On Monday, the Gante army dispatched fifteen mixed brigades, totaling sixty thousand men, who launched surprise night attacks on seven tropical border military bases. Within an hour, they had breached defenses and captured four bases, with an estimated few thousand Gante casualties. However, the defending forces suffered fifty thousand killed, half in combat and half executed as prisoners, their bodies piled meters high outside the bases.
The remaining three bases held out through the night, enduring heavy losses until reinforcements arrived. The most precarious base had its outer perimeter overrun, with soldiers using heavy weapons mounted in building corridors, nearly destroying the structures themselves to repel the fierce Gante assault.
The garrisons of these military bases were predominantly composed of integrated Wheeler Star indigenous troops, with a small number of supervisory officers from the Jiang Ye army. The reasons for the defeat were manifold: poor military discipline among the defenders, delayed provision of advanced weaponry from the Jiang Ye army, ongoing construction of most base defense systems, underestimation by reinforcements, and intelligence failures.
Hours after the fighting ceased, numerous reports from frontline units were submitted, eventually reaching the desks of senior Jiang Ye army officers and even Jiang Ye himself.
After reviewing a stack of reports, Jiang Ye noted several points of particular interest.
1. Before attacking their objective bases, the Gante army conducted fierce artillery barrages on adjacent target bases as a diversion. For instance, the Shou Xing Jian base was hit by 24,400 rockets and five thousand mortar shells within half an hour. The attackers were a Gante infantry regiment several kilometers away, which rapidly withdrew into the tropical rainforest after the Shou Xing Jian base counterattacked. The Bridges base was bombarded with approximately twenty thousand heavy artillery shells in ten minutes, with a specialized heavy artillery regiment shelling from deep within the mountains four hundred kilometers away, then quickly retreating. A total of twelve bases experienced similar density firepower coverage, with attacking units withdrawing swiftly after achieving their objectives.
2. In the three bases that did not fall, at the commencement of combat, nervous soldiers apprehended Gante infiltrators exhibiting abnormal behavior and swiftly executed them. One infiltrator was the third-in-command of the Sigetuo base, who had attempted to order the deactivation of the base’s automatic machine gun turrets, claiming it was to lure the enemy deeper.
3. The Gante attacking forces were fearless and remarkably efficient, while the defending forces were severely disorganized and collapsed at the first touch. During the fall of the Morris base, large numbers of defenders crowded near the jump-wing aircraft, scrambling for boarding positions. A Gante soldier took advantage of the chaos, approached, and threw a demolition charge into a jump-wing aircraft cabin, killing over fifty defenders instantly. During the engagement at Zushan Qing base, a fifty-man Gante suicide squad infiltrated the base and rapidly spread out, attacking in groups of five at ten different locations, quickly killing over four hundred defenders before transforming into human bombs and detonating the base’s underground hangar, rendering the entire base unable to evacuate. The defending forces were subsequently annihilated by the advancing army within an hour.
4. The Gante attacking forces were accompanied by combat support teams, typically equipped with sniper rifles and heavy machine guns. Defenders at the Hengdiren base witnessed firsthand the combat support teams using heavy machine gun fire to drive the attacking forces forward; some who were too slow were shot dead, leading to the extremely rapid assault speed of the attacking Gante forces. The defenders were greatly alarmed, asking their officers, "If the Gante army is this ruthless to their own people, what will they do to us?"
Just as Jiang Ye finished digesting the battle reports from Monday, fighting resumed on Tuesday night.
The Gante army deployed a full twenty-seven divisions, appearing from three directions, and once again launched fierce attacks on the border military bases.
Within a mere three hours, five more military bases were destroyed, at least forty thousand defenders were killed, thirty thousand defenders fled into the nearby tropical rainforest and were temporarily missing, and 260 defending military aircraft were decisively shot down after taking off.
Simultaneously, the Gante army also suffered heavy casualties. Near each military base, nearly one hundred thousand Gante bodies lay in the open fields.
Jiang Ye was shocked by the Gante army's decisiveness and ferocity, and incredulous at the sudden shift from calm to such bloodshed on the front lines. Within a single night, both sides had lost over one hundred thousand men, leaving the ground covered in bodies and blood, a scene of unimaginable brutality.
On Wednesday, the fierce attacks continued. Eighteen Gante divisions launched a simultaneous assault, and the Jiang Ye army lost four more military bases. Over thirty thousand defenders were killed, and over twenty thousand fled. The Gante army suffered over eighty thousand casualties.
For three consecutive days, the Gante army’s full-force offensives achieved a success rate of over seventy percent.
It felt as though they were unstoppable.
Jiang Ye was greatly enraged. At a meeting, he slammed the table and demanded that the officers immediately explain the reasons for the defeats and propose viable solutions.
One officer nervously pointed out that according to previously collected intelligence and model analysis, the Gante army should not have been able to breach so many military bases so quickly.
However, the actual combat reports indicated an intelligence failure.
The Gante army's combat effectiveness had doubled consecutively, and they had deployed a large number of advanced weapons in the recent battles. Particularly after the first day's successful offensive, the Gante army had captured many advanced weapons and equipment that the Jiang Ye army had issued to the local garrisons, which they rapidly utilized in the second and third days' attacks.
The reporting officer stated that on the first day, the Gante army was there to seize firearms, and on the second and third days, armed with these guns, they immediately intensified their offensive. The initial technological advantage held by the Jiang Ye army was thus erased. Without this technological disparity, the Gante army's military discipline and ferocity far surpassed that of the base defenders, leading to consecutive victories that were simply irresistible.
Jiang Ye, initially prone to impotent rage, was suddenly enlightened by the officer's explanation.
Jiang Ye immediately pulled up the operational maps for the three consecutive days, examining the distances between the fallen positions, and then slammed the table again.
"On the second and third days, the Jiang Ye weapons in the hands of the Gante army were not captured on the first day; they were sold to them by the defenders!"
Jiang Ye's statement left the officers stunned.
"Sir, how could the local defenders sell their own weapons to the Gante army to fight against them?" an officer questioned.
"Let's not discuss that question for now. First, you will issue orders to thoroughly investigate the weapons allocated to the newly incorporated troops. Issue the orders now, and each of you will investigate the area under your purview." Jiang Ye said seriously.
The officers busied themselves, making calls to issue commands.
A moment later, Jiang Ye continued.
"I am extremely disappointed in you this time. This should have been a simple conclusion that you, as professional soldiers, should have realized first, not me. This matter will be thoroughly investigated. I hope your actions stem from simple stupidity and fatigue, not from any personal vested interest."
"Commander Li just asked how the defenders could sell weapons to the enemy. We will address that question last. Let's first discuss how I deduced this."