readsfreenovel Chapter 306: Besieging the Dwarf Locust Army
Chapter 306: Besieging the Dwarf Locust Army
The officer was so anxious that he scratched his head and didn't know how to express himself: "No, Your Excellency, the new country's artillery is different this time."
"What else could be different about the artillery?" Abe Tokiji still didn't understand what the officer meant.
At this moment, the chief of staff entered the headquarters and said, "Your Excellency, the new army used heavy-caliber artillery and the city wall has been blown down."
"What?" Abe Tokiji finally realized what the officer meant by the artillery being different.
The situation was urgent, and Abe Tokiji immediately ordered: "Let all the defenders on the top of the city retreat to the city and engage in street fighting with the new country's army in the city."
"Your Excellency, the enemy's firepower is strong. We..."
Before the chief of staff finished speaking, Abe Tokiji interrupted him: "Baka, Saito, you coward, where did you throw the glory of the dwarf locust?"
After being scolded by Abe Tokiji, the chief of staff had no choice but to blush and lower his head obediently.
In fact, what Abe Tokiji was thinking was that now he was surrounded in the city and he was unfamiliar with the place, so it would not be easy to escape even if he broke through.
It is better to defend the city and wait for reinforcements. At least the reinforcements will arrive tomorrow at the latest.
The chief of staff immediately went forward and issued orders, asking the dwarf locust soldiers to prepare for street fighting.
After entering the city, the Nanshan Army could not use high-powered artillery, and even mortars could not be used on a large scale, which did have some impact on them.
In addition, the dwarf locusts were divided into small teams of three, swarming out from various locations to launch surprise attacks, which did cause some casualties to the soldiers of the two divisions.
The regiment commander who entered the city immediately adjusted his strategy: "Occupy the commanding heights, and use platoons as units to clear out the dwarf locust army area by area."
The dwarf locust soldiers also had disadvantages. After all, this was new country land, and they were few in number. They guarded the intersections and cleared one area after another, and soon the living space of the dwarf locust soldiers was compressed.
At this time, many dwarf locust soldiers had gathered in the dwarf locust headquarters.
An officer stepped forward to report: "Your Excellency, the New Country Army is holding the key roads and advancing little by little. Moreover, they have snipers on the commanding heights, and we can't penetrate them at all."
"Baka, you're trash, all trash." Abe Tokiji slapped him twice.
The officer was beaten so badly that he was in pain, but he dared not express any dissatisfaction and could only lower his head.
Faced with this difficult situation, Abe Tokiji had no good solution and only said: "Send a message to all the troops to hold on. Our reinforcements will arrive tomorrow."
Sure enough, upon hearing that reinforcements were coming, the officers from all units’ eyes lit up and their fighting spirit was obviously boosted.
"Saito, what's wrong?"
After the officers from various departments left, the chief of staff seemed to be hesitant to speak, which made Abe Tokiji very unhappy.
Hearing the brigade commander's question, the chief of staff expressed his bad feeling: "Your Excellency, the New Country Army has not been fighting with all its strength in the past two days. Why did it suddenly launch a strong attack today?"
"What else can we do? They must have known that the division commander is coming to help, so they are anxious." Abe Tokiji said as if it was a matter of course.
The Chief of Staff sighed and said, "The New Country Army has heavy artillery, why didn't they use it on the first day, but today?"
"Besides, there are many troops outside the city. Even if we send a troop out, it will not affect the siege."
Hearing this, Abe Tokiji's face turned ugly: "Baka, Saito-kun, please watch your words. Okay, go and inspect the defenses of the various departments."
"Brigade Commander..." The chief of staff wanted to say something else, but Abe Tokiji glared at him fiercely, so he had to shut up.
How could Abe Tokiji not know what the chief of staff meant, but he would not and dared not think about it in that direction.
First, of course, it was to stabilize the morale of the troops so that they could fight to the last moment. Second, they imagined that the division commander could really reach Dingcao, so that they could attract the New Kingdom army and let the main force inflict heavy damage on the enemy.
The fighting between the dwarf locust soldiers in the city and the Nanshan army was very fierce.
Officers from all units have passed on the news of the arrival of reinforcements, encouraging the dwarf locust soldiers to fight even harder.
Even though the Nanshan Army had strong firepower, they still suffered many casualties due to the desperate efforts of the dwarf locust soldiers.
The battle lasted until eight o'clock in the evening, and only more than 3,000 people were left in the Abe Brigade, all crowded within a one-kilometer area around the headquarters, including many wounded soldiers.
The Nanshan Army had set up roadblocks around them and surrounded them.
"Your Excellency, the Brigade Commander."
Abe led the guards to inspect the remaining soldiers around the headquarters. When they saw Abe coming, the soldiers squatting in the corner immediately stood up and greeted him.
"Warriors, hold on for another day. Reinforcements will arrive tomorrow, and then we will drive these New Country troops out of the city." Abe consoled them, suppressing his emotions.
He had already decided that if reinforcements did not arrive tomorrow afternoon, he would lead these people in a desperate charge.
He would rather die in battle than be taken prisoner.
"Onboard, onboard, onboard."
With Abe Tokiji's comfort, the madness of the dwarf locust soldiers was also aroused. With one person shouting, everyone started shouting to get on board.
After returning to the headquarters, Abe Tokiji was in a much better mood. He felt that the morale of the troops was good and there should be no problem holding out until tomorrow afternoon.
"Lao Zhang, what are these dwarfs shouting?"
"Who knows, maybe he's asking for mercy, maybe he doesn't want to die."
Hearing the shouts of the dwarf locust soldiers in the city, the soldiers of the Nanshan Army looked at each other, wondering what they were going crazy about.
However, the senior military officers did not take it seriously. They were just a group of people who were trapped in a desperate situation. Even if they had a strong fighting will, they could not make any waves.
On the other side, the surrounded senior military officers such as Tamura Koichi were also sitting around a bonfire.
They were surrounded in a farmland and could not find anything to start a fire, so they dismantled the wooden boards of the cart they were carrying and started a fire.
Due to limited numbers, only three fires were built.
Seeing that Tamura Koichi looked absent-minded, the chief of staff swallowed his saliva and reported: "Your Excellency, in today's battle, we lost nearly 3,000 people and more than 2,000 soldiers were injured."
They were surrounded between the ridges of the field and had no way to move around, making them complete sitting ducks.
If the Nanshan Army had not been concerned about casualties and slowed down the pace of attack, their losses might have been even greater, or they might have been annihilated.
"The Nanshan Army has set up machine gun positions everywhere. Their firepower is so strong that we can't get through at all." Having said that, the chief of staff couldn't help but lower his head.
"Our heavy artillery can't be used at all, and at such a close distance, it can't hit at all. Mortars and grenade launchers can be used, but they will be suppressed by the enemy's sharpshooters and mortars."
Heavy artillery basically fires indirect fire and is difficult to attack close-range targets.
They were very close to the Nanshan Army and had no way of deploying artillery positions. Moreover, heavy artillery was completely out of reach at this distance.
As for their mortars, as soon as they fired a few shells, they would be targeted by the enemy's mortars or the gunners would be targeted by snipers, making them miserable.