How to retreat?
Colonel Karl Stemonsen is the person who should be considering this the most, because it’s others who give the orders, but it’s them who go to their deaths.
Colonel Karl Stemonsen felt a fire burning in his chest, burning him to the point of wanting to die.
Out of seventy-four people, only eight were still alive. Just as they were breaching the last barrier, they were ordered to imdiately terminate the mission and retreat. How many people can bear such a thing?
The soldier’s duty is to obey orders.
Personal or collective will cannot be placed above the interests of the country. When told to retreat, one must retreat. Otherwise, how can Red Team claim to be a strong army? An army that does not obey orders has never been a good army.
Karl kept swaying; he felt like he was truly about to die, but he still gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, sir!"
A subordinate reached out to support Colonel Karl Stemonsen, staring silently at the ground with lifeless eyes.
"We must retreat imdiately. No matter whether you have a chance to capture the target, no, even if the target stands right in front of you, you cannot touch him. I’m sorry, we have no choice, I’m sorry..."
Hearing the apologetic orders from his officer, Colonel Karl Stemonsen took a deep breath and said softly, "We’ll retreat imdiately, sir."
How to retreat, looking at the white smoke outside the house gradually dissipating, Karl gently waved his hand and said softly, "Run as fast as you can."
No one moved.
"Sir, we should go together."
Karl stretched out his trembling hand and gestured, saying softly, "I beg you! I beg you, let stay here, we’ve worked together for so long, brothers, I’m sorry, please show so rcy, let die here, I beg you..."
To die here would indeed be better than retreating alive.
A few looked at each other, then suddenly a soldier raised his gun and fired a shot at the roof, then said softly, "Let the officer stay, he was shot dead by the target inside..."
They looked at Karl, and soone said softly, "This is not your fault, we all know it, this is not your fault, nor is it ours."
Colonel Karl Stemonsen said softly, "I’m sorry, thank you!"
Colonel Karl Stemonsen shirked his responsibility. If he returned alive, even if the entire Red Team was left with only eight people, the seed would remain, and Red Team could continue to exist. But if he died here, there was a high chance Red Team would be disbanded.
But no one had the heart to have their colonel lead them in retreat, that was too cruel. So, they chose to let their captain stay and die here, accompanying those already fallen brothers. As for disbanding, that couldn’t be accepted either, but they chose to let themselves live in pain, rather than let their captain survive in a cruel reality.
They all simultaneously saluted Colonel Karl Stemonsen, and then they each ran out the door.
Colonel Karl watched his warriors leave, prepared to end this nightmare after seeing them go.
But just as expected, just as they ran out, shells hit the ground, the violent explosion made the ones who just ran out quickly run back in.
They were lucky, only one person was hit in the thigh by shrapnel, bleeding as he was dragged back, but no one died.
Colonel Karl Stemonsen let out a long sigh, saying softly, "We can’t retreat."
While Colonel Karl Stemonsen was plunged into despair, unable to cross the zone blocked by artillery fire, Gao Yang, hiding underground, slapped his head in annoyance and said softly, "F**k! The artillery ca too early, and the shell impact points were a bit too far out, and not concentrated enough, otherwise they’d all be done for."
Artillery is a weapon for beyond visual range attacks, deployed over sixteen kiloters away, and the shells also need ti to fly. Even at a muzzle velocity of over 800 ters per second, flying from over sixteen kiloters away takes at least twenty seconds, and the shells slow down, so it takes at least a minute for them to land from that distance.
Gao Yang really didn’t know how to calculate firing elents, but he knew how to call for artillery support. However, calling for artillery support for precise strikes is a technical job, requiring extre precision with timing. Dealing with such small cluster targets with only a few people, just being off by a few seconds in timing can yield different results.
Moreover, artillery ultimately fires from beyond visual range with an arc trajectory, and cannot be extrely precise. For large-scale group targets, it’s not a problem at all, but for small targets with only a few people, how could the artillery fire be particularly concentrated?
So this ti the artillery coordination was considered a failure. Although they forced Cerberus back again, they couldn’t annihilate them as Gao Yang wished.
Gao Yang was not anxious because his reinforcents were about to arrive, and even if they didn’t, he could blow those guys to the sky.
The cannons were ready, and Gao Yang was wearing a suicide vest. Couldn’t he plant another bomb in this house?
Gao Yang eagerly said, "How about we just detonate the bombs inside the house, anyway, we’ll definitely be fine."
Yarebin calmly said, "Unless you want to be dug out later, you’d better wait for reinforcents to solve this."
Gao Yang imdiately dejectedly said, "Then forget it. Digging out the rubble over our heads would take a long ti, not worth it, forget it."
The pre-placed fake explosives couldn’t be used, which made Gao Yang very frustrated, but he couldn’t ask for more. It was better to obediently wait for reinforcents.
It must be pointed out that the biggest role of this shelter was just as a shelter. As for the traps, that was an additional function. Gao Yang didn’t expect to be chased here all the way by the enemy. Although the trap worked super well, if possible, Gao Yang would never want anyone to discover his shelter.
Everything in this shelter was to provide Gao Yang with a chance to survive. If he couldn’t survive at all, then perish together. So he did set bombs in the house above, but that was the last resort. When there was no other way, simply blow up the house, seal the tunnel entrance to buy so ti. If the enemy dug him out, he’d blow it up again. Of course, if his own people dug him out, that would be best. This dood sealing was a life-saving straw.
Why did Tarta bring those pizzas? As a precaution in case they had to blow up the house and bury themselves in it, they’d have sothing to eat. The underground shelter certainly had food and water, but freshly baked pizza tasted better than compressed biscuits, right?
Why not make the bombs above defensive, that would eliminate fewer enemies without collapsing the house? The reason was simple: because Gao Yang didn’t have enough manpower, not everyone had blasting skills. Moreover, the person setting up this big bomb had to be extrely reliable. Where could Gao Yang find such a blasting expert? Besides, ti was so tight, so he only had ti to place one big bomb, the kind that could collapse the house.
The bomb couldn’t be used, but it didn’t affect Gao Yang much. His goal was to survive. It was best to annihilate the enemy, but if not, oh well. The priority of such matters surely ca after staying alive.
Moreover, Gao Yang really didn’t need to worry. He was just waiting for reinforcents. His reinforcents had tanks, cannons, and nearly two hundred elite troops. According to his original plan, if they couldn’t save him in this situation, it ant there really was no hope. But now, the incoming reinforcents were the last straw that broke the cal’s back. As for the few people left above, what trouble could they still cause?
As for Colonel Karl Stemonson, he was utterly desperate. He looked at the continuous artillery fire outside and loudly said, "We can’t take out the opponent’s artillery positions."
A soldier said disappointedly, "I don’t think taking out an artillery position is that difficult. We can’t continue the attack or leave. We’ve been abandoned."
Colonel Karl Stemonson was reluctant to acknowledge this reality, which was that they had indeed been abandoned. The higher-ups had ordered him to retreat but hadn’t given him an escape route, not even the most basic cover. How could a few infantryn retreat?
Colonel Karl Stemonson sighed and then softly said into the walkie-talkie, "Sir, we cannot evacuate. Requesting support, provide cover for our departure."
After a mont of silence in the headset, a very dejected voice said, "The hostilities have ceased. We can’t attack the target, so we can’t provide air support. But we are thinking of ways to ensure your safe evacuation."
Colonel Karl Stemonson breathed a sigh of relief and then said softly, "So, we have to rely on ourselves, right?"
No reply.
Karl shook his head. One of his subordinates removed the communicator and said fiercely, "Anyway, we’re dood! How about we charge ahead?"
Karl shook his head and said softly, "No, our mission has already terminated, we can’t attack anymore, absolutely not!"
After finishing lightly, Karl said softly, "I’ll find a way to get you out. Brothers, please rember, I’m not a coward."
A soldier shook his head violently and shouted, "No, no! You can’t do that. We can die here, but you can’t do that!"
Karl said softly, "Enough people have died today, and I was ant to die."
After saying this, Karl suddenly shouted, "I am Colonel Karl Stemonson, the frontline commander of this operation. I surrender. I request a dialogue, I request to speak with you!"
Gao Yang gently cleaned his ears, then smiled at Yarebin in front of him, "Surrender? Haha, sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn’t it?"
Yarebin said softly, "So, will you accept their surrender?"
Gao Yang sighed and said softly, "Absolutely not! Although they are Grand Ivan’s enemies, not mine, and after Uriyangko arrives here it’s none of my business. But, you never know in this world, we have a saying ’mountains and rivers et again.’ After I killed so many people from Cerberus, then let them go? No, absolutely not. Letting them go ans I won’t be able to sleep."
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