45: Chapter 45 The Enemy is at the Gates! Bangkang's Nightmare

Pangkham—the old lair of the Wa State United Army for decades, with mountains stacked upon mountains and houses clustered together, fortifications built layer upon layer—looked, at first glance, truly impregnable.

The ordinary people in the city, along with most of the garrison, had long grown accustomed to the stable life of being the seat of power, feeling that the sounds of gunfire were far away and could never reach them.

Until the fifth day, during that darkest hour before dawn.

On the guard towers at the north and east sides of Pangkham, the sentries on night duty held their guns, huddled in their military coats, their eyelids fighting sleep.

No matter how intense the fighting was in Mengmao, it was, after all, over a hundred miles away, and the sounds of gunfire couldn't reach here. With the Commander-in-Chief personally overseeing the headquarters and the main forces deployed there, Pangkham, in their eyes, was perfectly safe.

A sentry lifted his head groggily, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and peered out into the wilderness outside the city covered by the morning mist. It seemed... something was wrong. On the horizon, where there should have been pitch-black silence, it was now slowly churning, and... there was a low, muffled rumbling sound, transmitted faintly through the thick fog, sounding like some giant beast breathing heavily underground.

He squinted and looked hard. The mist was dispelled a bit by the newly risen sun, and his vision cleared up slightly. Then, he saw it—

Dust!

Not a small cloud, but rolling yellow dust covering the entire horizon to the northeast! Like a wall before a sandstorm!

In front of and inside the yellow dust were countless moving black dots! The black dots grew closer, their outlines becoming clearer—they were vehicles! Densely packed trucks, jeeps, and those armed pickups welded with steel plates and mounted with heavy machine guns! On the vehicles, the flag with the golden sword on a black background was pulled taut in the morning breeze, and even from far away, one could feel the murderous aura rushing toward them!

What made people even more terrified was the infantry formation, like a tide washing over the wilderness, on both sides and behind the vehicles! Dressed in uniform dark combat gear, the formation was neat and silent, with only the "swish-swish" sound of countless military boots hitting the ground, converging into a muffled thunder that made one's heart tighten.

Boundless, with an aura of slaughter rising to the sky!

"En... Enemy attack—!!"

The sentry finally broke free from the shock and let out a shrill, cracking scream! He lunged at the alarm button and slammed it down with all his might!

"Woo—woo—woo—!!!"

The piercing air defense alarm instantly tore through the pitiful tranquility of the Pangkham morning, like the final howl of a dying beast, echoing back and forth between the mountains and the city!

For many of the Pangkham soldiers and civilians still in their dreams, this alarm was no different from a bolt from the blue. After a brief, dead silence, the entire city exploded like a poked hornet's nest!

"What's going on? Where is the alarm coming from?"

"Is it a drill?"

"Are we under attack? Who's attacking?!"

Screams, cries, and chaotic running sounds poured out from the streets and alleys. The streets, which had been orderly, were instantly blocked by the panicked crowd. Soldiers rushed out of the barracks, disheveled, and officers shouted at the top of their lungs to assemble, only to find that more than half of their men were scattered all over the city—some had gone to casinos and taverns after their shifts last night and hadn't returned yet!

The Wa State General Headquarters, the stone fortress symbolizing supreme power, was in chaos now too. The piercing alarm sounded just as deadly here; staff officers and guards were scurrying around the corridors like headless flies, and some even drew their guns and pointed them at each other to fight for the escape route.

Bao Youxiang was dragged out of bed by his adjutant. He rushed to the large glass window of the command room wrapped in a bathrobe, picked up his binoculars, and when he saw the enemy troops spreading out in attack formations all over the mountains and plains outside the city, this old warlord who had ruled Wa State for decades lost the color in his face for the first time, his body swaying as he nearly collapsed.

"Im... Impossible!" He said with a dry throat, muttering to himself, "They... weren't they supposed to be in Mengmao? Is Zhao Yan useless?! How did they let people run all the way to Pangkham?!"

Xiao Mingliang didn't even have time to put on his glasses, rushed in, and said urgently: "Commander-in-Chief! Look at the flags, it's the main force of Zhang Cheng's Death God Legion! And Luo Xinghan's Allied Army! They... they circled around! Mengmao was just a feint!"

"Luring the tiger away from the mountain... We fell for it..." Bao Youxiang understood everything in an instant, and a cold despair mixed with the rage of being played rushed to his head. He remembered the intelligence transmitted back by "Lin Xiao", remembered how he had trusted that intelligence implicitly, and remembered how he had unhesitatingly deployed his main force to Mengmao... After all this, he was the "tiger" that had been lured out of the mountains! That kid Zhang Cheng had sharpened his knife long ago, waiting to hollow out his lair!

"Quick! Order all defending troops to enter pre-set positions! Rely on the city walls and street barricades and hold for me! Not one step back!" Bao Youxiang was a warlord after all; he suppressed his churning blood and ordered sternly, "Send a telegram to Zhao Yan! No, send a death order! Tell him to pay any price, immediately shake off the entanglement, and rush back to support Pangkham! Quick!!!"

He knew that what was left in Pangkham now, besides his own guard troops who could still fight, were mostly second-line garrison troops, logistics soldiers, and even new recruits who had been captured not long ago. Facing that tiger-wolf army outside the city that had just pacified Kokang and was in high spirits, he had no idea how long they could hold out. His only hope was that Zhao Yan's 17th Division could kill their way back in time for a pincer attack.

But the communications soldier soon brought worse news: "Commander-in-Chief! Communications with the Mengmao direction are poor. Division Commander Zhao reports that they are locked in combat with the enemy's elite forces and are having trouble disengaging. The enemy is also equipped with anti-aircraft missiles and has shot down one of our fighter jets!"

"Trash! All of you are fucking trash!!" Bao Youxiang kicked over the chair beside him, his chest heaving violently. That last bit of luck was extinguished.

Outside the city, the Allied forces had already set up their formation.

Old K stood beside an armored command vehicle added with communication antennas, holding binoculars, calmly observing the city defenses of Pangkham. Although the walls of Pangkham were not as high as those of ancient cities, they were still easy to defend and difficult to attack, thanks to the mountain terrain, reinforced concrete bunkers, dense barbed wire, and minefields. At this moment, shadows were moving on the city walls; clearly, the defenders were scrambling to set up defenses.

"All units, report your readiness." Old K's voice transmitted through the encrypted channel.

"Artillery cluster in position, coordinates calibrated."

"Armored assault unit in position."

"Infantry first and second assault echelons in position."

"Drone unit has taken off, real-time images are being transmitted."

"Good." Old K put down his binoculars, "The Commander-in-Chief (Zhang Cheng)'s order is very clear: Quick battle, quick decision. Within six hours after dawn, crush the core resistance of the Pangkham defenders, and take the high ground and the headquarters area in the city. Pave the way for subsequent actions."

"The siege begins. Phase one, fire preparation, obstacle clearing."

As soon as the order was given, on the Allied positions, more than sixty mortars of various types, dozens of recoilless rifles, and rocket launchers roared at the same time!

"Boom boom boom boom—!!"

"Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!"

"Whoosh—Boom!!"

Artillery shells and rockets fell like a torrential downpour, carrying the scent of death, accurately smashing into the city walls, gate towers, and several exposed firing points of Pangkham! The light of the explosions merged into one, columns of black smoke rose into the sky, the sturdy city walls trembled in the violent explosions, and brick fragments mixed with the severed limbs of the defenders flew everywhere.

The Pangkham defenders also returned fire, and city defense artillery and mortar shells landed sporadically on the Allied front lines, kicking up some mud, but under the overwhelming density of the Allied firepower and precise counter-battery radar suppression, their counterattack seemed both chaotic and weak.

The artillery preparation lasted for a full twenty minutes. By the time the smoke cleared slightly, the city walls near the east and north gates of Pangkham already had several gaps, and several bunkers had their roofs blown off directly.

"Phase two, armored assault, infantry follow up, demolition to open the way!"

With Old K's order, more than twenty reinforced armed pickups and military trucks, engines roaring, rushed out from the positions like a group of iron beasts! The heavy machine guns and automatic grenade launchers on the roofs of the vehicles spat out long tongues of fire, pinning down the remaining defender firepower at the gaps in the city walls.

Under the cover of these mobile iron fortresses, dozens of squads composed of the most elite assault troops of the Death God Legion, carrying heavy demolition equipment and automatic weapons, moved like agile leopards, using shell craters and terrain for cover, and quickly rushed toward the gaps in the city walls.

The defenders realized that things were going bad and concentrated their fire to stop them. Bullets clanged against the steel plates of the assault vehicles, splashing clusters of sparks. From time to time, assault team members were knocked down by stray bullets, but those behind immediately filled in, their tactical movements unvaried, calm enough to make one's heart shudder.

Soon, the first batch of assault teams reached the foot of the city wall. They used suction claws and ropes to nimbly climb the broken walls or crawled directly to the edge of the blasted gaps. The combat engineer Death Soldiers skillfully checked the wall structure and placed bundles of plastic explosives on key load-bearing points and weak spots.

"Demolition ready! Three, two, one, detonate!"

"Boom—!!!!"

A sound, more concentrated and duller than the artillery barrage, exploded one after another! The city walls near the east and north gates, which were already tottering, were hit by the directional demolition as if a giant had struck them hard with a hammer, and large sections collapsed, revealing several huge gaps wide enough for vehicles to pass through! Bricks and stones poured down with a clatter, burying some defenders who hadn't had time to dodge.

"The gap is open! Phase three, infantry charge, expand the breakthrough! Armored vehicles, continuous fire support, cover the infantry to strike into the depth!"

Old K's order was short and powerful.

"Kill—!!!"

The earth-shaking shouts of killing finally erupted from the silent Allied camp! The main infantry force that had been waiting for a long time, like a black flood that had breached a dam, poured in from every gap and rushed into the city of Pangkham!