Chapter 72: The Fierce Tiger Descends from the Mountain and Roars at the River

  The surging waves of soldiers, along the rugged mountain road, marched towards the direction of the government building, their neat footsteps even drowned out the rumbling tanks. Several US military outposts on the flanks were quickly annihilated in the sea of people and flames.

  The movements of the US military were previously detected by dense reconnaissance, and Gao Quan received the report with a smile, adding a large heavy iron block to the shoulders of the US military, to see if the shoulders of this American 3rd Division are as strong and powerful as boasted in the American newspapers.

  Led by tanks, the 2nd and 3rd battalions quickly inserted themselves into the US military who had just withdrawn from the front line. The entire highway was plunged into a sea of fire and explosions, with burning cars blocking the road ahead. Communist soldiers dashing out of the flames posed an even greater threat, as dense gunfire and intense explosions erupted everywhere, with agile figures darting back and forth.

  The US military had to abandon their armored cars and quickly gather in small villages or highlands along the highway, continuing to resist.

  Seeing that the battle could not be ended for a while, Gao Quanruo decisively ordered the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 2nd regiment and the 1st and 2nd companies of heavy tanks to quickly attack the US 3rd Division headquarters in the direction of the government office, coordinating with the 1st battalion to annihilate the enemy at the government office. The 3rd battalion and the 3rd battalion of the 2nd regiment launched a swift and fierce attack on the divided enemy.

  Temporary headquarters were quickly set up, with dense telephone lines, and the high command stood anxiously in front of the map waiting for battle reports. The 2,000+ US troops who had withdrawn now only had 200, 300, and 600 people left in three groups.

  A 600-strong US military unit entered a village, and the troops of Commander Gu Dabing and three heavy tank companies led by Liu Zheng surrounded the enemy. With the help of thick armor and heavy artillery, Commander Gu shamelessly led his infantry to destroy house after house where the US military was hiding before slowly entering the village.

  First, use hand grenades to clear out the enemy from house to house, then stand firm and steady, after which Gu Dabing called in the heavy artillery, and with a series of dull thuds, one by one the simple houses were reduced to rubble, and then they advanced step by step, compressing the American forces step by step.

  Gu Daibing led the guards, crouching and walking quickly through the dense weeds and rotten wood to observe the US military's resistance. The dense bullets and shells whizzed overhead, sometimes with a sharp whistle of heavy mortar shells flying across the sky, then in the houses occupied by the US military, there was a loud explosion, bringing up a bloody rainstorm, and the flying shrapnel swept through the middle of the US military position.

  In the faint light of fire, soldiers from three battalions emerged one by one from the blown-up courtyard walls and infiltrated into the US military. In the center where more than 200 remaining US troops were located, Lieutenant Colonel Batty looked at the wounded soldiers moaning around him, his eyebrows tightly furrowed, and the powerful shells exploding at close range from time to time, blowing dust all over his head.

  Some dull eyes stared deeply at the ground, shaking off a large amount of dust from the steel helmet with a casual hand, taking out a cigarette and smoking it. In the flash of light, the cigarette box quickly became empty. Looking at the empty cigarette box, his heart was like that too, where to go? He threw the cigarette box on the ground, his head heavily leaned against the wooden wall, the house creaked loudly, and suddenly a cigarette appeared in front of him, it turned out to be Major Smith.

  He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, then said wearily, "How's the battalion doing? How much longer can they hold on? Has division HQ responded yet?" Smith sneered, "What else would those idiots at Division say? 'Hold on, reinforcements are coming right away' - what a load of crap! We've got less than 170 men left who can still fight, and the Communist troops are attacking fiercely. I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for another hour. You'd better make a decision quickly, so more of our boys can get back home. I suggest we surrender! Our ammo is almost gone, and most of our personnel are wounded or killed. Why do we still need to hold on? For the sake of that damned honor?"

  Looking at the angry Smith, Batty felt a little relieved. The division had already abandoned us, what else was there to say? Surrender! This thought, once it appeared, was like a venomous snake, biting his already fragile heart!

  "We surrender, it's time to let the young men who have paid enough price end this war! End this meaningless waste of taxpayers' money!" Colonel Batiel said firmly as he stood up.

  The sudden calm on the battlefield made Gu Dabing feel inexplicable, and it wasn't until he saw Major Batty being brought forward that he suddenly realized. The two former opponents sized each other up, one wearing a neat khaki uniform with a gloomy face, the other dressed simply but holding his head high in victory. After a simple surrender ceremony, more than 200 American soldiers were taken away.

  Nearly 600 US troops on other fronts were also quickly annihilated. Upon receiving the battle report, Gao Gang immediately ordered that except for one battalion of the Third Regiment to stay behind and sweep the battlefield, the remaining 3,000+ men would swiftly launch a counterattack against the still resisting US troops in front, and jointly attack these 8,000+ US troops with the Twenty-sixth Army.

  The US military, which was retreating step by step, was quickly caught off guard by the Chinese army that appeared from behind. The intense artillery and tank fire opened up a path, accompanied by charging infantrymen. The American soldiers were dismayed to see their own tactics being used against them. The long-range artillery fire of the US military had already ceased, and the tanks were trapped in the midst of the chaotic crowd, unable to launch an attack. Either they had used up all their ammunition during the previous defensive battle or had become useless hunks of metal.

  The brave tankers, hearing their own tanks being hit by rockets, were not at all concerned, because the infantry behind them would soon clear away the enemy. Now their task was to work with the tank infantry behind them to break through the enemy's line of defense. As long as they broke through the enemy's will to resist, it would greatly weaken and be easy to annihilate the enemy's main force. In fact, the panicked enemy didn't even have the spirit to fight back, let alone the energy to care about anything else.

  It was the soldiers of the 26th Army who were pursuing and saw the tanks rushing out crazily, they were startled at first. However, after seeing the red five-star on the tank, they cheered and reunited with the assault troops of the Independent First Division. Thus, our army, with high morale, launched another attack on the US military under the guidance of the tanks.

  The thunder of the giant tank dozens of meters away, the shouting and killing that blocked out the sky, was striking at the already scarce confidence of the US military. Soon the US military collapsed on all fronts, fleeing in multiple directions towards the 25th Division of the US military, the First Division of the Puppet Army, etc., while the task of the soldiers turned into capturing prisoners scattered across the mountains and plains, and collecting and sweeping up materials from the battlefield.

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