Shortly after the three Norman warships left in a hurry, gunfire suddenly rang out to the northwest of the abandoned mine.

Outside the abandoned mine, next to the armored command vehicle, a very tall Norman officer is discussing military affairs with his discerning adjutant. Hearing the chaotic gunfire in the distance, the two looked at each other, and the expressions on their faces suddenly became serious, but they did not give orders in a panic, but waited patiently for a while, waiting for the communication soldiers of the junior company to gallop forward on horseback.

"What's going on?" The Norman infantry colonel asked in a loud voice.

The signal corpsman hastened to report: "The enemy has attacked our guard post, our soldiers have been killed on the spot, the Igson Combat Infantry Company has been put into battle and is now pursuing the enemy to the northwest!" ”

"Who let them chase after them without permission?"

The Norman officer, who was already talking to the signal soldier in a downward posture, roared in a hurry, which startled the unprepared signal soldier.

At this time, it was obviously pointless to fire at the signal troops, and the adjutant hurriedly persuaded: "Sir, it is normal logic for the guard post to be hit to the west and pursue the enemy on the spot, and the first question now is how to deal with it next - should we use the blue signal to pop up, let the whole group suspend the operation, and then ask the battalions and companies to gather their troops?" ”

"It is safe to suspend the operation, but there is one thing that is very troublesome: the Slyan garrison has suffered heavy casualties in the early stage of the enemy's ambush, and so far it has not been able to find out where the resistance is, and General Pla is under great pressure because of this matter. If we abort this operation halfway through, and fail to produce conclusive evidence that the enemy wants to ambush us, the pressure will be shifted to us. ”

Of course, the adjutant understood such a simple truth, and he immediately suggested: "In that case, we might as well slow down the Iggerson Combat Infantry Company, let the Hawk Company follow up and support, and let Baburul withdraw the soldiers from the mines, block all the mine crossings with explosives, and lay a ring defense around the mines." ”

The tall officer replied repeatedly: "Good! That's a good idea! Immediately send out a signal corps to give orders to the battalions and companies. If the enemy really thinks of us as fish, we will let them know that there are many kinds of fish, and that we are the most ferocious black shark in the ice sea! ”

At that time, when the battlefield communications were fully prepared, orders could be quickly transmitted to the battalion and company level through wireless lines and wired electricity. In order to ensure the efficiency of the herald to the greatest extent, the adjutant decisively sent all the signal soldiers out.

When the signal corps departed, the tall officer stood on the mound again, holding a telescope in his hand, like a watchtower, and kept a close eye on the direction in which the gunfire continued.

The adjutant asked the orderly to bring two cups of hot tea, one in each hand, followed to the mound, and handed the hot tea to the colonel.

"Ah, Quagrar, you say...... Shall we send a report to the regimental headquarters left behind, and as soon as the danger on their side is lifted, another combat battalion will be transferred immediately? ”

The adjutant did not answer the colonel's question immediately, but pondered it carefully: "From the analysis of the ambush battle outside Slane, our opponents have a very good grasp of the timing, if this is not an accident, then we have reason to think that they have a very strong tactical planning ability. They attacked Wallens and transferred our warships, and they would certainly not give them a chance to fly back to support the battle, but would settle the battle in a relatively short time, in which case there would be no point in us drawing reinforcements from Wallens. On the other hand, if their goals are not what we envision, but have other plans, we should not have reduced Wallens' remaining troops. ”

"So we have a tough opponent." The colonel held the standard stainless steel cup in his right hand and stared into the distance.

The adjutant took a few sips of hot tea and said, "Perhaps, as in the past, the enemy is just a general, and we are too cautious. ”

As soon as the words fell, a rather violent explosion suddenly came from the northwest direction.

The faces of the two suddenly changed.

"I'm really worried about what's coming!" The tall officer stuffed the teacup to the adjutant, hurriedly picked up the binoculars, and adjusted the focus as he observed.

Explosions in the northwest came one after another, and even without a telescope, you could clearly see the wolf smoke rising from the mountains and forests. Inferred from the momentum, it was like the intensive firing of small-caliber artillery, but there was no roar and whistling sound of conventional artillery firing, and there was no movement of artillery group fire in sight. Triggered mines or artificially detonated pre-set explosives do not usually explode with such frequency, which is really confusing to the experienced Normans.

Suddenly, violent explosions were heard from the north and northeast of the abandoned mine, with occasional cannon cracks. Although he did not receive sufficient information about the engagement, the tall officer did not hesitate and quickly adjusted his combat deployment: "This is an ambush by the enemy, so we have to let Igson Company and Hawker Company withdraw, and all of them enter the mine, firmly defend, and wait for support." Then to the division command...... Send a report to the division headquarters that we are under attack by the enemy...... No, we are engaged in an exchange of fire with the main forces of the resisters, the enemy has the upper hand, we will hold them back as much as possible, please fly the fleet to come and reinforce quickly! ”

The military situation was urgent, and the adjutant did not say a word, but immediately carried out the colonel's order to the letter, and by the way, he beckoned the field command to move to the abandoned mine. On the battlefield, the Norman army's ferocious attack and agility impressed every opponent, but this did not mean that they could only attack and not defend. In the last two years of the last war, the Normans resisted the attack of the coalition army in the predicament of internal and external troubles, and although they continued to lose cities and land, they also fought many successful defensive battles. In this war, the Norman army was on the offensive most of the time, and the rich tactical routines made the opponent unguardable, and several times in the face of large-scale counterattacks by the federal army, the Norman army showed good quality and efficiency in both the transition from offensive to defensive or the grasp of defensive counterattacks. If it is simply a ground force fight, it is not difficult to rely on the pocket-like terrain of the abandoned mine to organize a defense, and it is not difficult to resist two or three times the enemy forces of oneself.

Soon, the Norman army, which had been besieging the abandoned mine, turned to relying on the abandoned mine for defense: the infantry climbed the ridge and set up firing bunkers on the spot, trucks dragged field guns into the abandoned mine, and armored fighting vehicles formed a defensive formation at the entrance and exit of the abandoned mine...... If the resisters had stockpiled explosives in advance under the abandoned mines, they could have sent all the Normans to the sky, but this kind of "trouble-free" work not only required a large amount of explosives, but also had to ensure that these explosives were not detonated in advance by enemy shelling or buried by tunnel collapses, which could not be solved by precise calculations.

When the Norman army completed the deployment adjustment, the regimental field headquarters was re-operated in the abandoned mine, and the gunfire in all directions gradually stopped. The tall colonel and his lieutenant anxiously awaited news of the exchange of fire with the enemy, and as a result, the companies to the north and northeast were only disturbed by the enemy, and only the Eagleson Company in the northwest and the Hawker Company that had come to support were attacked: the enemy surrounded and annihilated the Eagleson Company in less than half an hour, and the follow-up Hawker Company was fiercely blocked by the enemy, losing more than half of its troops.

The enemy has the strength to "kill" half of the mechanized battalion in seconds, and has vowed to attack Wallens, and the result is this little appetite?

The tall Norman officer, the colonel of civilian origin, knew that he had been tricked by the enemy, and was both annoyed and resentful. Of course, this loss could not be calculated in this way, and he immediately organized his troops to launch combat reconnaissance to the northwest. After a short time, the Norman warships returning to the reinforcements re-arrived in the airspace of the abandoned mine, and he personally led two companies of infantry to pursue them to the northwest. But these enemies came suddenly, and withdrew quickly, and when the Norman infantry entered the mountains and forests again, how could they still find half of the enemy's shadow?

Knowing that their ground forces had been beaten again, the flight commanders on the Norman battleship did not fall into the ground, but lowered their flight altitude and cooperated with the infantry to search the mountain. According to common sense, as long as the enemy stays on the surface, whether on horseback or in a car, it is impossible for him to evade the joint pursuit of ground troops and flying ships in broad daylight. After some searching, the Normans discovered another older, more secluded pit about 10 miles from the abandoned mine. The mine was cleared, the mine entrance was covered with camouflage cloth and vegetation, there were no track connections, and there were no markings on the usual maps, so they had no idea that there would be a second abandoned mine nearby.

Despite the inaccessibility of the roads, the inaccessibility of vehicles, and the inability of field artillery to fire at close range, the tall Norman officer, with the pressure of flying battleships, ordered his troops to surround the abandoned mine, and had the Demoman and Pyro carry out a deterrent attack on the mine tunnels close to the surface, in an attempt to get the "no-go" enemy to surrender. However, to the madness of the Normans, the situation here was the same as when they entered the first abandoned mine, and the enemy neither resisted nor begged for mercy, like a group of ghosts ready to escape into the ground, leaving the Norman army with no place to go.

Seeing that noon had passed and the day was slanting to the west, the Norman commander of the ground forces, the tall colonel, who was almost rampant, could not hide his restlessness in words and deeds. In a few hours, he and his troops would be faced with a night's stay in the field. Although one's own flying warships can continue to stay above them at night to provide support and cover, whether it is reconnaissance or ground shooting, the combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced, and if there is a scuffle between the ground forces of the two sides, no matter how many flying warships come to them, they can only stare dryly.

Is the enemy the rumored Second Reserve of the Federal Army, a patchwork of stragglers, or an elite special service unit of the Federal Army? Although the colonel did not see it with his own eyes, for the sake of his future in the army, he decided to use the "highest standard" on the battlefield to deal with this group of mysterious opponents - first contact the flying warships, ask them to bombard the mines, and then order the infantry to explore the mines, and if there is no collapse and blockage, they will blast one by one to ensure that the enemies hidden underground are buried alive here.

After receiving the order, the Norman soldiers did the work of the engineer without being critical. When there was not enough explosives, boxes of shells and grenades were used to make up the pieces. After half an afternoon, we finally completed the obstructive blasting of dozens of mine crossings with limited explosives.

It's time for this annoying work to come to an end, right?

Of course not!

Just as the Normans were evacuating from the second abandoned mine, heavy gunfire was heard in the direction of the first abandoned mine. After the transfer of the battlefield, a small temporary field hospital was set up there, and the field artillery company and some combat baggage were temporarily stored there, and the guard force was only half a company - if the enemy attacked from outside the mine, these infantry could have relied on the terrain and existing positions for a while, but the enemy came out of a few tunnels that had not been completely blocked or re-dug, and the situation would be troublesome......