Chapter 331: Mountain cannon is also a cannon?
The war on Black Arrow Star has not subsided at all because of Gu Hang's departure.
The coalition forces established by the new King's Parliament now have 500,000 troops deployed on the front line of the battlefield.
This is almost the limit of the troops that can be provided now.
It is not the limit of each country.
At present, there are eleven countries that have joined the new King's Council, with a total population of 120 million. It is not necessary to withdraw 500,000 people from the regular army and the reserve forces and then run out of energy.
But this was the limit of the new King's Council.
This new organization was originally established under the military threat of the Angry Owl Star Army. Stefano was defeated in forty days, which led to the surrender of the Iron Curtain Queen. The nine surrounding countries also surrendered together because of this military deterrence, and thus the new King's Council was established.
Its foundation is quite unstable.
An alliance based on military strength cannot face any military danger.
If the alliance's army could not maintain its momentum, the kings would become suspicious; if the alliance's army suffered a major defeat, they would probably turn against it immediately.
Even the conquered Stefano was no exception. This martial country now relied on the suppression of the Iron Curtain Queen to turn to the Alliance, but there were still remnants of the defeated army secretly entrenched in various places. They dared not act rashly now, and stayed in their places honestly. Even when they were being cleared out, they might not dare to get angry and might just obey directly.
However, as long as the alliance suffers a major military defeat, the warlords, kings, and lords who are now as obedient as dogs will probably rise up immediately.
After all, being a dog for the alliance is a matter of life and death, as you cannot defeat them and yet you want to survive. If there is a chance, who wouldn’t want to be his own feudal lord?
In this situation, we cannot withdraw too many troops, otherwise they will question whether the alliance’s military strength is sufficient. Why do we still want our people to fight?
Moreover, the credibility of these vassal armies was also questionable, and the feudal states were inextricably linked due to marriages between nobles and exchanges of interests. It was possible that a knight, an earl, or a general would turn against the enemy in the middle of a battle.
In fact, Perbov did not dare to entrust the key positions of the defense line and the important logistical lifeline to these vassal troops.
If anything goes wrong, it will be a disaster.
However, with 500,000 vassal troops, Perbov had much more military force at hand.
Although, when facing three million enemy troops, he couldn't make the offensive too large, and couldn't launch a full-scale attack on a front of several hundred kilometers. But he finally had enough troops to draw elite troops from the alliance, form a fist, and carry out key assaults on individual fronts.
And he just adopted the tactics that he announced to change when he reported to Governor Gu Hang.
He no longer cared about important strategic points or landmark towns of great political significance, but relied on the powerful breakthrough capabilities of the armored forces and the excellent mobility of the motorized forces. When necessary, when faced with some difficult-to-conquer nodes, he could also call on the assistance of the Space Marines...
Using these means, Perbov fought three brilliant annihilation battles in the past four months.
Two of them were active attacks. He used a pincer attack to break through on both sides of the battle line, which was about 80 kilometers wide, and blocked the retreat of the Kingdom Army in the middle that had no time to retreat.
The next step was to cut off supply lines, cut off reinforcements, prevent a breakout, and carry out a long-term bombardment of the surrounded enemy with heavy artillery.
The first time, 170,000 Wang Guojun troops were surrounded, and they failed to learn their lesson, so the second time, 310,000 troops were surrounded.
In these two battles, Perbov deliberately chose non-urban areas. The surrounded enemies numbered hundreds of thousands, and it was impossible to find enough food supplies locally.
Not to mention, the combat effectiveness of modern armies will decline rapidly in the absence of ammunition and fuel, which has little to do with fighting will. After all, no matter how brave and skilled a soldier is, he cannot create bullets by relying on fighting will.
What's more, these feudal armies did not have much quality at all.
The final result of these two annihilation battles was a great victory for the Allied Forces.
Not all of the troops that were destroyed died. Most of them became prisoners and, after being disarmed, were sent to prisoner-of-war camps in the rear, doing heavy labor such as building roads and digging trenches.
The Kingdom Army, having suffered a great loss, was unwilling to give up. They organized a large-scale attack and indeed spent a lot of money.
The Kingdom Army had more than just numbers. In terms of ultimate weapons, they also had something that could pose a real threat to the Alliance Army—the twelve Knight Titans that had gathered together.
For these kingdoms on the Black Arrow Star, the most precious things are, of course, the Knight Titans.
Of course, there is no doubt that it is powerful. After all, the cost of one unit is 700,000 tax coins. After a long period of development, the existence of the Knight Titan has gradually evolved into a symbol of the strength of a country and the status of an aristocracy.
In fact, the so-called 'Seven Powers of Black Arrow Star' are seven countries that can afford, and more importantly, can afford to maintain the Knight Titans.
This is a real national treasure that should not be used lightly. The loss of one would be a huge disaster and loss for the entire country.
Currently, there are a total of twelve Knight Titans in the assembled Kingdom Army.
The generals and nobles of these kingdoms also knew what happened in the Kingdom of Stefano, and they understood that no matter how powerful the Knight Titans were, if they were caught unprepared and attacked by the Space Marines who had the elusive ability of direct teleportation, they would be destroyed in minutes.
Therefore, on the one hand, they always strictly guarded the location of the Knight Titan and constantly mobilized it; on the other hand, they equipped a large number of security guards. At the same time, they would always ensure that no Knight Titan would be left alone. Moreover, the driver should not rest unless he reached the limit. Even if the conditions were difficult, the pilots of noble origin should always stay in the cockpit.
Fortunately, at the Knight Titan level, the technology of the life support cabin has been applied. Even if it doesn't have any particularly powerful functions, as long as it can assist in eating and excretion, it can allow the knights to stay in it for a long time.
Of course, they always need to sleep. During this time, there must be an active Knight Titan to guard them.
On this basis, the generals of the Kingdom Army will be extremely cautious when using the Knight Titan.
All these reasons combined led to the fact that even if they had twelve Knight Titans, they rarely appeared on the battlefield.
In easy and simple battles, even if the Knight Titan appears, it is meaningless and is just the icing on the cake. However, in battles that are too dangerous, people dare not use the Knight Titan. Otherwise, if one is damaged, there will be a huge political crisis.
It must be emphasized again here: the Kingdom Army is an army formed by a group of feudal states. The king is the leader, but in essence they are just the biggest nobles, the feudal lords. And these Knight Titans are in the hands of the nobles.
This means that they cannot be like modern armies, where they have to obey orders once they are given and go to battle when they are told to. Even if they know that the mission is a death mission, they still have to assume military responsibilities with the determination to die.
In a feudal army, this kind of thing would hardly happen.
To put it bluntly, for some nobles who regard the Knight Titan as their family fortune, they can lose the battle but cannot lose the Titan.
As long as the Titans are not lost, even if they surrender to the Alliance later, their status can still be preserved to a certain extent.
However, this time, the royal army still spent a lot of money.
After a day-long meeting behind closed doors, many kings and nobles decided that the situation could not continue like this. Otherwise, if the Angry Owls continued to use their advantages in mobility, firepower, and armor to erode their troops step by step, they would really leave all three million men here.
After all parties reached a consensus, this large-scale offensive that the generals at the front had long been looking forward to but had never been able to take shape was launched.
Twelve Knight Titans, move out together!
Nine of them belonged to the Kingdom of Panbos, which was their entire strength. After all, this war took place on their territory, so they were the ones who needed to put all their efforts into it. The remaining three came from the other three powerful countries, each of which provided one.
In the entire history of Black Arrow Star, it was only in the distant past that twelve Knight Titans were dispatched simultaneously to participate in a war.
When the twelve Knight Titans, forming a group, accompanied by thousands of Sentinel Mechs and a formation of hundreds of thousands of troops, pressed forward from all sides, the Alliance's front line could undoubtedly not be maintained.
What is the strongest point of the Alliance Army?
In addition to armored forces, there is artillery.
In addition to the weapons and ammunition used by more than 30 royal troops of the alliance, the most common items transported from Angry Owl Star to Black Arrow Star via the merchant ships of Gu's Trading Company were artillery and shells.
These weapons were then delivered to the vassal army for use.
By far exceeding the enemy's artillery density, they were able to fight against enemies who outnumbered them on a long front.
But in the place where twelve Knight Titans and thousands of Sentinel Mechs are concentrated, they cannot be stopped no matter what.
Even the alliance's main forces couldn't withstand it.
The Knight Titans launched missiles and bombarded with howitzers from a distance, but conventional firepower could hardly shake them; under the cover of their firepower, the Sentinel Mechs charged forward in a hail of bullets, and their machine guns could also pose a terrible threat to the Alliance soldiers' positions.
The Kingdom Army's conventional artillery is far inferior to that of the Alliance, but the number of mountain artillery assembled is sufficient, and with the cover of armored forces in the front, they can advance to a relatively close place and fire. The threat cannot be underestimated.
Mountain cannon is also a cannon!
Not only was the alliance's position breached at a single point, but the entire defense line of hundreds of kilometers began to shake drastically.
The several infantry regiments of the Alliance who were blocking the enemy suffered heavy casualties, and almost had to rebuild their numbers. Some artillery positions were even captured by the enemy who attacked quickly, and were completely destroyed without time to evacuate...
For seven consecutive days, the Kingdom’s army launched a wave of offensive climaxes, pushing the Alliance’s defense line back a full 80 kilometers.
This was an achievement they had never been able to achieve since the war began.
In addition to the changes on the battle front, they did cause considerable casualties.
There were six regimental flags captured alone, and more than twenty officers above the rank of colonel were confirmed killed.
Although it is difficult to calculate the more specific results of the battle, it was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the Allied Forces.
All this happened in just seven days!
The brilliant results of the battle even prompted the King of Pampas to send a letter personally to congratulate the knights on their victory.
Likewise, this victory also made the Black Arrows start to imagine that the alliance was nothing great, it was just that we didn’t use our full strength at the beginning.
However, everything changed on the eighth day.
The victory of the Kingdom Army has advanced the front line by 80 kilometers. Can it be considered a "victory"?
In Perbov's opinion, not necessarily.
When the enemy's frontal force was strong, he sent some troops to resist in the front, reducing the number of enemies, consuming their supplies, and slowing down their speed. The troops responsible for these tasks also suffered huge casualties, and Perbov was very upset about this.
After all, when he led a brigade to fight a blocking battle outside the city of Pinser and was almost wiped out, the number of deaths was not as high as it is now.
But now he has been able to harden his heart.
The sacrifice at this moment is for a greater victory.
While the troops on the front were buying time, the Alliance's armored forces began to maneuver on both sides.
Then, on the eighth day of the Kingdom Army's large-scale offensive, it moved to both sides of the salient that was 80 kilometers deep and 40 kilometers wide.
Several armored brigades rushed out at the same time, and with the support of artillery and air force, they forcefully broke through the enemy that was attacking the Allied positions.
Then, they quickly penetrated into both sides of the salient at a speed that the enemy could not react.
Within one day, four armored brigades dispatched from both sides broke through the 40-kilometer salient supply line and completed a victorious meeting.
This means that the bulge created by the enemy has become a pocket that traps them!
(End of this chapter)
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