On September 6th, Zuo Lan put on his equipment and decided to go with the minbas.

With the full support of Rohan, two friendly forces will provide cover, but they will not take the initiative to sacrifice their lives. There is no need to retain supplies, and all available supplies are piled on the only way forward.

"Brothers! The ammunition, cigarettes, wine, and food are all open and in the pockets that won't fit on your back! This battle will be won! We will win!"

He was the first to take away a basic amount of ammunition and walked ahead of everyone.

After the engineers moved beyond the fire range of the enemy defenders, all combat units spread out as planned.

The defenders realized that the attack was coming and prepared for the attack at the salient point of the defense. The artillery from the city quickly adjusted its position and was about to open fire on the unprotected engineers.

Zuo Lansheng is quick in command. He can issue the fastest orders through the radio to gain an advantage.

"Inform the rear artillery group that our troops will arrive at the attack position and clear the ground."

The commander-in-chief issued the order, and Arnold passed it to the rear at a high point.

Under the command of the eldest cousin, the artillery group has been calibrated in advance, covering a large area, and the veteran experience does not even require calibration.

"All! Intensive firepower! Covering bombing!"

A hundred artillery pieces fired in volley, and the roar of the artillery fire shook the earth. He had been in the army for many years, and he had never seen or commanded a hundred artillery pieces. The ammunition in the rear was higher than the mountains.

It is conceivable that without the support of the conference chairman, it would have taken half a year to gather the firepower required for this attack.

The artillery shells were fired from the position, and the roaring roar passed over the engineers, and exploded in an absolutely dense number at the prominent points of the defenders' defense.

"attack!"

While the artillery was clearing the enemy positions, Zuo Lan led the entire army to attack. Looking at the bombing zone ahead where no one could survive, the three engineering regiments advanced at a trot.

The defending Guards were overwhelmed by such intensive firepower, and the Guards command unanimously believed that this was a general attack.

Subsequently, they quickly adjusted their own artillery fire and notified nearby friendly forces of support as quickly as possible.

Zuo Lan led an engineering regiment to attack the important protruding part. The other two regiments also had to reach the left and right sides as quickly as possible. The entire army must use the protruding part as the base point to establish a solid defense.

Under the sky full of artillery fire were blasted defense fortifications. Amidst the smoke, countless people were shouting aimlessly. Behind the deafening roar, countless people were blooming like flowers.

The engineering regiment advanced to the sprinting distance, the minpas changed from trotting to charging, and the artillery fire also stopped at this time.

The eldest cousin has adjusted the firing direction of the artillery group to block the rushing enemy troops with superior firepower.

The frontline engineers jumped into the trenches and fought with the surviving defenders who had lost their hearing. They fought heartily on the scorching hot ground.

The earth that has been baptized by artillery fire is not only black, but the temperature of its surface is also rising rapidly.

The defenders who were bombed indiscriminately still retained some combat effectiveness. The tenacious defenders responded to the anger from Minba by hitting rocks with eggs.

The defense of the salient barely managed to hold up for an hour before it collapsed. The Third Engineer Regiment led by Zuo Lan personally captured the crucial target.

He didn't have time to rest. Since he was covered by the rear artillery group, he had to race against time to build a defense.

The 1st and 2nd Engineer Regiments on the left and right faced no resistance. They were rushing to dig trenches and race for their lives.

The heavy firepower on standby in the rear is also stepping up its delivery. They have the same goal as the enemy defenders, which is the broken earth shrouded in thick smoke.

From the first battle, the Minba, who had never experienced war, showed their shortcomings. They had the courage to fight hand-to-hand, but they were tactically weak.

Zuo Lan tried his best to make up for his disadvantage, which required every engineer in the entire regiment to execute the simplest, crudest and easiest-to-understand orders.

The engineers were digging bunkers and gun nests everywhere. Shooting positions and machine gun points were scattered here and there. Zuo Lan inspected every defensive point and watched the belated machine guns being deployed for crossfire.

Although time was tight, it was possible that the distant surface that was lifted up could still feel safe with the naked eye. This rapid attack was enough to prove my cousin's ability to command artillery.

After inspecting the position, he returned to the central command headquarters. Arnold had set up the radio and was waiting for the commander's mission.

From the messages passed back and forth, Arnold told Zuo Lan the current battle situation.

They are still ten kilometers away from the royal capital, the positions on both sides have not yet been completed, and the artillery group will slow down the firing rate in twenty minutes.

Reporting on the battle situation, the artillery shells from the royal army suddenly fell on the Zuolan position. The engineers who were still digging took shelter from the artillery fire, and the construction was temporarily stopped.

It's just that the firepower density of the royal army was not high, and it was able to hold down twenty artillery pieces.

Zuo Lan jumped out of the command post with a telescope, and to identify the impact point and the direction of the sound, he found that the artillery bombarding him came from the northwest and due north directions.

Quickly coming to a conclusion, he got back to the headquarters and passed the detected information to the rear in a concise and clear manner.

The eldest cousin immediately measured and compared on the map. He easily judged the general location of the enemy artillery and divided equal forces to fight back.

The artillery group on his side had only opened fire for less than five minutes and achieved obvious suppressive effects. However, the defenders were not a vegetarian and mobilized more artillery to fight back.

Initially, both sides' artillery supported their own infantry, but it soon evolved into a mutual exchange of artillery fire between the two sides.

The eldest cousin demonstrated his qualities as an artillery commander. Even when enemy artillery shells exploded less than twenty meters away from him, he remained calm and even calmly continued the map operation.

This kind of courage in the face of danger deeply inspired the artillerymen under his command, and the artillery group fired in an orderly manner as if they had a halo of courage.

The situation of the defenders was unknown, but their firepower was much weaker, which proved that the cousin had won the bombardment, and he had to slow down the firing frequency. Some artillery needed to cool down and rest after firing at a high frequency.

Although he suppressed the defenders' artillery, the artillery group under his command also suffered a lot of losses.

When only sporadic artillery shells were sparing no effort to land in the fighting area between the two sides, the Guards finally passed the obstruction and wanted to retake the lost position.

When both sides lost their artillery support, what remained was a difficult offensive and defensive battle.

The backwardness of the weapons era means that the attacker must pay a huge price to win, but it is powerless against the defense that Zuo Lan personally inspected.

After several consecutive attacks were repelled, the morale of the engineers and soldiers increased greatly. Some minba hoped to take over the palace in one go.

Zuo Lan knew clearly that this was impossible. If they really attacked the royal capital at this time, they would be strangled to death.

Machine guns, revolver rifles, precision rifles, all weapons fired free bullets. The soldiers of the royal army were harvested, and the engineers fell at their posts.

From the morning of September 6th to noon when the sun was fierce, the engineers repelled three attacks from the royal army, and many engineers became veterans with some experience.

The price paid for a strong defense is the intense consumption of ammunition, and the price paid for a frustrated attack is human life and morale.

The commander of the Guards is gathering more troops and more artillery. If that position cannot be recaptured, the door to the royal capital will be wide open.

However, the commander of the Guards did not know for the time being that the engineering brigade guarding the protrusion was a lone force, so he did not dare to mobilize forces from other defense points.

Also because of worries, Zuo Lan and the others lingered until night.

The engineers and soldiers were exhausted, but everyone's nerves were tense, and their passion swept away their sleepiness.

Night is the most terrifying time, and it is also the perfect time for the attacker to take advantage of.

The commander of the Guards secretly assembled two rifle regiments, and the attack time was set at three o'clock in the morning on the seventh day. This is the time when people are most sleepy and the defense is weakest.

Zuo Lan was nervous about having a head-to-head duel with the Guards. He wanted to compete with this old rival, even though he had never won once.

The minbas who led the rebellion at the beginning were annihilated, and later they were defeated by the Guards again at the bottom of the valley.

Therefore, when facing the Guards, Zuo Lan must remain calm and not let his emotions affect his judgment.

"Let everyone withdraw to both sides of the position and leave them an empty shell." Zuo Lan told other Minba officers in the headquarters, "Place the mines so that as long as they dare to step in, they will not be able to get back alive."

There was no movement in the afternoon, so I’m definitely planning to come over here during the night, so don’t even think about it.”

With the help of a short period of time, the Guards soldiers rested until the early morning, but Zuo Lan didn't sleep all night.

When the Guards reached the lost defensive protrusion, they were shocked to find that all they saw in front of them was undefended land.

As they continued to go deeper, the mines buried underground were detonated, and several flares burned from both sides to the heads of the Guards.

The burning flares brought fire, the mines underfoot were detonated in panic, and the engineers who had been lying in wait for a long time came out from both sides.
Chapter completed!