Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 640 Mingxiu plank road, secretly crossing Chencang.

  Melbourne

  Melbourne is located on the coastal plain of southern Australia. There is a turbulent Yarra River in the territory. It is the main river flowing through Melbourne. It is 242 kilometers in length, with an annual flow of 718 million cubic meters and a total drainage area of ​​4,000 square kilometers.

  The entire city of Melbourne was originally built along the banks of the Yarra River. In 1854, it had 123,000 residents. After several decades of development, the city’s permanent population exceeded 400,000.

  Nowadays, white refugees from various places have been collected during the war, and the total population has soared to more than 600,000. There are as many as seven bridges across the two banks of the Yarra River, and the entire city spreads out on both banks of the Yarra River, covering a very large area.

  In addition to the central city, more than 8,000 square kilometers of land around Melbourne are full of manors, market towns and private castle-like buildings, and residents are generally relatively wealthy.

As the free federal capital of South Australia, Melbourne has built two tightly defensive semi-circular defensive lines. On these two defensive lines, an army of 60,000 has been hoarded. There are more than 76,000 armed militias in the city. The total force reached an astonishing 140,000 scale.

  When necessary, more soldiers can be armed.

  Two weeks later, December 9, 1890

The sound of guns at dawn did not cause panic in Melbourne. People got up step by step and washed and used breakfast. The conversation on the table was about the worries of a massive invasion of the north, the brutality of the Easterners, the tyranny of the king of the north, and the confusion of the future. , There is still pessimism about this year’s harvest, but there is no sense of urgency that war is coming.

  Since more than 20 days ago

  The northern cavalry units have penetrated into the southern coastline, frequently harassing the Melbourne defense line, and tentatively organized several offensives, but they were all repelled.

  Under the deliberate publicity of the government, the white residents in Melbourne are filled with a fascinating self-confidence, thinking that the B Corps going south is nothing more than this, and there is nothing to be afraid of.

  The B Corps advancing southward is not fast, probably marching southward at a speed of more than 20 kilometers per day. The large force is still more than 100 kilometers away.

Along the way, the B Corps sent a large number of troops to clean up the village, sweeping the entire Victoria like an iron comb. There were hundreds of small battles and annihilated a large number of gunmen, which also fled to Melbourne white refugees. The main cause of overcrowding.

  There is no time to count the exact number of white gangsters killed. It is possible that there will never be a precise number. Anyway, there are many...

The direct result is that the pastoral areas and mines in northern Victoria are crowded with people. The panicked local whites all fled to the periphery of the two big cities, one is Sydney and the other is Ballarat, an important gold mining area, which led to these two big cities. The population skyrocketed.

   Marching while fighting, which caused the B Corps to move southward not fast.

  The advantage of moving forward steadily is to eliminate bandit intrusion along the way, eliminate hidden dangers of restlessness in the rear, and provide reliable safety guarantee for the coastal railway south extension project that is constructed day and night, which can be described as a lot of benefits.

  According to normal conditions

After the   B Corps arrived in the Melbourne area, it still needs to make some necessary preparations for the offensive. It will be a week to 10 days after the offensive is officially launched. There is no need to worry about it now.

The majority of white refugees influx into the cities are young and middle-aged males. On the one hand, it has brought huge population pressure to the two cities, and on the other hand, it has provided a steady stream of troops, allowing the Federation of South Australia to quickly arm more divisions. group.

It has to be said that Victoria has a rich heritage. The influx of a large number of people into the city did not bring food shortages. As white refugees fled south, countless cattle and sheep were driven into the city. While sanitation has become a mess, it has solved the food problem of a large number of people.

  A lot of people dare not say that they can eat and drink for at least a few months, and it is mainly good beef and mutton, supplemented by food.

  It's more than eight o'clock in the morning

  Many pedestrians appeared on the streets of Melbourne. They walked through piles of sheep, enduring the unpleasant smell in the air and the feces of cattle and sheep everywhere, and they moved forward while complaining loudly.

  Along the way, many white people can be seen standing by the Yarra River, looking in the direction of West Melbourne, whispering and talking with a puzzled expression on their faces;

   "Hey, man, guns have been sounding for a long time, what's the matter?"

   "This may be an offensive by the Northerners. It is estimated that it will be a little troublesome, but I believe that they will definitely not be able to break through the outer defense line of heavy defense."

   "Thank you, but I am still a little worried."

"Your worry is understandable. Those hateful yellow-skinned monkeys will never be able to fight in. Sydney has been holding on for two weeks, causing heavy casualties to the brutal offensive northerners. The southern government still controls Sydney, and the city of Melbourne is more Larger, more populous, and stronger defense force. Northerners will only encounter bloodshed when they come."

   "That's great. As long as we can persist for another three months, we will be able to welcome the selfless help of the British army, and all nightmares will pass."

   "Oh...sir, do you have any latest news?"

"That's it. I work in the Federal Government Communications Office. The news from London is very gratifying. The United Kingdom has determined to take a decisive military action against Australia. go back."

   "Why take three months? We should be fine, but Sydney may not be able to hold on!"

   "Yes, the Indian continent is not far away, and it's just over half a month by boat."

   "Now the fighting is so fierce, we have a large number of people dying every day, why have to wait for three months? This is too unfair."

   "It's a pity that because of the Christmas holidays, the lords of the London parliament have to take a vacation. Without the special appropriation of the parliament, the warship cannot be operated, and naturally there will be no reinforcements."

   "Oh... God!"

People on the banks of the   river were talking about it. It was like holding a seminar on war strategies, attracting more and more people to participate in the lively discussion.

  Not a while later

   Suddenly someone exclaimed; "Oh... God, look at the Notre Dame Cathedral on Flinders Street..."

  Everyone turned their eyes, and instantly became sluggish.

  Several small-caliber artillery shells hit the spire of the Virgin Mary Church. Smoke and dust were everywhere. The broken stone tiles fell one after another, and several large broken holes appeared.

Flinders Street is not an outer city, but a main street not far from the Yarra River. As a Christian city, there are many large and small churches in Melbourne. The Church of the Virgin Mary is a large-scale church. Sanhedrin Church.

  As a devout Christian, who would dare to punch a few big holes in the church with gunfire?

   "Oh, you guys, the Easterners are here to kill, run away!" A woman screamed, huge fear grabbed people's hearts, and the people who were still pointing the country just now fled like a bomb in a nest.

  On Flinders Street

Several ferocious wolf light tanks drove on the rubble-filled street, followed by soldiers from the brigade and more than 10 armored vehicles. The huge roar made the streets tremble, and the violent flame-spraying tanks fired everywhere. It caused great fear to the defenders in the city, suffered heavy casualties and retreated steadily.

This is the iron-clad torrent of the Red First Division. It has already lost more than half of the light tanks and more than 50 iron-clad combat vehicles, but these losses are worthwhile. The tank battalion has penetrated into Melbourne's west, and the follow-up troops are now Quickly spread to both sides, taking advantage of the enemy's surprise to occupy more blocks.

The   B Corps' trick "Mingxiu plank road, dark Chencang" bypassed the tightly defensive north and east lines of the Melbourne defenders, and circumvented most of the circle to select a weak point in the west for a surprise attack and achieved great success.

  In order to implement the assault plan perfectly, the B Corps made a lot of strategic feints to confuse the enemy, and quietly cleared the white villages and pastures along the right-wing roundabout, hoping to achieve the greatest suddenness.

  Obviously, the assault plan was a great success.

I have to mention the secret efforts of the Political Affairs Office over the past ten years. Not only did it choose a suitable breakthrough for the Corps’ breakthrough, but the Italian colonel stationed here was a political affairs informant, and a large number of pro-Northern whites were placed in the army. The officer, in coordination with the deployment of other defensive forces, achieved the greatest offensive suddenness.

The B Corps mobilized elite soldiers and strong generals to form an assault regiment, which is composed of about 33,000 elites from the Red First Division, Dragoon Division, Wolf Cavalry Division, and Railway Cavalry Division (partial). , Swarmed in from the gap in the enemy's western defense line, quickly occupied and expanded the gap in the defense line, and rushed forward along the gap.

  The sound of guns heard by Melbourne residents was the fighting that broke out after the assault group began to enter the city, and it swept a small half of the city all the way.

  All the cavalry who entered the city to fight gave up their horses and attacked on foot.

More than 30,000 horses were driven back by the soldiers of a cavalry regiment to meet the large troops that had been marching overnight. If nothing happens, there will be a second batch of more than 30,000 before 12:00 tonight. The famous infantry arrived on horseback and plunged into the fierce siege battle.

  At the latest tomorrow evening, the B Corps will all arrive at the front line in Melbourne, with a total strength of more than 162,000 (including some mobilized troops in the third phase).

  Within a week, there will be no less than 35,000 troops to reinforce the southern battlefield.

  Within three weeks, the number of reinforcements will reach 85,000, and more powerful support can be provided according to the needs of the frontline battle situation.

  City offensive and defensive warfare has always been cruel and bloody. The Sydney siege has become a war of attrition with serious losses. In order not to repeat the mistakes, Red Fort fully supported the long-range raid tactics adopted by the B Corps and gave great support from manpower and material resources.

  Too bad, it was just another Sydney siege.

  In this decisive battle between the North and the South that will determine the fate of Australia, Li Fushou is mentally prepared to fill in 100,000 people in Melbourne. No matter how great the sacrifice, he will gnaw the city down with his teeth.

  (End of this chapter)