I work as a mercenary in northern Myanmar.

Chapter 557 A glimmer of hope

The home was robbed.

This was Chen Chen’s first thought after hearing the news on the radio.

In fact, after seeing the tragic situation in the city of Duramaha which suffered a massacre, he already had a vague foreboding.

Because he knew that in this era, even JD members had long stopped doing such things.

Except for Africa, all documented massacres of civilians are basically directly or indirectly related to the three letters "USA".

They would do anything to cover up the news.

However, often, when the news is revealed, they will quickly shift the blame to the PMCs controlled by their subordinates.

So, when he confirmed that the other party had arrived and launched an attack on Laqa, although Chen Chen was surprised, he was not at all shocked.

He immediately ordered the communicator to turn on the radio and call the Raqqa headquarters. As soon as the communication was established, he immediately asked:
"White Dog! Report the situation over there to me!"

At this time, his tone was still quite calm.

Because he knew that Bai Gou now had an elite force of thousands of people, with a large number of light and heavy weapons, including fighter jets, helicopters, and drones.

Even if the other side really sends out a large-scale ground force, we can still withdraw, let alone hold on.
-
However, after a brief noise, the white dog's answer made Chen Chen frown instantly.

"Tabka Air Force Base has just been bombed by heavy bombs, and fighter jets cannot take off!"

"We were attacked by airstrikes, too!"

"The radar has been completely suppressed! We can't see the target at all!"

"The enemy is a team of a hundred people, with heavy weapons and armored vehicles, but no tanks!"

"We've been surrounded. We can't break out. We can only fight hard!"

"Report on the status of their equipment!"

Chen Chen said in a hurried tone.

The situation was more complicated than he had expected. He originally thought that this attack was just a decapitation operation organized by the United States and mainly relying on special forces. At best, the other side relied on electromagnetic dominance and used helicopters and fighter jets to cover rapid air assaults.

But now, according to White Dog’s report, the other side has already dispatched a large-scale ground force!

Although from a "technical" perspective, so-called surgical operations are indeed slightly more advanced than traditional ground offensives, the two are completely different in strategic terms.

Battles dominated by the air force are essentially battles for the purpose of "killing". They are fast and highly accurate, but they just fight and leave, so the intensity cannot be increased.

Most of the battles involving ground forces are aimed at occupation!

Unless the enemy is defeated and loses control of a certain area, or your side loses the ability to organize the next round of offensive, the battle will never end!
Is America crazy?

Having finally pulled one foot out of the quagmire of the Iraq War, are we turning around and stepping back into the Syrian swamp?

Or is it that France was the main contributor and they were just cooperating?

Chen Chen didn't have time to think too much. He quickly made a gesture, and the driver who had been waiting for a long time started the vehicle and drove to Duramaha to pick him up.

At the same time, White Dog's new round of reports rang in his ears.

"At least 20 combat armored vehicles of various types and a small number of armored personnel carriers."

"Damn it, where on earth did they come from? How come we didn't notice it at all?!"

"The enemy's firepower is very strong, I am setting up a defense line!"

"The outer defense line can no longer be held. We must retreat back into the city and fight from the barricades!"

"Don't come back, don't rescue!"

"Ask for help from the Syrian government forces! We need armored support!"

In addition to the voice of the white dog, there were constant loud explosions coming from the radio, and even clear gunshots.

This means that the Tiger Corps' defense line in Raqqa has been compressed to the limit, and even the command headquarters in the rear has been squeezed to the front line!
The situation is extremely critical. If the team cannot be evacuated in time, it is likely to suffer a devastating command breakdown.

This is like catching a punch from your opponent with your chin during a full match. Even if you are distracted for a short time, your opponent will seize the opportunity and knock you out directly!

At this moment, countless countermeasures flashed through Chen Chen's mind.

Finally, he instinctively gave the simplest order:

"Immediately abandon all outer defense lines and retreat back to the city!"

"I see!"

The white dog's voice sounded a little hoarse. The continuous bombing had seriously interfered with his hearing, and he no longer realized how loud his roar was.

"I have to withdraw the armored vehicles first, our people"

"No more!"

Chen Chen interrupted immediately and continued:
"Abandon all equipment and baggage!"

"Run! The faster the better!"

"They have complete air and electromagnetic superiority. All vehicles are targets!"

"Let's survive first!"

"Roger that!"

The white dog replied again, and at this time, Chen Chen finally got on the pickup truck.

"Where to go?"

Lin He asked briefly.

"Hasek, find Suhail."

"We can't provide support, and the Syrian government forces can't provide support either."

"The other side found a perfect timing. We had just defeated ISIS and had not yet established our own outposts. The early warning system was quite weak. That's why they were able to reach Raqqa without us noticing."

"The control of the Bashar government is really rotten. They didn't even have any intelligence about such a large-scale mobilization!"

There was a hint of anger in Chen Chen's tone, but he actually knew that the Syrian government was not to blame.

After all, as early as 20 years ago, in the most famous "Desert Storm" operation, the Iraqi side was unaware of the actions of the United States.

The generation gap in technology and tactics is an insurmountable gap. When the enemy is superior to you in every aspect, you don't even know how you were killed.
At this moment, Chen Chen felt a heavy pressure.

He was eager to know which main force had initiated this ground operation, because only by figuring out the opponent's identity could he judge the opponent's tactics and formulate an effective response plan.

But unfortunately, even such simple needs cannot be met in any way.

The only thing to do now is to let the white dog fight on his own.

The situation is critical, but the general trend has not changed.

The enemy's ground forces are still at the level of a hundred people, which means that the enemy's strategic intention is still to quickly seize control of the important city of Raqqa through blitzkrieg and wait for support from follow-up troops.

If you want to win, you can't be irrational and confront the enemy head-on, but you should find a way to cut off their rear support to avoid the balance of power tipping further towards the enemy!

Raqqa must be held in hand.

That city is not important, but this province is very important.

"Can the white dog hold it?"

Li Bang in the back seat frowned and continued to ask:

“Can we find a way to get them to withdraw first? They can withdraw to Aleppo along the Euphrates River first. At worst, they can just give up Raqqa and we can fight back.” “Once they withdraw, it will be impossible for them to fight back.”

Chen Chen shook his head without hesitation and gave an order into the radio:

"White Dog, we are going to Hasakah now."

"Suhail has a militia of about 500 people."

"We will use this team to control key towns in Raqqa and cut off the enemy from their rear support forces."

"I need at least 10 hours, you have to stick with it for 10 hours."

"If the enemy's offensive has not stopped after 10 hours, you can choose to lead the team to evacuate!"

"Got it, 10 hours!"

White Dog answered immediately, and then there was another series of gunshots over the radio.

"I have already retreated to the city - damn, luckily I killed everyone here in the previous round and scared them, otherwise, they would have rebelled by now!"

"Yang Shu! Set up an observation post! Set up the radio for me!"

"Contact Tabka Base and ask them when they can send a plane over."

"Be careful! Shoot down their self-propelled artillery!"

Bai Gou returned to the on-site command, and Chen Chen was not idle either.

He called Suhail through the previously agreed frequency and informed him of the situation at a very fast speed.

After hearing this information, which even the Syrian authorities had not yet responded to, Suhail immediately said:
“You don’t need to come to Hasakah!”

"Go to Tal Abyad immediately!"

"The enemy can only come from that direction. We'll meet up there!"

"Your judgment is correct. They can't take Raqqa with just this one force. This is just a targeted exploratory attack!"

"The main force is still behind us. We have to find a way to intercept them and buy time for Raqqa."

"120 km, I'll be there in 3 hours, wait for me!"

"Two and a half hours, hurry up!"

"understand!"

Chen Chen faced the microphone. At this moment, his expression was extremely solemn.

Just as Suhail said, the enemy's main force must still be in the rear.

In order to stop the enemy's attack and buy time for Raqqa, Suhail and he had to use hundreds of people to delay them as long as possible.

This is simply an impossible task.

Chen Chen took a deep breath, calmed down, and asked calmly:
“Where are the nearest Syrian government forces?”

"In Manbij, there is a motorized combat brigade and an armored battalion of the First Division with nearly 30 tanks."

"It's too late. These people have been here for at least five hours. Is there anyone closer?"

“There is a battalion of the border defense brigade near Bokina, but it has only 600 men and is poorly equipped.”

"That's also necessary. You go and contact them and ask them to send troops for support as soon as possible."

"Damn, Syria's border is already riddled with holes. If we can't get through this round, there's no need to fight in Aleppo."

"clear."

Li Bang nodded immediately, and after a pause, he asked as if talking to himself:
"Can we win?"

“You can’t win.”

Chen Chen answered frankly:

"How can we possibly win? We are just trying to buy time."

"We have to delay until the government forces react and refocus their efforts on Raqqa province."

"Don't worry, NATO is just gambling. They don't have the guts to fully intervene in this war. Otherwise, they should be advancing step by step, starting from the border and pushing forward bit by bit."

"Since we have chosen to go deep behind enemy lines and attack a key town, that means this is a one-time deal."

"As long as we delay until they think they can't fight anymore, we will win."

At this time, in the city of Raqqa.

The air strikes, like meteorites falling from the sky, finally stopped, but the enemy's artillery fire did not weaken at all.

Howitzers, mortars, heavy machine guns, rockets
The rounds of bombing seemed to have no end. The White Dogs tried to organize a counterattack, but found helplessly that most of their counterattack forces had been destroyed in the first round of air strikes.

The artillery position with the largest target was the first to be bombed. The enemy's precision-guided bomb fell directly in the center of the artillery position. The violent shock wave overturned the cannon to the ground, and even the barrel of the 155 gun was twisted and deformed.

The fall of the God of War caused the Tiger Corps to lose its most precious support force. Without artillery cover, the soldiers could only rely on the assault rifles in their hands to shoot at the enemy 400 meters away.

The effect of such a counterattack was worrying. Not only did it fail to stop the opponent's continued offensive, but it also attracted a new round of attacks because of the exposed position.

In the darkness of night, the dust kicked up by the shock wave formed a strange tornado, and below the tornado were corpses that had just been blown to pieces by artillery shells.

Bai Gou stood in the living room of a civilian house, with a battle map that had just been spread out in front of him.

Without a sand table, he even used stones and sticks to represent the distribution of his own troops.

And those few stones also meant that the combat troops under the Tiger Corps that could still maintain contact with the headquarters had been reduced to less than 600 people.

Only 30 minutes had passed since the first shell fell.

In 30 minutes, the casualties were close to 50%.

This is an extremely terrifying number. Looking around the world, there are almost no armies that can withstand such losses without collapsing.

But to Bai Gou's surprise, the Tiger Corps did not collapse.

Although facing extreme conditions of poor command and unclear battle situation, each combat unit is doing its best to play its role.

It was precisely with the support of this "initiative" that the Tiger Corps was able to successfully withdraw back into the city.
-
In contrast, all 300 troops originally stationed in Raqqa have lost contact, and it is unknown whether they were killed, surrendered, or deserted.

But at this time, Bai Gou had no mood to blame Laplani. In order to defend Laka and to survive the 10 hours mentioned by Chen Chen, he was trying to mobilize all the defenders in the city to carry out a very risky, even crazy plan.

He wanted to gather everyone together and fight a decisive battle with the enemy when they tried to enter the city.

The outcome of this decisive battle is not important, and neither are the casualties.

The only thing that matters is fighting.

He wanted to make the enemy feel resistance, he wanted to let them know that even in a situation where they were bound to lose, the commander here would not surrender easily.

Only such a fight to the death can give the city a chance of survival.

In his estimation, this battle would likely result in the loss of 300 or even 400 fighters under his command.

However, the sacrifice of these 400 people will buy the city at least three hours.

The white dog took a deep breath and then said:
"Notify everyone to cease fire and gather towards the target area."

"Get the bazookas ready."

"In the first round of attack, destroy the leading armored vehicle first!"

(End of this chapter)