Trench warfare had already reached a high degree of sophistication during World War I. Over a century later, modern trench warfare was still fought in the exact same WWI pattern.
Russia wasn't employing fighter jets or bombers, because Ukraine's air defense system wasn't just for show, and the Russian Air Force's performance since the war began had consistently been rather poor.
Ukraine didn't have fighter jets either, so both sides were essentially evenly matched in the air—neither side was using them.
Both sides possessed ground-to-ground missiles, but neither would use them in the trench warfare at Bakhmut, so this aspect was also a wash.
As for tanks and armored vehicles, both sides had laid massive numbers of anti-tank mines, and the Ukrainian army had dug its anti-tank trenches to perfection. So, when it actually came down to contesting the trenches, tanks and armored vehicles were useless.
The primary source of firepower was still artillery, exactly as it had been in WWI.
By 2022, the only change in trench warfare was the addition of drones.
Drones had indeed fundamentally transformed the nature of the Russia-Ukraine battlefield; one could even say they changed the paradigm of future warfare. Tanks had been born in World War I, became the king of land warfare in World War II, then failed to even last until World War III—having been dethroned during the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Russian military far outmassed the Ukrainian military, but Ukraine had NATO's support. Now both sides were desperately purchasing drones across the entire world, to the point where military-grade drones had all but vanished.
The main force on the battlefield now consisted of civilian drones, which could be put to use after some modification. But even so, drones remained extremely scarce for both sides.
Consumption was too high; production and procurement simply couldn't keep up with battlefield losses.
Whoever had more drones held the advantage. Currently, the Ukrainian army actually had more drones than the Russian army, because Ukraine had the support of the entire NATO alliance, while Russia was under sanctions. So, purely in terms of drones, the Ukrainian army currently held the advantage.
The drone situation was roughly a 30-70 split—thirty for the Russian army, seventy for the Ukrainian army.
But the Russian army held an absolute advantage in artillery. Russian firepower was at least ten times that of the Ukrainian army.
Drones could influence the battle, yet they couldn't decide it. The Russian army's artillery held an absolute advantage, but artillery couldn't completely destroy the Ukrainian trenches and fortifications.
Therefore, the trench warfare at Bakhmut was no different from WWI. In the end, it still came down to infantry seizing the positions.
Gao Fei only knew that this battle was massive—it should be a large-scale general offensive launched across the entire Bakhmut line. But as a lowly soldier, all he could see was the back of Glaski in front of him, as well as the trenches to his left and right reinforced with wooden planks and sandbags.
If the communication trenches leading from the forward positions to the main positions were already this sophisticated, Gao Fei didn't dare imagine how sophisticated and difficult to crack the Ukrainian main positions were.
Knowing how WWI trench warfare was fought meant knowing how to fight the trench warfare here. This was the advantage of being a military enthusiast. Even though Gao Fei had never fought before, he understood.
But the more he understood, the more desperate he became.
The trenches were laid out in at least three lines: the forward positions, the main positions, and the rear positions.
The trenches in the forward positions were simple—basically a single line, a jagged line. Machine gun positions extended forward, communication trenches extended backward, but overall, it was just a zigzagging line with no depth. Once breached, it could basically be captured.
But the main positions were different. They were also trenches, but with a front-to-back depth—or thickness—of several hundred meters.
The main positions contained maze-like trenches, underground command posts, reinforced concrete fortifications, ammunition depots, large numbers of machine gun positions, and mortar positions.
Behind the main positions, separated by several hundred meters to over a kilometer, were the rear positions. Even if the main positions were taken, enemy remnants could withdraw to the rear positions and immediately organize effective resistance.
If all three defensive lines could truly be captured in one breath, thoroughly clearing out the defenders, then Bakhmut could basically be declared taken, and the battle would be over.
The Battle of Bakhmut had begun in early August; it was now late October, approaching the three-month mark. The Ukrainians had ample time to perfect their final and most crucial defensive line.
The Redemption Battalion had fallen into bitter fighting after entering the Ukrainian main positions; they couldn't take the Ukrainian main positions.
If they were only one final push away, if committing the last of their troops could do it, then this battle might end in victory. Importantly, Gao Fei would then have a real chance of surviving.
But if what was happening now was a brutal war of attrition, then Gao Fei couldn't even allow himself the luxury of hoping to survive.
The mainstream view held that indoor combat was the most difficult, and urban warfare had the highest casualty rate. But compared to trench warfare, both indoor combat and urban warfare could step aside.
Trench warfare combined the difficulty of indoor and urban combat, but added heavy firepower from artillery, plus aerial strikes from drones that were essentially impossible to guard against.
In this new model of trench warfare, survival depended solely on luck—pure luck.
This was why the more one understood, the more desperate one became.
"Entering the main positions up ahead!"
Shokhlov's walkie-talkie crackled—it was someone from the assault platoon notifying the rear. And as the squad leader equipped with a walkie-talkie, Shokhlov had to relay this information to his squad.
Actually, everyone in Gao Fei's group had walkie-talkies now, but there was no need to turn them on when moving in such dense formations.
The communication trench turned, and four continuous trenches appeared ahead.
It really was like a maze. The trenches looked exactly the same, the same width, only differing in direction. It was hard to judge which way to go.
Which trench had been captured by friendly forces from the Redemption Battalion, which trench was still in enemy hands, which trench had originally been in friendly hands but had since been recaptured by the enemy in a counterattack, and which trench simply couldn't be taken and needed people like Gao Fei to serve as the final straw to break the enemy—all of this required the platoon leader to judge and decide in this very moment.
As a lowly soldier, Gao Fei couldn't possibly know the battlefield situation, nor was he qualified to know.
The platoon leader was definitely in communication with company command; he should know the situation in the direction they were to attack. But that was as far as it went. As a platoon leader, he likewise wasn't qualified to know the overall battlefield situation.
To put it crudely and realistically, if he knew the battle ahead was going badly, what was to stop the platoon leader from turning around and running with his men?
If every lowly soldier knew the battle they faced was extremely brutal and bloody, how many would still dare to advance?
Fighting to the end even knowing survival was a one-in-ten chance, or not retreating even in the face of certain death—this required an army with faith.
But Wagner was a mercenary army, and the Redemption Battalion went without saying. This army had no shortage of brave men, but talk of faith was pure nonsense.
If he had a choice, Gao Fei would definitely turn around and leave.
Unfortunately, he had no choice now. Knowing full well that ahead lay a mountain of blades and a sea of flames, Gao Fei could only steel himself and press forward.
The squad leader raised his hand, signaling to halt. They moved into a side trench to make way for the troops behind, stopping temporarily to await the platoon leader's orders.
The platoon leader came up. He stopped at the transportation hub connecting the forward positions to the main positions, awaiting orders from the company commander.
The gunfire was already extremely intense; it was impossible to hear what the platoon leader was saying.
Soon, the platoon leader began waving his hand, and then his voice started coming through Shokhlov's walkie-talkie.
"Follow me!"
The platoon leader didn't say much. He chose a trench and ran into it at the head of his men; the assault platoon followed behind him.
The First Squad leader waved, so Gao Fei's squad closely followed the assault platoon into the trench chosen by the platoon leader.
Gao Fei couldn't help asking, "Don't we have drones?"
The gunfire was intense, but Glaski in front of Gao Fei heard him. He shouted, "We do, but only at the company level. We have reconnaissance drones. Company command will tell the platoon leader what position to reach."
Wagner's command system was still somewhat backward.
The terrain was complex, with many trenches. If drones could provide an aerial view, it would be easy to make judgments. But the assault platoon didn't have its own drones, so the platoon leader could only advance according to company command's guidance.
But on the Ukrainian side, drones could be allocated down to at least the squad level; some elite units could deploy drones down to the fireteam level.
"When I have money, I'll get my own drone!"
The formation had inevitably become much denser. If a shell landed now, or if an enemy drone appeared, it would cause massive casualties. But fortunately, the dense formation didn't last long.
Gao Fei estimated they had advanced at most one hundred meters in a straight line. When they once again reached a hub where several trenches converged up ahead, the platoon leader stopped again.
"First Squad! Advance about fifty meters to the right. After spotting our white markings, enter. Friendly forces are fighting ahead. Your mission is to coordinate with friendly forces from the Redemption Battalion to eliminate enemy remnants as quickly as possible."
At last, they were splitting up here. Committing the entire platoon to combat was clearly too large a formation; from here on, they would enter and fight dispersed by squad.
The First Squad leader shouted, "First Squad, follow me!"
Right then, Gao Fei heard a voice.
The gunfire was too intense; to make yourself heard, you had to shout.
"I'm looking for First Squad, Second Platoon, Third Company of the Redemption Battalion! Tell me their position, please tell me their position!"
The one shouting was Andrei. He didn't want to fight with the assault platoon; he really was just passing through.
But having gotten here, it wasn't easy for Andrei to find his unit and rejoin it, because he had no idea where his squad was.
Wandering around alone on a battlefield like this wasn't courting death; it was straight-up suicide.
The platoon leader had no intention of dealing with Andrei. He casually pointed in the direction Gao Fei and the others were heading, then continued shouting into the walkie-talkie, "Second Squad! Advance about one hundred meters to my left position. Turn right at the second passage to enter the position..."
It was too difficult. Trench warfare was too difficult.
The First Squad leader got up and walked at the very front. Gao Fei and the others followed. The twelve of them ran swiftly toward the trench designated by the platoon leader.
At the corner of the trench, an irregular circle had been spray-painted white—a marker for complex terrain.
The white circle meant: entered, but not yet taken.