Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 641 Hard bones

  "The first squadron stopped advancing and accepted ammunition supplements, and the second squadron took over to continue the offensive. It must ensure the momentum of the offensive, quickly occupy the church of the Virgin Mary, and consolidate the commanding heights around the bridge, and hold it firmly."

Captain Bian Chunsong, the tank battalion commander, was smoked like a five-faced face on the stage. He stood behind the tank hatch and waved the small flag in his hand. He commanded the 4 light tanks of the Second Squadron to overtake him and continue to exert strong pressure on the enemy. .

  After experiencing the Battle of the Kongsby Plateau and more than 10 small-scale battles along the way, Captain Bian Chunsong has grown up at an extremely fast speed and has become a qualified tank battalion commander.

  His voice is already hoarse, but there is a hot light in his eyes, that is the desire for victory.

   Watching the four tank steel tracks of the Second Squadron smashed through the hard stone road and passed by, the heavy machine guns equipped with them roared intermittently, knocking down any enemy passing by, and attacking slowly and firmly.

Captain Bian Chunsong opened the back cover of the tank and jumped down. This thing is like an iron gate. It is about 1.3 meters high. It is fixed with iron bolts. It uses ordinary iron plates and has no good bulletproof effect. The wild wolf light tank must be delivered from behind to replenish ammunition.

He patted the smoke on his body, took a few sips with the kettle in his hand, and then took out a pack of cigarettes with a touch of his mouth, and divided it among the two heavy machine gun crew members who jumped out of the car. Root, and then I took a stick in my mouth and lighted it, and took a beautiful mouthful.

A large group of soldiers passing by with guns passed by him silently, their eyes full of admiration. The tank battalion is the hero force of the entire Red First Division. If the Red First Division is an invincible war knife, the armored chariot regiment is The blade that blows and breaks hair, then the tank battalion is the sharpest blade.

  The tank battalion rushed to the front with all the rushes along the way, and everyone had to give it a thumbs up.

   More than a dozen armored combat vehicles loaded with infantry drove through the street in front, followed by an open truck, Bian Chunsong beckoned and stopped. This is the vehicle responsible for transporting heavy machine gun ammunition.

  Before the car stopped steadily, several soldiers jumped down and ran to the rear of the tank with the ammunition box skilfully, carrying boxes of heavy machine gun bullets into it.

  These heavy machine gun bullets are all loaded with canvas bullet chains, and can be used when they are stuck in the heavy machine gun bullet slot. At the same time, there is also a bucket that is used to supplement the cooling water of the water-cooled Maxine heavy machine gun.

  Bian Chunsong stood aside with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, without any intention of stepping forward to help.

  The army of the Ocean Kingdom is highly hierarchical, but there is no saying that officers and soldiers are equal, and it is impossible for an officer to rush to work as a soldier.

  " Battalion Commander Bian, what's the situation ahead?" Colonel Duan Qirui followed a large group of offensive infantry, behind him were several young officers with sturdy expressions.

Bian Chunsong immediately spit out the cigarette in his mouth. He stood up and saluted and reported; "Reporter, our chasing soldiers have fled into the church of the Virgin Mary in front of them. With the strong walls of the church, they organized a counterattack and tanks. A total of nine tanks from the second and third squadrons of the battalion have gone up, and the six tanks of the first squadron are receiving ammunition supplies."

   "Well, can you break through the enemy's defense?"

  "I’m afraid it’s a bit difficult. The high walls of the Church of the Virgin Mary are made of rock. Maybe the 60mm field guns are not very useful. You have to fire a few mortars."

"Very well, I see." Colonel Duan Qirui nodded, turned and ordered; "Order the third and fourth battalions to quickly deploy to both sides, occupy strong buildings to organize defenses, and prevent the enemy from large-scale counterattacks. Now execute the order immediately. "

   "Yes, sir."

   "Go to a few people to direct the traffic, give me the road, and order the rear artillery to come forward and support quickly. The 60mm field gun may not help, it is better to transfer two mortars."

   "Yes, sir."

"Unload a few heavy machine guns, occupy the commanding heights of the buildings on both sides of the street, blast away all irrelevant personnel, and clear away the obstructions. The most important thing at present is not to continue to expand the occupied area, but to firmly hold on to the current situation. Go ahead and execute it if you have a result."

   "Yes, sir."

"Don’t follow the ammunition cart anymore. Find a few sturdy houses, unload all the shells and heavy machine gun bullets here, take advantage of the time to go back and run, transport more ammunition and shells up, everyone is awake Stay a little bit, don't be dazzled by the victory, this is a place where ghosts live, and the hard battle is yet to come."

"Yes, sir."

  After a series of orders were issued, the officers under him suddenly dispersed to execute their orders.

   Colonel Duan Qirui raised his binoculars and carefully observed the front, with a solemn expression on his face. He realized that the Church of the Virgin Mary was really difficult to hit.

The Church of the Virgin Mary is located at the crossroads. The tall and solid stone wall is about 100 meters long, shielding all the church buildings. Only the towering main entrance of the church can enter and exit, but now it has piled up most of the tall stones. Wall, the southern soldiers who retreated here set up heavy machine guns and were shooting frantically.

There is a road called Warehouse Street at the entrance of the church. It is more than 200 meters east of the warehouse street. It is a large stone bridge across the Yarra River. This is the only way to the east and south of Melbourne. I want to occupy The bridge must first occupy the Church of the Virgin Mary.

  At the end of the road west of Warehouse Street, there is a warehouse area in the Melbourne Dock. Now it has been occupied by dragoon divisions who came in a surprise raid and is fighting fiercely to eliminate the remnant enemy.

Flinders Street runs parallel to the Yarra River and crosses Warehouse Street in the front. There are strong stone barricades, and thick piles of mud bags are piled up in front of the barricades, one side with the Church of the Virgin Mary Connected, on the other side is a 4-story Victorian apartment building, built tall and strong.

  The heavy machine gun bullets fired on the stone wall splattered, except for one white spot after another, and the hitting stone chips were flying, almost causing too much damage.

  The apartment house is now occupied by soldiers of the Southern Army. Fierce shooting from various windows has increased the resistance several times.

The light tanks on top of the front are parked behind the rubble and fired fiercely against the enemy, using heavy machine gun fire to suppress the enemy, while the armored tank is parked at a distance of nearly 200 meters from the rear, and the front heavy machine gun is used to support the front. .

  Iron armored chariots dare not get too close, because the armor they are equipped with can only withstand rifle bullets, and cannot deal with heavy machine gun bullets, let alone the enemy’s rapid-fire guns.

  As long as it hits, it means one shot missed.

  So it’s safer to be farther apart. Soldiers all got out of the vehicle to fight, and the solid houses occupying this side shot each other with the opponent's "ping-pong-pong". For a time, the bullets roared and shuttled in the air, and the fighting was extremely lively.

  This is a hard bone, and it must be gnawed down.

Duan Qirui showed a firm look in his eyes, turned his head and said to Bian Chunsong; "Commander Bian, can you let your tank cover my 60mm gun group to move forward, and set up a launch behind the rubble at the back of the intersection. In the position, knock off the enemy's heavy machine guns with direct fire at close range, blast open the barricades, and open a way for the infantry to attack."

   "Sir, do you mean...withdraw the heavy machine gun group?"

   "Yes, the enemy's defense is too strong. No matter how many heavy machine gun groups are on it, it’s useless. I need at least two 60mm field gun groups and carry more ammunition."

   "Well, let's let them unload the heavy machine gun and ammunition box." Bian Chunsong hesitated and agreed.

  He knew that the colonel in front of him was the brother of Master Li Shuanzhu of the Red Division 1st Division. He was a hot high-level officer of the B Corps. Because of the battle of Sadness Ridge, he was promoted to the rank of colonel on the battlefield.

  Ocean Kingdom’s army promotion conditions are harsh. The promotion on the battlefield is limited to company-platoon-level basic-level officers, almost at the level of lieutenant officers. The promotion conditions for intermediate-level officers become extremely stringent.

  If you want to promote a colonel, after the Corps Commander Mo Rufeng reports, it still needs to be reviewed and approved by the Army Staff Headquarters, and finally decided by His Majesty. This complete set of procedures is indispensable.

This is because before the North-South War, the overall size of the Australian Army was small, with a total of less than 50,000 troops. There were 7 regular division-level army establishments. After each major was promoted to lieutenant colonel, Li Fushou would personally meet him as a demonstration. Solemnly.

Only by relying on the Battle of Sadness Ridge, Colonel Duan Qirui could not be so highly valued by Commander Mo Rufeng. The real reason lies in the bold and circuitous assault plan of "Ming Xiu plank roads, dark Chen Cang" was the fact that Colonel Duan Qirui was in the military meeting. It was first proposed by the above and was recognized by the top of the B Corps.

   believes that once it succeeds, it will quickly change the situation in Victoria and form an absolutely favorable situation.

  " Battalion Commander Bian, keep two of your tanks. After the mortar cart comes up for a while, help cover the direct fire." Duan Qirui said.

   "Understand, the tank battalion resolutely executes your orders." Bian Chunsong solemnly saluted the military, then quickly boarded the tank, waved the small flag in his hand a few times, and directed the tanks of a squadron to attack forward.

The infantry under the command of Duan Qirui was an independent regiment of the Railway Cavalry Division, while Bian Chunsong belonged to the tank battalion of the Red Division.

  Bian Chunsong didn’t have to be so respectful, his direct officer hadn’t come up yet.

  But successful people must have the truth to success. Bian Chunsong is the kind of person who has a bright mind and a lively vision. The execution of Colonel Duan Qirui’s orders to the fullest, seems to be self-contained.

  The man in front of him is the brother of the division commander, the number one red man in the eyes of the legion commander. How blind must he be to ignore Chief Duan?

  Can you still mix in the army with just this look?

Brigadier General Li Shuanzhu is the big thick leg that Bian Chunsong is looking for. You must hug it tightly. Bian Chunsong understands a truth; if you want to have a bright future in the army, you need not only to fight well, but also to look for the top of the mountain. ...Cough cough... insist that Qingshan is not relaxed.

  (End of this chapter)