Tomorrow's Ark, the journey of hardcore and ruthless people

Comand felt a little ashamed of the soldier's sense of honor, but he must be responsible to his comrades and property of the People's Federation of Armed Forces: "Yes. We will talk about everything after we leave the Hamburg area and no longer have the risk of being outflanked and cut off by the enemy."

"Oh." Teresia responded calmly, unable to hear any information other than "Got it".She waved her hand, "Of course, we can force you to stay...Please go out and let me rest for a while."

Comand stepped back and closed the door behind him.He calmly walked into the conference room under the welcome of countless eyes, and stood still behind the hooded figure.

Even through the jacket and hood, Comand felt that the doctor was even thinner now.This is normal. Contrary to the impression of ordinary people, military command is actually a heavy physical labor plus mental labor.Many people feel that with the development of war and technological progress, the physical requirements of war on soldiers have been reduced.This is true for some jobs, pulling the trigger is easier than swinging a knife and drawing a bow.Pressing a button is easier than scrambling around as an infantryman.But for commanders, this is not the case at all. Troop command in modern warfare has become an extremely destructive and cruel job.

But what can you do now that the burden is on your shoulders?

War command is divided into three levels: strategy, campaign, and combat.On the contrary, the strategic level has been partly divorced from the military, and it is engaged in "politics", just as "politics is the highest embodiment of the military."Teresia, as the commander-in-chief of the East Kazdale coalition forces, her main job is to coordinate the armies of the various states, coordinate the unified actions of the states from a strategic level, and seldom directly intervene in specific military commands.

A military commander at this level is not so much a "commander" as a "diplomat/political leader who understands the military." Theresa herself is a war hero in addition to being declared by political leaders and demon kings.

Military command at the campaign level is the most exhausting and destructive. For strategic commanders, although their tasks cannot be delayed, they are not like the front line where they must race against time; They are the closest to the battlefield, and are most likely to be injured or killed in battle, but their energy requirements are much smaller than those of the office staff from the battalion commander to the commander of the front army.This is because the duration of front-line battles is relatively much shorter, and the intelligence analysis work that needs to be taken care of is also much less. They can be repaired and rotated in a short period of time, and it is rare to continue working for more than a month.

The campaign command, such as the chief of staff, such as the commander of the front army and the group army, has to undertake the most life-consuming work in the military command task, which belongs to the kind of "women are used as men, and men are used as livestock".

The arduous and complicated command tasks at the division level have surpassed the imagination of most people.Troops at this level have a very detailed classification of professional departments, such as combat, training, military discipline, communications, intelligence, confidentiality, technical equipment, human resources, propaganda, internal guards, finance, military supply, barracks, health... ...Wait, etc. In a mess, the needs and tasks of these professional departments are often contradictory, and they can be completely transferred from one place to another without disintegrating themselves and maintaining a certain level. The situation is already very difficult.It is impossible for individuals without long-term professional training, and for groups without repeated training and grinding.There is a background of confrontation and enemy situation when fighting a war, which requires more coordination and command...

However, in command operations, there is no end to such high-intensity work, and it is impossible to have a definite working time.If the enemy is not off duty, you have no reason to go off duty; even if the enemy is off duty, why don't you go for a sneak attack?

In the headquarters, the logistics department and other military organs and professional departments, it is also possible to arrange rest in rotation.However, it is impossible for the chief officials to take turns to rest, because the final decision-making power is in the hands of those few people. Even if the administrative work is handed over to various agencies, even if the deputies are arranged to be on duty in rotation, if there are any major decisions, the chief officer must come .In other words, even if the commanders suddenly receive an emergency report when they get up to shit at two o'clock in the middle of the night, then he has to rush to the command position immediately.

As the division of labor between specialized arms and specialized departments becomes more and more detailed, the labor intensity of most positions in the military is declining.However, the work of other positions has been dismantled, subdivided, and shared. Only the commander, the position with the greatest responsibility and power, has not decreased but increased labor intensity, and it is getting bigger and bigger.Because the system is bigger and more complex, there are more things to argue about, and the uncertainty is greater.

Obviously, this job is not a mobile game, as long as you have a smart terminal to download the installation package and ensure that the network is smooth, it can be solved by liver or knocking.After all, "Soldiers, the great affairs of the country, the place of life and death, the way of survival, must be investigated."If you can't win, you will die, and a lot of people will die by the way.

In this position, physical strength and endurance must be astonishingly strong, as well as a considerable level of intelligence, in order to be competent.After doing this kind of cruel work for a long time, "slack of attention" and "emptiness of mind" are already a way of diluting the results.Insomnia, suspiciousness, and irritability are nothing more than neurasthenia.

So, after Comand called several times in a row, the doctor turned around, revealing the haggard cheeks under the hood.

More like the dead than the living.

"How do you feel?" Commande greeted proactively.

"I feel like I'm not far from death..." The doctor replied feebly.

"What are you dealing with now?"

"A bunch of shit... retreat sequence, cover mission, blocking plan. And the crucial question, which troops should leave cover? If the number and literacy of the troops are sufficient, I can make three-dimensional rollers The retreat is a step-by-step defense, but the level of the coalition forces can only leave one nail to die, and the rest can run as fast as they can.

"So......"

The doctor's originally weak voice revealed a hint of blood:

"There is another crucial question. How long can this nail last in front of the pliers of long-range heavy artillery?"

**

Ines squatted down slightly, hugged W in front of her, and didn't let go until the latter began to beat her back hard.

W coughed loudly, and slapped Hedley's hand touching her head angrily: "Stop, stop, my soldiers are still by my side! You tell me how to lead the troops... It's not life and death. What are you doing?"

The two former mercenaries, now officers of the National Guard, looked at each other with wry smiles: Why is it not life and death? The "Walter" unit led by W will stay in Hamburg, lurking and preparing for sabotage activities; while the National Self-Defense Forces where Hedley and Ines are located will withdraw from Hamburg.

The parting was short, and it happened right next to the troop marching.The city defense guns, nicknamed "The Regent's Hammer", roared every hour, as if to tell the time.The sound of rattling guns and rumbling cannons in the distance set off the silence of the street, only the sound of footsteps.

The extremely heavy and extremely loud cannon sounded again in the distance.Immediately afterwards, heavy artillery shells pierced the sky, whizzed over, and blasted a column of dust soaring to the sky on the defensive positions in the western suburbs of the city.Blue-gray gunpowder smoke rose tens of meters high.

In this way, Teresi smashed the perimeter defense of Hamburg little by little.However, it is difficult for Atlas's advance battle group artillery to use 155mm grenades to gnaw the fortified city defense artillery mobile city module.As for more powerful means, Atlas is not without; but why should he do his best for Theresia?

Teresia exhausted all means, including train bombardment and scout infiltration, but they couldn't gnaw at the damned city defense gun.However, Teresi's action to tear up the Bavarian tripartite contract and order troops to enter the Bavarian Demilitarized Zone successfully achieved the suddenness of the battle.The three divisions of the Wang Ting Army, which had come out from the south, were not only gradually outflanking Hamburg, but even began to threaten the highway and railway from Hamburg to the east with artillery fire.Parts of East Kasdales were doing their best to stop the three divisions.

Therefore, we can only retreat.

Occasional artillery fire tore new leaves from the trees in blast blasts.There are tender green leaves everywhere, and the branches are bare.The wind swirled slowly along the road with branches and broken leaves.

The city now seems empty, and people who don't plan to leave are peeking outside behind the doors and windows: "What happened?"

"Withdrawn..."

Columns of the National Guard were hurrying through the streets.And the civilians began to discuss another question: "...do you know what the flag of the military council looks like?"

"Like a demon head."

"Where can I get it... Of course they don't care, they just leave as soon as they say, but it's a big pain for us, and it's a big headache to comply with the new government's wishes..."

Correspondingly, another queue went westward against the retreating queue.They wore military greatcoats with canvas belts, and each rifle had a bayonet on each shoulder.They walked with a neat and firm step, and the bayonets on their rifles were polished to a shine.The neat spear forest undulates with their steps, like surging waves.The deep singing is echoing in the queue. This is the song sung to them by the Atlas instructors:

"This march is exciting,

"Recalling the time when the invading army oppressed the border,

"Soldiers leave home and board the train,

"This song accompanies them on their expedition!"

This is the workers' militia division of the Hamburg Iron Works.These are also under the establishment of the National Guard, but only temporarily mobilized troops will be the main force to defend Hamburg in the next stage.These troops, who lacked everything but rifles and courage, would engage in a brutal offensive and defensive battle with the well-equipped, well-trained, and numerous Wang Ting troops.

Chapter 28 Choices

On May 1093, 5, the Battle of Hamburg has entered No. 5 days.

As an emerging fixed city and industrial city, Hamburg is incompatible with all kinds of mobile cities on "this land".There are no continuous walls and forts, and no fortifications on the mobile city peripheral modules.There are only handicraft workshops and stretches of civilian shanty towns.Therefore, the attack on this city is very painful.And the combat mode has never been seen before.

Tracys was unwilling to destroy all of Kazdel's handful of industrial forces in the artillery fire of the siege, and strictly restricted the use of artillery in the attack.After the city defense artillery destroyed the outer defensive area of ​​Hamburg, and Wang Tingjun's troops officially cut into the city of Hamburg, the use of long-range heavy artillery was simply stopped. Only 150MM howitzers and various lower-level field artillery supported the siege battle.

However, in the face of the offensive of nearly [-] troops, only the National Guard, the militia, and even Hamburg, which is armed with civilians, unexpectedly withstood the attack.

Facing the overwhelming superiority of troops and firepower, they withstood it.

As the most important part of Hamburg's urban area, the handicraft residential area has narrow and winding streets, dense population and narrow roads.The defenders cut down the street trees nearby, and added sandbags, furniture, carts and iron plates to build a nearly indestructible barricade.

Unlike Earth at the beginning of the twentieth century, Terra's army is also experienced in urban offensive and defensive battles in addition to field battles with large armies.This is because Terra civilization is highly dependent on the "high degree of urbanization" caused by mobile cities, and this unique settlement distribution and social state lead to a very unique form of war.

In field battles, the army and the land fleet walk on at least two legs, and they are indispensable—if not the fleet is more important.However, mobile city technology and the fact that Terra civilization settlements are highly dependent on mobile cities have made gang jumping and street fighting the most important tasks of the army.

However, in any case, this kind of narrow alley is the nightmare of all army commanders. It is almost synonymous with "meat grinder", and it always means astronomical consumption of ammunition and human life.

As the East Kazdale coalition forces gradually retreated, Wang Tingjun tried to take the city in one go. From April 4th, the Wang Ting Army began a large-scale infantry attack. The Wang Ting Army infantry who shouted "Long Live the Regent" broke into the city several times, but were immediately driven out by the more courageous defenders.However, the aggressive troops of the royal court army were forced to attack the barricades everywhere in the narrow and winding alleys, while being dazed by the small and active defenders who were familiar with the terrain and harassed.When the commanders of the Wang Ting Army realized that the situation was out of control, they hurriedly stopped the attack and retreated to rectify. They were horrified to find that the Wang Ting Army had suffered nearly 15 casualties in the city within seven days, basically disabling an infantry division!

After learning the lesson, the Wang Ting army, which had been at a standstill for a week, seriously launched a campaign to attack Hamburg.Relying on its own superior force and firepower, Wang Tingjun quickly surrounded the city from the north, west and south. The city of Hamburg was bombed indiscriminately.

The offensive and defensive battle in Hamburg has reached a temporary stalemate.

**

In the afternoon, the city of Hamburg was still immersed in the chaos of gunpowder.

The artillery positions on the hills in the outskirts began to roar again, throwing countless metals and flames in the direction of the city.After the sound of the artillery subsided, accompanied by the loud shouts and stern commands of the officers, an infantry regiment of the Wang Ting Army opened up skirmish lines and began to quickly advance towards the urban area.

Soon, what they stepped on turned into charred black and smoking broken bricks everywhere, and there were ruins everywhere.The soldiers of the Wang Ting Army breathed the burnt smell in the air, searched for all possible resistance, and gradually entered the urban area of ​​Hamburg.There were only scattered sniper guns all around. Although it could not be said that there was no resistance, the blocking of Wang Tingjun's army at the junction of the city and suburbs was indeed minimal, and did not even cause double-digit casualties to his own side.

"All of this means nothing. According to previous routines, this is just the calm before the storm."

On the observation post on the outskirts of the city, the generals of the Wang Ting Army in the direction of Hamburg gathered together.They surrounded Teresis like stars.As a front-line observer of the Military Council, Manfred is introducing to Teresis who is on the front line: "First of all, the enemy will not rush to attack our army entering the city. They will only have a small amount of harassment and reconnaissance , and let our troops penetrate further into the city. When the narrow and winding streets and densely placed obstacles separate our troops from mutual support, their attacks will begin."

After Wang Tingjun experienced a long bloody battle in street fighting, he quickly made relevant improvements in tactics.Squads equipped with a large number of automatic weapons scouted ahead, warlocks and marksmen occupied the commanding heights, and the main force followed.

But even so, street fighting can only truly advance and occupy if enough blood is shed.

Suddenly, from the direction of the industrial area, there was a continuous sound of gunfire.With the sudden firing of a group of large and medium-caliber mortars, the sound of landslides and ground cracks tore through the sky, and the howling shells exploded in the ruined walls outside the city.In an instant, Wang Tingjun's attacking troops were enveloped in a rolling barrage...

"The enemy has a high level of use of mortars. Basically, they can accurately capture our army's offensive formation without test firing, and launch effective fire directly. Moreover, they are scattered and hidden in urban buildings, relying on wired communication to uniformly obey orders and shoot. With strong fortifications as cover. Counter-battery operations have been less effective."

As soon as the brief fire attack stopped, the troops of the East Kazdale coalition appeared out of nowhere.

Groups of heavily armed but messy-dressed soldiers poured out of the streets one after another, shouting, and collided head-on with the chaotic troops of the Wang Ting Army after being shelled, instantly arousing smoke and blood!

In terms of the technical and tactical level of soldiers, these "National Self-Defense Forces" soldiers who rarely have uniforms and mostly just tie a red cloth strip on their arms are not very smart.But they are enthusiastic and tenacious, and do not lack for courage.

Traces even saw through the telescope that five or six National Guard soldiers were guarding the barricade in front of an entire company of Royal Court Army. They fought firmly in place with a few automatic rifles and did not take a step back until the entire army was annihilated.

And they know the terrain.No matter how you look at it, there are no living things in those fragments of walls, but there are always defenders coming out of incredible places.

The soldiers of the Wang Ting Army were in an awkward situation among the narrow streets and ruined walls. Their company could not form a formation in such an environment. The dense line of sight obscured the command chain in name only. Without the squad leader, the soldiers could only act in squads or even small groups, attacking the barricades and houses with this futile and unorganized offensive.

On the other hand, the officers and soldiers of the defenders, relying on their familiarity with the terrain, easily avoided the flood-like crowd of Wang Tingjun on the street, moved silently and flexibly between houses, streets and fences, and even jumped up and down between roofs, cleverly Using various terrain movements and concealment, they suddenly appeared and fired at the officers and soldiers of the Wang Ting army who were at a loss on the street.Casualties and confusion were being created among the Royal Court's troops.

But the officers and soldiers of Wang Tingjun are not cowards.They fired back at the enemy without interruption, actively pursuing and finding the enemy in small groups.Although almost every group will fall into an ambush by an enemy organization familiar with the terrain, it still allows the enemy to suffer casualties while achieving results.

But such a battlefield is really at a loss for the most elite troops of the Wang Ting Army.The assault formation of the Wang Tingjun soldiers tenaciously crossed the enemy's mortar fire, crashing into barricades and buildings time and time again.

However, these countless barricades built by Ruhr citizens and workers in the city core day and night have turned bungalows, low buildings, shanty and villas into strong fortresses that cover and connect with each other, and are supplemented by barricades.The enemy and the enemy fought bloody and cruel close-range battles around the positions and fortifications that were close at hand, shooting, bombing and even stabbing each other.Faced with the enemy's tricky machine gun fire, rapid mortar fire and close-range shrapnel ambushes from infantry artillery, Wang Ting's army could only take down the barricades with heavy losses.Even if you can break into the enemy's interlocking and layered defensive positions, you will be caught in the four sides of the defenders, and it is difficult to extricate yourself.

Even the heights outside the city make it difficult to see the whole city.But with the continuous loss of small drones, Teresis still saw clearly the urban area occupied by the enemy: the entire city has completely changed its appearance, completely different from the map.All houses, warehouses, and streets have now become part of the defense system, forming ugly but strong fortresses that support each other and cover each other.

With courage and blood, one barricade was taken.The soldiers of the Wang Ting Army rushed close to the barricade that was constantly spraying firepower against the dense bullets and grenades, and then threw the grenades violently.The enemy's defensive fire was gone as grenades and spells exploded among the defenders pouring fire from the top of the barricade.

The commander of this company seemed to be irritated by the casualties and dazzled; or the new additions came in without knowing the heights of the sky and the earth.In short, he led the company straight over the barricade and continued to rush forward.

But as the vanguard of the company rushed to the next barricade in the street, crowds of heads began to pop up all around.Numerous gun barrels protruded from the roofs, balconies, and doors and windows of the houses on both sides. The dense bullets like locusts rushed from the front, sides, and overhead, knocking down the soldiers of the Royal Army in batches.There was no cover on the entire street, and the entrances to the houses on both sides were completely locked or even sealed. The soldiers exposed in the open area became living targets for the defenders.

On the next barricade, the lurking artillery was aimed directly at the unimpeded street with only large areas of living targets.The shrapnel fired at the soldiers of the Wang Ting Army who were almost attached to the muzzle, and the roaring steel balls directly tore apart the weak body, nailing the stumped limbs and shrapnel to the street and the wall together... It took only 10 minutes. At this time, this company of hundreds of people was completely wiped out in this street, which was less than a hundred meters long and less than ten meters wide.

Of course, the vast majority of Wang Ting's army would not give away their heads so happily until now.They have long since learned how to fight in the streets.The soldiers spread out, took cover alternately in the blockade of machine gun fire carefully set up by the defenders, pushed forward with difficulty, wiped out the firepower points with grenades, opened holes in the walls of houses by blasting, and then rushed into the houses, fighting house by house. , even in the basement and on the roof there were fierce firefights.

Even so, progress has been slow.Because the defenders in Hamburg connected almost every building and every room to each other, they used bricks, stones, furniture, etc. to arrange mazes.Once one's own firepower was suppressed and the soldiers of the Wang Ting Army successfully broke into the house, and the defenders could not effectively resist, the defenders would quickly retreat into the building, roam around and fire sniper shots; while sending out signals, requesting reinforcements.Wait until the reinforcements arrive, and then annihilate or drive out the dizzy Wang Tingjun soldiers from the house.

Today, under the personal intervention of Teresis, Wang Tingjun changed the siege tactics again.The artillery pushed the medium and light direct-fire guns directly to the forward position, and violently bombarded every barricade and every house of the defenders; in the areas where the artillery could not reach, the engineers planted explosives under the cover of the infantry, and the defenders held on to the blast. houses, directly turning the fortifications into ruins burying the defenders.

Even so, the defenders refused to surrender. They even refused to give up the ruined buildings, and increased firepower in the houses around the ruins to force the Wang Ting army to retreat.If it is not possible to suppress the officers and soldiers of the Wang Ting army in the ruins with fierce firepower, and then launch a fierce counterattack under the cover of thick smoke to seize the ruins from the Wang Ting army and prevent this from becoming the starting position for the Wang Ting army's attack.

When the sun was setting, Teresi angrily put away the binoculars and threw it to Manfred behind him: he saw his army, under the counterattack of the defenders, retreat back to the position when the attack was launched at noon again in embarrassment .

As the most outstanding military commander in Kazdaele, Tracys not only has personal courage and firm will, but also has excellent charisma for his subordinates, as well as excellent military qualities.He can be calm, tenacious and never give up under any circumstances. At the same time, he rarely messes up his position due to reckless impulsiveness. He is a rare and excellent general.

Therefore, from both a rational and emotional perspective, he knew very well what kind of quagmire urban offensive and defensive warfare was, especially now that the defenders' soldiers and civilians had formed an atmosphere of common hatred.

Manfred said from behind: "Your Excellency Prince Regent, I must remind you. The city of Hamburg is now forged with bricks, blood and passion. It is different from any mobile or fixed city we have attacked before. and a fortified fortress.

"The vast majority of the 'National Self-Defense Forces' guarding Hamburg are not professional soldiers. A few months ago, they were workers, citizens, farmers, petty nobles, petty civil servants, doctors, housewives and even children who had never touched a gun. .

"But the city is against us, these Sakaz people are against us. They have just had an improvement in life under Theresia's policies that will not last long. And Theresia used propaganda to tell them, We will plunder them and exploit them in order to assemble military expenditures and war resources. Then we will launch artillery shells into the city.

"Teresia managed to induce their rage and resolve to turn against us and resist us. We took her word for it in the war to take the city. The city resented us for shelling their homes , killing their relatives.

"I have to emphasize again, General, that this is not Jena, nor the Rhine, nor Friedland, nor where the war is easily won if the main force of the enemy is defeated. The enemy is not the army of any country, It's half the country, our native Kazdale.

"For the damn victory, we must and can only kill those who are so brave, and use death to completely eliminate the rebels' will to fight. Your tactics are certainly useful, but it is only a barely improved exchange between the enemy and us Than. This can't be the bottom line. We still have a lot of losses in the city, sitting in the same meat grinder with the enemy, consuming lives, ammunition and time."

Manfred stopped talking, and let the faint voice of singing come from afar:

“…please place a beautiful flower on my grave;

"This flower belongs to the Self-Defense Forces soldiers,