Chapter 590 Going the other way
"The defense line can no longer be defended. The enemy infantry has broken through the minimum range of our army's direct firepower. Enter the city immediately!"
"All barricades have been destroyed, machine gun firepower is insufficient, and the opponent is moving very fast!"
"The flank protrusion has been completely captured and our armored units are exhausted. It is impossible to recapture it."
"The Azaz Court has been lost and we cannot control this intersection!"
"The enemy armored units are encircling the hospital from both sides along the road. They will get the first support point soon!"
"Withdraw or not? Now is the last chance!"
In the temporary headquarters, Li Bang quickly reported to Chen Chen under constant firepower.
Chen Chen raised his hand to wipe the dust from his eyes and grabbed the rifle beside him.
At this time, it had been an hour and a half since they launched the attack on the Turkish army positions in northern Azaz. From active attack to passive defense, from evenly matched to a sharp turn, they had almost exhausted their all.
All the tanks and armored vehicles that could move had already been pulled onto the battlefield, and were turned into flames and wreckage in the rounds of suburban battles.
All elite infantrymen rushed to the front line, using their flesh and blood to carry anti-tank mines and anti-tank rocket launchers to launch suicide attacks on the enemy.
All medical supplies have been exhausted, and the medical soldiers who have no morphine even pick up their guns and go to the battlefield.
They no longer rescue the wounded because they know that in this situation, even if they can drag the wounded back to the rear, they will not survive.
Fighting is the only option and the only possible way to survive.
In one and a half hours, the Syrian government forces lost 100 vehicles of various types, and the casualties easily exceeded 2,000.
This was a truly tragic battle, and even in the history of war, the brutality of this battle definitely ranks high.
On average, one person fell every 3 seconds, which not only far surpassed the protracted Battle of Stalingrad, but even the Battle of Khorramshahr in the Iran-Iraq War, which was recognized as having heavy casualties in modern times, was far from the compare to!
You know, in Khorramshahr, the two sides fought for 15 days, each using tens of thousands of troops, and the final total number of casualties was only about 8,000.
Now, in Azaz, the casualty rate of less than 10,000 Syrian government troops has reached 20%.
There is no doubt that such heavy casualties are related to the huge gap in equipment and strength between the two sides.
But the more important reason is the almost crazy combat strategy of the military chief here.
——
Not only Chen Chen, but also the commander under Issam, Abboud.
Just as he promised before Isam, he was indeed ready to die here.
Therefore, when faced with the attack of a powerful enemy, he not only did not flinch at all, but he did not even consider the so-called more "conservative" and "safer" strategies.
Once the battle started, it was a series of crazy attacks.
In order to capture Azaz, the Turkish armored forces followed the standard process of urban warfare to seize the flank protrusions in the suburbs. However, after the Syrian commander saw through their intentions, he did not hesitate to transfer his defensive forces to the flanks. Shengdi used quantity to fill the gap between the two sides.
He doesn't want to take a step back, and he can't take a step back.
Once the flank is lost, the opponent's long-range firepower advantage will be magnified to the limit. By that time, our last armored division may even have to accept the fate of surrender.
Thus, a hellish battlefield began.
Round after round of exchanges, positions changing hands again and again, the red gun barrels tore off the skin and flesh on the injured soldiers' hands, and the white phosphorus burning everywhere became the lights of the city.
They did get in the way.
However, they really can only go so far.
Troops and equipment were stretched thin, and the commander could no longer make redundant arrangements.
They're about to meet their end—but the good news is, it might come a little slower.
Once they gave up the strategy of blocking the enemy outside the city, the tactics of street fighting could actually delay the time of death.
He won't die so soon. Instead, he can watch the Turkish army march past Azaz in the corner of the ruins of the city and head straight to Aleppo.
"boom!"
Another artillery shell landed near the command post. Chen Chen pulled the gun bolt suddenly and said:
"It can't be evacuated."
"Our only chance to evacuate is before launching an attack."
"Notify the reconnaissance company to rendezvous and cover Abboud's concealment."
"Given the last order, everyone was evacuated on the spot and continued to attack the enemy forces entering the city using urban guerrilla warfare."
"Let's go! Go to the Isaac Community on the south side to build a defense line!"
"clear!"
With an order, everyone in the headquarters immediately took action.
All things that can be taken away are taken away, and anything that cannot be taken away is destroyed on the spot.
Like Chen Chen, Aboud also made the same decision. After communicating via radio, the two parties finally met on the road leading to Hidden Point No. 2.
At this time, using the word "embarrassed" to describe them might be a bit too much, but "hurried" is definitely an accurate adjective.
The translator following Chen Chen's actions has been killed, and the two parties can only communicate through simple English and gestures.
After confirming their intentions, this team of less than fifty people moved again. Under the leadership of Chen Chen's Dongfeng Corps reconnaissance team, they abandoned their vehicles and quickly traveled along the paths in the city.
At this time, the artillery fire on the north side of Azaz gradually stopped, and the enemy infantry entered the city under the cover of armored troops.
It only took 5 minutes for a large number of infantry to capture Azaz Hospital under the cover of heavy firepower. Using the hospital as a support point, they quickly spread to surrounding neighborhoods.
The distance between the two sides narrowed to 400 meters. When passing through an intersection, Chen Chen could even see the enemy's Leopard 2 tanks, as well as infantry with extremely professional tactics following the tanks.
"Damn, standard US military style of play."
"I now suspect that even the driver in the tank is an American!"
"Immediately enter the community. Group 1 will stay on the periphery to guard, Group 2 will occupy the commanding heights and establish observation posts, and Group 3 will clear the interior of the building and open evacuation channels."
"This position won't last long, we have to retreat!"
"clear!"
The group of people broke in straight from the community gate. After going deep into the community, they quickly completed the deployment and finally got some time to breathe.
This community is located on a hillside in Azaz City. It has a very advantageous geographical location. There are no main roads within 300 meters of the surrounding area. It is difficult for enemy heavy armored units to enter. In addition, there are many bunkers. As long as you occupy the commanding heights and deploy firepower reasonably, you can persist for an hour and survive. Not difficult.
However, Chen Chen is not blindly optimistic.
From the start of the fight to now, he and his team felt that there was something missing in the offensive of the opposing force.
This problem troubled him for 90 minutes, and it was only now that he figured out that what was missing was the "decapitation" power.
How is this possible?
The beheading operation that played a major role in the Battle of Raqqa was not replicated by the other party?
This is obviously not the style of the United States and does not conform to the logic of modern warfare.
Therefore, even after entering the bunker, he did not relax at all, but immediately ordered the release of the last ultra-short-range drone to monitor the situation around the community.
——
He is not afraid that the drone will reveal his position. The position will be exposed sooner or later.
What he fears most is that his position has been exposed and he doesn't know it yet!
"How much ammunition do you have left? Report the equipment status to me!"
Chen Chen opened his mouth to give the order, and Li Bang immediately replied:
"We did not directly participate in the war and consumed very little light weapons and ammunition."
"Currently we also carry 4 portable anti-aircraft missiles, a mortar and 4 artillery shells, two rocket launchers, and a rotating grenade launcher."
"Abboud also has several rocket launchers and two anti-tank missiles."
"There is an anti-aircraft gun and two heavy machine guns at the preset fire point. That's all."
"Where is the heavy machine gun?"
"On top of the mountain."
"Unload it and put it in the yard. Is it too late?"
"It's too late—"
"boom!"
Before Li Gang finished speaking, a violent explosion suddenly sounded.
Immediately afterwards, the fire exploded directly at the window. Without any hesitation, Li Gang stood sideways in front of Chen Chen.
The huge shock wave directly lifted the two of them away, and Chen Zhen was hit hard on the ground, but he didn't even look at the situation of the Li Gang, but shouted into the radio:
"Everyone, get ready for battle!"
"Helicopter air attack!"
"Prepare to meet the enemy!"
In an instant, several portable anti-aircraft missiles rose from the community, dragging long tails of smoke straight into the sky.
Brilliant heat decoys exploded in the air, like the huge wings of a firebird.
All four missiles missed, but then the exploding anti-aircraft gun hit the nearest target.
A bright yellow flame flashed through the air, and then quickly fell into the city.
Just a few seconds later, the anti-aircraft artillery position was destroyed by dense rockets, and the soldiers operating the anti-aircraft artillery were shattered into smoke and dust in the explosion.
Chen Chen struggled to pull up Li Bang and evacuated out of the building. The latter kicked his legs a few times and turned over to his knees. After crawling a few steps, he suddenly stood up and then knocked Chen Chen down again.
Machine gun shells passed over the heads of the two men, and Chen Chen shouted hoarsely:
"Yang Shu! Get rid of their hovering gunships!"
"receive!"
Not far away, the "gunfire" of two consecutive large-caliber sniper rifles rang out.
The XM109 spit out the grenade and directly hit the engine under the T129 rotor at a distance of less than 150 meters.
T129 fell at an angle, and Chen Chen finally found a chance to stand up. At this time, six UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters under the cover of four armed helicopters had completed their landing.
There is no rope descent, it is the simplest and most direct plane descent.
Dozens of armed men filed out of the helicopter and immediately occupied a nearby bunker, forming a siege to the command post in the community.
"I just said how could there be no decapitation operation!"
Chen Chen and Li Bang hid behind the collapsed wall, stuck out the sand in his mouth, and said angrily.
"How are you? Are you injured?"
"I'm fine. I feel like I'm having a stiff neck."
"Sprain! That's a sprain! Can you move your neck?"
"Can't turn"
"I come!"
Pingchuan, who was flying from a short distance away, rushed in front of the two of them. Chen Chen didn't even see his movements clearly. After a crisp "click" sound, Li Bang's crooked neck immediately returned to normal.
He raised the gun again and tried to aim, but Chen Chen pushed him back.
"Everyone hide on the spot, find a way to cover the infrared signal, and find an opportunity to get closer to me."
"Don't expose yourself unless necessary, let them get within 50 meters first!"
"Understood!"
"Received!"
There were intermittent replies from the radio. In an extremely urgent situation, Chen Chen made a decision that would probably make most commanders feel incredible.
Don't fight, hide.
Isn't this a slow death?
The enemy has the advantage in numbers and equipment. Once those Black Hawk helicopters take off again, what resistance will the ground have?
But Chen Chen didn't think about this.
He thought that if he attacked the enemy at the peak of his power, he would be forced to fight in the form of exchange.
This was not the result he wanted!
Only by hiding can you survive!
Soon, Abd's wrong command proved the correctness of Chen Chen's choice.
Dozens of Syrian soldiers who tried to counterattack were accurately locked by those professional special forces decapitation teams. Even without the cover of helicopters, they could kill them one by one with light weapons in their hands.
The number of resistance in the community dropped by half in an instant, and the enemy's encirclement was further reduced, and the distance was shortened to less than 100 meters.
"The community is very large, and they don't have time to search every corner."
"Their target is us, and they have already located the position of the decapitation target."
"Where is Abd?"
"On the other side, there are people shooting around him."
"He doesn't want to live."
Chen Chen said decisively:
"Let him retreat into the building and delay as long as possible."
"We move in the opposite direction to make way for the enemy to advance."
"Let Abd be the bait?"
Li Bang asked subconsciously.
"Are we going to be the bait? He first of all, those people can't fight back, so they can only rely on us."
"Quick! Yang Shu, provide us with route guidance!"
"Understood, wait for me for 20 seconds, the helicopter is still looking for me!"
"Countdown 20 seconds to start the transfer!"
"Everyone make good use of the time window and act synchronously!"
"Received!"
The order was issued, and the surviving Dongfeng Corps mercenaries were all ready.
At this moment, the gunfire and fighting in the community seemed to have nothing to do with them.
Their mission was strangely completely disconnected from other troops, and it could even be said that it was going in the opposite direction.
The 16 people hiding in the dark were like 16 poisonous snakes, watching their companions fall in front of them indifferently.
Not resisting was not because of cowardice, but because they were really waiting for the opportunity to kill with one blow.
"Yangshu, take your position."
"There is a gap on the east side of Group 1, move around the bushes to the east."
"Group 2, wait for 15 seconds, the enemy's vanguard group will pass 30 meters in front of you."
"Group 3, set off immediately, you have 5 seconds!"
"Go!"
Chen Chen turned over and stood up, and 5 seconds later, they passed the most dangerous open area.
While they were hiding again, the enemy's fastest vanguard had already exchanged fire with Abd's last guard.
The heavy machine gun they were holding on to was instantly silenced, and a guard who pulled a grenade and rushed out of the bunker like a desperate man was directly shot in the head.
"Boom!"
The explosion of the grenade slightly slowed down the enemy's scouts, and at this moment, the three teams of the Dongfeng Corps had all completed their deployment.
"50 meters."
"The enemy has entered the encirclement."
"All of them are facing away from the enemy."
"Hurry up and fight!"