89: Retreat! Establish a defensive line!

The slight morale that the officers had just managed to whip up was instantly extinguished by this bucket of cold water.

"Devils! They are devils!!"

The soldiers screamed and cried, pinned down at the intersection by the crossfire, unable to move.

The same scene was playing out on another road.

The well-equipped Special Operations Brigade was also harassed and intercepted by a small detachment from the Free Army's Special Operations Regiment.

These enemies, who originated as special forces soldiers, had more flexible tactics and more cunning methods, utilizing the complex urban terrain.

They employed hit-and-run tactics, leaving the elite members of the Special Operations Brigade unable to exert their strength, forced to watch their ranks continuously bleed casualties.

At four in the morning, La Paz was filled with continuous gunfire, explosions, and battle cries, transforming entirely into a sleepless city.

Countless citizens hid in their homes, doors and windows tightly shut, trembling as they listened to the infernal symphony outside.

They silently prayed for their fate. They didn't know who would win, only that after this war was over...

...their homeland was destined to be ravaged.

On a mountain highway near La Paz, a massive convoy was winding its way forward.

This was the main force of the Government Army's 5th Division, arriving as reinforcements.

Their Brigade Commander sat in the armored command vehicle at the head of the column, observing the road ahead with binoculars.

"Chief of Staff, what the hell are those useless guys in the city doing? They got beaten into that miserable state in just one night?"

The Brigade Commander lowered his binoculars, a hint of disdain on his face.

The Chief of Staff smiled and offered him a cigar.

"What else could it be? They underestimated the enemy. But that works out well; this credit now falls to us, doesn't it?"

"Hahaha, you're right!" The Brigade Commander took the cigar, but just as he was about to light it, a sharp whistle suddenly came from the sky.

"What's that sound?" He poked his head out in confusion.

Two JF-17 Thunder Block 3 fighter jets, bearing the Free Army insignia...

...like falcons bursting from hell, dove down at an extremely tricky angle.

"Enemy attack! Anti-air!!"

The Brigade Commander's roar was drowned out by the violent explosions.

Missiles detached from the fighter jets' wing pylons, trailing long plumes of fire, and accurately struck the middle section of the convoy.

Boom! Boom!

Two transport trucks loaded with ammunition were instantly detonated.

Orange-red fireballs soared into the sky, and the resulting shockwaves shredded the surrounding soldiers and vehicles.

Before they could even react, the second round of attacks followed immediately.

This time, the fighters targeted not the vehicles, but the mountain cliffs beside the highway.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"

A barrage of rockets slammed into the mountain wall.

"Rumble..."

The mountain shook violently, and countless rocks and boulders collapsed.

They poured down like a waterfall, instantly and completely blocking the already narrow mountain road.

Having completed the task, the two JF-17 Thunder Block 3 fighters gracefully pulled up.

They vanished deep into the clouds, leaving behind only chaos in the valley and the desperate curses of the Government Army.

"Damn it! The road! The road is blocked!"

The Brigade Commander, trembling with rage, looked at the pile of fallen rocks dozens of meters high. "Engineers! Where are the engineers! Blow it open! Hurry!"

However, looking at the massive scale of the landslide, everyone knew that the road wouldn't be clear for several hours.

Six o'clock in the morning, La Paz International Airport.

As the first streak of dawn appeared on the horizon, ten massive Il-76 transport aircraft landed sequentially on the runway in the morning light.

The cargo doors opened, and fully armed soldiers poured out like a tide.

They were reinforcements for the Free Army's 6th Brigade—one and a half regiments, nearly two thousand fresh troops.

Their arrival instantly solidified the previously strained airport defense line.

At the same time, another batch of special "cargo" was unloaded.

"Holy crap! Is this for us?" A soldier from the 5th Brigade stared dumbfounded at the steel behemoth driving out of the transport plane.

It was a wheeled combat vehicle with eight massive tires and a long, slender cannon barrel mounted on its turret.

Its smooth lines and powerful design made the soldiers, accustomed to bulky, crude Soviet-style equipment, practically drool.

"'Centauro B1' Wheeled Assault Gun!" an officer announced loudly.

"Italian hardware, NATO standard 105mm rifled cannon. It can penetrate 600 millimeters of rolled homogeneous armor from two kilometers away!"

"Listen up, everyone! This thing is our tank opener! With this, their T-72s are nothing but tin coffins!"

"Ooh!!!"

The soldiers erupted in deafening cheers.

Although they had repelled the enemy using anti-tank rocket launchers in the previous night's battle, they had ultimately felt frustrated.

Now, they finally had the heavy firepower necessary to face the enemy head-on!

Morale instantly soared.

The T-junction.

After paying a heavy price, the Government Army's Acting Brigade Commander finally calmed down.

He knew that charging through was impossible.

"Retreat! Establish a defensive line! Call for artillery support!"

However, his order came too late.

"Boom!"

A dull cannon roar came from behind the Free Army's position.

Three newly deployed Centauro B1s were pushed to the front line.

The muzzle spat lethal flames, and three armor-piercing rounds flew at astonishing speed.

They accurately struck three Government Army BMP-2 Infantry Fighting Vehicles that were preparing to retreat.

There was no suspense.

The composite armor, touted as being able to withstand small-caliber shells, was as fragile as paper against the 105mm armor-piercing rounds.

The shells easily penetrated the hull, and the high-temperature metal jet raged inside the vehicles, instantly detonating the ammunition.

"Boom!!"

The three IFVs turned into three raging infernos.

This scene completely shattered the psychological defenses of the Government Army soldiers.

Their proud armored advantage became a joke in the face of the enemy's more advanced equipment.

"Run!!"

The soldiers abandoned their gear and fled in disarray toward the rear.

Government Army Command Post.

Behar stared intently at the sand table, his eyes bloodshot and his chest heaving violently.

"Reporting, Commander-in-Chief! The eastern offensive force encountered strong resistance, suffered heavy armored losses, and has retreated!"

"Report! The Special Operations Brigade on the western front is being harassed by small, unidentified units. Their advance is stalled, and casualties continue to rise!"

A signaler delivered the latest battle report, his voice trembling.

"Where are the reinforcements! Where are our reinforcement troops?!" Behar grabbed the water cup off the table and smashed it violently onto the floor, roaring.

"Report... the main force of the 5th Division encountered enemy air strikes in the mountains. The road is blocked by rocks from the bombing, and they cannot arrive in the short term!"

"They are all useless!"

Behar was so furious his vision blurred; he felt like his lungs were about to burst.

Overnight, he had transformed from a commander certain of victory into a frantic gambler.

"Lorenzo! Say something!" Behar turned to look at his deputy.

Lorenzo's expression was equally grim. He shook his head, bitterness filling his mouth.

"We have no cards left to play."

On the rooftop of a building just seventy meters away from the Government Army Command Post building...

...Jose and his "Shadow" Special Forces unit were silently lying in wait, like ghosts melting into the night.

Through his high-magnification tactical binoculars, he could clearly see the situation behind every window in the command building.

Figures moved about; the building was brightly lit.

"Boss, confirmation complete," a team member reported in a low voice.

"Hernán Siles, Behar, Lorenzo... all the big fish are inside, not one is missing. We can assault at any time."

Jose did not reply immediately. He lowered his binoculars, his eyes sharp.