Since the 27th Infantry Division had lost its combat effectiveness, the Australian Corps Inspectorate could only order it to be temporarily stationed in Darwin to recuperate.

The total number of Australian Corps is as high as 300,000 people, but only half of them have arrived in Java today, and the Inspectorate ordered the 37th Infantry Division to leave for Darwin to consolidate the Ming foothold in Australia.

The Battle of Darwin seriously exceeded expectations - the Ming army had estimated that it would take only three days and 1,000 casualties to take it, but it turned out to be like this.

As a result, the next step in landing at Moresby was urgently halted, and the Inspectorate decided to convene a meeting of senior generals to discuss how to adjust the plan of action.

As the airport was still under repair, a Type 32 seaplane landed in Darwin Harbour to transport Zhou Changfeng and Ding Yiping to Surabaya.

Six Type 37 carrier-based fighters were ordered to escort it, and one after another accelerated their take-off from the deck of the Tenshi Zuoyuan.

In the end, he is the commander of the group army-level troops, and he is very bearable, and the commander of the Ming Australian Corps is commanded by Nan'an Hou Pang Lingqi, and he can be regarded as an old acquaintance of Zhou Changfeng.

The elegantly decorated Surabaya Naval Base Command is now home to dozens of generals of the army, navy, and air force, and everyone looks a little impatient, because there are still many things to be dealt with.

As everyone arrived, Pang Lingqi did not delay, and immediately knocked on the table to announce the start of the discussion.

Naturally, the navy was the first to speak, followed by the air force, after all, the army was not comparable to the two in terms of importance, and the officers and men of the army could not swim to the east coast of Australia.

“…… What cannot be ignored is that since the 21st, the frequency of radio communications of the US Pacific Fleet has been significantly higher than in the past. Due to the difficulty of estimation, we were able to locate roughly the coordinates within a radius of 200 kilometers southwest of Hawaii, 800 kilometers southwest. ”

A naval intelligence officer gives some recent information.

Hu Zening, chief officer of the First Air Attack Fleet of the South China Sea Fleet, said calmly: "Obviously, the Americans will not sit idly by and watch us attack Australia, and they should have determined that our army will capture Moresby next." ”

"Yes, but there's no way to say where they're going to volley, it's possible on both the north and south lines." An Air Force brigadier general on the side said.

After speaking, he added, "The fleet should still try to be as close to our army's land-based bases as possible, but I am afraid that the airfields in Rabaoer and Tulagi will not be built in a short time." ”

On the northern front, the 3rd Marine Brigade is moving south by leaps. On 14 October, it seized Guam and Saipan, and on 20 October, it captured Truk Island, more than 1,000 kilometers to the south.

They were then to march on the Solomon Islands, seizing Rabaul, the port city of New Britain, and Tulagi, the capital of the Solomon colony.

[Picture]

The southern front was a landing operation against Moresby after crossing the Torres Strait, starting from Darwin.

The strategic deployment of the Ming army can also be called a conspiracy, and the US military can see at a glance what the Ming army wants to do next, and there is no cover-up.

Historically, the IJN also wanted to seize Australia, a key strategic location for the Allies, but this plan was immediately rejected by the Army on the grounds that there were no surplus troops to deploy.

The IJN then backed down and proposed a more compromise plan for a limited southward expansion, also known as the "U.S.-Australia Disruption Strategy."

The idea was to cut off the United States from Australia by occupying strategic locations such as the Solomons, Fiji, and New Caledonia.

At the same time in history, the IJN faced such a dilemma and had to retreat to the next best, because at that time the IJA had only 51 divisions, but 35 of them were contained in the vast expanse of China.

And these are not things that the Ming Dynasty does not need to worry about, although the Ming Army is now only a little more than a million troops, but the pressure to defend the homeland is very small, and there are actually a lot of troops available for deployment overseas.

As of the beginning of October, the Ming Army now has a total of 56 infantry divisions, 2 tank brigades, 4 motorized infantry brigades, 21 field heavy artillery brigades, 3 siege heavy artillery brigades, 10 engineer brigades and a number of other support units, excluding the service personnel of the base barracks, totaling just over one million.

The ocean-going delivery capacity is also quite abundant, with the total tonnage of merchant ships registered at the turn of spring and summer at 9.71 million tons, and now after half a year, this figure has reached four figures.

Some of the shipowners of Annam, Korea, Ryukyu, and Lanfang like to register their ships in Daming, this number is a bit watery, but it is equivalent to none - what's yours is mine, and the Celestial Empire wants to requisition your merchant ships, will you not agree?

There is no problem with the two keys of available forces and projection capability, which makes the Ming Dynasty's military influence in the Pacific several times more efficient than Japan's.

“…… When the Type 37 shore-based mine strike plane is fully loaded, the combat radius is only 1,500 kilometers, which cannot cover much sea area, and if the combat position is too far away, the air force can only stare dryly. ”

The maximum range of the Type 37 torpedo bomber is 3,800 km when it is lightly loaded, and the range is 3,600 km when it is carrying a 250kg bomb for reconnaissance patrols, but if it is loaded with a torpedo, that is, when it is fully loaded, it is only 3,000 km.

Despite its excellent performance, the Navy and Air Force have not been satisfied with the range, so the B-type, which is about to start mass production, has increased its range by 500 km at full load.

The generals present all looked at the huge map hanging in front of them, and several staff officers worked together to draw a circle on it, indicating the combat radius of the air force units taking off from Guam and Saipan - barely enough to reach the Bismarck Sea.

Hu Zening said: "The construction of the airport in Truk must be stepped up, otherwise the restrictions will be too great." ”

The air force brigadier general nodded and replied: "The 7th Engineering Brigade will arrive in Truk in a few days, and it is expected that the repair and the first phase of construction will be completed by the end of the month." ”

"How long and wide is the runway?"

"The first phase of the plan is to expand an improvised runway that is 1,200 meters long and 40 meters wide."

Historically, Truk became a Japanese mandate after the European War, but now it is different, the Ming Dynasty, which did not participate in the European War, did not claim these islands located in the depths of the ocean, so Truk fell into the pocket of the United States.

This is a very, very, very superior natural fleet anchorage, with six shipping lanes between more than a dozen islands and reefs, and an average water depth of more than 2,000 meters.

[Picture]

However, the 3rd Marine Brigade was still easily captured, and more than half of the hundreds of American troops were non-combatants, and resistance was slight.

But before the Ming army landed, they planted all the explosives at Wesnoth Airport, almost blowing up the runway.

As a result, the 3rd Marine Brigade disarmed them and drove them to the airfield that they had destroyed with their own hands, and asked them to fill in the pits and repair the runway.

Interestingly, because the U.S. military was accustomed to using construction machinery, such as excavators and bulldozers, when building airfields, they also destroyed a dozen Caterpillar R-4 bulldozers when blasting the runway, so they initially refused to dig and fill the pit by hand.

And then...... Then he was ridiculed, sarcastic, punched and kicked, and still had to swing the shovel honestly.

The generals of the Navy and the Air Force discussed for a while, first considering the transfer of the battleship Longshuo and the light aircraft carrier Beiluoshimen to the northern front, and then hesitating whether to leave the latter behind.

Since no consensus could be reached, the matter had to be put on hold for the time being.

It was the turn of the first echelon in charge of ground operations to express his opinion, and Zhou Changfeng, who had been waiting for a long time, said: "Everyone should know the result of the battle of Darwin, the combat strength of the Australian army fighting on the ground is higher than estimated, so the original landing strategy for Moresby must be changed. ”

"How many troops?" A rear admiral asked.

"It's still a Marine Brigade with an army division, and there are too many troops to increase at one time. However, it is expected that the time will be increased, and it is estimated that it will take ten days to half a month, during which one regiment will be reinforced for rotation. ”

"I'm going to transfer ships again...... Yes. ”

Despite reluctance, the Navy directly agreed.

Previously, the optimistic Ming army expected to take Moresby in only three days in the dizziness operation plan, but the brave death battle of the Australian army in Darwin made the Ming army realize that the enemy should not be underestimated, and the determination of the Australians must be carefully examined.

The generals of the Nanyang Command did not reach a consensus, so they could only feedback information and opinions to the local command and leave it to their superiors to decide.

Because it was fighting against the most powerful opponent expected, the Ming Navy went all out, greatly adjusted the existing naval sequence, and formed a huge fleet that had never been seen before.

The original Oriental Fleet and the Southern Ocean Fleet almost existed in name only, and only some coastal defense forces such as old destroyers and cruisers remained.

The strike fleet, codenamed 180 Special Service Fleet, was formed by the main warships of each fleet, including all high-speed capital ships.

A31-BBF: 4 high-speed battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers, 9 destroyers.

In addition to the Kaihuang and the Longshuo, which will be ordered to join later, the Yongle and Xuande, two cutting-edge high-speed battleships that have recently entered service, are also in its sequence.

Looking at the whole world, this is also second to none - the British do not have a single high-speed battleship at the moment, the Americans are all Iron King VIII except for the North Carolina class, the Italians have not yet completed the Veneto class, and the German Max class is also preparing for sea trials.

A32-BBF: 5 low-speed battleships, 3 light cruisers, 9 destroyers.

A38-BBF: 4 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, 12 destroyers.

A20-CVF: 2 aircraft carriers, 1 light cruiser, 5 destroyers. This aircraft carrier formation is centered on two Taiweiyuan-class aircraft carriers.

A22-CVF: 2 armored aircraft carriers, 1 light cruiser, 5 destroyers. This aircraft carrier formation is centered on two Ziweiyuan-class mothers.

C24-CVF: 3 light aircraft carriers, 2 light cruisers, 6 destroyers. This aircraft carrier formation is centered on three Beiluo Division-class light mothers.

C30-DDF: 4 light cruisers, 12 destroyers.

C34-DDF: 2 light cruisers, 2 super destroyers, 12 destroyers.

C36-DDF: 2 light cruisers, 3 super destroyers, 18 destroyers.

A34-SSF: 1 submarine carrier, 1 destroyer, 5 heavy artillery cruisers.

In the thirties, the French were keen on large cruisers, and their masterpiece was the Sukuf, and the Ming Navy was also very interested, so they began to build five Qingming-class, which were specially responsible for cooperating with the fleet's actions and giving the other side a surprise attack in the decisive battle of the fleet.

A36-SSF: 2 submarine carriers, 8 ocean-going submarines.

The Ming Navy believed that supplementing a small number of submarines in the decisive battle of the fleet would work wonders, so it would concentrate several cutting-edge submarines to form a formation and act with the fleet.

In addition, there are a number of sentinel fleets and support fleets, including seaplane carriers, maintenance ships, and supply ships.

This huge fleet has set sail from Hangzhou, Dagu, and Guangzhou one after another, heading to Guam, which has just been occupied, to anchor and wait for an opportunity.

The strategy being planned by the Ming Navy can be summed up as "forcing the United States to save Australia and encircling Australia to send reinforcements," which can greatly reduce the difficulty of its own reconnaissance and tracking and facilitate the positioning of the enemy fleet.

On the same day, the general attack of the Ming army on the Bataan Peninsula also officially began.

After these days of preparation, the field heavy artillery brigade and the siege heavy artillery brigade were all deployed in place, and a large number of supplies were also hoarded relatively sufficiently.

In a report sent back to the Imperial Court, the commissioner appointed by the Ministry of War to inspect the site wrote: "...... All the units of our royal division have lined up in formation, the positions are connected to the left and right, the flags are covering the sun, and thousands of heavy artillery roar through the sky......

Trapped on the Bataan Peninsula, the U.S.-Filipino coalition was demoralized at the moment - the escape of Mak, Quizon and his family dealt a heavy blow to morale.

In the civil bunkers and semi-permanent fortifications of the front, the ragged and haggard-looking soldiers were so embarrassed that they slaughtered horses to satisfy their hunger, and looked no different from beggars.

Malaria and dengue fever are widespread, with about 900 cases increasing every day, and while medicines are adequate, there is a huge shortage of front-line troops.

Everyone thinks that they have been abandoned by the shameless Uncle Sam, and everyone from the officers to the soldiers has made fun of them with the famous words of Marshal Mak before he escaped.

The soldier reported to the officer: Sir, I want to go to the toilet, but I will come back.

The officer replied to the other soldiers: "Okay, I'm going to go to the toilet too, and you all stay where you are, because I'll be back too."

From dawn to sunset, the Ming army used hundreds of artillery pieces of various types to bombard the positions of the US-Philippine forces indiscriminately, and then launched a large-scale attack with the cooperation of tank troops.

The US-Philippine coalition forces were on the verge of collapse at the touch of a button, either fleeing or surrendering.

Some of the soldiers who surrendered took leaflets airdropped by the Ming army and plucked up the courage to ask the Ming soldiers who were escorting them if they could give them a can.

The defense line on the Bataan Peninsula collapsed in three hours, and Brigadier General Justin sent the reserves of the only two battalions on hand to try to save the line, but it was pointless.

The defeat is like a mountain, and there is no room for recovery......

That night, the staff officers in the headquarters on Corregidor were at a loss as to how to mark the situation of the enemy and us on the map.

Wainwright, who had just been promoted to major general for two days, looked at the chaotic map, distraught and unable to concentrate.

Damn it! To hell with Washington!

What is the use of simply being promoted to the ranks? Even sending a box of spam luncheon meat is better than that!

He spoke with difficulty, weakly speaking, "I agree to Justin's request for surrender, and then... We're the only ones left. ”

(End of chapter)