It turned out that when the New 1st Division was seizing Kuah Island with the Japanese army, MacArthur also led the Austro-American forces to launch an attack on the Japanese army occupying New Guinea.

Although MacArthur appeared to be a man of great strength, most of his soldiers were Australians.

At this time in Australia, soldiers were generally divided into two types: one was compulsory and the other was volunteer.

Most of the conscripts were poorly armed and equipped near-militia units, and they were of little use to MacArthur.

Australia's most combat-ready unit was the Royal Corps of Volunteers, with a total of five infantry divisions, two of which were fighting in the Middle East and could not escape, and the other three divisions, although under the leadership of MacArthur, were exhausted from the battle of Papua that had just taken place, and needed a long period of rest and reorganization.

MacArthur also had two divisions of U.S. troops, the 32nd and 41st Divisions.

But the 32nd Division had been devastated in the recent battle at Buna, and it would take at least a year to regain its morale and go to war...... In the Battle of Buna, the U.S. Army used more than 20,000 people in a division plus sufficient equipment and supplies to more than 6,000 undersupplied Japanese troops, and Buna is a very special place, its groundwater is only more than one meter from the ground, so it can't dig trenches, and if you dig down, it's water.

Therefore, this battle should have been said to be very easy to fight, and the American army only needed to use bursts of artillery fire to bombard the Japanese army, which could not build trenches and lacked supplies, and then launched an attack.

But the inertia of the US military can be said to be vividly exposed in this battle.

Because the groundwater is only more than one meter from the ground, and it has rained for a period of time, the road in Buna is very soft and muddy, which makes it difficult for the heavy equipment of the US tanks to play a role on the battlefield, so the US troops of the 32nd Division began to passively slack off, and they even lied about the military situation to deceive the superiors and subordinates...... The chief of staff of the 32nd Division, Colonel Mott, reported to the division commander that the Japanese had repeatedly launched frantic attacks on their defensive lines, but each time they were repulsed by their counterattacks.

But in fact, during that time, the Japanese army did not attack the American army at all. The gunfire and artillery on the front line were all fakes created by Colonel Mott for the soldiers to shoot at random, and the soldiers were largely undisciplined, some wandering blindly, others apparently uninjured but awaiting treatment in field hospitals.

After this incident was discovered, the division commander and chief of staff of the US 32nd Division were quickly dismissed on the spot.

During the 17 days of fighting, the division's chief of staff changed six times and the division commander changed four times (two of them because of wounded). In the end, Buna was finally defeated, but the US 32nd Division also suffered heavy casualties, and its morale was also severely damaged, and it was considered a unit unsuitable for the battlefield. They must be transferred back to the country for thorough training.

MacArthur's other U.S. division, the 41st Division, would have fared only a little better than the 32nd Division, but also suffered heavy losses in the fighting in New Guinea.

Therefore, the US military did not perform very well in the Pacific theater, and the reason why it was able to win was partly because most of the Japanese troops were dragged on the Chinese battlefield, coupled with the serious shortage of supplies, and the US army had much more equipment, supplies, and even troops than the Japanese army.

Therefore, MacArthur had only the Australian militia at his disposal, but these people had neither combat experience nor strong combat capabilities, so he thought of the Chinese army......

For the arrival of the 50 division. Zhang Chi was still a little surprised.

Because in terms of combat effectiveness, it is all the more appropriate to transfer the 38th Division and the new 22nd Division.

Later, Zhang Chi learned that it was not that MacArthur did not know the tune, but that President Jiang said that he was unwilling. The reason is that the Japanese army in China launched a "sweep" against the Kuomintang army in the south of Dabie Mountain, and the **** party army was defeated and retreated.

Of course, Zhang Chi also knew that this was actually an excuse for ******...... Although he also knew that the Pacific theater was beneficial to China. But he hoped to preserve his strength and watch the Americans and the Japanese lose both, but the hateful thing is that the Pacific theater is more of a sea and air battle, and the army that needs to be used does not need too much.

"Colonel......" was just when Zhang Chi was thinking nonsense. Halsey, who was in the dust, pushed open the door and walked into Zhang Chi's headquarters.

"General!" Zhang Chi hurriedly got up and saluted.

Halsey shook his hand, shook his head and smiled, "You know what? At one point I thought we were going to lose the war at the loss of Kuah. However, you miraculously turned the whole war around! Good job! ”

"Thank you! Checkmate! ”

"Now we have undoubtedly established ourselves on Kuah Island!" Halsey looked at Zhang Chi and said with great ambition: "Now, it's time for us to give little Japan some color, if I let you continue to be in charge of the command of Kuah Island, you won't mind!" ”

"Of course!" Zhang Chi accepted it happily.

He knows very well that Americans are not like the Chinese, who have to push a few times and finally accept it without difficulty.

"Good!" Halsey nodded with satisfaction: "With you in command on Kuah Island, I think our battle will go well!" ”

"Is the general preparing a counteroffensive against the Japanese?" Zhang Chi asked.

"Yes!" Halsey nodded, then pointed to the map and said, "Our goal is Rabaul!" ”

After a pause, Halsey continued: "However, it will not be easy to defeat Rabaul, because we will have the same problems as the Japanese, and even worse than the Japanese!" ”

Zhang Chi nodded.

He understood what Halsey meant.

Just as the Japanese attacked Kuah from Rabaul, the distance of more than 1,000 kilometers and the threat of Kuah airfield forced the Japanese to use the "Tokyo Express" to transport supplies. Similarly, now that the US military wants to attack Rabaul, the distance of more than 1,000 kilometers and the fact that Rabaul has a larger airfield make it difficult for the US military to ensure logistical supplies. In particular, at this time, the US military did not have an aircraft carrier that could be used, and the range of fighters could not reach Rabaul, which was more than 1,000 kilometers away, like the Japanese Zero.

But these are not in the scope of Zhang Chi's consideration for the time being.

Zhang Chi handed Halsey a cigarette, and after the two lit it separately, Zhang Chi said to Halsey: "I don't think this is the time to attack, now should we defend!" ”

"Defense?" Halsey looked at Zhang Chi suspiciously: "Do you think the Japanese will attack at this time?" And the ability to attack? ”

(To be continued.) )