Chapter 1658: Chapter 1575: The 1st Corps’ Rout
A square-headed 96 main battle tank rolled across the position, followed closely by Tang Army soldiers who swiftly charged into the already collapsed trench. They quickly took control of both sides of the trench, clearing out the already defeated Dwarf Troops along the winding passageway.
The Tang Army had been advancing so rapidly that the Dwarf Troops didn’t even have time to regroup their scattered soldiers and establish a new defense line.
They just kept retreating and retreating, all the way from Hill No. 2 straight to this place.
Now they still hadn’t stopped their retreat. As soon as they caught their breath, they saw the charging Tang Army in the trench.
"Surrender! I surrender!" a Dwarf soldier raised his hands high, tossing his weapon aside. His comrades followed his example, throwing down their weapons and choosing to surrender.
In reality, they had run out of ammunition. Retreating all the way from the front lines to here, they had exhausted their carried ammunition, and no replenishments were in sight.
There was no choice; resupply takes time and adequate coordination. Many of the Dwarfs’ trucks loaded with ammunition were destroyed by the attacking Tang Army aircraft, and the remaining ones had become Tang Army’s prizes.
Without ammunition supplies, relying solely on the small amount of ammo carried by the soldiers themselves, it was impossible to sustain high-intensity combat.
It wasn’t that these Dwarfs weren’t brave; they simply had no ammunition to stop the Tang Army’s tanks from advancing. Seeing the Tang Army capturing one area after another, the remaining Dwarf Troops had lost their fighting spirit.
The places they previously held at least had bunkers and trenches. Now, the places they retreated to had no decent defensive structures.
Some places were still camps for stationed troops, others were half-constructed positions, and some were just villages, or even logistics points and artillery positions.
As Tang Army soldiers charged forward, they were surprised to find that they seemed to encounter no decent resistance. Ahead, they occasionally saw abandoned car wrecks and some destroyed artillery.
Malfunctioning tanks were hidden under camouflage nets; the dwarves’ logistical maintenance personnel hadn’t had time to replace parts, so they were left abandoned, surrounded by a jumble of tools.
Scrapped engines lay discarded to the side, not far from a 100mm cannon missing a wheel, toppling in the sandbag-protected bay, surrounded by scattered empty ammunition boxes.
These places were empty of Dwarfs; they had all fled.
Carrying assault rifles, Tang Army soldiers charged past these abandoned facilities, following their tanks or armored vehicles, running continuously forward.
Above them, Thunderbolt Attack Aircraft roared past, wildly strafing distant targets. It was uncertain if they hit anything, but the momentum was intimidating.
The Ice Cold Empire’s 1st Corps’ position was completely undefendable, filled with scattered, disarrayed troops who didn’t know what to do or where to go, chaotically resembling headless flies.
Haralick emerged from his underground bunker, seeing the nearby Tang Army soldiers in the trench at the entrance. They were crossing an open space in the distance; Haralick immediately recognized the distinct appearance of the Tang Army’s main battle tanks.
Compared to the Dwarf tanks, the Tang Army tanks’ barrels were exceedingly long, with a noticeable bulge in the middle of the barrel, making them very distinct.
Before he could say anything, the nearby Dwarf machine gun post started firing. Nervous Dwarf soldiers continuously fired as if that were the only way to gain any semblance of security.
Watching the tracer bullets’ trajectory, Haralick saw a Tang Army tracked armored vehicle crushing the village’s outer fence.
Tang Army soldiers following the armored vehicle were startled by the sweeping bullets, retreating clumsily behind the armored vehicle.
Quickly, the armored vehicle halted; its 100mm gun aimed at the Dwarf machine gun post. After a few seconds of silence, a shell blasted towards it.
Haralick was almost knocked over by the shockwave of the shell explosion. Squinting his eyes, he shielded them with his hand, only to see dirt falling in front of him.
The machine gun post, previously firing, was engulfed in smoke, becoming silent. Only the sounds of explosion aftermath rang in Haralick’s ears; he couldn’t hear anything else.
He wouldn’t need to hear anything clearer soon—the tracked armored vehicle, which just fired, surged through the smoke and over the destroyed machine gun post, swaggering forward.
The Tang Army soldiers following the armored vehicle noticed a well-built bunker entrance in the nearby trench, promptly shouting to alert surrounding soldiers.
Several soldiers approached with weapons at the ready, a guard grabbed Haralick by his collar despite his struggles, pulling him back into the bunker.
The outside guard troops desperately fired back, but they were soon cleared out by the Tang Army using hand grenades—around the Corps-level Command Center, guard troops usually weren’t equipped with heavy weapons.
Armed with only submachine guns and rifles, how could they match the regular Tang Army troops? With just one engagement, barely any were left alive.
"It’s all Tang People outside! Protect the General!" the Captain of the Guard yelled while pulling Haralick towards the command post, also loudly warning the staff officers burning documents.
Several soldiers grabbed nearby weapons, rushing towards the door, while others frantically threw documents into the brazier. But due to excessive panic, too much was thrown in, extinguishing the flames in the brazier.
"Surrender and you won’t be killed!" boomed the voice of a Tang Army soldier from outside. The response was sporadic gunfire followed by assault rifle volleys suppressing other noises, the screams echoing through the basement corridors.
A few Dwarf soldiers set tables upright, using now useless phones and radios as cover, pointing their guns at the doorway.
The Captain of the Guard pushed Haralick into the room and got inside himself, closing the door, breathing heavily.
Some unarmed civilian officers huddled nervously in the corners; lacking the courage for martyrdom and afraid of running, they could only await their fate passively.