"Break out of the encirclement after dawn? Are we going to abandon Duluth? " In a large European-style wooden house, Brigadier General Arthur's subordinates were surprised by Brigadier General Arthur's order to retreat.
"We're not abandoning Duluth, but we're going to fight the China on a wider battlefield. If someone tells me that I'm going to die in the next battle, but the United States will win this battle because of my death. Then I'll rush to my death without hesitation. But that doesn't mean I'll continue to order my subordinates to die meaninglessly in a situation where there's no chance of winning. " Brigadier General Arthur was not the slightest bit shaken by his subordinates' accusations. His voice was so calm and powerful that none of his subordinates had the courage to raise any objections after he finished speaking.
The commander gave the order to retreat, and his subordinates immediately took action. Thanks to the night attack launched the night before, the ships and other supplies were well prepared. Brigadier General Arthur did not intend to carry out a complete retreat. The Federation soldiers carried their own rifles and ammunition, and the artillery was concentrated in a few key points.
After arranging the retreat plan, Brigadier General Arthur told his subordinates, "Destroy everything that can't be taken away, and don't tell anyone that we're going to retreat. If anyone asks, tell them that we're going to launch a large-scale attack. If other things conflict with this retreat, then retreat is our top priority. "
Brigadier General Arthur's subordinates were not fools. The brigadier general's words meant that they should not say anything to the Nordics in the city. During the war, these Nordics had shown a tenacious performance in resisting the Chinese army. Of course, they couldn't take them away now. It would be best if these people could continue to resist the China army when the Federation army retreated.
The sky was just beginning to brighten, and the artillery of the Federation Army began to bombard the Chinese army at the port. Wei Jianjun was currently napping in his military coat. The remaining two companies of the 3rd Battalion were stationed at two positions on the shore of the lake. Wei Jianjun was on the high ground that he had led his troops to capture. The Americans didn't have any special targets. They just fired randomly at the positions where the troops might be stationed.
Wei Jianjun was immediately startled awake by the sound of the cannons. He immediately got up and shouted to his troops, "Prepare for battle!"
The soldiers of the company did not all huddle together. Instead, they spread out with this small highland as the center. Last night, they barely managed to persist in taking turns to keep watch. Nothing happened in the latter half of the night. Apart from the personnel on duty, all the soldiers were asleep. As the US artillery fired, everyone was woken up. Whether fast or slow, the troops were immediately ready for battle.
Wei Jianjun had never seen such a concentrated barrage of cannons before. From the port's turrets, the Americans fired fiercely at the Chinese troops. Wei Jianjun couldn't help but hold his breath every time a shell landed. Ever since the Americans' artillery opened fire, Wei Jianjun felt that he had not been able to take two consecutive breaths. Furthermore, the US artillery first swept the area around them and then extended towards Wei Jianjun's direction.
The Third Battalion of the Liberation Army's position next to the lake was two or three kilometers away from the Americans' position. In the middle of both sides of the position was the barbed wire that his subordinates had set up last night. Wei Jianjun and the others set up machine gun firing points and infantry firing points on the flat top of a small highland. If the Americans tried to attack, these firing points could fiercely kill the stationary Americans when they tried to break through the barbed wire.
However, such a wishful thinking became a joke in the face of the fierce firepower. The line of defense formed by the barbed wire was destroyed by the artillery fire. The strong barbed wire was like weeds in the wind as it was blown around by the waves of the artillery shells. It didn't take long for the smoke and waves of the artillery shells to make it impossible for Wei Jianjun to see anything near the barbed wire.
What was even more frightening was that Wei Jianjun could only watch as the Americans' artillery fire approached his position step by step. Wei Jianjun felt as if his heart was tightly gripped by a palm, and he couldn't breathe. In the face of such a situation, Wei Jianjun seemed to see the Grim Reaper wielding a scythe approaching in the smoke and dust from the rolling artillery shells.
"Quick! Find a place to hide from the artillery shells! "Wei Jianjun finally shouted.
Looking at the approaching American barrage, Wei Jianjun simply stood up from his position and shouted at the company, "Comrades, find a place to hide from the artillery shells!"
The deputy battalion commander got up and shouted several times, and the soldiers finally took action. Some smart soldiers went straight to the natural ravines formed by the stones, while others tried to hide behind the stones. Some soldiers were scared out of their wits by this situation that they had never seen before. They shrank in their positions and tightly curled up their bodies, trying to use this method to avoid the Americans' artillery fire.
Wei Jianjun really didn't have time to issue more orders. He ran past his position at an amazing speed and rushed into a space formed by a few stones. Because of his movements, Wei Jianjun only felt his head hit hard on the stone a few times. However, this kind of impact was nothing compared to the Americans' artillery fire that followed.
The artillery shells exploded about ten meters away from Wei Jianjun, and they exploded not far from Wei Jianjun's front, back, left, and right. The stones on the lake shore were blown up like raindrops, and Wei Jianjun's steel helmet clanked. He only felt a tingling pain on his left cheek, but he didn't care. Wei Jianjun's whole body shrank in his hiding place. In addition to fear, his heart was filled with fear. What was the situation of his comrades outside? Wei Jianjun hiding here was already so terrifying. What about those comrades who didn't have time to hide?
Thinking of this, Wei Jianjun couldn't help but have the urge to run out of the artillery fire to take a look, but this impulse was instantly blocked by fear. If running out could really save the other comrades, Wei Jianjun would still dare to go out. However, if he went out, it was very likely that he would be immediately killed by the artillery shells. Wei Jianjun really couldn't make himself move.
Moreover, Wei Jianjun felt that his whole body couldn't help but tremble. Compared to the vibration caused by the violent explosion of the artillery shells, Wei Jianjun only felt that he was insignificant. Not to mention that he didn't have the courage to rush out, even if his courage overcame his fear, Wei Jianjun only felt that his whole body was like a sieve. Other than his whole body shrinking, he really couldn't move.
After some time, the Americans' artillery fire finally ended. Wei Jianjun only felt that his ears were buzzing, and he could hardly hear anything. The sense of fear was gradually replaced by a sense of numbness during the Americans' bombardment. When the bombardment was over, Wei Jianjun struggled to stand up and staggered out of his hiding place. Then he saw that the position in front of him was beyond recognition. There were craters everywhere on the ground, and the simple machine gun position was blown up to only a few broken sandbags and parts. There were a few broken bodies lying on the ground of the infantry.
As soon as he saw the bodies of his comrades, Wei Jianjun's heart felt as if it was cut by a knife. But there were only a few bodies on the infantry position. There were hundreds of people in a company. Could it be that the bodies of the other 100 people couldn't even be found?
"Is there anyone else?" Wei Jianjun staggered on the battlefield and shouted with a hoarse voice, "Is there anyone alive?" Huge panic gripped Wei Jianjun's heart tightly. While shouting at the top of his lungs, Wei Jianjun only felt that tears were about to flow out.
"Company Commander, Deputy Battalion Commander, we are here. There are wounded! "A person emerged from the left side of the broken position and shouted anxiously to Wei Jianjun.
Seeing that the troops were not completely wiped out, the huge panic in Wei Jianjun's heart was instantly dispelled. Even though he knew that there were comrades who were injured by the shells and struggling on the verge of death. A kind of ecstasy still filled Wei Jianjun's heart.
"Medic! Medic! "Wei Jianjun stood in the broken position and shouted at the top of his lungs.
At this time, more soldiers emerged from their hiding places. They were either injured themselves or their comrades next to them were injured. Everyone could not help but shout along with the company commander and deputy battalion commander Wei Jianjun. "Medic! Did anyone see the medic? "
Regardless of the reaction of the Chinese team, Brigadier General Arthur, who gave the order to fire, could not see them. He only ordered to stop the shelling near the lake shore based on his own thoughts. He then continued to order, "Start the troops by boat."
Duluth was an important port. There were a lot of ships here. Although the troops could not be transported all at once, it was not a problem to transport them in two batches.
After giving this order, Brigadier General Arthur continued to order, "Have the artillery position in the west of the city fire fiercely at the Chinese!"
"Sir, if we continue to fire like this, there won't be enough shells!" The artillery commander at the port suggested timidly.
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