Australian Storm 1876

   Chapter 895 Attack like fire

   Noon on December 22, 1908

California

   The town of Lesotho, 31 kilometers south of Santa Barbara.

Li Shuanzhu, the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary army, strode up to the town hall with a group of generals shouting at him. , frowned tightly into the word "Chuan", picked up his cane and knocked on the table in dissatisfaction and said loudly;

   "Go and arrest all those Chinese people for me now, I don't have much spare time to do work for them, tell them to keep their braids and not their heads, and if they don't want to die, cut them for me now.

   From the age of 15 to 50, all of them were drafted into the army. Just looking at these weaklings made me angry. Throwing them all into the recruits to hone them. At least they were able to pick up a gun for me to stand guard.

   And... where is my vanguard? "

   "Report to Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, the vanguard of the Beilun Division has arrived in the suburbs of Los Angeles. During this period, some sporadic skirmishes occurred, and the rebels have been annihilated."

   "Very good, order them to form a camp step by step, mainly to clear out the peripheral resistance elements, and wait until the large force is assembled before they can attack the city, and do not rush into it."

   "As ordered, Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief."

The landing in North America was divided into two waves. The first was the landing of the Northern Corps at Eugene Beach more than ten days ago. The Corps, led by Lieutenant General Duan Qirui, swept northward across Salem, Portland and Seattle. In one week, Oregon and Washington were fully occupied, making a beautiful start.

The Southern Corps is the second landing wave. The two are separated by 11 days. Its main force consists of 4 divisions, namely the Armored Tiger Cavalry Division (lack of a regiment), the Armored Wolf Cavalry Division, and two army brigades in Qingdao and Beilun. A total of 76,200 people, all of which are now in Santa Barbara.

   Started to divide into two groups and swept the nearby bulls, ghosts and snakes.

  Military Army

  In the state of California, there are as many as 19 m army infantry divisions, 6 cavalry divisions, one artillery division, and six coastal artillery regiments, with a total of 246,000 troops.

  California is dominated by the two metropolitan areas of San Francisco and Los Angeles, which are separated by 678 kilometers, so the defensive force of the American army is also distributed in a dumbbell shape.

100,000 troops were deployed in the San Francisco Bay Area, 63,000 troops were deployed in Los Angeles, and the remaining 80,000 troops were distributed in more than 20 cities and towns, basically along the Pacific coast with a depth of about 60 kilometers. This is the so-called "Pacific Fortress".

Santa Barbara is located in the middle of the two metropolitan areas of San Francisco and Los Angeles. It is a port city with a population of more than 100,000. It is 152 kilometers away from Los Angeles in the south and 523 kilometers away from San Francisco in the north. Division and an infantry division defense, a total of more than 14,700 people.

The landing site of the Southern Corps is on the wide beach 22 kilometers north of Santa Barbara. This is one of the bunker areas of the Pacific Fortress plan. It is planned to build a large and solid bunker every 600 meters. Wait for the block, but all this is on paper, and now there is no hair, just a bare beach.

When the    Southern Army was on the ground in Santa Barbara, it had already fought a fierce battle with the local American army who tried to push the landing force into the sea and won a complete victory.

  Three days in Santa Barbara

   On the first day, the Royal Navy landing ship formation spent 7 hours building a plank road composed of iron barges, and then transported a company of 22 wolf light tanks, a battalion of infantry and 46 military trucks to the shore.

During this period

The Royal Navy fleet, which had mastered the sea, formed a dead zone with heavy artillery fire, and turned a cavalry division attacked by Santa Barbara on its back. US Army Command in San Francisco.

The next day, the troops that landed on the shore reached the size of an infantry regiment. At 10:00 in the morning, under the guidance of a tank company, they attacked Santa Barbara. On the way, they encountered a crippled cavalry division and an infantry division with a total of 12,000 troops. The two sides fought on the broad plains.

   As a result, it was a one-sided slaughter.

22 wild wolf light tanks were equipped with 22 heavy machine guns, 46 military trucks were equipped with 46 heavy machine guns on the roof, plus the heavy machine guns and light artillery equipped by the fire battalion of the infantry regiment, it only took 40 minutes to defeat the rice army. force.

   In this battle, more than 2,300 people were wiped out, nearly 10,000 were captured, and only a few hundred people escaped.

   More than 60 people were killed and wounded in the Royal Army Landing Force, including 8 killed, 11 seriously injured, and the rest were all slightly injured.

The    landing advance force immediately launched an attack, fully occupying Santa Barbara at 1:00 noon, and taking over the wharf with only weak resistance.

  From the afternoon of the second day, the Southern Corps landed on a large scale with heavy equipment and personnel, and stayed overnight to fully take over the city of Santa Barbara.

  It was the evening of the 3rd day

   All the heavy equipment and 76,200 officers and soldiers of the Southern Corps landed, and then began to receive and unload combat supplies on a large scale, and waited for the counterattack from Los Angeles in the south.

   three days

The local defenders in Santa Barbara responded quickly. Since the Royal Navy formation appeared in the waters near Santa Barbara and was preparing to land, the relevant emergency military information has spread throughout California, and the nearest Los Angeles immediately dispatched a large number of reinforcements to Santa Barbara. come over.

With the full help of trains, cars and carriages, the number of heavy troops gathered in Los Angeles and nearby towns has reached 57,000 people in 8 divisions, including two cavalry divisions with a total of more than 8,400 people. They arrived in Lesotho town on the second day after landing, here Santa Barbara is only 31 km away.

But here, Major General Petrop, the commander of the American army, got the bad news that at noon, Santa Barbara had been wiped out and the city had fallen. Taiwan "tank", they achieved a one-sided victory.

   Today, the enemy is landing on a large scale at the Santa Barbara port. The number of people is as high as tens of thousands. The exact number is unknown, but there are hundreds of freighters transporting personnel and equipment, and the scale is not small if you think about it with your toes.

  Major General Petrop was suddenly muggle and caught in a dilemma.

His heart was really irritated. Citigroup's communications and broadcasting businesses are very developed, and new technologies are widely used. He is no stranger to the war in the north. He knows that the Ocean Empire is a fierce army armed to the teeth. Legion".

Santa Barbara had 14,000 defenders, a cavalry division and an infantry division. The defense was not weak, but it was defeated in just 40 minutes, and the opponent was just an infantry regiment and a tank company. How does this play?

   He was determined to retreat, but the sword of shame was difficult to sheath.

   So he convened other division commanders to discuss countermeasures together. As a result, some had to fight, some had to withdraw, and some had to wait and see for a while. When the debate was fierce, they almost started to fight, but in the end, there was no consensus.

These division commanders are all militia leaders from various states in the United States. They disagree with each other, and they don’t like each other. They don’t even care about the emergency assigned commander, Major General Petrop. Well, there's nothing like that.

   So you say yours, he says his last unhappy breakup, and things just dragged on.

   Admiral Li Shuanzhu, who is experienced in combat, will definitely not let go of this fat meat. After resting in the army, he immediately attacked and swallowed the large reinforcements from the town of Lesotho.

   Thanks to the careful deployment and the strong athletic ability of the equipped bicycle troops, the 57,000-strong rice army was wrapped in dumplings, and the entire army was wiped out. The process will not be repeated.

  The result of the battle is that more than 4,850 people were wiped out, more than 2,200 people were injured, and the rest were captured. More than 42,000 long guns, more than 11,200 short guns, more than 5,000 war horses, more than 1,600 mules and carts, more than 230 vehicles (including sedans and trucks), and numerous materials were seized.

   Now we are divided into two

   One route, the Beilun Division went south, attacked and occupied Los Angeles, and wiped out the surrounding robbers and remaining enemies.

   All the way, with the armored wolf cavalry division as the arrow, the armored tiger cavalry division, and the Qingdao division as the two wings, the three-way soldiers and horses marched in unison to sweep the north.

   Therefore, General Li Shuanzhu had limited forces in his hands, so he had to put his mind on the local Chinese, at least the communication between the two sides was not hindered.

   These Chinese people can take advantage of it, at least they can take care of the prisoners, right?

   "Colonel, give you two more days, can you pull 20,000 people out of the white captives for me to form the California Independence Army?"

   "This... I can't guarantee a humble position, I can only do my best to complete the task."

"No, the army is about to leave for the north. The vanguard of the armored wolf cavalry division has already set off. I can't wait any longer. I can only give you two more days. I want to see the independent army of 20,000 people. ."

   "As ordered, Commander-in-Chief, if you can't finish the task, come and see you."

After receiving the order, Colonel Wu Peifu, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Qingdao Division, stood at attention and saluted, and hurriedly turned around to make arrangements. Now he must seize every minute and second of his time and try his best to pull 2 ​​out of the more than 50,000 prisoners. 10,000 California Independence Army.

  The California Independence Army consists of 5,000 infantry divisions, with a total of 4 divisions. 20,000 people are just the bottom line. The more the better.

   They will be used as cannon fodder for the lead soldiers on an expedition to the San Francisco metropolitan area with the large troops heading north.

in this aspect

  The Ocean Empire already has a lot of experience. It used white prisoners during the Australian Civil War, which greatly reduced army casualties.

General Li Shuanzhu's troops are not rich, and he must take advantage of the opportunity to sweep California. The battle situation ahead is changing every minute and every second. The American army is using the Pacific Railway to send troops to San Francisco. The scale of four to five thousand people.

   Ants kill more elephants. Admiral Li Chuanzhu naturally knows this.

With the fall of Santa Barbara, the railway line from San Francisco to Los Angeles has been completely interrupted. Due to the massing of troops to fight back against Santa Barbara, Los Angeles is now an empty city. There are only two dissatisfied infantry divisions stationed in the army, about 15,000 people. Can't get supplements from San Francisco.

   Even if the U.S. Army gathers troops from nearby towns to help defend it, the Beilun Division with good combat capability can handle it. Therefore, the task of attacking the south and occupying Los Angeles falls on the Beilun Division.

  The Beilun Division also needed to leave an infantry battalion to take care of the prisoners. The entire division of 18,000 people went south to occupy a metropolis with a population of 630,000, which was also very difficult.

Li Shuanzhu led the main force preparing to go north, and is still staying in Lesotho Town. First, it is temporarily resting, and second, it is for the white prisoners of more than 50,000 people who are ready to be compiled into a 20,000-strong California independence team. The army, along with the army to the north to fight.

  Reuse of waste, don't waste it.

   Once the army leaves

  The number of troops left in the town of Lesotho cannot exceed 1,000, so the local Chinese must be recruited into the army, and a group of thorn-headed prisoners will be killed and taken away, and the rest will be slowly transformed.

   captive camp just outside Lesotho town

   This is a prisoner camp in the shape of a "pin" grid surrounded by barbed wire. There are 12 prisoners in total, and each of them holds more than 5,000 prisoners. Only one prisoner camp is empty, and the others are fully packed.

  It is located in an open area in the suburbs. Every 10 meters apart, there is a large wooden stake nailed to the ground, wrapped with barbed wire, and the prisoners stay inside.

  A row of dirt pits was dug on the edge of the barbed wire, and this is the place for defecation.

  A lot of large buckets filled with water were placed on the other side of the barbed wire. If the prisoners wanted to drink water, they would raise their hands to report. After getting the consent of the guards, they could come to the buckets to drink water.

   As for eating, there is no food. It has been three days, and there is nothing to eat.

   The corpses of the white captives who were grumpy protesting and scolding were lying next to them. The blood had not yet solidified. Tell these white captives with cruel facts what the current situation is?

   in front of each captive camp

   There were several officers who were proficient in English preaching loudly, teaching these white prisoners to understand the rules, understand the current situation, and cooperate with the occupying forces. Don't try to resist and escape or do some other useless actions, otherwise there will only be a dead end.

   On the edge of the barbed wire, more than 100 corpses were thrown randomly. All of them were prisoners who escaped and were killed in the night. They were dragged back by a cart and thrown here. This is more effective than anything else.

   Colonel Wu Peifu led a team of infantry here, and this is what he saw.

  All the captives are held here, including more than 10,000 white captives in Santa Barbara, who came here on foot two days ago and were put in a prison camp.

They didn't eat for three days, and most of them didn't eat for 4-5 days. They only had water to drink. All these white captives were hungry, dizzy, and weak. Seeing the commander come over, he reached out his hand pitifully, and murmured, "Please, please. Have pity on us, sir, and give us something to eat!"

   Colonel Wu Peifu glanced at these people with a stern expression, without the slightest sympathy in his heart.

  The historical process of American cowboys developing the Great West is a **** history of massacres of Indians. Millions of Indians died. Most of these people have blood debts on their hands, so they are not good birds.

   Of course, Colonel Wu Peifu is not a messenger of justice either.

   He is just a pure soldier, and he has to carry out the command of the peak. He cannot raise a California Independence Army of 20,000 people in two days, and his life is over.

   Colonel Wu Peifu turned his head and gave a few words to the adjutant. After a while, a cart full of snow-white steamed buns and vegetable soup drove over. The arrival of these foods immediately caused a commotion in the prison camp.

   The guards in charge immediately pulled the bolt of the gun and shouted loudly, but the hungry captives turned a deaf ear and rushed to the edge of the barbed wire to grab a steamed bun. They only have food in their eyes now and can't care about anything else.

  The cart full of food stopped in the middle of the barbed wire aisle. The prisoners could not reach through the barbed wire. The prisoners who rushed in front were squeezed by the crowd behind the barbed wire.

   Seeing this chaotic scene, Colonel Wu Peifu waved his hand, and a shuttle of heavy machine gun bullets shot into the sky from the armored truck not far away.

  The bullets that resounded through the sky roared past, and immediately woke the captives up. They shrank back under the gaze of the muzzle, and then sat on the ground with their legs crossed.

The    wagon pulled food around the prison camp, and finally stopped at the edge of an empty barbed wire camp.

   At this time, Colonel Wu Peifu saw that the time was almost up, and ordered the officers of the Political Propaganda Office to shout loudly;

   "Brothers of the Federal Army, many of you did not come here voluntarily to fight, but were deceived by the federal government and had to serve a despicable and shameless rogue government that lost its bottom line..."

   "Now you have a precious opportunity anyway. In order to break away from the dark rule of the federal government, to contribute to the establishment of the independent state of California, volunteer to join the California Independence Army, and to fight side by side with the imperial army against the federal government."

   "All warriors who volunteered to join the Independence Army can raise their hands, you can get enough food, blankets and water, and after passing the test, you can join the glorious California Independence Army."

   "The opportunity cannot be lost, it will never come again. Anyone who is willing to join the Independent Army can raise their hands."

   "Don't interfere with other people's choices, otherwise they will be punished with rioting and be shot immediately. Everyone listens. This is a precious opportunity anyway..."

  As the officers preached back and forth, many white prisoners were already raising their hands one after another under the temptation of the insatiable hunger for food, which caused chaos in the prison camp.

  The heavily armed Imperial soldiers with guns and live ammunition rushed into the prison camp, dragged out the prisoners who raised their hands, then whipped the prisoners who tried to stop and abused them, smashed them with the butts of their guns, and dragged them out one by one...

Soon hundreds of frail white captives staggered into the empty barbed wire in the center of the captive camp. Each of them received a piece of steamed bun when they entered, and the vat of vegetable soup was placed in the barbed wire. drink.

   There is only one steamed bun, which is to prevent them from not eating for a few days and eating too much all of a sudden.

   Seeing that their companions received food, extreme hunger made more people give up their persistence, and scrambled to raise their hands, expressing their willingness to join the Independent Army.

   At the same time, this caused even more confusion. Colonel Wu Peifu waved his hand with a grim expression, and more soldiers like wolves rushed into the prison camp, separating the white prisoners who volunteered and the prisoners who stopped them.

   It’s only half a day’s work

  The barbed wire pull-ups that were originally empty have been filled with people. These are all white prisoners who have obtained steamed buns and are willing to join the independence army. The total number is close to 5,000.

   However, these people have not yet been tested, and they need to have the blood of their compatriots on their hands.

   (end of this chapter)