Hundreds of officers and soldiers gathered into a surging crowd, and the remnants of the 25th Militia Battalion were like ants in a storm under such an offensive, and they were washed away in a blink of an eye.

The "vicious" Ming soldiers used submachine guns and automatic guns to knock down any Australian militia who tried to return fire, but deliberately spared the wolf-surging enemy.

The latter died a little later, and was soon overtaken, and then stabbed in the back with a wet bayonet!

A light machine-gun squad on the flanks suddenly attacked, and the frightened machine gunners had forgotten the skills they had learned in simple training, and simply pulled the trigger and fired, as if this would dispel the deep fears in their hearts.

"Dada-da-"

"Ahh

"Lie down!"

"Side-fired fire !!"

"Li big glasses, gun grenades!"

The side-fire was so terrifying that in the blink of an eye, four or five people were killed by 7.7mm machine gun shells, and the other soldiers fell to the ground one after another, covered in mud from face to foot.

Then, a rifle was erected diagonally, and the grenade placed in the muzzle was thrust out with a "bang" by the gunpowder gas generated by the empty cartridge.

The grenade landed next to the light machine gun team and exploded with a bang, and the Lewis light machine gun, which was still firing wildly just now, was instantly dumbfounded.

Major Enoch, the commander of the advance detachment of the militia battalion, was hit in the waist with a 9.6mm pistol bullet and stumbled into a puddle of mud.

Someone tried to lift him up, but he was immediately knocked down by bullets.

Immediately afterwards, the Ming officers and soldiers with rifles rushed up, stabbed the bayonets fiercely, and even stuck into the ground after stabbing them in pair......

The Kokoda airport was thus captured, and the blood from the corpses was quickly diluted by the muddy water, and a few minutes later disappeared without a trace under the heavy rain.

This small, humble airport has a terrible look – the runway is just flat land, now covered with mud; The tower was made of logs; There are a dozen canvas tents next to it, and empty wooden boxes are piled up underneath.

"Report, sir, forty-two enemies were killed, three were officers, nineteen were captured, one officer, ten were killed and thirty-four were wounded."

"Is the ammunition counted?"

"Back to the sir, there are still thirty percent left."

Youzitao waved his hand and said: "The trench is guarded, and some supplies need to be airlifted to generate electricity." ”

The next day, noon.

Five Type 29 service planes that took off from Rabaul flew over the Papua Peninsula and then descended through the mountains before finally landing in this ghostly place.

The pilot got off the plane and complained again and again - he actually wanted to fight in such a barren mountain and wilderness? It's really hard for all the soldiers.

The five service planes did not carry any supplies and were filled with prefabricated paved runways.

The Yugoslav soldiers were assigned to unload the perforated steel plates and then stitch them together on the runway, so that Kokoda Airport had the ability to take off and land transport planes laden with supplies.

During this period, the perimeter wind power generation urged the deviant divisions led by Youzi Tao, hoping that they would speed up their movements and cross the mountains as soon as possible to attack.

Youzi Tao refused to set off again due to lack of supplies, saying that he should at least let the troops carry at least seven days' worth of dry rations and one and a half base ammunition.

This is a legitimate need, and an offensive with a shortage of ammunition and food is tantamount to self-defeat.

So Zhou's telegram of inquiry was sent to Rabaul, asking them to immediately organize an airdrop of supplies to the town of Kokoda.

As a result, the air force units stationed in Rabaul behaved unhurriedly, thinking that with the help of perforated steel plates, the runway of the airport could be strengthened quickly, so why rush?

A day or two later can take off and land directly at Kokoda Airport, which is much more efficient than an airdrop.

「…… The frontal attack of Mogang should be slow rather than fast, and the partial division of the flank attack should be fast rather than slow. The airdrop delivery must be organized immediately, as soon as possible, without delay."

Zhou Changfeng sent another telegram to urge, and the reluctant air force finally agreed to organize an airdrop of supplies.

The first convoy of transport planes flew over the town of Kokoda on the morning of December 12, and black dots fell from the cabin and immediately bloomed into dandelions.

There are two kinds of airdrop supply boxes in the Ming army, one is a cube wooden box with a load of 250 catties, which is often used to hold food; The other is a rectangular wooden box with a load of 500 catties, which is often used to load ammunition.

Eleven Type 35 transport planes dropped more than 100 supply crates, most of which were ammunition.

Despite the series of battles, the soldiers did not actually consume much ammunition, most of the riflemen fired only a few dozen rounds, and the machine gunners used only two or three hundred rounds, which is almost half the base amount of ammunition.

Artillery shells are the most consumed, and although they have been relatively economical, there are still very few left, and the average 64mm mortar can only be divided into eleven rounds.

Therefore, most of the ammunition supplied by the airdrop this time were 64mm and 80mm anti-explosive shells.

The 250-pound supply boxes were stuffed with all kinds of food, each containing 50 pounds of flour and 200 pounds of rice.

Some special boxes contained 100 boxes of chocolates, 60 canned fruits, 100 packs of 10 cigarettes, 3 catties of tea, 3 catties of sugar, and even the crevices were stuffed with newspapers and magazines.

It's like opening treasure chests, and they cheer every time they find them.

It can be said that Rabaul's ground crews and quartermasters were quite humane, although their superiors were somewhat reluctant.

On the same day, in addition to the morning batch of supplies, the second batch of eight transport planes also arrived leisurely in the afternoon.

This time, it was mainly food, and there was not much ammunition, only a dozen boxes in total.

In such a difficult environment, it is so pleasant to be able to eat some fruit to improve the food, and then everyone smokes cigarettes and gathers to read the newspaper.

You Zitao was always expressionless, he inspected the entire army from beginning to end, and he was quite satisfied, and he could keenly feel the subtle changes in morale.

Although several battles had ended in victory, the soldiers had gradually become a little numb by the hardships.

Now, everyone's expressions are finally relaxed, and they are truly ...... There is light in the eyes!

Since this is the case, it is time to go all out, otherwise it will decline again and be exhausted.

The next day, dawn.

The steamed buns were steaming hot, and the aroma wafted into the air, making the hungry soldiers feel very uncomfortable after sleeping all night.

The night's rest was particularly fruitful, except for two infantry platoons and the sick and wounded in the town of Kokoda, the rest of the officers and men once again embarked on the muddy and bumpy road south.

Only two or three kittens escaped from the frightened advance detachment of the Australian militia battalion, and their description made the main force of the 25th militia battalion extremely worried.

Are those Chinese really that powerful and terrifying?

The uneasiness quietly infected most of the people, and the 25th Militia Battalion ushered in the attack of the Royal Army of Annam in such an atmosphere.

The Southern Army has a strong desire to perform, and the fighting spirit is not bad, at least You Zitao can't find much fault with these Annan elite soldiers.

Many Confederate soldiers carefully camouflaged themselves using leaves and grass bundles, and with such camouflage nets penetrated the positions of the Australian troops from all directions.

Others nimbly climbed trees for the best view, sitting on branches and shooting exposed Australian machine gunners or officers with sniper rifles.

From time to time, mortars were used to support the company's platoon level attacks, and even suddenly shouted and launched an attack.

The commander, Lieutenant Colonel Terrence, was on his way to inspect the position with the battalion headquarters when he was suddenly ambushed, and it turned out that a squad of Confederate troops had penetrated the battle line without being detected at all.

"Bang! Bang! ”

"Enemy troops?! Where are they?! ”

"I can't see it, I can't see it!"

"Go back! Protect the Lieutenant Colonel! ”

"Boom!"

Several officers were shot dead on the spot, and Terrence was wounded in the arm by a grenade.

Only then did the panicked soldiers vaguely identify several figures from the nearby bushes, and the two sides immediately opened fierce fire.

Good camouflage and qualified tactical literacy are undoubtedly the magic weapon of the infantry, and half of these dozen or so Southern infantry successfully escaped after a quarter of an hour of engagement, and they killed and wounded at least 13 Australian soldiers.

The non-stop infiltration and strong attacks made the opponent at a loss, and it can be said that the 25th Militia Battalion of the Australian Army was stunned by this treacherous and tricky tactic.

The day and night of fighting terrified Lieutenant Colonel Terrence and his men, and the entire front was infiltrated like a sieve.

No one knew where the Confederate infantry had infiltrated quietly in the bushes, and sometimes for some reason he saw a smoking grenade rolling under his feet.

Some of the Australian militia in the forward positions even dared to pull the excrement in the empty cans and throw it out with all their might, because several unlucky people had already been shot by snipers while going to the toilet and died in their own feces and urine.

As a last resort, the 25th Militia Battalion of the Australian Army chose to retreat, hoping to get rid of this ghost place where they dare not close their eyes when they sleep.

In the middle of the night, although they noticed the retreat of the Australian army, the southern army did not take it seriously, so naturally they did not choose to pursue.

"What?! The brain melon seeds you are waiting for are made of stone?! ”

By the time You Zitao learned of the situation, it was already late, and it was already three poles at this time, and more than six hours had passed since the retreat of the Australian army.

He was not lightly angry, why did he delay the situation that he found out at night until now?

"Our soldiers have killed a lot of enemies in the past two days, and the official Zuo alone has killed four people......"

The commander of the infantry battalion of the Annan Royal Army, was still a little complacent when he invited merit, and this downstream Zitao was even more annoyed.

"Fuck you! Letting go of the enemy and still asking for credit? Big power into small work, small power into reactive power, get out! ”

You Zitao, who deeply regretted it, blamed himself a little, he found that the southern army fought well two days ago, and he praised a few words at that time, but he didn't expect that these guys had no correct tactical thinking at all.

What is the use of a rout! Even if it's just a small-scale annihilation battle to annihilate the enemy, it's stronger than this.

"Can't delay any longer, quickly clear the battlefield and pursue!"

"Order."

Around the same time, Moresby's frontal battlefield ......

The positional junction of the 21st Infantry Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division of the Australian Army and friendly troops was broken through by the 13th Infantry Division of the Ming Army, and the artillery fire was continuous, and hundreds of infantry tore apart the weak joints with the support of nine Type 38 medium tanks.

Tank guns constantly bombarded the civil fortifications where the enemy's heavy machine guns were located, and the parallel machine guns and course machine guns fired fiercely, and some Australian infantry hiding in foxholes were even buried alive by the tanks twisting left and right with tracks!

Australian anti-tank artillery fired at the Ming tanks with QF2-pounder guns, and at least three cross-arranged anti-tank guns were firing at the same time.

The frontal armor of the hull of the latest Type 38 medium tank has been thickened to 30mm, and many minor problems have been fixed, such as the unreasonable arrangement of ammunition racks, the engine is prone to overheating, and there are slight resonances under certain working conditions.

Although such a level of armor is still not able to withstand the 37mm class of anti-tank guns, the combat effectiveness and driving experience of the whole vehicle are very good.

So the front-line units took matters into their own hands to enhance the protection of their respective vehicles, which was varied.

Some put a large pile of sandbags on hold, some hung spare tracks, and some crews dismantled the destroyed armored vehicles of both the enemy and us, cut steel plates and welded them to their own cars.

In this way, the tank crews of the Ming army can be assured to shoot boldly in the face of the QF2 pounder gun.

There was a junction that was broken through by the Ming army's massive attack?

This news made Major General Vernon Stedy anxious, the first line of defense had already collapsed yesterday, but only a day later, the second line of defense was about to be breached?

"This situation is critical, we can't hesitate any longer, the reserves should be put in immediately!" He walked over to the artillery mirror and continued to order: "Tank company action. ”

The Kurong Regiment (Battalion) and the 3rd Light Tank Company were ordered to launch a counterattack and block the breach.

More than 500 officers and men of the infantry battalion rushed to the front line along the trench, and they soon came to the second-line position to regroup, and immediately launched a counterattack after a dozen or so tanks of their own side were in place.

At this time, a reconnaissance plane that ejected from the battleship Yuanding slowly flew through the sky.

The Australian officers and men quickly lay down and hidden, and the nearby anti-aircraft machine guns also immediately opened fire to drive them away, and when they hurriedly flew away, the machine gunner in the back seat of the reconnaissance plane still sensed a hint of clues.

He thought there might be a supply depot or reserve headquarters in that area, so he sent a telegram back to the fleet.

A group of naval staff officers discussed the map word by word, and also called Zhou Changfeng, who was in the command headquarters.

"Signs of human activity, at least a hundred people? Zhao Hanfeng, take a look. ”

Zhou Changfeng tilted his head and held the microphone and walked to the side of the map, while Zhao Hanfeng and another staff officer had already started to draw the map.

"It is separated from the front line by more than 3,000 meters, and it is estimated that it is an artillery headquarters or a staging area." Zhao Hanfeng turned his head to look at Zhou Changfeng, "Junzuo, try it?" ”

The latter nodded yes.

In fact, Zhou Changfeng agreed with the mentality of trying it out and doing it casually, anyway, it was not bad for this bit of ammunition.

So four destroyers and three fire support ships quickly coordinated the fire plan and seized the time to complete the preparations.

The Type 35 144mm rocket has a range of 9,000 meters, but it is not recommended to do so because the spread of the rocket will be too large to see.

The support ship converted from the Taiping-class destroyer is equipped with seven 144mm rocket launchers in 15 units, and a single ship can project more than 100 rockets in a single round, which is very dense.

"Woo-woo-blah-blah-"

The sailors watched the magnificent scene from the railing, and the sky seemed to be painted orange by the tail flames of rockets.

"Good boy, this posture is terrifying."

"What's it called? It's called a hundred tigers running together. ”

(End of chapter)