Chapter 139: The Limit of Persistence
Li Kexi was shocked at first when he saw the Challenger tank and another war machine he didn't recognize.
He really didn't expect to see this kind of thing here.
He had thought about buying a Challenger tank, especially after he joined the Beast Slayer Group. If he had such a tank as the core of the battle, with a large number of infantry troops beside him and a cannon to provide support at any time, the battle would be much easier.
Unfortunately, whether or not you can afford it is one thing, the key is that there is no channel to buy it.
Not to mention the tank next to it. Although there was no cannon on it, the double-barreled machine gun was not something to be underestimated.
When these two fired together, the effect was amazing.
A tank shell exploded among the green-skinned orcs, killing at least three of them; and even more terrifying was the attack from the machine gun on the infantry fighting vehicle and the coaxial machine gun that didn't look like a machine gun at all.
The 40mm caliber machine gun can cause fatal damage to the greenskins; that strange coaxial machine gun that explodes when fired can still explode inside the enemy's body after hitting it with one shot, ensuring that a greenskin can be killed.
Under the crazy shooting, six or seven greenskins were killed on the road in one round.
In this round of firepower, together with those killed by the infantry squad in front, a total of fifteen green-skinned orcs were killed.
It turns out that orcs are not really brainless. They only know to charge forward when they encounter a battle. On the contrary, their wisdom in fighting - or instinct - is extremely outstanding.
They knew that if they continued to charge forward under this level of firepower, even if they all died on the road, they would never be able to make it through the last twenty or thirty meters.
They scattered to the surroundings and urgently found cover. One guy even popped his head out and fired a shot at the infantry squad, which actually hit the soldier and broke the left arm of a soldier.
Someone helped to apply a simple bandage with medical gauze - the main thing was to apply pressure to block the wound and minimize blood loss, and then the other two people tried to retreat with the injured.
The remaining seven people were not in a hurry to attack - they just waited for the tanks and armored vehicles behind them to come up.
After clearing this wave of enemies, they will continue to move forward. When they encounter the enemy again, they will stop and fight, trying to destroy the enemy. If they cannot destroy the enemy, they will preserve their manpower and tanks and armored vehicles will come up again immediately.
Infantry-tank coordination is not simply about the armored team being in the front and the infantry following behind using tanks or armored vehicles as cover. That is a very low-level approach.
In fact, when conducting an assault in an area with wide terrain and fewer obstacles, the armored forces can be in the front, and the infantry can follow up and attack within a few dozen meters behind.
But at this moment, here, in the battle in the ruins of the city, it is usually necessary for the infantry to fight in the front, and the armored forces to cover the infantry's advance with firepower behind them, and use the infantry's close combat advantages to eliminate the enemy one by one.
If the armored forces are in the front, the terrain and enemy situation are complex. Who knows what kind of enemy will pop up from where and what weapons they will use to threaten the armored vehicles?
For example, enemy infantry in ambush or hiding could use weapons such as explosive packs and anti-tank rocket launchers to deliver severe attacks to tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.
Of course, Li Kexi didn't quite understand these so-called infantry-tank coordinated tactics. He only knew that the seemingly large group of green-skinned orcs had no chance of turning the tables and would inevitably be wiped out.
Compared with this tactical system of coordinated operations of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and infantry, Li Kexi actually envies the tanks and armored vehicles themselves more.
Their entire beast-killing regiment, with 6,000 to 7,000 people, could not muster a single tank; while their infantry squad's offensive tactics involved the coordination of tanks and armored vehicles...
We are all human beings, why is there such a huge difference? !
Tactics and the like can be practiced; as for equipment, if they say you don’t have it, then you really don’t have it, there’s nothing you can do about it.
…
Perbov was not in a very good mood.
He has already received several reports of damage.
According to the previous plan, there were about twenty infantry and tank coordinated assault groups, attacking in waves and only controlling a battlefield area of about three or four kilometers wide.
He asked the front-line combat troops to advance two kilometers to the front, in order to deal a head-on blow to the green-skinned orcs who were still rushing in.
Perbov's troops did succeed in achieving their intended goal, and during the two-kilometer advance, at least 300 green-skinned orcs were destroyed by the firepower of the infantry and armored forces.
However, his troops also suffered some damage in the process.
Two tanks were destroyed, three armored vehicles were written off, and more than 50 soldiers were killed or injured... This was enough to make him heartbroken.
Moreover, this level of casualties will indeed affect the combat effectiveness of the entire battalion.
The biggest loss was that an assault team was almost wiped out.
Perbov saw the verbal summary of the wounded soldiers after they retreated, claiming that they were ambushed by green-skinned orcs while marching.
The greenskins were very cunning and hid in the ruins of the building, avoiding the infantry's search range. Then, they launched an attack at the same time, and when they were discovered, they were already 60 to 70 meters away.
These orcs tactically divided themselves into four formations and attacked the infantry in front and the armored forces in the rear from both sides at the same time.
Suddenly entering into close range, the infantry squad suffered a great loss in the exchange of fire. They shot and killed four or five people at close range. But they were also shot at close range by the greenskins. The crude firearms in their hands could make a soldier lose his combat capability with one shot. Even if it hit the bulletproof vest, it might not necessarily kill him, but it would not be a problem to break his ribs and cause internal damage, thus greatly reducing his combat capability.
What’s even more terrifying is that those greenskins love to use shotguns, and the flying marbles can sometimes break their limbs.
In the close-range combat, the soldiers suffered heavy casualties.
Later, the greenskins brought them into the realm of cold weapon combat. Although the G9 rifle was equipped with a bayonet and could be considered a useful long-handled weapon, it was still no match for the greenskins.
More importantly, they could not get any fire support from the armored forces for a while.
The armored forces can hardly protect themselves.
Twenty or so green-skinned orcs, taking advantage of the protection of obstacles and bunkers, approached the vehicle from the side, and kept moving as the muzzles and machine guns' firing angles turned, forcing the vehicle to be unable to fully utilize its firepower advantage.
Although a considerable number of greenskins died on the way to the charge, and two were killed by the protective infantry accompanying the armored forces, there were still seven or eight that approached.
They used shotguns to eliminate the accompanying infantry and placed explosive packs on the sides of the tanks' tracks and the armor on the sides and rear, treating the armored vehicles in the same way.
These explosive packs destroyed a tank and an armored vehicle.
If the squad leader who was ambushed had not sent out a distress signal immediately, and if there happened to be a team a few hundred meters away who came to support them immediately, they might have really been wiped out.
But despite this, they still suffered heavy losses.
Only six of the more than twenty infantrymen survived, the tank was destroyed, and only one of the two infantry fighting vehicles remained.
A warning bell went off in Perbov’s head.
The enemies we face this time are definitely not as easy to deal with as the robbers.
Although these green-skinned orcs only have light weapons or even cold weapons, they can only destroy armored forces by using rather backward and primitive methods such as installing explosive packs with human flesh, and it seems that these greenskins also seriously lack long-range ammunition.
But with their beastly physical qualities, their incredibly strong close-range combat abilities, and their fearlessness of death...
Even though his troops had a firepower advantage far exceeding that of the enemy, they still could not avoid losses in the battle.
In total, since the defense of Xingcheng was launched, Perbov's First Battalion had lost two tanks (one of which broke down on the road and had not yet been repaired), two armored vehicles, and nearly a hundred casualties.
This means that his troops have lost more than 10%.
The battle against the greenskins is bound to be extremely arduous, but there have been so many casualties at the very beginning... What about next?
I dare not even think about it!
But soon, he suppressed this uneasy thought.
The battle must go on.
The troops that set out in front had already pushed the front line two kilometers as planned, and eliminated a large number of greenskins. At the same time, due to their decisive forward pressure, a large number of greenskins that were originally in an offensive posture had to retreat.
I have to say again that these greenskins are wild, warlike, bloodthirsty, and easily impulsive, but they are not without wisdom. On the contrary, they are quite cunning and pragmatic in combat.
After realizing that they would be at a disadvantage and suffer heavy losses in a flat ground battle against armored vehicles, the greenskins stopped recklessly fighting with their flesh and blood.
This was a bit of a pity for Perbov, otherwise the number of greenskin heads he captured might have been more than just over 300.
The greenskins who retreated began to build simple fortifications, or simply relied on the ruins to defend themselves on the spot.
It will become very difficult for the armored combined forces to continue advancing. It is foreseeable that if they push back further, not only will the results of the battle drop sharply, but their own losses will also be great. It is possible that they will be outnumbered by 1:2 or 1:1.
Perbov doesn't have enough manpower to fight against these greenskins.
Once you have achieved your intended goal, there is no need to push forward any further.
The frontline combat troops began to defend on the spot, also relying on the ruins, and built firepower points and fortifications at key locations. Compared with those greenskins, his troops had an advantage in that the defensive positions they established had armored vehicles and tanks in the rear for mobile support. If those greenskins dared to come out and attack the positions, the tank guns, machine guns, and explosive machine guns would teach them a lesson.
The two sides then entered a stage of confrontation.
If it remained that way, Perbov would be able to accept it.
He had already discussed the objectives of this operation with the battalion's political commissar, several staff officers, and adjutants.
They couldn't turn the whole corrupt situation around with just one battalion of troops. What they had to do was stabilize the front, become the mainstay, plug the gap, and stop the overall collapse.
As long as we can maintain the battle until the Governor arrives, we will be considered a success.
But those greenskins don't seem to be willing to give up, they still want to continue thinking about breaking through human defenses.
But this time, Pobov was not polite to them.
Twelve kilometers away from the front line, the 155mm howitzer position has been completed. It is not the breakthrough stage, and a large number of adventurers have retreated from the front line to regroup. There is no need to worry about accidental injuries. Our troops have also transmitted the firing parameters of the front line back.
Without saying anything, he fired five rounds of artillery fire.
Sixty heavy artillery shells landed on the attack route of the green-skinned orcs in less than ten minutes, with the nearest shell even less than a hundred meters away from the front-line soldiers.
It was difficult to find out the exact number of casualties caused by these five rounds of bombardment beyond the front line, but a rough estimate would indicate that the casualties suffered by the green-skinned orcs were probably greater than those caused by the tanks, armored vehicles and infantry combined.
After losing another three or four hundred greenskin orcs, the greenskins attacking the fifth area basically lost 20% of their manpower.
After five rounds of artillery fire, the attack that the green-skinned orcs had been accumulating strength to launch was put to an end, and they finally stopped.
Of course, a 20% loss was not more than the upper limit that the green-skinned orcs could bear. But casualties had to be meaningful. To bite the bullet and attack a layered defensive position with heavy artillery was not a question of bravery, but a question of stupidity.
Greenskins are by no means stupid when it comes to fighting.
Moreover, the greenskins didn't have to fight to the death. The battle area that the First Battalion was defending was only five or six kilometers wide at most. But the width of the battle line from the entire tower ruins to the garbage town was probably more than sixty kilometers, covering the entire tower area and the surrounding suburbs. There was a lot of battle line width for penetration and encirclement.
If you can't chew it, just give up and fight somewhere else.
Perbov also understood this.
The scale of this war was that a team of nearly 100,000 adventurers and armed scavengers was fighting against a group of about 10,000 to 20,000 green-skinned orcs. An 800-man synthetic battalion, no matter how well-equipped it was, was like a heavy weight that could affect the balance of the scales.
But this is the highest level we can reach. We cannot expect a battalion to hold out for a 60-kilometer front.
It’s enough to be able to achieve the current results.
They killed a large number of greenskins and stabilized the defense line, resisting the peak of the greenskin orcs' assault force and buying time for reorganizing the follow-up troops.
Perbov has done what he can. The rest depends on how well Dennison Henry, Jason Swan and others can do.
Oh, yes, he also received information that the leader of a beast-slaughtering group was rescued by them.
We can also hope to see.
Perbov had an estimate of how long he could hold out: he could hold on until the artillery support company ran out of ammunition; if the pressure was too great and the 155mm howitzer ran out of shells, then there was no choice but to retreat.
If we don't withdraw, it would mean that our troops are trapped here in vain.
A 155mm howitzer weighs 60 kilograms. There are 12 guns. After just five rounds, three and a half tons of shells were fired. The logistics support company has three trucks, which are specially used to transport shells. Excluding the ones used in Sanchi Town, the remaining shells can fire thirty rounds at most.
This is the limit of perseverance.
(End of this chapter)
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