Mercenaries, I Will Be King Chapter 1654 - 1322: Total Collapse

7:20, Command node of the central 1515 Ard forces.

Major Qadir roared into the radio, but there was only static noise in the communication channel.

He tried to switch to the backup frequency, but there was no response either.

He knew what had happened—the communication equipnt was destroyed, or worse, the communications officer had fled with the equipnt.

"Sir, an enemy convoy has been spotted on the east side!" a sentry scread.

Qadir rushed to the top of the dune, raising his binoculars.

He saw a nightmarish scene: dozens of ard pickups and Humrs were racing towards them in a skirmish line formation, the heavy machine guns on their roofs spitting flas, drawing deadly light trails in the morning light.

Even more frightening was their maneuvering tactics.

They weren't moving in a straight line but were weaving serpentine between dunes, appearing and disappearing.

Each ti they appeared, they unleashed a barrage of fire, then swiftly disappeared, only to reappear from another direction.

"Organize the defense!" Qadir shouted, "Bring the anti-tank team over!"

But orders couldn't be transmitted.

The troops were already in disarray.

So were trying to dig shelters, so were jumping onto trucks preparing to flee, while others simply abandoned their weapons and ran deep into the desert.

The officers drew their pistols trying to maintain order, but panic spread like a plague, discipline crushed by the instinct to survive.

A mortar shell landed near the command point, and shrapnel took down the communications soldier next to Qadir.

The young soldier clutched his abdon, screaming in agony as his intestines spilled through his fingers.

Qadir lay on the ground, seeing another convoy appear from the west.

This ti they launched anti-tank missiles, turning two BTR armored vehicles attempting to organize a counterattack into fireballs.

"Retreat! Everyone, retreat to the northwest!" he finally made a decision.

But the retreat quickly turned into a rout.

7:45, on the outskirts of Tuz Town.

The Persian Holy City Brigade Commander, Naxin, stood in front of the command vehicle, observing the battlefield with a telescope.

His three thousand elite troops hadn't truly launched an assault on Tuz Town.

According to Song Heping's prediction, a direct attack would result in unnecessary casualties, but as long as the feigned attack was convincing enough, they might be able to capture Tuz Town without losing a single soldier.

Naxin was skeptical of this.

Not lose a single soldier?

Capture Tuz Town?

Lately, there were at least two thousand 1515 extremists there.

Would they really surrender and give up the town?

It's like a story from the Arabian Nights!

But he still executed the order.

The T-72 tanks fired live rounds, BM-21 rocket launchers conducted three salvos, and infantry advanced to five hundred ters outside the town under the cover of armored vehicles.

The resistance from the defenders seed minimal, only scattered gunshots and counterattacks.

This left Naxin puzzled.

No one?

"Sir, Ahd's central forces have started to collapse," the adjutant suddenly reported, "Mr. Song's troops are in pursuit."

Naxin showed surprise, "How... did he do it? Mr. Song truly is a War God..."

Within the Holy City Brigade, Naxin's admiration for Song Heping was an open secret.

"Should we continue to advance? It's easy to take Tuz Town now."

"No." Naxin shook his head, "Following his plan, we should apply pressure and observe for the ti being. If Mr. Song's guess is right..."

He thought of the "not lose a single soldier" judgnt.

Although he dared not doubt, he still could not believe it.

If he told his subordinates this, they would surely think he had gone mad too.

"Continue the artillery attacks, keep applying pressure, don't rush the attack, send drones to scout, see what the situation in the town is like."

He paused, then added.

8:00, Fahate direction.

Samir held the satellite phone, "Boss, my troops have reached the designated position! The artillery battalion's twelve D-30 howitzers are in position, and six 120mm mortars are ready! The 1515 defenders are retreating in panic, they believe we're about to launch a full-scale attack!"

"Good," Song Heping's voice ca through, "Let the artillery fire three salvos, but aim for no-man's land, just to create a commotion. Rember, don't rush to attack the city, just make enough noise to make those extremists believe you're going to launch a massive offensive."

"Understood!"

Samir hung up the phone, turning to his artillery commander, "Did you hear that? Target the F-7 area, three rapid salvos! Make sure Fahate can hear our artillery roar!"

Six thousand "Liberation Forces" militia deployed on the outskirts of Fahate.

Their artillery battalion was the pride of their force.

Twelve 122mm D-30 howitzers, although old, well-maintained, with a range of 15 kiloters.

There was also a mortar company equipped with six heavy 120mm mortars.

The first salvo soared through the sky, landing on the frontline positions in the outskirts of Fahate.

Explosions sent smoke plus into the sky, clearly visible even a kiloter away.

Smoke bombs and signal flares popped up on the frontline positions, gunfire as dense as rain.

Viewed from inside Fahate city, it appeared entirely as if a regular army with heavy firepower was preparing for a full-scale assault.

The Fahate garrison commander yelled for reinforcents into the radio, his voice distorted by fear: "At least a division of the enemy! They have heavy artillery! 122mm howitzers! They're conducting artillery preparation! We can't hold on! Repeat, can't hold on! Request imdiate retreat!"

This ssage was forwarded to Ahd's command vehicle, the final straw that broke the cal's back.

8:15, Ahd's command vehicle.

"Commander, a call from Raqqa headquarters."

The communications officer's voice was as small as a mosquito, "The language is... harsh. They demand an explanation for why you were defeated with absolute advantage, and ask you to imdiately call the headquarters in Siria to explain."

Explain?

Heh heh...

Ahd knew what that word ant.

He well understood Buckdadi's temper.

It seed this ti he was truly angry...

He glanced at others inside the command vehicle—Khalid avoided his gaze, busying himself with organizing papers; Shafeek stared at the ground as if sothing interesting was there; the young Abdul gazed straight at him, but devoid of his usual reverence, only with an air of evaluation, a sense of calculation.

Failure corrodes everything, including loyalty.

What these people were thinking now was probably not how to help him out of trouble, but how to sever ties with him, how to pledge allegiance to a new master.

Even more terrifying, he recalled that video from three months ago.

A comrade he knew, once with a record of brilliant achievents, knelt like a dog after a disastrous battle, cut with a dull knife over twenty tis before his life ended.

That was the fate of a failure within 1515.

He didn't want to die like that.

"Prepare the vehicles, we're returning to Titrick."

Ahd struggled to stand up, trying to maintain his final dignity, but the trembling in his voice betrayed him.

"What about the troops?" Shafeek asked.

Ahd remained silent for a long ti.

The sound of routed troops fleeing and gunfire growing closer ca from outside the window.

No matter how many scattered troops there were, they were just ants.

Eight thousand...

A full eight thousand...

Even after losing over a thousand in the Hulmatu siege, there were still seven thousand.

Just to be crushed by less than a thousand of Song Heping's troops with lightning tactics in less than two hours?

Ahd began to question life.

Even to doubt his own intelligence.

Now, others were organizing a counterattack.

Repeated failures had caused him to shudder at the re ntion of Song Heping's na.

Fight?

He had no courage.

His troops had lost their courage as well.

Forget it, disperse!

Retreat!

Song Heping's troops were still lurking like ghosts around, ready to extend their scythe and harvest the lives of his subordinates at any mont.

Who knows when they might suddenly find him here and give him a beheading, which would be a calamity.

"Notify them to follow," he finally said, each word feeling like swallowing broken glass, "Anyone who can't keep up, let them break out on their own."

The order was passed down, but it no longer held any significance.

The central forces had long since collapsed, now just a rabble scattering across the desert.

Officers seized vehicles, soldiers discarded equipnt, so even turning their guns on comrades for survival.

Thousands of troops shattered within two hours under the drive of survival instincts.

Ahd boarded the last intact off-road vehicle under the protection of loyal bodyguards.

He looked back at the battlefield.

Burning vehicles, abandoned weapons, fallen bodies, and those elusive ard pickups weaving on distant dunes.

That was Song Heping's troops.

Eight hundred n routed eight thousand.

"Devil..." he muttered to himself again, then shouted at the driver, "Drive! Retreat quickly!"