When the sun rose, Gu Xunlei was already lying on the beach chair, ready to enjoy his breakfast. Zhang Xiaolin was sitting next to him, looking at the label on a can.

"General, this Yankee is still quite good at enjoying it, this seems to be a canned fish."

"Canned sardines, junk goods." Gu Xunlei glanced at Zhang Xiaolin, "You don't understand English?" ”

"English? Who will learn that bullshit bird language, when we win, the whole world will use our Chinese characters in the future! ”

Gu Xunlei immediately laughed. "That's a good idea, and when the time comes, it's going to give the Yankees and the British a headache."

At this time, the adjutant sent two copies early. These supplies were all seized in the tower, and Gu Xunlei asked for a hot dog. Before, he didn't have any interest in these American "junk foods", but now he thinks that hot dogs do taste good, at least much better than he imagined.

"Lao Zhang, you guys are really fast, now you can eat?"

Gu Xunlei and Zhang Xiaolin immediately turned around, and Weng Yu, who was still wearing a set of tank hand clips, was running over quickly, while his tank stopped outside the courtyard.

"Go, prepare a breakfast for Xiao Weng, ask for two hot dogs, this kid has a big appetite!" Gu Xunlei immediately gave the adjutant some orders, and then beckoned to Weng Yu. "You're coming back pretty quickly, how's the situation going over there?"

"We've taken control of the bridge to the north, and the Marines have sent two battalions over, leaving me with a tank battalion behind." After Weng Yu sat down. He picked up a cigarette from the table and quickly lit one, "Also." I arranged for several reconnaissance units to go north. The Marines have also sent a reconnaissance unit, and if it goes well, we will hear in the morning. ”

"Yes, it looks like we won't be able to rest for a few hours." Gu Xunlei also lit a cigarette, "Let the troops replenish ammunition and fuel as soon as possible." Leave the logistics troops here. Wait for the main force of the Marine Corps to come. Let them follow up again. By nine o'clock, the troops were to go to the other side of the river! ”… Computer station

"No problem, I'll arrange it after breakfast!" Weng Yu took the plate containing two hot dogs from Adjutant Gu Xunlei's hand, "Well, it tastes good, it seems that the Yankees are having a good time." ”

"After you have eaten, go back to the army immediately, and I will rush over before nine o'clock." Gu Xunlei stood up. "How are the officers and soldiers doing now?"

"No problem, everybody's excited. I didn't expect it to go so smoothly this time. ”

"That's good, let's arrange it as soon as possible." Gu Xunlei glanced at the two division commanders, and then walked towards the granary behind him.

It was originally a granary for the residents of Tari City, and was later requisitioned by the U.S. military to stock up on daily necessities. Gu Xunlei's breakfast, as well as canned food, were all found here. The officers of the General Staff had already vacated a place in the granary and made it a temporary headquarters. However, most of the equipment was left in the command vehicle, and the troops would not stay in the tower for long, so there was no need to transfer all the equipment over.

"General, there's a telegram from Task Force 1 asking if we need air support?"

"Aviation support, they are not in contact with the Marine Corps?" Gu Xunlei was taken aback, "Let them not send bombers over, now that we are in the tower, I don't want to eat my own people's bombs." ”

The staff officer immediately prepared to send a telegram to Task Force 1.

"Wait, let them wait and provide us with air support, if we are going to continue north, then we need to have the support of the fleet." Gu Xunlei changed the arrangement, "Is there any news from the Marine Corps Command?" ”

"General Yuan Ye is rushing over, and he will be there in about ten minutes."

"He's going to put his headquarters here?" Gu Xunlei frowned slightly.

"Pretty much, I didn't ask in detail."

"Well, you get in touch with the Marines and ask where their headquarters are."

This time, without waiting for the staff officer to contact the Marine Corps, the staff officer sent by Yuan Ye rushed over and took the initiative to contact Gu Xunlei. Soon, the armored command vehicle that Yuan Ye was riding in was parked on the street outside the granary.

"General Yuan Ye, now I officially hand over the tower to you."

Gu Xunlei and Yuan Ye did a simple handover work, in fact, the army withdrew from the tower, and the marines controlled the order in the tower, after all, there were still thousands of residents here. When Yuan Ye's guards went to check around the granary, Gu Xunlei and Yuan Ye came to the lawn behind.

"Your attack last night was very strong, and General Yan Guozhong has sent a telegram to commend you."

"General Yuan, this is actually mainly the credit of the Marine Corps, we are just helping." Gu Xunlei is rarely humble.

"Where, without your assault, I'm afraid we would still be fighting hard with the US troops outside the tower." Yuan Ye will not take the credit of others, "However, we still have a problem now. ”

Gu Xunlei nodded and asked Yuan Ye to sit down.

"General Gan Guozhong told us to seize the northern port of Macquarie as soon as possible. This is a small fishing port, and judging by the aerial reconnaissance intelligence provided by the fleet, the American troops retreating from the tower have arrived here and are organizing a defensive line. Yuan Ye said as he took out his cigarette, "This was originally the task of the marines, but now our reserves will not arrive until five days later, and most of the troops will have to be used to guard the landing ground, and we will also divide our troops to defend the tower and expand the width of the landing field." As a result, the Marines simply can't send more troops to attack Port Macquarie now. ”

Gu Xunlei frowned slightly, he flipped over the map on the table, and quickly determined the location of Port Macquarie. Just about 70 kilometres northeast of Taari, Port Macquarie was originally a small fishing village with about 3,000 inhabitants and a small fishing port. The purpose of the attack on Port Macquarie was obvious, which was to allow transport ships to enter the port to unload their cargo. Although the material throughput capacity of Port Macquarie is not strong. It's nice to be able to unload several transports at the same time, but it's better to have one port than just a few temporary docks before Sydney is conquered.

"When do you need to lay down Port Macquarie?" Gu Xunlei raised his head.

"The sooner the better." Yuan Ye hesitated. "Have you received any new information?"

"Not yet. We set up a longwave radio station half an hour ago. Gu Xunlei also lit a cigarette.

"The U.S. forces in Tentfield are moving south, and now only the bombers of the theater fleet are bombing the U.S. forces, and the other fleets are concentrated on our side." Yuan Ye sighed, "The reinforcements of the US army may arrive within two days at the earliest, and it will not take more than four days at the latest." And to ensure the safety of the landing site. We must advance the defense zone more than 100 kilometers to the north. The operation to capture Port Macquarie was critical. ”

Gu Xunlei nodded. It is certainly necessary to expand the defense zone.

"And now the Marine Corps doesn't have any extra troops, so they can only rely on the Army." Yuan Ye smiled and shook his head, "By the way, the artillery bombardment formation of the First Task Force will shell the US defensive positions in Port Macquarie after nine o'clock, and the First Task Force will fully cooperate with you in the fight at that time, if possible, it is best to take Port Macquarie today." ”

"Looks like I'm going to have to organize the troops to set off immediately." Gu Xunlei immediately stood up, "General Yuan." We don't talk about who relies on whom, this is our common battlefield. We are all on missions, and there is no difference between the tasks of the Marine Corps and the tasks of the Army. The assault on Port Macquarie is our responsibility, and I have only one request. ”

"What requirements?" Yuan Ye also stood up.

"Logistics!"

"No problem, I'll set up my headquarters here, and prioritize your material needs."

"Then I have nothing to worry about, if we can, we can have breakfast in Port Macquarie tomorrow morning."

"I'm sure I'm not going to be late!"

Both of them laughed, and after saying goodbye to Yuan Ye, Gu Xunlei immediately set off with his staff officers and guard battalion.

When Gu Xunlei arrived at the assembly place of the two cavalry divisions, an infantry division and an artillery regiment that had come ashore in the second half of the night had already rushed over. And this is exactly the force that Gu Xunlei needs most now, and he doesn't want to cooperate with the infantry of the Marine Corps anymore.

Although Gu Xunlei's infantry division is also a new unit, it is not much worse than the main infantry division of the Imperial Army in terms of equipment, with a total of 880 vehicles, including more than 600 trucks, and the infantry can advance by vehicle instead of on foot. Aside from the absence of armored personnel carriers, this is completely standard for motorized infantry divisions. The equipment of the artillery regiment is also extremely advanced, Gu Xunlei did not ask for those towed artillery, and the artillery in his hand was all self-propelled artillery. Perhaps his artillery regiment is still inferior to the main artillery unit in terms of quality, but in terms of equipment, it is definitely first-class. At that time, an artillery regiment had three artillery battalions, one of which was a heavy artillery battalion, which prepared 48 155-mm self-propelled howitzers, a general artillery battalion, which prepared 56 100-mm self-propelled howitzers, and a heavy mortar battalion, which prepared 56 120-mm self-propelled mortars. This equipment alone is enough for many artillery units to compare.

Gu Xunlei called the three division commanders and the commander of the artillery regiment over. He first told the four men about the new mission, and then began to deploy combat operations.

"Port Macquarie is on the south bank of the river's estuary, while its north is the delta, which is not conducive to our operations. The U.S. forces here are the ones we drove out of the tower, no more than 3,000 men, and the main problem is that we must take Port Macquarie today, and we must annihilate this U.S. force. Gu Xunlei tapped on the map, "In order to achieve this goal, we have to prevent the US troops from fleeing." The 1st Cavalry Division must occupy this bridge in the west as quickly as possible, and must not allow the US troops to blow up the bridge, Zhang Xiaolin, are you confident? ”

"No problem, just give me a tank battalion and an infantry battalion."

Gu Xunlei nodded, and said to Du Kang, the commander of the First Infantry Division: "You arrange an infantry battalion for Zhang Xiaolin, equipped with more machine guns, in addition, arrange an engineer platoon, the US army will definitely try to blow up the bridge, so that we can't quickly go north, if the bridge is blown up in the end, we must be prepared for a hypothetical pontoon bridge, so the relevant equipment must be brought." ”

"We didn't bring any bridging equipment."

"Then you have to find a way, even if it is wood, you have to build the bridge for me!" Gu Xunlei did not give Du Kang any chance to argue, "The 2nd Cavalry Division and the 1st Infantry Division, as well as the artillery regiment, concentrated on attacking Port Macquarie, and the 1st Cavalry Division served as a reserve. If the river can be crossed, then the 1st Cavalry Division will have to try to make a detour to the north of the delta to prevent the Americans from escaping by boat. ”

"What support do we have?" Weng Yu raised the key question at this time.

"Task Force 1 will provide us with direct support, and probably the artillery formation and bombers of Task Force 1 are already fighting the US forces over there." Gu Xunlei put away the map, "The troops will leave in half an hour, if you want to eat hot dogs tomorrow morning, then everyone will work harder to knock down Port Macquarie as soon as possible, so that all the officers and soldiers can eat the breakfast of the American army!" ”

Everyone immediately laughed, and Gu Xunlei also returned to his command car. When the commanders of the various units arranged for the departure of the troops, Gu Xunlei got in touch with the First Task Force and discussed the bombing and artillery support. Tan Renhao's answer was quite refreshing, as long as the army asked for it, then the bombers of the 1st Task Force would arrive at the first time, and the 1st Task Force shelling formation would always assist in the attack outside Port Macquarie.

At half past nine, the two battalions led by Zhang Xiaolin were the first to go on the road, and then, the Second Cavalry Division also dispatched, Gu Xunlei's headquarters followed behind the Second Cavalry Division, and then, the First Infantry Division and the Artillery Regiment also set off, and behind the palace were the remaining troops of the First Cavalry Division that served as a reserve.

This time, Gu Xunlei stayed in his command car, and he finally had time to think carefully about the combat operations in the past ten hours. Overall, the U.S. military was not as effective as he had previously anticipated, nor was it as strong as the Marine Corps had offered. Especially in anti-tank warfare, the US military does not seem to know how to deal with tanks that attack alone. More importantly, after capturing the tower, the combat unit captured a batch of anti-tank guns of the US army, and found that the US army is now mainly using anti-tank guns with a caliber of less than 57 mm. And these anti-tank guns were only able to deal with the tanks of the early stage of the war, and there was little threat to the current tanks of the Imperial Army. In addition, the US military has a serious shortage of anti-tank rocket launchers, anti-tank mines and anti-tank grenades. In other words, the anti-tank capabilities of the US infantry are very low.

This can be said to be the best news, and this is the main reason why Gu Xunlei dared to make a bold assault, but until now, he has not seen a tank from the US army!