Chapter 290: Operation Flash Tail Victory
"Who are you? Which unit are you from?"
"Gorky Dimitraugh, sergeant, from the 3rd Company, 2nd Regiment, 3rd Brigade."
"Shouldn't this be the 9th Company's position? Where are the others from your 3rd Company?"
"All of them are from the 9th Company... our 3rd Company died over there."
"…I'm sorry we're late, but we will avenge you."
"If you can, please take me with you."
…
Major Rawl Deliu felt a little embarrassed when faced with the request of his comrade.
He is the battalion commander of the 5th Combined Battalion of the 47th Brigade, and the troops he leads are carrying out a encirclement mission.
Compared with the troops that participated in the battle before, the intelligence he now obtained was relatively complete.
They broke through from the south, bypassed the 47th Brigade's defense line, and attacked the Alliance Army's mechanized corps advancing along the West Desert Highway. The total number may be around 15,000.
They are fully equipped with all kinds of equipment, strong armor, and have a large number of mechanized self-propelled artillery accompanying the attack.
Their attack caused considerable losses to the Union troops advancing along the avenue.
But the alliance's army also responded quickly. Not only did they launch a counterattack, they also planned to deploy troops and fight a siege.
If you dare to attack us, no one will be able to escape.
The troops of the Wind-extinguishing Brigade and the Beast-slaughtering Brigade executed the first wave of strategies. The heavy artillery and armored units were deployed to the front-line battle. The 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Beast-slaughtering Brigade split off many companies and moved to the south of the mechanical army, intending to completely surround them.
However, things quickly went wrong.
The companies of the 2nd Regiment should establish many point-shaped defensive positions, and the distance between them should not be too far. The orders given to each unit are generally to reach the predetermined target within 2 hours and start building positions. In addition to these 2 hours, the Alliance Staff estimated that they would have at least half a day to a day to reinforce the positions.
Major Deliu's troops came to participate in the encirclement.
If the encirclement plan goes well, they will launch a fierce attack on the Mechanical Legion from the south, forming a two-pronged attack on the enemy with the Wind-Extinguishing Brigade in the north; if the encirclement plan does not go well, they can also help the 2nd Regiment of the Beast-Slaying Brigade to block the Mechanical Legion's escape route to the south.
But this elite mechanical army reacted much faster than expected.
Those iron men realized that something was wrong, so they quickly sent out vanguard troops to ensure that the route to retreat south was safe.
This was normal, but what was abnormal was that the number of the vanguard troops they sent out far exceeded the initial estimate of the General Staff. They even transferred a considerable portion of the heavy artillery that was originally supporting the front battlefield to attack the infantry companies that were flanking from behind.
This time, the troops of the 2nd Regiment of the Beast Slaughter Brigade suffered heavy losses.
The experiences of the 3rd and 9th companies are a microcosm of this problem.
They were not the only ones who had problems. Several other companies' positions were attacked fiercely and suffered varying degrees of losses.
However, the 3rd and 9th companies were the two worst-hit companies, and almost all of their troops were wiped out.
Major Deliou felt deeply ashamed.
When his troops arrived here, those mechanical monsters were launching their last wave of attacks. They had already scouted the battle situation here in advance. The artillery company in the synthetic battalion launched artillery fire and fired at the enemy. The two fastest mechanized infantry companies drove over the desert.
But they were still a step too slow. By the time their artillery fire was unleashed, the enemy was already carrying out their final wave of attacks; by the time the Wanderer armored vehicles arrived, the enemies, realizing that they could not successfully break through, retreated like a tide.
In the position, they only found one survivor - a sergeant from the 3rd Company of the 2nd Regiment of the Beast Slaughter Brigade, who was fighting in the position of the 9th Company.
Faced with the sergeant's request to join them, Major Deliu was embarrassed and finally chose to refuse.
What he said was that it was against the rules and that Sergeant Dimitraud should report to his own unit and inform his superiors of what happened here.
But... actually, the more important reason is...
Guilt.
In addition to the guilt for arriving late, there is a more core element: the 47th Brigade, which was supposed to guard the south and block the enemy from the south, let in such a large wave of mechanical legions, and they obviously made a big mistake.
Regardless of whether it was a mistake or a problem with their ability, it was ultimately because they did not do the job well that the brother unit in the middle was suddenly attacked and had to defend its position despite such a huge numerical gap.
The troops to which Deliu belonged went north to participate in the encirclement, which was a way to close the stable door after the sheep had been lost.
Perhaps, for the overall situation of the war, their action to the north was not "too late"; but for the 3rd and 9th companies, it was "too late".
In this situation, how could he have the nerve to let Dimitrao follow him?
If the only remaining member of the two companies also died in the subsequent battle, he would feel guilty until death.
After seeing the situation at the 9th Company's position, the soldiers of the 475th Battalion had a similar mentality to that of their commander.
They were filled with shame and were burning with anger.
The only way to wash away the shame is to use the remains of the enemy!
After bidding farewell to Dimitra, the 900 soldiers of the 475th Battalion continued to move north.
Three hours later, they received an order from headquarters to launch an attack on the enemy.
So, the Lion tanks, the Walker tanks, and the 155mm towed artillery poured the soldiers' anger on the heads of those mechanical monsters. They had to wash away the shame in this way.
On the flat battlefield, the armored forces deployed in a huge force. The artillery had stopped far away, and 12 heavy artillery began to fire in the direction of the armored forces' attack. Almost 100 shells were fired every two minutes. The 475th Battalion's artillery reserves were enough to keep the battle going for 20 minutes.
After the artillery fire, the Lion tank was at the forefront, the tank gun fired continuously, and the equipped coaxial machine gun fired crazily.
Along with the tanks, there are also infantry fighting vehicles charging. The machine guns on them cannot penetrate the armor of the opposing tanks, but they are deadly to other units. The machine guns equipped on them can raise the elevation angle to attack flying drones. Not to mention, there are also several anti-aircraft vehicles mixed in, with special anti-aircraft machine guns and equipped with fire control systems, which are more effective in attacking drones.
The enemy's defenses in the south were obviously not very deep. The troops holding the line seemed to be the mechanized troops that attacked the 9th Company's position, but suffered more than one-third casualties and lost most of their Challenger tanks.
They were completely defenseless under the retaliatory counterattack of the 475th Battalion. After being bombarded by artillery and charged by the armored forces, the entire defense line was penetrated. Then the infantry on top cleared out the remaining enemies, and the entire battle situation was completely tilted to Major Deliou's side without any resistance.
The troops then continued forward and discovered the enemy's main artillery position.
There, there are at least hundreds of self-propelled artillery pieces, with their muzzles facing north.
This artillery position has been stabbed in the ass by the armored force. What is the outcome?
The entire unmanned self-propelled artillery position was completely dismantled within half an hour, and not a single self-propelled artillery escaped.
…
At the Alliance Field Command Post, more than a dozen officers gathered here.
They had just received the latest intelligence that the battle in the front had basically ended. The Alliance Army had naturally won the final victory. The mechanical army that broke through from the southern front and attacked the West Desert Avenue had been wiped out.
Fifteen thousand mechanical units of various types were all destroyed here.
The outcome has been decided.
This "big picture" does not only refer to the current battle, but also includes the entire "Flash Tail Operation".
According to the alliance's reconnaissance intelligence, Blackbird Heavy Industries' last mobile force that can be assembled and mobilized on the entire defense line is already here.
This certainly does not mean that the loss of more than 15,000 mechanical units is a major setback for Blackbird Heavy Industry. However, the 400,000 units of troops deployed by Blackbird on the front line are also scattered over a battle line of thousands of kilometers and are spread out quite thinly.
When the Alliance found a spot and launched the "Flash Tail" operation, and after three days they created a huge salient 300 kilometers away, this was all the troops that Blackbird could mobilize in the surrounding area in a short period of time.
There were other troops, of course, elsewhere on the front line or in the rear, but they couldn't fly over, and there were no more here.
With these 15,000 enemies destroyed, Blackbird no longer had the ability to deploy troops in a short period of time. This meant that the huge salient of nearly 300 kilometers created by the Wind-Quening Brigade, the Beast-Slaughtering Brigade, the 47th Brigade, and the 48th Brigade had been stabilized and no longer posed any other threat.
Under their attack, their target, the enemy's logistics distribution base with the "Scorpion Oasis" as its core, has been completely exposed.
It is estimated that in no more than three days, they will achieve their intended combat objective: completely destroying the enemy's logistics support base.
Ammunition, batteries, fuel... If these are destroyed, the enemy's army composed of purely mechanical units will face greater and more unsolvable difficulties than the human army.
The human army had no vehicles or food, but they could still run with their own legs, guns and cannons, and they could hold on for two or three days with their rations and water bottles. Although that would be a test of morale and the soldiers' tenacity, there was always a way.
But mechanical troops are different. Without batteries and fuel, they are gone. They are grounded and cannot move at all.
At the end of the Flash Tail operation, after they have dealt with the enemy's logistics center, they will have some more actions to block the enemy's retreat and clear the enemy's supply routes from the rear areas. Other brother units on the entire front will launch an attack, not to destroy the enemy, but to bite and consume them.
According to estimates, if they spend another three days, all the mechanical troops that have not been able to withdraw in time will never be able to withdraw. The human troops will then be able to easily capture countless immobilized mechanical units on the road and destroy them.
From this perspective, the significance of this flash tail operation is very significant. Now that the dawn of victory has come, it stands to reason that the atmosphere in this front-line command center should be very good.
But the opposite is true.
The dozen officers in the command post were all from the four brigades participating in the operation. They were either brigade commanders, brigade chiefs of staff, or brigade political commissars. They were all colonel-level officers, the lowest being a major, and most were lieutenant colonels.
Under normal circumstances, there would be many combat staff here.
They gathered here, under the eyes of the senior officers of the four brigades, working together to coordinate the joint actions of the four brigades.
Before, things here were busy and meticulous, with pieces of information being passed up one by one. After simple and efficient communication, orders would be passed down one by one.
Now that victory has come, all the ordinary staff officers have been driven out, leaving only the senior officers of each brigade.
The highest commander of the entire operation is undoubtedly the head of the Western Theater Command, Major General Yan Fangxu. However, he is not here, but sitting in the rear. After all, although the "Flash Tail Operation" is important, he still has to shoulder the command of more than 20 division-level units in the entire Western Theater Command and cannot go directly to the front line.
Therefore, under him as the supreme commander, a front-line commander was set up in each of the four brigades.
The person in charge is the highest-ranking officer in the current command post: Colonel Ruggie Likoshi.
There are actually two colonels here, and the other one is Colonel Danny DeVillis of the Wind-Quieting Brigade. He succeeded Perbov to the position of Army Group Commander of the Black Arrow Expeditionary Force, and his qualifications are still relatively new.
In contrast, Colonel Li Kexi had much more experience. He was once a mercenary in Garbage Town and founded the "Beast Slaughter Group". When the Alliance took control of Garbage Town, he was one of the first to invest, which was considered "bringing capital into the company".
Later, the Alliance's 3rd Independent Regiment was established based on the former "Beast Slayer Regiment". With its solid combat record, it produced many heroes, the most famous of whom was the "King of Soldiers" Lacrosha. The Independent Regiment also regained the special number "Beast Slayer" based on its combat exploits and was upgraded to the Alliance's 3rd Beast Slayer Brigade.
During this process, Li Kexi's military rank was upgraded three times, from major to colonel. However, his position has always been the head of the Beast Slaughter Brigade. In this battle, he was appointed by General Yan Fangxu as the frontline commander, responsible for coordinating the cooperation of four brigade-level units. The other three brigades should respect his opinions and accept his dispatch.
In the previous collaboration, Li Kexi always maintained a calm attitude, said little, and made decisive decisions every time when there was a dispute.
Now that the battle was won, he could no longer hold back some of his emotions.
After driving out all the ordinary staff officers, he sat in the most core position and ranted for more than ten minutes.
Everyone silently endured the wrath of this senior colonel.
In this battle, the Beast Slaughter Brigade suffered the heaviest casualties.
The people he criticized most harshly were the three colonels of the 47th Brigade.
————
4k words, it’s still dark, so it’s still night (guilty
(End of this chapter)
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