129: 30,000 vs. 300, the advantage is mine

It was 3:00 AM, Australia official time.

In Alice Springs, a town in central Australia, the townspeople were in the midst of emergency deployment.

The weapons Huang Yanbing and his group obtained from the original occupying forces were enough to arm a force of about a thousand people, primarily infantry, with some heavy firepower including machine guns, artillery, a small number of armored vehicles, as well as armed helicopters and anti-aircraft weapons.

However, although Alice Springs had a population of over ten thousand, after excluding women, the elderly, and children, only about three thousand young and strong individuals were available for selection.

Among these 3,000 people, only about three hundred knew how to use a gun.

Moreover, most of them were familiar with shotguns and pistols.

This was fortunate that Australia was not a gun-control country, and the people in central Australia had many reasons to use guns; otherwise, not even three hundred people could have been selected.

The local police station in Alice Springs also had about 20 police officers capable of armed combat.

Huang Yanbing dispersed these 20 police officers and integrated them with the 300 ordinary townspeople, striving for each police officer to lead about 15 ordinary townspeople to form militia teams.

As for defense, there was not much to worry about.

The previous occupying forces, after many days of operation, had already constructed defensive fortifications and roadblocks at various entrances and strategic points of the town.

Around 3:30 AM, Huang Yanbing's people led over 300 militia warriors from Alice Springs to guard the various entrances of the town, standing by in full battle array.

Huang Yanbing had the 8 big guys disperse and hide in different locations throughout the town, so that when the American military broke in, the big guys could use the town's terrain to fight.

According to the instructions from above, the American military's target might be those 8 big guys, so it was not suitable for them to show up too early.

Around 4:00 AM, the U.S. Military Commander-in-Chief's headquarters mobilized over 30,000 troops, completely besieging Alice Springs.

30,000 against 300, and regular troops against militia.

This seemed to be a battle with no suspense whatsoever.

Even Commander-in-Chief Aris felt it was a bit of an overreaction.

Based on the United States' reconnaissance intelligence, he determined that the defending force in Alice Springs was only a little over 300, about the size of a battalion, and most of the defenders were ordinary residents who could not operate those armored vehicles, artillery, or helicopters. This battalion was almost equivalent to a pure infantry battalion.

He truly could not understand how the more than ten thousand residents in the town could have the courage to gather over 300 people to confront the U.S. Military's regular troops, thinking those 300 people were Spartans?

However, Aris did not want to attack directly but rather tried diplomacy before force.

He dispatched several drones to advance close to Alice Springs and used high-altitude loudspeakers to broadcast a message covering the town:

"To the residents of Alice Springs, we are the U.S. Military. We are not invaders but your allies... The People's Army has no ill intentions, but there are some enemies who could harm the People's Army hiding in your town. As long as you hand over those who are being sheltered, we will not attack the town. You just need to obey—"

Boom, boom, boom—

Three rifle grenades were fired from multiple hidden positions within the town, all hitting the drones. The drones exploded in mid-air, and the loudspeaker's propaganda ceased abruptly.

Aris was furious.

He believed that those who could skillfully use grenade launchers were not ordinary residents of Alice Springs, but rather the Anti-War Army squad that had infiltrated the town and created the current situation.

Damn it—

Aris immediately ordered: "Bombard, bombard Alice Springs—"

Staff officer: "Uh, Commander-in-Chief, indiscriminate shelling?"

Aris choked, then rephrased: "Of course not, indiscriminate attacks on residential areas are what terrorists do... Focus the bombardment on the hiding spots of those enemies who shot down our drones earlier, and at the same time, shell all the defensive structures at the entrances of Alice Springs. Then, send some shells into the town's streets to give the people inside a bit of a shock."

"Yes."

A few minutes later, the U.S. Military, with everything ready, unleashed a hundred cannons simultaneously.

Large numbers of shells followed their set trajectories, falling onto different locations in the town.

"Take cover—"

As soon as the equipment's air raid siren sounded, Huang Yanbing shouted on the combat channel, and everyone fighting from the defense lines quickly moved from the ground to underground.

It must be said, thanks again to the previous occupying forces. Although the occupying forces were only a thousand strong and occupied the area for only half a month, they had built many simple underground air raid shelters to withstand shelling.

Inside the air raid shelters, everyone covered their ears while feeling the rustling dust and debris falling from above.

Huang Yanbing and his group, being battle-hardened, were relatively fine, but the over 300 townspeople with them could not help but tremble with fear.

And the ten thousand men, women, and children hiding in buildings in the town were even more terrified.

They had previously been imprisoned by the occupying forces, their lives once uncertain. Now, they felt the piercing air raid sirens on the streets outside, the explosions of shells, the burning of vehicles, the shaking of the ground, the trembling of buildings, deeply perceiving the horror of war.

Some people wavered.

"Old John, why must we oppose the U.S. Military? I think they won't harm us; only those previous occupying forces harmed us. As long as we negotiate properly with the U.S. Military's divine soldiers—"

"Yes, yes, how could we possibly defeat the U.S. Military? We only have ten thousand civilians, 300 who can fight, and our weapons are not as advanced as theirs."

"Right, right, right, how can ordinary people fight against a large regular army—"

It must be said, these voices did not just suddenly appear but had been widely present before. However, due to the pressure from Huang Yanbing and his group, and the opinions of the pro-war populace, they had not been able to gain momentum.

The shelling continued for over ten minutes before gradually ceasing.

Aris, based on reconnaissance, found that most of the town's defensive structures and heavy equipment had been severely damaged or destroyed.

Even the streets were riddled with potholes, and things were burning everywhere, leaving Alice Springs in ruins.

He dispatched an armed helicopter to approach the town again, shouting a surrender plea from above.

This time, the defending side did not fire at the helicopter.

Then, as Aris had expected, a quarter of an hour later, the first batch of ordinary citizens finally emerged in large numbers from various buildings. They waved white objects in their hands, shouting something at the helicopter in the sky.

Hahaha, some are surrendering!