“Retreat? Why the sudden retreat?!”
Although Andrei was delighted to retreat from this damned hell, he wanted to know why they were retreating.
Had someone already prepared to relieve his company, or was it due to some other situation, such as their complete defeat?
So, Andrei quickly grabbed the messenger to ask what was going on.
The messenger seemed to know Andrei, or rather, knew his identity. When he heard Andrei's question, he didn't show any impatience. Instead, he quickly saluted and said:
“Reporting, Captain Vorontsov! According to the latest news, a Black Hawk Empire Iron Cavalry Composite Division has broken through our left flank, and the right flank is also in critical condition. If we don't retreat, we will be surrounded by the enemy!”
“You now have approximately 30 minutes to retreat to the rear. After 30 minutes, our artillery in the rear will launch a bombardment on the front line to cut off the enemy's attack route!”
Andrei nodded, letting the messenger attend to his duties. Then, he quickly ordered the Soldiers to pack up and get ready to leave!
It was a retreat, but they weren't in a rout. Therefore, all the weapons, equipment, and ammunition boxes on the position that could be carried had to be moved quickly.
Anything that couldn't be moved was to be destroyed on the spot, not left for the enemy!
At the same time, Andrei, based on some knowledge he had gained from documentaries, quickly had the Soldiers on the position set up booby traps with grenades.
Although they had to choose to retreat and give up the position, he didn't want the enemy to take it too easily!
Hearing Andrei give the order to retreat, most of the Soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, eager to run as fast as possible from this hellish battlefield.
In the previous battle, even with the full cover of the Players and the medical assistance of Yelena, the Medical Sister, Andrei's company still lost 12 Soldiers.
Looking at the row of bodies before him, although Andrei had no memory and didn't recognize any of these individuals, an inexplicable sadness still welled up in his heart.
Beside Andrei, other Soldiers looked at their fallen comrades and couldn't help but sob softly.
No matter what, these comrades were companions they had known for several months. Perhaps just a second ago, they were chatting and joking with them, and last night, they slept together. But today, these people had become cold corpses.
Even the Players summoned by Andrei were slightly touched by this scene, taking off their steel helmets and observing a few seconds of silence.
However, what surprised Andrei was that only now did he truly confirm it. The Players he summoned didn't seem to cause any surprise among those around him.
To the surrounding Soldiers, the Players Andrei summoned seemed no different from their other comrades; even their interactions and greetings were completely normal.
But under normal circumstances, if so many people suddenly appeared in a company, it would be impossible for no one to notice. It's like ten new transfer students suddenly appearing in a classroom—how could no one discover them?
“Hiss—! This system of ours really has something!”
Thinking of this, Andrei couldn't help but curve his lips into a smile. Since summoning Players wouldn't cause alarm among friendly forces, the room for maneuver was much greater.
Frankly speaking, their current performance might still be a bit lacking, but if it were put into a brutal urban battle, and a building could suddenly continuously churn out Soldiers, then this war of attrition would truly become interesting!
But as Andrei was busy contemplating and pondering new uses for his Players in his mind, he suddenly heard a strange sound in the sky.
Listening to the sudden shriek that cut across the sky and echoed throughout the entire battlefield, Andrei's heart instantly tightened.
But before he could react and figure out what the sound was, a Soldier on the position suddenly screamed:
“No! It's artillery fire, quick, take cover!”
Hearing this sound, Andrei didn't hesitate. He yelled at the surrounding Soldiers and, at the fastest speed, grabbed Yelena's hand, pulling the Medical Sister towards the dugout.
This was Andrei's instinctive reaction; he didn't know why he did it.
Was it because, subconsciously, Andrei felt that Yelena, the Medical Sister, was the most important person in the company, or was it because Yelena was the first person he saw when he opened his eyes?
At the same time, the Players also ran into the shell-proof dugouts at top speed, pulling along a few Soldiers who hadn't reacted in time.
It must be said that these Players were truly bold. Even now, this group was excitedly discussing in the chat area, trying to figure out what this wave of artillery fire was about. Was it a plot kill?
“Damn it, what's going on with this wave of artillery fire?!”
Watching the artillery shells falling onto the position, Andrei discovered with shock and anger that this wave of bombardment was coming from the rear!
He suddenly realized that the artillery fire the messenger had mentioned, which was supposed to arrive after 30 minutes, had inexplicably started early! At least 20 minutes early!
They were still busy moving things and hadn't even had time to retreat from the position when the bombardment from behind began!
“Damn! Was the message from that messenger reliable? Was he late, or did he transmit the wrong information? Or was it an order from some brain-dead commander in the back?”
“Don't let me catch him, or I'll shoot him if I get the chance!”
Feeling the constant bombardment overhead, Andrei couldn't help but curse inwardly, silently praying to some unknown deity that the shell-proof dugout above him would be sturdy enough.
For makeshift fortifications like these, if they were only affected by the artillery fire, it would be fine, but if they were directly hit by large-caliber shells, there would be no chance of survival for anyone inside!
The other Soldiers next to Andrei also started cursing, not understanding what the artillery was doing, attacking their own friendly forces!
At the same time, Andrei suddenly saw that the avatars of his Players had turned black, with five Players dying instantly!
He realized that the shell-proof dugout where those five Players were hiding must have been destroyed! Otherwise, this wouldn't have happened!
Fortunately, the five Players respawned from other shell-proof dugouts. Unfortunately, Andrei didn't know how many people the shell-proof dugout he set as a spawn point could accommodate.
If more and more Players died and all respawned there, then it would truly become interesting!