The dynamite exploded and set off a chain of explosions within the armory as the bullets and artillery shells cooked from the thermite. The ground shook and trembled, the enemies within the fort all ducked for cover as bullets shot out of the armory from all directions.
"What was that?!" An enemy soldier screamed out.
"The armory! They took out the armory!" Another soldier shouted.
Hilbert grabbed Phillip by his collar and dragged him out of cover before both running towards the hole in the wall. Jeremy called the attention of the others and followed behind Hilbert and Phillip.
"Hold this position and cover this entry point. We'll hold until the others get here." Hilbert ordered before crouching down behind the ruble.
"Hilbert, our guns are kinda not fit for this kind of fight!" Jeremy shouted before peeking out of a half destroyed wall.
"Here they come! Everyone shoot!" Philip exclaimed before picking a target and pulling his trigger.
Hilbert started shooting along with the others as the enemies started rushing towards their position. They will now try to keep the entrance open for Jacques and the rest of their battalion who were now driving as fast as they could to reach the fort's wall.
"The wall has been breached, keep their heads down on your side." Jacques tells Roger over the radio.
"They're getting their asses kicked, we should hurry up!" Edward shouted.
"Hilbert's squad can still hold. I believe in them." Jacques muttered.
Their convoy hauled off towards the fort but they were met with a sudden spray of gunfire from the top of the wall. The enemy soldiers were finally able to respond and sent a portion of their defenders to take out the intruders. Hilbert and his squad is now engaged in a firefight within the fort and are running low on ammo. Their guns being far more ineffective due to them not being fit for medium to long range engagements.
"We're gonna get overrun if this lasts longer! Where the hell are they?" Jeremy exclaimed as he hides behind a wall.
"We'll fight teeth to teeth if we have to! We can't retreat!" Hilbert shouts as he threw a grenade to the incoming enemies.
"I'm out of ammo!" A soldier shouted as he braced himself behind cover
"Hit them with anything you can! Throw stones at them if you have to!" Hilbert ordered.
"He must be mad. Stones can't beat guns." The soldiers shook in fear.
"Hey! Get your shit together! As long as we breathe, we will fight!" Philip shouts as he held the soldier's collar.
The enemies inched closer and began tossing grenades at them. They tried to throw the grenades back but under the stress of being shot at threw off their concentration causing a few grenades to slip by and explode just a few meters from them. Only a handful of them are now shooting, the rest are out of ammo and a few are injured. The rest of the 116th on the other hand have dismounted from their vehicles just 300 meters away from the fort to find cover behind the large rocks. The enemy soldiers on top of the wall has them pinned down and forced them to stay behind cover.
"Someone shoot those gunners! We have to help out Hilbert's squad!" Richard shouted before running out of cover and towards another.
"We're sitting ducks here. Where are my marksmen?" Jacques asks.
"I'll make an opening for you, sir!" A soldier shouted before shooting his rifle at the enemy gunner.
"That's right! Covering fire!" Another soldier shouted before shooting at the top of the wall.
"Edward! Tristan! Get your men and follow me!" Jacques shouted before running towards Richard.
"Tristan, let's get moving! Keep their heads down for us boys!" Edward ordered as he gathered his squad and ran to Jacques.
"I'll cover you and Edward, just keep running and don't look back." Richard tells Jacques.
Jacques nodded and gathered the rest of his team before running out of cover and towards the wall. The others who were left behind kept shooting to distract the enemies and buy time for Jacques and his team.
"I'm down to my last mag! We're gonna get overrun if we stay here!" Jeremy shouted as he continued to shoot at the incoming enemies.
"Get down!" Hilbert exclaimed before bracing behind the rubbles.
The approaching enemies dropped dead as Jacques and his team entered through the hole in the wall. They immediately dispersed and began pushing back the defenders.
"Took you long enough. Do you have extra guns?" Hilbert asked as he ran up to Jacques.
"I figured you'd ask that so I brought some extra rifles." Jacques replied before asking one of the soldiers to hand Hilbert the guns.
"Let's wrap this up. Tell Major Issue to move the tanks up to the main gates." Hilbert says before walking away with his squad.
Jacques organized the small group of soldiers who were inside the fort and lead them towards the defenders at the main gates. They engaged the enemies while Roger's unit broke down the gates and drove the enemies deeper into the fort. Without knowing, the enemies fell into Hilbert's ambush and we're immediately fired at as they retreated.
"Keep moving or they'll completely surround us!" An enemy officer shouted.
"Sir, we're gonna get wiped out in this courtyard if we don't move!" Another soldier shouts as he ducked behind sandbags.
"Through the west corridor!" The officer commanded.
Edward's squad arrived at the end of the corridor and began firing at the enemies, taking out several of them and forcing the others to go back out to the courtyard. Tristan's squad climbed the second floor and took up positions on the balcony. Their higher angle gave them an advantage over the situation resulting in the defenders getting wiped out within the courtyard.
"Major! Update from the 18th. We've captured most of the northern part of the fort." A soldier calls Jeacques' attention.
"I want every room and corridor to be cleared. This fort is ours now." Jacques orders.
"Are we late for the party?" Richard asks as he and the rest of the 116th enter through the whole in the wall.
"No, but it's almost over so you better catch up with the rest." Jacques replied as he looked towards them.
In a matter of minutes, the fort went silent and the 116th cleared the inside. The armored units of the 18th provided overwatch around the perimeter of the area. Jacques contacted high command, informed them of the success and asked for the reserve to come in and act as reinforcement. He was expecting a counterattack to happen any minute so he wanted everything to be ready if the worse is to come.