Major General Hippocrates had desperately attempted a "mouse-holing" breakout, ordering his men to blast through the interior walls of the buildings to avoid the lethal streets. However, the moment they reached an intersection and were forced to cross open ground, they hit an impenetrable wall of lead.
The Eastern Spirit operatives had anticipated their maneuver and established brutal crossfires at every chokepoint. Despite several frantic attempts, not a single Allied soldier managed to cross the street alive.
Hippocrates was now trapped in a ruined storefront, surrounded by fewer than 150 men. They sat in the dark rubble, paralyzed by indecision. They couldn't advance, they couldn't retreat, and if they stayed put, the invisible hunters would eventually close in and finish them off.
"Forget it. With the handful of men we have left, breaking out is impossible. Send a flash message to the relief division. Tell them to abort the rescue and retreat immediately! Don't throw their lives away for us. It's not worth it anymore," Hippocrates finally ordered, his voice hollow with defeat.
The surviving staff officers stared at him in grim silence. The communications officer nodded numbly and began tapping out the message.
Deep down, they all knew this was the end. They were merely waiting for death. Escape was impossible; the Eastern Spirit forces had completely sealed the perimeter. They could only wait for the final assault.
"What?! They're telling us to abort?! They can't break out?!" the Commander of the relief division cursed violently upon receiving the transmission. "Damn it! If I had known it was a suicide mission, I never would have marched into this meat grinder! Look at our casualties!"
His division was bleeding profusely. While the combat wasn't a conventional, grinding urban slog, the asymmetrical slaughter was horrific. His men were dying in droves, and they still hadn't definitively located the enemy firing positions.
They knew the Eastern Spirit soldiers were elevated in the high-rises, but every attempt to storm the buildings failed catastrophically. The stairwells were choked with explosives and lethal ambushes.
Worse, small, highly mobile enemy fireteams would suddenly appear from unexpected angles, unleash devastating volleys, and vanish before the Allied troops could even pivot to return fire. When the Allied soldiers attempted to pursue, they quickly found themselves boxed in, unable to advance or retreat, effectively pinned down in pre-sighted kill zones where they were systematically butchered.
The division's heavy firepower was entirely neutralized. The heavy machine guns mounted on the tanks and APCs had been targeted and destroyed by the massive 12.7mm anti-materiel rifles almost immediately.
These heavy sniper rifles were specifically designed to disable equipment and light armor. By deploying them en masse, Hu Hao had ensured the Allied forces couldn't establish sustained suppressive fire.
The Allied infantry were forced to rely on their own light machine guns and assault rifles to return fire, but they could only suppress one direction at a time. The operatives simply engaged them from the flanks and rear, continuing the slaughter.
"Commander, we must retreat! If we stay here, we'll be bled dry! We can't hold out much longer against this level of precision fire, especially when we can't even see the shooters!" a staff officer shouted over the din, taking cover nearby.
The division had hastily established a makeshift command post in the lobby of a large commercial building. Ironically, they were acutely aware that Eastern Spirit operatives were likely positioned on the upper floors of the very same building, completely inaccessible due to the booby-trapped stairwells!
"Contact High Command! Inform them that we attempted the rescue, but Major General Hippocrates has explicitly ordered us to abort and save ourselves!
"Tell them we are initiating an immediate tactical withdrawal! We are taking catastrophic casualties against an unidentified, highly specialized enemy force! We are completely outmaneuvered and fighting a battle we cannot win!" the Commander roared at his communications officer.
"Yes, sir!" the officer immediately began transmitting the frantic report.
"Order all surviving units: initiate a fighting retreat! Fall back along our entry routes!" the Commander ordered his remaining staff. He didn't want to spend another second in this death trap. His men were dying every single minute, and the death toll was staggering.
"Report, Hao-ge! The final wave of eight companies has successfully infiltrated from the south! They have secured the high-rises overlooking the primary southern extraction routes and are currently waiting in ambush for the Allied retreat!" Dong Qipeng reported enthusiastically, having just received the confirmation from his Platoon Commanders.
"Tell them this: I do not authorize a single Allied soldier to leave Tianyu City alive. Annihilate them all!" Hu Hao ordered, his voice cold and absolute.
"Yes, sir!" Dong Qipeng nodded firmly. He no longer harbored a shred of doubt regarding Hu Hao's commands.
Only now did Dong Qipeng truly understand the terrifying weapon Hu Hao had forged. Initially, he had assumed the Special Operations Regiment was just a highly trained light infantry unit. But seeing them apply their rigorous training in a live urban environment was a revelation.
With a force like this, Dong Qipeng realized, they were virtually invincible in urban combat. Any conventional Allied force attempting to dislodge them would pay a horrific price in blood. It wasn't just their flawless unit coordination; Dong Qipeng recognized that even isolated, a single operative could comfortably hold off an entire Allied squad without breaking a sweat. A single operative armed with a designated marksman rifle could single-handedly suppress a conventional squad from range, preventing them from ever closing the distance.
Hu Hao stood near the shattered window of a high-rise, observing the chaotic battlefield below. The night sky was constantly illuminated by Allied flares, casting stark, shifting shadows over the kill zones. Inside the dark buildings, the muzzle flashes of his operatives were barely visible, but every flash was inevitably followed by an Allied soldier collapsing in the street.
The torrential rain continued to fall, washing the blood of the Allied soldiers into the storm drains.
"What?! They're aborting the rescue?! Hippocrates has given up?!" Vostok stared at the staff officer in absolute shock.
"Yes, Supreme Commander. That is their report. We managed to establish brief contact with Major General Hippocrates; he confirmed he has fewer than 100 men left. He stated a breakout is impossible!" the staff officer reported grimly.
"Supreme Commander, I strongly advise we order an immediate, general retreat across the entire sector! Not just the relief division, but the garrisons in all the neighboring major cities! They must initiate tactical withdrawals immediately!
"If we don't, those divisions will suffer the exact same fate! We had two full divisions committed to Tianyu City tonight, and they've been utterly decimated by an enemy force operating without conventional ground support or artillery! If Hu Hao coordinates these specialized units with his massive conventional army, our forces will be overrun before they can even mount a defense! We will lose those cities regardless!
"My strategic recommendation is we order a massive tactical contraction. We abandon the cities bordering Hu Hao's territory and consolidate all those forces into a single, highly fortified major city! That defensive hub must be garrisoned by no fewer than five full divisions! Only with overwhelming, concentrated force can we hope to halt his advance!" Vitali proposed, his voice urgent.
"You're suggesting we voluntarily cede multiple cities and consolidate our forces just to establish a viable defensive line against Hu Hao?!" Vostok asked, digesting the radical proposal.
"Exactly! It is preferable than having our divisions isolated and annihilated one by one! If we consolidate our forces, Hu Hao won't be able to utilize these asymmetrical tactics to chew us up piecemeal!
"I estimate Hu Hao currently commands one or two full Corps in that specific operational vector. If we mass our forces, our men actually stand a chance of surviving!
"If we attempt to hold every single city, we will inevitably lose them all! And if Hu Hao continues his eastward push unimpeded, he will sever our primary logistical arteries! Therefore, Supreme Commander, I strongly urge you to order a general withdrawal—even a fighting breakout if necessary—first thing tomorrow morning!" Vitali argued passionately.
"Mm. We must secure the supply lines. If Hu Hao severs them, our entire frontline offensive collapses," Vostok nodded slowly, seeing the strategic necessity of Vitali's plan.
"Authorize the relief division in Tianyu City to execute an immediate breakout.
"Furthermore, draft emergency orders for the garrisons in Tianjing City, Nanli City, Jifeng City, Jiliang City, and Tianxi City! Tomorrow morning, they are to evacuate their positions and withdraw to Liangyuan City! They will consolidate their forces there and establish a massive defensive hub.
"We will cede that entire operational zone to Hu Hao. Conquering a territory that massive will inevitably force him to disperse his army to garrison the new cities! Once his forces are diluted and spread thin, we will launch a massive counter-offensive!" Vostok outlined his new grand strategy.
"Yes, sir!" Vitali immediately moved to draft the complex withdrawal orders.
Vostok remained at the map table, staring at the blue-shaded area representing Hu Hao's territory. If they ceded those five major cities, Hu Hao's enclave would swell to the size of an entire Eastern Spirit province.
Until recently, High Command had assumed Hu Hao was merely a localized nuisance contained within Late City. Watching his territory expand so rapidly filled Vostok with a simmering rage, but he knew anger was useless. Now was not the time to commit the main Allied armies to a protracted, bloody counter-insurgency campaign.
"I truly never imagined you would grow this powerful, you little brat. Very well. Expand your territory for now. I will deal with you later," Vostok sighed heavily.
"Report! Flash traffic from the relief division in Tianyu City! They attempted to initiate a tactical withdrawal, but they are trapped! Their retreat routes have been completely sealed off by a fresh enemy force!" a staff officer sprinted back into the room, his face pale.
"What?! Sealed off?! Can't they just withdraw along the exact same route they used to enter the city?!" Vostok demanded, astounded.
"Negative, Supreme Commander! The division has suffered catastrophic casualties and their unit cohesion has fractured! They cannot mass enough combat power to punch through the blocking forces! The enemy has established fortified kill zones at every primary intersection!
"Furthermore, their mechanized mobility is entirely compromised! The enemy snipers specifically targeted the tank treads and shot out the tires of the wheeled APCs! They are completely immobilized! They cannot withdraw using their vehicles!" the staff officer reported the dire situation.
"Damn it! They MUST break out! I refuse to lose two full infantry divisions in a single night in Tianyu City! Order them to break out at all costs!" Vostok roared, his fury finally boiling over.
"Yes, sir!" the staff officer shouted, scrambling back to the comms station.
Meanwhile, standing high above the carnage in Tianyu City, Hu Hao observed the desperate, uncoordinated movements of the Allied relief division as they attempted to flee, only to be hammered by the fresh ambush lines. He let out a soft sigh.
"Hao-ge, what's wrong?" Dong Qipeng asked, noticing the sigh.
"Their desire to retreat is incredibly strong, and they're moving decisively to execute it. I just hope this tactical flexibility is limited to this specific division. If the rest of the Allied forces adopt this strategy of rapid, consolidated withdrawal, the upcoming battles are going to be significantly harder," Hu Hao murmured, his eyes tracking the slaughter below.
Dong Qipeng frowned, completely failing to grasp the deeper strategic implications of Hu Hao's observation.
(End of Chapter)