Soderland Warren lay on the ground, waited for a moment, and finally let go of his stiff hand. After nearly an hour of continuous operation of the Luoshan-1 steam machine gun, his fingers had stiffened. Beside him, his ammunition shopper, lying on a dirt slope, was dead from a shot in the chest from an enemy's epee rifle.

This was the 10th day of Sodrand's participation in the defensive battle on the eastern front of Ens Span, a soldier of the 1st Army of Reclamation, which had retreated nearly a hundred kilometers from his initial engagement, and nearly a third of Enspen's province had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and victory was still far away.

"How's it going, is it okay?"

Bruner Warren, the commander and instructor of the 2nd Company of the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Division of the 1st Army Reclamation Corps, crawled up to Soderland and handed him a cigarette. Soderland placed the cigarette on the outside of the boiler of the Luoshan I, watched the cigarette turn yellow, and put it in his mouth. The bitter smoke made his somewhat chaotic consciousness sober. He looked up at the instructor.

"I'm okay, but little Raffi is dead."

Perhaps accustomed to seeing death, Soderland's mood did not fluctuate much when he said this. Bruna looked at the body of little Raffi and dragged him down the dirt slope.

"Let's put it there for now, there really aren't any people left. It said that the conscripted militia would arrive in the afternoon, about 30,000 people, and should be able to help. ”

"We've suffered a lot of casualties these days," Soderland frowned, "and even half of my brothers are dead, and there is no sign of the revolutionary army." The enemy has six legions, and one of us is beaten. There were five regiments attacking our position! Instructor, if you continue like this, there will be problems. ”

Although the weapons are advanced, although there is a positional advantage, and although the tactics are to fight and retreat, when everyone retreats to the third line of defense, they have already realized that there is not much room for maneuver in the rear. General Eddie Warren, who commanded the Reclamation Corps, gave a death order to hold out on the third line of defense for at least five days, that is, until the thirteenth day after the start of the battle. It had been three days since Sodran and his company arrived on this small high ground, and the enemy had launched numerous charges, strewn the field with corpses and suffered heavy losses on their own. Although the overall combat effectiveness is still there, everyone is a little apprehensive.

"It should be almost," Bruner posted to Soderland's position, "I heard that our revolutionary army has already dealt with the enemy's main force, and is turning around to outflank the enemy's rear, as long as we hold out for 13 days, we will definitely find a way." ”

Hearing this, Soderland felt a little lighter. As a recruit, he was tired of being able to fight to this point.

"Bang-bang-bang-"

The drums of the enemy's attack sounded again, and Soderland and Bruna knew that they had no time left for small talk. Bruner checked the machine gun magazine, pushed the other one next to Soderland, said a word of refueling, and got up to leave. As a company commander, he also had to patrol the entire front, and he didn't have much time to stay here.

Soderland wiped his face and put his head to the machine gun, the bright red enemies in his field of vision, each one his target.

——————————————

Just as the Assist Legion launched another attack, the crew of the No. 003 Behemoth Chariot also approached the flank of the Ninth Army of the National Salvation Army near the north side. Commander Shelley Amer steered the chariot as it galloped across the plains, bringing up long lines of smoke and dust.

"Shelley, after this battle, I'm going to go back and get married."

Observer Bale Warren shouted loudly, his voice already hoarse.

"Do you have a partner? Just get married? Shelley roared back, "Get the job done, drive the enemy out, then liberate Ankenrein, then liberate the entire Central Continent, and then you can get married." ”

"Captain, Nabal estimates that he will not be able to get married in this life."

Machine Heavy Vis Warren on the left interjects loudly, with a playful tone in his tone.

"Well, don't say that, our president is definitely going to liberate the whole world in our lifetime."

Dverny Warren, the machine gunner on the right, also joined the discussion, "We have such a powerful tank, we have such good comrades, what else can't we do?" ”

"Yes, then let's go and drink your wedding wine together!"

Shelley joked loudly, but never took his eyes off the observation window, and outside the small, heavy glass window, Anken Rein's red soldiers were clearly visible.

"Ready, attack!!"

Shelley roared, and their Blood Tiger roared and charged towards the enemy.

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William Richardson pushed open the door to the first meeting room of the Communist Party and saw Gurakos and Bimpo Bobruff, one standing and the other sitting at the table, chatting quietly. When they saw William enter the door, they immediately straightened up and shouted in unison.

"Mr. William."

"Sit, sit", William pulled a stool himself, took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and looked at the two of them in a hazy way, "Are you also coming over and stealing?" ”

Gurakos smiled and pointed to his dark circles, "I haven't slept for two days, the factories on the periphery have collapsed, some parts are not available, and the military factories have almost stopped production." Before, it was still not enough planning, but now there is a problem, and it is difficult to do. I haven't slept in two days, and if it weren't for Mr. William, you gave me an alternative, I guess this would have been a difficult thing to do. ”

"This is also our mistake, who would have thought that the billet of the spare spring factory was a substandard product, and the person responsible was found?" Although he didn't want to talk about work, since Gurakos talked about it, William also asked.

"I found it, the technical backbone of the 19th factory is a young man, an admirer of the chairman, who concealed his identity and went to the front line under someone else's name, and now he should still be fighting on the front line. It doesn't matter if he goes, no one knows how to beat the billet, and something goes wrong. I just talked to Binbo, how to deal with such a person? ”

"The punishment should be punished, the reward should be divided", William sighed softly. The masses and comrades in the base areas are very revolutionary, but they are still somewhat lacking in quality and ability.

"Don't talk about him, uncle, let's talk about your giant beast, the news from Ivan that the results of the giant beast are very good, and none of them have broken so far. Do you have the 17th and 18th in your hand? ”

"Not so fast", William smiled, "that steam turbine is too complicated, and Gastens doesn't know how to think of it, dare to use metallurgical pyroxene as a power source." The core was so grumpy that I wouldn't dare sign it without his debugging. ”

"The chairman is still fighting with Ivan, and if you don't sign it, this tank won't be supplied," Bimpo Bobruv pretended to be surprised, "When the chairman blames him, what can I do?" ”

"Then you don't have to worry about it, the giant beast is now our Elena's face, there can't be a problem, I'd better be careful", William extinguished the last puff of cigarette in his hand, and looked at Beaubruff again, "How are you over there, are foreigners easy to deal with?" ”

"Well, don't mention it," Bimpo Bobruff smiled, "and when the fight first started the other day, these people stayed in my conference room to ask us what we were going to do, and whether the chairman was a magister or not. How can I solve this kind of problem, so I will hang them. Well, now that we've fought well, I'm a lot more convinced, but I've been clamoring to see the giant beasts, and I don't know where they came from. ”

"There is no impermeable wall, and since the giant beast has been taken out and used, it is impossible not to let others know", William stood up, walked out the window, looked at the square outside the window, paused for a moment, and then asked.

"You say, if we win this battle, what will we do next?"

Hearing this, Gurakos and Bimpo Bobruv fell silent at the same time. This battle is a crucial battle for Elena, and if she does win, the situation will be very different. However, they couldn't imagine what it would be. The empty conference room fell silent for a moment, leaving only sunlight creeping slowly on the ground.

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"Brother".

Gary Gibson holds a tray with carved silver bottles and glasses. He gently pushed open the door with his foot and saw Wenfeng Gibson standing in front of the canvas, painting. He took two steps forward, closed the door with his feet, put the tray in his hand aside, and stood beside Wen Feng. And it was only at this time that he saw clearly the painting that Prince Wenfeng was drawing.

It was a winter painting, with snowflakes drifting in the sky, and brown bricks layered on top of each other, and it was easy to tell that this was the wall of a certain place. Behind the city wall, there were three figures, two tall and one short, the short figure was large and sat in a wheelchair with a blurred face. The tall two bent over and seemed to be whispering something in the ear of the man in the wheelchair. The other, holding a telescope, looked into the distance.

"Where is this?"

Seemingly a very familiar friend, Gary asked softly. Prince Wenfeng turned his head sideways, looked at his younger brother, and smiled.

"This is the head of Roninger, this is Grand Duke Charlie Ronin, this is his third adopted son, Karim Ronin, this is his first adopted son, Walsh Ronin."

"So this is the scene of your brother taking over Ronninger?"

Gary looked at the three people carefully, but couldn't see their faces clearly, "Why are their faces so blurry?" ”

"Because I don't know how to draw", Wen Feng sighed, dropped his paintbrush, sat down next to Gary's wine table, picked up the wine jug, and poured himself a glass.

"These two men, killed Charlie Ronin. I don't know how to draw their expressions. ”

"Oh?"

Prince Gary's surprise was deliberate, born in the emperor's family, he had heard a lot of this kind of thing, and now what he heard was only a little embarrassed.

"Forget it, it's useless to tell you", Wen Feng waved his hand and poured Gary a glass of wine, "Say, how is the front line?" ”

"It's bad."

Gary picked up his glass and drank it down, "It's really bad." Gastens made something called a behemoth, I've been in Elena for two years and have never heard of anything like this, and the level of secrecy should be high. It was some form of armored combat vehicle, irresistible and unbreakable. Our main assault corps is said to be out of order, and Grand Justice Claflin intends to make a last-ditch effort with the Assist Corps. Daddy hasn't slept well lately, has a short temper, and has already killed three palace maids. ”

"You're still well-informed."

Wen Feng glanced at Gary Gibson and fell silent. He is now an outsider to the game, and although he cares about the current situation on the battlefield, he is not too interested in asking questions.

"Brother, you say", Gary drank the wine from his glass, "what happens if we lose?" ”

Gary Gibson's question apparently touched on Prince Vincent's thoughts, and he thought for a moment, then sighed.

"The Thermidorian plan, it's not that early, maybe it's going to be done."

"Brother, if that time comes, will we be enemies?"

Gary's eyes widened and innocent, "Will you kill your father like those two people?" ”

————————————————

Late at night, in the small town of Frosiva.

Henry Claflin stood in front of the barracks, looking out into the darkness in the distance. Chief of Staff and Secretary of Defense Samuel Oldman stood beside him, also looking into the distance. After a long time, Oldman sighed softly.

"Grand Duke, let's go back and rest, everything that needs to be done has been done, and the situation on the front line is no longer something we can control."

"I know," Henry Claflin didn't move, "I just, didn't want to miss a message." ”

"Then I'll wait with you."

Oldman waved his hand, motioning for the soldiers behind him to stay in place. He fell silent, looking at the night with Henry Claflin, silent. Anken Rui is full of life in spring, but in this barracks, it is as dead as deep winter.

For a long time, a light flickered from far and near, accompanied by the crisp sound of horses' hooves. Oldman and Clavelin regained their spirits almost simultaneously. They watched as the herald came galloping, turned over and dismounted, knelt before him, and held up a letter stamped with a seal of fire paint.

"My lord, the latest battle report, the enemy's main force attacked the flank of the Ninth Army, and the Ninth Army resisted desperately for two hours, was forced to abandon its position, and has retreated to the border of Enspan Province."

Hearing this, Claflin's body shook slightly, and Oldman's eyes were quick and he helped him.

"After all, I still haven't caught up......"

Clavelin muttered to herself, her hands shaking, but she couldn't open the letter. Oldman reached out to help, tore open the paint, pulled out the letterhead, and handed it to Claflyn. Clavelin took the letter, read it carefully, and handed it to Oldman in silence. Oldman took the letter and saw the truth he didn't want to see in the words that deliberately exaggerated the merits and concealed the losses.

The defeat of the army is like a mountain falling.