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Text 89. Landing at Cape York

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    The most brutal battle the 50th Division encountered was on July 9. On this day, the enemy's attack could be described as crazy.  The U.S. 27th Division and the Australian 12th Division, whose retreat was cut off, launched an all-out attack on the 149th and 150th Regiments guarding the mountains. On the other side, the 147th Regiment and the Division Reconnaissance Battalion single-handedly resisted the fierce attack of the Australian 7th Division.  In three days of bloody battle, the 50th Division suffered more than one-third casualties.

    Enemy aircraft also launched bombings on the Republican Army's positions again and again. The Republican Army was not to be outdone. The Army Air Forces also continued to launch air strikes against the US-Australian coalition forces to prevent their attacks." "Please search for Piaotian Literature, novels  Better updates faster! .  The original dense jungles and grasslands in the mountains have turned into large areas of black mud, with exposed pits and pits, making it difficult to see much luster.

    Wei Chengdong was sitting in the trench where he was hiding, breathing heavily. The Vietnamese man was stabbed in the stomach by the Australian soldiers who rushed up, but his internal organs were not injured.  There was a thick bandage around his waist, but blood was still leaking from the front and back. This kid was really lucky.  Wei Chengdong's engineers penetrated the steel helmet and stuck a pickaxe on the head of an Australian man. After a fierce hand-to-hand battle just now, the Second Battalion finally repelled the enemy's attack. The ground was full of corpses of soldiers from both sides.

    Now there are only more than 300 people left in the Second Battalion of more than 1,000 people. Wei Chengdong's squad only has three people: him, Wang Guosheng and Huang Chongwu. Squad leader Yang Changsheng died as early as the second day of the battle.  In the battle just now, three more of the six remaining comrades in the class were killed, and the remaining three were all wounded.

    Wang Guosheng was shot in the arm, and Wei Chengdong's forehead was cut by shrapnel.  Moreover, his right foot was also injured by the rocks thrown up by the explosion. The Vietnamese man was the most seriously injured, but they still had no way to send him off the position now.  The Republican Army was divided on several highlands by the enemy, and they lost contact with each other. It took a while for reinforcements to arrive.

    Although there were serious casualties on the position, the US-Australian coalition forces still failed to break through their blocking line.

    At this time in Darwin, at the headquarters of the Republican Army's South Pacific Front, General Jiang Chengyu was paying close attention to the battle situation on the Mabuya Peninsula.  To be honest, he was somewhat disdainful of the commanding ability of MacArthur, an American general who had once served as the principal of the West Point Military Academy, because the front line in New Guinea was in crisis.  MacArthur actually ignored the defensive weaknesses of Cape York Peninsula.  At the beginning, three divisions of troops were mobilized from here to reinforce the Papua Peninsula. This was exactly what the Japanese army wanted.

    In the strategy formulated by the General Staff, it was precisely to mobilize the enemy and then deliver a fatal blow to Cape York.

    Now the 1st Marine Division and the Fourth Army Group have already boarded the ship and are ready.  Prepare for a large-scale landing operation towards the US-Australian coalition's defensive weakness at Cape York.

    MacArthur fell into a "trap" set by the Republican Army in New Guinea.  With three divisions of troops transferred to Papua.  The weakness of the entire northern defense force's insufficient strength has become increasingly obvious.  Australia cannot become a military and industrial power within a few years, and the British will pay a heavy price for their colonial policy of extracting wealth in Oceania.

    At present, the total strength of the Australian army has reached 900,000, which is the limit that this large agricultural country with a population of less than 9 million can bear.  If there were more than 500,000 American troops and nearly 600,000 Japanese troops, this country would have given up resistance long ago.

    At dusk on July 9, more than 50 large landing ships carrying more than 30,000 officers and soldiers of the 1st Land Warfare Division set out from Kima'an, escorted by a naval fleet dominated by the Third Battle Fleet of the Nanyang Fleet.  At the same time, convoys carrying the 10th Armored Division and the 4th Cavalry Division of the Army's Fourth Army also set off from Darwin and Garden.

    The landing site selected by the Republican Army was the Mitchell River line guarded by the US 41st Division.

    Vice Admiral Song Shijie led a fire support formation composed of 4 battleships, 3 fleet aircraft, 6 escort aircraft converted from large merchant ships, 6 cruisers, and 16 destroyers to arrive on the west coast of Cape York in the early morning of the 10th.  The reconnaissance force had carefully marked the important fortifications at the landing site on the map early. The battle fleet and cruiser fleet covered the three expected landing sites with firepower according to the areas divided earlier.

    The Republican Army chose the landing site south of the Mitchell River, where the U.S-Australian coalition forces were relatively weak. Australia was originally a country with limited defenses. In two years, it was unable to build complete permanent defenses.  The U.S-Australian coalition concentrated the main defense forces of Cape York on Prince's Island in the northernmost part of the peninsula and between Somerset and Weipa. There were originally three divisions defending the area from Weipa to Galbraith, but now only  There is only one US 41st Division left.

    As soon as it dawned, more than 2,200 land-based fighter planes taking off from more than a dozen military airports in the Arnhem Lowlands and Dorak Island began to attack more than a dozen military airports located by the US-Australian coalition forces in the Cape York area.A large-scale air raid was launched. Its intensity and the number of fighter planes dispatched were the largest since the outbreak of the war.

    And 150 bombers taking off from 3 aircraft carriers and 6 escort aircraft carriers also began to continue bombing the predetermined beach. After three and a half hours of firepower preparation, more than 180 landing ships began to rush to the beach.  .  As the bow hatch opened, the 25-meter-long landing springboard with a load of 35 tons stretched toward the coast. Officers and soldiers of the 1st Marine Division, the 10th Marine Division, and the 4th Cavalry Division rode on amphibious tanks, tracked amphibious landing vehicles, and infantrymen.  The landing craft began to rush towards the beach.

    The latest "Lianyungang-class" combat vehicle landing ship of the Republic of China Navy has a light load of 4,750 tons and a full load displacement of 8,000 tons. It can transport 12 amphibious tanks, ten amphibious infantry fighting vehicles and 350 infantry ashore at a time. In addition,  The n¨¦nggou can accommodate 12 infantry landing craft and 2,000 tons of combat supplies, plus a 25-meter-long bow springboard. When landing unloaded on a 2-degree beach, the water depth at the front of the springboard is very shallow, only 1.2 meters. The n¨¦nggou is sufficient for complex shoals.  Landing operations requirements in sea areas.

    The "Lianyungang-class" landing ship is also equipped with two quadruple-mounted 37mm anti-aircraft guns and two 2x4-mounted 127mm rocket launchers, which can provide cross-shore fire support and some short-range anti-aircraft firepower.

    At 7:19, the first batch of amphibious tanks drove onto the springboard from the bow of the landing ship, and then rumbled to the shore. The landing infantry took the landing craft and drove into the shallow water area and waded ashore. Although there was very little water on the beach,  Difficult, but still encountered enemy artillery counterattack.  The enemy's defense was weak and its troops were limited. There were only some machine guns and sporadic mortars firing some shots toward the coast.

    The enemy had no shore defenses in this area, and some of the few army artillery were destroyed during the fire preparation. The entire landing force encountered negligible resistance. About half an hour later, about three armored companies and two infantry battalions were attacked.  Landed smoothly and began to advance in depth.

    MacArthur revealed the true intentions of the Republican Army and allowed the Republican Army to land smoothly. Any efforts he made on the Papua Peninsula would be in vain. Moreover, after the Republican Army occupied the Cape York Peninsula, ten people on the island of New Guinea were destroyed.  Tens of thousands of US-Australian coalition troops will also be in dire straits.

    MacArthur strictly ordered all air forces in North Australia to concentrate all fighter planes on a large-scale bombing of the Republic's landing fleet. At the same time, he mobilized the 3rd Air Wing in South Australia to support the north. In addition, he also ordered the South Pacific Army led by Halsey to launch a large-scale bombing campaign.  The fleet entered the Gulf of Carbenlia and attacked the Republican landing fleet.

    Of course, Halsey would not execute such a crazy order, but he still stated that he would use all the aviation warships at hand to provide air support to Cape York in Cairns. However, his main force is currently in Luganville and Santa Cruz.  It would take at least two days to reach the battlefield.

    The U.S. military dispatched more than 1,500 fighter planes in North Australia to attack the Republican Army's landing fleet. The Republican Army was not to be outdone. Thousands of aircraft engaged in an extremely fierce air battle in the middle of Cape York. Throughout the day,  During the battle, both sides kept hundreds of fighter planes in the air.  (To be continued.)
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