Chapter 78, The Last Battle to Conquer Australia (Part 2)
After the fall of Melbourne, the last Australian Allied positions centered on Shank Point fell into a brief period of relative calm.
——The Allied forces, who had just been beaten into a state of shock, were thankful to God that they could hold on to the remaining defense zones. Naturally, there was no possibility of launching a counterattack.
But the Japanese army also had its own troubles: before, various troops attacked Melbourne from three sides, rushing too hastily and too fast. Although they tried their best to kill the old master with force, skill and random punches, they still beat the Australians to the ground. But behind the various Japanese armies, there remained many sporadic small Allied forces and secondary strongholds that deviated from the lines of communication. Now that Melbourne has been captured, it is natural to turn around and gradually clear away the remaining enemies on the road behind to prevent unexpected events.
In addition, after nearly a month of continuous attacks, the Japanese troops on the front line were generally exhausted. Most of the ammunition, food and fuel of each unit had been exhausted. Rest and replenishment must be carried out as soon as possible in order for these units to regain their combat effectiveness. Otherwise, you will be dragged down alive.
As a result, for about a week, the Australian battlefield actually remained relatively "calm". Except for the incoming Japanese aircraft bombings and the Japanese battleship formations at sea, the Japanese army on the ground did not launch any attacks. The next attack.
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 reserves were burned again amidst the indiscriminate bombing of the Japanese army. I ate a lot, and the rest was only enough to last for five days: the area of Shank Point is far smaller than the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines, and it lacks air defense bunkers to store supplies. However, the Japanese bombing and artillery intensity was fifty times that of the Battle of Bataan. More than twice as much.
Therefore, before the Japanese army launched a large-scale attack, food had become the most troublesome problem for the Allies. From the moment they retreated to Shank Point, the Allied forces' rations were reduced to half of their original size. Then, as time went by, even the daily rations of the frontline troops were further reduced to one-third of the usual. As for non-combatants and civilians in the rear, there is almost no stable food distribution. After eating all the food they had brought with them, they could only nibble on bark grass roots, or look for seashells and crabs on the beach to satisfy their hunger - on the cold and rainy winter beaches, these common laughing things in summer are not So easy to find. Then he died of diarrhea and diarrhea because of eating unhealthy food.
At the same time, there was no more feed for the draft horses and cavalry mounts, and the small amount of remaining fodder was eaten by the extremely hungry people! The commander of the Australian Army, General Thomas Bremy, had no choice but to order with tears in his eyes all the army horses and donkeys to be killed, including his own beloved mount. Relying on the meat obtained from slaughtering these animals, the Allied forces at Shank Point Battlefield were able to postpone the food shortage to 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 not a big deal, but now it is winter in Melbourne, although it is far less severe than the Russian winter. It's even warmer than the winter in London, but it's still enough to make a homeless person in the wilderness sick from the cold. The Allied troops and civilians who retreated to Shank Point did not have that many houses and tunnels to stay in, and the number of tents was far from enough. They could only bite the bullet and start working to improve their accommodation conditions. Those who had shovels used shovels, and those who didn't used shovels used empty cans and spoons. They dug out many holes that could barely shelter themselves from wind and rain. At first glance, it seemed as if everyone had turned into a large groundhog.
Then, the good weather in the Melbourne area ended without warning again, and the cold winter rain began to fall again over Shank Point. Allied trenches and refugee burrows quickly turned into quagmire. Many small holes that lacked support collapsed at night due to water seepage, or were collapsed by Japanese bombs and artillery shells, so people who were sleeping or avoiding bombings were instantly buried alive in them...
Those Melbourne refugees who were already suffering from lack of food, clothing, and weak constitution suddenly fell ill with colds or digestive diseases after being hit by this winter rain. As we all know, the worse a person's living conditions are, the more likely they are to get sick. If your health is poor, it will be difficult to get better once you get sick.
The real reason why it is said that "poor people are in good health and can withstand the harsh environment" is because those poor people with poor health can no longer withstand the bad living environment and die early. Those who survive are those who have a hard life. The remaining species died - in short, because the body's resistance was weakened by hunger and cold, tens of thousands of people at Shank Point soon became ill and fell one by one, or were injured in the enemy's shelling and bombing, leaving the simple The temporary hospital is overcrowded. However, various medical resources in Shank Point, from aspirin to treat colds to gauze for surgery, are very scarce, leaving doctors with no choice but to watch cold patients' conditions worsen and turn 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 wilds, they all contracted dysentery and suffered from diarrhea due to their poor diet.
What's even worse is that even under such conditions of being sick and hungry, these unlucky guys had to be driven by bayonets to dig trenches and build fortifications day and night. Soon, they were tired by the hundreds due to the intensity of the construction. Death, some civilians couldn't bear the hard labor and actually hanged themselves or committed suicide by throwing themselves into the sea.
Faced with all the tragedies that were happening around him at this moment, Prime Minister John Cutting was helpless and could only send out wireless telegrams repeatedly, begging the United States to provide them with support. Although the Pentagon had just lost half of the Pacific Fleet due to a typhoon, it still managed to make some efforts - first of all, it gathered a number of fishing boats and small cargo ships in New Zealand, and several times tried to use the rain and fog to sneak through Japan. The naval blockade of the fleet, transporting the Australians They were given as gifts for adoption, but all ended in failure: at this time, the number of Japanese naval ships gathered in the southern waters of Australia had reached more than 100, including aircraft carriers, battleships, and destroyers. They wanted to take over a palm-sized piece of land around Shank Point. The place is sealed airtight, so it is naturally easy to do so. As a result, these smuggling boats loaded with food and medicine either turned around and fled a long way away, or even the people and boats were captured by the Japanese army.
However, although these smuggling fleets organized by the Allied Forces failed to break through the blockade even once, they still had some unexpected gains - they rescued some scattered Australian Commonwealth troops in other coastal ports outside Melbourne. , and shipped them to New Zealand and Samoa one after another.
Then, since the sea route was impassable, the Americans tried to find a way from the sky. They tried their best to collect a group of transport planes, took off from Tasmania in southern Australia, and used the gap in the early morning or evening when the visibility was poor to cross Bath. Strait, airdropped some supplies to Australia, which was trapped at Shank Point. However, the Japanese flying team reacted quickly and immediately organized a pursuit. The sixteen transport aircraft dispatched in the first wave of the Tasmanian Allied transport aircraft formation, as well as twelve escort fighter jets, were all shot down by Japanese aircraft during their return flight. , and the Allied airfield on Tasmania was soon carpet-bombed by the Japanese naval aviation. Aircraft, personnel, and fuel supplies suffered heavy losses, and they were unable to continue to organize large-scale air transportation. Although subsequent airdrops have never completely stopped, they are only one or two aircraft in size, and they are often shot down before reaching their destination. Even if they really flew over Shank Point and dropped the supplies without sinking to the bottom of the sea, it would still be a drop in the bucket for the tens of thousands of people at Shank Point.
——Hunger, cold, epidemic, lack of medical treatment, lack of food and clothing, and endless air raids and shelling... all kinds of suffering are constantly tormenting the last ally on the Australian continent. army, making their lives even bleaker than those of the Allied soldiers in the trenches on the French front line in World War I: at least the British and French forces at that time did not have to go hungry. Although Prime Minister John Cutting is still trying to think of ways to encourage everyone, saying that an American fleet full of supplies and reinforcements is approaching, and that defeat will be turned into victory, no one will take such words seriously. .
The formal battle had not yet begun, but a decadent atmosphere full of despair and fear was already permeating the Allied forces, whose eyes were green with hunger.
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On September 15, the Japanese army, which had basically cleared away the small group of remaining enemies in the rear and had taken initial rest, finally launched its first exploratory attack on the town of Hastings on the east side of the Allied defense line, committing only one brigade. force, the result was unexpectedly smooth - this unlucky town near the sea has been bombarded by Japanese navy ships with incendiary bombs and high-explosive bombs. After half a month, there were not even a few complete houses left. There were no ready-made solid defense facilities in this small rural place before, and no matter how tenacious the engineers were, it would be difficult for them to repair the fortifications amid continuous artillery fire... Therefore, the Japanese army easily He quickly broke through the Allied positions along the beach, then skillfully outflanked them, and completely shredded this nominal defense line with a single backstab.
Now that the east side was broken through, the town of Balcombe facing Phillip Bay in the west was caught in a double attack by the Japanese army, and naturally it could not hold it. The sick and hungry Allies had no choice but to abandon the town of Balcomb and the town's painstakingly dug trenches, and staggered back south along the coastal road. For a time, the road leading to the rear was crowded with Allied soldiers with dirty clothes and sallow faces. They all looked like walking zombies. Everyone hasn't washed or shaved in days. The retreat quickly turned into a rout as Japanese planes bombed and strafed all paths and coastal roads without restraint. One after another the troops were disintegrated in the chaotic retreat. The officers were helpless and the only thing they could do was to pray to God.
What's even more tragic is that by this time, these half-starved white soldiers had killed and eaten the last batch of pack horses and mules, and the precious fuel was also used to burn fires for warmth, leaving only a small number of undamaged cars. It also turned into scrap metal because there was no oil to burn, so it was difficult to drag away the field artillery on the forward position, and it was too late to dig holes and bury them. The Allied artillery had to tearfully blast them on the spot to avoid damaging the enemy.
At the same time, the Japanese army, who was surprised that the enemy was so invincible, also took advantage of the situation and invested large forces to continue to pursue the Allied forces that collapsed across the board. Lieutenant General Tsuji Masanobu personally charged forward in a tank and took the lead along the coastal road on the east coast of Philip Bay, easily crushing the spontaneous resistance of the Allied forces in the chaos. Along the way of the southward attack, broken weapons, supplies, and equipment left behind by the Allied forces could be seen everywhere, as well as damaged vehicles and charred corpses, but almost no food could be seen. However, many trees near the road have been peeled off, revealing dense white dirt.
On the morning of September 16, gunshots also rang out in the small town of Flinders, close to Shank Point, where the federal government is stationed. Soon even the Shank Point lighthouse was planted with a sun flag. Prime Minister John Cutting had no choice but to move his Australian federal government team again and retreated to the town of Sorrento, located at the southwest tip of the Mornington Peninsula. Behind it was the exit of Philip Bay. There was no way out except to commit suicide by jumping into the sea. .
However, the Japanese army's rapid advance at this stage ended here - after withdrawing from Flinders Town, due to the abandonment of large areas of land, the density of the Allied forces was greatly increased, and the terrain they defended also changed. The coastal plain, which was easy to attack and difficult to defend, turned into mountains and hills with many dangerous passes. Relying on the steep terrain of the "Red Hills" and "Main Ridge", the Allies only needed a small number of troops and artillery positions hidden in the mountains to withstand the Japanese attack. Therefore, the two sides once again temporarily formed a situation of stalemate and confrontation...
However, time was now on the Japanese side, and as time passed, Allied ration supplies became increasingly tight. Malnutrition brought more diseases, and the fight against these diseases gradually depleted the soldiers, while they had to defend their positions against the enemy's constant attacks. The vast majority of Allied soldiers quickly became skinny, hungry, sick, and extremely weak, unable even to lift their guns.
In the cold winter rain, Corporal Downey walked on the red hill position with one foot deep and one foot shallow. In Melbourne, which has a temperate maritime climate, there is a lot of rain in winter. The ground on the frontline battlefield is soaked by the rain, and the mud often sinks into the mud when you step on it. Sometimes, if you don't step well, the mud may reach your knees. Cold water will also flow into the shoes at this time, freezing the feet to the point where they may even lose consciousness completely.
Unfortunately, even though Corporal Downey was extremely careful, he still stepped into a deep pit. After a lot of effort, he managed to pull his left foot out of the deep mud. However, the upper of the shoe came out, but the sole remained in the mud.
"...Oh! Damn it!" Corporal Downey cursed desperately, and at the same time took out a dirty handkerchief and wrapped his left foot without the sole - he knew very well that in today's desperate situation, , when supplies are scarce, it is absolutely impossible for him to get another new pair of shoes from the military supplies office. And before he picked up a pair of intact shoes from a dead man's feet, one of his feet was probably severely frostbitten.
Thinking of this, in frustration, Corporal Downey felt his stomach growling again, and his hunger became even more unbearable - the rations given to them now were only cans of Spam luncheon meat and sardines, one can for ten people every day If you eat, you still get two meals.
Although the officers were still trying to cheer up, saying that merchant ships full of food and medicine would arrive soon, Corporal Downey had long given up hope. Everyone knew that they had been abandoned, and what would happen next was destined to happen. Buried here - if the Japanese army across the street had not been so notorious and cruel, and reportedly liked to torture prisoners of war until they were worse than death, then the Allied forces now trapped here would have raised the white flag and surrendered, right?
——However, unlike what this desperate soldier imagined, the United States of America did not always give up on Australia. Even under today's difficult and stretched circumstances, the U.S. Pacific Fleet still tried its best to send people here...
Late that night, a slight noise suddenly came from the dark sea full of rocks near the Mornington Peninsula, the last Allied position. Then, along with the white waves, a small periscope quietly emerged. Out of the sea
"... Confirm that the sea surface is safe and correct, drain the main ballast water tank, tilt up and trim, and start floating."
"...Yes, the main ballast water tank is drained, tilted up and trimmed, floated up!"
After the captain gave an order, as the crew operated in an orderly manner, the compressed air was slowly discharged into the main ballast water tank, and the seawater was squeezed out. This caused the US Navy's "Baby Shark-class" submarine to slowly emerge from the sea with its bow slightly raised.
Then, the captain of the first special forces unit of the United States, Colonel Evans Carlson, who is now temporarily serving as the presidential envoy, got out of the submarine, transferred to a rubber boat and landed, carrying a personal letter from President Truman, and embarked on the alliance. The last position held by the army on the Australian mainland...
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ PS: Taiwan’s political arena has become increasingly crazy recently, and it actually passed a resolution requiring the “Kuomintang” to return to Japan the assets it received after the war—should we simply Should the entire island be returned to Japan? Alas, after President Tsai came to power, he made a fool of himself in everything, and it seems that the only thing he did well was killing Lan Ying.