Generally, the houses at the urban-rural junction are relatively low and not very dense. But Furnace Fortress is a small exception.
Because Furnace Fortress is an ancient city, its city center is historically rich, filled with monunts, which makes it seem sowhat backward.
On the contrary, the outskirts of this city are generally newer with higher buildings, making it look more prosperous than expected.
And in this direction, there is also a West Station of Iron Furnace Fort, a very important freight train station. Unlike the east station of Furnace Fortress, this place primarily transports goods, so there are many warehouses nearby along with residential areas, making it appear very bustling.
Unfortunately, the forr prosperity is no longer here, nor is the hustle and bustle of the past. The bombing by the Tang Army has pretty much paralyzed this place, and locomotives and carriages that have been destroyed and damaged by bombing are still parked on the tracks.
Now these carriages have beco natural cover, and the collapsed walls nearby and undulating tracks have beco the best trenches and fortifications.
With such a place to rely on, the Dwarf Troops’ will to resist is almost maxed out: they have decided to hold the last line and fight to the last man without retreating a step.
"It’s less than 2 kiloters from here to the west station, we can’t retreat any further!" The Dwarf Officer, with a pipe in his mouth, stared at the dust-covered map and said to the adjutant beside him.
"We need ammo resupply, the soldiers haven’t rested for a day... The losses are severe, now the whole regint has less than half the n." The adjutant’s face was dirty, looking like he had just withdrawn from the smoke-filled frontline.
Logically, a regint that lost half its n should have collapsed long ago, but their regint didn’t lose that many soldiers all at once; it retreated through countless battles, remaining fragnted up to now.
When the pace of loss is infinitely extended, losing seventy to eighty people a day, people beco numb to the losses, and collapse becos unlikely.
Now the whole regint has about six to seven hundred people, almost like a battalion. However, their combat mission is not too heavy, now only responsible for the defense of a village.
The front is narrow, and the Tang Army is unlikely to hit this nail first. Based on past experience, the enemy is likely to first clear the fields on both sides of the village, then surround the village on three sides, and gradually wear down the Dwarf Troops inside with firepower.
"I’ve already applied for ammo resupply, should be delivered soon... As for personnel replenishnt, forget it, you’ve seen the quality of those sent before... never mind, let’s not talk about it." ntioning the reinforcents, the regintal commander looked constipated.
The Dwarven mobilization system is already starting to collapse, most of the new recruits being drafted are either children or old n, none of whom have received adequate training, or even any training at all before being sent to the frontline.
Expecting them to fight is overly optimistic, they don’t even know how to maintain their weapons. The smarter ones can help repair trenches or load bullets, the less competent ones aren’t even qualified to be cannon fodder.
Once the Tang Army attacks, these recruits will be the first to collapse. A single round of artillery is often enough for them to drop their helts and armor and flee. It’s a waste to even spend Supervisory Battalion’s bullets on them, and they may drag down the veteran soldiers who are seriously fighting.
So, after a few trials, the commander of this depleted regint has stopped requesting those makeshift reinforcents: he needs soldiers who can fight, not fools wasting resources and ammunition.
"But, Commander, we really don’t have many people left... If we keep fighting like this, we might have less than 600 by tomorrow." The adjutant worriedly reminded.
Veterans are indeed useful, but the shortage of them is a real issue. If too many are lost, it cannot be deployed as a standard unit for combat.
In reality, regardless of their losses, as long as they haven’t been disbanded, they’re considered a whole "regint" on the Commander’s map, tasked with carrying out regintal-level combat missions, no matter how many are left.
"Also, we just lost our last two 100mm mortars..." The adjutant felt almost aggrieved at this.
What’s over there on the Tang Army’s side? Not ntioning the rocket artillery, their support firepower is either terrifying 155s or plenty of 105 cannons, each powerfully effective.
Artillery shells fall like raindrops on their positions, the only reason they’ve held on is due to their regint’s strong resolve and tenacity...
And what about their own? The 100mm howitzers allotted to them were all lost over a month ago.
The enemy bombards with planes and suppresses with artillery, giving their heavy weaponry no chance for survival. Their battles then had to rely on the supplent of 100mm mortars and the 80mm mortars equipped by each battalion.
But even these mortars are dwindling with no replacents: by this morning, their last two 100mm howitzers were destroyed by the Tang Army’s retaliatory fire.
Now the regint is left with just a few 50mm mortars... Yes, previously these things were ant for company-level troops.
"No choice, make do with what we have. I’ve submitted an application; I guess... new mortars should arrive by tomorrow." The commander is uncertain if tomorrow’s supplies will truly arrive on ti. He can only say this to boost morale among his n.
In any case, mortars, especially small-caliber ones, can still be sowhat supplied to the front-line troops by the Dwarves. Even if there aren’t any 100mm ones, they can at least provide a few 80mm ones to fill the gap.
"Can we even hold out until tomorrow?" The adjutant sighed. They haven’t received any dical supplies all day, food supply hasn’t arrived on ti for a while, ammo is scarce, and manpower has long been insufficient... In this situation, the army collapsing at any ti wouldn’t surprise him.
"I guess... it’s doubtful." The commander squinted, watching the Tang Army’s main battle tank appear on the horizon with a heavy and serious expression on his face: "Notify all battalions to prepare for battle!"
The tank gradually approached, and nearby they could see Tang Army soldiers, camouflaged and spreading out strategically: the attack from Tang Country had begun again!
This ti, they couldn’t even gather decent artillery fire, it seed another bloody battle was imminent.
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