Chapter 1638: Chapter 1555: No Reinforcements for Anyone
Originally, Harev’s counterattack relied on his own reserve units. Now that the reserves are encircled, he naturally doesn’t have enough forces to rescue the reserves trapped in the encirclement.
After a night of attacking, the Dwarf Troops, who consumed significant amounts of carried ammunition, realized they were surrounded and could not receive any reinforcement or supplies.
They hadn’t considered the possibility of being encircled when they set out, and naturally, they didn’t carry much ammunition. Now that they’re facing problems, they have no capital for improvisation.
In modern warfare, a unit surrounded in a field battle, deprived of ammunition resupply, cannot hold out for too long.
The troops of the 2nd Corps attacking the west side of Ben chose to surrender after running out of ammunition and food, handing over their weapons and entering the Tang Army’s POW Camp.
At this stage of the battle, the Tang Army discovered a problem that left them amused and exasperated: There are so many Dwarf prisoners that they started occupying some of their resources.
For example, the precious landing zone space had to be cleared to accommodate these surrendered Dwarf prisoners. Some of the hard-earned supplies of food and medicine brought ashore also had to be allocated for the use of these Dwarves.
“At least 30,000 prisoners, including those captured at the 5th position earlier and others caught later…” The staff officer placed the data next to the map on the table and said to Marshal Tagg: “I suggest it might be more appropriate for some ships to take these prisoners back to the Northern Island on their return trip.”
“I agree with this suggestion, but we should be cautious not to cause any trouble,” Bernard also agreed, noting that many support fleet ships were already ready to return, and it would indeed be a waste for them to return empty.
“I’m wondering if this is some kind of tactic by the enemy, using prisoners to deplete our resources…” Looking at the data, Tagg made a joke. His forces had already completely taken control of Ben, and subsequent work had already commenced.
The Engineer Corps was repairing the two disabled airports, and meanwhile, the Navy Marine Corps had already entered the 3rd position, with the Dwarf’s 7th position on the other side already becoming the front line.
The floating docks of the Tang Army had already been established, speeding up the unloading of troops and equipment. The beach was lined with endless tents, and there were already tens of thousands of Tang Army Soldiers ashore.
“Let the 1st Paratrooper Division stand down and rest; they’ve suffered significant losses and are already very fatigued,” suggested the staff officer to Tagg.
Tagg immediately agreed, saying: “Okay! Have the newly landed 2nd Infantry Division take their place! Also, ask General Feng Kezhi when his troops can arrive.”
The subsequent reinforcement units from the Great Tang Empire are the 9th Group Army stationed in the South Island and other places, which have extensive landing experience and are very close to the battlefield.
Following the departure of the Great Tang Empire Fleet, several elite divisions of the 9th Group Army were mobilized. General Feng Kezhi was waiting for the transport fleet to return, as supporting such a large-scale cross-sea landing strained the Tang Empire’s transport capabilities.
“They likely won’t arrive quickly… The transport fleet’s return time is about 14 hours later than expected, and the fleet’s losses are also greater than estimated.” Bernard analyzed from the perspective of the Navy that General Feng Kezhi’s troops would join the battlefield later than anticipated.
Losses to ships are not only due to enemy attacks; mechanical failures and other issues are equally significant. Among thousands of ships, a few withdrawing due to mechanical failures or other reasons is normal.
Some ships need to be dispatched to assist these malfunctioning ones, so the Tang Country Navy’s transport fleet has at least dozens of ships unable to execute follow-up transport tasks.
“14 hours… still within a manageable range.” Tagg estimated his own forces and found no issues of insufficient manpower, so he spoke.
The Tang Army already had eight or nine divisions landed and in the fight, and even if two paratrooper divisions needed rest, there were still enough forces for rotation.
There’s no issue with continuing the attack, as the opposing Dwarf Troops seemed to have already collapsed, fighting increasingly chaotically.
Originally, Tagg thought the night counterattack on Ben wouldn’t happen; he believed the enemy would persist with turtle tactics rather than waste precious manpower in field battles.
But the Dwarfs unexpectedly launched operations to retake Ben, resulting in a fierce battle overnight. Other than delivering over 10,000 prisoners to the Tang Army, they achieved no strategic goals.
This seems less like an organized, planned operation and more like an impulsive, unplanned attack initiated by grassroots units.
Based on the ammunition carried by the Ice Cold Empire forces, the number of heavy equipment prepared, and the state of the participating units, they were clearly not ready for offensive operations.
Information extracted from captured Dwarf Soldiers was similar: They were temporarily pulled out of the trenches, unaware of their destination, participating in battle and becoming prisoners of the Great Tang Empire.
“Marshal! General Lu sent word that they have completed the airstrike operation on Eternal Winter City, destroyed the port, and sunk some of their transport ships.” A Navy officer came over and handed a dispatch to Bernard.
“Their reinforcements can no longer land directly from Eternal Winter Port, and the fastest the Dwarf Troops reinforcing Steel Rampart can arrive in the battlefield is three days later.” Bernard shared this good news with Tagg: “They have no more reinforcements either.”
“This is good news.” Tagg felt more assured and began considering whether to launch an offensive southward towards Eternal Winter City, taking this port city, or to stand by the floating docks that could last a few more weeks and first push west to eliminate Steel Rampart positions 1 to 3, dealing with the enemies behind.
Originally, his strategic target was more inclined towards Eternal Winter Port, because taking over the port meant better logistical support.
But the series of moves by the Dwarf 2nd Corps made him indecisive: Clearly, after losing many troops, the defense positions held by the Dwarf 2nd Corps were very empty, and the Tang Army could easily eliminate this nuisance.
Since the soft target has been exposed, squeezing the soft target first, expanding the landing area and solving the problem on one side to establish a more stable occupation zone seems like another good choice.
Originally there was only one plan, but the unexpected opportunity made Tagg difficult to choose. Luff is in favor of changing the plan to eliminate the Dwarf 2nd Corps first for stability, while Redman is more aggressive, arguing to head south and occupy Eternal Winter Port.