The sun never sets

"One of the two bodies in the fire should be Mikhanov."

Stalin's anger turned into joy. "Does that mean there is still a spy alive? Is it Felix or that Kaplan? No matter who it is, I want to catch him alive!"

Chapter 842 Red Dragon

Darwin Port, Australian Army Headquarters.

Honjo Shigeru picked up his teacup and was about to start this wonderful day. But at this moment, an officer rushed in, "General, the 23rd Division bombarded the Sunshine Coast!"

The hand holding the teacup trembled a little, and Honjo Shigeru asked calmly, "What's going on?"

"According to the report of the 23rd Division, it was the South Australian troops who crossed the border and stole the cattle and sheep of the residents, thus triggering the border conflict..."

"And the border conflict turned into a war?" Honjo Shigeru slammed his teacup on the table. "They even bombarded the Sunshine Coast! Are those guys crazy about wanting to start a war?"

"General, what should we do now?"

The troops stationed in Australia have always wanted to liberate the whole of Australia and push all the evil white people into the sea. After the economic crisis broke out in the United States last year, officers stationed in Australia shouted "on board" and were ready to make a big news. Now, the big news has finally appeared.

Honjo Shigeru was inclined to deal with the South Australian government in his heart, but he was the commander of the troops stationed in Australia sent by the central government, and he knew that what the central government valued most now was the third five-year plan rather than continuing to occupy more territory.

"General? Should we report this to the Military Commission immediately?"

Honjo Shigeru thought for a moment and said, "Don't report it for now. This is not a big deal. Let's solve the problem first."

After Nagata Tetsuzan came out of the headquarters, several officers who had been waiting for a long time surrounded him and asked, "How is it?"

"The commander said: This is not a big deal, let's solve the problem first and then report it!"

"Long live!"

"Onboard!"

The young officers were immediately excited. Most of them were Japanese and were familiar with the traditional Japanese "ventriloquism". Since Chief Honjo Shigeru said that, he tacitly approved the actions of the frontline soldiers. Now everyone could go all out!

"Send a telegram to Major General Ishihara and Yamashita Tomoyuki immediately and tell them the good news!"

"Let's get started!"

"Teach those monsters a lesson they will never forget!"

The officers were busy with their work happily, they were full of cleanliness, ready to use their intelligence and courage in Australia to realize their life ambitions. Although they joined the alliance, the Japanese still had their unique world view and outlook on life.

After receiving the tacit approval of the Australian Army Command, Ishihara Kanji and Yamashita Tomoyuki and others at the front line let go and launched a larger attack. The 23rd and 20th Divisions were divided into two groups, one to attack south along the coastline, and the other to encircle the enemy from the west, heading straight for the Gold Coast, preparing to surround the enemy in Brisbane.

In addition, Nagata Tetsuzan also mobilized the armored forces and air force of the Australian army, as well as the Mongolian cavalry, to launch an attack on the South Australian army.

The South Australian government had a premonition of the outbreak of war. After the economic crisis broke out in 1929, the United States' support for Australia continued to decline, and finally it completely ignored the South Australian government. Meanwhile, the troops stationed in Australia were conducting military exercises, conducting cross-border reconnaissance, and frequently sending reconnaissance planes to fly around in the sky. Anyone could tell that something was not right.

But the South Australian government did not have a good way to deal with it. After the last Australian war, the Australian government became the South Australian government, lost half of its population and two-thirds of its territory, suffered a severe blow to its economy, and had to pay war reparations. The South Australian government has never recovered until now.

After the war, a large number of South Australian residents left the country and went to the United States, South America, Europe and other places.

There is a high possibility that war will break out again in Europe, and everyone who can run has run away.

The population under the South Australian government has dropped from nearly 200 million to more than 160 million, and there are fewer people who can carry guns and fight. The Australian army had a maximum of 36 troops, and the current South Australian government has only 4.5 standing troops. Even if the general mobilization is completed, the force is only 16.

The standing army of the Australian Army has 6 soldiers, plus militia and Mongolian cavalry, the number of soldiers can reach 15. If a general mobilization is carried out, the number of soldiers can be expanded to 40. In addition, the Australian Army also has air superiority and armored advantages. The number of victories and defeats, the reason for success or failure, is obvious.

Although the South Australian Army's performance was as heroic, or even brutal, as in the last Australian War, their spirit was very different from that of the last war.

In the last war, the Australian army fought for victory, this time, they just wanted to cause greater casualties to the enemy. In the early days of the war, the Australian army suffered a heavy blow, many planes were destroyed at the airport, and the strongholds on the border and the outer defense lines were breached one after another. The Australian army could only retreat to Briswan and defend the city.

The 23rd and 24th Divisions successfully encircled and trapped 20,000 Australian troops in Briswan, which was equivalent to trapping two-fifths of the main forces of the South Australian Army.

While the South Australian government urgently mobilized troops to plug the gaps in the defense line and rescue the troops trapped in Briswan, it also sought support from the United States, Germany, and the British and French allies, and denounced the Alliance's brutal invasion internationally.

As the saying goes: When a rabbit dies, the fox mourns. All creatures of the same species mourn. In any case, South Australians are of European descent, many of whom are of Irish, Dutch and British descent. The South Australian government's accusations in the international community played a certain role. Germany and the British and French allies criticized the actions of the People's Revolutionary League and announced that they would provide some assistance to the South Australian government.

Many people hoped to turn the Second Australian War into the Alliance's Boer War. If they could take this opportunity to interrupt the Alliance's rising momentum, then it would be worth it even at some cost.

The United States did not comment on the conflict in Australia. The United States is now busy dealing with various problems brought about by the economic crisis. President Hoover is overwhelmed by the increasingly serious unemployment rate and social conflicts in the country and does not want to spend a penny on the people of South Australia.

Some state legislators and local mayors proposed to learn from Germany, Italy and the trade unions and vigorously expand the military industry, so that more people can be employed and many people can have a meal. This plan triggered a heated discussion in Congress. Many members of Congress supported the expansion of the army and the military industry, but more people opposed it.

Mr. Hoover and his advisers were too honest. The high unemployment rate was actually very easy to solve. Just change "unemployment" to "layoff" or "flexible employment" and the unemployment rate would drop immediately.

The President of the United States turned a blind eye to what happened in Australia, but Italian Prime Minister Mussolini paid special attention to the matter. He jumped up and down, accusing the alliance of being aggressive and more greedy for land than Russia, and called on the European and American world to unite to fight against the evil red dragon in the East.

Chapter 843 Punishment

The Italian government led by Mussolini has always had the ambition to rebuild the Roman Empire. After the collapse of the British Empire's world hegemony, the Italian army expanded in Africa and was eyeing Ethiopia. Fascism always advocates war and expands outward. As a fascist country, Italy has a strong desire for expansion.

The countries on the Eurasian continent are either too strong or the powers behind them are too strong. Although Italy is also an industrial country, after carefully searching Europe and Asia, it found that there was no one easy to deal with, so it could only set its expansion target on Africa.

Because he founded the Fascist Party, Mussolini felt good about himself and believed that he was the defender of the civilized world and the rebuilder of the new order. He not only interfered in the affairs of Europe and Asia, but also regarded Austria as Italy's back garden.

Now that war has broken out in Australia, Mussolini has jumped out again and severely criticized the People's Revolutionary League, demanding that the great powers unite to put pressure on the People's Revolutionary League.

Mussolini was the founder of fascism and the Prime Minister of Italy. He had considerable influence worldwide, but Lin Yongchang didn't care much about Mussolini. The Italian navy was just circling around in the Mediterranean, and the Italian army's combat effectiveness had never been known for its good fighting ability.

More than 1.7 years ago, Italy and Ethiopia fought a war in Africa. As a result, 1.1 of the 4000 Italian troops were killed or wounded, and more than were captured. Almost the entire army was wiped out.

During the World War, the Italian Army was beaten again and again by the Austro-Hungarian Army. You know, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was beaten badly by the Russian Army on the Eastern Front.

There are several reasons why the Italian Army has low combat effectiveness. First, its equipment is backward. Italy is an industrial country, but it is the weakest among the European powers. Last year, Italy produced only 150 million tons of steel, while the United States produced more than 4000 million tons of steel, and the Union's steel production was more than twice that of the United States.

Italy is said to be a great power, but the quality of this great power is too poor. Although steel production cannot completely represent

This shows the strength of a country, but Italy's steel production is too low. 150 million tons of steel have to be distributed to various departments. There is not much steel used for the military, and the navy takes up more than half of it, which makes it impossible for the Italian army to get more and better equipment.

While the world's major powers, such as the League, Germany, Commune France and Syndicalist Britain, were developing airplanes and tanks, the Italians were still trying to extend the life of their World War I artillery.

Italy lacks fighters and bombers, tanks and heavy artillery, and anti-tank guns. From the perspective of equipment alone, the Italian army cannot compete with truly powerful countries. The Union Military Committee believes that the Italian Army is not a strong military force that can play a decisive role.

In addition, anti-war sentiment was high in Italy, and the army was demoralized. Such an army could only fight the natives in Africa at best. Oh. The Italian army was almost wiped out by the African natives.

Lin Yongchang sincerely doesn't think Italy will be a threat, and of course he doesn't mean to look down on Italians. The passionate and unrestrained Italian girls are still very cute.

Lin Yongchang just regarded Mussolini's jumping up and down as a monkey show. However, the detached behavior of the troops stationed in Australia should still be criticized. The party commands the gun, not the gun commands the party. This is a matter of principle. No matter how well Ishiwara Kanji and Yamashita Tomoyuki fought in Australia, it was a serious violation of discipline to start a war without authorization.

There was also the commander of the Australian Army, Honjo Shigeru, who was sent to Northern Australia by the Central Military Commission of the Alliance to keep an eye on those daring Japanese soldiers. But the result was that the Australian Army still provoked a war without authorization!

The Central Military Commission has made a decision that once the Australian troops take Briswan, they must withdraw their troops. Ishihara Kanji, Yamashita Tomoyuki, and Nagata Tetsuzan, who provoked the war, will be transferred back to Japan and will be assigned to teach at military academies. The commander of the Australian troops, Honjo Shigeru, will be transferred to the reserve force after the situation calms down. At Honjo Shigeru's age, this means he will retire from the military and go home to retire.

Other officers involved in the incident received different punishments.

Although the Alliance Central Committee has determined its opinion on how to deal with the Australian incident, it still made a gesture of fighting to the end when dealing with the outside world. It must be the South Australian Army that first provoked the war, and this cannot be changed.

The Human Reform Alliance issued a statement, claiming that the alliance, with a responsible attitude, will form a joint investigation team with countries such as Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom (Trade Syndicalists) and the French Commune to investigate the incident in Australia.

Italy is also on the list of the Joint Investigation Team. Although this country is weak, it cannot be completely ignored. Italy's expansionist intentions in Africa have strongly promoted Ethiopia's move towards the alliance.

Maybe Ethiopia doesn't like the People's Revolutionary League very much, but Ethiopians have no choice. No matter how weak Italy is, it can produce 150 million tons of steel per year, which is much stronger than Ethiopia.

Without the assistance of the great powers, the Ethiopians might not be able to defeat the Italians. In the war thirty years ago, Russia provided a lot of assistance to Ethiopia. Now that the Russian Empire no longer exists, Ethiopia has chosen to move closer to the People's Revolutionary League.

The alliance was able to intervene in Ethiopia's economy and obtain some ports and military bases in East Africa, which enabled it to better protect the People's Revolutionary League's overseas interests.

Briswan, Warfront.

Ishihara Kanji sat at the head of the headquarters. "You should all know the news from Chang'an. The Central Military Commission has made a decision. All of us," he pointed at everyone present, including himself, "will be transferred out of the field troops."

The big man Yamashita Fengwen and the others remained silent. If they acted alone, they would most likely be suppressed by the central government. This was something that could be predicted beforehand. What else was there to say?

It is reasonable that if you win the bet, you will be promoted, and if you lose the bet, you will be expelled from the army.

"How long do we have?"

"The special envoy has already departed from Chang'an and will arrive in Australia in five days."

Ishihara Kanji said to the generals and officers: "We must capture Briswan within five days and break the backbone of the South Australian Army!"

Going alone is a serious violation of discipline, and it is unforgivable if you lose the war. If Briswan can be captured before the special envoy arrives, people like Ishihara Kanji and Yamashita Tomoyuki may be able to be reinstated. If they can't do it, they will have to teach in military academies for the rest of their lives.

Or you can completely quit the military and go home to farm, herd, do business, or fish. All of these are also possible.

Chapter 844 Street Fighting

Urban street fighting is often difficult and bloody. As long as the defenders have a strong fighting spirit, they can cause heavy casualties to the attackers even if their weapons and equipment are inferior. The Australian troops are more than twice as strong as the South Australian troops, and are far superior to the South Australian troops in terms of armored forces and air force, but they still paid a heavy price in Briswan.

There are not many tall buildings in Briswand. The defenders built barricades, dug trenches, and deployed heavy machine guns, mortars and 75mm howitzers in the streets and communities. Most of these weapons came from US government aid, and only a small part was produced by Australia itself.

Although the Australian troops had more large-caliber artillery and the cover of tanks and aircraft, they had to pay a bloody price for every step forward in the face of the defenders' defense system.

Yamashita Fengwen went to the front as the brigade commander and commanded the troops to fight. "First, destroy the water supply station, granary and municipal building in Briswan, and blow up all buildings higher than 4 meters!"

"We can't do that with the firepower of our brigade."

"Then ask the division commander for firepower support!" Yamashita Fengwen said loudly: "We only have five days... Now there are only four and a half days left!"

"If the division's firepower is not enough, we can call for support from the field heavy artillery regiment! But we must capture Briswan within four days!"

After Japan was incorporated into the People's Revolutionary League, compulsory education was implemented, and learning in elementary and junior high school was free. In high school and college, students had to pay tuition, unless they had excellent grades and could get a full scholarship. Before being incorporated into the League, Japanese young people in the Hirako family who wanted to study had only one choice, which was to go to military school.

Most of the middle and senior officers of Japanese descent in the Australian Army were born in the old era. They attended military academies from a young age. After serving in the army for a period of time, those with outstanding performance went to higher-level military academies. This was the selection method of the old Japanese Army, which is very similar to the selection and training method of the German Army. The Japanese Army was learned from the German Army.

Many generals and senior officers of the old Japanese Army died in the Korean War, but many survived. These officers from the old era accepted the ideas of the People's Party on the surface, but when commanding the war, they still followed the old ways.

Yamashita Fengwen looked at the officers in front of him fiercely and said, "If you can't take it, please die in Briswan!"

The Australian Army's attack became more and more fierce. The 105mm howitzers smashed tons of shells into the city, tearing up deer horns, sandbags, roadblocks and many South Australian soldiers. The military's 150mm howitzers also joined the bombardment the next day. These heavy howitzers were the product of the World War and were out of date. The Union General Armament Department was preparing to replace them with new 155mm howitzers.

But in Australia, the 150mm howitzer still has great power. Heavy grenades exploded one after another, tall buildings collapsed, entire blocks became ruined, and parts of heavy machine guns and cannons were scattered all over the ground.

As the cannon roared, bombers flew over Briswan and dropped bombs one after another, blowing the defenders' positions to pieces. When the bombers had finished dropping their bombs, the escorting fighters dived, and the flames from their machine guns whipped back and forth, tearing the enemy to pieces.

The Australian troops' attacks in the first two days were mainly artillery attacks. Whenever they encountered the enemy, they would call for artillery support. The communication equipment distributed to the company played an important role in the battle. Sometimes they could call for long-range artillery strikes, sometimes they could call for air strikes, and sometimes they could call for tank support. If they could not call for anything, they could only rely on infantry to slowly attack.

After two days of bombardment, from day to night and from night to day, the tall buildings of Briswan were reduced to ruins in the artillery fire. The field heavy artillery regiment had used up all its shells and temporarily stopped. Then, the infantry launched a large-scale attack with grenades, submachine guns and flamethrowers, and fought with the defenders.

After the troops entered the city, they quickly lost their organization. An entire infantry regiment was scattered into pieces. The Australian soldiers and the garrison soldiers fought in the wreckage of buildings, in the ruins of the streets, and sometimes even in the sewers.

The bloody battle caused huge casualties on both sides. The Australian troops had medical teams and field hospitals, so the wounded could receive timely treatment. However, the defenders did not have such good conditions. They lacked medical personnel, penicillin, syringes and bandages. After being injured, the South Australian soldiers could only let their wounds become infected, their injuries worsen, and they died in pain and fear.

The street fighting caused heavy casualties. Not only the soldiers were bleeding, but also the civilians in the city were affected by the fighting. After the bombardment began, some civilians fled out of the city with their families, while more people died under the fierce artillery fire.

Flamethrowers, submachine guns and grenades played an important role in the street fighting. Under the cover of aircraft and tanks, the Australian troops crushed the defenders' lines of defense and reached the vicinity of the City Hall.

Nearly one-third of the municipal building was destroyed in the shelling in the previous two days, but the collapsed building became a new bunker. The defenders set up heavy machine guns in the ruins and shot the Australian troops on the ruined streets.

"there!"

"Grenade!"

Several grenades were thrown over, and the blast blew away some dust, but there was no way to deal with dozens or hundreds of tons of bricks and cement. Mortars and infantry artillery fired, and the defenders' heavy machine guns fell silent for a moment, but soon, the "da da da da" shooting sound rang out again.

The figures of defenders also appeared in other ruins around. The Australian soldiers exchanged fire with them for a while, and the casualties became more and more serious. They could only temporarily withdraw under the cover of tanks.

After hearing about the fighting at the city hall, Yamashita Tomoyuki ordered the heavy mortar artillery position to move forward. Four 120mm heavy mortars were deployed on the street next to the post office, killing some enemies with fierce bombardment. The flamethrower took the opportunity to move forward and pulled the trigger on the heavy machine gun position hidden in the ruins.

The flames sank into the ruins and then emerged from the cracks. The high temperature of hundreds or thousands of degrees ignited the human body, and the loudest screams that humans could make were heard.

Sounded.

Several enemies, all covered in flames, emerged from the ruins, waving their arms wildly. They smelled like roasted meat, staggered a few steps, and then collapsed to the ground, turning into piles of burning grease.

Soldiers who saw this situation, both friendly and enemy, were greatly stimulated. Some became even more violent, but many others were frightened and their morale inevitably dropped.

Chapter 845: Processing

"Commander Yamashita, our troops have captured the City Hall!"

The big man Yamashita Fengwen showed a satisfied look on his face, "Yoshi! Takashima did a good job! But now is not the time to rest, keep working hard, we have to get rid of the remaining enemies before noon tomorrow!"

"Yes!"

The Australian troops had the advantage in manpower, and they surrounded the enemy and attacked them in turns, so there was no reason why they could not win. Yamashita Tomoyuki commanded his troops to divide the enemy in the city, and then concentrated his forces to eliminate the enemy one by one.

By ten o'clock on the morning of the fourth day, there was no organized resistance in Briswan. The Australian troops dealt with Briswan according to the rules of the previous battle.

While the 23rd and 24th Divisions were besieging Briswan, other troops also engaged in fierce battles with the South Australian Army. A rapid reaction force consisting of tank troops and Mongolian cavalry penetrated deep into the hinterland of South Australia and captured Canberra.

Just when it seemed that the rapid reaction force would be able to capture Goulburn and then Sydney, the central government's special envoy arrived at Darwin Port. The battle was over and all the troops had to retreat to their starting positions.

In less than a month of conflict, the South Australian government suffered 3.1 casualties and the front line had collapsed. If the fighting continued, the entire South Australian government would be in danger of being wiped out.

Because the Northern Australian Autonomous Government did not declare war on the South Australian Government, and the South Australian Government did not declare war on the Northern Australian Autonomous Government, although the two sides fought, from the perspective of nationality law, the two sides did not enter a state of war, but only a conflict.

The troops stationed in Australia withdrew all their troops, and the rest was left to the diplomats at the negotiating table.