Melbourne

Melbourne is located on the coastal plain in southern Australia. There is a surging Yara River in its territory. It is the main large river flowing through Melbourne. It is 242 kilometers long and has an annual flow of 718 million cubic meters. The total basin area is 4,000 square kilometers.

The entire city of Melbourne was originally built along the banks of the Yara River. It had 123,000 residents in 1854. After several decades of development, the permanent population of the city exceeded 400,000.

Now during the war, white refugees from all over the country have been collected, and the total population has soared to more than 600,000. There are as many as seven bridges on the Yara River that span the two sides of the Yara River. The entire city spreads along the two sides of the Yara River, and the area is very large.

In addition to the central city, more than 8,000 square kilometers of land around Melbourne are covered with manors, market towns and private castle-style buildings, and residents are generally wealthy.

As the capital of the Free Federation of South Australia, Melbourne has built two tightly defended semicircular defense lines, which has accumulated an army of 60,000 people on these two defense lines. There are more than 76,000 people mainly armed militias in the city, with a total force of an astonishing 140,000.

If necessary, more soldiers can be armed.

Two weeks later, December 9, 1890

The sound of gunfire at dawn did not cause panic in Melbourne. People got up step by step and washed and used breakfast. The talk table talked about the concerns of the massive invasion of the north, the brutality of the Easterners, the tyrannical incompetence of the kings, the confusion of the future, and the pessimism about the harvest this year, but there was no sense of urgency for the war to come.

Since it started more than 20 days ago

The cavalry troops in the north have penetrated deep into the southern coastline, frequently harassed the Melbourne defense line, and have also organized several attacks tentatively, but they have all been repelled.

Under the deliberate propaganda of the government, the white residents in Melbourne were filled with a mysterious confidence, believing that the B Legion heading south was nothing to be afraid of.

The B Corps advancing south was not fast, and marched south at a speed of more than 20 kilometers a day. The large army is still more than 100 kilometers away.

While advancing along the way, Corps B sent a large number of troops to sweep the countryside, cleaning the entire Victoria like an iron comb. Hundreds of small battles occurred, annihilated a large number of gun-carrying bandits. This is also the main reason why the white refugees fled to Melbourne were overcrowded.

There is no time to count the number of white bandits killed in the specific number, and there may never be an accurate number, anyway...

The direct result is that the pastoral and mines in northern Victoria are crowded, and all the panicked local white people fled to the surroundings of two big cities, one is Sydney and the other is the important gold mining area Ballarat, which caused the population of these two big cities to soar.

The battle was fought and marched, which led to the pace of the B Corps going south not being fast.

The advantage of steadily moving forward is to eliminate bandits along the way, eliminate hidden dangers in the rear, and provide reliable safety guarantees for the coastal railway south extension project, which is constructed day and night, which can be said to be of many benefits.

As expected according to normal circumstances

After the B Corps arrives in the Melbourne area, they still need to make some necessary pre-attack preparations. If the attack is officially launched, it will take one week to 10 days later. There is no need to worry at all now.

The white refugees pouring into the city are mostly middle-aged and young men. On the one hand, they have brought huge population pressure to these two cities, and on the other hand, they have provided a steady stream of military reserves, allowing the South Australian Federation to quickly arm more divisions.

It has to be said that Victoria is still quite rich in its heritage. The influx of large population into the city did not bring about food scarcity. As white refugees fled south, countless cattle and sheep were driven into the city, making the city sanitation a mess and solving the food problems of many people.

I dare not say that I have too many, so I will not have to worry about eating and drinking for at least a few months. Moreover, it is mainly good beef and mutton, supplemented by grain.

It was past eight o'clock in the morning

Many pedestrians appeared on the streets of Melbourne, walking among the flocks of sheep, enduring the unpleasant smell of the air and the cow and sheep manure everywhere, and walking forward while complaining loudly.

Along the way, you can see many white people standing by the Yara River, looking in the direction of West Melbourne from afar, with confusion on their faces whispering to each other;

"Hey, man, the guns have been sounding for a long time, what's going on?"

"This may be an attack by the Northerners, and it will probably be a little trouble, but I believe they will definitely not be able to break through the perimeter defense line of heavy troops."

"Thank you, but I'm still a little worried."

"Your worries are understandable. Those hateful yellow-skinned monkeys will definitely not be able to hit the target. Sydney City has been holding on for two weeks, causing major casualties to the savage attacking Northerners. The Southern Government still controls Sydney. Melbourne's cities are larger, with a larger population, and a stronger defense. When Northerners come, they will only encounter bloodshed."

"That's great. As long as we can hold on for another three months, we will be able to welcome the selfless help of the British army, and all nightmares will pass."

"Oh...sir, do you have any latest news?"

"That's right. I work in the Federal Government Communications Office. The news from London is very gratifying. Britain has decided to take decisive military action against Australia. It will remove the troops from India to support, and then the Yankees have to go back obediently."

"Why do it take three months? We should be fine, but Sydney may not be able to hold on!"

"Yes, the Indian continent is not far away, and it will take more than half a month to take the boat."

"The battle is so fierce now that we have a large number of people dying every day, why have to wait for three months? It's so unfair."

"It's a pity that because during the Christmas holiday, the men of the London Parliament all have to take a vacation. Without the special appropriation of the Parliament, the warships could not be activated, and naturally there would be no reinforcements."

"Oh...god!"

People on the river bank were talking, it was like holding a war countermeasures seminar, attracting more and more people to participate in the heated discussion.

After a while

Suddenly someone exclaimed, "Oh... God, look at the Cathedral of Our Lady on Flinders Street..."

Everyone's eyes turned and became dull in an instant.

Several small-caliber shells hit the spire of the Virgin Mary, causing smoke and dust to spread, gravel tiles fell, and several broken holes suddenly appeared.

Flinders Street is not an outer city, but a main street not far from the Yarra River. As a Christian city, there are many churches of all sizes in Melbourne, and the Church of Our Lady Mary is a larger Episcopal Church.

As a devout Christian, who dares to use cannon fire to make several big holes in the church?

"Oh, the Eastern people are here to kill you, run away!" A woman screamed, and her huge fear grabbed people's hearts. The people who were still pointing in the country just now instantly fled around like a nest.

On Flinders Street

Several ferocious wild wolf light tanks were sailing on the streets full of rubble. Behind them, there were more than 10 armored vehicles. The huge roar made the streets tremble. The tanks that were spitting out flames were fired everywhere, causing great fear to the defenders in the city. They were beaten and suffered heavy casualties and retreated step by step.

This is the torrent of the Red 1st Division. More than half of the light tanks have been lost and more than 50 armored vehicles have been lost, but these losses are worth it. The tank battalion has penetrated into the West City area of ​​Melbourne, and the subsequent troops are quickly deploying to both sides, taking advantage of the enemy's surprise attack to occupy more blocks.

The B Corps' move "built a plank road openly and crosses Chen Cang secretly" bypassed the Melbourne defenders' tightly defended northern and eastern defense lines, and went around half a circle to choose a weak point in the West to raid, achieving great success.

In order to perfectly implement the assault plan, the B Corps made many strategies to deceive the enemy, and quietly cleared the white villages and pastures along the right wing, hoping to achieve the greatest suddenness.

Obviously, the raiding program has achieved great success.

Here we have to mention the secret efforts of the Political Science Department over the past decade, not only selected a suitable breakthrough for the Corps' breakthrough, but also the Italian colonel stationed here was an informant of the Political Science Department. He installed a large number of pro-north white officers in the army, and cooperated to transfer other defensive forces to achieve the greatest sudden offensiveness.

The B Corps drew elite soldiers and strong generals to form an assault corps, consisting of about 33,000 elite soldiers, including the Red First Division, Dragoon Division, Wolf Cavalry Division, and Railway Cavalry Division (partial). They rode armored chariots and war horses and detoured for more than 100 kilometers at night, rushed in from the gap in the enemy's western defense line, quickly occupied and expanded the gap in the defense line, and advanced rapidly along the gap.

The sound of gunfire heard by Melbourne residents was the battle that broke out after the assault corps began to enter the city, and they fought all the way across half of the city.

All the cavalry who entered the city to fight gave up their horses and attacked on foot.

More than 30,000 war horses were driven back by a cavalry regiment, to greet the large army that was marching overnight. If nothing unexpected happened, a second batch of more than 30,000 infantrymen would arrive on horseback before 12:00 tonight and join the fierce siege.

At the latest tomorrow evening, the B Corps' large troops will all arrive at the Melbourne front, with a total force of more than 162,000 (including some of the third phase mobilization forces).

Within a week, no less than 35,000 troops will be reinforced by the southern battlefield.

Within three weeks, the number of reinforcements will reach 85,000, and more powerful support can be provided according to the needs of the frontline combat situation.

The city's offensive and defensive war has always been cruel and bloody. The Sydney siege has become a war of attrition with serious losses. In order not to repeat the same mistakes, Red Fort fully supports the long-range raid tactics adopted by the B Corps and provides great support for manpower and material resources.

Indeed, it was just another Sydney siege.

In this decisive battle between North and South that determines Australia's fate, Li Fushou has already made preparations for 100,000 people in Melbourne. No matter how much sacrifice he sacrifices, he will even chew the city with his teeth.
Chapter completed!