He didn't know who the commander of the Wolf Flag Army was, but yesterday's battle damage had clearly enraged them. When they arrived outside the small town, they didn't launch a probing attack and directly set up the cannons. The two mighty 122mm howitzers made Tie Zhongyuan, who was observing with his binoculars, feel a chill in his heart.
Yesterday, he found out that the ones attacking were not the Silver Stream Army, but the Black Wolf Flag Army and the Grey Wolf Cavalry. Although he didn't know what the problem was, it was definitely related to the Silver Stream Army. Coincidentally, their main target was also the other Wolf Flag Army. Although Tie Zhongyuan thought more of forcing the Wolf Flag Army to surrender and preserve their strength as much as possible, when it really came to war, he wouldn't be careless.
Although he didn't know the specific number of casualties of the Wolf Flag Army last night, Tie Zhongyuan believed that the Wolf Flag Army's strength wouldn't exceed 6000. The Wolf Flag Army in the distance was more or less clear. There were over 2300 cavalrymen, 3000 infantrymen, as well as armored soldiers and logistics personnel. Clearly, Zhang Xiaoqiang's goal of exhausting the other side's military strength had already been achieved.
When the five cannons began spitting out several meter long fireballs, the entire small town trembled under the artillery fire. The destructive power of the artillery shells wasn't too great, but it was a huge blow to the garrison's morale. A single 122mm artillery shell was enough to blow up an entire house into a huge crater. If there were people defending the house, then no matter how many people there were, they would all be destroyed along with the house.
The Wolf Flag Army seemed to be flaunting their ample ammunition. Their firepower preparation lasted for an entire three hours. Ten carts of artillery shells were fired in succession. The entire small town was completely transformed into the appearance of hell. Blazing flames, billowing thick smoke, painful wails, and pieces of broken roof tiles.
The central building was also blown up no less than ten times. Large chunks of walls collapsed, and many floors collapsed. Under the thick smoke, the building was like a chimney, continuously emitting billowing black smoke.
More than 60% of the entire town's buildings had been destroyed. From time to time, one could see people running amidst the rubble with their bodies ablaze. When the sound of the cannons stopped, Tie Zhongyuan's teeth had long since shattered. Just a moment ago, he had lost a total of 500 men. And Li Yao was not in a good state either. The position that was garrisoned with a platoon had been bombarded with high-density cannons. Only six of them were able to survive. Of these six, two were blasted deaf, two had their legs blown off, and one had gone insane from fear. Only one was still able to continue fighting.
The only thing that comforted the two of them was that Tie Zhongyuan had handed over the garrisons on the periphery to the Group of Eight. Compared to the Golden Flag Battalion, which was the defensive line of the Garrison Camp, and the Group of Eight was the defensive line of the Golden Flag Battalion, the Group of Eight suffered the heaviest losses. More than half of their men were injured, and less than 300 of them were in good condition. The Golden Flag Battalion lost more than 100 men, and less than 30 of them were killed in the explosion. As for the Garrison Camp hiding in the center, because one-third of their ammunition was lost, they lost about two platoons of more than 80 men, accounting for one-fifth of their losses.
The battle had not even officially begun, and a quarter of the garrison force of more than 3,800 men had already been lost. At this moment, both Tie Zhongyuan and Li Yao knew that if they followed their previous plan, they would not be able to hold on at all. The enemy's tanks and armored vehicles had not even moved yet.
The remaining 300 or so members of the Group of Eight were removed from the land expropriation and sent to the center to do manual labor. They built positions and bunkers in the ruins. Li Zhongyue, on the other hand, led his search company out of the basement and went to the frontmost position to stand guard. Meanwhile, Li Caoyuan sent out logistics soldiers to gather the wounded and bring them to the basement for emergency treatment.
On the rooftop of the central building, Li Yao and Tie Zhongyuan were holding their binoculars and observing the surroundings. Beside them, the central air conditioner, which had been half corroded by the rain, had completely collapsed. At the center of the rooftop, there was a huge gap from which they could see the third floor below. Black smoke was also rising from the gap. From time to time, they could see the silhouettes of people putting out the fire. The white smoke sprayed by the dry powder fire extinguishers was swept up into the air by the heat wave.
"How should we fight next?"
The streets below were no longer intersecting with each other. All kinds of rubbish, debris, broken bricks, broken furniture and electrical appliances, burnt clothes and quilts were scattered everywhere. It was a mess, forming a huge garbage dump. Broken limbs could be vaguely seen. The air was filled with the thick smell of smoke and black dust, which even dyed the bandage on Tie Zhongyuan's face black.
Hearing Tie Zhongyuan's question, Li Yao took a deep breath of the smoky air and roared in a deep voice:
"If they send people, we will kill them. If they send cars, we will blow up the cars. We will not give up an inch of land.
Tie Zhongyuan choked on Li Yao's words. He understood Zhang Xiaoqiang's strategy. Using the town as a millstone, he would grind down the strength and confidence of the Wolf Flags. Then, he would use the fresh troops to deliver the fatal blow and finally eat up the Wolf Flags.
Therefore, they did not need to fight until there was a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. As long as they could ensure that the town was not completely occupied by the Wolf Flags, it would be enough to continuously consume the morale and energy of the Wolf Flags. According to Li Yao's calculations, when they won, there would not be many soldiers left in the town.
"Commander Li, the enemy we were waiting for at the beginning was not the Wolf Flags."
Tie Zhongyuan could not help but remind him. Li Yao, however, did not hear it. He put down the binoculars and disdainfully glanced at Tie Zhongyuan. He casually said: "So what?
No matter who comes, as long as they attack our territory, I will kill every pair that comes. I don't care that much … "
"…"
The speechless Tie Zhongyuan thought for a moment and reorganized his words. If he wanted to move this boorish fellow, he had to speak as simply and straightforwardly as possible.
"Let me put it this way. These Wolf Flag Soldiers might have been lured here by the people from Silver Stream. They might be right behind us, waiting for both sides to suffer heavy losses. Then, they will swallow us and the Wolf Flag Soldiers. If we lose too many people, they won't even need to expend much effort to …"
This time, Li Yao understood. The Wolf Flag Soldiers would not come looking for them for no reason. Perhaps the Wolf Flag Soldiers still thought that they were surrounding the Silver Stream base. If that was the case, they would be treated as fools for nothing. If their losses in the following battle were too great, the Silver Stream military might reap the benefits of both fools.
"Then, then what should we do?
Yesterday, Zhang Xiaoqiang beat them up ruthlessly. They will not reconcile with us. Just now, they fired cannons for half a day. Wasn't it because they suffered too many casualties yesterday?
We have already become mortal enemies. Apart from fighting, there is no other way … "
Tie Zhongyuan smiled bitterly. Li Yao had a straightforward personality and was prone to go to extremes. Just now, he wanted to fight to the death, but now he was thinking about how to preserve his strength. He pulled himself together and continued to persuade, "The key is still up to us. If I am not wrong, the Silver Stream military should be spying from afar. If there is no accident, the Silver Stream military will attack the Wolf Flag Soldiers from behind. Before that, Zhang Xiaoqiang's peripheral troops must not move. Even if we are all dead, do not move.
If we move, we will lose everything … "" You … You did not mean what you said just now. "
Li Yao was completely confused. He wanted to lead his subordinates to fight for every inch of land, but Tie Zhongyuan said to preserve his strength. Now, he wanted to preserve his strength, but Tie Zhongyuan wanted to fight to the last man. This was completely contradictory.
"Uh, what I mean is very simple. We should just give up on some of the unimportant peripheral troops and drag the Wolf Flag Soldiers in to fight in the streets. Otherwise, our peripheral positions will suffer heavy losses from the enemy's heavy firepower. Moreover, fighting in the streets is about close combat. They will not dare to send their tanks. You must know that with the rocket launchers in our hands, it is as easy as killing a chicken at a distance of 100 meters.
In addition, we are familiar with the terrain in the streets, but the Wolf Flag Soldiers are not. If we take a short detour, it will be very easy for us to surround the local troops. At that time, my people will persuade them to surrender. I believe that many will put down their weapons. Not only will it reduce our losses, we will also get some supplies.
Also, this town is big enough. It is almost the biggest town in Inner Mongolia. There is enough space and depth. We do not need to defend the central point. You must know that the factory of the salt industry company and the thermal power plant are enough for us to build a second core position.
As long as we are not completely wiped out, the Wolf Flag Soldiers will continue to bleed. When they are weakened, the Silver Stream Army will appear. The final counterattack will not fall on our heads. When the two sides fight, when the Silver Stream Army thinks that they have won, it will be the time for Zhang Xiaoqiang to appear with his troops.
At that time, no matter what happens, at least we will not be the losers. Moreover, there are still two thousand Gold Wolf Flag Soldiers behind us. In addition, there are two field companies stationed in the county. Even if we all die, it will be worth it. "