Empire Conquest-Chapter 876 - 108: Keep Up the Good Work

Although it was already late at night, the battle to besiege Samawa had not stopped.

Samawa was just a small city with a population of less than 100,000 and an urban area of only a few square kilometers, with almost no tall buildings.

The siege began in the afternoon, but the pace of progress was always slow.

The reinforcement troops of the 5th Marine Division arrived before nightfall, then spent three hours preparing and only entered the battle around 10 PM.

Previously, it had always been the assault force under Liu Zunshan’s command attacking Samawa.

Although reinforcements had arrived, Liu Zunshan did not let his troops retreat, still holding the front line as the main force for breaking through.

This was also inevitable; the reinforcements were primarily infantry, with the armored forces only being Liu Zunshan’s battalion.

It wasn’t that arrangements weren’t made; rather, there was a need to quickly send up supplies like fuel and ammunition, so the logistics unit had to travel light.

There was only one road from Sellerman to Samawa, making it impossible for both the armored and logistics units to advance simultaneously.

"Advisor Ding, please wait here for a while."

After dropping Ding Zhennan at the frontline command post, the staff member who brought him left, precisely to go find Liu Zunshan.

Because it was a temporary arrival at the front, with no prior arrangements, Liu Zunshan was not informed.

Fortunately, the liaison officer of the 5th Marine Division had been to the Joint Force Headquarter, met Ding Zhennan, and knew his identity.

The battle in the city was still ongoing, not too intense; one could occasionally hear gunshots and explosions.

The shots were not very evident as they were too far away.

Just a few minutes after the liaison officer left, a column of armored vehicles passed outside the command post.

They were not infantry fighting vehicles, but self-propelled mortars with barrels extending out from the vehicle body, likely 120mm heavy mortars.

These were siege weapons.

Among the several standard calibers determined after the war, mortars came in only two types, one of which was 120mm.

The Empire’s Army never placed much emphasis on field artillery construction. To be precise, field artillery was never given a high status, but every battalion-level combat unit in the Empire’s Army was at least equipped with an artillery platoon outfitted with 120mm mortars.

Mechanized units, like the Mechanized Infantry Division, were equipped with self-propelled mortars modified from armored personnel carriers.

These were the few battle vehicles that just started to move past.

Though the 120mm mortar’s caliber was much smaller and the shells lighter, the mortar had a low initial velocity, much lower acceleration on firing, and was subjected to less external forces. This allowed for thinner shell casings and more explosive payload, thereby its blast and lethality far exceeded those of howitzers of the same caliber.

Against unfortified buildings, the destructive effect of a 120mm mortar was similar to that of a 150mm howitzer.

Even when dealing with fortified positions, specialized shells could be used.

Additionally, mortars, relying on their high-arcing trajectory, were well-suited to hit targets hidden behind tall buildings.

In siege operations, large-caliber mortars were often used to destroy buildings held by the enemy or hidden defensive installations.

During the last great war, to counter permanent fortifications and other defenses, both sides developed large-caliber mortars.

Even now, mortars were mainly used on urban battlefields.

Soon, the city’s low rumble of artillery fire and intense explosions could be heard.

Though it was several kilometers away, the light from the explosions, specifically the glow from the fireballs, was still very glaring, as if illuminating the entire night sky.

Ding Zhennan did not wait long; about 15 minutes later, an armored ambulance arrived from the direction of the city.

Liu Zunshan was in the vehicle, but not wounded, merely hitching a ride.

After he got off, the armored ambulance drove away. Inside were several wounded men, two of whom were lying down severely injured and needed to be taken to the field hospital immediately.

"Why are you here?"

"Came to check the situation on this side. Is the battle at the front intense?"

"Not too bad, we’re about to push to the city hall. Maintaining our current offensive momentum, we should capture city hall by dawn tomorrow."

"What about casualties?"

Liu Zunshan didn’t answer this question, nor did Ding Zhennan press further; they both headed to the command center by the roadside, essentially a large tent.

Inside were only a few staff officers from the battalion; upon a glance from Liu Zunshan, they all tactfully left.

"Casualties aren’t too high, but still significant. Approximately 20% attrition rate, with 32 fatalities," Liu Zunshan said as he lit a cigarette. "Combat effectiveness hasn’t been affected, but the officers and soldiers are extremely fatigued. Ideally, we could pull back and rest for half a day." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Ding Zhennan nodded slightly but didn’t reply.

"Is there something important you came over for?"

"It’s almost 1 AM, will seven hours be enough?" Ding Zhennan checked his watch before saying this.

Liu Zunshan was momentarily stunned, then knitted his brows tightly.

"The situation on the eastern front isn’t ideal. Before retreating, the Iraqi forces set fire to almost all the oil wells, hindering the ground forces’ advance as planned. Although adjustments have been made in deployment, sending two Marine Corps battalions to hold the line, it’s not guaranteed they’ll arrive in time."

"So, you mean we need to push harder on our end?"

Ding Zhennan nodded, indicating that Liu Zunshan was correct.

"About our forces..."

"Forces can be directly drawn from brother units to cover the losses sustained during the assault operations, and can be strengthened as needed based on the situation."