As the medical officer bandaged the wound on Zhang's arm, a group of carrier-based bombers flew overhead, dropped bombs on the north side of the town, and then began to dive and strafe in turns. Then, more fighters with bombs and rockets flew over, these fighters flew in the sky, and in the eyes of Zhang Xiaolin and others, this was the real immortal, the most powerful force sent by God to support them.

"The second and third battalions are encircling the U.S. troops, and now the U.S. forces are retreating to the north." The officer of the guard company ran over, "The fleet has sent a message for us to withdraw from the bombing range as soon as possible, the bombers of the other two squadrons will arrive within ten minutes, we can provide bombing targets for the bombers, but we cannot enter the bombing range." ”

"Let the third head arrange it!" Zhang Xiaolin leaned on his tank, "Did you find the guard company commander?" ”

The officer's expression suddenly darkened, and he nodded slightly. "The company commander was killed, and the bodies of the other three crew members were also found."

Zhang Xiaolin gritted his teeth, and in addition to the commander of a motorized infantry battalion who died in battle, the commander of his guard company was the highest-ranking officer killed in this battle.

"Colonel, Weng Yu's Second Cavalry Division is rushing over, General Gu Xunlei told us to withdraw from the battle, and the Second Cavalry Division will be responsible for dealing with the American army."

Zhang Xiaolin nodded. "Let the troops gather, and in addition, settle the wounded as soon as possible, and send the wounded back first."

"Colonel, your hand."

"Me? I'm not a wounded, it's not a big deal, and get me something to eat! Zhang Xiaolin was also hungry, after several hours of fierce fighting. He has long reached the limit of his physical strength, and he has always relied on his will to support him.

After the guards and officers walked away, Zhang Xiaolin glanced at the town to the north, and he really couldn't believe that he had survived.

The first reinforcements to arrive were the two cavalry battalions he had left to the south. Originally, the task of these two battalions was to prevent the American troops from breaking through in the direction of Armidale, but it was not until half past five. None of the U.S. troops showed up. At this time, the commander of the cavalry regiment received an order from Gu Xunlei to immediately go to reinforce the battle on Armidale's side, and the American troops in the south had already turned to the defense and did not continue to break through, so there was no need to stay in the blocking position. Two cavalry battalions set off after 5:50 a.m. At a distance of 25 kilometers, it took them less than an hour to get over. At 6:50 a.m., that is, when Zhang Xiaolin's last line of defense was broken through by the American army, two cavalry battalions rushed to the battlefield, and while saving Zhang Xiaolin, the two cavalry battalions launched a counterattack against the American army. And quickly drove the American troops back to the town of Armidale, and the two cavalry battalions also quickly detoured to both sides of the town, posing a posture of outflanking the American army, forcing the American army to quickly retreat to Armidale and begin to retreat north.

The fleet's bombers arrived at 7:45, about fifteen minutes earlier than scheduled, and apparently Tan Renhao, commander of the 1st Task Force, had received Gu Xunlei's request. The sortie of carrier-based bombers was accelerated. And when the fleet's bombers arrived on the battlefield, the last glimmer of hope for the American army was dashed. Under the combined strangulation of bombers and tanks, the American army had no possibility of capturing Armidale, let alone breaking through the defense line of the Imperial Army and saving the besieged mobile troops.

When they withdrew from the battle, the cavalry battalion under Zhang Xiaolin's command and the officers and men of the two motorized infantry battalions were almost all killed and wounded, and in the end, only three tanks were not destroyed, including Zhang Xiaolin's car, whose tank was hit by a 76-mm shell from 1,000 meters away and hit the frontal armor of the turret. Fortunately, this armor-piercing projectile was not able to penetrate the armor. It only injured the three crew members in the turret, and Zhang Xiaolin almost broke his arm when he fell. More than 400 officers and soldiers of the two motorized infantry battalions were killed, and the remaining 300 people were all wounded, and at least 200 were seriously wounded.

The three tank battalions led by Weng Yu and the three infantry should have arrived at 8:20 a.m., while the fleet's bombers were bombarding the American troops in turn, and the American troops had begun to retreat to the north, and some of them had taken refuge in the nearby forest.

When he saw Weng Yu's car driving over, Zhang Xiaolin put down half of the sausage in his hand and walked towards the tank.

"Lao Zhang, your kid's life is big enough, I heard that you were shot?"

"You've just been shot, and it's a big thing, but it's just an ordinary armor-piercing bullet, and it tickles me." Zhang Xiaolin hugged Weng Yu, who jumped out of the tank, and then he shouted, "Damn, my arm ......"

Weng Yu immediately let go of Zhang Xiaolin, and then noticed Zhang Xiaolin's bandaged arm. "This is tickling?"

Zhang Xiaolin was stunned for a moment, and then laughed. "Damn, you're still talking about the wind and cold, Lao Tzu almost hung here, why are you here now, how is the battle in the south?"

"Yes, the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions have surrounded the US troops, and now the other units of the 1st Infantry Division are coming, and they will be able to arrive soon." Weng Yu took out a cigarette, and he lit one for Zhang Xiaolin first, "How is the situation on your side?" ”

"Two battalions of the three regiments are flanking the American troops, but now the fleet will not let us intervene, lest we be accidentally injured." Zhang Xiaolin took the cigarette, and then glanced to the north, "I only have these two battalions, and now the US army is retreating, probably trying to escape back to Glen Innis, if you want to get some oil and water, then you have to work harder." ”

"Damn, I'm not here to pick up leftovers, but it's better than nothing!" Weng Yu immediately laughed, "You can recuperate here, I'll go kill the U.S. troops first, and we'll talk when I come back!" ”

"!" Zhang Xiaolin scolded secretly, and Weng Yu treated the battle as if he was going shopping.

"That's right!" Weng Yu took two steps and stopped, "General Gu Xunlei is rushing over, he already knows the situation on your side." ”

"When will the general arrive?" Zhang Xiaolin was stunned for a moment, and then pulled the military uniform draped on his body.

"Soon it will be there, I will go and destroy the American army first. When the general arrives, we'll talk again! ”

"Pay attention, you kid, the heavy tanks of the US army are not vegetarians!"

Weng Yu laughed, and then jumped into the tank. Under the gaze of Zhang Xiaolin and others, the tank cluster of the Second Cavalry Division quickly entered the town of Armidale and rushed towards the battlefield to the north.

The sound of artillery is fading away. And the bombers flying in the sky are also gradually flying north. From time to time, a few fighter planes appeared above Zhang Xiaolin's head, and it seemed that these fighters had dropped their bombs and used up their rockets, probably waiting for the bombers to return home.

Gu Xunlei's guard battalion rushed over at about half past nine, and at this time Zhang Xiaolin had already gathered the remaining troops. He also put on his military uniform, leaving his bandaged arms uncovered.

"Zhang Xiaolin, well done!" Gu Xunlei's expression was very excited, and as soon as he walked up, he patted Zhang Xiaolin's shoulder hard. Zhang Xiaolin immediately gritted his teeth in pain, and Gu Xunlei slapped his injured right shoulder. And not the left shoulder. Gu Xunlei glanced at Zhang Xiaolin in surprise. "You're hurt?"

"No, it's okay, it's just a little injury, it's not in the way."

"Let me see!" Gu Xunlei didn't think it was a small injury.

Zhang Xiaolin reluctantly stretched his right arm out of his sleeve.

"Are there any broken bones?" Gu Xunlei checked it carefully, but in fact, he couldn't see anything famous, "I'll ask the medical officer to re-examine you......"

"General, there is no need. The doctor has examined it, but it is only a minor injury. ”

Gu Xunlei's gaze stayed on Zhang Xiaolin for a few seconds. Then he nodded. "Then we'll go back to the headquarters and check it out for you. Your resistance on this side has been very successful and critical. ”

The staff officer who followed Gu Xunlei immediately took the map and laid it on the front armor plate of the bow of the tank.

"Our two infantry divisions have surrounded the vanguard of the American army, and now the fleet is making every effort to deal with the main force of the American army on the side of Armidale, and after the reinforcements of the American army have been defeated, and then cooperate with us to clean up the vanguard of the American army, I have transferred the artillery, if the battle goes well, before this evening. The besieged American troops will be completely annihilated. Gu Xunlei drew a red cross on the besieged American troops, "The Marines have surrounded Skun. Now only the American troops in Tamworth are still holding out, but they will not hold out for a few days, and they are not much of a threat to us. Now, from Skun to Armidale, we have captured a landing ground of thousands of square kilometers, and the Marines are building a defensive line. The second landing force will arrive the day after tomorrow and will be ready for battle on the 27th. That is, we have basically completed the first stage of the landing combat operation, and now we are waiting for reinforcements to arrive in order to expand the offensive! ”

"We're heading north?" Zhang Xiaolin is actually Gu Xunlei's most important staff officer, maybe he is not as good as Weng Yu in commanding tank operations, but in terms of grasping the battle situation, he is definitely better than Weng Yu.

"No, our main mission is to cooperate with the Marines to attack Sydney, and the current combat operation on the Armidale side is only to crush the US reinforcements going south, and build a defensive line in Armidale so that the US troops cannot threaten our landing site, and now this task has basically been completed." Gu Xunlei drew a horizontal line at Armidale on the map, "We are going to build a defensive line here, the 1st Infantry Division is coming at full speed, they will temporarily hold this defensive line, and finally, we will hand over this defensive line to the marines." When the second force arrived, we flanked Tamworth from both north and east, captured the American airfield here, and then advanced south along the road to Skun. ”

Zhang Xiaolin nodded slightly, pondered for a moment, and said, "Our second batch of troops ashore is still five divisions?" ”

"No, six, six infantry divisions." Gu Xunlei marked the offensive route on the map, "In addition, the tanks for your replenishment will arrive within half a month, the army command has approved the reinforcement plan, this time you will get a new batch of tanks, maybe heavy tanks." ”

"That's the best, the Type 25 is struggling against heavy tanks of the American army."

"I know this, but it's not that I can't take out the heavy tanks of the US army, as long as the tactics are right, then the Type 25 has enough ability to destroy the M26." Gu Xunlei sighed, "As long as the U.S. troops in the north are defeated, we won't have any major combat missions in the next few days." I am going to reorganize the two cavalry divisions, and in addition, you need to get the troops back to combat strength as soon as possible, the lightly wounded will be returned as soon as possible, and the seriously wounded will be sent back to Port Vila and then to the Imperial mainland. ”

"General, are you going to downsize?"

Gu Xunlei nodded, then took out a cigarette, "Before you get a new tank, if you want to maintain two cavalry divisions, you can only downsize." In fact, what we lack most is not tanks, but tankmen. Through the battles of these few days, there are definitely excellent tankers springing up, and you have to pay attention to that. ”

Zhang Xiaolin nodded, he also realized the problems exposed by these recruits on the battlefield.

"In the afternoon, you return to Port Macquarie with me, let Weng Yu clean up the battlefield here, after the arrival of the 1st Infantry Division, there will be no cavalry mission." Gu Xunlei grabbed Zhang Xiaolin's shoulder, "In last night's battle, you performed very well, I have already applied for a collective medal for you, and the marshal will not be stingy with a few medals." ”

"General, this is all thanks to everyone."

"Don't be polite to me, these honors are what you deserve!" Gu Xunlei called Zhang Xiaolin and walked towards the armored command car, "Yuan Ye has already sent an engineering battalion of the Marine Corps to rush over, and it will probably arrive in the afternoon." He has made new arrangements so that we can leave here as soon as the second batch of Marines arrives. ”

Zhang Xiaolin nodded, he didn't interject. The battle for more than ten hours at night was actually not smooth, and judging from the information he had now, the attrition rate of the 1st Cavalry Division exceeded 70%, and even if the tanks that could be repaired were counted, only 80 tanks could still be used at most. The casualties of the tankmen were greater, so to speak, the 1st Cavalry Division was basically exhausted. If Gu Xunlei needed to maintain two cavalry divisions, he could only allocate a group of troops from the second cavalry division to strengthen the first cavalry division, and both cavalry divisions would have to be downsized. This is not the biggest problem, after all, the two cavalry divisions are actually super strong, probably Gu Xunlei has long considered the problem of combat attrition.

At noon, two infantry regiments of the 1st Infantry Division rushed over, and then the engineering battalion of the Marine Corps also arrived. Zhang Xiaolin reorganized his remnants of the army, and then left Armidale with Gu Xunlei's guard battalion.