Mercenaries, I Will Be King Chapter 708 - 649: The Essence of Guerrilla Warfare

At the entrance of Lavo Town.

The cessation of artillery shelling finally allowed Samir's People's Power ard forces to catch their breath.

The previously intense bombardnt had inflicted heavy casualties on the People's Power soldiers hiding around the buildings and on rooftops.

Mortar strikes on rooftop defenders are the most effective, and hiding behind buildings is useless.

The advantage of howitzers is their ability to hit targets beyond visual line, calculated trajectories ensure the shells land nearby even if you hide behind a structure.

"The shelling has stopped, Commander!"

When the subordinate reported this through the radio, Samir initially thought he had heard wrong.

"What?! Say that again!"

"Their shelling has stopped, they might be out of ammunition!"

The subordinate speculated that the I5I5 ard forces had ceased their artillery fire due to a shortage of shells.

"Impossible!"

Samir imdiately beca alert.

Tonight, I5I5 ard forces concentrated their superior strength and launched comprehensive attacks from three directions on the three most important strongholds in the Southwest Region occupied by the People's Power ard forces.

In the current situation in Illigo, where different ard factions control separate territories, everyone occupies their own piece of land.

This is similar to the nature of a base area.

Each ard group needs soil for survival.

I5I5 is located due west, bordering Siria, while the Shiye Sect ard forces supported by Persia occupy the northwest border region adjacent to Persia, and the Kurds are in the north.

Of these regions, the one with the most resources is the Kurd-controlled area, which has many oil wells. In these two years of war in Illigo, the Kurds have taken the opportunity to self-govern. Although they haven't openly declared independence from the Illigo Governnt, they have harbored such thoughts.

With the help of their Arican patrons, the Kurd Ard forces have established their own small independent kingdom in the northern mountainous areas. While others wage war, they develop; over the years, the Kurd autonomous region has beco the most stable and economically prosperous area in Illigo.

Next in line is the Shiye Sect ard forces' northwest region, which also possesses so oil fields, and with the Persians backing them with weapons and funds, life there isn't too tough.

Then there's the region controlled by the I5I5 ard forces in the west, which borders Siria. Previously, this wasn't I5I5's territory; it was an area where over a dozen ard factions waged mixed warfare. However, in the past two years, since Baghdadi was released from Guantanamo by the Arican intelligence agency, I5I5, crafted by his hands, seed divinely assisted. In just a few years, they annexed the Salafi Brigade and drove away various other small-scale ard organizations, becoming the undisputed rulers of the region.

In theory, the western region near Mosul is a crucial corridor to Siria. The rise of ard forces there should be clear to the Aricans, who ought to suppress it.

However, the coalition forces seem to turn a blind eye, focusing their troops around cities with Mosul at the center, completely disregarding remote towns and villages, letting the I5I5 ard forces continually strengthen themselves.

Of all the ard factions, the one led by Samir, the People's Power ard organization, is the most destitute. It is an ard group ford by natives of Illigo, similar to a tribal militia.

Their firearms, ammunition, and equipnt are poor, and although they are not considered an extremist organization, they detest the Aricans. They believe that for Illigo to be independent and self-reliant, the Aricans must leave, or otherwise, Illigo can never develop.

Because of this, they frequently clash with the Aricans and are not favored by them.

However, since they are a militia organization created to sweep away dostic ard factions and establish stable order, they have gained the support of many tribes and civilians. The Aricans can't easily find a reason to take action against them for the ti being.

But not taking action doesn't an they won't deal with them. For an ard group, the critical elents are sources of funding and weapons equipnt.

You can't fight a war with fists alone; you need guns and artillery.

So, Samir's ard organization has been consistently resource-starved. There are no governnt grants, no weapon supplies; the weapons in the warehouses from Sadam's forr army, rather than rusting away, are never allocated to the People's Power.

The main support for Samir cos from sympathizing governnt officials and military personnel who covertly back them. The weapons they have are those that military personnel under the pretext of wear and tear have taken from police or security forces' phased-out firearms and military vehicles to give to them, making them barely qualify as an "ard" force.

Compared to the I5I5 ard forces, the People's Power is at a disadvantage both in terms of numbers and equipnt.

Tonight, the I5I5 ard forces ca prepared, so from the start, Samir and his troops were squeezed into the town, with no chance to escape.

Samir has been following Song Heping for two years.

He has learned a lot of basic tactical knowledge from Song Heping. After all, he is a person who has studied abroad and, in a place like Illigo, qualifies as an intellectual. Initially entering the governnt army as a translator out of necessity, eting Song Heping and serving under him was also for livelihood.

However, he is eager to learn, and every ti Song Heping commands operations, Samir watches and learns covertly, with keen interest.

Guerilla warfare, this is the treasure of overpowering the strong with the weak that he learned from Song Heping.

In casual conversations, he heard Song Heping ntion the essence of this tactic—Retreat when the enemy advances, harass when the enemy camps, attack when the enemy tires, pursue when the enemy retreats.

After careful consideration, Samir found the concept of guerilla warfare brilliant. He felt that applying it in Z Dong, in Illigo, and within his own ard group would be an excellent specific strategy.

But tonight, he had no chance to demonstrate his talents.

Lavo Town is considered a critical stronghold, but Samir does not station there long-term.

He leads his ard personnel in groups, each stationed in different villages and towns.

They never stay in one place for more than three days and avoid having too many forces concentrated in one spot lest they be wiped out altogether.

In theory, this thod should be safe enough.

Did not expect that just after arriving at Lavo Town this afternoon, we'd be besieged by the I5I5 ard forces by nightfall.

Now there's no ti to investigate whether there's a mole within our own ranks. Getting out alive is what matters most.

Upon hearing from his subordinates that the I5I5 forces had suddenly stopped their artillery fire, he was imdiately faced with a critical decision—should he take this opportunity to break out, or should he wait and observe a little longer?

Indecision leads to chaos.

That was a tactical thought he had learned from Song Heping.

But he worried that their cessation of mortar fire was just a trap.

After all, they had attacked for a long ti without success, maybe the I5I5 commander was rely showing a deliberate gap, just to lure him and his n into a trap they had set up to annihilate them once and for all.

"Commander, should we consider breaking out now while we have the chance? Their cessation of mortar fire presents the best opportunity for us to retreat. We can leave this place and head south, through Gaiem into the Holan River area. Many tribes and villages there support us; once we get there, we can escape."

"Wait! Let think."

Samir was indecisive for the mont.

He paced back and forth in his command post.

His mind was racing.

To break out?

Or not to break out?!

Is it a trap?

Nurous thoughts flickered before him like dandelion seeds within reach, but which one to grasp? Which one to be certain of?

There are over four hundred brothers in the town, their lives all in the hands of him, the commander.

One command, and hundreds of lives could be lost or saved.

"To go or not to go... to go or not to go... is it a trap..."

He muttered the sa lines over and over.

Boom—

Suddenly, the familiar yet loathso sound of exploding shells rang out once again.

Samir was startled.

He grabbed the walkie-talkie and imdiately called the commander at the front.

"Rahman! Has the shelling resud?!"

There was a brief silence on the walkie-talkie.

But the sound of artillery never stopped.

Boom—

Another explosion sounded.

However, what Samir found strange was that the intensity of the current shelling seed entirely different from before; it wasn't at the sa level.

Boom—

The sound of the explosion was followed by several seconds of silence before ringing out again.

"The intensity has reduced?"

For a mont, Samir really believed the previous guess of his subordinate was right, perhaps they were indeed low on artillery shells...

That could be a good opportunity for them to make a break for it.

Just as he was about to give the order to break out, a rustling noise suddenly ca from the walkie-talkie, followed by Rahman's voice, trembling with surprise and excitent—

"Commander! Their frontline command post is under artillery fire!"

"What?!"

Samir thought his ears had gone deaf from the blasts.

"What did you say?! Who is under artillery fire?"

"Their command post!"

Rahman shouted with certainty and jubilance.

"Their command post is being shelled!"