Chapter 1953: Defending the City Battle

The French commander saw the Resistance Army appear, and a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes.

But they did not strike at the first opportunity.

The Resistance Army was still a great distance away; revealing their position now would mean losing the ability to launch a preemptive strike.

The best choice was to wait for the Resistance Army to approach and then strike rapidly.

The Resistance Army marched very cautiously, but this did not arouse the French commander's suspicion; any smart commander knew that being a little cautious never hurt.

Even for the vanguard, they would scout the surrounding environment thoroughly.

It was best to be careful, after all, no one had a Method to guarantee that these places were truly without any issues.

The vanguard might not be able to scout every single place thoroughly.

The Resistance Army's march was slow, but now they had entered their firing range!

The French commander narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the Resistance Army troops, whispering to himself: "Wait, wait a little longer!"

Now was not yet the best time to attack.

If they only wanted to rout the Resistance Army troops, this attack distance would have been sufficient.

But the goal of this battle for them was to wipe out the Resistance Army troops in one fell swoop, not simply to rout them.

If they routed them and the Resistance Army retreated into the jungle, all the effort they had made would be in vain!

Just at this moment, the French commander suddenly saw the Resistance Army troops crouch down and set up their firearms, and the place their muzzles were aimed at was their own direction.

The French commander's face changed drastically!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Resistance Army led by Li He struck first; they wanted to cripple and disable the French troops in the very first moment!

Li He adopted a crushing tactic, with five thousand soldiers lined up in two curved formations, launching a fierce attack against the French troops' ambush site.

Such an attack soon produced results.

Although it was an ambush, the French troops had lost the opportunity to strike first.

They had completely lost the initiative in this battle; under such circumstances, the French troops had no Method to achieve corresponding combat results.

After encountering the Resistance Army's attack, blood mist suddenly erupted on the Grassland.

The French troops immediately fought back; although their preparations were sufficiently thorough, this time it had no effect.

The Resistance Army launched a fierce attack after gaining the initiative.

Their French troops were beaten to the point of having no ability to fight back at all.

The French commander was even more dumbfounded; he had no idea what was going on, or why the Resistance Army could know their ambush location.

But now was not the time to dwell on this; the urgent priority now was to resolve this battle.

Under such an intensive attack, their troops had already suffered heavy casualties; talking about annihilating the Resistance Army now was just wishful thinking.

There were only two paths before the French commander to choose from.

One was to fight the Resistance Army to the bitter end, but they had already lost the initiative in this battle, and continuing to fight would mean too many casualties for them; such losses were not something he could accept.

The other was to choose to retreat temporarily, preserve their strength, and continue waiting for an opportunity on this Grassland.

To fight an annihilation battle against the Resistance Army again.

The French commander hardly thought about it and naturally chose the latter.

"Retreat!"

"Retreat!"

The ambushing French Soldier units retreated while fighting.

Trying their best to minimize casualties.

Regarding the French troops' retreat, the Resistance Army did not choose to pursue.

Li He's initial war objective was to rout the French troops blocking them and let them temporarily disengage from the war.

The area of the Grassland behind the Great Dividing Range was extremely vast.

As long as they won this battle,

and could gain a firm foothold, then the subsequent operations would be much simpler for them.

The French troops retreated in an orderly fashion, and they did not pursue.

This small-scale ambush battle ended with their victory.

This battle was not considered a fierce fight for them, because they had gained the initiative, and their attack had gone very smoothly.

Their casualties were also not large.

But everyone in the Resistance Army knew that this journey would not be very simple; the French troops had already discovered their itinerary.

If this unit was not wiped out, it meant that during their future march,

they would not even be able to sleep peacefully.

After thinking of this, the faces of the Resistance Army soldiers all showed a bit more vigilance.

Li He naturally also knew the crisis they were about to face.

Marching on such a vast Grassland without any cover made it very easy to expose their marching route.

Moreover, this was a Grassland that almost no one stepped on, and the resources on it were not as abundant as in the jungle.

The food they had brought with them was already running low.

But they still did not know how much longer they would have to travel.

The gunpowder they carried was also not much, and the disadvantage of cold weapons on the Grassland was very significant.

If they encountered French troops again, they might be routed by the French troops based on weaponry alone.

What they were about to face next was an even more difficult journey!

Meanwhile, at another part of the battlefield.

"General, the number of refugees gathering beneath the city walls is growing; many inside the city are their kin. If this continues, I fear something will go wrong."

Old General Li frowned deeply; the situation inside their city was not good either.

Because it was a defensive siege, they had not gone outside the city to fight the French Soldier.

They kept the city gates tightly shut, and the French troops relied on the refugees to blockade Xini Cheng, which resulted in the city losing outside supplies and resources inside the city becoming highly strained.

Now, the city has already begun to implement a rationing system.

"If we let the refugees in now, our Inner City of Sydney will also completely collapse."

"Do you think we have enough food inside the city?"

That staff officer did not continue speaking; their food was already highly strained, let alone if the refugees were to enter.

Once the refugees entered, resources would become even more impossibly strained.

Old General Li looked at the map and pondered for a moment: "Do this: organize a small unit, mix them into the refugees, and have them try to seize food from the French troops."

"Head to Sydney Port!"

"These refugees were created by the French troops in the first place; they should be the ones to bear this bitter fruit."

The staff officer said again: "Those immigrants fear them more than they fear us."

"Then put weapons in their hands and give them the ability to resist!"

The staff officer looked at the murderous intent revealed in Old General Li's eyes, which made him feel terrified.

To him, the current Old General Li seemed like a person without emotions.

If those refugees had weapons in their hands, they would definitely riot.

"If those refugees riot, we will also suffer, General!"

Old General Li snorted coldly and said: "However, we have no grain, but the French troops do. It is not difficult to let these immigrants know this reality!"

"If you see a group of starving, crazed refugees with weapons in their hands, facing the French troops who plundered their food and property, what do you think they will do?"

"They will tear the French troops to shreds!"

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