At the same time, at the Macedonian military factory.
"Sir! Our reinforcements should be withdrawing." The messenger rushed into the operations room and reported the situation to Davis.
Before he could finish speaking, Davis, his face ashen, growled, "What do you mean 'should'? Withdrawal means withdrawal! Fighting means fighting!!"
The messenger's face froze, then he hurriedly said, "The artillery fire is getting farther and farther away, so..."
Before he could finish speaking, Davis waved his hand to interrupt him, then lowered his head and sighed heavily.
As early as 3:30 a.m., the Yan army that had launched the artillery bombardment on the factory gradually stopped. Davis thought it was because they had used up too many shells, but without accurate intelligence, the troops inside the military factory absolutely could not risk going out. Therefore, he simply ordered the soldiers to repair the fortifications during the time when the enemy stopped bombarding.
But around four o'clock, the artillery fire resumed, far exceeding the previous bombardment. However, the enemy was not shelling the military factory, which made Davis realize that reinforcements must have arrived. It was their participation that forced the Yan army to shift its attack to the rear.
The arrival of reinforcements is undoubtedly good news for the military factory. As long as they can suppress the Yan army and launch an effective attack, the military factory can send troops to take the initiative to attack when the Yan army shows signs of defeat, in coordination with the reinforcements, and annihilate the enemy army from both sides.
Davis was waiting for such an opportunity, but the prerequisite was that the Yan army's position be breached and his own reinforcements approach the outer perimeter of the military factory. However, such an opportunity was delayed.
After several hours, the artillery lines deployed by the Yan army outside the military factory showed no signs of being withdrawn, and according to the soldiers' reports, the roads leading out of the factory area were also defended by the Yan army. This led Davis to conclude that the reinforcements' attack had not made much progress and that the Yan army was still able to withstand their offensive.
In this situation, the troops inside the military factory should not be sent out easily. The Yan Army is likely to continue its fierce attack and take the opportunity to storm the factory. Once the factory falls, the Yan Army can use the military factory as their base to fight a protracted war with their own reinforcements. This is definitely not what Davis wants to see.
Therefore, when Lieutenant General Harris proposed several times to send troops to attack the Yan army, Davis suppressed the idea with the statement, "It's not the right time yet."
By this point, Davis realized that the reinforcements had not only failed to suppress the enemy, but had even retreated. There was no doubt that the reinforcements had suffered heavy casualties in the past few hours of fierce fighting, which forced them to choose to retreat.
With a heavy sigh, Davis touched his face, his expression one of utter dejection.
If the reinforcements hadn't fought this battle, he wouldn't be so frustrated. But since the reinforcements came and fought the enemy, only to end up in this defeat, the higher his hopes, the greater his disappointment and frustration.
Unlike the dejected Davis, Harris, who had also been up all night, was furious. His bloodshot eyes glared as he suppressed his anger and said in a low voice:
"We missed our best opportunity."
"If we can send troops to attack the enemy at six o'clock when the fighting is at its most intense, we will definitely keep them busy dealing with the attacks from both the front and the rear."
"With an attack from both sides, one of us or the reinforcements will surely break through the Yan army's lines! Once they break through, we will definitely be able to defeat them!"
As he said this, Harris turned his head slightly and glanced sideways at Davis.
Harris had actually said these words several times tonight, but each time he failed to convince Davis to send troops to attack. Now that the reinforcements had been defeated and the opportunity to launch an attack had been completely lost, Harris was filled with anger and regret.
He could imagine that the reinforcements had suffered heavy casualties, after all, the Yan army's artillery bombardment had not stopped for the past few hours, but now it had turned out like this, how could anyone accept this?
While Davis is indeed a commander with many years of combat experience, tonight he was far too conservative. To call him tactically conservative is not even an accurate description; rather, his passive fighting caused his side to miss a crucial opportunity, which was a serious mistake!
Now, Davis sensed the hostile look Harris was giving him, and he turned to face Harris, saying:
"Harris, it's not that simple."
"The Yan Army is keeping a close watch on our factory. Even during the two hours of the fiercest fighting, these troops were not withdrawn. Isn't that obvious enough? Because they are not worried at all about our army breaking through their rear."
After saying this, Harris crossed his arms, turned his face away, and gave a soft snort, clearly not agreeing with the statement.
Davis then said to himself, "Our troops can indeed cause some harassment to the enemy, but without fortifications, their shells can cause us heavy casualties in a very short time. Once they take the opportunity to break in, our reinforcements will have come for nothing."
He shook his head and sighed.
"The military factory cannot be lost. Even if the reinforcements do not defeat our enemy in this battle, they can at least inflict some casualties on them."
"Once more troops arrive, we..."
Before he could finish speaking, Harris finally interrupted, "I think we've already missed the best opportunity."
"Since we failed to defeat the Yan Army this time, they are already on guard, and the battles to come will be even more difficult!"
"you......"
He lowered his arms, turned to Davis, and the anger in his eyes turned to helplessness. He shook his head and said:
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