The unexpected attack came quickly but very briefly.

Using an anti-infrared cloak to provide some shelter, the Soviet anti-tank group deployed in front of the army immediately broke away after a single blow, and the missile shooter threw away the launcher, jumped off the anti-slope in a few steps in the dense sweep of gunfire, stepped onto the dilapidated motorcycle with wide wheels and ran back.

Suddenly encountered an ambush by the Russians, Major Locke, who heard the explosion, immediately turned his field of view and looked in the direction of the other vehicles "banging" and firing, and inadvertently captured this scene in the thermal imager, the major cursed while immediately adjusting the gun, while confirming that the gun chamber was filled with grenades, he saw the gun commander aim and fire at once, and explode a large cloud of gunpowder smoke in the distant glade, and then picked up the intercom and shouted:

"Infantry_off_and_Search (infantry get off the car and search)! Company B is in charge of the left flank, and Company C is spread out in front of it, pay attention to coordination! ”

As the major gave the order, a group of armored vehicles that had just stopped moved into action, and the nervous-looking American GIs jumped into the grass through the back door of the "Bradley" and formed two or three sparse skirmish lines on the large grassy slopes dotted with bushes.

Just now, I have been advancing along the way, but now I have encountered a small group of enemy troops, maybe this is a trap like a pocket formation?

Awakened by this thought, cautiously observing the movement ahead, but finding no more, at the edge of the slope where the outline of the buildings on the outskirts of the city could be faintly seen from a distance, the Major ordered his troops to search forward in a sparse formation, while maintaining a high degree of vigilance, and firing directly at any suspicious target for confirmation; He then asked the communications non-commissioned officer to call the contact. Report to the top of this suspected breach that their battalion had just discovered.

As tanks and infantry continue to move forward. Cross a suburban road to an open field on the other side of the roadbed. The dense grass in front of me, which had turned a little yellow, looked rather messy, and there was no sign of the Russians.

The American GIs, who were looking nervously ahead, ready to mark the firing point and call for air support, still did not encounter the enemy after advancing for two or three thousand meters; The major was relieved to hear the feedback from the infantry company level in the battalion commander's car, because a carrying "Bradley" in the battalion had just been blown up by an anti-tank mine, and he was worried that the crazy Ivans would ignore international treaties and lay a large number of anti-infantry mines in the dense barren grass, but now it seems that this is just a kind of speculation.

Seeing that there was no movement on the front, Major Locke contacted the 3rd Battalion, which was acting in concert, through the Guò on-board information system.

Kutaisi is right in front of you. As the forward force tasked with assault missions, the 2nd Battalion and the follow-up units under the command of the Major had the simple task of finding a breakthrough in the enemy's weak defense and quickly interspersing it in order to meet up with the 101st Air Assault Division, which was engaged in street fighting in the city of Kutaisi before dusk. However, after a short call on the radio, he heard the anxious voice of the commander of the 3rd Battalion, and the unit advancing on a parallel front a few kilometers away was engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with the Russians near the railway line, and a tank battle broke out on both sides:

"Locke, don't you have any Russian tanks in front of you! -- The battle situation is urgent, and the coordinates have been sent to you. Can you try to outflank these Russians in a roundabout way? ”

"Uh...... The coordinates have been received, and what is the specific number of enemy tanks? ”

"Many, much more! ――Coming from the direction of the station. There is also at least one battalion formation, the exact number cannot be confirmed! ”

Then why don't you call air support, Major Locke, who asked the question, still had a trace of doubt in his heart, but he also knew that the current battle situation was tight, and the air support called was late and could not be saved, which was not uncommon at all.

However, seeing that Kutaisi was already looming, Locke still refused the request of the commander of the 3rd Battalion after comparing the map display at the tactical command terminal, and he contacted the regimental independent tank company that followed behind, and asked them to go up as much as possible, while his own troops accelerated towards the city.

Compared with the 4th Marine Division, which was facing the Russians head-on, the 101st Division's GIs in Kutaisi's urban area were obviously in a more difficult situation, and the order from above was to let the 4th Division break into the city as much as possible to provide heavy fire support for the air assault division; Under the orders of the Major, the 2nd Battalion's steel chariots continued to advance in a rapid but inaccurate mortar fire, occasionally striking scattered Russian ambush posts with smoothbore guns and vehicle-mounted machine guns.

While keeping an eye on the battlefield and planning the next course of action, Major Locke was quite satisfied with the pace of the attack today, and in his opinion, perhaps the troops would be able to break through the city of Kutaisi before four o'clock; With this optimistic thought, it feels that the Russians' counterattack is gradually weakening these days, and Locke feels that these unscrupulous Russians are not so smart, they must have learned from the combat experience of those Iraqi terrorists, and now they are using some equally obscene tricks, such as frequent harassment, against NATO coalition forces.

Damn, isn't it known as the crazy Ivan, how can he really come to this hand when it is time to fight a tough battle?

Although as far as the eye can see, the scene of the grass and trees in front of him is not at all similar to the desert yellow sand in the Middle East, but after launching the attack, he has only encountered a small force of harassment scattered everywhere, and Major Locke, who was expected to fight a tough battle and fight to the death with Russian tanks, suddenly felt a bit like he was in Iraq, and was riding a "Humvee" to carry out a mission on the outskirts of a city with a complicated situation, and encountered such a messy and disorderly low-intensity counterattack. Could it be that these Russians have suffered heavy casualties and have no intention of fighting again?

Hey, that's fine!

While they were weak and unable to fight back, they were pushing forward to the city of Kutaisi in one go, and as long as they gained a foothold in the complex terrain of the city, and held on until the large army attacked the city, everything would be fine.

"All on board, frontal assault! Target Kutaisi, give us thirty minutes to rush to the edge of the main city, guys cheer up, search_and_destroy, fire_at_will! ”

In the smoke of war, on the outskirts of the city, U.S. ground offensive units were approaching Kutaisi from multiple directions, fighting with the Soviet Red Army holding its ground.

At this moment, in Kutaisi, where the 101st Division's air assault was in light chaos and half of the city was engaged in brutal street fighting, the headquarters of the 152nd Motorized Infantry Division, which was supposed to be very busy, and a bank building containing underground buildings had been almost emptied; BTR-70 tanks carrying supplies and personnel ran through the dust and rubble, and with the hurried soldiers, they made their way through the streets, risking air raids and retreating north.

After leaving the headquarters at dawn and now sitting in the GAZ-3937 off-road vehicle with the antenna erected, he briefly communicated with the division staff officer, and the commander of the 152nd Division, Major General Shimenkov, had just given the order to retreat on all fronts, but received a call from the 3rd Motorized Infantry Regiment, which was finally connected, and the panting colonel reported to him on the phone:

"Comrade Division Commander! Communication is extremely poor, the line reports to our division of the battle plan, in order to launch a counterattack as much as possible and recapture the freight station, we need the support of the division's aviation forces, we need some Mi-17s-"

"Is it a counteroffensive, Comrade Fadeev? But now the order is to retreat, you immediately prepare and direct the troops to withdraw to the predetermined assembly area before dusk! ”

"Why retreat, Comrade Division Commander?

The situation in the west is fine now, and we are preparing to take advantage of the Yankees' unstable foothold to make a surprise counter-charge, and the Yankees only have one battalion at the freight station, and we can definitely take it-"

"Carry out the order, Comrade Colonel! Now the time is urgent," I heard the hoarse voice of my subordinates on the phone asking for a counterattack, and I appreciated these young men who fought bloodily, Major General Shmenkov stabilized himself in the bumpy off-road vehicle, and concisely persuaded this right-hand man, "Let me ask you, the Americans are advancing in echelons this time, even if you use reserves to destroy the Yankees at the station, the whole division is retreating, what troops do you plan to use to consolidate the defense?" Is it useful to grab the support point that can't be held, hurry up and take it down for me! ”

"-Clear, understood! Comrade division commander! ”

After convincing his subordinates on the phone, seeing the war-torn Kutaisi outside the car window, and the chaos on the streets, Shimenkov saw a Ural truck covered with a white tarpaulin and marked with a striking red cross passing through the intersection, and called again to inquire about it, confirming that the civilians in the city had been properly resettled and all transferred, and then turned to the division staff officer beside him with a slightly slower face:

"The withdrawal is indeed a bit hasty, and I don't know how long our unit can hold out in the northern mountains."

"The current reserves and supplies, combined with the analysis of fuel and ammunition," habitually flipped through the small notepad, and the tone of the staff officer who held his glasses was a little dignified, "at most hold on for a week, and then you must turn to rest." But Sergey, if the plan goes awry, then we'll ...... Hey! It's going to be a real problem. ”

"There's nothing going to go wrong, old man."

Sitting in the back seat of the off-road vehicle, raising his hand and groping for the AKS74 short assault rifle hanging on the inner wall of the car, Major General Shmenkov's eyes gradually became calm, but his pupils clearly revealed a kind of composure and calmness in the face:

"Caucasus, Kutaisi, how many years have we been stationed here? If the Yankees attack again, I can't say it, you and I will sleep in this beautiful land with the boys in the division. But anyway, old friend, that's how the situation of the Americans is; We don't care whether we live or die, but they are not destined to win such a world war.

Isn't it enough to end up like this?

Yes, those arrogant Yankees; In this all-out confrontation war, they will not have the slightest chance of winning. (To be continued......)