Chapter 557 A glimmer of hope
The house was stolen.
This was Chen Chen's first thought after hearing the news from the radio.
In fact, after seeing the tragic situation of the city of Duramaha, which suffered a massacre, he had already had some ominous premonitions.
Because he knew that in this era, even JD members had long stopped doing such things.
Except for Africa, all the documented massacres against civilians are basically directly or indirectly related to the three letters "USA".
In order to cover up the news, they can do anything.
But often, when these news are exposed, they will quickly blame the PMCs controlled by their subordinates.
Therefore, when it was confirmed that the other party had arrived and had launched an attack on Raqqa, Chen Chen was surprised, but not at all.
He immediately ordered the communicator to turn on the radio and call the Raqqa Command. As soon as the communication was established, he immediately asked:
"White Dog! Report to me the situation over there!"
At this time, his tone was still quite calm.
Because he knew that Bai Gou still had an elite force of a thousand people, with a large number of light and heavy weapons, fighter jets, helicopters, and drones.
Even if the other side really sent out a large-scale ground force, not to mention defending, they could still withdraw.
——
However, after a brief noise, Bai Gou's answer made Chen Chen frown instantly.
"Tabka Air Force Base has just been bombed by heavy bombs, and fighter jets can't take off!"
"We were also attacked by air!"
"The radar was completely suppressed! We can't see the target at all!"
"The other side is a team of a hundred people, with heavy weapons and armored vehicles, but no tanks!"
"We have been surrounded and can't break out, we can only fight hard!"
"Report their equipment!"
Chen Chen said in a hurried tone.
The situation was more complicated than he expected. He originally thought that this attack was just a decapitation operation organized by the United States and mainly relying on special forces. At best, the other side relied on electromagnetic dominance and used helicopters and fighter jets to cover rapid air assault operations.
But now, according to White Dog's report, the other side has already deployed a large-scale ground force!
Although from the perspective of "technology", the so-called surgical operation is indeed slightly more advanced than the traditional ground offensive, but the two are completely different in strategic significance.
The battle dominated by the air force is essentially a battle for the purpose of "killing and wounding". It is fast and accurate, but it will leave after the fight, and the intensity cannot be raised.
Most of the battles dominated by ground forces are for the purpose of occupation!
Unless the enemy is beaten to lose control of a certain area, or the party loses the ability to organize the next round of offensive, otherwise, the battle cannot end!
Is the old American crazy?
It took a lot of effort to pull one foot out of the quagmire of the Iraq War, and turn around to step into the swamp of Syria?
Or is it that the main contributor is France, and they are just cooperating in the action?
Chen Chen didn't have time to think too much. He quickly made a gesture, and the driver who had been waiting for a long time had started the vehicle and drove to Duramaha to meet.
At the same time, White Dog's new round of reports also sounded in his ears.
"At least 20 combat armored vehicles of various types, a small number of armored personnel carriers."
"Damn, where did they come from? How come we didn't notice it at all?!"
"The enemy's firepower is very strong, I am setting up a defense line!"
"The outer defense line can't be defended, we must withdraw to the city to fight with barricades!"
"Don't come back, don't rescue!"
"Ask for help from the Syrian government forces! We need armored support!"
In addition to the voice of the white dog, there were constant explosions on the radio, and even clear gunshots.
This means that the defense line of the Tiger Corps in Raqqa has been compressed to the limit, and even the command center in the rear has been squeezed to the front line!
The situation is extremely critical. If it cannot be evacuated in time, this team is likely to be hit by a collapse of command fault.
It's like taking a heavy punch from the opponent with the chin in a full-episode game. Even if there is a short trance, the opponent will seize the opportunity to chase and KO directly!
At this moment, countless response plans flashed through Chen Chen's mind.
Finally, he instinctively gave the simplest order:
"Immediately abandon all outer defense lines and withdraw to the city!"
"I understand!"
White Dog's voice was a little hoarse. The continuous bombing seriously interfered with his hearing. He was no longer aware of how loud he was shouting.
"I have to withdraw the armored vehicles first, our people"
"No more!"
Chen Chen interrupted immediately and continued:
"Abandon all equipment and baggage!"
"Run! The faster the better!"
"They have complete air and electromagnetic dominance, and all vehicles are targets!"
"Survive first!"
"Received!"
White Dog replied again, and at this time, Chen Chen finally got on the pickup truck.
"Where to go?"
Lin He asked briefly.
"Hasakah, find Suhail."
"We can't support, and the Syrian government forces can't support either."
"The other side caught a perfect time difference. We had just defeated ISIS and had not yet established our own outpost. The early warning system was quite weak. That's why they were able to reach Raqqa without us noticing."
"The control of the Bashar government is really rotten. They didn't even have any intelligence on such a large-scale mobilization!"
Chen Chen's tone was mixed with a trace of anger, but in fact he also knew that this was not really the Syrian government's fault.
After all, as early as 20 years ago, in the most famous "Desert Storm" operation, the Iraqi side was also unaware of the actions of the old Americans.
The generation gap in technology and tactics is an insurmountable gap. When the enemy is superior to you in all aspects, you don't even know how you were killed.
At this moment, Chen Chen felt a heavy pressure.
He urgently wanted to know which main force launched this ground operation, because only by figuring out the identity of the other party could he judge the other party's tactics and formulate an effective response plan.
But unfortunately, even such a simple demand could not be met in any way.
The only solution now is to let the White Dog fight on his own.
The situation is critical, but the general trend has not changed.
The enemy's ground forces are still at the level of 100 people, which means that the enemy's strategic intention is still to quickly seize control of the important city of Raqqa through a blitzkrieg, waiting for the support of follow-up troops.
If you want to win, you can't irrationally confront the enemy head-on, but should find a way to cut off their rear support to prevent the balance of power from further tilting to the enemy's side!
Raqqa must be held in your hands.
That city is not important, but this province is very important.
"Can Bai Gou hold on?"
Li Bang in the back seat frowned and continued to ask:
"Can we find a way to let them withdraw first? They can withdraw to Aleppo along the Euphrates River first. At worst, they can give up Raqqa and we can fight back."
"Once they withdraw, they will never be able to fight back."
Chen Chen shook his head without hesitation and ordered on the radio:
"Bai Gou, we are going to Hasakah now."
"Suhail has a militia with about 500 people."
"We need this team to control the key towns in Raqqa and cut off the enemy from their rear support forces."
"I need at least 10 hours, you have to hold on for 10 hours."
"If the opponent's offensive has not stopped after 10 hours, you can choose to lead the team to evacuate!"
"Understood, 10 hours!"
Bai Gou answered immediately, and then there was another series of gunshots on the radio.
"I have retreated to the city - damn, luckily I killed everyone here before, otherwise, they would have rebelled now!"
"Yang Shu! Set up an observation post! Set up the radio for me!"
"Contact Tabka Base and ask them when they can send a plane over."
"Be careful! Shoot down their self-propelled artillery for me"
Bai Gou returned to the on-site command, and Chen Chen was not idle either.
He called Su Haier through the previously agreed frequency and reported the situation to him at a very fast speed.
After hearing this intelligence that even the Syrian officials had not yet responded to, Suhail immediately said:
"You don't need to come to Hasakah!"
"Go to the direction of Tal Abyad immediately!"
"The enemy can only come from that direction, we will meet there!"
"Your judgment is correct, they can't take Raqqa with only this one force, this is just a targeted tentative attack!"
"The main force is still behind, we have to find a way to intercept them and buy time for Raqqa."
"120 kilometers, I will arrive in 3 hours, wait for me!"
"Two and a half hours, hurry up!"
"Understood!"
Chen Chen pointed to the microphone, and at this time, his expression was extremely solemn.
As Suhail said, the enemy's main force must still be behind.
And in order to stop the opponent's attack and buy time for Raqqa, Suhail and himself must use hundreds of people like a mantis trying to stop a car to delay them for as long as possible.
This is simply an impossible task.
Chen Chen took a deep breath, calmed down, and asked calmly:
"Where is the nearest Syrian government army unit?"
"Manbij, there is a motorized combat brigade and an armored battalion of the First Division, with nearly 30 tanks."
"It's too late, these people will take at least 5 hours to get here. Is there anyone closer?"
"There is a battalion of the border defense brigade near Bokina, but there are only 600 people and poor equipment."
"That's also needed. You contact them and ask them to send troops to support as soon as possible."
"Damn, Syria's border is really riddled with holes. If we can't make it through this round, there's no need to fight in Aleppo."
"Understood."
Li Bang nodded immediately, paused for a moment, and asked again as if talking to himself:
"Can we win?"
"No."
Chen Chen answered frankly:
"How can we win? We are just trying to delay time."
"We have to delay until the government forces react and until they refocus on Raqqa Province."
"Don't worry, NATO is just gambling. They don't have the courage to fully intervene in this war. Otherwise, they should be advancing step by step, starting from the border and pushing forward bit by bit."
"Since you have chosen to attack the important town deep behind enemy lines, it means that this is a one-shot deal."
"As long as we drag it out until they think they can't fight, we will win."
At this time, in the city of Raqqa.
The air strikes that were like meteorites finally stopped, but the enemy's artillery fire did not weaken at all.
Howitzers, mortars, heavy machine guns, rockets
Rounds of bombing seemed to have no end. White Dog tried to organize a counterattack, but helplessly found that most of its counterattack forces had been destroyed in the first round of air strikes.
The artillery position with the largest target was the first to be bombed. The enemy's precision-guided bombs fell directly in the center of the artillery position. The violent shock wave overturned the cannon to the ground, and even the barrel of the 155 gun was twisted and deformed.
The fall of the God of War caused the Tiger Corps to lose its most valuable support force. Without artillery cover, the soldiers could only rely on their assault rifles to shoot at the enemy 400 meters away.
Such a counterattack was not effective. Not only could it not stop the opponent's continued offensive, but it also attracted a new round of attacks because of the exposure of the position.
In the night, the sand and dust rolled up by the shock wave formed a strange tornado, and under the sand tornado was the body that had just been blown to pieces by the shells.
Bai Gou stood in the living room of the civilian house, and in front of him was the battle map that had just been spread out.
Without a sand table, he even used stones and sticks to represent the distribution of his own troops.
And the few stones also meant that the combat troops under the Tiger Corps that could still maintain contact with the command center had been reduced to less than 600 people.
It had only been 30 minutes since the first shell fell.
In 30 minutes, the battle loss was close to 50%.
This is an extremely terrifying number. Looking at the whole world, there are few armies that can withstand such losses without collapsing.
But what surprised Bai Gou was that the Tiger Corps did not collapse.
Although facing the extreme conditions of poor command and unclear battle situation, each combat unit is doing its best to play its role.
It is precisely with the blessing of this "initiative" that the Tiger Corps can successfully withdraw to the city.
——
In contrast, the 300 people in the original garrison in Raqqa have all lost contact. It is unknown whether they were killed, surrendered, or deserted.
However, at this time, Bai Gou did not want to blame Laplani. In order to defend Raqqa and survive the 10 hours mentioned by Chen Chen, he was trying to mobilize all the defenders in the city to implement a rather risky and even crazy plan.
He wanted to gather everyone together and fight a decisive battle with the enemy when they tried to enter the city.
The result of this decisive battle is not important, and the casualties are not important.
The only important thing is to fight.
He wanted to make the enemy feel resistance, and he wanted to let them know that even in a situation where they were doomed to fail, the commander here would not surrender easily.
Only such a desperate battle could give the city a glimmer of hope.
In his estimation, this battle would likely reduce the number of his fighters by 300 or even 400.
However, the sacrifice of these 400 people would buy the city at least 3 hours.
Bai Gou took a deep breath and then said:
"Notify everyone to cease fire and gather towards the target area."
"Get the rocket launchers ready."
"In the first round of output, destroy their leading armored vehicles first!"