It was snowing in Ironforge, and while the snow was still falling, the Tang Army began a limited-scale attack. Targeting several peripheral blocks, the Tang Army compressed the Ironforge defenders from both sides.
The battle to the west started near the train station. The Tang army's troops crossed the square in front of the station and used tanks to tear through the dwarf defense line on the other side of the street.
In this attack, the Tang army used large-caliber heavy artillery, blowing up several buildings in one go and causing heavy losses to the dwarf defenders.
In the defensive position on the other side, the Tang army captured a block, and Feng Kezhi's troops captured an important supply node, forcing the nearby dwarf troops to continue to retreat.
The attacks on both wings made the dwarves' defensive situation in Ironforge even more passive, and the space for them to move around became smaller and smaller.
Marshal Balov looked at the position of the defense line on the map with a headache in his headquarters. His troops had been retreating, but the retreat speed was very slow.
The Tang army was obviously not in a hurry to attack. The opponent was very concerned about casualties and would not easily invest a large number of troops in a meaningless war of attrition. They usually waited for the dwarf troops to voluntarily give up some places before sending troops to take over these areas.
Areas of defensive value.
"Uh...cough cough cough!" He covered his mouth and coughed violently for a while, and didn't stop until the adjutant handed him a glass of water.
After drinking water to suppress his cough, Balof turned his attention to the east side of Ironforge: judging from the map, the situation there was obviously much better than the one on his side.
The actual situation is not like this at all. It's just that the Western Front Army on the west side of the city cannot get the real battle situation information of the Eastern Front Army.
On the surface, Xie Ke fought very well, holding on to his position and even repelling the attack of the Tang army. A large number of field positions on the east side of Ironforge are still in the hands of the dwarves. The situation has only worsened on the Western Front.
.
But anyone who is not a fool can deduce that the real situation should be completely different: if the Tang army faced such huge pressure on the other side, it would be impossible for him to maintain such a strong determination to attack.
"Marshal, the cotton-padded clothes promised to us this month have not been delivered. Not even one of the 4,500 sets. Moreover, the 25 tanks we applied for have not been delivered." An officer reported the supply situation in frustration.
In fact, the Western Front lost 15 anti-aircraft guns, 22 heavy guns with a caliber above 100 mm, 31 tanks, and 54 armored vehicles in the past few days.
In addition, more than 100 cars were abandoned or damaged, and the loss of personnel was more than 10,000. Such losses forced Balov to abandon the defense line around the West Station and shrink the troops to a more reasonable position.
Most of the above losses have not been replenished. Except for the approximately 700 rifles and 200,000 rounds of ammunition they received the day before yesterday, they did not even wait for a cotton coat.
"I understand." Balof said a little tiredly, and took another sip of water to suppress his restless throat: "Let the newly-dressed troops seize the time to train. At least, at least every soldier must fight."
After... three shots, no, let's go with five shots... After at least five shots, I will be transferred to the front line to join the battle."
As the battle continues, serious problems have arisen in the dwarves' weapons supply. The supply of Mosin-Nagant rifles and ammunition cannot be guaranteed, so the dwarves are gradually replacing weapons and equipment from the elven allies in the south.
The Mauser rifle replaced the Mosin Nagant, and the P40 submachine gun also began to replace the Bobosha submachine gun on a large scale. However, these weapons... actually do not have enough ammunition.
They all need to be transported from distant elven countries, so most of the time they are not supplied in time. But they can at least supply them. Many of the dwarves' own weapons are no longer able to be produced.
For example, they are no longer able to produce several tanks that the dwarves are very proud of. Now they have to fight with the No. 4 tank assembled by the elves. To be honest, this tank is completely outdated now.
But all the elves are willing to provide are these outdated gadgets imported from the Tang Empire. Those improved and more advanced tanks are reserved for the elves' own troops.
What makes Balov a little depressed is that even the outdated No. 4 tanks can no longer wait. The strategic bombing of the Tang Army destroyed many bridges and roads. The cost of transporting elves to the north is getting higher and higher, and the speed is getting faster and faster.
slow.
Most of the weapons and equipment have to be dispersed and transported one or two hundred kilometers away from Ironforge, and some even require the dwarves to find a way to drive to the front line to participate in the battle.
And this kind of large-scale replacement of weapons and equipment from other countries during war will inevitably cause more waste: the new weapons and equipment will not be used, and the original weapons and equipment will be difficult to maintain.
Therefore, in the wilderness outside Ironforge, you can often see scrapped elf cars, bombed elf armored vehicles, damaged MG42 machine guns and discarded Mauser rifles on the positions abandoned by the dwarf troops.
Some dwarf soldiers have even begun to use the same M35 helmets as the elves, and some dwarves have even used the wooden handle grenades that the elves have been producing since the technology transfer from the Datang Group.
The lack of ammunition and weapons and equipment caused the dwarf troops to encounter unprecedented difficulties when using elven equipment: they were not willing to waste a lot of ammunition training, and most of the soldiers were sent to the position with only a few shots.
Such inexperienced soldiers were lost faster, further exacerbating the collapse of the dwarf army. Balov did not want this to happen, but he had no good solution.
Most of the supplementary troops provided by the south were of this level. They received some elven equipment hundreds of kilometers away, and then started to go north. They went through simple training and training all the way. They didn't even learn how to use a bayonet before they arrived.
In the ruins of Ironforge, we came face to face with the most powerful enemy in the world.
"That will make the people in the logistics department miserable, Marshal." The officer under his command smiled bitterly. If a recruit fires two more shots, ten thousand recruits will consume 20,000 rounds of ammunition. This is no longer a small number...
"If they can save two deaths, everything will be worth it." Balov explained, which could be regarded as comforting his officers.
It's not that he cherishes his soldiers very much, but as long as a few soldiers die less, he can let these soldiers hold on to the position longer.
"In addition, strengthen the defense at the place I marked... deploy as many anti-tank weapons as possible..." He handed the defense map he drew an hour ago to his men, and then ordered.