three days of fighting, Gu Xunlei was basically familiar with the situation on the battlefield in Australia. At this time, he also understood why the Imperial Navy had always insisted on landing in the southeastern region of Australia, rather than landing in the northeastern region of Australia after capturing Port Moresby, for one reason, there was a perfect road transportation network in the southeast of Australia, and the ground forces had to rely on the road transportation network for operations.

This is exactly the difference between land warfare and naval warfare. Naval battles tend to revolve around islands, ports, so to speak, around a point, in a wide area of the sea. On the contrary, the basis of land warfare is the road traffic system, although it also tends to revolve around important transportation hubs, but in the vast majority of cases, land warfare actually revolves around roads, and it is a linear battle. If they land in northeastern Australia, it may be easy for the troops to go ashore, but they will definitely encounter a lot of trouble when they advance, not to mention anything else, the logistics and supply problems alone are enough to make a ground force commander like Gu Xunlei very troubled.

At two o'clock in the morning, the troops set off one after another, Gu Xunlei's front command was also established, and the guard battalion took over the town of Volka, and ordered the townspeople not to leave their homes without permission, and imposed military control. In addition, there was also a group of officers and soldiers who went door-to-door to check the residents of the town to prevent any American stragglers from hiding in the town, and Gu Xunlei's headquarters was on a farm outside the town, and the granary was converted into a temporary material reserve center, and the headquarters was set up in tents.

Before dawn, Yuan Ye sent a new message, which was a very long telegram.

Judging from the news sent back by the reconnaissance plane, the US troops were marching at night, and the time of arrival in Armidale should be around two o'clock in the morning, and they will rest in Armidale for a few hours. However, Task Force 1 had already returned to the battlefield and would concentrate on bombing Armidale after dawn to prevent the Americans from moving south in the morning, so that the Americans would only be able to reach the battlefield around evening.

The Army's two infantry divisions were already well stocked with ammunition and would be on their way by daybreak. And both divisions had enough transport vehicles, so the march would not be slow, and if the road went well, then it would be possible to reach Volka before noon. This is the best news Gu Xunlei has ever received.