Eight o'clock in the morning.
Inside the Bayji municipal building, the smoke had not completely dissipated.
Song Heping stood in front of a military map spread over a broken office desk, his finger heavily pointing at several areas marked with red circles.
"First platoon, clear remaining resistance points at the refinery in the west of the city, watch for IEDs and snipers. Second platoon, coordinate with Abu You Brigade to sweep the blocks surrounding the municipal square, leave no blind spots."
"Move quickly, we don't have ti to linger here, must establish a solid defense as soon as possible..."
Before he finished speaking, the encrypted radio at his waist suddenly emitted a rapid and sharp buzzing sound, the highest priority distress signal.
Song Heping's brow furrowed sharply, and the eyes of all the commanders around instantly focused on him.
He quickly grabbed the radio and pressed the talk button.
"This is 01, speak!"
On the other end of the radio ca Jiang Feng's familiar yet unprecedentedly anxious voice with background gunfire and explosions:
"...01, this is Jiang Feng! We're stuck! Ambush point... too many enemies! Over ten thousand! All madn! Suicide attacks! So of us can't hold on! Requesting instructions! Repeat, requesting ergency instructions!"
Instantly, the air in the command post froze.
The brief relaxation after capturing Bayji vanished completely.
Song Heping's gaze instantly shifted from the Bayji map, like a sword, toward the direction of Titrick.
The voice from Jiang Feng over the radio carried uncontrollable urgency.
"...Repeat, the enemy far exceeds expectations! Suicide attack! They are not afraid of death at all! So of us... so cannot hold on!"
Song Heping said in a deep voice:
"Jiang Feng, listen! Hold your ground! Sectional interception, phased retreat! Absolutely no chaos, chaos ans total destruction! Repeat the tactics for !"
"...Understood, sectional interception, phased retreat..."
Jiang Feng's voice carried panting, but clearly, Song Heping's calmness anchored his sowhat panicked spirit.
Song Heping swiftly scanned the map just laid out, his fingers moving quickly over it, finally heavily tapping on a location called "Kiri Town."
It was a small town about twenty kiloters north of the ambush point, guarding a dried riverbed and several secondary roads, with relatively concentrated buildings, suitable for defense.
"Jiang Feng! Abandon the original retreat route, imdiately change direction, retreat to Kiri Town! At all costs, establish a defensive line at Kiri Town! I need you to hold there for at least eight hours! Eight hours! Do you understand?"
"Eight hours... understood!"
Jiang Feng's voice carried determination.
"Hold on! I'll think of sothing!"
Almost simultaneously as Song Heping and Jiang Feng were talking, the atmosphere in the US Military Command Center far in the Baghdad Green Zone was completely different.
Huge electronic screens flickered with the battlefield situation map of Northern Illigo, red arrows representing the 1515 Ard forces were frantically surging toward an area near the Titrick-Bayji highway, while blue markers representing "Liberation Forces" were constantly retreating.
An intelligence officer holding a report just received walked toward Colonel Kote who was leisurely sipping coffee:
"Colonel, confird. Song's forces did not follow our expected southern attack toward Titrick, they have taken Bayji."
Kote's leisurely face instantly disappeared, replaced by a look of being fooled, anger and gloom. He slamd down the coffee cup, the bottom clashing with the tray producing a harsh sound.
"Damn! That cunning Country X man!"
He cursed in a low voice, throwing the cup on the table.
Bayji!
It is a transport hub, a major oil town!
Song Heping's feint was not only a perfect avoidance of Titrick's tough target but also seized a strategically valuable stronghold.
This ans that in the future, Song Heping and his forces will have greater leverage in Northern Illigo, even able to use Bayji and Mosul to choke the throat leading northwest to Siria!
This completely disrupted his plan to weaken Song Heping through the Titrick campaign!
The intelligence officer continued to report: "Also, Colonel. 'Liberation Forces' militias were trapped in ambush when overwhelming 1515 reinforcents. Satellite reconnaissance shows 1515 Ard is still crazily sending more troops to the combat zone from Titrick direction, if this continues, 'Liberation Forces' could suffer great losses. Do we need to..."
Before he finished speaking, a subtle trace of joy flashed through Kote's eyes.
Heavy losses?
Great! That's exactly what he wanted to see!
As long as the "Liberation Forces" which Song Heping heavily relies on get severely hurt, even if Song Heping takes Bayji, he won't be able to stir up too much trouble in the short term.
At that mont, the communication desk received an ergency call from Song Heping.
Kote's lips curled into a cold sneer, fixing his expression, leisurely picking up the microphone, speaking with feigned concern: "Song, I heard you took Bayji? Congratulations. What can I do for you?"
On the other side of the radio, Song Heping's voice was cold and direct, skipping all pleasantries, he briefly stated Jiang Feng's troop crisis and clearly requested:
"Colonel Kote, imdiate air support required in the direction of Kiri Town, at once, imdiately!"
Kote was delighted inside but showed a troubled face:
"Song, I understand your situation very well. However, as you know, the battle in the Ozham direction is tight, our air power is prioritizing that side. Right now redeploying... is very difficult."
"How long will it take?" Song Heping's voice betrayed no emotion.
Kote deliberately pondered for a mont, as if calculating difficultly, then gave a cold number: "At least... twelve hours. Twelve hours later, I'll try to arrange for attack planes to co over."
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