I work as a mercenary in northern Myanmar.

Chapter 588 Tian Ji Horse Racing
"Special reconnaissance company, advance 5 kilometers, clear the earthwork outposts along the way, and try to cut off enemy communications."

"Armored Assault Battalion 1 follows the assault and is ready to engage the enemy."

"Second Armored Battalion, circle eastward to provide cover, keep an eye on enemy movements on the east side, and quickly open up an evacuation route after engaging the enemy."

"Support the reserve battalion to slow down and avoid enemy air and long-range fire attacks."

"Release the drones and stay alert."

"Everyone prepare for battle, expect to engage the enemy in 15 minutes!"

"understand!"

"understand!"

In the command vehicle, Chen Chen looked at the map while continuously issuing combat orders.

At this time, his "fire reconnaissance team" was only 15 kilometers away from the designated combat area. The smell of war smoke was already within reach, but what surprised Chen Chen was that until now, the Turkish side, including the Free Army active in this area, had not made any response.

This is completely unreasonable.

Logically speaking, as the main battlefield of the early fighting between government forces and the Free Army, the Azaz area should be the focus of attention of Turkey and NATO.

Even if it is not possible to carry out aerial reconnaissance 24 hours a day, the outposts and reconnaissance teams along the way should have taken action long ago.

But the fact is that the team he led set out from Aleppo and took advantage of the night to quickly advance nearly 10 kilometers. Ten minutes had passed, and the expected battle had not yet occurred.

The entire team moved forward as if they were in an empty space, and the speed of all mobile vehicles had been stretched to the limit. If calculated at this speed, in 15 minutes at most, they would be able to enter the designated combat area and launch the first round of attack on the Free Army defenders stationed on the north side of Azaz.

It went so smoothly, so smoothly that Chen Chen even found it unbelievable.

Chen Chen frowned, he didn't understand what went wrong.

Perhaps, Isam's thundering attack in the early stage did cause psychological trauma to Turkey and the Free Army, so that they would rather adopt a more conservative strategy than operate in the control area of ​​Isam's armored group?

Or perhaps, they misjudged this action and thought it was just a routine mobilization?

It's all possible.

Chen Chen took a breath and put down the map in his hand.

No matter what, the arrow is on the string and has to be shot.

Now that the team has arrived, they must fight their way out.

At this time, the reconnaissance company led by Li Bang has arrived at the south side of Azaz. They will bypass the city of Azaz, park and station 1 km away from the Free Army position to conduct close reconnaissance.

Time passed minute by minute, and information continued to come in from the front.

And every new piece of information made Chen Chen even more nervous.

"We have bypassed Azaz and the city is very quiet."

"Arrived at coordinate point 1. The electromagnetic interference equipment has been activated."

"Enemy electromagnetic activity signals detected, unable to be deciphered."

"We found the earthwork outpost, it's empty."

"Having arrived at the designated reconnaissance point, I can already visually observe the enemy's position."

"There are a lot of signals of people and equipment activity on the border, but no abnormalities have been found so far."

"Very quiet. Should we continue to move closer for reconnaissance?"

Very quiet, nothing unusual.

This is the biggest anomaly.

Chen Chen paused for a moment and gave the order decisively:

"Stop advancing and wait for the main force to arrive from the rear."

"The Second Armored Battalion, deploy eastward in advance and be ready for support."

"Armored Battalion 1, prepare for battle."

"Attention, only fight once and avoid getting entangled with the enemy!"

"understand!"

As soon as the order was given, the marching rhythm of the entire convoy changed instantly.

The yellow sand rolled in the desert. The 10st Armored Battalion, consisting of 10 self-propelled artillery, 5 armed pickup trucks and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, advanced rapidly and launched an assault along the route that the reconnaissance company had already traveled.

In less than 5 minutes, they had arrived at coordinate point No. 2, and deployed within two minutes, aiming their guns at the Free Army position kilometers away.

At the same time, the 600nd Armored Battalion, which was detouring to the east, was deploying in echelons, laying out a narrow position of meters from west to east. On this position, they would continue to advance eastward in an alternating cover manner to open an evacuation route for the st Battalion and the reserve troops that arrived later.

Everything was ready, and Chen Chen picked up the radio.

Then, he used the simplest sentence to start this destined to be brutal battle.

"Fire!"

At this moment, fire broke out on a battalion’s position in the distance.

Now that the target was visible, the 152mm howitzer shells trailed a trail of smoke as they headed straight for the target two kilometers away, while the muzzle of the ZSU-23-4 anti-aircraft gun was already aimed at the sky 60 degrees away, ready to respond to low-altitude raids by the enemy's helicopters at any time.

At the same time, the armed pickup truck carrying the 120 mortar has also completed the calculation of all elements.

A shriek sounded from the position, and after dozens of long seconds, the first batch of white phosphorus bombs fell on the Free Army's position like sparks.

Dust was flying and the roar was endless.

Chen Chen picked up the telescope and observed the situation of the Free Army position in the distance.

It was obvious that the enemy was completely stunned by the sudden artillery fire.

A large number of rebels poured out of the barracks, rushed towards any vehicle they could see, and tried to drive back.

Or, they picked up the weapons at hand and fired wildly in the direction where the artillery fire might come from in their subconscious, but it was obvious that their counterattack would not have any effect on Chen Chen's armored column.

In the dark sky, flashes of anti-tank missiles and RPG rockets flashed across the sky, but they did not even approach the location of the 1st Armored Battalion. Instead, they flew towards the farther direction of Azaz.

The attack was launched as planned. Chen Chen confirmed the deployment situation with the Second Armored Battalion again, and then came down and said:

"The first battalion is preparing to retreat and withdraw from the battlefield to the east."

"The support group moves northeast to reunite with the Second Battalion."

"Leave two people in the reconnaissance company to monitor the enemy's movements. The rest will maintain high mobility and move eastward beyond the Second Battalion's defense area to continue organizing reconnaissance!"

"understand!"

There was another reply from the front, but at this moment, the voice in the headset suddenly became extremely sharp.

Then there was a commotion.

Electromagnetic interference!

"Activate the backup communication plan!"

"Execute frequency hopping burst communication!"

"Restore communications as soon as possible and speed up the evacuation!"

Chen Chen's expression was tense, and the communicator sitting next to him immediately began to debug the equipment. However, before the communication was restored, sparks began to explode at the location of the 1st Armored Battalion.

"Attention! Enemy fire!"

"The first battalion quickly evacuates, the second battalion searches for the enemy's artillery positions and organizes fire suppression!"

There was no reply and the radio was still filled with noise.

But fortunately, the battle plan had been determined long ago, and without Chen Chen's instructions, the Second Armored Battalion had already begun its firepower attack on the enemy.

Large amounts of artillery fire poured towards the northern side of the border. At this moment, no one cared about whether there were civilian casualties, and no one cared about the so-called "political impact."

This was something that had already been agreed upon.

This team has no constraints, all they have to do is "fight" itself!
It seemed as if within a few seconds, the peaceful night had been completely torn apart.

The artillery fire from the border also became more intense, and compared with our own artillery fire, their accuracy was obviously higher!

"Boom!" "Boom!"

After several loud noises in succession, the 4st Armored Battalion had lost vehicles.

Including 3 2S3 self-propelled artillery and a pickup truck maneuvering quickly from west to east!

"Enemy tank spotted! Leopard 2!"

"There are more than 12 of them, and there are a lot of anti-tank armored vehicles!"

At this time, the radio was finally restored, and Chen Chen finally heard the first battle report from the front.

"Evacuate! Don't get entangled!"

"The Leopard 2 is not fast enough for off-roading. It can't catch up with you! Get out of the enemy's fire range!"

"understand!"

At this time, the 1st Armored Battalion had completed the first round of strikes in the mission and began to maneuver and evacuate eastward around the city of Azaz.

The armored and artillery units in the city of Azaz also responded, and the supporting firepower arrived belatedly and fired at the enemy forces in the distance.

So far, everything is going well.

Attack, counterattack, counterattack, and evacuate.

The first battalion suffered casualties, but they were still within an acceptable range.

More importantly, through this attack, Turkey’s firepower configuration in the area was basically exposed, and the reconnaissance team’s combat objective had been achieved.

As long as they can withdraw, this round of attack and harassment will be considered a success.
-
However, within just a few seconds, the situation took a turn for the worse.

Like setting off firecrackers, the vehicles of the 1st Armored Battalion were hit by precise firepower one after another.

The flames of the explosion shot up into the sky, and after a round of enemy fire, the six 6S2 self-propelled artillery vehicles in the front were completely scrapped!

"Depend on!"

"The density of this firepower is wrong!"

Chen Chen's forehead jumped, and he vaguely felt that the current battle situation had exceeded his expectations!

That's right, even if it was to conduct fire reconnaissance, the armored assault team he led would not act blindly.

With the cooperation of the Syrian government forces, initial reconnaissance near Azaz had already been completed. Judging from the intelligence feedback, Turkey's firepower could not be so strong.

Destroy more than 10 of your own vehicles in an instant?
What the hell is this firepower efficiency?

You know, from the beginning of the civil war to now, the largest single-day loss of the Syrian government army's armored units is only 31 vehicles!
In their previous life, they fought intensively for a year, but the combined losses of their armored units never exceeded 600!
Something is wrong!

"The first battalion changes its direction and retreats into Azaz City to join up with the defenders!"

"Use the building as cover to avoid further losses!"

"Second Battalion, retreat quickly. You are the next target!"

"The support team will enter the city from the south, and the reconnaissance company will withdraw!"

"understand!"

Once the order was given, all combat units immediately took action.

At the same time, the enemy's firepower output continues.

It has a strong sense of rhythm and is incredibly accurate.

At a distance of just one kilometer, in less than a minute, the 1st Armored Battalion suffered a heavy blow again. Four armed pickup trucks were accurately hit by artillery shells flying from two kilometers away, and the vehicle bodies were directly blown into pieces!
By the time they finally retreated into the city, the First Battalion had lost more than two-thirds of its men, and the Second Battalion, which entered the city shortly afterwards, also failed to avoid the enemy's precise attacks.

But fortunately, Chen Chen's orders were given quickly enough and their losses were not heavy.

The command vehicle rushed into the streets of Azaz City with a cloud of dust. Enemy artillery fire from the border extended into the city. Shells kept falling in front of the command vehicle, so accurate that it seemed like they were firing face to face.

Chen Chen's hair stood on end. At this moment, the pilot in charge of operating the drone finally restored communication with the drone. When the picture was transmitted to Chen Chen, his heart sank suddenly.

Heat signatures everywhere.

Dozens of tanks, dozens of armored vehicles, and a large number of motorized infantry following the armored vehicles.

There were at least a thousand of them, and it was obvious that this was a long-planned attack.

And our own fire reconnaissance operation happened to hit the enemy's gun muzzle!
-
No, it didn't hit the muzzle of the gun.

But this time, the fire reconnaissance triggered the enemy's action in advance!

Chen Chen understood in his mind, he finally knew why the Turkish side was so patient.

It’s not that they didn’t see their own actions. They really thought that this mobilization was a normal mobilization made by the Syrian government forces to strengthen the defense of Azaz. The reason they did not move was because they were also planning a "war of revenge"!
What a coincidence!
Chen Chen gritted his teeth and cursed. At this time, the enemy armored forces had crossed the positions of the Free Army and began to advance towards the city of Azaz.

"Organize a counterattack using favorable terrain!"

"Ask for help from Aleppo and mobilize the Aleppo attack group for support in advance!"

"understand!"

"Slow down the enemy's attack as much as possible. Azaz cannot be lost!"

"understand!"

The sound of gunfire came from far away and gradually got closer. Chen Chen even felt that he could already feel the terrifying roar of the Leopard 2 when it opened fire.

He knew that he was about to face an extremely difficult battle.

The bad news is that fire reconnaissance along the border is difficult to continue.

The good news is that in just the first attempt, we have already found the opponent's main attack direction, and even disrupted the opponent's combat deployment to a certain extent.

Maybe this is also a kind of luck?
After a few seconds of silence, Chen Chen spoke into the radio again:

"Inform Isam of the situation!"

"Tell him we have found the key point!"

"I ask other attack groups to act in advance, not to worry about logistics, to fight across the border and put pressure on Turkey!"

"There are at least 40 Leopard 2s in the Azaz direction. This is almost all the advanced tanks they can mobilize!"

"All points on the border are their weak points!"

"This is Tian Ji's horse race! We can win!"

"understand!"

A concise reply was heard, and Chen Chen jumped out of the command vehicle which had not yet stopped, and began to direct everyone to deploy a temporary command post.

The sound of gunfire never stopped, but Chen Chen became a little excited.

He knew that he made the right bet.

In other words, Syria made the right bet.

The current battle situation is like Tian Ji's horse racing.

The Turkish side concentrated its superior forces in the direction of Azaz, which means that their defenses in other directions will inevitably be empty.

Even if there is a certain generation gap in equipment and technical level, the Syrian government forces can still fight.

Because the government army's best horses are not in Azaz, but in the direction closer to Raqqa.

The only problem is
The role I play is that inferior horse!
However, this inferior horse had to face the enemy's strongest force.

At this moment, a dazzling firework suddenly exploded in the sky of Azaz, and then the fireworks rolled down like a waterfall of light.

White phosphorus bomb!
Both sides used the same weapon at the same time, which meant that the battle here had already entered a fight to the death.

"Fire all the white phosphorus bombs."

Chen Chen spoke calmly and continued:

"Don't worry about the enemy's tanks, attack the infantry first!"

"If the infantry can't get through, Azaz can't be lost!"

(End of this chapter)