"Let's get moving! We're onto second phase!" Richard shouted at the others.
"Roger just engaged the rest of the enemy tanks. He's trying to keep them in the city so our job is to slow down the infantry." Jacques told Richard.
"I'll make sure that every inch of this wall is protected. Has Jeremy and that new guy returned yet?" Richard asked.
"They should be here in a bit. Once they arrive, tell them the plan and we'll proceed with the third phase." Jacques ordered.
Richard nodded and ran to check each of the pillboxes, Jacques then went up to Teresa's post to ask for an update. He climbed up the steps and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Oh my! Major, you shouldn't sneak up on a woman like that." Teresa said in a startled tone before giggling.
"I was just checking up on the situation. We're moving onto the second phase so you better come down. This post is going to be a target for the enemy tanks." Jacques replied before heading back down.
"The major is so thoughtful. Always do worried of me." Teresa mumbled as she followed behind Jacques.
As Jacques climbed off the stairs he sees Richard and Jeremy talking while Johann wipes the blood off his blade. He ran up to them with Teresa shortly following behind. Jeremy nods after Richard finishes explaining the plan and immediately ran off with his squad to their post.
"Johann, how's the situation out there?" Jacques asked.
"You should expect their tanks to begin firing at our wall. Other than that, the border seems to be enough to hold them back." Johann replied before putting the handkerchief in his pocket.
"Yes, technically speaking, the walls can hold out a head on assault but I don't trust the it's durability against these new Soviet guns." Jacques added.
"Then we'll just have to hit them as hard as we can before they get here." Teresa suggested.
"And how would we do that? We can't really move our forces out in the open." Richard asked.
"We cage them in. Let them breach the border and funnel them into a trap." Jacques added.
The major ordered Richard to begin preparing the ditch and the explosives. They were to dig a large ditch near the wall and fill it with explosives before covering it again with a thin layer of dirt. Jacques increased the defenses on one part of the wall to make the enemy believe that it was a weak point in their defenses. Despite the enemy artillery being relentless, they still tried to finish digging the ditch while Roger and his platoon distracted the armored units inside the city. Roger's platoon already lost two tanks and are slowly being pushed back, their guns are proving to be useless against the new Soviet tanks.
"Our guns are not penetrating their armor, we can't just keep on retreating." Roger states.
"We have to keep them at bay. Major Enfield hasn't given the signal yet." James replied as he loaded a new round into the tank's cannon.
"We just gotta do what we can until then. I got faith in all of us." Timothy added before smiling.
Jacques' platoon dug as fast as they could and once they were finished, they ordered Roger to pull his platoon back. Now all they had to do was wait till the enemy takes the bait.
"Do you think it'll work?" Richard asks Jacques.
"It should, we should keep waiting. The shark always swarm if there's blood on the water." Jacques replied.
Jacques hastily went over to Roger's tank and informed him of the current plan they have in mind and where they will be positioned once the enemy breach the wall.
"Hog the walls and aim for that spot on the wall. Once their tanks roll in, shoot their side armor right under the tracks." Jacques explained.
"You gotta find a way to disable them once they're immobilized. Our tanks can't pen their front hull and their turrets." Roger added.
"The soviets are known to cut corners in their designs as evident of the T-34 series. Molotovs seem to be very efficient against any tank." Jacques commented.
"I'll tell the others to start making the cocktail then." Roger stated before climbing out of the hatch.
As Jacques turned to look at the wall, a Russian dive bomber began it's dive towards the column of tanks. Jacques screamed at the top of his lungs and told everyone to spread out. He looked up into the sky and the plane was directly on top of him. His legs trembled but he ran as fast as he could before the whistling bomb could hit the ground. It was too late for him and he couldn't clear the radius of the explosion but luckily Jeremy tackled him onto the ground and got on top of him. Jacques immediately checked on Jeremy and he screamed for the medics to help. Jeremy's back was riddled with shrapnel and several parts of his body were burnt.
"Sarge! Are you okay?!" Eugene shouted as he pulled the bandages out of his kit.
"Get a stretcher! Don't worry Sarge, we'll get you patched up as soon as we can." Jacques said before ripping a large hole on the back of Jeremy's uniform.
Jeremy's screams filled the sudden silence after the explosion. It was then overwhelmed by the pillboxes and machine guns on the border. Jacques glanced at the wall and the ground began shaking as the Soviet tanks shot on different parts of the wall.
"Major! They're gonna breach from several points! Everyone fall back!" Richard shouted as he ran across the opening.
"Leave without me! I'll slow you down! Shit!" Jeremy yelled as he hissed in pain.
"We can't leave you. No man left behind, remember?" Eugene replied as he dragged Jeremy.
"Go! Forget about me!" Jeremy added.
Jacques gave his pistol to Jeremy before dragging Eugene away to the transport trucks. Jacques glanced back at Jeremy before trading smiles with him and ordering the driver to hit the pedal. Eugene insisted on going back for Jeremy but it was already too late. The walls have already given way and their force on that side of the border has already started falling back to the reserve line with Rogers platoon falling a few hundred meters away to distract the invading enemy tanks. As the Soviet infantry began moving over the border, they come across a Lanstonian officer who was heavily wounded and incapacitated.
"Верните его и залейте его раны." A Russian officer ordered to the others.