Alien Arms Empire

 Chapter 17321733An unexpected victory

Xie Ke felt that God was on his side: the sudden snowfall freed him from worries. The Tang army's terrible air support was difficult to deploy under such weather conditions.

 So, even though he was not too well prepared, he still followed Binghan I's order and eagerly launched a counterattack.

The Tang army actually did not retain many troops on the front, and there was no order to defend. Therefore, after encountering the dwarf troops, the Tang defenders who were in a defensive state immediately began to retreat.

For them, such a climate was indeed not suitable for combat: they got on trucks or armored vehicles, quickly broke away from contact with the dwarf counterattack forces along the road, and retreated to the second-line position.

On the first day of the counterattack, Xie Ke received all good news: his troops crossed a river called the Porter River within an hour, after the Tang army had indeed advanced to the west bank of the river.

After crossing the Porter River, the forward troops of the Dwarf Eastern Front continued to advance westward. It only took about three hours to capture the first village near the west bank of the Porter River.

Since the two sides started the war, this is the second time that the coalition has achieved real results in a counterattack: the previous one was the counterattack against the City of Everwinter.

 It was later proven that the counterattack was actually a trap dug by the Tang Army for the Binghan Empire, so strictly speaking, that counterattack could not be considered a success.

Whether this time counts or not, it's hard to say for the time being, because no one can be sure whether the results they have achieved now were deliberately thrown to them by the Tang army.

But Binghan I was very optimistic about this. He believed that the Tang Army's line was stretched too long, so this time he keenly captured the Tang Army's weaknesses, and it was by no means a flaw left by the Tang Army intentionally.

The situation seemed to be developing as Binghan I imagined: in the evening of that day, Xie Ke's troops advanced more than 15 kilometers and tenaciously captured three villages. They were only a few meters away from the important town of Dalkas in the southern plains occupied by the Tang army. It’s 18 kilometers.

Although no real battle broke out between the frontline troops and the Tang Army on this day, and the two sides only maintained limited contact, Xieko was still very confident in taking Dalkas.

Even though the dwarf commanders on the front line have been reporting to their front army headquarters, emphasizing that they have not encountered the main force of the Tang Army, and that the Tang Army has not even repaired serious fortifications, Xie Ke still insisted on continuing the attack early the next morning.

He must achieve victory in the southern plain before the Tang army encircles and annihilates the 11th and 12th Group Armies, so that this counterattack will be meaningful and he can give an explanation to Binghan I.

Therefore, regardless of the difficulties in supplying the troops and regardless of the follow-up plan of the follow-up troops being delayed by snowfall, Xie Ke ordered his forward troops to continue to advance westward.

Early on the next morning, the dwarf troops opened the frozen tent door, had a simple breakfast, and launched another attack.

  Their marching speed was very slow because their troops were large in size, the road conditions were not very good, and the snowfall had not stopped. These factors severely restricted the dwarves' advancement.

However, that afternoon, the forward force that Xie Ke relied on the most, the absolute main force in his hands, had been reluctant to use it since joining the war. Therefore, the 9th Armored Division under the 9th Group Army of the Ice Empire was barely retained until now. Arrived in Dalkas. This town is not very large, but it is indeed a very important transportation hub on the southern plains. There is also a large-scale machinery factory on its outskirts. Capturing this place can at least give Xieko's troops some front-line maintenance and repair capabilities for heavy armored vehicles.

The 9th Armored Division, which had been prepared for a battle with the Tang Army in Dalkas Town, only encountered small-scale resistance from the Tang Army.

Several armored reconnaissance vehicles of the Tang Army fired anti-tank missiles. After losing several dwarf tanks on the periphery, they broke away from the contact, passed through the city and left here.

 After losing several tanks and cautiously entering the city, the dwarves discovered that the Tang army had not deployed any defense line here at all. Perhaps it was because the Tang people had advanced too fast before and had not had time to build fortifications here. Perhaps it was because the Tang army had no intention of wasting troops here to prevent the dwarf troops from advancing.

 In short, the 9th Army recaptured Dalkas, and this result was already the most dazzling and brilliant result achieved by the coalition forces since the war began.

You must know that from beginning to end, the coalition forces were not able to recapture any large and medium-sized cities from the Tang army, and even the villages were very few.

 Now, Shekko has retaken Darkas! The coalition's counterattack finally achieved decent results! After hearing the news, Xie Ke quickly sent someone to inform Binghan I, who had just fallen asleep.

Subsequently, the message that the Eastern Front Army had recaptured Dalkas was sent to Ironforge and the Poplar Empire. Everyone couldn't believe this was true, but it seemed that Xie Ke's counterattack had indeed had an effect.

If the dwarves can retake the southern plains and stabilize the front in the central mountains, then Ironforge seems to be able to be saved again...

No matter how you look at it, this is an option worth trying. Therefore, the Yangmu Empire began to discuss whether it could increase material assistance to the Dwarf Empire that day.

The dwarves did not disappoint their elven allies: after capturing Dalkas on the second day, they did not stop their counterattack. On the third day, they still advanced with great success, taking over all the villages around Dalkas and bringing the battle line back to the front. Advancing 9 kilometers to the west.

 Because the logistics transportation could not keep up with the advancement of the frontline troops, the dwarves' attack speed had to be slowed down. However, they advanced nearly 40 kilometers in three days, which is already a very remarkable achievement.

In order to establish victory as quickly as possible, Xie Ke ordered the dwarf infantry to advance lightly and occupy as many areas as possible as quickly as possible. This decision allowed the dwarves to achieve even more brilliant results on the fourth day: they advanced 13 kilometers, faster than on the third day.

However, because the dwarf infantry advanced alone, the Tang army wiped out more than 1,500 dwarf soldiers in the delayed battle. These losses also made Xie Ke feel the pressure.

He knew that there should be no more troops on the front of the Tang army, but only a small number of troops had already caused heavy losses to the dwarves' attack.

 If the snowfall ends, the advance may not be sustainable... All he can do now is pray. Pray that the weather is still on their side, and that the 11th and 12th armies can hold on longer.