Chapter 287, Heading West
Yan Fangxu's words left his political commissar Nelson speechless.
The casualty reports were updated every day, and Nelson could see them. To him, the numbers were simply shocking.
The alliance's casualty ratio is very impressive.
When fighting against those mechanical monsters, the alliance soldiers can achieve an exchange ratio of one to three or one to four.
But... unfortunately, the alliance only has 250,000 troops, which is almost all the forces that can be mobilized by the entire alliance. In contrast, their enemies are almost endless.
Although, cyborgs need to be mechanically modified from civilians in the west of the continent; mechanical dogs, drones, and unmanned tanks all require industrial capabilities to manufacture. But no matter what the manufacturing process, difficulty, and cycle are, the price of making a machine is obvious. But every soldier of the alliance needs a mother to carry him for ten months and then grow for more than ten or twenty years.
This cannot be measured from the same perspective at all.
"We can ask the Imperial Navy for support. The Sharp Tiger can use orbital strikes to bomb the enemy's logistics center and achieve the same goal..."
Nelson was still palely speaking of some rebuttal reasons, trying to veto Yan Fangxu's plan from other aspects.
But in fact, he couldn't even completely convince himself.
Because deep down he agreed with what Yan Fangxu said.
Sure enough, later on, Yan Fangxu just added one more reason, and Nelson finally gave up resistance.
"Bombing alone cannot solve all the problems. The firepower of the Blade Tiger can only cover a limited area. In the logistics hub centered on the 'Scorpion' Oasis, our intelligence officers have also reported that all the logistics supply points there are camouflaged and scattered. The conditions for orbital bombing are very poor. Even if we bomb for a whole day, we may not get any results. It is not easy for our intelligence officers to survive behind enemy lines. They cannot possibly investigate whether every material distribution center is real or fake. It is already very good if they can circle out the approximate range."
"That's not the job of the Imperial Navy or the Alliance Air Force. They can't do it. Only we can do it. Only our bravest warriors can use the torrent of steel and raging artillery fire to carve out a smooth path and get to the enemy's face. By then, the logistical supplies of those mechanical monsters, no matter how dispersed or camouflaged they are, will be exposed in front of us!"
After hearing this, what else can Nelson say?
In the end, he could only sigh and made the tragic choice to sign his name on Yan Fangxu's plan.
Then, he went out excitedly to assemble the troops.
Yan Fangxu looked at his back as he left and smiled helplessly and silently.
He actually knew very well the morale of the entire army.
From generals to officers, and then to ordinary non-commissioned officers and soldiers, the alliance has fought many wars, big and small, since its establishment, and has won every battle.
Victory nourished the soldiers' mentality, allowing them to not fear hardships, firmly believe that their sacrifices were meaningful, and firmly believe that victory would eventually come; but it also nurtured a group of "arrogant soldiers and brave generals". In the past half month, they have been fed up with small-scale battles with those mechanical monsters.
Although they were always able to gain the upper hand, it was not the kind of definitive victory they wanted.
The most powerful weapons in the soldiers' hands: steel and discipline, cannot be used to their full potential on such a battlefield.
They could neither drive powerful steel chariots to form a torrent and drown the enemy; nor could they rely on iron will and discipline to fight the enemy on a large-scale battlefield and fight at the forefront of artillery fire.
Now, they can only split into small groups and fight limited battles with those mechanical monsters. This is the true meaning of using flesh and blood to fight against steel.
It's normal to feel angry.
The soldiers needed an opportunity for a frontal attack to vent their pent-up anger.
The military's morale was high, and there was indeed a strategic need for it, so Yan Fangxu proposed such a grand strategy.
He made a report backup of the relevant documents, then boarded the Falcon back to Fuxing City and made a report to the Governor at the scheduled time.
Such a big thing, of course, needs to be reported.
Although, when he received the appointment, Governor Gu made it clear that he was the highest person in charge of the Allied Forces on the Western Front and had full strategic command.
This symbolizes the Governor's trust, but he cannot really take it as a token of authority.
How to fight and the specific tactical arrangements were of course not something the Governor had to worry about. However, the core issue of "whether to fight or not" was not something he could easily decide.
He must have explicit authorization to do so.
This report in Fuxing City lasted a full hour and a half, and he was still a little nervous when he spoke.
No matter how good his reasons were, this was indeed contrary to the strategy that the Governor had originally decided on. He was also worried that the Governor would be unhappy, would not approve it, and would scold him again.
But none of these situations happened.
He didn't even bother with the code name for the operation, and signed the document for 'Operation Flash Tail' with a stroke of his pen.
During the entire process, Governor Gu only asked a few questions, then nodded and told him to go back and arrange the battlefield.
Before he left, he saw the Governor dragging his old partner Thaddeus into a secret room, probably to discuss how to provide logistical support and how to ensure the accurate supply of materials needed to launch this operation.
On the return flight, Yan Fangxu's mind became more determined, and he felt that the next action was even more certain to succeed.
…
David Valenzuela was a lieutenant in the 3rd Killer Brigade of the Central Army Group and the company commander of the 9th Company of the 2nd Regiment.
Three days ago, his unit received an order to participate in an operation code-named "Flash Tail".
At first he thought it was just an ordinary operation, but when he and his company got on the vehicle, he found that it was not the case at all.
The whole brigade is assembled!
And it's not just their brigade.
Looking at the many Lion tanks, armored vehicles, and countless truck-towed artillery pieces advancing on the same avenue, he realized that this "Flash Tail" operation was going to be a big deal!
He became excited, as he could finally stop having to control a defense zone of several kilometers in radius with one company, send out many patrols, and respond to requests for ground patrol support from air force brothers at any time regarding "suspected enemy presence somewhere". In order to avoid being lured away, only one platoon could be sent out at a time.
In most cases, they will come up empty-handed. In a few cases, they will encounter a small number of enemies and then return victorious, but there will also be some casualties on their side.
The key point is that after being tortured like this for more than half a month, people's spirits are very tense. They have attacked countless times and would lose some people from time to time and could not come back.
He couldn't give those mechanical monsters a good kick in the ass, and he couldn't use the several "big killer weapons" in the company or the support from the artillery brothers in the rear, which made him feel like he had energy but nowhere to use it.
Now, we can finally go out and do something great!
The first day after departure was relatively calm.
He heard some things from other brother troops who were marching together, and also heard some artillery fire coming from afar. Even later, their convoy passed through the ruins of a checkpoint.
This seemed to be the place where those steel monsters had set up defenses, but now it had been pierced through by the armored brothers in front, leaving only a pile of ruins on the ground.
I don't know which division or brigade the engineers belonged to, but they had already cleared the road and were working on both sides of the road, apparently trying to take the scrap metal back. I heard that the Alliance's research institute needed some samples. In addition to making samples, Valenzuan estimated that the rest could be recycled as raw materials.
Overall, the first day's journey was relatively peaceful for his company and nothing major happened.
During this day, they basically just sat in the car and marched, day and night. The soldiers could even take a nap in the car, and the drivers had to take turns driving, even at night.
Sometimes it is most comfortable to drive on the highway; sometimes, the highway is heavily congested, so you can only drive to the wasteland below, which is a bit painful. The car will be extremely bumpy, and not only the speed must be reduced to a very slow level, but the people sitting on it cannot rest at all.
And on the second day, exciting things began to happen.
Their company's convoy came under fire.
Three shells landed next to their company. Sitting in the passenger seat of the troop carrier truck, he saw the shells landed in front of him. The flying gravel and dirt covered the front windshield of the vehicle. The crackling sound accompanied by the shock wave almost overturned the vehicle.
Fortunately, the Alliance's troop transport trucks had been modified. They were no longer like before, with only a shed at the back. Now, at least the top, bottom, left and right sides were sealed with steel plates. The sand and gravel splashed by the shells did not injure anyone.
After the bombing, Valenzuan asked the soldiers to get out of the car and hide, and was ready to follow the trajectory of the shell to see what was going on, but soon new news came that his own artillery unit had already opened fire on the opposite side.
So they moved on, and in the evening, they engaged in a battle.
It was not that difficult. The other brother units of the 4th Infantry Regiment, to which Valenzuan's company belonged, had already fought a round, and the artillery brothers of the brigade had used thousands of artillery shells to cover their advance.
What they have to do is to keep advancing within a hundred meters of the artillery bombing line, and while ensuring the speed of advancement, eliminate the enemies who survived the artillery fire.
This is called infantry-artillery coordination, which is considered a basic operation in the alliance’s military training subjects and is not difficult.
This whole battle was not difficult. To him and his soldiers, it was more like a battlefield cleanup. Most of the work had already been done by the artillery brothers.
Returning to the vehicle, they set up camp in the wilderness.
Today, I finally don’t have to travel overnight.
On the third day, they finally encountered a significant battle.
At that time, their convoy finally made it to the main road. The driver drove comfortably and the soldiers could finally have a good rest in the car. At the call of the company instructor, everyone even sang military songs in the car.
But while they were singing, the sound of continuous artillery fire came from a place quite far ahead.
The sound was distorted and sounded like thunder, but the veterans who had fought on the battlefield knew that it was the explosion of artillery hitting the ground.
At this moment, the atmosphere among the soldiers in the car became tense. They stopped singing and beating the rhythm.
Immediately afterwards, soldiers on tricycles came towards them, holding a sign in front of the car asking them to stop, and asked them to stop.
The soldier who came up to him took a look at Valenzuan, the co-pilot, and found that he was a lieutenant. He quickly saluted and said, "Hello, Lieutenant! Ten kilometers ahead, our marching team was bombarded! I'm afraid it will soon be unsafe here. I don't know if the enemy's artillery fire will be directed here. Our leader asked me to drive all the way east to notify the troops behind to pay attention to the situation. It's best for your team to stop immediately, get off the main road, and drive into the desert. It would be better to disperse a little."
After saying this, the soldier turned around and was about to leave, but Valenzuan stopped him.
He took out a white cigarette case from his jacket pocket, gave one to the private, and then asked, "Which unit are you from? What happened ahead? Do you have any specific information to share?"
The private took the cigarette, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I'm from the 3rd Battalion of the Xifeng Brigade. I heard that there was an enemy blocking unit ahead that broke through the blockade of the 47th Brigade in the south and slipped to the vicinity of the avenue. There were also self-propelled artillery that caught us off guard. Our leader is already arranging defenses and counterattacks, and asked me to come over quickly to inform the brother troops to disperse and hide carefully."
Seeing that the lieutenant in the car in front of him wanted to ask more questions, the private quickly waved his hand and said, "Don't ask anymore. There are still many people to notify. I have to hurry."
"Go ahead, go ahead."
The private got back on his three-wheeled motorcycle and continued to run eastward. The sign hanging on the motorcycle was still standing and the horn was honking continuously.
Valenzuan withdrew his gaze, picked up the walkie-talkie, and shouted twice, and the troops drove off the road and onto the wasteland next to it.
The entire company had a total of about ten vehicles, and they were indeed dispersed to avoid being bombed later.
At the same time, he also used a walkie-talkie to contact his superiors to ask if there was any specific information.
But before he could ask, his intercom rang.
The caller was the regiment chief of staff, who gave them a task:
"Our marching brigade has come under artillery fire, and the 2nd Battalion of the Xifeng Brigade has begun to counterattack. I order your troops to immediately advance 35 kilometers to the southwest and penetrate the rear of the enemy forces. Be sure to block this group of enemy troops and do not allow them to continue to roam!"
"receive!"
After that, the order was repeated, the car call was hung up, and Valenzuan picked up the walkie-talkie again, switched to the company channel, and shouted: "Brothers! It's time to do something! We have to go to the rear of those tin ghosts! 35 kilometers, I want to reach it in two hours! Is there any problem?!"
There was a lot of ghost howling in the channel!
(End of this chapter)
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