Chapter 90: Chapter 89, Ground Assault
Gu Hang suddenly felt a palpitation.
He stood up from his seat, walked over to the window, and looked out.
From here, he couldn’t see the specific situation on the battlefield, but the sound of heavy artillery, nonetheless, carried over half the city.
He already knew that Georgette and the Battle Nuns had rushed over there, and in theory, there shouldn’t be any problems.
However, Gu Hang couldn’t ignore the unease he had felt before.
As a Spiritual Energy user, his intuition often concretely forewarned that something was about to happen.
Even as the artillery roared on, Gu Hang never felt at ease.
Instead of agonizing over it here, it would be better to go there in person and investigate.
Gu Hang made his move.
As he did so, he sent out a message, hoping that the Phoenix Battle Group, which was resting somewhere in the city, would also hurry over as soon as possible.
This was still a mission request, in his words, it was that Superior Georgette might run into trouble.
Believing in the past that Commander Matins, who had… oh, not that, who had fought side by side with the Superior, would surely not sit idly by.
After all, they were idle anyway.
…
Gu Hang hurried over at high speed, his mind made up, and he soared into the air.
That’s the benefit of being a Spiritual Energy user.
By the time he arrived at the scene, Lambert, Perbov, Georgette, and others had already been carrying out the ground attack for quite a while.
The previous rounds of artillery fire had sent over a hundred heavy shells into the area. The entire factory district wasn’t reduced to complete ruins, but it wasn’t far off. According to their assessment, under such conditions, the non-professional soldiers and mere workers who had been temporarily armed inside would not only have suffered heavy casualties, but their morale was likely almost collapsing.
What followed was for the infantry, led by the Battle Nuns, to enter and clear the battlefield. The dead were ignored, the living were pulled out as prisoners and thrown into the POW camp, and what to do with them afterward was not the army’s concern; those who resisted stubbornly were, of course, to be killed on the spot.
In Perbov’s opinion, this should be an easy operation.
Indeed, all fears stem from insufficient firepower.
Without the kind of heavy artillery that could directly damage concrete and cement structures, relying solely on the 60mm mortars, hand grenades, rifles of the past… even if the opponents were just some armed workers, it would probably cost many lives to take down this factory complex.
But now, with just ten 155mm heavy howitzers they had captured, the battle became so much more comfortable to fight.
Who the hell would willingly sacrifice their life to charge trenches if you can blast with heavy bombs first, bombarding their mother’s for several rounds, and then have the infantry sweep the battlefield afterward?
No wonder they say artillery is the god of war.
However, before they went in, Georgette issued a warning to him and the commander of the 6th battalion.
“Don’t let your guard down, there’s a tough enemy inside.”
“A tough enemy?” Perbov was a little skeptical at the time. What kind of enemy could be tougher than a 155mm howitzer?
Then he remembered the heroism of the Phoenixes and the Sisters of Saint Mercy on the battlefield.
Uh… if there were enemies of that caliber, then it might indeed be a problem.
If someone else had said it, he might not have believed it, but the speaker was the gentle and formidable Superior.
So, he decided to believe her.
Perbov consulted with the commander of the 6th battalion and decided not to blindly throw all their forces into the fray. Although they only had a total of six hundred men, which seemed insufficient for such a large factory complex, they preferred to proceed slowly and cautiously.
Each of them sent out a company to advance first.
As the companies entered, they moved forward in squads, each responsible for clearing sections; the squads maintained a broad distance between them, and each was divided into teams of three to sweep through the half-ruined complex.
At the officers’ request, the soldiers crept forward with waists bent, using the ruins as cover. It was slow and cumbersome, yet very solid progress. They would not advance until they had thoroughly confirmed the safety of an area.
Indeed, there were enemies.
And these enemies had a very strong will to resist.
Those clad in workers’ attire and wielding weapons only slightly better than iron pipe rifles emerged from the ruins.
When they popped up, they were usually only thirty to fifty meters from the searching soldiers—not far at all.
Upon their emergence, they unleashed a volley of bullets at a squad of infantry with the weapons they held.
The soldiers reacted quickly, dropping to the ground and seeking cover. The armed workers’ marksmanship was not very good, and most of their shots went wide. Even if a bullet did hit, the plastic-steel armor being worn could save a life.
While one squad was suppressed, another team of three not far away would immediately counterattack.
Comparatively, Gu Hang’s soldiers were far superior in marksmanship to the armed workers. The performance of the G9-type assault rifles was also much more reliable than the weapons in the hands of the armed workers.
A burst of fire from the group of three was enough to kill all the emerging armed workers.
Having completed the kills, they did not lower their rifles but continued to aim at the location, signaling to the squad that had been suppressed earlier with tactical gestures.
The three quickly got up and moved toward the location of their slain targets.
They needed to confirm the results and see if any enemies remained. If any were found alive, they would finish them off with a coup de grâce. The three who had made the kills provided fire cover. If any enemy appeared, they would strike with immediate firepower.
Not far away, Georgette, who was just about to intervene, lowered her gun.
Even she looked somewhat astonished.
The performance of these soldiers somewhat exceeded her expectations.
Previously, she hadn’t paid much attention to the combat readiness of Mr. Gu’s ordinary infantry. Though the individual equipment they donned looked similar to that of the Imperial Regular Army—G-type rifles, plastic steel vests—these were only considered the most basic of cannon fodder gear.
Ideally, a squad should be equipped not only with mortars but also might need several LR-type laser guns, HS-type electromagnetic rifles; fragmentary grenades alone might not be enough, and if they couldn’t come up with thermobaric bombs or compressed energy grenades, the least they could do was bring more rocket launchers.
Even purely as light infantry, the equipment of Mr. Gu’s troops fell somewhat short.
But this was understandable, forgivable, and even commendable. At the very least, His Excellency the Governor was making an effort to align his armed forces with those of the Star Realm Army. What more could be asked of him?
However, when actual combat commenced, the soldiers’ combat discipline and performance were eye-opening.
Although their equipment was lacking, their training level was straight out of the Star Realm Regular Troops’ playbook.
Such a force demanded Georgette’s respect.
With their help, she felt that she and her sisters could afford to relax a little.
But just as she thought this, something unexpected happened!