Generally speaking, the houses in the urban-rural fringe are relatively low and the density is not high. Ironforge is a small exception.
Because Ironforge is an ancient city, its city center has a long history and is full of ancient monuments, so it looks relatively backward.
On the contrary, the outer buildings of this city are generally relatively new and have relatively high floors, so they look much more prosperous than expected.
And in this direction, there is also Ironforge West Station, which is a very important freight train station. Unlike Ironforge's East Station, this station mainly transports goods, so there are many warehouses nearby, plus residential areas.
, looks very prosperous.
It's a pity that this place no longer has the prosperity and bustle of the past. The Tang army's bombing has almost paralyzed the place, and there are still locomotives and carriages that have been damaged by bombings parked on the railway tracks.
Now these carriages have become natural bunkers, and the nearby collapsed walls and undulating rails have become the best trenches and defenses.
With such a place at their back, the resistance of the dwarf troops was almost exhausted: they decided to hold on to the last position and fight until the last soldier did not take a step back.
"We are less than 2 kilometers away from the West Station. We can no longer retreat!" The dwarf officer holding a pipe said to the adjutant beside him, staring at the dusty map.
"We need to replenish ammunition. The soldiers haven't rested all day... The losses have been huge. Now there are less than half of the entire regiment left." The adjutant's face was dirty, as if he had just returned from a battle full of gunpowder smoke.
The front line is withdrawn.
Logically speaking, a regiment that lost half its men should have collapsed long ago, but their regiment did not lose so many soldiers all at once. It retreated and fought countless battles, and was reorganized all the way until now.
When the speed of losses increases indefinitely, and seventy or eighty people are lost in a day, everyone will become numb after the losses, and collapse will be unlikely to occur.
There are currently about six to seven hundred people left in the entire regiment, which is almost the same as a battalion. However, their combat tasks are not heavy. They are only responsible for the defense of one village now.
The front is very narrow, and it is unlikely that the Tang army will hit them first. According to past experience, the opponent will probably clear out the wild fields on both sides of the village first, then surround the village on three sides, and then use firepower to slowly kill the dwarf troops in the village.
"I have already applied for the ammunition, and it is expected to be delivered soon... Forget about supplementing the personnel. You have seen the people who supplemented it before. What is the quality... Forget it, let's not talk about it.
"When it comes to replenishing troops, this regiment leader has a constipated expression on his face.
The dwarf mobilization system has begun to collapse. Most of the new recruits recruited are children or old men. They have not received any training, or even no training at all, and are sent directly to the front line.
It's too optimistic to expect them to fight. They don't even know how to maintain their own weapons. The smart ones can help repair trenches and load bullets, but the stupid ones are not even qualified to be cannon fodder.
Once the Tang army attacks, these recruits will be the first to collapse. Often one round of artillery fire is enough for them to abandon their armor and flee. Expect them to even waste the bullets of the supervising team, and maybe even bring down other serious veterans.
Therefore, after several trials, he, the leader of the remnant regiment, no longer applied for the make-up of supplementary soldiers: he needed soldiers who could fight, not idiots who wasted supplies and ammunition.
"But, Captain, we really don't have many people left... If we continue to fight like this, there will probably be less than 600 people left tomorrow." The adjutant reminded with some worry.
Although veterans are useful, insufficient numbers are indeed a problem. Once they lose too many, they cannot be deployed as a standard unit.
In fact, no matter how much they have lost, as long as they have not been disbanded, they will be an entire "regiment" on the commander's map. They have to perform regiment-level combat missions, no matter how many people they have left.
"Besides, we just lost the last two 100mm mortars..." At this point, the adjutant felt that he could only be described as aggrieved.
What kind of artillery did the Tang Army have? Not to mention rocket launchers and the like. The support firepower was either a terrifying 155mm or a plethora of 105mm artillery, both of which were very powerful.
Artillery shells rained down on the position at every turn. The reason why they can persist until now is entirely because of their firm belief in the regiment and their tenacious style...
As a result, what about themselves? The 100mm caliber howitzers previously assigned to them were all lost a month ago.
The enemy was bombed by aircraft and suppressed by artillery, leaving no way for their heavy weapons and equipment to survive. In the subsequent battles of their regiment, they could only rely on the supplementary 100mm caliber mortars and the 80mm mortars equipped by each battalion.
caliber mortars provided support.
As a result, these mortars were fired less and less, and they could not get any supplements: by this morning, their last two 100 mm caliber howitzers were destroyed by the Tang army's counterattack artillery fire.
Now, their regiment only has a few 50mm caliber mortars left... Yes, this kind of thing was previously prepared for company-level troops.
"There's no other way, let's just make do with it. I've already submitted the application. I guess... new mortars should be delivered tomorrow." The regiment leader was not sure whether tomorrow's supplies would actually arrive on time. He could only
Say this to encourage your subordinates.
In any case, mortars, especially small-caliber mortars, can still be supplemented by the dwarves to some extent for front-line combat troops. Even if there are no 100mm ones, they can still replenish a few 80mm ones.
"Can we survive until tomorrow?" the adjutant sighed. They have not received medical supplies all day long. The food supplies may not have arrived on time for a long time. There is not much ammunition left, and the troops have long been insufficient... This kind of
Under such circumstances, it would not surprise him when the army collapsed.
"I guess... it's hanging." The regiment leader squinted his eyes and looked at the main battle tanks of the Tang Army appearing on the horizon, with a heavy and serious expression on his face: "Notify all battalions to prepare for battle!"
The tank gradually approached, and Tang soldiers in camouflage could be seen nearby using the terrain to spread out: Tang's attack has begun again!
This time they couldn't even muster decent artillery fire. It was expected that there would be another bloody battle soon.