Early in the morning of September 10, the Port Pier of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand.

It was winter in New Zealand, and the temperature was not high, and the morning sea breeze made people feel even more chilling, but the port was crowded with people, and the weather was full of passion and festive atmosphere.

Tens of thousands of New Zealand soldiers and civilians were immersed in excitement and joy at the moment. They all waved their arms and shouted loudly at the huge naval fleet that was constantly approaching the dock.

That's right, what New Zealand military and civilians welcomed was a special mixed fleet of the Allied Pacific Combined Fleet that had just arrived in New Zealand.

As Yang Fan and others predicted, not long after the Battle of the Hawaii Group ended, the United States of America, which was completely ignited for passion, could not stop at all. After completing the rest, they ordered the Allied fleet troops to start a new stage of the Pacific War and gradually clean up the Japanese strongholds around the Hawaiian Islands.

Therefore, the Allied Pacific Combined Fleet targeted the first attack target in the Gilbert Islands 1,900 kilometers away from Hawaii Island.

The Gilbert Islands are a group of atolls in the central and western Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Marshall Islands and northeast of the Solomon Islands. They are composed of sixteen coral islands and reefs including Makin and Tarava, with a total land area of ​​about 430 square kilometers.

The archipelago is located in the middle of the maritime transportation line between the United States and Australia, and is a must-pass place for entering the Solomon Islands, Australia.

Makin and Tarava, which the Japanese army focused on defending, are two small coral islands, composed of coral reefs and very low strips of land.

Among them, there are only more than 800 Japanese troops stationed on Makin Island, so the defense is poor.

The Allied attack on the island took only two and a half days to wipe out the Japanese defenders of the island at the cost of more than 240 casualties.

Tarava has 5,000 Japanese troops stationed, and 3,000 are combat soldiers. There are all kinds of obstacles, barbed wire, wooden piles, cement buildings, coastal artillery, anti-aircraft guns and anti-tank guns on the island.

Tarava Island has extremely strong defense and is the most secure island in the Pacific Ocean. Only Iwoo Island can compare with it.

After a day and night of continuous bombardment and artillery attack, with the fire support of the Navy and Air Force, the Allied forces sent six battalions of troops to land on Tarawa Island.

After extremely arduous and bloody battles and great sacrifices, the Allies completely annihilated the Japanese army that was fighting stubbornly and occupied Tarava Island after four days of fierce fighting.

This time, the attack on the attack reached 3,301 casualties and missing persons, and the Hu Ben Army suffered 172 casualties, with an overall loss of tremendous huge.

At the same time, the Allies hurriedly beat rabbits and easily captured another nearby island, Alamama Island.

Although the cost of the Allies seizing Tarawa Island was very high, it was strategically of great significance. The Allies obtained a solid air base and forward base to lay a solid foundation for the next attack.

In the following time, the Allied fleet pushed and crushed the islands, selectively conquered several Japanese-occupied islands, and finally opened up the route to attack the Solomon Islands, but also opened up maritime connections with New Zealand.

So the Allied fleet took a two-pronged approach and divided some of its troops to go to New Zealand to strengthen its defenses, and took New Zealand as a springboard to directly attack the Australian continent, in order to attract and restrain the Japanese troops.

New Zealand is located in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean, and its territory is composed of the North Island, the South Island and some small islands. The main North Island and the South Island are 2,250 kilometers away from Australia's mainland.

In another World War II in time and space, the New Zealand army mainly followed the US military in the early stages, and later led various battles on the Pacific battlefield with the US military.

Unlike Australia and Canada, New Zealand supported Britain at the beginning of the war.

But as a world-famous agricultural power, there are not many weapons at all, and Britain's weapons are not enough to use them, so they can only choose to make them by themselves.

When this country was constructed, there was nothing but agricultural tractors, so the engine of the tank was replaced by tractors, and the tanks that were finally created could only be described as shoddy and vulnerable.

The people refused to serve after seeing this, but did not lose their confidence in participating in the war. In New Zealand during World War II, they did whatever it took to make their good brothers in the past.

Three brigades were formed in New Zealand, which was sparsely populated at that time. During the North African Battle from November 1941 to 1942, less than 44,000 New Zealand officers and soldiers suffered casualties of 21,500.

On the battlefield in Italy, more than 8,600 casualties were killed or killed.

Until the end of the war, the New Zealand country continued to export soldiers to the war.

Overall, the New Zealand army, as part of the Commonwealth army, made an indelible contribution to the victory of the anti-fascist war.

Logically speaking, after the Japanese army occupied the Australian continent, they had the necessary conditions to capture New Zealand. Unfortunately, the battle on the Australian continent was protracted and consumed too much time and force of the Japanese army.

Moreover, with the connection between the Hawaiian Islands, the Myanmar War Zone, and the Chinese domestic battlefield, even if the Japanese army had put in their efforts to crazily and violent soldiers, they still couldn't cover everything. In the past time, they could not have any extra troops to solve New Zealand.

However, in the year or two after occupying the Australian continent, the Japanese fleet organized several tentative attacks, but in the end, the Japanese army suffered consecutive setbacks under the resolute and thorough resistance of the New Zealand people.

Seeing that the New Zealand people had a strong will to resist, they did not make up their minds to capture New Zealand's Japanese base, so they temporarily put aside their plans to attack New Zealand.

However, the plan was not as fast as the change. As the battlefields were tight, the Japanese army could not care about New Zealand at all. Until now, New Zealand is still intact in the hands of the Allies.

It is also because of this that the Allied Special Fleet was able to arrive in the New Zealand capital today, and the New Zealand military and civilians were greatly inspired and inspired.

Not only did the cloud of the Destruction Kingdom that had been pressing on them all the time dissipated in an instant, but the enthusiasm for war also reached an unprecedented height.

"What a beautiful island, what a lovely people, those ambitious invaders, and those war executioners will not die well!"

Standing on the deck, looking at the beauty and kindness in the distance, and looking at the enthusiastic welcome team not far away, Qiao Qingshan couldn't help but feel emotion, and naturally thought of the motherland who was suffering from disasters.

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of New Zealand's North Island and is a transportation hub between the two north and south islands. It is also one of the best deep-water ports in the world.

At the same time, under the influence of the marine climate, Wellington is full of sunshine all year round, with green mountains nearby and beautiful scenery. It is a famous tourist destination in the South Pacific region.
Chapter completed!