Chapter 441: I don’t want casualties, I just want Gaomenling
When the Orc Warlords truly gathered the greenskin army together, and when the greenskins' firepower and armored strength were no longer restricted and could be utilized, they also demonstrated the powerful combat effectiveness of this race that could roam the starry sea.
This battle line of more than 100 kilometers was strongly broken by the greenskin army. A large number of human troops were caught off guard and were directly overwhelmed by the orcs' torrent.
Of course, the human forces here are still mainly planetary defense forces.
The enemy's massive attack was what Perbov wanted to see. It was normal for the defense army to be unable to withstand it.
However, the poor performance of the defense army was a little beyond his expectations, or it could be said that the orcs' offensive power exceeded his expectations.
How could a single assault break through the defense line and create a gap that was 150 kilometers wide and nearly 300 kilometers deep?
Pobov's main force had not yet completed its deployment!
The gap was too big. Even if he had deployed his troops and won the decisive battle, it would still be difficult to encircle and annihilate the enemy.
If they cannot form a siege, the defeated greenskins can regroup and regain their organization before fighting again. Only by forming a siege can we fight a proper annihilation war.
The greenskins are still gathering step by step, and now it's time to close the net.
Pobov is no longer concerned about how big the results of the battle will be. What he needs to consider is whether he has enough appetite to eat.
At the same time, he couldn't allow his actions to cause too dire consequences.
There is a large city on the native planet with a population of tens of millions, which is right in front of the orcs' attack.
Tactically, the greenskins must not be allowed to further expand the gap, and strategically, such a large city with a population of tens of millions must not be lost. Therefore, Perbov issued orders to the three divisions standing in front of the greenskin army, requiring them to defend the outskirts of the city.
He himself began to mobilize the main force of the Allied Army on a large scale to prepare for the war.
Before that, the three infantry divisions of the Alliance Army had to build a defense line in the mountains, rivers, and multiple bridges to prevent the greenskins from advancing further and tearing the front line before Perbov's main force arrived.
…
"I don't want casualty figures, I just want Gaomenling!"
This was the last instruction from the division commander that Zhang Zhikai heard over the phone.
He was the major commander of the 7th Regiment of the 326th Infantry Division of the 7th Army Group of the Union Army. Four hours ago, he and his men received an order to support Gaomenling.
At present, the main direction of the green-skin orcs' attack is to try to cross the river; the human army is guarding along the river to prevent the enemy from crossing the river.
The core of the initial battle was at the bridge, but the bridge was soon blown up. The two sides began to repeatedly fight for, rebuild, and destroy the damaged bridge, and countless humans and greenskins died in the process.
Afterwards, the greenskins tried to open up other routes to cross the river. Those orc masters brought a large number of fart assistants and servants, and built pontoon bridges and simple bridges from all over the river to try to cross the river.
There were failures, but there were also successes. But even if they succeeded, the bridgeheads built by the greenskins would be met with the most resolute counterattacks from humans. Often, a cluster of heavy artillery would be mobilized to bombard them, followed by a resolute counterattack by the infantry company.
Later on, the angry greenskins might even find a place with a short river and swim across with their armed Squigs.
Of course, this was courting death. Once a large-scale swimming movement was discovered, it would be a way to get killed. The green-skinned orcs in the turbulent water could not even fight back and could only passively take the beating.
Even if a small-scale swimming operation succeeded, it would not be very meaningful. A small number of troops could hardly play any role in a situation where both sides had hundreds of thousands of troops.
Zhang Zhikai's 7th Regiment was originally tasked with garrisoning along the river. In the area they were responsible for, there were no bridges or pontoon bridges, so the greenskins had to swim across directly, and they were severely punished.
But soon, this kind of fight to beat the downed dog could not last long.
His defense area was taken over by two infantry regiments of the defense army. Those two regiments were the teams that had been defeated in the front and retreated to reorganize. You can't count on their combat effectiveness, but there is nothing you can do now.
Their defenses were already stretched to the limit under the fierce attack of the orcs, and they had to use every bit of strength they had.
Zhang Zhikai's 7th Regiment, a standard infantry regiment with relatively complete combat effectiveness, received a new mission: to reinforce Gaomenling.
This is a river bend highland. The altitude is not particularly high, but the location is still very important. It is surrounded by water on three sides. Setting up artillery arrays and stationing troops here can guard a large area of the river. The greenskins have no way to break through from here.
But precisely because of the importance of this place, the greenskins' rocket launchers and heavy artillery are always paying attention to this place; those greenskins who crossed the river from other locations bypassed to the northern part of the only land side of the highlands and launched a fierce attack on the highlands.
Another infantry regiment of the 326th Division, which was originally stationed here, has been holding out here for two days. It is said that they have suffered heavy casualties and are about to collapse.
The 7th Regiment was the unit ordered to come for support.
As soon as they entered the battle, the 7th Regiment won a good victory. The greenskins who were attacking the high ground were suddenly attacked from the rear and were badly bombed by artillery. The battalions and companies that went up also killed many greenskins.
In particular, the anti-armor company directly under the regiment used portable armor-piercing rocket launchers and plasma guns to destroy seven or eight killing canisters and killed two Squiggo monsters.
The greenskins don't have many heavy units to send across the river!
The greenskins suffered heavy damage and were beaten back.
Then, Zhang Zhikai sent a liaison soldier to communicate with the 11th Regiment on the high ground.
According to his plan, defending the high ground was the top priority, but they could not just stay there or defend it blindly. The two regiments could support each other, with the 11th regiment continuing to stay on the high ground, while he led the 7th regiment to the side and below the high ground.
If the greenskins continue to attack Gaomenling, the 7th Regiment can launch a flank attack, just like the previous battle; and if the greenskins choose to deal with the 7th Regiment, the 11th Regiment can be in a dominant position, provide fire support from a high position, and even counterattack.
The number of greenskins crossing the river is always limited - otherwise they would not be so anxious to capture Gaomenling, that is to ensure that the subsequent crossing operation can be smoother. In this case, the greenskins should not have enough troops to attack two regiments and two positions at the same time.
However, when the liaison soldier sent back the message from the high ground, Zhang Zhikai's heart sank to the bottom of the lake:
Where is the 11th Regiment?
After defending Gaomenling for a whole day, the 11th Regiment, which should have a full strength of 3,000 people, now has only about 300 people left.
It's not that there are only 200 people left in the front-line combat troops, but that's all there is in the entire regiment.
The artillery positions had been destroyed by the heavy firepower of the orcs across the river, and countless soldiers had died in the artillery fire. Even so, they were bearing huge casualties. When the front-line troops were wiped out, the logistics battalion and the guard company would take over; without artillery operators, the artillerymen would also have to pick up their guns and enter the front-line trenches and anti-gun holes.
If the regiment commander dies, the political commissar or deputy regiment commander takes over; if all of them die, the battalion commander takes over, and the battalion instructor takes over...
Now, the person in charge of Gaomenling is a lieutenant officer, whose main job is just a company instructor.
And this is the highest-ranking officer left in the 11th Regiment.
Zhang Zhikai remained silent.
On the one hand, he was shocked and amazed at the great sacrifices made by his friendly forces, but on the other hand, he also began to fear the entire mission.
Of course I would be afraid.
Is there any essential difference between the 7th and 11th Regiments?
Now, the 11th Regiment has been defeated and there is no one to fight him from a pincer attack. What should he do?
According to the division commander's assignment, he had to take on the responsibility himself.
Then, you just watch your own regiment being beaten into the 11th group?
He was really scared.
However, the task was there, so he could only ask the signalman to find a way to contact the division headquarters, report the situation of the 11th Regiment, and express his concerns.
The casualties will be very high.
Then, the division commander told him, "Don't care about the number of casualties, just Gaomenling."
What else can he do?
No matter how scared you are, you have to go ahead.
However, the 11th Regiment still needs to learn from the lessons it learned from the situation it faced.
If he defended the place of death, he would only die. He decided to defend the foot of the mountain and the high ground.
The artillery company's position was located at the foot of the mountain, ensuring that it could bombard the greenskin attacking forces coming from the north, but at the same time, the high ground provided shelter, making it difficult for the greenskin artillery fire from the south bank of the river to directly hit here.
The artillery must be preserved, otherwise it will be useless.
The 1st Battalion of the regiment, along with his own guard company, was sent to the high ground to relieve the brothers of the 11th Regiment. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions, along with the regimental headquarters, were set up at the foot of the mountain.
Both parties ensure that they can connect and take care of each other.
Before the relevant strategic deployment was completed, the greenskins arrived and attacked directly at his headquarters at the foot of the mountain.
As their positions had not been established in such a hurry, his troops could only use environmental objects such as artillery pits, fallen trees, and boulders on small slopes as cover to fight the attacking orcs.
This is a lot of casualties.
On average, it takes more than ten to twenty hits with firearms to kill an orc; but the shotguns and large-caliber rifles that the orcs are generally equipped with can kill them with one shot, and the individual bulletproof armor on their bodies is as good as paper.
Even though the artillery array had been set up, the 7th Regiment's position at the foot of the mountain was still nearly breached by the attack of thousands of green-skinned orcs.
Zhang Zhikai even began to doubt whether his strategy of dividing troops was correct.
But fortunately, at the last moment, it was proved that the troops assigned to the mountain were still useful.
The 1st Battalion's indirect-fire mortars dropped from the sky, and several heavy-burst machine guns, from a distance of 1,500 meters on the high ground, fired madly downwards.
Besides, the division commander didn't really want him to risk his life, and at the call of the signalman, the division's aviation formation squeezed out three Wind Falcons, which came in formation, broke through the blockade of the Orc Air Force, and fired six missiles.
With the help of various people, Zhang Zhikai fought off the greenskins' attack at the cost of more than 200 casualties.
But there was no time to catch his breath. He had to reinforce his position immediately and start digging the necessary foxholes, anti-artillery holes, and trenches.
The greenskins will not give him too much time. It won’t take long before the next round of attack from the orcs will come soon.
The scouts on the high ground, looking through binoculars, could already see several more Squiggle war beasts breaking through the river blockade and swimming in. Judging from the path they were taking, they were coming to take Gaomenling.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
