Chapter Twenty-Four: Captives Also Drink Milk
The battle turned into a pursuit, with tanks and armored vehicles like wolves and tigers. The 17th Australian Brigade was the Australian sheep in the big self-flowing basin. This metaphor is very apt, as there are no tigers or wolves on the Australian continent, and the Australian army didn't even have an armored force. Most Australians firmly believed that as long as they had the protection of the British Empire, no country would dare to attack them, so they were only enthusiastic about raising more sheep. As for the arms race that was gradually heating up on the European continent, it was as if they didn't see it. To quote the members of Parliament in Canberra: "A country that can defeat the British Empire has not yet appeared on earth." As a dominion of the British Empire, the glory of King George also shone on Australia.
The soldiers of the 17th Brigade had rarely heard of tanks, and for these big guys that bullets couldn't penetrate and artillery couldn't pierce, many soldiers just ran away without looking back. Those who were hit by artillery and machine guns were considered unlucky. Fortunately, the Type 59 tank had a speed of only about 20 kilometers per hour in combat, and it often "reasonably charged" or stopped to fire its cannon, so many soldiers of the 17th Brigade managed to "escape from the tiger's mouth". However, it was easy to escape from the tiger's mouth but hard to avoid the wolf's bite. What actually caused more casualties were the dozen or so wheeled infantry vehicles, each with two machine guns that fired continuously like they didn't cost money. The fleeing soldiers in front of them were countless, and there was no need to intentionally look for enemies. Every road had hundreds of defeated soldiers gathered on it. The machine gunners on the infantry vehicles felt as if they were harvesting wheat. Row after row of Australian soldiers wearing khaki hats with wide brims fell to the ground in fear and despair. They couldn't fight back, nor could they run away. Some smart ones simply raised their hands and squatted by the side of the road, learning from each other. Seeing that these surrendering soldiers were not attacked again, more soldiers stopped running. The roadsides around the military camps were filled with people squatting. Fortunately, they didn't wave their fur hats again, reenacting a melodrama of deep affection between soldiers and civilians.
Hans Brigadier General did not escape, because his old friend Baron Hebal refused to flee wildly like a sheep, even if he was defeated, he had to maintain the honor of the nobility. Helplessly, Hans and his guards who were unwilling to leave him also tidied up their military uniforms and wide-brimmed hats, standing behind the artillery position that had been ravaged by tanks. Brigadier General Hans felt ashamed, his carefully managed 17th Brigade was almost annihilated in a short period of time, and he got his old friend into trouble; Brigadier General Hans was also very proud, even at this last moment, there were still hundreds of people surrounding him, not leaving or abandoning him.
The red earth beneath their feet trembled as the dark green tanks drew closer and closer. The soldiers of the Travel Department's Direct Guard Regiment all removed their wide-brimmed hats and quietly walked over to stand in front of Colonel Hans. Seeing this scene, the tank commander Hollo ordered the 111th rapid advance, but suddenly slammed on the brakes just a few meters away from the Australian soldiers. No one dodged. Opening the turret hatch, Captain Hollo exposed his upper body, his right hand raised high with his thumb up.
With their flesh and blood, they blocked the behemoths made of several tens of tons of steel. This group of Australian soldiers are truly men of war, their bravery is worthy of admiration from anyone, even on this smoky battlefield, even if just a moment ago they were sworn enemies. Suddenly, Hollo felt that this battle was won somewhat by luck, if the Australians had some weapons that could rival the Type 59, the outcome would not have been so easy.
The soldiers standing in front of the tank suddenly parted to the left and right, and Hans and Hebal walked out shoulder to shoulder. Although the Australian military uniform was quite ugly and even a bit irregular, Hollo still recognized Hans' lieutenant general insignia on his shoulder badge, and in the 17th Brigade, there was only one lieutenant general, that is, their brigade commander. Hollo was very excited, knowing that this group of people were tense, he knew there was a big fish, but unexpectedly it was the ultimate BOSS of this battle. Of course, seeing Hebal standing next to the big BOSS made Colonel Hollo even happier, not only because of the pre-war battalion commander's order to protect Hebal at all costs, but also because seeing these two standing together, Hollo understood that although Hebal had not sent back any messages, he had absolutely completed the task of stopping the 17th Brigade from retreating ahead of time, yeah, absolutely excellent.
Huo Lianchang saluted Hebal with a military salute - after all, the Baron was a Colonel, although it was an Australian army rank, but the commander had never said he didn't recognize it! This military salute made General Hans somewhat confused, and he subconsciously returned a salute. He thought that this enemy lieutenant had a strong military demeanor and showed great respect for himself. Ah, bullying honest people is a sin!
The following plot is nothing more than that, both sides must maintain the dignity of soldiers, whether they are the victorious side or the defeated side. Although General Hans was angry that the enemy commander who accepted his surrender was only a lieutenant colonel, these minor details did not affect the progress on the battlefield, especially when Baron Heber shrugged and whispered, "It's okay, I was just a second lieutenant back then!"
After more than an hour of fighting, the Australian army was killed or injured over 700 people. On both sides of the road, there were also 700-800 Australian soldiers who surrendered with their hands up and followed Hans. The rest of the Australian army escaped from the military camp in chaos. Waiting for them was a white cavalry regiment led by Qian Zhihao. I wonder what expression these Australian soldiers would have when they saw the cavalrymen wearing Type 07 camouflage uniforms.
As for other spoils, most of the Lee-Enfield No. 3 rifles that were still in the armory and hadn't been taken out were looked down upon by the armored regiment soldiers, so they simply threw them on the ground and let the tanks run over them. On the other hand, the fresh milk and eggs from the logistics warehouse were treated like treasures by the soldiers, who occupied the 17th Brigade's canteen that hadn't been looted yet and started cooking there.
As soon as the fragrance of milk wafted through the cafeteria, Qian Zhihao led the cavalry regiment in, following the scent. Huo Lu was enraged and cursed, "You little brat has a dog's nose!"
The Australian soldiers who ran out were caught back by the cavalry regiment, more than 300, exceeding the number of the cavalry regiment. However, as both sides were white people, they communicated quite well. "Hey, why are you running? We treat prisoners of war kindly." "Surrender your guns and behave!" Such sentences were translated into English and echoed at each intersection leading to Kalgoorlie. In less than half an hour, Qian Zhihao led more than 300 prisoners back to camp, victorious.
As the armored regiment and cavalry regiment soldiers were unbuttoning their collars to prepare for a meal, the prisoners on the open ground had a small commotion. After the infantry war chariot sent someone to investigate, it was found that these Australian troops also demanded food, "We just finished breakfast and you beat us, plus a crazy run, we're hungry too!"
The whole army heard and couldn't help but laugh and cry, and Hans' lieutenant immediately strongly demanded that his soldiers not go hungry either. Hebal thought of mediating, but then remembered he was still playing the role of a prisoner with Hans, so he quickly shut up. In the end, the cafeteria continued to serve meals and even expanded its scale, using all the pots in the military camp to cook milk, eggs, and mobilizing all the cooks from the cavalry regiment and the prisoners of war.
Lin and Jiang Yunzhi exchanged a glance, chuckled and said: "Yunzhi, our armored regiment is the most gentlemanly unit in the world, isn't it!"
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