The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1174 - 881: Cavalry vs Machine Guns

"Damn it! When did those blasted Australasians land?" Brigadier Mikuni, commander of the Type C Division stationed near the Harbor, furiously demanded.

His division had just received a telegram that the Harbor had been bombed by Australasian airplanes, and had been attacked by a large number of Australasian Soldiers. Most of the Harbor area had already fallen under the control of the Australasians.

Although Mikuni was one of the few brigadiers among the division commanders, this did not mean he was not a high-ranking officer of the Island Nation. He was, of course, also aware of the importance of the Harbor to all the Island Nation Army on the Ryukyu Islands—it was the only hope for a retreat and the only escape route for all the Islander Soldiers.

Once the news of the Harbor's fall became known to the Soldiers, a decrease in morale was inevitable. Once morale dropped significantly, facing another Australasian attack would not be so easy to handle.

"The cavalry troops and the first Infantry Company, proceed to the Harbor immediately. Spare no cost in holding the Harbor. Everyone else, quickly organize your military preparations and stand by for combat orders," Mikuni did not hesitate for too long before hurriedly issuing his orders.

The army organization of the Island Nation was somewhat different from that of other countries; the army was primarily based around divisions.

And an infantry company generally made up about one-fourth of a division's force, which meant nearly 5,000 men.

Ordering an entire Infantry Company and a cavalry troop to support the Harbor clearly showed how important the Harbor was in Mikuni's heart.

Meanwhile, inside the Harbor, the battle was raging.

Because the paratrooper units had already raided the interior of the Harbor, the airplanes in the sky had stopped Bombing to avoid friendly fire.

This also meant that taking control of the entire Harbor would now have to rely on the efforts of these paratrooper units.

Clearly, the previous Bombing by the Air Force had caused some panic among the Island Nation troops, which created the perfect opportunity for the paratroopers.

In just over ten minutes, the paratrooper unit had completely occupied the entire Harbor, completely annihilating the less than 1,000 troops stationed there.

"Leave two companies to maintain Order in the Harbor; the rest of you, come with me to dig defensive positions. The real war is yet to come, and we must hold the Harbor until reinforcements arrive," the Commander leading the troops ordered, after a brief respite following the successful capture of the Harbor.

Capturing the Harbor was only the first step; now, the paratroopers had to withstand the pressure of the Islanders and try to hold the Harbor until the second wave of paratroopers arrived.

If they could hold out until the second batch of paratroopers arrived, the Harbor would basically become a piece of meat in their mouths, and the Islanders would have no way of retaking it.

If they could rely on the Harbor to gradually eat away at the Island Nation Army on the Ryukyu Archipelago, the fate of these Islander forces could only lead to death.

Outside the Harbor, trenches were still being dug continuously.

But as the most important part of the defense, the machine guns had already been properly deployed within the defensive positions.

The paratrooper unit had brought close to 20 machine guns, and through cross-deployment, they could achieve a wider and stronger coverage of firepower.

Even with just 20 machine guns, it was possible to easily repel the assault of thousands of enemies.

Coupled with the infantry's firepower and air support, even if an entire division of the enemy launched a charge, it would still be possible to hold them off for a while.

With more people joining in, the speed of digging trenches also increased considerably.

The Soldiers first dug positions for the machine guns and Firearms, and then they began to dig trenches.

Due to the urgency of time, the trenches were not deep, being barely sufficient as a defense.

But in facing the enemy's assault in such flat terrain, trenches were somewhat effective, at least in significantly reducing one's own casualties.

While the paratroopers were digging trenches, the Airplanes in the sky began their reconnaissance and protection work. If any Island Nation troop reinforcements were spotted, the Bombers could carry out harassment, buying more time for the paratrooper unit.

Soon, the Airplanes in the sky detected the Island Nation's approaching infantry and cavalry troops.

For the Planes, the Island Nation's troops were like live targets on the ground. Although the Island Nation Army also had a small number of anti-aircraft machine guns, they were useless against the fast-moving Airplanes in the sky.

Real battlefields are not like dramas; shooting down an Airplane is not that simple.

Even for the Island Nation's wooden-framed Airplanes, it took luck and skill to shoot one down. And for Australasian metal-framed Airplanes, apart from luck and skill, it required spending a lot of one's lifespan as well.

At least for now, it seems the Islanders are short on lifespan—nobody is lucky enough to shoot down a metal Australasian Airplane with just rifles and machine guns.

The Air Force's harassment indeed bought more time for the paratrooper unit.

What would normally be a journey of a few minutes took the Island Nation Army more than half an hour to reach.

And in this half an hour, Australasia's trenches were mostly dug, and the paratroopers had already entered to set up defenses.

Looking at the distant but discernible defensive positions, Island Nation infantry company commander Igoro Jinomoto felt somewhat dumbfounded. He had not anticipated that the Australasia Army could occupy the entire harbor so quickly, and even excavate a trench to stop his side's advance.

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Staring at the tightly defended trench in front of him, Igoro Jinomoto couldn't help but swallow a gulp of saliva. But recalling the order from his superior's superior, Commander Mikuni, Igoro Jinomoto could only clench his teeth and order the military to charge at the Australasia defensive positions.

"Charge!" Many Islanders shouted the resounding command and rushed towards the defensive positions ahead.

Ratatatatata!

The Australasian side also quickly opened fire, the bullets shot out incessantly forming a line of fire, cutting down the lives of the charging Island Nation Soldiers like a sharp blade.

The Island Nation Soldiers at the front barely realized something was wrong and wanted to stop when they were knocked down by the soldiers from behind, involuntarily moving forward.

Clearly, the bullet-formed fire snake didn't care whether these soldiers approached voluntarily or not. As soon as they neared the Australasian fire defense network, the Island Nation Soldiers were left with bodies torn apart.

This was nothing like in the games. In games, being shot only cost some health points, but in reality, getting shot meant actual death.

Especially with high-caliber machine guns, a hit to the body could result in a wound as large as a bowl.

The Island Nation Soldiers at the very front fell one after another, and finally the soldiers behind began to sense that something was awry, and their charge slowed down.

"Damn it! Where's the cavalry brigade? Tell them to uproot the enemy's machine gun positions." The first infantry company commander, Brigadier Igoro Jinomoto, finally realized something was wrong and hastily ordered the cavalry brigade that had come with him to assist.

Since the entire division was newly formed, besides the division's high-ranking officers, all the other soldiers, including lower-ranking officers, were new recruits.

Even the high-ranking officers weren't familiar with each other as they were previously officers in Type A or Type B Divisions and had been promoted to the new division for various reasons.

If they faced a massive defeat, not only would their position in the division be at risk, but they could also face accountability from the domestic government.

After all, since the Island Nation had initiated the war, the military had not yet suffered any large-scale casualties. If the troops led by Igoro Jinomoto became the first Island Nation Army to suffer massive casualties, that would be a significant issue.

It must be admitted that the Island Nation government's brainwashing of these ordinary Soldiers was very successful.

Even though these Type C Division Soldiers had only a few months or even just a month or two from being peasants to new recruits, their loyalty to the Island Nation government and the Emperor was still very high.

The cavalry brigade did not refuse Igoro Jinomoto's request and quickly charged at the defensive position.

But the Islanders soon understood why the cavalry troops were known as a declining force.

In the face of a tightly defended machine gun position, the cavalry didn't have much of a solution to break through.

What was even more fatal was that once any cavalry broke through the machine gun positions, the submachine guns in the hands of the Australasian Soldiers would come into play, forming an even denser fire network.

Cavalry were made of flesh and blood, including their horses, and getting hit by bullets would injure or even kill them.

Under such an intense barrage of fire, the cavalry brigade's charge only added to the casualties without any further effect.

"Damn it! Damn it!" Infantry company commander, Brigadier Igoro Jinomoto could only curse silently while fearfully sending a telegram to request support from his superior's superior, Commander Mikuni, the Brigadier.

The current situation was clear, it was not just a problem of having just one infantry company and one cavalry brigade, even if the force was doubled, it would be very difficult to take down the defensive position established by the Australasians.

Only if the entire division pressed forward regardless of casualties to forcibly capture the position, could there be hope of retaking the harbor.

But the issue was that the Island Nation had completely lost air superiority, and their every move was virtually exposed to the Australasia Army's eyes.

It wasn't long before news of the entire division's mobilization reached the ears of the Australasian paratroopers, who also began preparations.

The first step was to gather more Air Force support. In this era, the best anti-aircraft weapon was actually the Airplane itself.

It was only with more, more advanced Airplanes defeating the Enemy's Airplanes that effective control of air superiority could be ensured.

If there weren't enough Airplanes, trying to compensate for the gap in the skies with anti-aircraft weapons was impossible.

As long as the Australasian Air Force had enough Airplanes to harass the Island Nation Army, the Island Nation Army could never launch a full-scale attack on the front lines, as it would expose their weakest points right within the sight of the Australasian Air Force.