Hu Hao’s impassioned rallying cry echoed over the radio net. The Imperial soldiers, already boiling with rage after seeing the countless funeral pyres in the city, felt their blood ignite.
The civilians of Santong County had cursed them for arriving too late, but they had absolutely no idea the brutal, exhausting gauntlet these soldiers had run tonight. The 87th Division had been marching, fighting, and redeploying non-stop since nightfall.
Thankfully, the operations had been executed flawlessly. If the ambush had gone poorly, they could have been bogged down in a grueling firefight for days. But the soldiers couldn’t explain any of that to the civilians. How could they? The civilians had watched their families get slaughtered. The soldiers completely understood their agony and accepted their curses in grim silence.
“Deploy into assault formation!” Bo Gang roared over the net the moment Hu Hao finished speaking.
The massive armored column burst out of the city limits, fanning out into a broad wedge as they roared toward the Imperial military base on the northwest edge of town.
Inside the base, the Allied garrison was completely oblivious to the impending doom. However, a sentry posted in one of the elevated watchtowers eventually spotted a massive cluster of headlights rapidly approaching through the darkness.
“What is that? Are our Regiments returning already?” the sentry muttered to his partner, squinting into the night.
“I don’t know. Call it in just to be safe,” the other sentry suggested, picking up the guardhouse satellite phone and dialing the Division command post.
“Sir, we have a massive convoy approaching the base. It looks like our forces might be returning,” the sentry reported.
“What? A convoy? Are they back already?” The duty officer in the command post frowned. He hung up the phone and walked over to the window, peering out toward the approaching lights.
His blood ran cold.
“No… that’s not a marching column! They’re fanned out! That’s a mechanized assault formation!” the officer realized in absolute terror.
“Enemy attack! Sound the alarm! It’s an enemy attack! Contact the 5th Regiment immediately! Wake the infantry up!” the officer screamed at his subordinates, sprinting toward the comms console.
“Yes, sir!” A junior staff officer frantically dialed the 5th Regiment’s barracks.
“Report! We have a massive armored force advancing on the base! It’s highly likely an enemy attack! Rouse your men immediately!” the officer yelled into the receiver the moment it connected.
“What?! An enemy attack?! How is that possible?!” the sleepy duty officer in the 5th Regiment barracks stammered, completely confused.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Before the officer could even process the warning, a barrage of 120mm tank shells slammed directly into the barracks building, instantly obliterating the outer wall.
“Damn it! WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!” the officer dropped the phone and screamed at the top of his lungs.
But he didn’t need to shout. The deafening roar of the exploding tank shells instantly woke every single Allied soldier in the base. Everyone knew exactly what was happening: they were under heavy assault.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Imperial tanks relentlessly pounded the multistory barracks. Thanks to the precise coordinates provided by Liu Shuyi’s recon squads earlier, the tank gunners knew exactly which buildings housed the Allied infantry and which buildings held the precious munitions.
“Brothers! Lock down those exits! Pin them down! Do not let a single Allied bastard out of those buildings! Hold the line for just a few minutes, our armor is almost here!” Liu Shuyi roared at his men, firing his assault rifle from behind a concrete barricade.
When Liu Shuyi saw the Imperial tanks initiate the bombardment, he instantly remembered Hu Hao’s flawless execution in Daman City. Hu Hao had completely paralyzed an entire Regiment simply by locking them inside their dormitories with concentrated machine-gun fire, denying them access to their heavy weapons.
Realizing the Allied 5th Regiment was currently trapped in their barracks exactly like the 3rd Regiment had been, Liu Shuyi seized the initiative and ordered his Recon Company to establish a localized blockade!
Rat-tat-tat! Rat-tat-tat!
The moment Allied soldiers desperately tried to pour out of the main entrances of the barracks, they were met with a withering hail of rifle fire from Liu Shuyi’s deeply concealed recon squads!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Imperial tanks continued their relentless bombardment from the perimeter. Many Allied soldiers who had just woken up were instantly blown apart inside their bunks. The remaining Imperial armor was still rapidly closing the distance.
“Hold the line! Keep them pinned! The moment our tanks arrive, they’re all dead! Hold them!” Liu Shuyi screamed, his voice hoarse.
The Recon Company was under immense pressure. The Allied forces heavily outnumbered them, and realizing they were trapped, the Allied soldiers began fighting back with sheer desperation. They poured onto the balconies and fired down at the recon squads, utilizing their high ground and numerical superiority. Liu Shuyi only had roughly a hundred men; it was physically impossible for them to completely seal off several massive buildings indefinitely. They were taking heavy suppressing fire.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Fortunately, the continuous, devastating bombardment from the approaching Imperial tanks kept the majority of the Allied soldiers pinned down, preventing them from organizing a cohesive breakout. Liu Shuyi’s men gritted their teeth and held the line.
Meanwhile, back in Santong County, the deafening roar of the tank cannons echoed through the silent streets. The surviving civilians, who had just been cursing the Imperial Army, froze and stared toward the northwest.
“Are… are our boys fighting the coalition forces?!” “Are they attacking the military base?!” “We have to help them! We have to go see if we can help! If our boys can actually slaughter those animals, we have to do our part!”
A low, urgent murmur swept through the surviving populace. Before long, groups of able-bodied young men grabbed whatever makeshift weapons they could find and began running toward the military base.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions continued to rock the city. The civilians finally realized that the massive armored column that had just passed through wasn’t retreating; they had marched straight into the teeth of the enemy to fight.
“I have to go out. The army is definitely going to take casualties. I’m a doctor; I have to go help!” an older man suddenly stood up in his ruined living room, turning to his wife.
“Okay. But… there’s an active firefight over there! It’s too dangerous! Our son Liang-er is already dead; I can’t lose you too! If you die, how are the rest of us supposed to survive?!” his wife pleaded, terrified for his safety.
“It’s fine. I’ll head to the local hospital first and see if the army brings their wounded there. If they don’t, I’ll pack whatever medical supplies I can find and head directly to the front line!
Those boys… they came here to fight those monsters. They came here to avenge our Liang-er! I’m an old man; I don’t have the strength to hold a rifle and get revenge myself. But they do! The least I can do is keep them alive so they can keep fighting!” the doctor declared with absolute resolve.
In another house across the street, a young woman quickly handed her crying infant to her husband.
“Husband, watch the baby. I’m going to the hospital! If there are wounded soldiers, they’ll desperately need nurses. Keep him safe; I have to go!” the woman said, already pulling on her old nursing scrubs.
“Okay! Please be careful! Or… what if I leave the baby with my mother and come with you?” her husband offered anxiously.
“No. At least one of us must survive to raise our child. I am a nurse; saving the wounded is my absolute duty!” the woman refused him gently but firmly. She kissed her baby’s forehead and rushed out the door.
Across Santong County, hundreds of civilians were spontaneously mobilizing. Driven by a desperate need to support the soldiers who were fighting to avenge their slaughtered families, they rushed out into the night.
“KILL!”
Back at the military base, the Imperial armored vanguard finally breached the perimeter fences and poured into the compound. As they rolled in, they immediately saw Liu Shuyi’s Recon Company desperately holding the Allied infantry inside the barracks!
“Hao-ge! The Allied forces haven’t reached their heavy weapons! The Recon boys pinned them down! They completely blocked the exits with rifle fire! Our armor is establishing the perimeter now! Hao-ge, do I have permission to load armor-piercing rounds?!” Bo Gang yelled over the command net, ecstatic at the tactical setup.
“Load AP! Bring the buildings down and bury them alive! And wait—is it Liu Shuyi holding the line?!” Hu Hao asked, a massive grin spreading across his face.
“Yes, sir! It’s Liu Shuyi’s Recon Company! They held the line perfectly!” Bo Gang confirmed.
“Excellent! Absolutely brilliant! Make sure his men are fully credited for this! Bo Gang, order a detachment of your tanks to immediately secure the armory warehouses! Have the Recon boys guide you to the exact locations! We absolutely cannot let the enemy destroy those munitions!” Hu Hao ordered.
“Understood!” Bo Gang acknowledged.
“He’s learning. He actually learned how to fight. He saw the tactical opening, had the courage to block the exit, and possessed the strategic vision to execute it. Very good,” Hu Hao muttered to himself, setting the radio down and nodding in profound satisfaction. He was incredibly proud of Liu Shuyi’s initiative.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Imperial tanks immediately switched to AP rounds and began systematically blasting the reinforced concrete pillars supporting the massive barracks.
The Allied soldiers trapped inside panicked completely. They poured onto the balconies and fired wildly down at the Imperial armor, but it was entirely futile. The Imperial heavy machine guns mounted on the tanks and APCs unleashed a devastating, concentrated crossfire, completely suppressing the balconies and shredding anyone who dared to show their face. The Allied Regiment was trapped in a slaughterhouse with absolutely no way to fight back.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
CRACK! RUMBLE!
One of the massive barracks buildings finally groaned and collapsed, pancaking downward in a massive cloud of dust. Dozens of Allied soldiers, desperate to avoid being buried alive, leaped from the upper-story windows. But they were cut down by Imperial machine-gun fire in mid-air, their bodies slamming lifelessly into the rubble below.
“Sweep the rubble! I do not want a single survivor!” Bo Gang roared as the building fell. He knew Hu Hao didn’t want prisoners, the soldiers didn’t want prisoners, and the massacred civilians certainly didn’t want prisoners.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The bombardment continued relentlessly. Meanwhile, several tanks and APCs, guided by Liu Shuyi’s recon soldiers, broke off from the main assault and raced toward the heavily fortified armory warehouses on the far side of the base.
The Allied detachment guarding the armory was incredibly small. They knew their main force had been ambushed, so they had hunkered down in the fortified bunkers outside the warehouses, setting up heavy machine guns and preparing to repel an infantry assault. But when they saw the massive silhouettes of the Imperial main battle tanks rolling toward them, sheer panic set in.
Rat-tat-tat! Rat-tat-tat!
The coaxial machine guns on the Imperial tanks instantly opened fire, suppressing the Allied bunkers. Desperate, several Allied soldiers broke cover and sprinted toward the massive, blast-proof steel doors of the armory, frantically trying to manually crank them open to access the heavy anti-armor weaponry inside.
But the Imperial tankers weren’t about to give them the chance. They loaded standard high-explosive rounds and fired directly at the bunkers. The blast doors of the armory were far too thick for standard HE rounds to penetrate, so the munitions inside were perfectly safe, but the explosion easily obliterated the Allied soldiers attempting to open them.
“Hao-ge! Hao-ge! Look behind us! There’s a massive crowd of civilians approaching!”
Hu Hao was intensely monitoring the assault through the viewing slit of his command APC when a guard suddenly sprinted up and banged on the hull, yelling over the din of battle.
Hu Hao frowned and quickly popped the top hatch, looking back toward the city.