53: The US military launched a massive attack on the city, triggering the death flag of the US soldiers

Dragon Country, Ministry of Defense.

“Minister, the latest intelligence: the U.S. Military has officially launched its assault!”

Dong Changjun listened to Xiao He’s urgent report without a change in expression.

As the Minister of Defense for a great nation, he deeply understood that war is war, and its fundamental nature would not change because of a retro-style duel.

War still relies on overall strength and battlefield performance.

“Xiao He, what is the identity of the supreme commander of the Anti-War People's Army, and have you identified all of his high-ranking officers?”

The situation in Darwin City reaching this point, the Anti-War People's Army’s command center was a crucial factor.

Xiao He shook his head: “We are trying our best to gather intelligence.”

“But so far, we have found nothing.”

“The supreme commander wears a mask, so his identity cannot be verified. As for the Anti-War Army’s high-ranking officers, besides knowing that the Army Commander is Yue Hanshan and the Political Commissar is Zhao Gang, and the names of a few division commanders, nothing else is known.”

“According to the intelligence analyst’s assessment, uh—”

Xiao He paused, and Dong Changjun waved his hand: “Speak.”

Xiao He: “These high-ranking officers of the Anti-War Army seem to have appeared out of thin air.”

Dong Changjun didn't speak, as he also had similar thoughts.

The Anti-War Army’s rise was too sudden.

He had considered whether it was a military colleague dispatched by a certain unit from Dragon Country.

But no military unit denied sending people to Darwin City, which was usually not on their watch list, to conduct any kind of uprising behind enemy lines.

Xiao He continued: “Besides the Anti-War Army’s high-ranking officers you previously ordered to investigate, I also took the liberty of having the intelligence department investigate two other people.”

Dong Changjun: “Which two?”

Xiao He: “One is the female pilot named Yu Xu, and the other is the personal female bodyguard of the Anti-War Army’s leader.”

“We also haven't found any matching information for these two.”

It’s not unusual to be unable to find information on one person.

It’s unusual when a whole group of excellent people cannot be traced.

After all, excellent individuals, from birth to adulthood to success, cannot fail to leave traces worth documenting.

The Anti-War Army is too mysterious.

Dong Changjun could only say: “Continue to monitor the progress of the war in Darwin City and report to me at all times.”

—

The first day of the U.S. Military’s formal offensive.

The advance was slow.

Although the previous large-scale bombing had destroyed many of the Anti-War Army’s visible defensive fortifications, the fortifications themselves did not disappear; the sandbags, bunkers, roadblocks, and barbed wire did not vanish with the artillery fire.

The U.S. Military’s frontline commander had to first have the engineers operate assault obstacle-clearing vehicles to clear the roads.

Only after a barely passable road was cleared could tanks, armored vehicles, and other vehicles enter freely.

Suddenly, the roof of a troop transport military vehicle following behind a tank caught fire, and burning fuel even spilled into the compartment, terrifying the infantry inside.

“American military attack, American military attack, quick, escape—”

Inside the military vehicle was a squad of 10 people. Squad leader Hawke scolded the panicked soldiers: “Shut up.”

“It’s just a Molotov cocktail.”

The compartment quieted down slightly.

But the soldiers’ faces were all tense.

Almost all of them were participating in their first real combat.

Real combat meant people would die.

Many imagined the battle process to be: artillery bombardment, autonomous drones clearing resistance, armored units entering to destroy remaining American military strongholds, and finally, it would be their turn, the infantry, to enter.

Who would have thought they would be ambushed right at the start?

The attackers were suspected to be from a window on a certain floor of a six- or seven-story building on one side of the road.

In the U.S. Military convoy, on a military pickup truck, a soldier operated a vehicle-mounted M2 improved heavy machine gun, firing continuously at that window. A large number of shell casings ejected onto the vehicle’s body plate behind the soldier, though it was unknown if the attacker was hit.

The commander of this U.S. Military vanguard naturally could not tolerate hidden dangers on both sides of the road, so he ordered the infantry to dismount and enter the buildings on both sides, to clear them whether there was anyone inside or not.

The squad whose vehicle roof was hit by a Molotov cocktail was also assigned a task.

Squad leader Hawke urged his men to get out of the vehicle while instructing them to advance according to infantry doctrine.

Unexpectedly, not long after advancing, they encountered a torrential barrage of gunfire from the American military at a high vantage point.

One soldier was hit in the helmet, but fortunately, it was of good quality and not penetrated. Another soldier was hit in the back, striking the military backpack behind his combat uniform, and he was also fine, but his tactical vest was pierced. This soldier thought he was hit and screamed in terror.

The 10 members of this squad, with some scares but no serious harm, reached the entrance of a building they needed to clear.

The building’s door was open, with nothing blocking it, seemingly welcoming everyone inside.

Squad leader Hawke, however, dared not be careless at all.

He had a feeling that the American military’s previous Molotov cocktail toss was meant to lure their U.S. Military soldiers into building-to-building combat.

But he couldn't disobey orders.

Hawke took a flashbang from a pouch on his chest tactical vest and threw it inside.

After an extremely piercing high-decibel noise and dazzling white light, the prepared Hawke led his subordinates—except for two providing rear security—into the building, rapidly deploying into a firing formation, aiming their rifles at all suspicious targets in the ground floor lobby.

Immediately after, a soldier opened fire.

Gunshots swept through everything.

Two things resembling people were mowed down.

“Stop! Stop—”

Hawke shouted several times before getting his out-of-control subordinates to cease fire.

Only then did everyone realize that there was no one on the ground floor; the two figures they had shot down were merely welcoming mannequins.

One soldier angrily rushed up and kicked the mannequin hard twice.

Hawke had to call him back and reiterate the operational regulations: “Remember, without my permission, do not touch anything in an unfamiliar environment.”

The soldier who kicked the mannequin turned around and smiled: “Boss, it’s just a dummy, it can’t—”

Bang—

The mannequin behind the soldier exploded.

Under the impact wave, the soldier was propelled forward and flew.

Those who were slightly further away also did not fare well, falling backward.

Only Hawke and a few others reacted in time, dropping to the ground to avoid the impact.

After the explosion, everyone’s ears were ringing.

When the dizziness from the explosion subsided, they saw an extremely tragic scene.

Of the three soldiers closest to the mannequin, one was facing away from it and was now lying rigidly on the ground, a piece of shrapnel embedded in the back of his head, unmoving.

The other two had somewhat blurred faces, and one of them was the worst off, his eyeballs blown out, bleeding profusely, rolling on the ground and wailing.

As for the others, although they were further away, their limbs also had some scrapes and bruises.

Even Hawke, who had some combat experience, was somewhat stunned.

His so-called combat experience was limited to being seconded to the National Guard, participating in some encirclement operations against armed criminals, mostly dealing with gang members or petty thieves involved in “zero-dollar purchases.”

On a real battlefield like this, he had never encountered a situation where they lost three teammates without even seeing the American military’s faces.

A teammate’s cry for help jolted Hawke awake. He quickly connected his walkie-talkie: “Calling medical team, calling medical team, I have explosion casualties here, please prepare at least three stretchers and emergency hemostatic medicine.”

Fortunately, the overall advance of the troops had not gone too deep, and the medical team following behind could arrive in time to transport the three subordinates, whose fates were uncertain, for treatment. Otherwise, if such an incident had occurred later, with medical support not immediately available and more wounded soldiers, they themselves would have no experience in treating the injured properly.

After this ordeal, silence fell upon the squad.

Most of the remaining 7 soldiers had thoughts of retreating.

Hawke approached the explosion fragments, prodding them with his rifle barrel, and stated: “These mannequins had remote-controlled bombs built into them, and their eyes were replaced with electronic eyes. The American military detonated the bombs from a distance.”

No one responded to his speculation, and then a soldier timidly asked: “Squad, Squad Leader, should we continue?”

Hawke was silent for a moment, then nodded: “The mission proceeds as usual.”

The group of seven had no choice but to continue the building-clearing mission.

Since the building’s elevator was out of service, everyone had to take the stairs.

And the stairs were the most dangerous place.

Hawke repeatedly cautioned: “Listen, fighting upstairs on stairs is a very disadvantageous terrain for the attacking side.”

“Everything must be according to me.”

“First, we need to implement ‘vertical control’—”

Vertical control is a conceptual term in stair combat, meaning to effectively control firepower between different floors of stairs, otherwise, it is very difficult whether you are fighting upwards or downwards.