Chapter 54 New Target

  The general offensive of the Battle of Melbourne began at dawn on February 28, 1935. Two bomber squadrons with 24 Tupolev ANT-20s carrying 500 kilograms of bombs started bombing British artillery positions. Before that, the bomber troops had repeatedly dropped a large number of propaganda leaflets in the urban area, informing civilians to evacuate Chinatown and stay away from the combat zone between the two sides, and also promoting Australia's multiculturalism and racial equality political ideology.

  Although Conan also ordered the establishment of multiple backup artillery positions and transferred cannons at night, they were still under surveillance by the H-5's airborne infrared electronic telescope. At that time, there was no dedicated air defense firepower in the British army, and when the soldiers could not bear the constant monitoring and reconnaissance of the H-5, they would shoot high into the air with heavy machine guns. Unlike those canvas-covered aircraft, bullets from machine guns did not pose a great threat to the all-metal H-5. However, the 500 kg aerial bombs carried by the H-5 brought devastating damage to the British-Australian army. The artillery positions of the British 11th and 9th Divisions were completely destroyed in two waves of bombing, with cannon barrels twisted into a tangled mess, and the artillery suffered heavy casualties. Two Australian infantry divisions' 25-pounder guns were more convenient to move and were carefully preserved during the cat-and-mouse game with the bombers.

  It's unexpected that the Mediterranean Fleet's competitive aircraft carrier, God of War, didn't launch their Sea Fighters, perhaps they had a precedent. The same type of twin-winged fighter, the Sea Fighter, which is on par with the Bulldog in terms of combat ability, didn't dare to easily join the battle. This made the commander of the High Sword squadron, who was always on high alert, very depressed. If he had known earlier, he would have gone down and thrown a few air-to-air missiles as well.

  For the Red Alert forces having high-performance jet fighters and bombers, Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet Royal Navy Admiral Pound reported to the Minister of the Navy: The jet aircraft owned by the Australian rebels will have an absolute advantage when facing any warplane in service with the Empire. Our planes don't even have the qualifications to appear in front of them. They are real eagles, and I have to admit dejectedly that our planes are just a bunch of turkeys.

  But neither Admiral Pound nor General Koenig, two excellent generals of the British Empire, realized that what was not supposed to appear was not just the air force. In the subsequent ground forces' general offensive, the Red Alert armored brigade's first and second regiments installed excavators and bulldozer components on their tracked multi-functional engineering vehicles, respectively. Under the cover of tank fire, they withstood the firepower of the Allied Forces and dug out slopes dozens of meters wide from the trenches. In the process of destroying the trenches by these armored engineering vehicles, the British army tragically discovered that their rifles could not cause any damage to the engineering vehicles. The bullets shot at them just bounced off like raindrops falling on them. Only infantry guns could penetrate their armor, but every time an infantry gun fired, four or five 100mm caliber tank howitzers would immediately open fire and bombard everything around, including trenches, sending them flying into the air. After several rounds of shelling, British soldiers had already begun to refuse to operate those cumbersome infantry guns. They were well aware that whoever picked up that thing was prepared to meet God, including people nearby.

  The 30-degree slope was a walk in the park for the Type 59 tank with its excellent climbing ability, and the tank formation began to charge. The British army's first line of defense was easily breached, and the two Australian regiments and one British regiment on the defensive line were all defeated. If Colonel Conan hadn't ordered indiscriminate artillery fire, the fleeing soldiers might have even broken through the second line of defense. Of course, the aftermath of the artillery fire was that the remaining 25-pounder guns were also destroyed by the 122mm self-propelled howitzer battalion of the three regiments. Colonel Conan was about to go crazy - how could this battle be fought? Without air superiority, the enemy's bombers chased and bombed our artillery; there was a huge gap in equipment, the enemy was fully armored, and the Mark II tanks were no match for theirs; the 37mm infantry guns were easily destroyed by tanks; during World War I, British tanks had been severely restricted by German anti-tank trenches, but here it was like children playing with mud - those strange iron arms lightly grabbed the trenches and then the bulldozers made a harsh noise as they pushed through, creating a simple slope. Colonel Conan smashed all the cups in the command room in anger - after so much effort digging trenches for several days, the result was just a show for the enemy. Now he finally understood why the Australian army's morale was so low - this battle was simply unwinnable! Maybe... Colonel Conan thought of the two Opium Wars between China and Britain last century, maybe the British army now was as powerless as the Qing army back then?

  The second trench was also impossible to hold, and the result of insisting on defending it would be no different from the first one. Conan was left with only two options: First, retreat back to the harbor, board the ship under the cover of the powerful naval guns, which would mean that Melbourne would fall, and even... the Empire would lose Australia as a dominion. Of course, there was also a second option: use the buildings in Melbourne as cover and organize street fighting. The result of this would be countless civilian casualties, and Melbourne, the jewel in the crown of the British Empire, would be shattered by Conan's own hands.

  Both options are equally difficult, but Conan can only smile bitterly. The telegram to General Brooke-Popham, the Commander-in-Chief of the Singapore Empire in the Far East, has been sent out, and the Red Alert troops have also suspended their attack in a very cooperative manner. With Conan's understanding of tanks, they should be refueling and repairing the engines.

  But in fact, it was not the case. Conan's judgment of the Type 59 tank based on the technical indicators of those small British tanks was a mistake in itself. Guo Lin and Jiang Yunzhi originally wanted to charge into Melbourne with one effort, but the sudden stop of the tank cluster's attack by Zhong Yi made the armored brigade ordered to stabilize its position and wait for orders. The 1st and 2nd Guards Brigades also suffered some casualties during the battle with the Armored Division, and this period was just right to transport the wounded onto trains and send them to the Uradi Field Hospital for treatment.

  When Guo Lin, Jiang Yunzhi and Hans Zayer rushed back to the command center of Balran in a hurry, they were redeployed by the commander-in-chief for the battle, and only then did they dispel their doubts.

  Zhong Yi drew a lifelike warship pattern on the sea surface south of Melbourne City on the map, which can be clearly seen that this is not the kind of mighty battleship known as the "sea fortress", but a deck empty, only with a small island at the rear side close to the stern.

  "Is that a warship? How strange?" The most powerful thing Sayeh had ever seen was the Canberra, the flagship of the Australian Federal Navy.

  "It's a bit like an aircraft carrier, but it's different from those in the UK!" Hans, who had studied in England, was more knowledgeable than Seya, the Turkish dumpling.

  General Lin and Jiang Yunzhi were also confused, what was the commander trying to do? Just as they were about to break through the British army's second line of defense, he suddenly stopped and ran back to draw warships on the map.

  Seeing the four officers' eager eyes, Zhong Yi sneered with a smile of satisfaction. Every time he successfully pretended to be a traverser and took advantage of it, he felt quite accomplished.

  "Hans is right, this is an aircraft carrier, of course not British, this will be the national treasure we will have in the future."

  "What's that, Commander?" Lin Guang was even more confused. "You called us back just to take a look at something that might possibly exist in the future?"

  "Of course not!" Zhong Yi was interrupted, looking very displeased. He glared at Lin Yi, the tall and handsome man who wasn't likable. "I called everyone back because we're going to adjust our target for the Melbourne campaign. Previously, we hoped to defeat the main force of the Anglo-Australian army and occupy Melbourne. But now, the situation has changed, and we have a better choice. It's this!" Zhong Yi pointed to the map where the aircraft carrier was drawn on the sea surface, "This is Phillip Bay south of Melbourne, the main force of the British Mediterranean Fleet has entered this narrow harbor, preparing to support and receive their ground troops. For us, this is a huge piece of fat that we can't resist, our new campaign target is - to devour it!"