Mercenary's War

Chapter 2416 - 2392: Transparent

The attack on the Presidential Palace ended in failure. Yes, it ended in failure.Even though Satan had breached the Presidential Palace, rescued Lavagani, plundered Hadid’s Presidential Palace, and discovered Hadi’s hidden underground shelter, by dawn, the battle still ended in failure for the Houthis Armed Forces.

With the Iranians spearheading the advance, the Houthis Armed Forces blocking reinforcements, and Satan taking over the assault on the Presidential Palace, the battle seemed destined for victory. So, how did it fail? This starts with the combat effectiveness of both the Houthis Armed Forces and the Yemeni government forces.

The Houthis Armed Forces are truly a disorganized group. They have enough light weapons and sufficient courage, but they lack experience in large-scale operations.

Simply deploying tens of thousands and starting a fight doesn’t equate to large-scale combat. For example, deploying ten thousand men but dividing them into small independent groups without unified command is not a coordinated battle; it’s just a large-scale melee.

Deploying ten thousand men, orchestrating their movements like arms and legs, skillfully directing them based on battlefield conditions, directing them to specific points for precise strikes, immediately reinforcing breaches in enemy lines, and flexibly withdrawing them—that is a competent large-scale operation.

The prerequisite for the smooth execution of large-scale operations is a high-quality force, which the Houthis Armed Forces clearly lack.

The Houthis Armed Forces can only deploy large numbers without clear objectives, failing to coordinate systematically. This is inadequate.

The battle for the Presidential Palace was lost primarily because a point in the Houthis’ defensive line was breached, allowing government reinforcements into the Palace, leading to the collapse of the entire Houthi line.

This was a low-level battle, with Satan’s mission to rescue Lavagani being the only exception of quality.

In this battle, the Houthis mobilized over three thousand people to besiege the Presidential Palace and prevent enemy reinforcements. The Iranians launched a strong assault, but after various setbacks and Satan’s incursion and withdrawal from the Presidential Palace, the Iranians continued their assault on Hadi’s underground refuge, but his guards were formidable, and the Iranians couldn’t breach it.

Once the Houthis’ defensive line was breached, the battle was inevitably lost.

In fact, the government forces were even less effective. Though the Houthis demonstrated a certain resilience, the government forces had poor equipment, low training, and even worse morale; they lacked the fearlessness of the Houthis.

Therefore, the Houthis could besiege the Presidential Palace for most of the night, while the government reinforcements were delayed; not because they weren’t dispatched, but because they couldn’t break through.

After leading Satan and the Dagger Assault Team off the battlefield, not even half an hour later, Gao Yang received news of the Houthis’ defeat. Waiting a bit more, he learned of both sides’ casualties from the battle.

The Houthis lost seven men, the Iranians lost twenty-two, and the enemy lost about a hundred, mostly killed by Satan.

In a fierce battle involving thousands, fought overnight, with Iranian elite forces and mercenaries, leading to just over a hundred casualties on both sides, Gao Yang didn’t know what to say.

In the camp Gao Yang and his team had seized, Salim came to visit, discussing the overnight battle and voicing his frustrations.

"Just a bit closer, just a bit more, and we could have captured Hadi. But we couldn’t breach the door at the last moment. It’s truly regrettable. I’ve been thinking, if you hadn’t withdrawn from the fight and continued assaulting Hadi’s hideout, we might be celebrating victory now."

With regret on his face, Salim expressed, "Yes, just a little bit more. Too bad. But we wouldn’t attack Hadi’s underground refuge; we were too few, and that was the Iranians’ task."

"But they couldn’t do it..."

Gao Yang waved his hand, smiling, "No worries, failure is common; we’ll have more chances. Brother, don’t think I’m ungrateful, here’s a gift for you."

After this, Gao Yang stood up, pulled out an old Yemeni gun from behind his desk, and laughed, "I brought out two guns, one for you and one for Abdullah. Since you’re here, you can choose one."

Gao Yang didn’t want the two Yemeni hunting rifles seized from the Presidential Palace, using them as a guise to gift Salim, which, as a Yemeni, he should like.

Indeed, Salim was pleased, accepting the gun and nodding, "Thank you. About your group’s stash, I’ve informed Abdullah. It’s deserved, no one will say otherwise, thank you."

Graciously accepting Gao Yang’s gift, Salim mentioned there would be no problem with Satan looting the Presidential Palace but then quietly said, "As for the Dagger Assault Team’s spoils, how shall we put it, a portion has to be handed over. Otherwise, the unit will be hard to control. I came here to discuss this with you. Since you’re in command now, it doesn’t feel right to demand without consulting you."

Gao Yang smiled, "Absolutely, I’ll go with you to order them to turn over some spoils. But brother, not too much, leave them something. As long as they turn over enough to account for, that should suffice, don’t you think?"

Salim nodded, "Yes, that sounds good."

The battle was over, but matters remained. After directing Salim to Peter to talk with the Dagger Assault Team, Gao Yang quickly called Yarebin.

"Sir, about last night’s crucial and timely intelligence, can you tell me the source? Such intelligence couldn’t have been obtained by superficial observation."

Yarebin chuckled and said, "The intelligence was provided by Jim."

Since arriving in Sana’a, Gao Yang had yet to meet Krulney, now known as Jim, but since Jim was under Yarebin’s command, Gao Yang hadn’t inquired.

"So, you’re saying Jim is now embedded within the enemy?"

"The term ’enemy’ isn’t quite accurate, as in this place, you have neither enemies nor allies. Jim is beside Hadi, that’s correct, I had Jim placed there."