Chapter 41: Rashian CQB Tactics

After repelling the reckless and retaliatory night raid of the 9th Division, Antonov and Zhang Shan arrived at the exact same conclusion.

"Urban warfare, what a real headache!"

Urban warfare differs greatly from field combat. It is often plagued by the dilemma of inadequate fire support. More than heavy firepower, it tests a soldier's familiarity with the terrain.

When the distance closes, the difference in marksmanship becomes less significant.

In street fighting, even if the enemy consists of veteran soldiers with over five years of training and the ability to transform into Oni, the Russias here do not feel the slightest bit intimidated, for they too possess the ability to transform into bears and wolves.

In this world, any race incapable of transformation does not even deserve to survive independently to this day.

If the entire Yamato nation were to deploy a population of eighty million to fight the Principality of Boleria, which had a population of only twenty million, Zhang Shan would certainly be unwilling to trade casualties in such a manner. Let us not forget that the vast majority of the Yamato army's manpower had already been committed to Serica. Regardless of the quality of the individual soldiers, Serica alone had siphoned off over a million Yamato ground troops.

Zhang Shan sneered inwardly: You bastards from Yamato, just how many men can you actually spare to send against me?

Inside the command headquarters, the telephone kept ringing incessantly, but such trivial matters no longer concerned Zhang Shan. As he prepared to stand up and leave, he suddenly heard Antonov's inquiring voice.

"Your Highness, I also know that urban warfare will be our primary focus going forward. Was it you who advocated using this in street fighting?"

The Lieutenant General raised the chunk of iron in his hand.

It was a square object, twenty-five centimeters in length and width, and eight centimeters in thickness.

That's right! This was the predecessor of the notorious anti-tank mine TM-62 "Big Baby" from before Zhang Shan's time-the TM-38.

"This is a fantastic piece of equipment!" Zhang Shan blinked with an air of mystery.

Anyone who plays CQB will instantly fall in love with this thing.

The so-called [Urban CQB Tactics] refers to close-quarters battle skills executed by special forces and police units within urban environments, specifically for interior and confined spaces.

Clearly, in this otherworldly era, no one would bother to specifically teach such techniques.

Basic military training might teach you how to shoot, how to understand basic tactical commands, and giving you a hundred rounds or so to practice your marksmanship was already considered quite generous. Before the war broke out, the eight divisions of the Grand Duchy of Boleria could not even scrape together enough rifles, and each frontline soldier had only ten rounds of ammunition in their pockets at the time.

There was simply no help for it; leaving aside the Principality of Boleria, the financial and industrial situation of the entire Russia Empire was simply that dismal.

Who the hell would have the spare capacity to specifically teach how to conduct urban warfare?

Even the latest edition of the infantry combat manual of the Russia Empire made no mention of such things.

Lacking experience, they essentially had to rely entirely on junior officers improvising blind commands on the spot, or else those soldiers who fought frequently and managed not to die would eventually become competent junior commanders of urban combat.

Let alone bringing out weapons or equipment specifically designed for street fighting.

Lieutenant General Antonov was genuinely convinced by his Highness. He leaned in closer and asked, "Is this an anti-tank mine?"

"Yes, but under my design, it has been given one additional minor feature."

Zhang Shan waved his hand, and Natalia immediately dismantled the TM-38 mine in front of everyone to give a demonstration.

First, she removed the mine's casing, the screws of which had already been taken out, and produced a packet labeled TNT, which was actually just flour, explaining that this constituted the mine's explosive charge. She then removed the paper bag containing the charge.

Antonov nodded.

Next, Natalia demonstrated the new modification: "We have installed a pull-wire igniter on the side of the mine."

With a pull of her hand, the fuse inside a narrow metal framework within the mine's structure began to burn spontaneously. After about ten seconds, the fire reached the interior of the mine.

"Through testing, even when buried a little over three inches underground (one Russia inch is approximately equal to 4.45 centimeters), it can still produce lethal damage against any Yamato vehicle on the surface. It can equally be used to breach walls or demolish small bunkers."

Antonov looked at the Russia inscription [Front Toward Enemy] stamped on the surface of the mine and subconsciously licked his lips.

This was simply the result of rigid tactical thinking.

It would never have crossed his mind in a million years that an anti-tank mine could one day be used as an explosive satchel charge.

The Lieutenant General's mouth twitched slightly: "No wonder Your Highness strongly insisted that the 8th Division bring these along a while ago."

On the second night, utilizing the system, Zhang Shan was able to "see" the situation in the southeastern part of Red Pagoda City through the perspective of a Russia reconnaissance plane.

A large number of Yamato troops, operating in skirmish formation, moved swiftly through the trench networks outside the city—which had already been extended right up to the urban edge—and scattered into the city like ants.

Zhang Shan had no particularly good way to stop the Yamato forces from entering the city.

The trenches in this area were exceptionally well-constructed.

Not only were they deep, but their tops were also covered with a massive layer of wooden planks acting as a ceiling, over which a thin layer of soil had been spread.

During the day, visibility was relatively clear, but at night, it posed far too great a challenge for the Russia pilots. Even though the defenders within the city fired numerous illumination flares using mortars, they still could not see things clearly.

Once a large mass of Yamato infantry entered the city, both sides engaged in the most fierce urban combat centered around various defensive strongpoints.

Under the cover of night, the sound of gunfire echoed continuously across the entire southern district of the city.

Lieutenant Morita of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Division, was leading a company of over 180 men as they rapidly traversed the streets in the southern part of the city.

Before entering the city, he had heard with his own ears from his superior officer that everything up to the red brick building in the southern district was entirely under the control of their own forces.

Morita raised his head and saw the tall, eight-story building five hundred meters to the north clearly illuminated in the glow of a flare.

He did not hesitate any longer and shouted to his subordinates: "Column formation, move rapidly through this street."

The tragic irony was that, even if it killed him, he had no way of knowing that the safety telephone call made a dozen minutes prior had been spoken by a Yamato traitor captured in Ramuud who had hastily pledged his loyalty.

Consequently, the company had not marched very far when the roof of a three-story building directly facing their street suddenly erupted with tongues of flame.

"Turturtur!" The 7.92mm bullets from an MG-34 machine gun tore across the night sky, producing a sound like ripping silk.

To be honest, had it merely been a single machine gun, at least half of the soldiers in Morita's company would have been able to react in time.

Yet the very instant the machine gun opened fire, a volley of grenades was dumped in unison from the adjacent high-rise ruins. From the windows and wall loopholes on the opposite side of the street, at least twenty Kar98k rifles began firing furiously.

Everything happened so suddenly that the entire company was completely stunned.

"Enemy attack..."

"Ahhh—"

"Fall back quickly!"

"Where are we supposed to fall back to?"

The price of being unfamiliar with the terrain was severe—it meant death!

After a storm-like assault that swept through like a whirlwind, not a single living Yamato soldier could be seen standing anywhere along the entire street in less than three minutes.

The seemingly pitch-black blood was thoroughly inconspicuous against the dark night.

Amidst the darkness, seven or eight Russia soldiers from the 8th Division dressed in green military uniforms emerged cautiously from the neighboring rooms, carrying Kar98k rifles and Walther P08 pistols.

"Gather the rifles from these bastards."

"Why are we picking up these crappy guns?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Just because we have rifles doesn't mean our brothers in the garrison brigade do. We still have troops in the newly trained divisions training with wooden model guns."

"Uh, alright then."

They quickly inspected the corpses of the Yamato soldiers, swiftly collecting every single firearm, every grenade, and even every round of ammunition before vanishing back into the night.

This ambush could be described as nothing less than textbook-quality.

More often, it was a messy brawl of close-quarters combat where whoever fired first gained the advantage.

Yet on this particular night, the combat situation actually favored the inadequately trained Russia soldiers.

Along a wide avenue, both sides originally occupied opposite sides of the street.

While the Yamato soldiers on the opposite side huddled against the wall, lewdly discussing the breasts of Russia women, a strapping Russia giant on this side transformed into a bear, pulled the fuse of a square TM-38 anti-tank mine, and lobbed it out of a third-story window, clearing a distance of thirty meters to toss it right through the window of the building across the street.

He then walked downstairs with his head held high, striking the suave pose of a "true man who never looks back at explosions."

Three seconds later, the Yamato soldiers across the street happily flew up into the sky in a shower of tiny fragments, finally getting to meet their great-great-grandmothers.