In the trench filled with bodies, the Tang Army soldiers cautiously moved their steps. It was already a sea of corpses and blood here, and no one could say for sure whether so lunatic might be lying among the corpses to launch a sneak attack.
Both sides were already filled with anger here, and the Dwarven soldiers seed to be holding onto a furious determination to hold this place at all costs. They had invested too much manpower, from a few battalions to several regints, and then from several regints to a few divisions.
Every day, hundreds were killed here, and then every day, hundreds more were thrown into this pit to continue fighting. Eventually, even the Tang Army couldn’t quite understand why the other side was so desperately defending such a place.
If talking about practical use, this train station had long been scrapped! Completely scrapped! The tracks had been blown to a state where they couldn’t possibly be repaired, the platform was also destroyed, and the surrounding buildings were almost razed to the ground.
Not far away was the wreckage of a 96 main battle tank. It was destroyed beside a building, and rumor had it that a Dwarf rushed to the tank with a pack of explosives, killing all three tank crew mbers.
The Tang Army soldiers, holding their weapons, bypassed a pile of scattered sandbags and walked on the red soil, passing the Dwarven bodies on the ground. They moved very slowly, occasionally stopping to observe the surrounding terrain, cautiously probing for sniper threats possibly lurking in the corners.
They had to be careful; yesterday alone, there were as many as seven soldiers hit by Dwarven shots, which was already a significant number for the Tang Army.
But compared to the casualties of the Dwarves here, the Tang Army’s losses were truly insignificant: they had better helts and bulletproof inserts that the other side did not have, and these things saved many soldiers’ lives.
It had never been so quiet here for a long ti, and such quietness made the advancing Tang Army sowhat nervous. When they reached the side of a collapsed building, they finally saw their waiting allies.
Seven or eight soldiers were behind a wall that had collapsed more than halfway, and the walls were densely riddled with bullet holes, shocking to see.
"You finally ca..." The leading Tang Army Squad Leader’s expression visibly relaxed upon seeing the reinforcents: "We encountered a situation here."
"I heard." The Squad Leader who ca to support nodded. Their communications were very smooth; they already knew what had happened here before coming: "Can I take a look?"
"Follow ." The Squad Leader gestured, then patted the shoulder of one of his subordinates: "Lead the way, keep an eye on the surroundings. Although the Dwarves said their people have already retreated, we can’t be careless."
The soldier nodded slightly and, holding his weapon, walked at the front. They bypassed the collapsed low wall and walked along a path that couldn’t be called a road, arriving in front of a half-collapsed building.
A group of Tang Army entered the building, which should be one of the waiting halls of the train station. The Furnace Fortress train station wasn’t advanced, and with continuous expansion, it split into several waiting halls, which caused a lot of trouble for the Tang Army during the struggle.
These buildings were very sturdy, and even artillery couldn’t completely destroy them. The collapsed buildings ford continuous ruins, making it difficult for armored vehicles to advance.
The scene inside the station shocked the supporting Tang Army soldiers: the place was packed with people. Among them were many Dwarf civilians, as well as countless Dwarf wounded.
The other side left them behind when they retreated, left there either to await death or to intentionally delay the Tang Army’s advance. In any case, facing so many Dwarves, the Tang Army frontline troops were indeed a bit at a loss.
"About a thousand people, packed into such a broken place is really..." The realizing Tang Army Squad Leader hesitated for a mont, finding himself at a loss for adjectives to describe the scene before him.
"Several Dwarf Officers over there explained the situation to us. The other side ran out of dicine to care for these wounded, and they were also unwilling to waste food on these civilians and wounded, so they left them all to us." Pointing to the Dwarf Officers with bandaged heads or arms, the Squad Leader said helplessly.
He knew the Tang Army didn’t mind taking in these wounded, nor helping these civilians, but it would take a lot of ti, enough for the retreating Dwarves to establish a solid defense line in another block.
"So, they have retreated?" The supporting Squad Leader focused on another aspect: "Is the battle here over?"
"Probably, those officers said that this morning all combat-capable Dwarf soldiers indeed retreated, taking all the ammunition and food supplies, leaving them behind." The Squad Leader who called for support nodded.
"It’s finally over." Sighing with relief, the supporting Squad Leader glanced again at the cramd Dwarves, comparable to sardines: "Set up a guard post on the left side, I’ll take a few people to the right, and the rest will escort them out of here."
Looking at the buildings that were almost dangerous, they really couldn’t bear to leave the Dwarf civilians and wounded trapped in there. If they waited even a few hours, soone might suffocate to death inside.
"Don’t move the wounded for now, let the civilians who can walk themselves co out first. On my way here, the Company Commander was establishing a safety corridor, and I expect the people to receive them will arrive soon." The supporting Squad Leader began organizing manpower as he spoke.
Soon they raised a Dragon Banner of the Tang Country at the train station. The red Dragon Banner fluttered in the wind, and the Tang Army that saw it cheered.
Seeing their surroundings for the first ti, the Dwarf civilians looked pale. They treaded on scattered limbs beside craters, walking along the designated route by the Tang Army to the "safe zone" prepared for them in the suburbs.
There, at least, they wouldn’t be shelled by the Tang Army, and there are makeshift tents for accommodation. Although the weather was growing colder, it was indeed better than the conditions in the combat zones of the city.
As long as the Tang Army was willing to provide sufficient fuel and winter clothes and quilts, the Dwarves in the safety zone at least wouldn’t see a large number of deaths from cold. But the Dwarves were still very uneasy, not knowing whether they would face a responsible Great Tang Empire or remain under the rule of a damn country like before.
On this day, the Tang Army officially controlled the West Station of Iron Furnace Fort, and on the sa day, over 30,000 Dorne Empire troops arrived at Furnace Fortress to participate as the "Foreign Legion" in this bloody urban defense battle.
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