The sound of gunfire, artillery and explosions continued throughout the night until it was dark.

In fact, at the end of the first half of the night, the battle of the night was already decided.

Letting the officers and men on the defensive line retreat is not to abandon the defensive line, but to avoid accidental injuries.

Before dark, Wang Dong sent Zhang Zilan and Lei Dong out, and asked them to each bring a squadron of personnel to try to infiltrate the rear of the rebel front.

It's not about sabotage, it's about finding high-value targets.

What are high-value targets?

The gathered enemy, the front-line command, the convoys carrying ammunition and supplies, the command vehicles at all levels, the tanks and combat vehicles that stopped to rest.

Of course, self-propelled howitzers and rocket launchers are the most valuable.

However, according to the principle of artillery deployment in the rear, the rebels may not let self-propelled howitzers and rocket artillery be the front line, especially at night.

As for the task of destroying high-value targets, it fell to Shamkh.

Although only 8 M109A6s were able to continue fighting, there was plenty of ammunition, and 8 howitzers could fire 24 shells in a single shot.

Against small cluster targets, 24 shells are more than enough.

It's just that people are not as good as heaven.

Before eight o'clock, the battle began.

In the southwest direction, the reconnaissance team led by Lei Dong was discovered by a rebel outpost, and this well-hidden outpost fired a warning shot in time.

As soon as the shots rang out, all the rebels surrounded them.

Fortunately, the rebels only found the squad led by Redon, and did not find the other squads, and instead fell into the ambush circle set up by Redon.

In addition, there were not many rebels in the southwestern direction.

Because his whereabouts were exposed, Redon could only give up the idea of going deep behind enemy lines, and fight and retreat according to the backup plan to attract the attention of the rebels.

The fierce fighting lasted more than two hours, and the huge casualties were too much for the rebels to bear.

Although there were only ten reconnaissance squads, each with only four officers and men, in terms of combat effectiveness, especially at night, it was absolutely terrifying.

Each reconnaissance team has two machine gunners and two assault men, all equipped with low-light sights.

That is, the DF8SMG carried by four scouts can be used as sniper rifles, and the suppression distance of the night exchange of fire is more than 1200 meters.

What is this concept?

The rebels were not equipped with night vision devices, and the visual distance at night was less than 200 meters.

Even if a small number of rebels are equipped with night vision devices, the effective range of the M16A2 used is only 600 meters, and even with the M240 general-purpose machine gun, the effective range is only 800 meters.

In fact, only a handful of elite scouts in the rebels have night vision devices.

As a result, many rebels were killed by bullets fired without seeing the enemy, and those who were not killed could only fire at the point where the muzzle of the gun flashed.

Because the distance was so far away and it was difficult to judge the distance of the battle with the naked eye at night, the rebels did not pose much threat when they fired back, but instead exposed their own position.

It can be said that if it were not for the large number of people, the rebels in the southwestern direction would not have been able to hold out for even half an hour.

At around half past eleven, the rebels began to adjust their deployment and send more troops to the southwest.

It was only at this time that Zhang Zilan, who was ambushed near the battle line, touched over with several squads of scouts and infiltrated the rear of the rebel defense line.

Apparently, the main force of the rebels was deployed in the west of Nasiriyah, and in the immediate vicinity of the road.

Not surprisingly, the rebels had to supply the attacking troops with ammunition at night, adjust their deployment, and have to rely on roads.

It only took 20 minutes for Zhang Zilan to find a "high-value target".

Behind a hill was a rebel camp, a forward staging area, with at least three battalions, totaling more than a thousand rebel officers and men, spending the night.

Subsequently, Zhang Zilan called for artillery fire.

In five minutes, eight M109A6s under the command of Shamkh fired nearly three hundred shells, carrying out a covered shelling of the rebel camp.

By the time the rebel artillery came to their senses, Shamkh had already shifted their positions.

At the time of the shelling, the four reconnaissance teams that had infiltrated behind enemy lines had dispersed and began to search for other targets.

Over the next three hours, the artillery under the command of Shamkh, guided by four reconnaissance teams, destroyed more than a dozen high-value targets.

Mainly the forward camps of the rebels, as well as temporary supply points.

Although they only advanced more than ten kilometers during the day, and the fighting was not very fierce, and the tanks and combat vehicles did not need to be replenished with fuel and ammunition, the rebels who occupied the outskirts of the defense line must have to consolidate the defense line overnight, such as setting up fortifications such as machine gun forts and sending mortars.

As a result, the rebels had to deliver weapons and ammunition to the front line at night.

As a result, more than half of the heavy weapons sent to the front line were destroyed.

At about three o'clock in the morning, the shelling ended.

Not that all high-value targets have been destroyed, but Shamkh has used up the prepared ammunition and must return to the camp in the eastern district with self-propelled howitzers.

Zhang Zilan did not act brutally, and after receiving the news, he gave the order to retreat.

At the same time, Redon also began to retreat.

After a night of fighting, the rebels also came to their senses, strengthened the strength of the defensive line, and focused on small groups of active personnel.

Fortunately, Wang Dongduo made preparations.

After encountering trouble on Lei Dong's side, Wang Dong asked Tiehu and Churkin to each bring twenty operatives to respond.

These operatives, all machine gunners, carry DF8SMGs with heavy barrels and 200-round ammunition boxes, which is equivalent to one heavy machine gun for every machine gunner.

The machine gunner answered, and the investigators led by Zhang Zilan and Lei Dong all successfully withdrew.

After a night of fierce fighting, only three operatives were slightly injured.

Preliminary estimates put the 80 operatives of the two squadrons at least 600 rebel officers and soldiers killed that night, not counting the results of the artillery strikes.

Having suffered such huge losses, the rebels were thoroughly enraged.

After Zhang Zilan and Lei Dong retreated, the rebels continued to advance towards the city, trying to break through the last five kilometers in one fell swoop.

It's a pity that this is just a send-off.

As the sky brightened, the rebels stopped.

Quite simply, after dawn, the rebels who charged to the death found that their opponents were more than 1,000 meters away, exceeding the effective range of most firearms.

No brave person can expect to be able to move 1,000 meters in a dense net of fire.

For the infantry exposed in the wilderness, it is impossible to advance 100 meters under the suppression of fire.

The rebels had no choice but to abandon the attack, and the government forces defending Nasiriyah took the opportunity to launch a counterattack.

Wang Dong did not give the order to counterattack, it was Nanijer's order.

Perhaps, in Nanijel's opinion, this is an opportunity to recapture the outskirts of the city.

Apparently, Nanigal forgot that after the sun rose, the rebel artillery was no longer limited, and only one shelling was needed to break up the counterattack of the government troops.

Under artillery fire, the infantry was also unable to move an inch.