New Guinea has entered the dry season in July. This is only compared to January, which rains almost every day, but there will still be heavy rain every few days.
Lae, located at the mouth of the Markham River, has now become the most important supply port for the Republican Army in New Guinea. Since the Republican Army captured Lae Port, after several months of intense construction, two large military airports and several military docks were built. It was beginning to take shape. On the calm sea under the scorching sun, dozens of warships were stationed at a tightly protected anchorage. Several transport ships were leaning against the steel temporary dock, nervously unloading personnel and supplies "" Several frigates and patrol boats patrolling outside the port were also spinning in circles doing nothing. The American and Australian warships had long since been driven to the south of the Louisia Islands and did not dare to enter Solomon.
The headquarters of the 17th Army Group Army that was reinforced here is located in Lae. Currently, the Republican Army has three Army Groups and three Marine Divisions in New Guinea, with a total strength of nearly 350,000. On the southern front, the Marine Corps' 3rd The 1st Division attacked the Merauke area, while on the northern front, the Army's Second Army, the Seventeenth Army and the 5th Marine Division needed to cross the difficult Central Mountains and advance toward Port Moresby.
A group of new recruits that Wei Chengdong had just landed from China were pulled by trucks from the port to the Salamaua base, about 30 kilometers south of Laicheng. This is the defense area and main camp of the 50th Jungle Division. This place is not as imagined. It is a large open and flat seaside open space, surrounded by rugged mountains, exposed red volcanic rocks, and covered with weeds everywhere. Although there are some woods, it is far from the tropical rain forest you imagined.
This is not a jungle, it looks like a grassland, but the camp clearly shows that this is actually the base of the 50th Jungle Division. The eye-catching kapok mark on the gate is exactly the same as the logo on his armband, but this place is actually the base of the 50th Jungle Division. He is the ace jungle division known as the "Hero Flower Troop".
Maybe the faintly dark green mountains in the distance are the legendary jungle battlefield.
The car stopped in a camp, and with a clang the rear hatch was opened. "Get out of the car, take your luggage, we're here!" the lieutenant leading the team shouted from outside the car.
Snapped. Bang bang!
A bunch of disheveled people. The unkempt and carefree veterans lined up in a scattered formation and clapped their hands to welcome the arrival of these "new recruits". The applause was sparse and lifeless. Compared with the new recruits wearing brand new dark Lus¨¨ combat uniforms who just got off the bus. Those veterans are like a bunch of beggars.
"Maybe in a few months, I will become like them!" Wei Chengdong had a bad premonition. The war in the jungles of New Guinea will never be as easy as described in domestic newspapers.
"Get lowerlower! Damn it, stick to the ground! Do you want to beat the enemy into a sieve?!Quickly. Climb faster! Climb forward!" Sergeant Major under the scorching afternoon sun Chen Yongmin only wore a pair of light lus¨¨ military pants and stood shirtless in the sun. He was holding a slender branch in his hand, with a livid face and staring eyes, he rushed to the soldiers crawling on the ground and roared loudly, and kicked the Vietnamese guy on the buttocks who was leaning forward. The tree branch in his hand kept drawing an arc in the air, causing a gust of wind to make a whistle.
Wei Chengdong and more than a dozen recruits grimaced, put their Type 39 assault rifles in front of them with both hands, and crawled forward with all their might. If someone paused slightly or raised their head too high, the "butcher" would hold it in their hands. The tree sticks will fall on you. "Butcher" is the nickname given to Sergeant Major Chen Yongmin by the recruits who were assigned to the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 147th Infantry Regiment. As a training instructor in the company, Chen Yongmin seems to be too strict. In the past ten days, these recruits have already had this in their hearts. He greeted all the female relatives in the sergeant major's family behind his back.
"The enemy you are facing is an enemy more ferocious than a hungry wolf. Bears like you can only be used as targets on the battlefield. Keep your body low and learn to protect yourself! You are risking your life, and you are still using shim. Go kill the enemy?" Chen Yongmin still shouted loudly from behind, "The recruits in the company have learned some moves that are useless but low, don't be embarrassed!"
Amidst the roar of the "butcher", these poor recruits continued to crawl feebly, like earthworms. The "standard" crawling movements they learned in the recruit company have long been slowly forgotten.
The Republican Army¡¯s advancement speed in the Guinea Peninsula is quite slow, roughly equivalent to the speed of railways, roads and road construction. It generally does not advance more than 40 kilometers away from roads or railway supply points. Even so, at Owen Stanley Ridge, the Republican Army still encountered strong resistance from the US-Australian coalition forces. Due to excessive casualties and losses in the previous phase of the battle, the Seventeenth Army had to retreat from Stanley Ridge to the base for rest and replenishment.
The US-Australia coalition forces are currently compressed on the Papua Peninsula.Before Kenya, the defenders in this area included the US 27th Division, the Australian 12th and 15th Divisions, the Japanese 19th Division, and the 3rd US Marine Corps Division, with a total strength of about 120,000. The defensive scope is getting smaller and smaller, the density of enemy troops is getting larger and larger, and the defense is becoming more and more tenacious.
Due to the complex and rugged mountainous terrain of New Guinea, the use of armored forces has been greatly restricted. The original advantages of the Republican Army's armored forces cannot be brought into play at all. Most of the entire battle can only be completed by infantry. The New Guinea battlefield has become the Republic's own The battle with the highest casualty ratio since its founding.
Since entering the New Guinea battlefield, in three months, the 50th Division has suffered more than 6,000 casualties, including more than 1,800 killed. In the entire New Guinea battlefield, the total casualties of the Republican Army have reached nearly 400 million. people, and the fighting continues.
The recruits all prayed in their hearts that n¨¦nggou would go to the battlefield quickly to get rid of the current "hell-like life". Perhaps their sincerity moved the Jade Emperor, and this day came soon.
However, after they actually went to the battlefield, the surviving recruits realized that compared to these "damn jungle battlefields", their life in the Shalamoa camp was like paradise.
A few days later, the 147th Regiment received the order, and the troops immediately rushed to the front line in Wau for reinforcements.
After entering the mountains, the car bumped back and forth on the dirt road between the bumpy mountains. Sitting in the canvas car, Wei Chengdong was soon sweating profusely from the heat, and his clothes were soaked through. The car convoy kicked up red dust, and the outside of the car seemed to be wrapped in a layer of red mist, and Shime could not see clearly.
The recruits¡¯ initial excitement slowly wore away amid the bumps along the way, followed by nervousness and some fear. We are going to fight the enemy soon. What will be the fate of who knows? (To be continued.)