stonecrandall Chapter 1086
Chapter 1086
The Japanese reinforcements arrived much faster than the British reinforcements!
After learning that the vanguard’s attack was frustrated, the two Japanese divisions in the rear immediately came to support, and the Japanese regained their advantage in manpower!
At this time, if the Japanese chose to send part of the army to bypass the British line of defense and attack the city of Mel directly to the south, then maybe they really had a chance to drive all the British troops into the sea!
However, the number of Japanese troops on the front line was relatively small. They currently had only three divisions, less than 80,000 troops. This force was used to deal with the British army in Xicheng, but without knowing the intelligence of the British army in the south, it would be very risky to rush south!
If the number of British troops in the south was more than they thought, then this army going south might never come back!
Australia looks big, but most of the middle area is Gobi and desert, which is not suitable for living, nor for long-distance marches. The only place suitable for living in the eastern part of Australia is a ring belt about 200 kilometers away from the sea. This terrain is very easy to be blocked by the enemy!
Therefore, the commander of the Japanese army hesitated!
In his opinion, the British army can send tens of thousands of troops to the north to reach Xicheng, so the troops in the area south of Xicheng will probably be more, right?
Therefore, if they continue to go south, it is definitely not enough to rely on their small number of troops. They must wait for the main force in the rear to arrive. Otherwise, with such a small number of troops, they will probably give it away in vain!
With such a cautious idea, the Japanese army gave up the plan to bypass Xicheng from the side. They were ready to attack from the front, storm the British position, and then break through the British defense line. After that, they would judge whether to continue the attack based on the defense situation of Xicheng!
This steady choice may be a correct judgment under normal circumstances, but this time, the Japanese army made a mistake! The
Japanese attack did pose a great threat to the British army, but the British army stubbornly defended their positions and did not let the Japanese army easily break through their defense line. The direct result was that the Japanese army was delayed in Xicheng for more than a week!
Although the Japanese army defeated the British army and captured the city of Xicheng after the arrival of the subsequent reinforcements of the Japanese army, with an absolute advantage in manpower and the support of heavy weapons, a large number of British troops had landed in southern Australia at this time and began to move northward from the east and west. One army directly attacked the Japanese army’s landing nest from the west.
Another army moved northward from the east to recover the cities and lands occupied by the Japanese army.
The Japanese army occupied Australia for a very short time, and the local residents had a very serious resistance to the Japanese army. In addition, the British army’s reinforcements had arrived smoothly at this time, which encouraged Australia and the resistance in various places emerged like mushrooms after rain!
The Japanese army was exhausted by the resistance and attacks harassment in various places. Although they tried to adopt a high-pressure policy to deal with these civilian resistances, these countermeasures not only failed to achieve results, but were counterproductive!
Therefore, the Japanese army, which obviously had an advantage in manpower and had won consecutive victories before, should have high morale. While continuously suppressing riots and resistance in various places, it had to face the British army’s step-by-step pressure!
The direct consequence was that the morale of the Japanese army dropped rapidly, and the number of casualties increased rapidly.
In the southeast, the two sides launched a tragic tug-of-war around the southern gateway of the city of Sydney, Canberra!
This tug-of-war, which lasted for three months, resulted in the deaths of more than 500,000 people, including more than 300,000 Japanese and more than 200,000 British!
This was the first time since the war began that the Japanese casualties on the Australian battlefield exceeded those of the British!
The result of this battle was that the Japanese army was short of follow-up troops. In order to maintain control of the occupied areas, many of their troops were invested in the security war, and they could no longer withdraw more troops to support the battle in the south.
On the other hand, after the British army sent hundreds of thousands of troops to land in Australia, the military and civilian morale of Australia was greatly encouraged. A large number of Australians signed up to join the army, which ensured the British army’s strength!
Although their casualties in this battle were very heavy, with a steady stream of troops to replenish, such a war of attrition was no problem for them at all. Even if there were another or even two games, they could hold on, but the Japanese army couldn’t!
Australia is not their homeland, they can’t replenish their troops here. Once the troops are crippled, it is difficult to get new recruits. They can only retreat for rest or merge with other crippled troops.
The result is that the Japanese troops on the front line are rapidly reduced, and the organization has become incomplete. They can no longer maintain the occupation of Canberra, so they can only give up here and retreat to the north! However
, Canberra is the gateway to Sidney. Giving up here means that Sidney will face the threat of the British army in the south. As the most important and prosperous city in the southeast of Australia, the British army is naturally determined to win Sidney!
Therefore, the retreat of the Japanese army not only failed to exchange for a breathing opportunity, but also made the morale of the British army even higher. They only rested for a week and continued to advance northward. Soon, they were at the gates of the city and began to counterattack Sidney!
When the battle of Sidney began, an emergency meeting on this war was also held in the foot basin!
Such meetings have been held several times since the war began, but unlike before, the atmosphere in the meeting room this time was very depressing!
The previous successive victories made the top leaders of the Foot Basin very excited, thinking that they would soon eat up Australia!
The war was so easy that the top leaders of the Foot Basin had an illusion that they seemed to be invincible and the Japanese army was omnipotent!
As a result, reality soon slapped them in the face!
First, news came from the Celestial Empire that the Battle of Guangzhou had failed, and then news came from Australia that the Battle of Cantonese had failed!
The two failures caused the Japanese army to lose more than 500,000 troops, which was an unbearable loss for the Japanese army with a total strength of less than 5 million!
Especially on the Australian side, the loss of so many people means that the situation is likely to change fundamentally!
This made them all start to worry!