Mercenaries, I Will Be King Chapter 509 - 454 Both Sides Under Pressure

After ending his call with Anthony, Song Heping sat back in his chair and didn't speak for a long ti.

The pressure was imnse.

The reason for fighting wasn't just about winning with fewer numbers, nor just facing a formidable enemy,

but because it was his first ti commanding such a large-scale war.

On the ELN side, they had mobilized all their military forces, with two defense zones in the north and south investing three thousand troops, the Ta Region deploying nearly nine hundred n across two battalions, plus a battalion of reserves, totaling over four thousand three hundred people.

On the governnt army's side, two regints plus a battalion-level Special Forces group, close to six thousand people.

The AUC forces had mobilized the most troops, rallying all their strength within Colombia, estimated to be more than thirty thousand people.

That is to say, this battle involved a whopping forty thousand plus people.

Although such a scale of military operation isn't considered too large for a division-level officer, for soone like Song Heping, who ca from a non-commissioned officer background and a defense company owner, it was like a young girl riding in a great marriage sedan—a first ti for everything.

Large-scale group warfare was entirely different from the small-scale Special Forces operations Song Heping had dealt with before.

Generally speaking, commanders of large-scale operations always have a staff team by their side, and according to the regular military organization, not only is there a chief of staff, but the team also includes several operations staff, part of the service communications personnel, and a small number of support staff.

Furthermore, there must be a robust intelligence network to draw maps through these channels and constantly update real-ti battlefield dynamics, allowing the commander to have the most direct understanding of the battlefield situation, thereby devising effective tactics to counter the enemy.

Additionally, the role of the staff team is critical; they can help the commander analyze information one by one—all information could be true or false, subordinates might exaggerate or downplay their losses and victories for various reasons, and the enemy on the battlefield could also deceive you strategically.

And you can only issue orders through radio, etings, couriers, etc.—both gathering information and issuing orders will have significant delays, and unfortunately, almost none of your subordinates will execute your commands 100%.

Moreover, it is necessary to grasp the personalities and abilities of one's subordinate officers, assigning them to positions where they are most suited.

There are many intricacies here, and Song Heping's current staff team was almost non-existent; the ELN command only had so soldiers responsible for communications, and it was questionable whether the staff counted as such, as those guys couldn't even draw a map properly.

The only advantage was that Morins could still provide a lot of useful information, after all, ELN was the ard organization he led; he was very familiar with the conditions of the troops below, as he was with his officers.

Song Heping was only familiar with 50 cadres who had undergone two months of short-term command training at his school.

He could only rely on these cadres.

For example, putting Anthony in charge of the most challenging blocking task in the Ta Region was based on this consideration.

Now, Song Heping finally understood why, during war, generals always cultivated their trusted followers and gave them preference in military funds and equipnt.

Because trusted followers knew their roots, they were sufficiently loyal, and the execution of orders was comparatively more thorough than that of other troops.

While Song Heping was pondering his counterasures under imnse pressure in front of the map, Colonel Lawrence, a senior military advisor from the United States military, was having a life crisis at the Colombian Governnt Army's command post near Ta.

The intensity of the ELN resistance in the Ta Region, their tenacious will to fight, and their cunning use of tactics were all beyond his expectations.

From the very beginning of the firefight, over eighty AGLAN Special Forces mbers were killed at Camp G1, and Colonel Freddie, who hadn't even landed from the helicopter, was taken down by a man-portable air defense missile.

In the command post, Lawrence felt like a goat being roasted over the fire, with everyone around him casting doubtful glances.

"They must have had expert guidance!"

In the end, he ca to this sowhat scapegoating conclusion.

"Otherwise, they wouldn't have set such a perfect trap, especially those air-defense missiles. Why didn't anyone tell ELN had man-portable air defense missiles?!"

The implication was, had he known about this intelligence, he wouldn't have foolishly sent an entire AGLAN Special Forces squadron to raid Camp G1.

Mistake!

But not his mistake!

It was your lack of detailed intelligence!

Lawrence's Arican-style bla-shifting caught General Sanders off guard.

Facing the U.S. military advisor who had brazenly stated that he would take down the Ta Region within 24 hours the night before, Sanders felt utter disdain, though he still had to be polite verbally—after all, every year, the Great Arica was providing several hundred million dollars in actual cash to the governnt, and they definitely were a major sponsor.

"We won't play that kind of raid ga with them anymore!"

At that mont, Colonel Lawrence finally felt how foolish he had been before.

"Why on earth do we need to bother with so damn raid?"

"Is it necessary?"

"With two chanized battalions of the Colombian Army Special Division at my disposal, not to ntion a battalion-sized CCOPE Special Operations Group, is there any need to resort to such tricks as raiding?"

"Even if we played our cards out in the open and just pushed through directly, taking Ta would be a breeze."

Suddenly, he realized that, from the beginning, he had a desire to show off his skills in front of the Colombian Military—this plan to raid the G1 camp was simply the result of the "Special Operations" impulse in him acting up, insisting on playing such a hand.

That's a real sickness that needs to be cured!

After learning his lesson, throughout the entire next day, Colonel Lawrence had given up on the notion of conducting special operations, directly ordering the two Army light chanized battalions to position themselves in the south of Ta and push forward, while commanding a chanized battalion to board Humvee light high-mobility vehicles and surge northward along Highway 86, penetrating deep into the ELN ard Tai Defense Zone's central area, disrupting the enemy's defense.

These Humvees are outstanding perforrs in the Arican military weapons export business, and many nations have purchased this type of equipnt. Their protection is average, but they are particularly suitable for rooting out drug lords hidden in the rainforest.

Unexpectedly, no sooner had they entered Highway 86 than the lead Humvee was blown sky-high by a violent explosion.

What followed was an intense battle.

The Army troops, dizzy from the explosion, quickly turned their vehicles around to flee, leaving behind the wreckage of more than a dozen Humvees.

After this encounter, Colonel Lawrence completely sobered up and proceeded with a steady and firm approach from the south to the north. Whenever there was an exchange of fire up ahead, he instructed the soldiers on the frontline to imdiately report their position and relay coordinates, calling in the Air Force to deploy A-37 bombers to drop bombs.

This thod of fighting might have been sowhat rigid, but at least the losses weren't so great.

Lawrence felt that the person commanding the ELN's counter-encirclent must be a tactical master; all of his assault actions were anticipated by the enemy.

This put him in a situation where he was fearful of both action and inaction, only able to fight the battle by the book.

By evening, when tallying personnel and summarizing the day's achievents, Lawrence nearly lost his temper enough to flip the table.

After fighting the whole day, they had only advanced 5 kiloters.

Those ELN ard soldiers were as sly as ghosts, never engaging in direct confrontation, always retreating after a clash, drawing back into the jungle and then luring the governnt army soldiers into the forest to pursue.

But these guerrilla-trained ard organization soldiers fought in the jungle better than monkeys; typically, while being chased, they would suddenly move around to the flanks or even behind the pursuing troops, engaging in sneaky ambushes and taking cold shots, and then retreating as soon as the fight was done. By the ti the governnt army troops reacted and adjusted their direction of pursuit, they had already disappeared into the vast jungle...

The day's battles were incredibly arduous.

Several tis, Lawrence wanted to ask General Sanders to dispatch two more battalions for reinforcent to increase the offensive force.

But just thinking that he, a high-ranking military advisor from Great Arica, who had two chanized battalions and still needed support, made Lawrence's pride unbearable, so he gritted his teeth and endured.

It wasn't until ten o'clock at night that Lawrence still hadn't rested, instead he was staring blankly at the electronic screen in the command center, motionless like a ditating old monk.

"Colonel Lawrence, have so supper and then get so rest."

General Sanders was very considerate of his benefactor's face, having instructed the camp's cooks to prepare a late-night al and bring it over.

"Dolti! Co have a bite too."

He also called Major Dolti, the representative of the AUC ard forces, to join them for the al.

Today, Major Dolti had earned plenty of face.

The AUC forces had perford extrely well in battle, attacking from multiple points with superior force in the north and south defensive zones, breaking through two of the ELN's defensive lines, and almost cutting the enemy's defense zone around San Rita in half horizontally. It was estimated that by tomorrow, they could create a large gap, achieving the strategic objective.

"Colonel, please eat sothing. Victory and defeat are common in military affairs, don't take it to heart!"

Dolti was very polite, coming over for a late-night snack and also inviting Colonel Lawrence.

In reality, he was mocking the Arican advisor.

He had arrived two days ago to take up the position of liaison officer among the three parties, but Lawrence had looked down on him, always sneering in his speech and laughing at AUC as a guerrilla group that wasn't presentable.

Dolti had been holding his breath all this ti.

Now, he finally found a way to vent.

The cooks entered the command center and set various foods on a table.

While a logistics officer was directing the cooks to arrange the food, his eyes kept darting towards Dolti.

Just then, as Colonel Lawrence approached the table with dead-eyed weariness, sitting down to dine with the general and the other three n, the logistics officer took two steps back, finding a subtle angle and distance that wouldn't attract attention, and quietly reached into his pants pocket to press the switch on the hidden micro pinhole cara within his camouflage outfit...