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Text 90, Australia and North

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    On the evening of July 10, all the heavy equipment of the 1st Marine Division, the 10th Armored Division, and the 4th Cavalry Division were rushed ashore. The 10th Armored Division crossed the Mitchell River overnight and marched toward Edward River. The 4th Cavalry Division  Then rush forward to Galbraith in the south.  The Australian Front of the Republican Army also concentrated nine armies to launch a full-scale attack across the Buckley Terrace to the line from Burketown to Dajara in northern Australia.

    The Great Dividing Range runs through the entire Cape York Peninsula from north to south. Although it has caused a lot of trouble for the Republican Army to attack the east coast, it is also very difficult to reinforce and mobilize the US-Australia coalition forces. Currently, there is only one US 41st Division in this area.  .  The U.S. 41st Division is a newly formed unit, most of which are new recruits. Compared with the U.S. Marine Corps and the originally well-trained Army or National Guard, its combat effectiveness is slightly weaker.

    Moreover, the three regiments of the U.S. 41st Division were stationed at Meluna, Edward River and Galbraith on the south bank of the Archer River. They were divided into two parts by the Republican Army. In the early morning of that day, after more than an hour of fierce fighting, the 10th Armored Division  Even after Edward River was captured, an infantry regiment of the US Army was unable to stop the attack of a heavy armored division of the Republican Army. Soon, the entire defense line did not collapse at all.  With Edward River under the control of the Republican Army, heavy equipment and personnel were able to disembark from the port faster. On the night of the 11th, the 11th and 12th Divisions immediately landed in Edward River. As more and more personnel and equipment arrived,  After a successful landing, it was no longer possible for the US-Australian coalition forces to achieve counterattack results.

    MacArthur's biggest headache now is how to safely withdraw the hundreds of thousands of troops on the Papua Peninsula to Eastern Australia. With the 37th Army and the 38th Army landing on Cape York Peninsula, the Republican Army can threaten the defense of Berkeley Terrace at any time.  With nearly 400,000 US, Australian, and Japanese coalition forces retreating, General Bremen, the commander-in-chief of the Australian Army, had no choice but to order the defenders to abandon Burketown and Normanton and retreat across the board.

    A long Great Dividing Range and a geographical location in the westerly belt block the moist air from the Pacific Ocean from entering the Australian continent. Except for the fertile southeast, most areas are in desert areas with thousands of droughts and little rain.  The place is full of gravel and jagged rocks, with only a small amount of vegetation on the ground.

    After crossing the Barkley Mesa, the number of plants here gradually increased, but what affected the Republican Army's advance speed was still the fresh water supply. It was now the dry season, and several rivers flowing through this area had dried up, leaving only a thousand dry ones.  of river bed.

    The US-Australian coalition forces stationed in North Australia and New Guinea include the US 6th Army and the 10th Army. The US 6th Army includes the 1st, 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th Armored Divisions, 3rd, 34th, 36th, 42nd, 44th,  The 45th, 63rd, 69th, 70th, 71st, 79th, 100th, 103rd, 109th Division and the 102nd Airborne Division. The 10th Army includes the 4th and 16th Armored Divisions. The commander is John?  Lieutenant General Lucas, 24th, 27th, 31st, 32nd, 35th, 38th, 41st American Division, 1st Cavalry Division, commanded by Courtney?  Lieutenant General Hodges.  The Australian side has the 3rd, 7th, 8th, 9th, 12th and 15th Divisions. The Japanese New Guinea Front includes the 5th Tank Division, the 9th, 10th, 12th, 19th, 24th, 28th,  The 31st, 33rd, 48th, 50th, 62nd, 66th and 71st divisions were commanded by General Hisao Tani.

    In this area, the enemy's total strength was 8 armored divisions and 43 infantry divisions, and about 3,600 combat aircraft, totaling 1.05 million troops. The Republican Army dispatched 12 group armies and 3 marine divisions, with combat aircraft  4,100, with a total strength of about 1 million. The slight difference is that the Republican Army has 16 armored divisions and nearly 7,000 tanks, while the US-Australia coalition has only about 3,600 tanks on this front.  The number of aircraft is almost the same between the two sides, but in terms of the number of tanks and equipment, there is a huge difference between the two sides.

    Due to the retreat from Burketown and Normanton, the US-Australian coalition forces gave up their solid defenses. Under the impact of the Republican Army's armored forces, the entire defense line faced a huge risk of collapse.

    "We must hold on to Cloncurry no matter what, and we must hold on for at least twenty days!" It was snowing heavily in Melbourne in July. In the Southwest Pacific Headquarters, MacArthur asked General Bremen to hold on no matter what.  Cricklang, to buy him time to withdraw his troops from New Guinea.

    "The latest tanks and reinforcements are on the way. I have asked Chief of Staff Marshall to provide Australia with more troops and supplies. We will definitely win this war!" MacArthur placed his hands on the combat map and forced  Zuo calmly comforted Australian Prime Minister Curtin, who came to inquire about the situation. After six months of silence, the scale of the campaign launched by the Republican Army and the swiftness of its actions completely exceeded his expectations.  The false offensive of the Republican Army in New Guinea forced him to dispatch four divisions from Cape York to the Papua Peninsula for reinforcements. Just before the follow-up reinforcements of the US-Australian coalition arrived, their offensive was launched, and he completely lost sight of it.  He fell into the trap set by China's immigration center.

    "What we have to do now is to shorten the defense line. Here" MacArthur picked up a pencil and drew a few lines on the large map of North Australia."For us, the most important thing now is to defend the southeast region"

    This line of defense is indeed very familiar to the senior Australian military leaders sitting here.  When the Republican Army landed in Western Australia, the Australian Army Staff formulated the "Brisbane Defense Plan" based on its own strength. According to this plan, Australia would give up large areas of territory in the north and west, starting from Townsville in the east.  Establish a strong defense line at Spencer Bay so that all limited forces can be used to defend the most important southeastern area.

    But after MacArthur became the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in Australia, this plan was subsequently rejected by the general. But now, with the Republican Army landing on Cape York Peninsula, all of MacArthur's combat plans were caught off guard.  As a result, 700,000 Allied troops are now in danger of being encircled and annihilated.

    MacArthur faced the large military map spread out on the table. The staff member had already marked the current offensive and defensive postures of both sides with red and blue pencils on it. Thomas?  Admiral Bremen built two lines of defense at Croydon and Cloncurry, and also asked the navy to help the garrison in New Guinea and the northern section of Cape York evacuate as soon as possible.

    At present, the Republican forward has been pushed to a place only about 100 kilometers away from Cloncurry.

    "Tanks, we need more tanks. Order the 4th and 16th Armored Divisions to send all-out reinforcements to Cloncurry. In deserts and hilly areas, tanks are the main force that determines victory or defeat!"

    Just when MacArthur urgently mobilized troops to Cloncurry for reinforcements, the US-Australian coalition forces were preparing to retreat from Mount Isa, an important frontline supply area where a large amount of supplies was accumulated, and there were constant explosions from the town.  There were reports from various barracks and warehouses that the US military was destroying all military supplies that could not be taken away as much as possible before retreating. The entire town was shrouded in thick smoke.

    The Republican Army facing Cloncurry had four armies with approximately 270,000 troops. All front-line Allied forces received orders to destroy all supplies that could not be carried and then withdraw to the Cloncurry area.  In the smoke clouds of the explosion, a huge force composed of thousands of trucks and hundreds of tanks began to slowly retreat to the east. At this time, the Republican forward was only more than a hundred kilometers away from them, and some troops in the rear had already begun to exchange blows.  On fire.

    Due to the rapid deterioration of the situation in Australia, General Marshall had to order the 6th Army, which had arrived in West Africa and was preparing to land, to continue advancing and send emergency reinforcements to Australia via the Strait of Magellan via the safe southern route.  In addition, a transport fleet carrying more than 2,000 tanks, thousands of cannons, and thousands of aircraft has begun loading in batches on the west coast, and the first batch of transport fleets has begun its journey.

    At present, the Republican Army has concentrated about 1,800 tanks and more than 600 armored vehicles on the Cloncurry front line, and the US military has also concentrated four armored divisions on this front. Plus other troops, it also has about 1,600 tanks and more than 500 armored vehicles.  Under this circumstance, the largest tank battle in the history of the class broke out.
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