On 11 July, the fourth group of ground forces arrived. This time, the main thing that was sent was to supply the troops of the various combat units, as well as war materials, and the formed troops were only six army divisions. In addition, Gu Xunlei also got the new equipment allocated to him by the Army Command. So far, 23 army divisions and 14 marine divisions have landed on the Australian mainland. After removing the lost troops, the ground troops fighting on the battlefield on the Australian mainland have now reached about 650,000, and this does not include the shore-based air force units of the HNA that were deployed here before this.

The assignment was also delivered on July 12. The Army was mainly responsible for advancing from the interior to the ports and cutting off the U.S.-Australian coalition from the outside world. The Marines first swept the beach opposite the port, set up artillery positions, and then captured the port, and Yan Guozhong even planned to let the Marines land directly in the harbor, and the Third Task Force would provide direct artillery support to the Marines. The start of the campaign was initially set for 15 July, and no later than 20 July.

Gu Xunlei arranged the transfer of troops on the one hand, and set about forming the third cavalry division. At that time, with the arrival of the fourth batch of ground forces, there were more than 400 tanks, most of which were improved Type 25 medium tanks, plus Type 24 heavy tanks that could be turned into a separate cavalry regiment. In this way, Gu Xunlei had more than 650 tanks, which was enough for him to form three cavalry divisions.

In addition, Gu Xunlei also changed the 1st Infantry Division and the 2nd Infantry Division, which had recovered their combat effectiveness, into motorized infantry divisions. At that time, Gu Xunlei's request for the formation of a cavalry corps was not approved, but he was able to obtain enough equipment for motorized infantry divisions. Moreover, the First Infantry Division and the Second Infantry Division also received additional troops, so Gu Xunlei directly reorganized these two divisions and made them the First Motorized Infantry Division and the Second Motorized Infantry Division.

Of course, Gu Xunlei did not forget the importance of artillery. He drew a part of the outstanding officers and men from the artillery of several infantry divisions. Then, with the use of supplementary forces, the First Artillery Division was formed, and the main body of this artillery division was the Third Infantry Division. Of course, the equipment of this artillery division was also in place, but the main problem was that the training was not in place, so it was not able to participate in the combat operation of attacking Sydney.

In this way, Gu Xunlei actually had three cavalry divisions, two motorized infantry divisions, and one artillery division in his hands. That's enough to form a strong cavalry corps. As for the fact that the army command has not approved him to establish a cavalry army, Gu Xunlei has long been left behind, anyway, he is the supreme commander here, and Field Marshal Yan Dingyu has no intention of sending someone to replace him, so there is no need to have any scruples.

By the 14th of July, in addition to a few units that were still being reorganized, as well as those responsible for the defense of the perimeter. All 15 army divisions under Gu Xunlei's command were concentrated in Lithgow, east of Sydney. The Marines had taken control of the town only five days earlier, and the U.S.-Australian forces were shrinking their lines, so the Marines captured the town without firing a single shot. On the same day, ten Marine divisions were also deployed near Gosford. The offensive posture is set.

The most important force attacking Sydney was not the ground forces. Rather, it is a fleet of places of activity at sea. Unlike in the past, the main force of this attack was not the aircraft carrier task force, but the new third task force.

Since the 20th the Marine Corps went ashore smoothly. Task Force 3 moved south to the vicinity of Sydney on the night of the 21st, and shelled Sydney Harbour that night. From that day on, Task Force 3 had only one mission, which was to cooperate with Task Force 5 to destroy the U.S. defenses in Sydney Harbour.

Like the new man, Task Force 3 was very regular in its combat operations and its strike plan was well arranged. The whole fleet was like a wind-up alarm clock, and the shelling was incessant. There is no orgasm to speak of. From the night of 21 June to mid-July, in a period of more than 20 days, the Third Task Force made more than a dozen trips back and forth outside Sydney Harbour, and there were no highs or lows to speak of. The actions of the entire fleet did not surprise and surprise.

Of course, the results of the Third Task Force are absolutely not to be underestimated. Regardless of how many targets it destroyed, in the course of more than 20 days, Task Force 3 carried out a total of 12 replenishments, almost every time when the ammunition was consumed to a minimum. The dozens of warships of the Third Task Force carried more than 12,000 tons of ammunition at one time, and according to the calculation of the minimum remaining forty percent of ammunition, the ammunition at each supply site reached 7,200 tons, and in 12 replenishments, the Third Task Force almost dropped 100,000 tons of shells to Sydney Harbor!

What is the concept of 100,000 tons of artillery shells? At that time, a 400-mm high-explosive shell weighed about 1100 kg, while a 155-mm shell weighed about 40 kg. On average, the weight of a shell is between 80 and 100 kilograms, that is, 100,000 tons of shells is equivalent to more than 1 million shells. The entire area of Sydney is only 120 square kilometers, which is considered a suburban US military position, and the area under shelling will not exceed 500 square kilometers. That is, an average of 2000 shells per square kilometer. And the radius of destruction of a 155-mm shell can be about 50 meters, that is, covering an area of 2500 square meters, and 2000 shells are enough to cover 5 times in a square kilometer!

Of course, this is only a purely theoretical calculation, and it is impossible for this to happen in real combat, after all, there are areas of key shelling, and there are areas of secondary strikes. During the more than 20 days of shelling, the Third Task Force destroyed more than 90 percent of the military targets on the list, at least 10,000 houses were blown up, and thousands of fortifications built by the US military were blown into ruins. Although there are no exact figures for U.S. casualties, one thing is certain, and that is that the number of U.S. and Australian soldiers killed during the entire shelling will not be below 10,000. In addition, among the citizens of the city of Sydney, at least thousands of people died as a result of the shelling!

In addition to the 3rd Task Force, the bombers of the 5th Task Force, as well as the artillery formations, were also an important striking force. with the 2nd Task Force. Unlike the 1st Task Force, the 5th Task Force did not take on the task of supporting the ground forces, but while providing air defense cover for the 3rd Task Force, it focused on bombing the surrounding US military targets, and the primary targets were the US military airfields south of Sydney.

These airfields were destroyed in the first three days of the landing campaign, and the American warplanes that were not bombed were forced to move to more remote airfields. After seizing air supremacy, Task Force 5 began to bomb military targets around Sydney, including U.S. barracks and warehouses. Artillery positions, transport hubs, roads and bridges, as well as command posts of the US military. Most of these targets were indestructible to Task Force 3 or were outside the maximum range of naval artillery. Although the Fifth Task Force had only two aircraft carrier battle groups at that time, the intensity of its bomber sorties was not much worse than that of the other two aircraft carrier task forces.

During more than 20 days of combat operations, Task Force 5 carried out a total of eight replenishments. The "Lake" class aircraft carrier can carry 1200 tons of bombs. Almost always it was resupplied after all the bombs had been used. That is, in total, the two aircraft carriers dropped more than 20,000 tons of bombs. In addition, the artillery formation of Task Force 5 also fired at least 20,000 tons of artillery shells at Sydney during this period.

Judging by the operational record of the 5th Task Force, at that time. Task Force 5 flew an average of about 450 bomber sorties per day. Each sortie of bombers could drop bombs from 500 kg to 1000 kg. During more than 20 days of combat operations, the Fifth Task Force flew more than 10,000 sorties of bombers, losing a total of 84 fighters. The loss rate is less than one percent, which is much less than previously anticipated. Only 42 pilots were killed, and most of the pilots who landed and parachuted were rescued. In addition, more than a dozen pilots were rescued by the Marine Corps.

It was precisely through these 20-odd days of fighting that the aviation of the Fifth Task Force was tempered, and at least in terms of ground bombing, the combat effectiveness of the Fifth Task Force was no longer questioned. Perhaps in terms of overall combat effectiveness, the Fifth Task Force is far inferior to the First Task Force and the Fourth Task Force, and even has a big gap between the Second Task Force and the Second Task Force. But. This kind of practical training opportunity is the most precious, and Jiang Zhongmin also made full use of this. He had the pilots of the three air groups take turns in battle, and he also strengthened the number of aviation service personnel, so as to ensure that the pilots had sufficient time to rest, and at the same time ensure the efficiency of the bombers' sorties.

In order to reduce the problems that arise in the coordinated operation of troops, and at the same time shorten the time for preparing for the campaign. When Yan Guozhong arranged tasks for these fleets, he still carried out the previous mutual partnership relationship.

Task Force 3 remains primarily responsible for suppressing offshore targets while providing direct fire support to the Marines when they attack ports. Task Force 5 was responsible for long-range interdiction, mainly bombing U.S. forces that were shrinking from the periphery to the city and port areas. Task Force 1 provides aviation support to the Army's combat units, while Task Force 2 provides aviation support to the Marine Corps. In addition, the Theater Fleet, which has completed rest and maintenance work in Port Vila, will be responsible for assisting Task Force 5 in carrying out depth interdiction missions.

The fleets returned to Lord Howe Island on July 13 and 14, where they were supplied with ammunition and fuel, and given a short rest for the officers and men. Then they returned to the battlefield one after another by July 15. However, the combat operation did not begin on 15 July, mainly because Gu Xunlei's ground forces could not be deployed in time, and Yan Guozhong had to postpone the launch of the attack on Sydney until 18 July.

Comparatively speaking, the task of Task Force 1 was relatively light. After receiving the new order, Tan Renhao sent the artillery bombardment formation to the Second Task Force and asked it to cooperate with the Second Task Force to fight, after all, when supporting the army units, the artillery formation could not play a role, and the Second Task Force needed a separate artillery attack formation. In addition, Tan Renhao didn't want Hao Dongjue to feel that he had been wronged, how to say, the Fifth Task Force has a separate artillery formation, and only the Second Task Force does not have a separate artillery formation!

The task list was sent to the fleet on the morning of 17 July, and Tan Renhao immediately asked Zheng Guanhua to design a bombing plan according to the importance of the target. On the same day, he also got in touch with Gu Xunlei and asked Gu Xunlei to provide the fleet with a more detailed bombing list, so that the fleet could know which targets needed to be bombed and which targets could be put a little bit.

In the afternoon of the same day, the carrier-based aviation unit also conducted two training sessions, mainly to familiarize the pilots who had newly added to the fleet with the battlefield environment. As a result, that evening, Chang Jiexin sent a telegram protesting that the bombers of the First Task Force had disrupted his shelling plan. Tan Renhao could only smile bitterly, he didn't want to blame An Shile and Yang Qinkai for this, and fortunately, this time he didn't let Qiu Gengbo train novices, otherwise, I'm afraid that Chang Jianxin would come directly to ask for the guilt.

After more than 20 days of fighting, Tan Renhao's overall feeling is: tired. It was not just him who was tired, but the officers and men of the entire fleet were extremely tired. Although in the later stages of the battle, the intensity of the sortie of the bombers was not very large, but in these more than twenty days, no one dared to ease down. In particular, the occasional U.S. heavy bombers that appear near the fleet are even more annoying.

The threat to the fleet from these heavy bombers was almost negligible, and not a single battleship was never threatened, but instead dozens of heavy bombers were shot down by fighters. But the problem is, you can't turn a blind eye. Anyway, these bombers have bombs hanging on them, and every time the air defense siren is sounded in the fleet, the nerves of the officers and men are highly tense, which makes it easier to get tired!

Tan Renhao also complained, after all, in his opinion, the First Task Force could have left the battlefield a long time ago, but complaining is complaining, he knows very well in his heart that Gu Xunlei needs the support of the bombers of the First Task Force, and this is the reason why the First Task Force stayed, but the question is, how long can the Fourth Task Force hold out in the Central Pacific?