While they were taking Tamworth as planned, the Marines were in trouble attacking Marulandi.

Marulandi is a small town between Tamworth and Squion, where the U.S.-Australian coalition forces defended only 5,000 people, and most of them were Australian legions, and the U.S. army only had one infantry battalion. The problem lies in the Australian Legion, the Australian soldiers' tenacious will to resist made the Marine Corps suffer for the first time, and it also proves once again that the Marine Corps lacks effective tactics and equipment in the ground offensive battle, and in the absence of strong enough support firepower, the Marine Corps relies on its own ability to attack a solid defensive position, which is obviously inferior to the army's armored forces.

When Thunderbolt's legion attacked Tamworth, the Marines launched an attack on Marulandi. In order to be able to quickly take down this small town and connect Tamworth with Skun, Yuan Ye invested a marine division, as well as two marine regiments, and concentrated at least 40 tanks and self-propelled guns, and launched a fierce attack on Marulandi.

The fighting began in the second half of the night of the 27th and lasted until the morning of the 29th. By the time they had already taken Tamworth, the Marines were still blocked from the U.S.-Australian lines, and more than 20 tanks were destroyed, most of which were blown up by mines. Yuan Ye personally went to the front line to supervise the battle, but the attack still had little effect. The Marines lacked experience in the large-scale use of tanks, and even though the bombers of Task Force 2 had been providing aviation fire support to the Marines, they could not have enough artillery support and not enough armor. The Marines are finally in trouble.

When Gu Xunlei arrived at Tamworth, he received a message from the Marines that the attack on Marulandi would probably last about a day. Although Yuan Ye did not mention in the battle report that he should send troops to attack Marulandi from the north. However, after receiving the news, Gu Xunlei immediately made a decision that he must assist the Marine Corps to defeat Marulandi as soon as possible.

Marulandi's location was important, and if it remained under the control of the U.S. and Australian forces, Skun and Tamworth would be threatened, and the Army and Marines would have to leave defensive forces in both places, thus weakening the forces to continue the offensive. Moreover, it will be a hole in the entire line of defense, if the opportunity is seized by the US-Australian coalition. Then there is a complete possibility that the defense line on the periphery of the landing site will collapse. Therefore, the army must consider the security of its own flanks as it moves forward.

"Give you a cavalry battalion, two motorized infantry battalions. Before this evening. It is necessary to assist the Marines in defeating Marulandi. Gu Xunlei handed over this task to Weng Yu, "I will contact Yuan Ye." As soon as you meet up with the Marines, replenish your fuel, and then rush back at full speed, we will continue to advance towards Gonida, and if you are fast, you should be able to catch up with the main force in Gonida. If we have already left Gunnedad, then you must remember to contact me, and the troops will advance directly towards Naraburai. This will be our last holding position! ”

Weng Yu looked at the map for a while, then nodded. "No problem. I immediately led my troops out and immediately came to chase the main force after assisting the Marines in taking down Marulandi. ”

Gu Xunlei patted the colonel's officer on the shoulder. "The assault should be decisive and swift, and the forces of the United States and Australia are all in the south, so you should not expose them in advance, and do not give the enemy any preparations......"

"General, don't worry!" Weng Yu felt that Gu Xunlei was a bit of a mother-in-law.

Gu Xunlei didn't say anything more, Weng Yu's ability to command tactical assaults is very strong, he can exert the power of more than 30 tanks of a cavalry battalion to the limit, and this is Weng Yu's strength.

After sending Weng Yu away, Gu Xunlei immediately asked the troops to gather. At noon, the vanguard of the 6th Infantry Division arrived at Tamworth, along with a unit of the gendarmerie of the Marine Corps, which had come to take over the prisoners of war. After handing over the control of Tamworth to the 6th Infantry Division, Gu Xunlei took the main force of the other five divisions on the road.

On the whole, the rapid assault was relatively smooth, except for the Marines who had some trouble on the Marulandi side, and the combat operations in both directions were going well. In the afternoon, Gu Xunlei received a message from Yuan Ye that the Marines had sent two divisions of troops to kill Merriva. Although the battle of Marulandi was not over at this time, Yuan Ye still asked the Marines to attack Kunabaran within the planned time. Of course, Yuan Ye was also ready to join Weng Yu's armored assault force in Marulandi, and promised to provide Weng Yu with ammunition and fuel.

It seems that the situation on the battlefield is improving, at least judging from the news that Gu Xunlei received at that time, the problems are being solved one by one. The battle against Gonneda was also very smooth, the troops reached the perimeter of Gonneda in the evening, but one of the American regiments defending here did not resist at all, and when Gu Xunlei's previous troops rushed into Gonnedad, they had already "taken the initiative" to escape, and as a result, the 1st Cavalry Division, which rushed to the front, occupied Gonnida without a single shot.

At this time, the advance speed of the Gu Xunlei Legion had exceeded the previous estimate, and according to the plan, it was not too late for them to capture Gonidal before the evening of the 30th, and it was only the night of the 29th. Because there was plenty of time, Gu Xunlei asked the troops to stop and spend the night in Gonneda. The officers and men have been fighting for two days in a row, and almost no one has slept either, and the next battle will definitely be more intense, so it is necessary to ensure the physical strength of the officers and men.

Gu Xunlei set up his temporary headquarters in a granary. The food had been taken away by the American army, and most of the inhabitants had retreated with the American army, and the town was empty. Originally, it was suggested that the houses should be requisitioned directly and the troops should spend the night in the houses, but Gu Xunlei vetoed this suggestion and let the troops sleep outside the town. The Imperial Army had strict discipline, and it was strictly forbidden to occupy the material property of civilians, which, of course, did not include the equipment and materiel of the enemy army. In order to reduce the burden on the combat troops, Gu Xunlei only reserved a guard squad for himself, and then asked the officers and soldiers who did not participate in the guard battalion of the previous combat operation to assist other troops in setting up camps.

By the second half of the night. Gu Xunlei was called up by the staff officer, and the new news arrived, which was from the night reconnaissance aircraft unit in the rear.

"U.S. forces are advancing at full speed south along this highway line. The speed is about 40 kilometers per hour, which is almost the limit speed of its tank! ”

"So fast?" Gu Xunlei felt a little pain in his head, and he called a guard over, "Help me make a cup of coffee, and besides, bring a cup to everyone else." ”

The staff officer paused and continued: "Now, the vanguard of the American army has reached about 20 kilometers east of Mori, and will pass through Mori about before dawn. And our carrier-based bombers will fly to Mori at most, and they will not be able to continue the pursuit of the American troops! ”

"That is, the US troops will be able to continue their march during the day?"

The staff officer nodded. "If the U.S. forces advance during the day, they will be able to reach Narabrai by the evening of the 30th at the latest."

Gu Xunlei fell silent. This is a serious problem.

"The second force of U.S. troops has reached Gundi Wendy. It is still moving rapidly south, and it will be possible to reach Narraburai by the afternoon of 1 July at the latest. ”

At this time. The guards brought over a couple of steaming cups of coffee. Gu Xunlei warmed his hands while holding his coffee cup, now the Australian continent is the coldest season of the year, and the troops have been fighting in the southern temperate zone, although the temperature during the day is not low, but the night is still very cold.

"It looks like we're going to have to take down Naraburai as soon as possible." Gu Xunlei sighed secretly, in fact, how to fight the US military at this time, the decision-making power is not in the hands of the US military. It is not in Yuan Ye's hands, but in Gu Xunlei's hands.

If Naraburai can be defeated by the evening of the 29th. Then the U.S. army can be blocked north of Naraburai, and the result is that the two U.S. forces will meet, and Gu Xunlei will have to face a strong force of at least 20 divisions of the U.S. army, and he will only have 7 divisions at most, even if Yuan Ye rushes to help in time, he will only have 11 divisions at most and fight with 20 divisions of the U.S. army. If the troops arrive on the night of the 29th, perhaps the first force of American troops has already left Naraburai and is heading south, then it will be able to cut off the American forces and divide them up. But the question is, will the American forces in the south stay in Naraburai and wait for the arrival of the American troops behind? If so, then the result is even worse.

This is where Gu Xunlei is worried, he thinks for a while and affirms his judgment. The interval between the two American marches was only about 12 hours, and the third group of ground troops of the Imperial Army was to arrive around 4 July, and the fourth group of ground troops was to arrive on 11 July. To attack Sydney, it is necessary to concentrate at least four landing forces, which means that it is difficult to have enough troops to attack Sydney before July 11. Then, the U.S. military will have enough time to adjust its defensive line, and the two U.S. forces will not rush south, and waiting for 12 hours in Naraburai is not a big problem.

Gu Xunlei glanced at his watch, it was already half past two in the morning. "Let the troops prepare to go, and in addition, go and call Zhang Xiaolin."

Ten minutes later, Zhang Xiaolin walked in quickly.

"How's your troop?" Gu Xunlei didn't say much, and now there is no time to delay.

"After receiving the order, I got the troops ready to go, and it would take about another hour."

"Right now, U.S. forces are advancing towards Narabrai, and they will probably arrive by this evening." Gu Xunlei roughly introduced the situation, "It is very likely that the U.S. military will defend Narabrai, so we must defeat Narabrai as soon as possible, block the U.S. army here, and fight a decisive battle with the U.S. army!" ”

"A decisive battle?" Zhang Xiaolin frowned slightly.

"The two U.S. forces will definitely meet at Narabrai, and if Narabrai is still under their control by then, it will be more difficult for us to defeat the U.S. forces, so we have to capture Narabrai before the U.S. troops arrive, and then fight the U.S. forces here." Gu Xunlei tapped on the map, "I asked the 3rd Infantry Division to assist you in the attack, the troops will arrive in Naraburai by noon tomorrow, you bring the fuel that needs to be replenished." Immediately after reaching the Narabrai, an attack was launched. If our previous intelligence is correct, there are less than 3,000 US-Australian troops here, and you only have a maximum of five hours! ”

"I'm trying my best to get the narabrai down before evening."

"Don't fight hard, if you can't do it, let the 3rd Infantry Division besiege Narabrai, and your troops must move to the north by evening, there is a bridge here, this bridge must be captured, and the Americans must be prevented from erecting pontoon bridges to cross the river!" Gu Xunlei marked the location of the bridge on the map, "I led the other two infantry divisions, and the second cavalry division followed behind, and the distance between you and you is about four hours. In addition, the 6th Infantry Division and the 7th Infantry Division will arrive a day later. If we were to fight a decisive battle with the US army, even if 7 divisions fought 20 divisions, we would still have a chance to win. ”

"General, then I'll go back to the army now and set off as soon as possible."

Gu Xunlei nodded, sent Zhang Xiaolin to the door, and after some more advice, he let Zhang Xiaolin leave. He then summoned his staff officers over and asked the 3rd Infantry Division to prepare for departure as well, and also had a baggage unit carrying ammunition and fuel follow the 3rd Infantry Division. The biggest problem is that after the 1st Cavalry Division arrives near Naraburai, it must run out of fuel, and it needs time to replenish fuel, which has to be delayed for at least two to three hours, and at this time, Gu Xunlei is most lacking time.

Before four o'clock in the morning, the 1st Cavalry Division was on the road first, and half an hour later, the 3rd Infantry Division also departed. Because it was marching along the road, the 3rd Infantry Division was marching a little faster than the 1st Cavalry Division, so that it could reach the 1st Cavalry Division on the road.

At half past five, Gu Xunlei led the guard battalion and set off first with the Second Cavalry Division, because Weng Yu led the troops to support the Marine Corps, so now Gu Xunlei directly commanded the Second Cavalry Division to fight. The 4th and 5th Infantry Divisions left Gonidal in close proximity. Before the troops left, Gu Xunlei had ordered the 6th Infantry Division and the 7th Infantry Division remaining in Tamworth to hand over the garrison task to the Marines as soon as possible and catch up as soon as possible. In addition, he also telegraphed the Eighth Infantry Division that remained in Volka to speed up, and now that the American troops have moved westward, Armidale is no longer threatened, so the Eighth Infantry Division does not need to remain in Volka. However, it will take at least a day and a half for the 8th Infantry Division to catch up with the troops in front.

Judging from Gu Xunlei's series of troops and movements, he is ready for a decisive battle with the US army!