The Kabuguo 32nd Corps’ Tank Division Commander stared at the telegram from his Corps Commander, scarcely able to believe his own eyes.
Judging from the telegram, it seemed their main force had been completely annihilated. Now, his Corps Commander was ordering them to proceed to Santong County and merge with the forces there!
“Get the Corps Commander on the line! Hurry!” The Division Commander refused to believe it; he needed to speak with his Corps Commander directly.
“Hello? Corps Commander?!”
“Run! Run toward Santong County! They’ve dispatched Air Cavalry your way! Stay alert! Hurry!” Before the Division Commander could even speak, Fritsch’s desperate roar echoed through the receiver, urging them to run.
“What?! What’s happening to the main force behind us?! What exactly happened?!” the Division Commander yelled back.
“We were ambushed! By the Eastern Spirit main force! Their firepower is unimaginably fierce! Right now, our three infantry divisions and the artillery division are essentially completely annihilated!
“Our soldiers were mowed down by their heavy machine guns before they even had time to react! Run! Their Air Cavalry is heading your way right now! Run!” Fritsch roared at the top of his lungs.
“Yes, sir!”
“Boom! Boom! Boom!” Just as the Division Commander was about to hang up, a series of deafening explosions blasted through the receiver!
“Hello?! Hello?! Corps Commander! Corps Commander!” Sensing something was terribly wrong, the Division Commander yelled frantically. But no matter how loudly he shouted, all he heard was static; there was no other sound.
“Damn it! Turn around! Hurry! Proceed to Santong County! Heavy machine gunners on the tanks, prepare for anti-air defense! Hurry up!” Knowing they were in massive trouble, the Division Commander grabbed his radio and roared the orders!
“Division Commander, what exactly is going on?! Turning around, then turning around again! What happened?!” a Regimental Commander asked over the radio.
“The main force behind us was attacked by the enemy! Eastern Spirit Air Cavalry is flying toward us right now! Hurry!” the Division Commander roared.
“What?! How could this happen?!” Hearing this, the Regimental Commanders and the soldiers immediately sprang into action. The heavy machine gunners atop the tanks and armored vehicles quickly manned their weapons.
The Platoon Leaders in the passenger seats of the transport trucks leaned out their windows, shouting at the soldiers in the back to prepare for an air attack.
“We’re finished! We fell for a trap! Who the fuck told us the Eastern Spirit forces were made of paper?! Who told us they’d run away the moment we arrived?!” the Division Commander cursed furiously.
He couldn’t contact the main force behind them anymore. The Corps Commander had said they were completely annihilated, but he had absolutely no idea how it had happened.
“Helicopters! There are helicopters over there!” a soldier suddenly pointed west and shouted.
“Rat-a-tat-tat!” Immediately, the heavy machine guns on the tanks and armored vehicles began firing into the distance.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!” The helicopters in the distance retaliated, launching barrages of rockets.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
“Dismount! Everyone dismount! Hurry!” Seeing the Eastern Spirit helicopters launching rockets, many officers roared at the top of their lungs, ordering their soldiers out of the vehicles. Staying in the trucks was a death sentence; a single rocket hit would wipe out everyone inside.
“Rat-a-tat-tat!” At the same time, the heavy machine guns mounted on the helicopters opened fire, strafing the ground from afar.
“Hurry up! Form a defensive perimeter! Fuck, they got here fast!” the Division Commander roared into his radio.
“Engage them from the perimeter! Do not get too close! We have the altitude advantage! Do not get hit by their heavy machine guns! Heavy machine guns, rockets—fire at will!” the Air Cavalry Commander ordered loudly.
“Understood!” Over a hundred helicopters began circling in the distance, raining down fire upon the Allied forces.
At first, the Allied forces managed to hold their ground. But as more and more of their tanks and armored vehicles were struck and destroyed, their defense began to crumble.
Over a hundred helicopters attacking a ground force—the heavy firepower alone was terrifying enough, let alone the relentless strafing from the heavy machine guns.
Furthermore, they were standing on a flat plain. Aside from the ditches on either side of the highway where they could seek some cover, there was absolutely nowhere else to hide. If they were targeted by the heavy machine guns or autocannons, death was their only outcome!
“We’re running low on ammo! All rockets expended! Requesting permission to withdraw from the battlefield!” a helicopter pilot reported.
“Units that have expended their ordnance are clear to withdraw!” the Air Cavalry Commander authorized.
Slowly, the Air Cavalry began withdrawing from the battlefield. From the initial ambush until now, they had consumed a massive amount of ammunition. However, the results were equally massive.
Against the tank division below, they had killed countless Allied soldiers and destroyed numerous tanks and armored vehicles. Soon, the entire Air Cavalry force had withdrawn.
“Hao-ge, the Air Cavalry reports they are out of ammunition and have withdrawn. However, they inflicted catastrophic damage on the Allied tank division!” a staff officer reported to Hu Hao.
“Good! Order the Air Cavalry to rearm and deploy again! Order Bo Gang’s armored units to head there immediately! We’re going to use our armored forces to wipe them out!” Hu Hao instructed the staff officer.
“Yes, sir!” The staff officer immediately went to make the calls. Meanwhile, on Hu Hao’s end, the battle was drawing to a close. The Eastern Spirit soldiers stood along the riverbank, firing at any Allied soldiers who dared to surface. They had no intention of letting a single one escape. Unless they saw a body floating lifelessly on the water, they kept firing.
“Tell the soldiers to hurry up! Order Lu Guangsheng’s troops to quickly finish off the remaining enemy forces in his sector! Then, have him lead his regiment and advance on Nage City! We are taking control of Nage City!” Hu Hao ordered another staff officer nearby.
“Right now? There might still be Allied logistics units stationed in Nage City!” the staff officer cautioned.
“I don’t care what units are there; I want them all wiped out! Right now, we control the initiative on this battlefield! Whether we fight, and when we fight, is entirely up to us!” Hu Hao declared.
“Yes, sir! I will contact the 3rd Regiment Commander immediately!” The staff officer snapped to attention and replied.
“Brothers, hurry up! Finish them off! Hao-ge just gave us a new mission! We’re going to reclaim Nage City! Hurry up!” Lu Guangsheng roared after receiving Hu Hao’s order.
“Yeah! We’re going to reclaim lost territory! Brothers, hurry up!” Many soldiers cheered enthusiastically upon hearing this.
They had always dreamed of reclaiming their lost land. Now that Hu Hao was finally leading an offensive into enemy-occupied territory, the soldiers were beyond ecstatic!
“Regimental Commander, what about the weapons here? Are we sweeping the battlefield?” an Acting Company Commander yelled.
“Leave them! Let the rear units handle the sweep! Right now, our objective is Nage City! Also, is that enemy commander dead yet?! Where did that command vehicle run off to?! Did anyone spot it?!” Lu Guangsheng shouted.
“We don’t know yet! We saw them retreating to the rear, and the Air Cavalry chased after them! We don’t know if they were hit!” another soldier replied.
“Whether they were hit or not, we pursue! Motherfucker, wipe them out!” Lu Guangsheng roared.
“Yes, sir! Hurry up and clear out the stragglers! We’re going after that Allied Corps Commander!” In the distance, the other officers also began shouting commands.
They knew that once they reclaimed Nage City, they would likely be garrisoned there. Their Regimental Commander had already hinted at this to them. They desperately hoped to reclaim those lost territories quickly; only then would they feel a sense of hope.
“Hurry up! Bring the tanks over! Push these destroyed vehicles to the edge of the forest! We need to clear the road for our own vehicles! Hurry!” An officer directed the tanks to push the blazing wrecks of Allied vehicles off the road to clear a path.
The other soldiers were busy searching for surviving Allied troops. In truth, aside from those hiding in the river, there were virtually none left on land. The initial barrage had been so dense and sudden that the Allied soldiers were gunned down before they could even react.
Therefore, the Eastern Spirit soldiers were currently lined up along the riverbank, firing down at the water. The Allied soldiers below were truly in a miserable state. They couldn’t stay submerged forever; they would drown. But the moment they surfaced for air, they were met with a hail of bullets or grenades. The survival rate for those who jumped into the river was astronomically low.
“Report! We have lost contact with the reinforcement corps! We cannot reach them! Furthermore, the vanguard unit was also attacked by Eastern Spirit forces! They encountered Eastern Spirit Air Cavalry and are currently falling back toward our position!
“However, we’ve also detected that the Eastern Spirit tank division has broken off their encirclement and is likely heading to intercept them! Our forces are in massive trouble now!” In Santong County, Hakes’ Chief of Staff approached with a heavy expression and reported.
“What did you say?! We’ve lost contact with the reinforcements?! And the reinforcing tank division was attacked by Air Cavalry?! How is that possible?!” Hakes shot to his feet, staring at his Chief of Staff.
“It’s true. That is the situation. Up until now, we still don’t know exactly how many troops our opponent has, or what kind of units they command!” the Chief of Staff replied.
Ren Kefu and Abusai had also stood up, staring at the Chief of Staff, utterly speechless.
“I knew it! I knew there would be trouble! I anticipated this, but I never imagined our opponent would actually dare to ambush an entire corps! He truly is a master!” Ren Kefu muttered to himself.
(End of Chapter)