Chapter 1885 - 1562: Fierce Battle
"Go, go, go..."
Joe Ga was startled by the power of the naval gun when the raging Golden Eagles and Cossacks had already stormed into the city district of Mariupol.
As these two formidable ground forces advanced into the city, the Russian and Ukrainian sides, currently engaged in battle, simultaneously paused to watch them charge through the battle zone.
The minute these teams, centered around Bradley Fighting Vehicles, broke through the blockade, they began splitting their forces.
One Bradley and four Humvees, along with a platoon of soldiers...
Ten squads formed into two echelons, with all infantry dismounting collectively, using standard tactical movements of combined arms to rush into the Ukrainian-controlled zone.
Compared to the cautious performance of the Golden Eagles, those Cossacks appeared invincibly aggressive...
These men had no intention of holding back; anyone appearing in their sight with a gun was considered the enemy, and the Bradley Fighting Vehicles would fire immediately.
This unreasonable combat style soon bewildered the Ukrainian army within the city...
Currently, the internal relations in Mariupol are actually quite complex, with the regular Ukrainian forces and the Azov Battalion practically looking down on each other.
The regulars think Azov is a gang that has metamorphosed, while Azov regards the regular forces as weaklings.
They were just temporarily united by the mission 'Resist Big Russia'.
But now, everyone outside is promoting Azov Battalion's brave resistance, making the regular forces, which were already not aligned with them, extremely embarrassed.
Engaging Big Russia is not something they can shirk, but they do not accept Azov Battalion's request to block P.B.'s ground forces.
Joe Ga's previous formal plea for help was received by them as well, and no rational officer would order their soldiers to block P.B.'s armored units at this time.
Besides, they can't be stopped!
Once they fight against P.B., caught from both sides, their lines won't hold for long!
As a Bradley Fighting Vehicle and four Humvees, soldiers hanging outside, broke through the Ukrainian army's defenses and rushed into the Azov controlled zone, an RPG was fired from a small building, hitting the convoy in the middle, and the explosion's smoke blanketed the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and Humvees...
Then a crossfire of numerous bullets enveloped the advancing vehicle...
Facing the ambush, the four Cossack soldiers hanging on the vehicles adeptly jumped off, quickly crawling to the rear of the vehicle...
With the Viper Cannon on the vehicle beginning to roar, the four Cossack soldiers bravely initiated a counterattack.
A machine gun and two rifles covered and suppressed a fire point, then the fourth soldier, carrying an RPG, took out the enemy's machine gun fire point.
The Bradley Fighting Vehicle continued forward, and automatic weapon towers on the following Humvees also began firing...
Two M2 heavy machine guns and two automatic grenade launchers started relentlessly bombarding the buildings on both sides of the street ahead...
A bearded Cossack shouted loudly, running to the side of the Bradley, vigorously slapping the vehicle, signaling not to stop and to keep moving forward...
Soon his headset resounded with the commander's curses: "Don't be so damn hasty, our fire support is about to arrive..."
Just as the bearded man was a bit puzzled, a series of whistling sounds came from the sky...
Several naval shells landed on the street and nearby buildings...
On the street of Mariupol where dawn just breaks, several orange flares flashed, followed by deafening roars and explosions.
Nearly 400 meters away from the explosion center, the bearded man hid behind the vehicle, watching a fragment fly past his side, embedding in the wall of the adjacent building...
Facing the apocalyptic scene ahead, he clutched his wildly pounding heart and let out a meaningless roar...
"Ah..."
A group of fervent Cossack men around him raised their guns, shouting along...
They've been fighting all their lives, and for the first time, they felt like standing next to death, commanding it to swing the scythe toward their enemies!
In contrast to the frenzy of the Cossack infantry, the Bradley commander, as a technical soldier, was somewhat frightened...
A Golden Eagle commander with a big round face shouted loudly in the communicator, telling everyone to put on gas masks and go through, while complaining to the naval fleet...
"The artillery is too close to us, 500 meters, damn it, it should be at least 500 meters..."
The same situation began to occur in multiple places...
When the large-caliber naval guns deviated from the steel mill and started wreaking havoc in the city center, Joe Ga and his team faced pressure that somehow did not decrease but instead increased...
Joe Ga watched those 'Executors' retreat from the hospital building, thinking people outside might calm down a bit, but unexpectedly...
Wave after wave of enemies died, yet those people didn't stop; instead, they sped up their offensive pace.
Over a dozen RPGs fired from all directions at the hospital building, shattering the already dilapidated outer walls into riddled holes, even giving a feeling it might collapse imminently.
The big cat has already gone in and out twice under Nis's control. Twelve grenades have taken out at least twelve enemies, but instead of weakening the attack, it has grown even more intense.
Joe Ga and his team on the first floor are barely holding on. Joe Ga doesn't even dare to move towards the hospital lobby now…
That area is the main focus of enemy bombardment, and any slight movement there triggers an onslaught of RPGs and recoilless rifles.
Joe Ga knows the enemy wants to capture the hospital before drone support arrives. He wants to hold them back, but their manpower and firepower are overwhelming.
When Joe Ga saw enemy figures emerge on the open ground in front of the hospital through the thick smoke, he activated the communicator and shouted, "Comet, to the south..."
Up on the fifth floor, Comet grabbed the confused veterans who couldn't find their place in such high-intensity combat, assigning them to protect the pregnant women and doctors, while he and two comrades rushed to a ward on the southern side of the fifth floor…
Ferryman's demolitionist picked up a water bottle, cut off the top half of the bottle, then filled it with chunks of plastic explosives, attached a blaster, and wrapped it layer by layer with fabric tape covered with shattered glass…
Comet didn't dare approach the window; he used the drone's view to observe the situation below…
When the demolitionist handed him a handmade fragmentation grenade the size of a bowling ball, he activated the communicator and shouted, "Boss, take cover…"
After speaking, Comet forcefully threw the fragmentation grenade out of the window…
The moment Comet was exposed, a barrage of suppressing fire covered their window…
The three Ferryman soldiers kept their heads low on the ground, watching the tactical PC as the grenade landed, bounced once, and the demolitionist decisively triggered the detonator…
"Boom"
A massive explosion erupted at the front of the hospital, sending a wave of shattered glass flying in all directions…
Several distant heavily armed soldiers were instantly knocked down. Their heavy body armor couldn't provide enough protection…
The glass was too brittle to penetrate thick ballistic steel plates, but the exposed faces, arms, and legs suffered severe injuries.
Those closer to the blast center died quickly, while those on the periphery were worse off…
A heavily armed assault soldier stood dazed from the explosion, raising his hands to find both hands missing…
Blood began to gush out, yet his mind couldn't figure out that he should attempt to stop the bleeding.
Until the instinctive pain hit his nerves, did the tall heavy assault soldier realize and staggered back towards his comrades, hoping they could save him…
Yet as this burly soldier reached the road's center, several side-fired large-caliber bullets hit his waist, cutting him in half like a tree sawn by a chainsaw…
The costly robots commissioned by Boss Qiao finally arrived…
Out of fifteen robots, five were charging on the vehicles, and the other ten were divided into two batches, resembling a medieval firing squad—the first batch fired first, then the second batch followed…
The difference is, unlike old muskets that fired one shot, these robots can fire about 300 rounds each.
However, due to the high firing rate of the tri-barrel machine guns and the operators' lack of skill, 300 rounds only lasted twenty to thirty seconds…
The robots' transversal charge into the battlefield greatly relieved the pressure on the hospital's front…
Joe Ga took a breath and began to contact Sergey, trying to urge them to speed up…
The first batch of robots charged onto the open ground in front of the hospital, wobbling aimlessly until the sentry system intervened to stabilize them…
Just as Joe Ga was about to ask what was going on, a few RPGs were fired, hitting the charging ammo vehicles, while two struck the robots near the hospital front…
Joe Ga watched one robot's head get blown off and sighed, pressing the communicator to curse, "What's this crap?"
In Odessa, Tony, looking at several nauseated tech geeks, complained, "Are you guys even capable?"
The young Chinese tech geek wiped vomit from the corner of his mouth, gritted his teeth, and hit a red button…
"FUCK, I stepped on that guy's guts…
Shit, I should have set a program to censor these gruesome scenes…"
As the tech geek spoke, the headless quadruped robot discarded its ammo box and machine gun, sprinting madly into a building across the street…
The moment the robot entered the building, it exploded. The explosion wasn't very powerful but caused the battery to burst into flames, instantly igniting everything flammable around, and soon the inside of that building was ablaze!
Joe Ga felt torn between laughter and tears by the robot's actions. Wouldn't it be more suitable to carry a bomb if you're going to 'self-destruct'?
What's with charging into the enemy to set a fire?
Just as Joe Ga was about to issue orders for the robots to retreat to the hospital, the following two vehicles suddenly began playing a recording…
"We are the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Special Action Force. We are establishing a humanitarian evacuation corridor. All armed personnel, please withdraw, or we will enforce removal according to law…"
Joe Ga was rendered speechless by Tony's team's maneuvers, only now noticing the robots had blue-painted heads, emblazoned with UN letters…
"If the United Nations foots the bill, you guys are fucking geniuses!"