Age of Conquest Reborn

A battle in Australia that used more than 70% of the division's ground forces, all two fleets, almost all the armored forces, the two northern and southern flying groups, all the artillery, and involved all Tang Qiuli's energy, finally came to an end.

From the battle with the Japanese on the islands in the southwest Pacific, to Tang Qiusheng's Sulu Mobile Corps' clever landing in southern Australia, to the end of the current east coast of Australia where more than one million Japanese troops were annihilated, the Battle of Australia lasted for more than half a year.

For a long time, if you include the previous plans, the initial strategic layout lasted for more than two or three years. It was the battle that consumed the most energy and effort of Tang Qiuli.

The significance of this battle is even greater. Except for the front line of the North American continent and several islands in the East Pacific, the Japanese have lost all their overseas colonies. The Japanese most elite navy and army have basically been lost. Japan

The archipelago is now an isolated island with no peripheral defense capabilities.

The results of the Australian Campaign were also very brilliant. They killed the entire Japanese Australian Front, the last overseas heavy force group of the Japanese Army, and successively annihilated and captured more than 1.6 million Japanese soldiers.

The commander of the Japanese Australian Front, Genzaburo Ito, committed suicide. More than 100 general-level officers below the chief of staff, Major General Akutagawa, also committed suicide. As for other junior and senior officers, there were even more cases of lieutenant-level officers committing suicide.

What made Tang Qiuli regretful was that when the troops began to attack the Japanese troops in the encirclement on the east coast of Australia, the firepower of ground artillery and aerial bombing was too fierce. In the end, the number of Japanese prisoners of war captured by each regiment was only fifty

More than hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers were wiped out in smoke and steel by more than an hour of combined ground and air firepower. For this purpose, the division's artillery and aviation units consumed tens of thousands of tons of ammunition.

In addition to more than half a million Japanese prisoners of war who were dying of hunger, there were also a large number of weapons and equipment left by Japanese soldiers. The soldiers of the division looked down upon these Italian and Japanese weapons and equipment, and no one was interested.

Son, let’s try a little devil’s gun instead!

However, Lieutenant General Zhang Quan, the division's logistics director, who arrived in Australia after a long journey on the second day after the Australian campaign, did not dislike these things that the soldiers looked down upon. He not only came here himself, but also brought logistics

The main task of the large team of troops is to collect these scraps of copper and iron that are either intact or blown to pieces and scattered in every corner of the battlefield.

Lieutenant General Zhang Quan also showed off his old qualifications and gave each corps commander and each brigade commander a hard quota. Each corps and each brigade must turn in a certain number of tons of stuff every day. This rigid quota allows the corps commander and each brigade commander to hand over a certain number of tons of stuff every day.

The brigade commanders complained endlessly and could only order the troops to rest on the spot. They spread out on the battlefield hundreds of kilometers in radius and dug three feet into the ground to collect.

In the face of complaints from the generals, in the words of Lieutenant General Zhang Quan, "Hey! What's wrong, you guys are used to fighting lavish wars now? Aircraft and artillery are deployed at every turn, and the shells and bombs hit those few hard. But.

Do you know where the shells and bombs come from?"

Of course the generals knew. But Zhang Quan still taught him a lesson: "Don't be so reluctant, I'm telling you, all these scraps of copper and iron must be transported back and turned into cannonballs, bombs and bullets for you guys to squander."

, you have to learn to live your life, right? Otherwise, according to your way of fighting, Master’s family fortune would have been wiped out by you long ago!”

"Do you know the hardships of the Logistics Department? Don't look at the division commander. He just eats food and doesn't care about anything. If he is short of guns and artillery, he will reach out and ask for it!" After saying that, he glared at Tang Qiuli as if to demonstrate, and turned Tang Qiuli away.

Qiu Li made San San laugh.

Come on, put down this big hat. The commander of the corps and the brigade commanders will not dare to neglect it. If this old man gets angry and even the division commander can't handle it, Tang Qiuli's energy will certainly not be collected in the logistics department.

On rotten iron.

After a war that lasted for more than half a year, the entire Australia was almost destroyed. He had to personally handle the intricate post-war reconstruction work, as well as the escort and disposal of hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war.

For this reason, Tang Qiuli sent a special telegram to Li Honggang, director of the Prisoner of War Management Office of the division commander who was still in Kulun, Outer Mongolia, asking him to make all preparations for receiving Japanese prisoners of war. The weather in Australia in December was still

The sun is shining brightly and it is as warm as spring, but in Outer Mongolia, it is already freezing and snowing heavily. Tang Qiuli does not want these free workers to die in the hands of the soldiers, but in the severe cold of Outer Mongolia.

Among!

Australia, on the other hand, has specially allocated enough ships to prepare to transport prisoners of war, both by sea and land, tens of thousands of kilometers long distances, and hundreds of thousands of Japanese prisoners of war. One mistake can be a big deal.

Tang Qiuli came up with a way to escort the Japanese prisoners of war separately. The ordinary soldiers were together, and the generals, assistant officers and lieutenants were also separated. According to the virtues of the Japanese, without the leader, there would be no trouble.

If he catches a few more stubborn hapless guys who still want to show some bullshit samurai spirit and kill chickens to scare monkeys, he reckons there won't be any problems?

The matter of Japanese prisoners of war has been temporarily figured out, but the subsequent post-war reconstruction issues in Australia have made Tang Qiuli's head swell. He is not good at this kind of detail. In a few days,

When I came down, my eyes were as tired as rabbits. As soon as I saw the words on the page, my head began to hurt violently.

A few days later, Tang Qiuli felt that he was really not qualified to do this, so he sent a telegram to Liu Hanzhang, who was the chairman of the Northeast, Korean Peninsula and Far East Regional Political Affairs Committee, asking for help. He said that now that Australia had been fully occupied, there was a need for a military and political officer.

If you are the chairman of the committee, you are waiting for your seat to be filled with empty seats!

Anyway, all government affairs in the Korean Peninsula, Northeastern region, and Far East region are now on the right track. Don't the Hanzhang brothers not want to challenge a new region? Australia is different from other regions. The people to be managed are all foreigners.

It's very challenging. I believe that Brother Hanzhang will be able to take on this important task!

After receiving the telegram from Tang Qiuli, who was not far away, Liu Hanzhang, who was sitting in Fengtian, looked up to the sky and laughed. He knew very well that his young boss was a little petty and wanted to be the boss.

Liu Hanzhang's call back was very simple, just one word, "Go!"

A few days later, Liu Hanzhang took a plane and arrived in Australia. He was followed by hundreds of people, all of whom were elite soldiers and generals under his command. They built more than a dozen large transport aircraft. According to him, this was just a front-line mission.

government officials, and a large army of several thousand people behind them!

Tang Qiuli, who came to the airport to greet Liu Hanzhang, said to Liu Hanzhang as if he had seen a savior: "Brother Hanzhang, from now on, Australia is yours, so I can't control how many people come!"

With Liu Hanzhang taking over the post-war reconstruction work in Australia and the government affairs management in various places, Tang Qiuli finally got away from the tedious government affairs. He spent three days sorting out the next course of action, and then, with

A notice was issued in the name of the division commander and decided to convene a military meeting on January 1, 1942.

The range of participants in this military conference was quite wide, covering the corps commanders to the brigade commanders and their chiefs of staff, the commanders and chiefs of staff of the armored force, the two fleets and the aviation force. The total number of participants reached more than 700.

Even Liu Tiehan, the deputy division commander in the north and commander of the East Point Force, as well as all the brigade commanders and brigade chiefs of staff of the East Point, Sun Zhenbang, commander of the Outer Mongolia Field Corps, and all the brigade commanders and brigade chiefs of staff of his troops.

The unprecedented scale of the military meeting was held in Yangon, Indochina. Tang Qiuli meant that by taking advantage of this military meeting, it happened to coincide with New Year's Day. Everyone gathered together to celebrate for a day. After the Australian War,

I and my generals, who have been tense for a long time, can finally breathe a sigh of relief. It is also time for all the soldiers in the division to breathe a sigh of relief.

Although Tang Qiuli did not explicitly mention this large-scale military meeting, it implied a celebration and a desire to reward the generals for their hard work. Therefore, he was particularly attentive and asked Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe to personally take charge and intervene.

The specific details must be done thoroughly.

Moreover, Tang Qiuli repeatedly emphasized to Zhao Yuhe, "Yuhe, this gathering of princes from all walks of life in Yangon is not just a military meeting. It has been rare for everyone to get together for several years. All the expenses are borne by me."

I pay personally, not from the army, but you have to ask Mei Ting for it after I return to Yangon, she is in charge of my savings!"

Zhao Yuhe disagreed and said resolutely: "Commander, convening this military meeting is purely official business. How can you spend your personal savings? If it were told, I, the chief of staff, would not be accused.

Backbone!"

"Moreover, the Division has special expenses in this area. You can't disrupt the Division's financial system by disregarding public and private matters. Besides, for hundreds of people, a few days of food and drink is a big expense!"

"Hahaha!" Tang Qiuli laughed and said, "Yuhe, you are looking down on my family background. The four of us are on military pay, and I am the one with the highest military pay. More than a thousand yuan a month goes into the ocean.

When it comes to savings, none of our teachers can compare to me, so that’s it, I can still afford to spend this money, not to mention, this is my intention!”

"For so many years, since I started my army in the Northeast, these brothers have been following me, fighting from outside the customs to Guanli, and from home to abroad, through life and death. Now, they are finally going to join the Japanese in their homeland. Yu Qingyu

I should pay for it out of my own pocket and treat the brothers for a few days. It’s not about the amount of money, it’s about my thoughts!”

Zhao Yu and Mo Ran had moved expressions on their faces, but they did not persist.

There were still a few days before New Year's Day, so Tang Qiuli took a special plane with his division commanders to return to Yangon. In addition to the need to prepare for the military meeting in advance, there was also a deep urgency in his heart.

After being separated from his three wives for more than a few months, he really wanted to see their smiling faces.

(To be continued)(To be continued)

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