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Wave after wave of Belken soldiers were passing through this gap. Unlike typical breakthrough operations that would move to the sides to consolidate the breakthrough point for the sake of stability, they were frantically throwing troops into this gap, trying to advance the longest distance in the shortest amount of time.
For the commander of the Fabandi city defense, this was undoubtedly the worst possible situation—the entire territory of Fabandi was under attack, and they were in a state of confusion, with no clear understanding of their superiors or the enemy's situation. Some of the concealed telephone lines had also been destroyed, leaving nearly half the troops to rely on their commander's on-the-spot judgment, while the Belken radio broadcasts further destabilized the morale of the defenders. This was even more chaotic than the already disorganized situation in northwestern Shanxi.
Those who dare to launch a rebellion at this time are no ordinary rebels; we must deliver a heavy blow! Furthermore, Fabandi city is the core of this defensive line, and it absolutely cannot be compromised. Therefore, he immediately dispatched all reserve troops into the city, preparing to eliminate these traitors one by one, suppressing the rebellion with lightning speed and minimizing its negative impact. However, this directly resulted in him not having enough troops to plug the gap when a breach appeared in the defensive line.
As Belken advanced rapidly, the city's garrison commander, who had been unable to regain control of most of his troops, made a reluctant decision—to abandon the outer defenses, which had become riddled with holes and were practically nonexistent, and to withdraw his remaining forces into the city to engage in street fighting with Belken. However, with morale so low, even he himself was unsure how long the royal army could hold out in the brutal, meat-grinding street fighting. But switching to street fighting gave Fabandi some hope of holding out; if he stubbornly insisted on fighting in open battle, whether he could even survive the day was another matter entirely.
The city's defense commander naturally knew what this decision meant.
This means he essentially abandoned most of the out-of-contact troops along the Faban defensive line. What choices would these troops make after being unable to contact their command in time—fight to the end or feel abandoned? This choice would become an indelible stain on his military career. Forget about promotions; he would be lucky to avoid being court-martialed. His political enemies would never let such a stain go unpunished.
Even so, he did it anyway. After all, it was a very simple choice between two options: send orders and information through slow messengers, allowing the Belken to defeat them one by one; or retreat into the city for a desperate fight.
Fortunately, this series of bad news was followed by good news—aircraft bearing the royal coat of arms appeared near the palace. These aircraft hovered near the palace for about twenty minutes, inflicting heavy casualties on the traitors. After landing several times, the aircraft withdrew on their own. The Belken people and the rebels frantically tried to intercept the aircraft's departure, and the aircraft eventually shot down all the planes sent by the Belken and continued flying south.
What likely fueled the rebels' frenzied actions was the king's presence on these flying machines. The Aegir army didn't possess such aircraft; without a doubt, this was the work of the Amelia volunteer army.
Knowing that the king was probably alright, the pressure on the commander-in-chief was greatly reduced. This allowed him to move the troops tasked with surrounding the king to the front lines, buying time for the royal army to regroup. In this situation, every additional combat-ready soldier on the front lines would give the royal army more time to regroup.
Just as Fabandi's troops were regrouping in the city, the Special Operations Team's "Hind" helicopter fleet had returned to its base in Swobella.
A medical team and an engineering squad were already on standby on the tarmac.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, we don't have any locksmiths here, so we can only have our engineers use some more direct methods to remove these handcuffs."
Looking at the burly, muscular men before him, each wielding a large weapon, Rosetta's lips twitched subtly. Those in the know would recognize them as sappers; those unfamiliar might mistake them for gang thugs preparing for a fight. He extended his hands to the approaching men and said, "Thank you for your help."
Although the Belken people specifically chose an extremely strong and secure handcuff to prevent the prisoners from escaping, this strength and security were only relative to the times. Compared to industrial machines that were decades ahead, they were simply too weak. The engineers did not spend much time on these outdated products and successfully freed the hands of the three VIPs.
“General Lu, as we just discussed on the plane, please arrange a place for my family to rest, and then we can discuss how to drive out those damned Belken invaders.” As soon as her hands were freed from their restraints, Rosetta immediately rubbed her wrists, where a noticeable red mark had been left by the handcuffs.
As for his family, although they had all woken up naturally halfway through the journey, their physical condition was obviously not as good as Rosetta's, who was in his prime. Their mental recovery speed was not as fast as his, and they were still a little drowsy. Rosetta, who always cared for his family, naturally hoped that they could go and rest first.
"Please follow me." Lu Wu nodded. They didn't waste time staring at each other on the way back. Rosetta had originally hoped that the 7th Brigade could launch an air raid on the Belken people of Fabandi, just like they had rescued her, but unfortunately, this idea was ruthlessly extinguished by Lu Wu as soon as he said it.
Fourthly, it's a joke. Even if he brought all the female Hinds and Mi-4s up there, how many troops could he possibly deploy at Faban? Facing a million enemies, sending so few men in would probably only cause a few splashes. Keep in mind, even the fiercest Spartan warriors had to temporarily retreat when facing the numerically superior Ungol.
Volume 1: Chapter 124, Chapter 111: Blood Battle with Fabandi (2)
Yotsuya was originally a Japanese-American sergeant in the Kingdom of Ireland. Ten years ago, he and his family illegally immigrated from Japan to Ireland, but unfortunately, they were eventually discovered by the Irish authorities. Yotsuya was left with only two choices: join the Irish army and serve for eight years to obtain legal status for his family; or be deported back to Japan.
Thirdly, it was obvious that Iwamoto chose the path of joining the Kingdom's army.
Logically, after completing his eight-year service, he could have chosen to retire and go home. However, during those eight years, through his own efforts, he had successfully risen to the rank of second lieutenant. The officer's status brought not only ample material rations but also a sense of self-worth that was difficult to obtain in other professions. Of course, more importantly, he had become accustomed to his identity in the Kingdom of Elgia's army, to the point where he couldn't survive without it. Staying in the army meant he could still strive for further advancement, but if he retired and went home, no matter what profession he pursued, he would have to start all over again.
Although his wife and daughter had some reservations about the choice, they acquiesced to his extended service because the profession was indeed promising.
Today, he feels that his decision to extend his service wasn't very wise. After all, promotions for officers in peacetime are quite difficult, especially without connections. While promotions are faster in wartime, he couldn't handle too much speed. Thinking about it this way, perhaps going home to farm after his eight-year term was a better option. Life might not be as comfortable, but at least he wouldn't have to do this dangerous work now…
"Sir, what should we do?" His subordinate's question brought Iwamoto back to reality.
This infantry platoon from Tsurugimoto was originally ordered to carry out a reconnaissance mission. However, after completing the mission and lifting the radio silence, they were astonished to find that almost all the Elginian communication frequencies had become meaningless noise. When they returned to their starting point, they discovered it had become a Belken forward base. Worse still, they learned from Belken broadcasts that a rebellion had broken out in Fabandi, and the rebels had seized control of the royal palace.
"We'll bypass this area and head towards Faban to rejoin the main force." The Belken had only about thirty men left on this position, roughly the same number as theirs, but Iwamoto had no intention of retaking the outpost. If only this spot was breached, retaking the outpost would be equivalent to plugging the gap. But if the entire defensive line had numerous gaps, even if he successfully recaptured the outpost, his infantry platoon behind enemy lines wouldn't be able to hold out for long against the overwhelming number of Belken soldiers. It was safer to rejoin the main force and act together.
Of course, he also had his own reasons for doing this. His wife and daughter lived in Fabandi, and he was eager to know what the situation was like in the city.
However, not everyone thinks this way. Especially young people who are too hot-blooded, they are often prone to letting their emotions override their reason and doing impulsive things.
Therefore, after a young man in the platoon began to explain his idea of attacking the outpost and firing a shot, Iwamoto began to consider how to get them to temporarily abandon the idea without incurring public anger and losing his authority. "You want to talk about the soldier's duty to fight at the first sign of trouble? Well, I'll have to give you a good talking-to about what righteousness really means."
Having made up his mind, Iwamoto said, "You're thinking the same thing as me." He first affirmed the lads' enthusiasm, then showed a regretful expression, "But unfortunately, we have more important things to do now. The intelligence we've gathered needs to be sent back to command as soon as possible. Moreover, I suspect that command may have also lost radio contact with this outpost. They may not even know that the Belken have been able to quietly open a breach in our defenses. We must report this situation in time; this is crucial intelligence that will affect the entire battle situation, and we cannot afford to delay."
Sure enough, he easily fooled these naive young people, and the older sergeants didn't expose him, since what Iwamoto said wasn't entirely wrong.
Once the youthful impulsiveness was replaced by a greater sense of purpose, Iwamoto naturally led them away from their one-way contact with Belken and began to move towards the nearest unit based on the map. This time, when they were still two kilometers from their destination, they encountered a small Belken squad of ten men.
This left Iwamoto shivering and his hands and feet freezing despite the sweltering heat. Although his infantry platoon had annihilated the ten-man squad with zero casualties, encountering such a patrol unit just two kilometers from their own control point meant that the point had likely been captured some time ago. Was this reasonable? Their squad had only been out reconnaissance for a day; how could the situation have changed so drastically in just one day?
Several sergeant majors also realized that this situation was unusual.
"Leave the main road and take the forest path. Stay alert." Gunshots can travel far in this open area. If, as he suspected, this control point had also fallen, then the Belken people inside wouldn't have missed the gunfire. Therefore, after the battle, Iwamoto didn't even dare let his men clean up the battlefield. Instead, he immediately grabbed some oil, hid in the grove, and, using the trees as cover, stealthily approached the control point.
This caution, one could say, saved the infantry platoon.
When they bypassed the Belken sentries and infiltrated the vicinity of the control point, they saw the Kingdom's prisoners of war digging a pit under the supervision of Belken soldiers next to the entrance, which confirmed Iwamoto's previous conjecture.
Seeing that his subordinates' eyes were once again focused on him, he struggled internally this time.
"Sir, there might still be some of our people inside. Should we abandon them?" These words stung Iwamoto, prompting him to make a decision. As a Japanese man, he was somewhat influenced by Buddhist beliefs such as "good deeds bring good rewards, and evil deeds bring evil consequences." He thought of it as accumulating good karma; after all, he hoped that if his wife and daughter were in trouble, others would do their best to help.
“Something’s not right. Even this outpost has fallen. The Belken’s actions might be more swift than we guessed. We need to figure out what’s going on.” Iwamoto continued, “Squad 1, take the high ground without alerting the enemy. I need to know the enemy’s strength and deployment, and where our men are being held.”
……
I was writing last night and got a little too tired, so I went to sleep. This is a make-up update for yesterday.
Volume 1: Chapter 125 (Chapter 112) Bloodbath with Fabandi (3)
This stronghold was built as a secondary transportation hub on the defensive line. Once the defenders on the line made contact with the Belken, this point would continuously send reinforcements from the rear to the front. Therefore, although this secondary transportation hub was not large, the infantry company responsible for guarding it was reinforced with three 75mm cannons. If this hub could be captured from these artillery-equipped infantrymen, the enemy's firepower would certainly be stronger and their numbers greater than the defenders'. Therefore, Iwamoto immediately rejected the plan to launch a direct assault on the stronghold.
Then we could only "sneak into the village and not fire a shot" to get to work.
The high ground next to the stronghold was a strategic location that neither the Algerians nor the Belkens would overlook. They would definitely set up sentries, both visible and hidden. If the Belkens hadn't been so wary of the stronghold, they would have certainly laid all sorts of traps there. Even so, the soldiers of the first squad still spent a great deal of effort clearing out these Belken sentries.
After the squad silently recaptured the high ground, the strategic point lay before them like a bride on her wedding night, her body bare and lifeless. Belken soldiers were scattered throughout the camp, patrolling along pre-determined routes. The machine gun emplacements were strategically positioned, covering most of the area, and protected by a breastwork of sandbags. One of the three cannons, destroyed but left in its original position, remained untouched; the remaining two cannons had their muzzles turned, pointing towards the possible direction from which Ergija reinforcements might appear.
Apart from one Ergia prisoner of war who was digging a pit at the entrance, they did not see a single Ergia soldier in the camp.
"If they're still alive, they must be in those barracks," Iwamoto said.
"Then how do we get in? Their machine guns have almost completely blocked all the roads in," someone asked.
"Can you speak Belken?" Iwamoto countered. His intentions were laid bare in that question. "Their sentries, both visible and hidden, definitely have a changing of the guard time. After their changing guards arrive, we'll extract the password from them, and then send a group of men in their uniforms to sneak over."
"The troops they've deployed here should be a company; it's unlikely that unfamiliar faces could infiltrate," his subordinate warned. A rough count showed there were already over fifty people outside, and there were certainly more hiding in tents and barracks.
"I never thought we could actually sneak in." Iwamoto shook his head and explained under the questioning gazes of those around him, "We just need to get to the machine gun near the door."
"I understand! After we take out the machine gun at the door, we can rush in!" the young man exclaimed excitedly.
Wu was immediately slapped on the back of the head by the sergeant behind him to quiet him down. The sergeant cursed, "Are you out of your mind? Didn't you see the machine gun positions in the camp? Just these thirty men, charging in headfirst? Do you think we each have ten lives?"
“I never intended to just charge in.” Iwamoto’s words confirmed the sergeant’s statement. “The point of attacking this machine gun position is to draw the attention of the Belkens, lure their men out, and then our men can sneak into the camp from another direction, find the prisoners, and bring them out. We’re not going to fight the Belken devils head-on.”
Iwamoto's words made the young man realize something.
"But what if the Belken don't move, or if they only manage to pull out a small number of people, not enough to facilitate our covert entry?" the sergeant asked.
"If we lure out too few people, we'll just eat them. I don't believe they'll remain indifferent after we've eaten them," Iwamoto replied, clearly having anticipated this possibility. "If they don't move, then we'll slowly push our way in. Understand?"
"understood."
Hearing his subordinate's low, affirmative reply, Iwamoto nodded in satisfaction and continued to instruct, "Squad One, set up the ambush."
"Alright!" The squad leader was not dissatisfied that the task had been assigned to his squad again. On the contrary, he was quite excited and immediately went to set up the ambush.
"Wait! Remember not to go too far. Spare their lives. We still need to get information like the location and passwords of prisoners from them."
"Understood, sir. You can rest assured that I'll handle things well." The squad leader gave a thumbs-up, indicating to Iwamoto that he could trust him.
One squad went to set up traps and ambushes, while the others weren't idle either. Some tried to locate the Belken's concealed firing positions by continuously observing their movements. If the situation really escalated into a full-scale attack, finding these concealed firing positions in advance would prevent them from being caught off guard by these hidden firepower. The rest began recording the Belken's movement patterns and the areas of responsibility and routes of each patrol, planning the specific infiltration route.
Even luck seemed to be on the Elgins' side; a squad of Belken soldiers, who had just set up their ambush, arrived for their changing shift.
"Damn those Belken devils, luckily we were quick enough." The squad leader was filled with relief. He winked at the man acting as a lookout, who immediately understood and whispered to the approaching Belken soldiers, "Password?!"
"Hey, hey, hey, it's me! Can't you even recognize my voice?" The newcomer seemed carefree; hearing the sentry's question only made him walk faster. Scar
"Password!" The sentry had no choice but to raise his rifle, forcing the approaching man to stop.
"Hey! Knight, Knight, Knight! The password is Knight! Don't point that crappy gun at me! I'm here to take over your shift, if you want to stay and feed the mosquitoes, I'm going back now!" Pointed a gun at him, the man immediately quieted down, but his words were merely impatient. "Damn it, the Elgins here are either dead or locked up, what password are you talking about?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the newcomer felt a rustling sound behind him. Turning his head, he saw a humanoid monster resembling a weed spirit standing behind him, one hand raised high. Then, everything went black, and he lost consciousness.
"Looks like your movements weren't precise enough. There are still dozens of Elgins alive, and they haven't been locked up either," the sentry shrugged. In the distance, the sounds of heavy objects falling and muffled groans of people being struck echoed, clearly indicating that the ambushes at the other sentry posts had been successful.
So, the next step is to figure out how to get these prisoners to talk.
Volume 1: Chapter 126 (Chapter 113) The Battle of the Nexus
Iwamoto's veteran scouts were experts in this field, so getting the Belken prisoners of war to talk was not difficult. They quickly obtained the passwords, the distribution of enemies in the camp, and the location of the prisoners. This information was verified by many people, and after confirming that there were no problems, they executed the Belken prisoners amidst their anger.
Iwamoto found several clever young men of similar height and dressed them in Belken uniforms, naturally including details like boots and weapons. After a last-minute cramming session to learn a few Belken words to ensure they wouldn't have an accent, Iwamoto's troops, as planned, split into two groups and lay in ambush as close to the camp as possible.
"Password!" Sure enough, after seeing a figure appear on the road, even though the figure was also wearing a Belken uniform, the sentry still dutifully verified the password.
"Knight, give the order."
"Invincible." Having received the correct command, the sentry relaxed and greeted, "Yo, back from feeding the mosquitoes?"
"Hmm." Iwamoto's subordinate couldn't understand what the other party was saying, so he could only lower his head and try to give a vague reply.
"Hmm?" It was this reaction that aroused the sentry's suspicion. He didn't remember this guy being this quiet usually. Driven by this question, he began to observe the other person carefully. When he got close enough to recognize the person even with their head down, he suddenly realized that this person was not one of his own men—"Enemy attack!"
He roared and raised his rifle to fire, but the Ergia soldiers hidden nearby moved faster. After a series of shots, the Belken men at the gate were all lying on the ground.
"Brother! We're from the 4th Ninth Company! Which unit are you from, ba!" Iwamoto's subordinate picked up a rifle from the ground, threw it to the bewildered Ergia prisoner of war who was digging a hole, and then ran towards the machine gun position while shouting.
"I'm from the 7th Company!" The Ergjan man, who had just received the rifle, shuddered, blinked, and then realized what was going on. His prisoner-of-war life had lasted only 25 hours, and it was over before he could even get used to it. "Brother, our company commander is still inside. How many of you have come?"
He struggled to dig out the large pit he had dug himself, and, panting, ran to the machine gun emplacement to ask a question. The camp was now in a state of combat readiness due to the gunfire. The shouts of officers and the sounds of people running around all indicated that the Belken were about to make a move.
"A platoon!" The Belken soldiers moved quickly, and an infantry squad had already arrived. The machine gunner had already turned the heavy, water-cooled machine gun around and pulled the trigger, emptying a magazine of ammunition in no time. However, the Belken soldiers had already formed a skirmish line when they got close, and after the machine gun opened fire, they either took cover or lay prone on the ground, avoiding the machine gun's line of fire as much as possible. That magazine of ammunition only took down one Belken soldier.
"They have a company! And two cannons! 75mm field guns!" The corporal, who had just escaped prisoner of war, grabbed a magazine and inserted it into the machine gun's feed port. Then, the machine gunner used a short burst to force back the Belken soldiers who were sneaking out of their cover and trying to leap forward.
"We know! Don't worry, we've got a plan!" the machine gunner replied while firing.
Since the reinforcements had said so, the corporal felt temporarily relieved and picked up his rifle to fire at the Belkens. After all, the worst outcome would be death or recapture. At this time, the second squad members responsible for drawing the Belkens' attention from the front had arrived and formed an arc-shaped formation with the machine gun emplacement at the center.
Once again, it was proven that unprotected light infantry had little chance of breaking through the suppressive fire of machine guns, unless the opposing commander idolized Nogi Maresuke and wanted to emulate his "war god" tactics of human wave charges in order to gain a chance to "go down in history." Belken's commander, of course, didn't want to become a second war god, and his hundred or so men didn't have the resources to make him one. So he sent out a second infantry squad, intending to launch a flanking attack, which was discovered by the flank of the arc-shaped formation.
"We retreat!" The Belkens needed to believe that eliminating them wouldn't be too difficult, but it would still require some manpower, so as to relieve the pressure on the infiltrating troops. Therefore, the squad did not hold out for long in this two-pronged attack. They only resisted for two minutes before abandoning the front line and retreating in the direction they came from after destroying the machine gun with a grenade.
However, what Iwamoto didn't expect happened: after pursuing them for two or three hundred meters, the two infantry squads stopped on their own and began constructing a defensive line. Clearly, they had received instructions from their commander before the operation.
'Damn it, are these Belkens turtles?!' Iwamoto cursed inwardly, noticing this. He knew things wouldn't always go according to plan on the battlefield. 'Squad 3 reinforces Squad 2, then launches an attack, retreats after being thwarted, making the Belkens think we were just trying to lure them into an ambush.' 8
However, the Second Platoon's deliberate exposure did not lower the guard of the Belken forces. Although the Elgins seemed to have been exposed and, in a fit of rage, attempted a desperate attack, then began to flee upon realizing they couldn't win, the Belken still did not pursue. After all, their mission was to protect this key point, not to wipe out the remaining Elgin troops. They had already called for the nearest Belken unit; the tedious task of chasing a dozen or so men around was best left to their comrades. (Wu)
Having failed to make the expected progress, the Elgin troops turned back and launched a third attack on Belken's two squads. Both sides adopted a cautious fighting strategy, avoiding leaning out of cover even a fraction of an inch if they could just raise their guns. As a result, the combined casualties on both sides so far amounted to only three, and the battle had reached a stalemate.
The Belken forces were naturally pleased with this stalemate; time was on their side, and if it dragged on, their reinforcements could arrive and reap the rewards. Iwamoto, however, began to worry. If they couldn't divert the Belken's attention, the risk to the infiltration team would increase significantly; once exposed, they would receive no support. Should they grit their teeth and continue the rescue, or make a decisive retreat and fight another day?
After today's battle, the defending troops will undoubtedly be more vigilant, and they probably won't have such good opportunities to strike again. Considering this, Iwamoto ultimately decided to take the risk and gamble. Just as he was about to give the order, a strange sound came from the sky. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a black dot in the sky that seemed to be growing larger. Ryu
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Volume 1: Chapter 128 (Chapter 114) - The First Alliance
The high-speed approaching aircraft brought a completely different roaring sound than the Belken fighters before, and its shape was also significantly different from those straight-winged contraptions.
Iwamoto's first reaction upon seeing these aircraft was cardiac arrest; he wanted to immediately take Renni to get some oil. However, he soon realized that the situation was developing differently than he had guessed—as the plane flew over his head, he noticed that the wings of the plane did not bear the emblem of the Belken Empire, but rather the rose emblem symbolizing the Cosette royal family.
Where did we get the plane?
Despite being completely baffled by the question, that didn't stop him from making a decision—"Throw a smokescreen!"
He didn't know why the plane was passing by, nor did he know if the pilot had seen the battle raging at the hub. But he knew that both they and the Belkens were defenseless against aerial attacks; two small machine guns would be enough to send them running. This plane looked far more advanced than the Belkens', and it certainly had plenty of machine guns—enough to give the Belkens a run for their money.
As expected, after the hazy smoke dissipated, the plane quickly circled back. This time, it flew inverted, at a much lower altitude and slower speed than the first time. After passing the hub, the plane rolled to regain a horizontal attitude and flew diagonally upwards.
"Sir, why did the plane leave again?"
"No rush, let the plane fly for a while." Although he could already see the pilot in the cockpit, he wasn't entirely sure if the pilot had identified the different targets on the ground. After all, in his eyes, the pilot wasn't much bigger than his little fingernail. But even so, he had to maintain an air of complete control.
This turn of events attracted the attention of almost everyone on the battlefield.
The plane's angle of attack increased, and red flames began to spew from its tail. The angle between the mysterious aircraft and the ground quickly reached 90 degrees, 120 degrees, 180 degrees, and continued to increase. When the angle between the aircraft and the ground exceeded 270 degrees, the mysterious aircraft stopped turning and began to dive rapidly toward the hub.
It's done. Iwamoto breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
On the battlefield, he wasn't the only one who realized what was about to happen; the Belkens also understood that they had been exposed. Under the commander's orders, the infantry in the hub did their best to fire at the rapidly diving aircraft with their weapons, trying to shoot it down before it could launch an attack.