Chapter 577: Roosevelt's Gift

The smoke of the Pacific Theater has spread to the Australian coast, and the United States has already fallen into a passive dead end.

All the aircraft carriers of the Pacific Fleet were lost in the early battles, and at one point the air and sea superiority fell into the hands of the Japanese Army.

The Guadalcanal campaign originally planned for August was forced to be completely shelved due to insufficient troops, equipment shortages, and lack of carrier cover.

Similarly, the Japanese Combined Fleet also needed to refit; when the Japanese Navy attacked in the Battle of Midway, it carried no infantry at all, so the Japanese Army could not continue its assault on Hawaii.

Hawaii is a large island, and the Japanese high command believes that at least 100,000 infantry are needed to ensure a swift capture of the main island of Hawaii.

At the same time, they must also face the issue of whether the Combined Fleet's aircraft carriers will be attacked by American land‑based aircraft.

After the Battle of Midway, the United States had already dispatched three hundred aircraft of various types—fighters, torpedo bombers, and bombers—from the home front to support the defense of Hawaii.

At the same time, three infantry divisions were sent to defend Hawaii, showing that Roosevelt was panicking.

Hawaii is the United States' last barrier on the Pacific.

These forces, originally meant to support the American troops in Australia, have now all been transferred to Hawaii.

The American troops retreating to Australia received only one order: to do everything they can to hold this land, which is their last foothold in the South Pacific and the final defensive line against the Japanese Army's southward advance.

Brisbane, the coastal heavyweight town in eastern Australia, has now become the core of the Allied Forces' defense.

It is not only the location of the American Army Southwest Pacific Command, but also the headquarters of Douglas MacArthur.

This American general, who once dominated the Philippines, was forced to make a hasty retreat when the Japanese Army launched a massive offensive on the Philippines, escaping in a PT boat through the Japanese blockade, flying via Medan to Australia, finally landing in Brisbane and leaving the vow, "I will be back."

Now he has long since lost any way out.

Retreating from the Philippines was already a disgrace; if Brisbane is lost and Australia abandoned, what awaits him will not be sympathy but a cold military tribunal, and his lifelong military honor will be reduced to nothing.

Roosevelt will not give him a second chance, and the United States will not give him a second chance.

Fortunately, whether it is MacArthur or Nimitz, they are both winning the war.

Besides the Expeditionary Force led by Stilwell, preparations are underway to counterattack the Japanese in Southeast Asia.

MacArthur knows well that the gain or loss of Brisbane concerns not only Australia's safety but also his own fate.

After taking command, he immediately integrated the American forces in Australia, united them with Australian troops, and began building an all‑round defensive system.

At this time, Brisbane's population had surged from 350,000 before the war to 700,000, with large numbers of American soldiers, Australian troops, and incoming workers gathering there.

The city has become the Allied Forces' logistical hub and defensive core in the Southwest Pacific; even the outskirts' Mount Koot was excavated to build a massive ammunition depot, providing ample supplies for the defensive battle.

Just as the Japanese Combined Fleet was preparing to depart from Morseby Port to launch a landing operation on Brisbane, the American intelligence department, using advanced code‑breaking technology, successfully intercepted the Japanese attack intelligence.

So the strange thing is that even before the Pearl Harbor incident, the Chongqing side had intercepted Japanese intelligence, while the Americans themselves had not.

But after the Pacific War began, the United States, as if it had opened a heavenly eye, knew every Japanese Army movement as clearly as its own.

The intelligence detailed the Japanese landing time, troop deployment, navigation routes, and objectives; when the report reached MacArthur, he showed no panic, but a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

This is his only chance to wash away the disgrace and preserve his honor, and also the decisive battle to check the Japanese Combined Fleet and buy time for the Allied Forces on the Southeast Asian front.

"The Japanese Army is about to strike, targeting Brisbane!"

MacArthur immediately summoned the Senior Officers of the American Army Southwest Pacific Command, convened an emergency operations meeting, his tone heavy yet undeniably firm,

"They want to capture Brisbane, cut off our supply line in the South Pacific, and then occupy all of Australia. Let me stress again: we have no retreat; to retreat is to die, only defense offers a sliver of hope!" MacArthur said.

Subsequently, MacArthur issued a full‑scale fortification order, mobilizing every available force to construct three solid defensive lines around Brisbane.

The American Army 41st Infantry Division was deployed on the coastal front, together with Australian civilian military units, leveraging Brisbane's extensive coastline to dig intersecting trenches; the trenches were filled with Machine Gun Positions and mortar sites, each fire point staffed by elite soldiers, forming a dense ground defense network.

At the same time, hundreds of heavy anti‑aircraft guns were moved to coastal heights and around the city, their barrels pointing at the sea, ready at all times to counter Japanese carrier‑borne air raids.

Along the coastline, countless sea mines and anti‑tank mines were buried, forming an invisible death barrier that hindered Japanese landing craft from approaching the beachhead.

To strengthen the defense, MacArthur also ordered the reinforcement of the city's fortifications.

More than 200 air‑raid shelters were built in Brisbane's urban and suburban areas; most of these shelters are hand‑dug trenches topped with corrugated iron sheets, capable of housing at least six people to evade air raids, constructed jointly by locals, workers, and soldiers, becoming an important supplement to the city's defense.

The logistical supply lines were also fully activated, with ammunition, food, and medicine continuously shipped from the rear to the front, ensuring every soldier received ample resources to throw themselves fully into the defensive battle.

One could say, after the start of World II.

The population of the entire world was mobilized; no other war has ever deployed forces and manpower surpassing those of the Second World War.

At this point, Brisbane had become a fortress as solid as gold.

Tens of thousands of elite American troops fought side by side with Australian forces, morale high; although they knew the Japanese Combined Fleet was powerful and experienced in amphibious assaults, the resolve of a fight to the death sparked an astonishing fighting spirit.

MacArthur personally went to the front to inspect; when he saw the soldiers, he would step forward and shake their hands.

At the same time, behind MacArthur, a camera and a photograph were constantly following, capturing every moment he wanted, pressing the shutter.

Seeing the soldiers' busy figures and determined eyes, MacArthur felt a surge of confidence; Australia must be held.

If the Japanese Army occupied Australia, MacArthur would no longer need to return to the mainland; Roosevelt had gifted him an M1911.

Only one bullet!