This time the Tang Army seemed to be advancing faster than when the 1st Army and the 9th Army defeated the Ice Empire's 5th and 6th Army. A large number of Tang Army poured directly into the breach, and then began to cut horizontally.
The 8th Army had already given up its position without even having time to react. Many people did not know what had happened, but the forward troops of the Tang Army's 11th Army had already cut into the flank of the 3rd Elf Army.
This time it was completely lively: the elves did not expect that an armored force of the Tang Army would suddenly appear on their flanks.
The 11th Armored Division of the Tang Empire continued to advance forward, almost non-stop and captured important strongholds on the side of the elves. They destroyed the ammunition depot and dispersed all the coalition's baggage troops.
Those troops really did not have the ability to retreat. Most of them had to requisition a large number of cattle and horses in order to adapt to the damaged roads. The ability to mobilize these livestock was almost zero.
Facing the tanks and armored vehicles of the Tang Army, as well as more and more aircraft in the sky, these transportation troops of the Ice Empire collapsed almost instantly.
Countless supplies and livestock carcasses were discarded on the roadside, and a large number of people became prisoners of the Tang army. In this way, the Tang army advanced all the way, occupying various areas along the way.
As if entering uninhabited territory, the 11th Armored Division was only blocked by Van Crouse's retreating troops when it was about to cut off the supply line of the 2nd Elf Army laterally. By this time, they had almost exhausted their fuel.
It is difficult to say whether the elves blocked the Tang Army's attack or whether the Tang Army stopped advancing due to supply problems. In short, the Tang Army finally stopped, and they had already swept through almost half of the battlefield.
Ying'an's troops have basically completed their combat missions, and the Elf troops are already in the encirclement. If they don't retreat immediately, one of the two Elf armies will end up being surrounded and annihilated.
Van Kruse was so frightened that he immediately gave the order to retreat regardless of the situation. The 2nd Army did not even notify the 3rd Army around him and began to flee.
Or it would be more accurate to say retreat: Van Crouse could not care about anything, and ordered his troops to retreat immediately and retreat to "Saint Lo" as far as possible.
This Saint Luo is actually a fortress on the coast of the Ice Empire, and it is also a military port: it is located in the south, and it was a military city built to stabilize the sea and facilitate the transportation of supplies when the Elf Poplar Empire was attacked.
Saint Luo has a small population, but it has a military port and a large military fortress. The most important thing is that it is not far from the Yangmu Empire.
Previously, part of the Ice Empire's navy was stationed here, but later it was attacked by carrier-based aircraft of the Tang Army. The Ice Empire's main navy fleet continued southward and anchored off the coast of Rewind Port.
The main fleet of the elves has also moved north and is deployed in the Rewind Port area, allowing these battleships and old-fashioned aircraft carriers to continue to challenge the Tang Empire's navy to the north. The commanders of the elves would never dare to do so. They were just ordered to sail into
Near Rewind Port, and "waiting for opportunities" here.
Van Crouse's troops now have only one way to survive, which is to immediately retreat south to the Saint-Lo Fortress. As for the 3rd Army commanded by the Marquis of Lourdes, Van Crouse can no longer take care of it.
In his opinion, Ludd's troops had been surrounded on three sides, and the only remaining side was where Van Kruse's troops were stationed. The Tang Army was unlikely to give Ludd a chance to break out, so the best outcome for the 3rd Army was to stay and break up the rear.
Of course, he is not such a ruthless person. After successfully escaping from the encirclement, he will still try his best to help Lude break up the rear and try to let part of the 3rd Army escape...
As for the entire 3rd Army successfully breaking through, Van Kruse never thought of such a thing.
So, when the encirclement of the Tang Empire was about to be formed, the 2nd Army of the Elf Tribe began a breakout of unprecedented scale...or rather, an escape.
The retreat was orderly at first, but as time went by the whole operation changed. First of all, a large number of weapons and equipment began to be abandoned, because the Elf soldiers found that their tanks and armored vehicles often became the target of the Tang Army's air strike force.
Target.
Like their Qin predecessors, they discarded their heavy equipment as a matter of course. The reason was naturally that these tanks and armored vehicles broke down.
That's right, there will be no technicians to confirm whether there is really a problem with the weapons and equipment during the rout anyway, so as long as the crew members say there is a problem, the equipment can be discarded on the roadside.
At the beginning, everyone still needed to find some reasons, but later there was no need to find any reasons: because the troops collapsed so quickly, supplies were completely cut off. Tanks and vehicles were running out of fuel on a large scale, and everyone did not care about the need for fuel.
As well as precious equipment with spare parts.
It turns out that once the rout began, there was almost no difference between the Elf soldiers and the Qin soldiers.
They also abandoned trucks, artillery, tanks, armored vehicles... Then, just like the Qin army before, the infantry also simply threw away their heavy machine guns, and things like tents and quilts were thrown everywhere.
yes.
The first thing smart soldiers throw away are weapons. They know that if they throw away their tents and rest at night, they may suffer a lot. Everyone only keeps daggers and bayonets for self-defense, and a few keep small weapons such as pistols.
Even if they don't throw away the rifles in their hands, the soldiers will lighten their load and discard a large number of their bullets: no one keeps statistics on the whereabouts of such things anyway, so throwing away bullets is actually a very convenient choice.
It was enough to leave a bridge with a few bullets for self-defense. They had no plans to fight the Tang army anyway. Everyone was running away. If they really encountered the Tang army, they would just surrender...
In such an environment, the first large-scale rout of the Eastern Continent Allied Forces broke out. The 2nd Elf Army gave up its position and began to run south. The 3rd Army on their flanks also immediately followed suit.
Same choice.
The Marquis of Lourdes didn't even have time to scold Van Crouse, and ran away with his headquarters. Because he was so hasty, he even forgot to pass the retreat order to the troops on the far right.
