Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Last Battle for the Conquest of Australia (Part II)

After the fall of Melbourne, the last position of the Australian Allied forces, centered on Cape Shank, fell into a brief period of relative calm. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

- The allies, who had just been beaten into frightened birds, were able to hold the remaining defense area thankfully, and naturally it was impossible to launch a counterattack.

But the Japanese army also had its own troubles: before the soldiers and horses from all walks of life attacked Melbourne on three sides, they rushed too quickly and too quickly, although they tried their best to break the skill and beat the master to death with random punches, and they beat the Australians down. But behind the various Japanese forces, there were also many scattered small Allied forces and secondary strongholds that deviated from the lines of communication. Now that he has taken Melbourne, he naturally has to turn around and gradually sweep away the remnants of the enemy on the back road in case of accidents.

In addition, after nearly a month of continuous attacks, the Japanese troops on the front line were also generally exhausted, and most of the ammunition, food, and fuel of the various units had been depleted, and they had to rest and replenish as soon as possible in order to restore their combat effectiveness again. Otherwise, you will be dragged down alive.

As a result, for the next week or so, the Australian battlefield actually maintained a relatively "calm" situation, and apart from the bombing of Japanese planes and the shelling of Japanese battleship formations at sea, the Japanese army on the ground did not launch the next offensive for a long time.

However, even so, the tens of thousands of Allied troops who retreated to this small peninsula soon fell into a desperate situation and could no longer hold on - the already very tight food stocks were burned down by the Japanese bombardment, and the rest was only enough to eat for five days: Cape Shank's area was much smaller than the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines, and there was a lack of anti-aircraft shelters to store supplies, while the Japanese bombardment and artillery bombardment was more than 50 times that of the Battle of Bataan.

As a result, before the Japanese army could attack, food had become the most headache for the Allies. From the moment they retreated to Cape Shank, the Allied rations were cut in half, and then, over time, even the daily rations of the front-line troops were further reduced to one-third of their usual amount. Non-combatants and civilians in the rear, on the other hand, have little access to a stable food distribution. After eating all the food they had brought with them, they had to nibble on bark and grass roots, or hunt for seashells and crabs on the beach to satisfy their hunger – laughing things that are still common in summer on a cold, rainy winter beach. Then because he ate unhealthy food, he had diarrhea and died.

At the same time, the horses pulling the carts and the cavalry mounts had nothing to feed, and the little grass that was left was eaten by the hungry! Commander of the Australian Army, Thomas. With tears in his eyes, Admiral Bremmy ordered all the horses and donkeys to be killed, including his own beloved mount. Relying on the meat obtained from the slaughter of these animals, the Allies at Cape Shank were able to delay the food run until a week later.

In addition to food, shelter is also a big problem - if it is in the tropics or summer, then camping for a few days is nothing, but Melbourne is now in the middle of winter, although far less severe than the winter in Russia, and even warmer than the winter in London, but it is enough to freeze the homeless in the wilderness. The Allied forces and civilians retreating to Cape Shank did not have as many houses and tunnels to shelter in, and the number of tents was far from sufficient. They had to work hard to improve their accommodation, using shovels for those who had shovels, and empty cans and spoons for those who didn't, and digging out many holes in the ground that could barely shelter themselves from the wind and rain, and at first glance it seemed that all of them had become large marmots.

Then, once again, the good weather in the Melbourne area came to an end without warning, and cold winter rain began to fall again over Shank Point. The Allied trenches and the burrows of the refugees quickly turned into a quagmire. Many of the small caverns lacking support also collapsed at night due to water seepage, or were shattered by Japanese bombs and shells, so people who fell asleep or hid from the bombing were buried alive in an instant......

Those Melbourne refugees, who were already lacking food and clothing, and were physically weak, were drenched by this winter rain, and suddenly they either fell ill with a cold or suffered from digestive diseases - as we all know, the worse a person's living conditions, the easier it is to get sick, and when the health is poor, it is difficult to get better once he gets sick.

The real reason for the so-called "poor people who are in good health and can withstand the harsh environment" is because those poor people who are in poor health have long been unable to bear the bad living conditions, and they have ascended to heaven and died early, and those who can survive are the dead remnants of the dead—in short, because the body's resistance was weakened by hunger and cold, and thousands of people in Shank's Point soon fell ill one by one, or were wounded in enemy shelling and bombardment, leaving the rudimentary makeshift hospital overcrowded. However, the lack of medical resources, from aspirin to treat colds to gauze for surgical procedures, left doctors helpless to watch as cold patients deteriorated and turned into typhoid fever and pneumonia...... Even those who were lucky enough to be assigned to live in houses and underground bunkers, and did not have to be exposed to the rain in the fields, contracted dysentery one after another because of the poor diet, and died of diarrhea.

What's even worse is that even in such a situation of sickness and hunger, these unfortunate people had to be driven by bayonets to dig trenches and repair fortifications day and night, and soon died of exhaustion due to the intensity of construction.

In the face of all kinds of tragic situations that appeared around him at this moment, John. Prime Minister Katyn was helpless and repeatedly sent wireless telegrams, begging the United States to provide them with support. Although the Pentagon has just been blown away by the typhoon, it still reluctantly made some efforts to make it difficult -- first of all, it has gathered a number of fishing boats and small freighters in New Zealand, and tried to smuggle through the naval blockade line of the Japanese fleet in rainy and foggy weather several times to deliver supplies to the Australians, but all of them failed: At this time, the number of Japanese naval ships assembled in the waters south of Australia has reached more than 100, and aircraft carriers, battleships, and destroyers are all available. It was naturally easy to seal off such a palm-sized area around Shank Horn. As a result, these smuggling boats, laden with food and medicine, either turned around and fled from afar, or were captured by the Japanese army even with their men and boats.

However, although the smuggling convoys organized by the Allies failed to break through the blockade once, they did have some unexpected gains - they rescued some scattered Australian Commonwealth troops in other coastal harbors outside Melbourne and transported them to New Zealand and Samoa.

Then, since the sea route could not be passed, the Americans tried to find a way from the sky, painstakingly collected a batch of transport planes, took off from Tasmania in southern Australia, and crossed the Bass Strait in the early morning or evening with poor vision, and airdropped a little supplies to Australia trapped in Cape Shank. The 16 transport planes and 12 escort fighters sent by the first wave of the Allied transport aircraft formation on Tasmania were all shot down by the Japanese planes in the process of returning home, and the Allied airfields on Tasmania were quickly carpet-bombed by the Japanese naval aviation, and the planes, personnel, and fuel supplies were all lost, and they were unable to continue to organize large-scale air transportation. Although the airdrops have not been completely cut off, they are only one or two planes, and they are often shot down before they reach their destination. Even if it really flew over Cape Shank, dropped the supplies, and did not sink to the bottom of the sea, it would still be a drop in the bucket for the tens of thousands of people in Cape Shank.

- Hunger, cold, epidemics, lack of medical care, lack of food and clothing, and air raids and shelling that do not end...... All kinds of suffering were constantly tormenting the last Allied troops on the Australian continent, making their lives worse than those of the Allied soldiers in the French frontline trenches of World War I: at least the Anglo-French troops did not have to go hungry at that time. Despite the fact that John. Prime Minister Katyn is still trying to find a way to cheer everyone up about the arrival of an American fleet full of supplies and reinforcements, which will turn defeat into victory, but no one will take that seriously anymore.

Before the official battle began, an atmosphere of despair and fear of defeat was already pervasive among the hungry and green-eyed Allied forces.

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On September 15, the Japanese army, which had basically cleared the rear of the small remnants of the enemy, and had completed the initial rest, finally launched the first exploratory attack on the town of Hastings on the east side of the Allied defensive line, and only invested a large number of troops, but the result was unexpectedly smooth - this unfortunate town by the sea had been bombarded by Japanese naval ships with incendiary bombs and high-explosive bombs for half a month, and there were not even a few complete houses left, and there were no ready-made strong defenses in this small country before, And even the most tenacious sappers can hardly repair the fortifications in the midst of the continuous artillery fire...... As a result, the Japanese easily broke through the Allied positions along the beach, and then skilfully outflanked them, tearing apart the notoriously defended line with a single backstab.

Since the east was broken through, the town of Balcombe, facing Phillip Bay in the west, fell into the two-sided attack of the Japanese army, and naturally could not hold it. The sick and hungry Allied forces had to abandon the town of Balcomb, along with the trenches they had dug so hard, and staggered south along the coastal road. For a moment, the road leading to the rear was crowded with filthy-clad and yellow-skinned Allied soldiers, all of whom looked like walking corpses. Everyone hasn't washed their faces and shaved for many days. As the Japanese planes bombed and strafed various small roads and coastal roads without scruples, the retreat soon turned into a rout. The troops were scattered in the chaotic retreat. The officers were helpless about it, and the only thing they could do was pray to God.

What is even more tragic is that by this time, these half-starved white soldiers had already killed and eaten up the last pack horses and mules, and the precious fuel oil was also used to heat the fire, resulting in the small number of cars that were not destroyed also turned into scrap metal because there was no oil to burn, so that the field artillery on the forward positions was difficult to tow away, and it was too late to dig pits and bury them, and the Allied artillery had to explode on the spot with tears in mind to avoid financing the enemy.

At the same time, the Japanese army, which was surprised that the enemy was so unbeatable, also took advantage of the situation to throw in a large force and continued to pursue and attack the Allied forces that had collapsed on all fronts. Lieutenant General Masanobu Tsuji personally charged forward in a tank and led the way along the coastal road on the east shore of Phillip Bay, easily crushing the spontaneous resistance of the Allied forces in the chaos. Along the way to the south, there were scattered weapons, supplies, and equipment left behind by the Allies, as well as damaged vehicles and charred corpses, and there was hardly any food to be seen. However, many of the trees near the road have been stripped of their skin, revealing the white ballast of the forest.

On the morning of 16 September, gunfire rang out in the small town of Flinders, next to Shanker Point, where the federal government is stationed. Immediately, even the lighthouse at Cape Shank was planted with a sun flag. John. Prime Minister Katyn had to move again with his team from the Australian federal government, retreating to the town of Sorrento, located at the southwestern tip of the Mornington Peninsula, and then to the exit of Phillip Bay, where there was no way back but to commit suicide by jumping into the sea.

However, this stage of the Japanese army's triumphant advance ended there—after the withdrawal from Flinderstown, the Allied forces were greatly densely increased due to the abandonment of large tracts of land, and the terrain of the garrison changed from an easily attacked coastal plain to a dangerous mountain and hill. Relying on the steep terrain of the "Red Hills" and the "Main Ridge", the Allies only needed a small number of troops, combined with artillery positions hidden in the mountains, to withstand the Japanese attack. As a result, a situation of stalemate and confrontation between the two sides has once again been temporarily formed......

However, time was now on the side of the Japanese, and as time went by, the Allied ration supply became more and more strained. Malnutrition brought with it additional diseases, which were fought to deplete the soldiers, who had to defend their positions against the enemy's constant attacks. The vast majority of the Allied soldiers quickly became scrawny, hungry and sick, and so weak that they could not even lift their guns.

In the cold winter rain, Corporal Donnie walked deep and shallow on the Red Hills position. In Melbourne, which has a temperate maritime climate, there is a lot of rain in winter, and the ground of the front-line battlefield is soaked by rainwater, and the mud often sinks up to the ankles when you step down. Sometimes, if you don't walk well, it's possible that the mud doesn't reach your knees. The cold stagnant water will also flow into the shoes at this time, freezing the feet and even losing consciousness completely.

Unfortunately, although Corporal Downey was already 120,000 points careful, he still had the misfortune to step into a deep pit. It took a lot of effort for him to pull his left foot out of the deep mud, but the upper came out, but the sole remained in the mud.

“…… Oh! Damn it! Corporal Donnie scolded in despair, and at the same time pulled out a dirty handkerchief and wrapped his left foot, which had no sole - he knew very well that in such a desperate situation and with few supplies, it was absolutely impossible for him to receive another new pair of shoes from the quartermaster's office. And before he could pick up a pair of intact shoes from a dead man's foot, one of his own feet was likely severely frostbitten.

Thinking of this, and in his frustration, Corporal Donnie felt a grumbling pain in his stomach again, and his hunger became even more unbearable—now they were given only canned Spam luncheon meat and sardines, and a can of ten people a day, and two meals.

Although the officers were still trying to cheer up, saying that the merchant ship full of food and medicine would soon come, Corporal Downey had long lost hope for this, and everyone knew that they had been abandoned, and they were only afraid that they were destined to die here - if it weren't for the fact that the Japanese army on the other side had a bad reputation and was too cruel, and it was said that they liked to torture prisoners of war to death, then the Allied troops trapped here would have already raised the white flag and surrendered, right?

- Contrary to what the desperate GI imagined, however, the United States of America did not always abandon Australia. Even in today's difficult situation, the US Pacific Fleet has sent people as best it can......

In the middle of the night that day, there was a slight noise on the dark sea near the reef near the Mornington Peninsula, the last position of the Allied forces, and then, accompanied by the roaring white waves, a small periscope quietly emerged from the sea

“…… Confirm that the sea surface is safe and correct, the main ballast water tank is discharged, the upward trim is leveled, and the ascent begins. ”

“…… Yes, the main ballast water tank is discharged, the upward trim is trimmed, and the float is up! ”

After the captain's order, with the orderly operation of the crew, the compressed air was slowly discharged into the main ballast water tank, and the sea water was squeezed out. As a result, this US Navy's "Little Shark-class" submarine slowly surfaced with its bow slightly raised.

Then, the captain of the first U.S. special forces, now the interim presidential envoy, Evans Brown. Colonel Carl Xun got out of the submarine, changed to a rubber boat to land, and with a letter from President Truman, set foot on the last position held by the Allied forces on the Australian mainland......

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PS: Taiwan's political circles have recently become more and more crazy, and they have actually passed a resolution demanding that the "Kuomintang Party" return to Japan the assets it received after the war - is it simply to return the entire island to Japan? Alas, after President President Tsai came to power, everything was full of foreign affairs, and it seemed that only one thing to kill the blue camp was done decently.