Chapter 162: Difficult Defense

At this moment, on the front lines, the Allied forces were still bombarding. Hu Hao and the soldiers could only hide in the air-raid shelters, waiting for the artillery fire to end. The soldiers sat quietly inside; some were praying, others had their eyes closed, hoping to calm themselves down. Meanwhile, many officers just sat there, smoking cigarettes and staring out the entrance of the shelters!

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” The Allied bombardment continued. Aside from waiting, the soldiers had no other options.

“This won’t do. Tonight, we might have to deploy our tank units first. Have our remaining tank units move up to the defensive positions immediately to join the defense!” Hu Hao declared.

“Ah? Hao-ge, if we send our tank units up, they’ll suffer losses!” Xiao Quan looked at Hu Hao in shock.

“Tank losses are fine, we’ll find a way to replace them later. But we cannot lose our positions! Furthermore, having the tank units there will alleviate the pressure on our defensive lines.

“Most importantly, our tanks can attack the Allied tanks. Our tanks have better protection and superior armor compared to theirs. We have no choice but to use them. If we don’t, the Allied forces will definitely launch a fierce assault. We don’t have many soldiers left.

“If we just let them die like this, we’ll be doing them a massive disservice. Plus, it would have a catastrophic impact on our unit’s future combat effectiveness. They have to deploy!” Hu Hao stated.

“Sigh, alright. Then I’ll contact Bai Ye. It’s time they mobilized. Otherwise, the Allied forces will start wondering where our tanks are! Once our tank units appear, I imagine the troops on the opposite bank will put their minds at ease!” Xiao Quan nodded.

“Mm, and that will keep Li Jingsong’s forces safe!” Hu Hao agreed.

The Allied bombardment lasted for nearly twenty minutes before stopping. The moment it ceased, Hu Hao’s troops rapidly charged out of the air-raid shelters. By now, they had gained experience; they knew exactly when to rush out and when to take cover.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!” The moment the commanders emerged, they immediately fired flares, illuminating the entire opposite bank.

“Fuck me!” Standing at the observation port, Hu Hao cursed as soon as he saw the enemy forces across the river.

The Allied forces had committed a massive number of troops. Hu Hao estimated that facing the 2nd Regiment’s sector alone, there were at least two divisions. Furthermore, the enemy had deployed a large number of tanks and armored vehicles to cover their pontoon bridge units as they constructed the bridges.

“Fire! Hurry up and fire!” the officers in the trenches roared. However, the soldiers didn’t dare poke their heads out. Allied heavy machine guns had already locked down the area, making it impossible for the defenders to stand up and shoot.

“Motherfucker!” Hu Hao cursed through gritted teeth. The enemy held absolute fire superiority. They had far too many heavy machine guns, and their grenade dischargers were continuously bombarding the trenches.

“Rat-a-tat-tat!”

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Right at that moment, the roar of heavy machine guns and cannon fire erupted from behind the defensive positions. The enemy’s incoming fire immediately weakened significantly. The tank units had arrived.

“Brothers, hurry! Fire! Our tanks are here!” Seeing the tanks rolling up from behind, many commanders shouted at the top of their lungs.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” In truth, there weren’t many tanks behind the positions—only about eighty or so, along with some infantry fighting vehicles. The tanks’ primary objective was to eliminate the Allied tanks, preventing them from covering the pontoon bridge units.

“Good!” Hu Hao nodded approvingly. The tanks had arrived at the perfect time, suppressing the Allied firepower at a critical moment.

This allowed the defending soldiers to stand up and return fire. Once the heavy machine guns in the trenches opened up, a stalemate quickly formed. It was no longer possible for the enemy to unilaterally control the battlefield’s firepower.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” Seeing the Eastern Spirit tanks mobilize, the Allied tanks immediately began searching for them. As soon as they spotted their targets, they opened fire.

“Rat-a-tat-tat!” The heavy machine guns on the positions fired relentlessly at the distant Allied troops. Meanwhile, the rocket launcher gunners began targeting the Allied armored vehicles, grenade discharger nests, and heavy machine gun emplacements.

“The Eastern Spirit troops can’t hold on anymore! Their tanks have finally come out! During our previous attacks, their tanks never showed up; I thought they didn’t have any!” Abusai exclaimed as he saw the tanks firing from the opposite bank.

“Mm, exactly. Our strategy this time was to commit a massive force to force them into deploying all their reserves. From the looks of it, they don’t have many troops left over there. At most, they won’t exceed 30,000 men!” Hakes laughed and nodded.

“I must admit, General Hakes’ strategy was correct. As long as we sustain the attack, the Eastern Spirit forces definitely won’t be able to hold. They don’t have many troops left—certainly not 30,000. To me, it looks like 20,000! Their firepower isn’t very dense! And they even had to deploy their tank units!

“They must be completely out of troops; otherwise, why would tank units participate in a trench defense battle?” Ren Kefu chimed in, flatteringly.

“Mm, your attacks are proceeding quite well too. Soon, we’ll break through together and completely annihilate this Eastern Spirit force. Once we breach this line, our troops can push eastward to assault the 27th Corps’ defensive positions.

“Once we wipe out the 27th Corps, the rest will be easy. We will free up more troops to encircle the entire Eastern Spirit defensive force, allowing our Allied armies to continue advancing!” Hakes nodded confidently, already mapping out the path to victory in his mind.

“Exactly!” Ren Kefu nodded in agreement.

Abusai, however, remained silent, filled with deep regret. If he hadn’t committed so many troops at the very beginning, and instead concentrated a massive force to strike the Eastern Spirit defenses later, perhaps he would have already broken through. Then Hakes wouldn’t be here stealing the glory.

But it was too late for regrets now. The merit that should have been his had been snatched away by Hakes.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

“Rat-a-tat-tat!”

“Fire! Open fire!” a Battalion Commander roared. Several of his company commanders had already been wounded, forcing him to run through the trenches personally to direct the troops.

“This won’t work! We need reserve troops. We can’t hold them off with the men we have left! How long has it been? Barely an hour, and our casualties are already massive!” Wu Kexiao, Commander of the 2nd Regiment, said anxiously in his command center.

“He’s right. Although we’ve inflicted heavy casualties on the Allied forces, they just have too many troops. Coupled with the cover of so many armored vehicles, suppressing them is far too difficult!” his Chief of Staff nodded in agreement.

“Report! A call from Division Command! The reserves have been deployed, but they only gave us 1,000 men. The staff officer said the other units are also hard-pressed, so they can’t spare any more. This is the last of the reserves!” a staff officer reported to Wu Kexiao at the observation port.

“Understood. 1,000 is better than nothing. Hao-ge doesn’t have many reserves left either.” Wu Kexiao nodded.

“Sigh, it’s a pity Hao-ge isn’t a Corps Commander or a Combat Zone Commander. If he were, fighting this war wouldn’t be this exhausting. Just look—we hadn’t even called to ask for reserves yet, and Hao-ge already sent them!” the Chief of Staff sighed. “Who among us doesn’t wish Hao-ge was a Corps Commander or Combat Zone Commander? But… sigh!” Wu Kexiao agreed, his eyes fixed on the battlefield ahead.

“Motherfucker, they’re building the pontoon bridges! Our brothers can’t suppress them!” Wu Kexiao said anxiously. The firepower on their end wasn’t fierce enough to achieve total suppression.

“Have the soldiers blow up those pontoon bridges with rocket launchers! As long as the river is there, they can’t cross!” the Chief of Staff suggested.

“No, we can’t blow up the pontoon bridges. Hao-ge explicitly ordered us not to. We still have a use for those bridges!” Wu Kexiao immediately shook his head.

“Ah? We can’t? If we don’t blow them up, the Allied forces will cross, and the battle will become even harder!” the Chief of Staff exclaimed in shock.

“I said, Hao-ge ordered us not to blow them up. I can’t tell you why right now, but Hao-ge has his reasons!” Wu Kexiao turned back and told his Chief of Staff.

“Oh, if Hao-ge said so, then we listen to Hao-ge!” The Chief of Staff nodded in acceptance.

“Hao-ge, the Allied forces are building the pontoon bridges. However, their casualties aren’t light either. We might not have many soldiers, but we have a lot of veterans. Their marksmanship and psychological resilience are excellent. Plus, our tanks have taken out quite a few of the Allied tanks and armored vehicles,” Xiao Quan reported, standing next to Hu Hao.

“Contact Li Jingsong, Ye Zifeng, and Bo Gang. Tell them to prepare for action at any moment and await my call!” Hu Hao ordered.

“Ah?” Hearing this, Xiao Quan looked at Hu Hao.

“I can’t wait anymore! We’re going to wipe them out!” Hu Hao declared.

“Yes, sir. But the Allied forces still have a massive number of troops. Although we’ve inflicted heavy casualties on them, the battle has barely been raging for two hours. Their main force is still intact. If we’re going to counterattack, this isn’t the right time!” Xiao Quan reasoned.

“I know. I said tell them to prepare. Also, have the artillery prepare as well. Tell them to start their bombardment from the river surface and extend it forward. Their entire bombardment range should cover from 5 li up to 30 kilometers.

“Tonight, I’m going to bury every last one of them here! Right now is fine; we still need to deplete their ammunition, their stamina, and their morale. When the critical moment arrives, we’ll crush them in one fell swoop!” Hu Hao said with absolute resolve.

“Hao-ge, I really think you need to consider this carefully. Tonight, even if we manage to completely annihilate half of the Allied forces, they will still outnumber us. If we counterattack, it might backfire!” Xiao Quan pondered for a moment before offering this advice. He was currently not optimistic about this counter-offensive!

(End of Chapter)