Chapter 175: Chapter 141, Crumbles Upon Touch_2
The iron pipe rifles in the hands of those adventurers had no accuracy at a distance of one or two hundred meters, but the G9 rifles in the hands of the Alliance soldiers were not the same.
Even at that distance, where the person seen through the iron sights was tiny, by suppressing the muzzle and carrying out precise pinpoint shooting at the general location of the enemy, there was still a certain probability of hitting the target.
What’s more, those nearly two thousand people stood quite densely and had no cover to speak of.
People fell in droves.
And those who were still alive couldn’t possibly remain indifferent at this moment.
They immediately lay down and began to attempt to return fire.
The two sides thus exchanged fire at a distance of one or two hundred meters.
The adventurers were numerous and had many guns, but not only did they suffer greater casualties, their firepower was also completely suppressed.
What was the use of nearly two thousand rifles? If they were inaccurate, they were no different from noisy fire sticks. Moreover, not only were these two thousand rifles inaccurate, but they also severely lacked powerful suppressive firepower. In terms of the density of firepower alone, one G9C general-purpose machine gun could match a hundred iron pipe rifles.
The three infantry companies in the front also suffered casualties; there were not enough foxholes dug, and those with no place to hide could only lie down and raise their guns to exchange fire. But relatively speaking, there were far fewer deaths than on the other side.
What’s more, they then took out even more ferocious weapons.
Rocket launchers and mortars.
The three infantry companies together had nearly ten mortars, plus twenty to thirty launchers. When they concentrated fire in one salvo, it brought heavy casualties to the adventurers.
And the greater blow was to their morale.
Having already low morale and uncertain whether they should fight at all, the fighting started mainly because a few people were not thinking clearly or due to accidental discharges, and most knew the fight was hopeless.
As a result, after being forced to start the fight, they were one-sidedly suppressed by firepower, slaughtered, and indeed, as predicted earlier, they stood no chance at all.
After being bombarded like this, they collapsed entirely.
Some started to run.
But while fearing being shot at from behind, most still lay flat and didn’t dare to move much.
Then they discovered that those who turned and ran really had no issues, whereas the places where no one ran and people dared to poke their heads out to counterattack, often attracted a hail of machine gun fire, with mortars and rocket launchers occasionally targeting them.
Then, the adventurers all started to flee en masse.
From the start of the battle to the total collapse of the line, the entire process probably took less than ten minutes. About two hundred adventurers died at the front line, while the three infantry companies of the 2nd Division lost two men and had seven or eight injured.
At the same time as this side was fighting, the troops that were setting up the blockade in other directions also encountered conflicts with those adventurers.
However, the results were much the same.
Gu Hang saw the situation on the front line and even felt somewhat ‘disappointed’.
At ten kilometers away, the three artillery battalions of the 2nd Division, along with the direct artillery support companies of the division headquarters, had already set up their artillery positions. Originally, they had planned to send over a few rounds of firepower from the more than eighty 155mm howitzers if the front line encountered any disadvantage, to give those Rubbish Town adventurers a little shock in terms of firepower.
It seems, there was no need at all.
Without even using heavy artillery, the firepower of an infantry company was already enough to settle matters. The armed adventurers, numbering well into the tens of thousands, vividly demonstrated what is meant by crumbling upon contact.
They were too weak to withstand a single blow.
No wonder the entire Rubbish Town, with its tens of thousands, was beaten into disarray by the greenskins from the ruins of the high tower.
Of course, from Gu Hang’s perspective of taking over Rubbish Town, this was a good thing.
Afterward, Gu Hang thought for a moment, then called over Tadeusz, who had been rapidly promoted to division commander, and issued new orders.
The infantry division, having completed its blockade of Rubbish Town, began to gradually move inwards, shrinking the encirclement.
At the same time, their loudspeakers were constantly relaying the Military Governor’s orders to the adventurers:
“Lay down your weapons! Those who resist will be treated as insurgents!”
“Lay down your weapons! Those who resist will be treated as insurgents!”
Under the incessant repetition, the adventurers who had witnessed the might of the Military Governor’s forces and lacked organization and unified command surrendered en masse.
As for the few who didn’t surrender, they could only take their weapons and run back to hide inside Rubbish Town; they simply didn’t have the courage to fight against the Military Governor’s army anymore.
However, hiding had become difficult.
Rubbish Town wasn’t their turf anymore.
The segments still loyal to Swan from the ‘Clockwork Iron Blade’ adventurer group had previously enforced the martial law in Rubbish Town as an armed force. Now, they had changed roles and become the barricade preventing the adventurers from returning.
After losing their boss and being betrayed by their ‘captain,’ these elite few among the adventurers of Rubbish Town indeed experienced a period of chaos, but now they had regrouped. The mid-level leaders loyal to Swan had united to continue enforcing the martial law and sealed the main entrance to Rubbish Town.
Revenge? There might have been a bit of that sentiment, but mainly, after clarifying the situation, they chose to stand with the victors.
Following the Military Governor, obviously, had more prospects.
Apart from the people of ‘Clockwork Iron Blade,’ the other property agents still in Rubbish Town had also come together after the initial chaos. They had a hand in persuading Clockwork Iron Blade to continue following orders and even sent out some of their own direct forces to join the adventurers of Clockwork Iron Blade in barricading the town.
The adventurers trying to flee back were cornered and opened fire on them.
I couldn’t beat the Military Governor’s army, but you think I can’t beat you?
Turns out they couldn’t.
‘Clockwork Iron Blade’ might have been an adventurer group, but it was truly the most loyal regiment of Swan. He had spent no small sum on this troop. In terms of weaponry and training, they were stronger than the average adventurer.
Breaking through their defensive line quickly wasn’t so easy.
With numerical superiority, they might have had a chance over more time, but these adventurers clearly didn’t have enough time left.
As the number of those surrendering in the back kept increasing, several companies from the 2nd division began to quickly move forward through the gaps, reaching the rear of the adventurers who were unwilling to surrender and lay down their weapons, and started attacking them.
Caught in a pincer attack, these adventurers collapsed just as swiftly.
Now there was nowhere to run; they only had the choice to lay down their arms and surrender or fight to the death.
Those willing to die were, of course, a very small minority.
And for those rare cases, it wasn’t even necessary for the alliance soldiers to take action; their own people would find a way to resolve the issue.
Among those ‘resolved’ were some adventurer group captains planning to continue resisting, followers of Nasr, those with a history of looting…and one particularly special individual.
Mark Ferry.
He was shot three times in the back of his head and six times in the back of his heart, presented by several adventurer captains during surrender, alleged to have committed suicide out of fear for his crimes.
…
The issue outside the city was basically settled.
An infantry battalion from the 2nd division stayed behind to guard these disarmed prisoners.
They would be detained en masse inside the adventurer’s camp within Rubbish Town.
Gu Hang, on the other hand, led the other two battalions into the town.
Greeting him were Clockwork Iron Blade with their weapons stowed and numerous property agents.
Only after entering the largest conference hall in Rubbish Town and sitting down did Gu Hang cast a lively look as the property agents rushed impatiently to pledge their loyalty to the Military Governor.
They talked about their properties, the amount of output they could produce; they discussed the modes of production and operation in Rubbish Town; they debated the best candidate to manage these things and the qualities they should possess…
Gu Hang listened absently.
It wasn’t until Tadeusz, who still wore his bright red cap even as a division commander, pushed the door open and strode in that Gu Hang’s expression became animated.
These agents had indeed been the masters of Rubbish Town in the past, but as of today, they were no longer.
Here in this place, the last thing Gu Hang cared about was them; it was the army, the armed adventurers.
The appearance of Tadeusz here meant the information he wanted had arrived.