While Weiss was pondering, several shells flew in from the northeast and hit the Grumman Building. The flames and smoke of the explosion "swallowed" the façade and "eroded" the building, giving the illusion that the building could tip at any moment. After a series of explosions, this majestic building is still "alive", but the cracks in the exterior wall are clearly visible, and the damage to the building can be imagined.

The Norman warship on the roof of the building launched a counterattack at the first time, and the fierce artillery fire made it a beacon-like existence. Looking at everything in front of him, Weiss suddenly had a bad guess: the Normans' adventurous strategy of forcing the battleship into the city and landing on the top of the tall building caught the defenders of the city by surprise and achieved temporary success, but as long as the defenders reacted and blew up the building with the determination of a strong man to break his wrist and besiege the enemy ships, they could destroy the Normans' tactics and kill those Norman soldiers who entered the building, wouldn't the Normans expect this situation? No, of course not. Either they have a backhand, or they don't intend to give the defenders enough time at all, that is, they will take advantage of the defenders' distraction to strike a struck at the Austrian defenses from the outside!

"Oops!" Discerning the hidden veins of this complex situation, Weiss clenched his fists. The few remaining artillery units of the defenders of Okujo had been depleted, and the elite special service brigade had been brought in to scout the enemy forces entrenched in the building, and the defenders' attention was indeed firmly pinned down by the enemy in the center of the city. Although the defenders on the outskirts of the city have not been reduced and their combat alert has not weakened, the adjustment of the city's defense deployment has fatally weakened its defensive strength, which means that now is the perfect time for the Normans to break through the city's defense line in one fell swoop......

"Hart! You command for me, and if you have no orders, do not act rashly! ”

After giving the order, Weiss ignored the Norman bombardment, got on his bicycle directly, and hurried to the battalion headquarters at full speed. The telephone lines of the city defense units are laid down to the battalion level, and as long as the lines remain unblocked, they can communicate with each other at all levels, and even talk directly to the supreme commander of the city defense forces. However, before the others reached the camp headquarters, the city was suddenly brightened by the light of fire in all directions, and the dense and violent explosions almost completely blocked the sense of hearing, and the ground was shaking violently, and no matter how good the technique was, it was impossible to ride safely. The battalion headquarters was in front, and he simply threw his bicycle aside, and the cat rushed forward with his waist bent.

In this landslide-like vicious situation, Weiss rushed into the battalion headquarters, saw Major Huo Zesen, grabbed his arm, and shouted: "The enemy's general attack on all fronts is about to begin!" ”

Major Hozersen was surprised that Weiss ran in in a panic at this time, and he replied at the top of his voice: "I know! Everyone can see it! That's what you came to tell me? ”

Weiss didn't explain, but said, "I've figured it out!" All this was planned by the Normans! It is necessary to report to the superiors, there is only one way to go now, and that is to blow up the building and drive away the enemy ships, otherwise, the defense areas will be attacked by the enemy, and Aocheng will soon be unable to hold on! We're running out of time, we have to hurry! ”

Huo Zesen frowned and said, "What do you want me to say?" Do you think it will be easy to convince the generals to make a decision with speculative conclusions? ”

"But we have to do something! Something had to be done! Weiss said eagerly, "As long as you agree, I'll lead a detachment with explosives bags and blow up the Grumman Building." In the meantime, I think you'll have a way to get you to give up your unrealistic thoughts of luck and make up your mind to fight the enemy. ”

How to convince his superiors, Huo Zesen's experience and skills are obviously more than his own, and his success is also higher than his own. As for a novice like himself, who has not been in the army for a long time, in the current situation, in addition to helping to analyze the battle situation and deduce the enemy's traces, it seems that only the contribution of rushing left and right on the battlefield is real.

"You used explosives to blow up the Grumman Tower? Not kidding, right? Huo Zesen's eyes widened, and his expression was slightly hideous.

The sound of artillery outside shook the sky, and in such an environment, Weiss had no way to explain in detail the special relationship between the Clumber-Haysom family and the Grumman Group, as well as his personal knowledge of the Grumman Building, so he could only tell Major Holzesen in the simplest way that he had a way, and that the existence of Octavier Grumman was also a double insurance to complete this difficult task.

Huo Zesen thought about it, and there was really no better way out at the moment, so he said: "How many explosives do you want?" ”

Although Weiss was not a quartermaster, after the 9th Corps was stationed in Aocheng, he paid a lot of attention to the distribution of war materials in each defense area, and from small to large, he speculated that Aocheng's defensive reserves were very sufficient. In its heyday, this premier military industrial town was able to produce weapons and equipment that could be fully reequipped by a corps every half a month, and even in the case of large-scale transfer of personnel and equipment in wartime, the remaining production facilities and raw materials could provide sufficient ammunition and materials for the front-line troops. So, with the manpower load of a detachment, he applied to Major Hozersen for 4,000 pounds of high explosives — more than forty soldiers, each carrying 100 pounds, to be able to deliver them in one go.

After a little reflection, Huo Zesen said that there is not enough explosives and can be made up with artillery shells, but there are two key problems: first, the current combat reconnaissance operation is led by the special forces, and blowing up the building requires their consent and waiting for all their people to evacuate; Second, the Normans blocked the road to the building with firepower, and the soldiers carried explosives, and they certainly couldn't get close to the building with the dexterity and agility of the elite of the special forces, which was a difficult obstacle to break through.

As time passed, the Aocheng defense line continued to suffer from heavy enemy artillery fire, and the city trembled in the sound of dense explosions. Weiss replied decisively: "For the first question, I will find Major Grumman and try to convince her, and the second question will not be worrying - we will not go to the ground, but to the sewers." ”

Major Hozersen nodded: "Alright! I grant you permission to collect the supplies you need from the ammunition depot, transport them to the Grumman Mansion by the route you have designed, find Major Octavier Grumman, and convince her. As for the rest, I do my best. ”

Before leaving, Weiss said with some anxiety: "The stakes are very high, Major, if we don't take the initiative to do this, maybe no one will do it, and in the end, everyone will be finished together." ”

Huo Zesen sighed helplessly, turned and walked towards the field phone.

Weiss had the intention to learn communication skills from seniors like Huo Zesen, but unfortunately the situation was urgent, so he immediately left the battalion headquarters, walked through the streets of the city where the ground was shaking, and returned to the factory where the company headquarters was located with difficulty, preparing to select a detachment from the remaining personnel to go with him to get explosives, but he was shocked to find that the factory where the two field guns were deployed had been blown up, and the factory area was full of devastation, and in addition to all kinds of debris and debris on the ground, there were also the corpses of many Union soldiers.

Weiss had a bad heart and hurried to the anti-shelling bunker set up in the open area. Although the entire plant was affected by the explosion, these carefully constructed bunkers served as effective protection, and many familiar faces were present, busy treating the wounded. Before seeing Weiss, almost everyone had panic written on their faces.

Weiss jumped into cover: "Hey, brothers, what's going on?" ”

Sergeant Patters, a detachment commander, stepped forward and reported: "The enemy's shells hit the building where the artillery was placed, causing a violent explosion. We have just checked, the factory has collapsed, the artillery has been damaged, the ammunition is gone, 11 people have been killed, 9 people have been seriously injured, and 14 people have been slightly injured, and all we can do now is to treat the wounded brothers as much as possible. ”

"There are only 12 shells stored next to the gun emplacement, and the spare ammunition is stored under the sink, so that they do not escape the doom of destruction! It's terrible! Weiss muttered. This time there were 34 casualties, and most of the combat strength of the detachment was gone, and you must know that there were more than 60 people left in the factory. Even if the strategy of taking care of the lightly wounded and the seriously wounded is adopted, Weiss can now take with him a maximum of twenty people. With the physique of a federal soldier, carrying 200 or even 300 pounds of equipment and materials is not a big problem, but the difficulty is to carry dozens or hundreds of kilograms of things through the sewers, not only the speed is worrying, but also the safety and reliability are worrying......

After a moment's consideration, Weiss resolutely ordered, "Sergeant Patters, let the uninjured soldiers of your detachment come with me!" ”

Forget it if there is no support, now you have to draw people away, the burly sergeant with a loud voice looked at Weiss in a daze, and the positive expression of the other party turned the hope rising in his eyes into disappointment. Even so, he said aloud: "Luca, Alvale, gather the brothers of the detachment who are not injured!" ”

In a short time, 16 Union soldiers stood in front of Weiss in full formation.

Patters stood at the head of the team: "Captain, counting me, there are only so many people in the detachment who are not injured." ”

But Weiss clearly saw that his left hand was wrapped in a blood-stained bandage, so he said to Sergeant Patus, "I need you to stay and take care of everyone." ”

Then, he raised his voice: "The rest of you, come with me!" Let's go and give the Normans a hard blow! Go and avenge your fallen brothers! ”

At this moment, not only the soldiers in the queue were in high spirits, but the wounded, uninjured but belonging to another detachment of the Union soldiers around them also stood up.

Weiss looked around again: "Brothers, this task is very difficult, and only brave, tenacious, and resolute soldiers can do it. If we don't come back alive, and we can't even find the remains, remember us, remember those of us who gave our lives defending freedom! ”

After a brief but necessary verbal encouragement, Weiss raised his hand and saluted the soldiers in the procession, and the soldiers around him saluted them solemnly.

At the end of the salute, Weiss raised his head and took a deep breath, the deep night sky, flickering brightly and darkly, yellow and red because of the large-scale bombardment of the Norman army, forming a different kind of visual impact, giving people a pessimistic and worried omen: the course of the Battle of Austria is out of the control of the federal army and into the rhythm envisioned by the Normans......