"The 1st Squadron stopped advancing, received ammunition replenishment, and the 2nd Squadron took over to continue the attack, and it was necessary to ensure the momentum of the offensive, quickly occupy the Church of the Virgin Mary, and consolidate the commanding heights around the bridge, and firmly hold on."

Captain Bian Chunsong, the commander of the tank battalion, was smoked by black smoke like a five-flower face on a stage, stood behind the tank hatch and waved the small flag in his hand, commanding the four light tanks of the second squadron to surpass himself and continue to exert strong pressure on the enemy.

After the Battle of Kongsby Plateau and more than 10 skirmishes along the way, Captain Bian Chunsong has grown up at a breakneck pace and has become a qualified tank battalion commander.

His voice was hoarse, but there was a scorching glint in his eyes, a desire for victory.

Watching the four tanks of the 2nd Squadron crush the hard stone road past their eyes, the heavy machine guns they were equipped with intermittent roars, knocking any enemy that passed in front of them to the ground, and attacking slowly but surely.

Captain Bian Chunsong opened the back cover of the tank and jumped down, this thing is like an iron gate, the height is about 1.3 meters, fixed with an iron bolt, it is an ordinary iron plate, and there is no good bulletproof effect, the wolf light tank replenishes ammunition or something to be handed in from behind.

He patted the smoke and dust on his body, took a few puffs of the kettle in his hand, and then took out a pack of cigarettes with a wipe of his mouth, and gave one to each of the two heavy machine gun crew members who jumped out of the car, and then took one in his mouth and lit it, and took a beautiful puff.

A large group of soldiers passing by with guns silently passed in front of him, and their eyes were full of admiration, the tank battalion is the hero unit of the entire Red First Division, if the Red First Division is an invincible combat knife, and the ironclad chariot regiment is a blade that blows off hair, then the tank battalion is the sharpest tip of the knife.

The tank battalions were all rushing to the front, and everyone had to give a thumbs up.

More than a dozen ironclad chariots loaded with infantry drove through the front street, followed by an open truck, and Bian Chunsong waved and stopped, which was the vehicle responsible for transporting heavy machine gun ammunition.

Before the car could stop, several soldiers jumped out and skilfully ran behind the tank with ammunition boxes, carrying boxes of heavy machine gun bullets into it.

The heavy machine gun bullets were loaded with canvas chains that snapped into the heavy machine gun magazines and were brought in buckets to replenish the cooling water for the water-cooled Maxine heavy machine guns.

Bian Chunsong stood aside with a cigarette in his mouth, not intending to come forward to help.

There is a strict hierarchy in the army of the Ocean Kingdom, but there is no saying that officers and soldiers are equal, and it is impossible for officers to rush to do the work of soldiers.

"Battalion Commander Bian, what's the situation ahead?" Colonel Duan Qirui followed the large group of attacking infantry, and behind him were several young officers with fierce expressions.

Bian Chunsong immediately spit out the cigarette in his mouth, "snapped" a standing salute, and reported; "Report to the sir, our pursuing rout has fled into the Church of the Virgin Mary in front, and with the help of the strong walls of the church to organize a counterattack, a total of nine tanks from the second and third squadrons of the tank battalion have gone up, and six tanks from the first squadron are receiving ammunition supplies."

"Well, can you break through enemy defenses?"

"I'm afraid it's a little difficult, the high walls of the Church of the Virgin Mary are made of rock, and the 60mm field guns are not used, so you have to fire a few fierce shots from the mortars."

"Good, I see." Colonel Duan Qirui nodded, turned around and commanded; "Order the 3rd and 4th Battalions to quickly deploy to the flanks, occupy strong structures to organize defenses, prevent a large-scale counterattack by the enemy, and immediately carry out the order."

"Yes, sir."

"Go to a few people to direct the traffic, give me the road, and order the rear artillery trucks to quickly step forward to support, 60mm field guns may not help, it is better to transfer two mortar guns up."

"Yes, sir."

"Remove a few heavy machine guns, occupy the commanding heights of the buildings on both sides of the street, bomb away all those irrelevant personnel, and remove those who get in the way, the most important thing at present is not to continue to expand the occupied area, but to firmly hold on to the existing results, and quickly carry them out."

"Yes, sir."

"Don't keep the ammunition trucks going, find a few sturdy houses, unload all the shells and heavy machine gun bullets here, and hurry back to run while you have time, and bring more ammunition and shells up, everyone should be vigilant, don't be carried away by the victory, this is a place for ghosts to nest, and the hard battle is still to come."

"Yes, sir."

After a series of orders were given, the officers under their command dispersed and carried out their orders.

Colonel Duan Qirui raised his binoculars and looked at the front carefully, with a solemn look on his face, he found that this Church of the Virgin Mary was really difficult to fight.

The Church of the Virgin Mary is located at the crossroads, the tall and solid stone wall is about 100 meters long, shielding the church building, only the towering main entrance of the church can enter and exit, but now the stone wall is half a person high, and the soldiers of the Southern Army who retreated here have set up heavy machine guns and are firing wildly.

There is a road called Warehouse Street in front of the church, and more than 200 meters east of this Warehouse Street is a large stone bridge across the Yarra River, which is the only way to Melbourne's East and South Ends, and if you want to occupy the bridge, you must first occupy the Church of the Virgin Mary.

At the end of the road west of Warehouse Street is a warehouse precinct in Melbourne's Docks, now occupied by a raiding dragoon division, in a fierce battle to clear the remnants of the enemy.

Flinders Street runs parallel to the Yarra River and crosses with Warehouse Street in front, where there are sturdy stone barricades with thick bags of hemp mud piled up in front of the barricades, connected to the Church of the Virgin Mary on one side and a four-storey Victorian apartment building on the other, built tall and sturdy.

The strafing heavy machine gun bullets sparkled and flew around the stone wall, in addition to collapsing one white dot after another, hitting stone chips flying and almost causing too much damage.

The apartment was now occupied by Confederate soldiers, who fired heavily from all windows, and the intensity of resistance was several times greater than before.

Several light tanks at the front stopped behind the rubble pile and fired fiercely at the enemy, suppressing the enemy with heavy machine gun fire, while the ironclad tanks stopped nearly 200 meters behind, supporting the front with heavy machine guns from a distance.

The ironclad chariots did not dare to get too close, because the ironclad armor they were equipped with could only withstand rifle bullets at best, and could not deal with heavy machine guns, let alone enemy rapid-fire guns.

As long as it hits, it is a shot that does not run.

Therefore, it is safer to be far away, and the soldiers all get out of the car to fight, and the strong houses occupying this side and the "ping-pong" of the other side shoot at each other, and for a while, the bullets are whistling and shuttling in the air, and the fight is very lively.

It's a hard nut to crack, and it has to be gnawed down.

Duan Qirui showed a determined look in his eyes, turned his head and said to Bian Chunsong; "Battalion Commander Bian, can you let your tanks cover the forward movement of my 60mm gun crew, set up a firing position behind the rubble ruins a little behind the crossroads, knock out the enemy's heavy machine guns with direct fire at close range, blast through the barricades, and open a passage for the infantry to attack."

"Sir, what do you mean...... Withdraw the heavy machine gun crew? ”

"Yes, the enemy's defenses are too strong, and it is useless to go up with more heavy machine gun crews, I have to go up at least two 60mm field gun crews, and I have to bring more ammunition."

"Okay, I'll have them unload the heavy machine gun and ammo box." Bian Chunsong agreed after a little hesitation.

He knew that the colonel officer in front of him was the brother of the commander of the 1st Red Division, Li Xuanzhu, and a hot high-ranking officer of the B Corps.

The promotion conditions of the army of the Ocean Kingdom are harsh, and the promotion of the line of fire on the battlefield is limited to the rank of junior officers at the company and platoon level, which is almost the rank of captain, and the promotion conditions for middle-level officers become extremely strict.

If you want to promote a colonel, after the corps commander Mo Rufeng reports, it needs to be reviewed and approved by the Army General Staff Headquarters, and finally decided by His Majesty the King, and this complete set of procedures is indispensable.

This is because before the Great War of the Civil War, the overall size of the Australian Army was relatively small, with less than 50,000 people in total, and there were seven division-level army establishments, and each major would be personally received by Li Fushou after being promoted to lieutenant colonel to show his solemnity.

The real reason ......is that the bold roundabout assault plan of "repairing the plank road in the open and Chen Cang in the dark" was first proposed by Colonel Duan Qirui at the military meeting and was recognized by the top management of the B Corps.

It is believed that once it succeeds, it will quickly change the situation of the war in Victoria and form an absolutely favorable situation.

"Battalion Commander Bian, keep two of your tanks down, and when the mortar artillery truck comes up later, help cover the direct fire." Duan Qirui said.

"Understood, the tank battalion resolutely carried out your orders." Bian Chunsong saluted solemnly, then quickly boarded the tank, waved the small flag in his hand forward a few times, and commanded the tanks of the first squadron to attack forward.

The infantry commanded by Duan Qirui was an independent regiment of the Railway Cavalry Division, while Bian Chunsong was subordinate to the tank battalion of the 1st Red Division.

Bian Chunsong didn't have to be so respectful, his direct commander hadn't come up yet.

But successful people must have the truth of success, Bian Chunsong belongs to the kind of person who has a good brain and a living vision, and he carries out Colonel Duan Qirui's orders to the letter, as if he is a subordinate.

The one in front of him is the brother of the division commander, the number one celebrity in the eyes of the corps commander, how blind does he have to be to ignore Commander Duan?

Can you still mix in the army with this look?

Brigadier General Li Xuanzhu, the division commander, had to hug the big thick legs recognized by Bian Chunsong, and Bian Chunsong understood a truth; If you want to have a bright future in the army, you not only need to fight well, but also look at the mountain, that ...... Ahem...... Insist that Qingshan does not relax.