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The trucks arrived at the 104th Division's assembly point without any obstruction. Dozens of trucks were already gathered there, and the drivers leaned against their vehicles, chatting and joking. When they saw four more trucks arrive, they only glanced at them briefly before continuing their conversation. As for the 104th Division's infantry? Not a single one was seen.
"Brother, I'm from the 73rd Regiment. We were just assigned to the 104th Division. I wanted to ask who will be under our command from now on?" After the other four scouts started wandering around under the pretext of going to the toilet and looking for food, Valerio and another scout slowly walked up to the driver who was chatting and took the initiative to join the conversation.
“1024师啊9，他4们鸽了。”老0司机的回答让4瓦雷里奥连3忙追问这5是怎6么回事4。
“Come closer,” the old driver seemed to perk up when he heard Valerio’s question. “My friends in other units say that the 104th Division is really in trouble this time. On their way to assemble here, one of their battalions was accidentally exposed, which attracted a whole squadron of Amelia’s planes. Now the 104th Division is busy clearing out the scouts around them to prevent them from bringing the Amelia here.”
Ah this.
Even if the 104th Division has cut off all its spies around it, it's useless now. This assembly point has been exposed, and the Amelia people are already standing in front of you.
Valerio thought awkwardly, and to avoid arousing suspicion with an embarrassed smile, he could only force a look of lingering fear. "Indeed, Amelia's scouts are truly terrifying..."
"What's so scary about scouts? What's scary are their planes and artillery," the veteran driver corrected. "There aren't many of them. If our infantry runs into them, they're in for a world of hurt. All they have to rely on is that they can shoot faster than us."
“But if Amelia’s artillery doesn’t have scouts to guide them, they’re just a bunch of blind men and can’t cause any trouble,” Valerio retorted, clearly disagreeing with the argument.
"Hmph, giving coordinates, how hard could that be? I think you have absolutely no idea." The veteran driver wasn't going to argue with this young man who looked like he hadn't been in the army for long, so he changed the subject, "Weren't you just asking who you'd be under from now on? See that lieutenant over there? Yes, the one with the blond hair standing in front of the tent. He's the highest-ranking officer here, so he's in charge for now. If I were you, I'd go and say hello to him first."
Valerio's heart skipped a beat. As the commander of a transport unit in charge of dozens of trucks, this captain must know some inside information that ordinary soldiers don't. If he couldn't find a higher-ranking officer, then taking him down was a good option.
"Then I'll head over there first." Valerio thanked the old driver and then led the scout beside him toward the blond-haired man. He had originally wanted to try and get some information out of the blond-haired man, but unfortunately, the captain wasn't in the mood for small talk, especially after learning that he had only brought three vehicles. The captain quickly told him to go and rest.
Valerio, of course, couldn't really go to rest. He found an opportunity to gather the team members back together and start compiling the intelligence they had collected.
After two or three hours of activity, the scouts, through eavesdropping and probing, ascertained some of the Belken's deployment: most of the 103rd Division had already assembled at this location, and the 104th Division was also on its way. However, they still did not know how these two divisions planned to maneuver around the area, or what Belken's next move would be.
They also failed to find the locations of senior officers or similar command posts and communications departments.
It seems we still have to start with that blond-haired commander. There's no time like the present; we'll sneak into his tent tonight and tie him up. Valerio made his decision.
……
The second update today will be a bonus chapter.
Volume 1: Chapter 77 (Part 3)
At 2 a.m., the temporary transit point finally quieted down, and the Belken soldiers, who had been busy all day, were given a short rest. This gave Valerio and his men an opportunity to move.
Three figures silently crept up to the blond lieutenant's tent without alerting anyone. The leader, Valerio, pulled a rather peculiar-looking pistol from his waist. The extended magazine wasn't unusual, and the structure behind the trigger guard was normal, except that the barrel was directly exposed in front of the trigger guard, not enclosed in a slide, and lacked any recoil spring. A suppressor almost as long as the barrel was threaded onto the muzzle, and below the exposed barrel was a rather large tactical flashlight.
This pistol, like its appearance, has an unremarkable name: "Windurger No.2 lent Pistol".
This pistol doesn't fire regular pistol ammunition; it fires a specially designed, high-powered tranquilizer dart. Just one shot can render an adult male unconscious for over half an hour within 30 seconds, allowing you to do whatever you want with him. If he's hit by three shots, even a violent attack won't wake him from his slumber. Of course, due to the complex structure of this dart, its size limits its range. Also, due to its design, the pistol can only be manually cocked, resulting in a very low rate of fire. However, considering its special purpose, these drawbacks aren't a major problem.
Valerio gently pulled back the slide, chambering a tranquilizer dart from the magazine, and fired at the snoring blond lieutenant. The dart itself was low in propellant, subsonic, and the suppressor reduced the sound to almost nothing.
The sensation, like a mosquito bite, made the blond man scratch the spot where the tranquilizer dart had hit him, but the tiny needle had already detached itself after the injection, so he couldn't feel anything. Valerio patiently waited a minute for the tranquilizer to take full effect before signaling to proceed to the next step.
That's right, Valerio's plan was that simple and brutal: just kidnap him and take him away. As for whether the disappearance of an important officer would cause unrest at this assembly point, Valerio didn't care. Anyway, the place had already been exposed, and it wouldn't be long before it was bombed by the air force and artillery. Time was running out for both Valerio and the Belken.
The heavy, blond-haired man, as slender as a dead pig, was strapped to the back of a scout. Then, under the cover of the lookout team outside, the three-man team began their planned escape. They didn't choose to drive; mobilizing a truck in the middle of the night would be suspicious and too noisy. Valerio and his team didn't want to make a big fuss; they just wanted to slip away quietly. Their plan was to evacuate by helicopter, landing on a small hill ten kilometers away. For these hard-working scouts, a ten-kilometer armed cross-country run was no problem, even with a burden.
The situation of the evacuation route 9 inside the camp had already been thoroughly investigated by the scouts during the day. Therefore, the process of evacuating from the assembly point 3 was extremely smooth. The Belken sentry probably could not have imagined that six scouts and one prisoner could successfully escape from the camp in the three-minute gap created by their shift change.
The subsequent march was even simpler. Just as the six scouts boarded the helicopter and began their return to base, the captured lieutenant finally awoke. Before his groggy mind could even process the situation, a shot of sodium thiosulfate forced his mouth open. The presence of the Erwin Combat Group's mobile force was finally exposed to the Amelia Volunteer Army.
The lieutenant didn't have much intelligence about this mobile force; he only knew that it was a battle group consisting of two armored divisions and two infantry divisions, as well as the approximate locations of the two infantry divisions.
This intelligence was quickly relayed back to command. After analysis by the staff, it was determined that if the Belken's assembly and movement maintained their current pace, this mobile force would arrive north of Svorbella in five days at the latest, giving the Elgeans a taste of what a surprise truly meant.
North of Svorbella…isn’t that the route the 73rd Division’s Royal Fusiliers Regiment took during their previous attack? Lu Wu couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the red arrow marked on the map. What’s wrong? Do the Belkens think the current 73rd Division’s campaign isn’t accurate enough, and they’re planning to retrace the northern route, while also paying tribute to the fallen Belken soldiers? With the 7th Brigade stationed north of Svorbella, it’s time for the 7th Brigade to show the Belkens what a fucking surprise is.
"A surprise? The surprise is that five days later, two tank battalions will engage in a tank battle with the Belken people north of Swobella."
"Two tank battalions? Are they going to drag the 6th Battalion of Elgia into this too?" Yelena ignored Lu Wu's joke and raised her own question. "They've only been training for three weeks, and they only started getting in touch with armored vehicles this week. Isn't it inappropriate to send them to the battlefield now?"
"Don't worry, they're just going up for an armed parade and to pick off stragglers. The main purpose is for them to get used to the battlefield atmosphere." Lu Wu naturally knew that the 6th Battalion was still not up to much use and wouldn't be so foolish as to send these new recruits to hold the line. Although Belken's mobile forces had two armored divisions, the terrain north of Svorbella was limited in terms of tank deployment. How much of his two divisions could actually deploy was questionable, while his tank battalion's 23 T-72AVs could be fully deployed. With a good location, they could easily take on ten enemy divisions and utterly crush them. As for the various armored vehicles the Ergia possessed, in terms of firepower, mobility, and protection, apart from the BA-11's mobility, almost none could match the T-72AV. Forcing these two battalions with such vastly different performance levels to coordinate operations would be extremely agonizing for both sides. Therefore, these Ergia tank battalions will likely be deployed to the flanks of Snow White to alleviate some of the offensive pressure, making the best use of them and achieving the best of both worlds.
……
I know this infiltration part is a bit haphazard, but I've been so busy with work lately, updating twice a day, that I simply haven't had the energy to polish it. Please understand.
The other subtle magical pistol, which appears regularly, is likely familiar to most people; like Paz, it comes from the Metal Gear series.
Volume 1: Chapter 78 (Seventy-One Chapters) - Murong of Gusu
As the sole survivor of the 7th Air Group, Dmitry received high regard upon returning to his position. Irwin even immediately set aside other matters to comfort this last remaining pilot—his scouts had reported that the airfield had been completely destroyed, with no survivors. He had no idea how the enemy had achieved such an effect, and feared that such destruction might befall him. Dmitry's survival was a completely unexpected stroke of luck, an opportunity for him to learn about the enemy.
However, Dimitri was not happy at all in the face of Irwin's praise. In his opinion, he was completely unworthy of such preferential treatment. The ones who should really be praised were the warriors who drove vehicles whose performance was crushed but still bravely and tenaciously attacked powerful enemies. Unfortunately, they would never come back.
Dimitri did not exaggerate the air battle that took place over the airport. He tried his best to present a true account of the battle to the commander while remaining objective and impartial. Of course, in his description, the details of the battle were almost entirely focused on Dimitri's attack on the large hovering aircraft. As for the massacre that followed, he himself was not fully aware of the situation. On the contrary, the lieutenant of the ground troops, who witnessed the entire air battle from the ground, had more authority to speak on the matter than he did.
The lieutenant glanced at Dimitri, hesitated for a moment, and then, urged by Irwin, recounted the air battle from another perspective.
The heroic and tenacious battle that Dmitry had imagined did not fail, but not everyone displayed such bravery and tenacity. After the 7th Group lost nearly half its aircraft and the Deep Blue Squadron was completely wiped out, the morale of this young air force group collapsed. They tried to disengage from the battle, hoping to survive against the two ruthless predators. But even though they abandoned their dignity as soldiers and chose to turn their backs on the enemy and flee, in the end, none of them escaped. Instead, Dmitry, who was preoccupied with shooting down enemy planes, became the sole survivor.
After hearing the lieutenant's account of the battle, Dimitri, lying on the bed, looked even more dejected, pursing his lips and remaining silent. Irwin paused for a moment before speaking: "Don't let this get out for now. I'll send you back to the air force base in the rear; you'll receive the best possible care there."
After leaving those words, Erwin strode out of the ward and summoned his staff. Having learned how the 7th Air Group had been wiped out, Erwin knew that the air force could no longer be expected to play a significant role in the upcoming battles—he even suspected that the air force, aware of the devastating technological gap between the two sides, would passively avoid combat.
We need to find a way to take down Amelia's air force. You only realize how valuable air superiority is once you lose it. Although the Belken Empire doesn't yet have the concept of "air superiority," similar terms have emerged. Previously, as a beneficiary of the Belken Empire's air superiority, he could deploy aircraft for reconnaissance. But without air superiority, forget reconnaissance; his troops would be directly exposed to the enemy, only attracting endless enemy fire.
Therefore, the Amelia Air Force absolutely must be wiped out! It's unavoidable! Imagine, all those hard-earned veterans, equipped and well-trained, have crossed the border, eating canned food and singing songs, and suddenly! They're bombed by Amelia planes! Only by eliminating the Amelia Air Force can the soldiers of the Belken Empire have a better life! VII
Irwin's suggestion was unanimously agreed upon by the officers, but they encountered difficulties in implementing it. They began discussing the issue in small groups.
Erwin let them discuss for five minutes. Seeing that they couldn't come up with a feasible solution, he tapped the table with his knuckles in exasperation, signaling them to stop their pointless discussion. Then he said, "The Amelia people have already taught us everything they need to know about this situation, and you've discussed it for five minutes and no one has realized that?"
Aren't we at war with the Amelia? How could the Amelia teach us this? The officers exchanged bewildered glances, but given that Erwin was superior to them in both rank and position, they tacitly chose to remain silent, waiting for Erwin to elaborate further.
Sure enough, Erwin glanced at everyone present and continued, "We may not be able to defeat the Amelia Air Force in air combat, even though we have a numerical advantage in aircraft, but we can try a different approach."
"What's the idea?" someone asked, offering a quick and witty response.
“Then we can prevent Amelia’s planes from taking off, bomb their airfield, just like they did to us,” Erwin revealed the answer. Bait
"Commander, your insight is brilliant!" the man who had just been flattering him immediately replied. This sycophantic behavior drew scornful glances from his colleagues, but he remained calm. "No matter how good the plane is, if it can't take off, it's just a pile of scrap metal. Brilliant, truly brilliant!"
However, some people were not so cooperative, pointing out two difficulties in implementing this idea: "But how do we find the Amelia's airfield? And once we find it, how do we destroy it?" Although they didn't know the exact location of the Amelia's field airfield, they figured it wouldn't be on the front lines; it would be at least tens of kilometers away. They didn't have any planes that could destroy a place from the air like the enemy could.
“Ahem,” Erwin said calmly, “If we’re going to sabotage the airport, we’ll have to send infantry carrying explosives. To avoid alerting the Amelia to our intentions, we can’t send too large a force. Two or three hundred men, divided into several detachments, can bypass the Amelia’s security line undetected. As for how to find the Amelia’s airport, that’s precisely why I’ve summoned you all here.”
Now everyone suddenly understood. But there didn't seem to be much to discuss—their planes had been crippled by Amelia, so they had lost aerial reconnaissance, leaving only the traditional option of sending out scouts. Why call everyone here for something so trivial? Sending scouts for a search could have been easily done by simply informing the chief of staff; they would have handled everything perfectly. Why hold a whole meeting for this? Just to satisfy your vanity? Many of the officers present thought the same thing.
Volume 1: Chapter 79 (Chapter Seventy-Two): The Battle of Fabandi Begins
If Lu Wu knew that the Belken people had organized two or three hundred people to try and steal the airport, he would be overjoyed by Erwin's ingenious idea.
Since airplanes entered the military, airfields for aircraft takeoff, landing, maintenance, and deployment have become extremely important strategic points. In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of their air forces, countries spare no effort to strengthen the defense of their airfields. The reorganized 7th Brigade permanently stationed six 2S6 Tunguska anti-aircraft gun systems, a mechanized infantry company equipped with BMP-2M missiles, and a number of Tiger armored vehicles at the airfield. Although this was weaker than the previous configuration that also included tanks, for most armies of that era, this change was by no means a weakening and still maintained a terrifying firepower density.
As for the Belken reconnaissance force of two or three hundred men, if they were incredibly lucky enough to reach the edge of the airfield, they would be met with a barrage of rapid-fire artillery fire, experiencing firsthand what it meant to be rained down with bullets. Even without such heavy equipment, the AK-12s carried by the infantrymen of that mechanized infantry company were no joke. Although their power couldn't match that of 6mm or 7.4mm antimatter rounds, they could easily keep these reconnaissance soldiers, whose primary weapon was still a single-shot bolt-action rifle, pinned to the ground, unable to lift their heads.
Of course, unaware that the Belken were planning to emulate the "return of the favor" strategy of the Murong Fu of Gusu, the 7th Brigade continued its work plan methodically: the tank battalion slightly adjusted the training content of the 6th Battalion, bringing forward some later courses (such as tactical regulations) and adding content on the cooperation between different armored units to carry out combat; the support battalion continued to work tirelessly, providing one SU-122M per day; the mechanized infantry battalion was sent to set up a defensive position on the highway south of the base; the mixed artillery battalion, the two aviation regiments, the reconnaissance company, and the intelligence company were the busiest people in the entire brigade, constantly making contact with the Belken, trying to find the location of Belken's two heavy artillery divisions; the air assault company took only a few days off before returning to its part-time reconnaissance duties, heading north to look for traces of Belken's mobile forces; the medical company was also busy, with Lu Wu proactively offering to the Ergia that he could help treat some of the wounded, and that he had a "miracle drug" that could be used to treat wound infections. So the Ergia, eager to transport resources, also took the wounded along with them.
Looking at the whole picture, the engineer company was probably the most idle, with no workload at all. This made Lu Wu wonder if he should spend some money to get a few BMD-4 infantry fighting vehicles and equip each member of the engineer company with a set of water-cooled bulletproof armor, so that they could become famous combat engineers who could repair fortifications, defuse bombs, fight on the front line, and conduct CQB.
After all, the 7th Brigade is still understaffed and will remain so for a long time. Lu Wu can only use one of his men as two, ruthlessly squeezing out their remaining value.
4. The 7th Brigade expects everyone to fulfill their duties.jpg
The repeated defeats of the Elvin battle group on the Swobella front made them realize that the failure of the 73rd Infantry Division was not accidental, and they tried to cover it up; while the Belken on the Fabandi front were not so complicated. After several days of forced march, the two divisions of the Northern Army Group finally made contact with an infantry division of the Fabandi Front of Ergia.
The two divisions leading the advance were an armored division and a motorized infantry division. They advanced rapidly to the outskirts of a city 100 kilometers from Fabandi. The city's residents had already been evacuated, leaving only a second-class division stationed in the area.
The so-called second-level division is the most common type of division-level unit in the Kingdom of Elgin. This infantry division typically comprises 7 to 9 infantry regiments and 1 divisional artillery regiment, along with a small number of auxiliary units. First-level divisions, on the other hand, are the main force of all fronts in the Kingdom of Elgin. They generally consist of 3 to 4 motorized infantry brigades with three regiments each, 1 divisional artillery brigade, and a large number of auxiliary units. There are only a dozen or so first-level divisions in the Kingdom of Elgin's army, mainly deployed along the Elgin-Belken border. After the outbreak of war, these first-level divisions suffered heavy losses. Now, of the eight remaining first-level divisions in the Kingdom of Elgin, half are deployed within the defensive perimeter of the capital, Fabandi.
The second-level division stationed in the city was a full-strength division consisting of nine infantry regiments and one artillery regiment. Therefore, after discovering each other's presence, the artillery of the Ergia and the artillery of the Belken engaged in a fierce exchange of fire.
In this exchange of fire, the Ergia gained some unusual advantages: compared to the invaders, they had more sophisticated anti-artillery fortifications, more ammunition reserves, and a larger number of artillery pieces. The Belken, on the other hand, were simply unlucky; half of their ammunition trucks had fallen behind en route, forcing the Belken to halt their bombardment after only half an hour due to rapid ammunition depletion.
Despite the ongoing bombardment by the Elgins, the commanders of both divisions agreed to continue the offensive. Belken's Mark I tanks, with their massive bodies, pressed towards the city, while the infantry cautiously crouched behind them, forming a rudimentary infantry-tank coordinated attack.
The artillerymen positioned on both flanks of the position poured shells down on the enemy lines with all their might, just to ease the pressure on the infantrymen after they engaged the enemy.
The efficient combination of mines and artillery destroyed seven tanks and disabled twelve others, repelling the first armored offensive. But once the enemy infantry disappeared from the Elgins' sight, the Belken artillery, which had ceased firing, roared back to life. This time, their rapid fire destroyed eighty percent of the cannons that hadn't been moved in time.
After the smoke cleared, the Ergia soldiers found that the Belken tanks and soldiers they had just driven back had reappeared before them. This time, only a few cannons remained firing, but the Belken did not give up their attack despite the loss of tanks. The tanks closest to these cannons turned by changing the speed difference between their tracks, using their broadside cannons to destroy these few remaining heavy weapons that could threaten their safety.
After leaving behind a hundred or so corpses and seven or eight tanks, the attack finally reached the trench positions built by the Ergia infantry.
"For the King!"
"Long live Elgia!"
With their homeland right behind them, the Ergia infantry charged the enemy with bayoneted rifles or shovels in hand.
Volume 1: Chapter 80 Nothing More Today
This past week I've been working overtime every night to meet deadlines. During the day I'm either writing scripts or drawing storyboards; my brain is practically drained. These past two days, after finishing some tasks at home, I've sat down at the computer to start writing until almost midnight. Plus, I'm not a fast writer, so I've been dozing off while writing. By the time I finished 4000 words, it was already around 3 or 4 AM, and then I have to get up at 8 AM for work… Today I wrote a little over 1000 words, but I can't keep going, so I'm skipping today. Please forgive me.
Volume 1: Chapter 81 Chapter 73 Swollen Turn ▲々:湫泤∑*耙′：哎寺○仨）＊Sanyangwufabanti Battle (1)
Bayonet fighting is a fundamental combat skill in the military and one of the standards for measuring an army's combat effectiveness. An excellent army, when faced with the enemy's gleaming bayonets, dares to launch a counter-charge and engage in a bloody contest with the enemy.
Despite the repeated defeats suffered by the Kingdom of Algiers since the start of the war, at this moment, behind them lies the capital of this historically rich country, the home of their king, and their families. This has inspired the 102nd Division, whose soldiers, more than half of whom are locals, to display a fighting spirit even stronger than that of the border troops.
The Elgins roared, raising their shovels high and charging at the invaders like bears, while the Belkens raised their rifles, bayonets gleaming coldly, and thrust forward. Yellow and green waves collided, splashing red spray. The soldiers at the forefront lost their lives almost instantly upon impact, but their fall did not deter anyone. Their comrades, following closely behind, stepped over their fallen comrades, letting their fury surge like waves.
With a perfectly executed thrust, the bayonet evaded the enemy's parry, easily piercing the defenseless uniform and penetrating deep into the body. The soldier, with practiced ease, twisted the blade clockwise, instantly shredding the soft internal organs. Broken organs and blood spilled from the mouth and nose. Trembling hands dropped their weapons, attempting to grip the rifle to stop the bayonet's further twist, but as the bayonet was withdrawn, gushing blood and spurts of blood, along with the wound, gushed uncontrollably. Ignoring the kneeling, dying enemy, the soldier simply raised his rifle, bayonet aimed at the next enemy in a different colored uniform, let out a roar, and launched another bayonet charge.
The sound of blades slicing through flesh, along with roars and howls filled with anger and fear, became the dominant melody on this battlefield. Whether they were Elgins or Belkens, the concept of "tactics" had been erased from the minds of these soldiers; they were left with only one thought: to use their weapons to kill every person in uniform before them—until they had wiped out all the enemies, or were killed themselves.
"This unit is more tenacious than any of the Ergia units we've ever faced," remarked the Belken tank unit major general, who had been observing the battle through binoculars in the frontline command post. "They are a worthy opponent."
"I'd rather all the Elgeans we encounter were spineless." The infantry division commander clearly had a different opinion, after all, the ones dying the most right now were not others, but his own soldiers.
Upon hearing the infantry division commander's words, the major general laughed heartily, "In order to achieve the goal of quickly occupying the entire territory of Ergia, the sacrifice of these fine lads is necessary. Their sacrifice, even if it only advances our capture of Fabandi by one second, is worthwhile."
The division commander snorted, ignoring the major general. He spoke so casually, simply because his tank unit hadn't suffered many losses…
The battle remained deadlocked. Despite the heavy casualties suffered by the Elgians, the Belken soldiers were still unable to capture the small outlying position. In fact, as time went on and Elgian reinforcements arrived, the Elgians began to break through the Belken army's lines.
"Let the reserves take over." Troops engaged in hand-to-hand combat cannot retreat. At this point, both sides have lost their so-called "front lines," and the battlefield is more of a chaotic fragmentation where each side is intertwined with the other. Communication between units is cut off, soldiers lose their means of contact with superiors, and they may even find themselves surrounded by enemies. If an officer dares to blow the retreat whistle, these soldiers, unaware of the battle situation, will naturally assume their side has been defeated, causing morale to plummet and their only thought to escape. Often, the orderly retreat predicted by the commander turns into a chaotic rout, and being completely annihilated by the enemy in the process is not impossible. Therefore, deploying the reserves, like the Algiers, becomes the only solution at that moment.
But the situation did not improve with the deployment of the Belken Reserve. Among these reinforcing Algerian soldiers were many anti-tank soldiers whom they respectfully called "tank hunters." These anti-tank soldiers often did not carry heavy long rifles, but instead carried two or three sets of heavy cluster grenades to carry out anti-tank missions.
These "tank hunters" did not operate alone. They typically grouped two to three anti-tank soldiers and two riflemen together. Under the desperate cover of the riflemen, they would utilize the terrain to simultaneously approach the Belken tanks from two or three directions, throwing cluster grenades under the chassis. The Belken were not like the Americans mired in counterinsurgency wars in the Middle East, suffering from IED attacks; their tank designers did not add any armor to the chassis to protect against explosions from underneath. The Erzgeese's long-handled grenades also carried considerable explosive charges; four or five cluster grenades bundled together could easily penetrate the chassis of a Mark I tank, causing casualties to the crew inside. Unlucky tanks might even have their ammunition stored underneath detonated.
These "tank hunters" were not regular anti-tank soldiers. Using crude tactics and equipment to carry out high-risk anti-tank missions, their casualty rate was alarming. The Elgin Kingdom's army did not treat this branch as a regular anti-tank unit; they were only recruited from volunteers and had cluster grenades manufactured on-site after the need for anti-tank warfare arose. From the moment these "tank hunters" stepped out of formation, they knew they probably wouldn't return. Facing the fear of death made these hunters more indifferent to life and death than ordinary soldiers, and more determined to destroy enemy armored vehicles. Unless they could be killed on the spot or their limbs broken, rendering them completely incapacitated, they would never stop trying to throw cluster grenades under Belken tanks. Therefore, in the eyes of the Belken people, these seemingly unarmed Elgin soldiers were far more terrifying than the cannons hidden behind the bushes.
Therefore, when a Belken tank unfortunately exploded, the tank unit knew that these terrifying hunters had silently descended upon them. In panic, they even disregarded the possibility of accidentally injuring friendly troops who were engaged in bayonet fighting with the Elgins, and opened fire directly on the area with the largest number of Elgins.
Volume 1: Chapter 82, Section 74: The Battle of Fabandi (2)
Whether they were Elgins or Belkens, their reaction to the machine gun fire was identical: they collapsed to the ground, their bodies convulsing. However, compared to the Elgins, the Belken soldiers wore expressions of greater bewilderment; they probably never imagined they would one day face friendly fire.
Was the Belken tank crews' tactic effective? It was indeed effective. Once the view opened up, the difficulty for the "tank hunters" to approach these Belken tanks increased dramatically. But even so, these "tank hunters" did not give up on destroying these tanks. They lay on the ground, carefully disguising themselves as corpses, and slowly made their way towards the Belken tanks.
"Damn it! Are your men insane?!" Although the frontline command post in Belken couldn't let the two commanders see this scene, they still received reports from the observation post, which immediately enraged the infantry division.
"This!" The major general was clearly unaware that his troops had contracted "Tank Hunter" PTSD and was speechless.
"What are you standing there for! Tell your men to stop immediately!" The division commander, already in a rage, grabbed the major general by the collar, waiting for his answer. If the general dared to refuse, he would definitely deliver a few punches to the face and then drag him to a military court. In any case, such a heinous act of firing on one's own people is intolerable in the military.
"Quickly! Send them a telegram immediately, telling them to be careful of their guns!" the major general immediately ordered his adjutant.
When the radio waves reached the Belken tanks, the tank crews finally released their grip on the machine gun triggers. This wasn't just because of orders, but primarily because very few men remained standing in front of them. The infantry battalion that had arrived as reinforcements had also witnessed this scene and spontaneously kept their distance from these massive vehicles. This left the Belken tanks without infantry cover, and the tanks' limited field of vision gave the surviving "tank hunters" greater freedom of movement. Had it not been for the earlier indiscriminate firing, these tanks would still have some infantry around to provide cover.
One drink and one peck, could it be a predestined decision.
As these tanks exploded, the Belken soldiers on the position clearly wavered, and their movements became hesitant.
“The 5th Battalion marched all the way from Komamoni without stopping to rest. These lads have done their best. Let’s send another battalion to take their place,” the staff officer suggested.
"Let's do it this way." He nodded.
That being said, it was obviously impossible to sound the retreat whistle directly. The Belkens could only add fuel to the fire by throwing the 6th Battalion, which was originally intended to replace the 5th Battalion, into the battlefield. Only after they had initially gained control of the position could they replace the 5th Battalion for rest and recuperation.
With the arrival of the 6th Battalion, a fresh force, gunfire resumed across the battlefield. The opposing Elgins, seemingly nearing their limit, also deployed reinforcements. An infantry company burst from the flank, catching the Belken off guard. Unlike their counterparts on the front lines, this company didn't charge, but maintained a distance, continuously firing at Belken soldiers from the side with their rifles. The 6th Battalion, attempting to deploy its forces in the front, had to deal with this veteran unit first; otherwise, if they were caught in a pincer attack after engaging the enemy on the main front, their casualties would be significantly higher.
But the division commander soon discovered that the ambush force's purpose was not to reinforce friendly forces on the position, but simply to delay Belken's advance, creating time and conditions for the friendly forces on the position to evacuate. The Elgin troops on the position, without the slightest hesitation, abandoned only a necessary rearguard and their combat teams, which were stuck in a stalemate and unable to break free, and turned to flee.
"Should we pursue them?"
Watching the retreating Elgins, it would be impossible not to be tempted to pursue the enemy and expand the victory. However, after hesitating for a while, the division commander finally rejected the staff officer's suggestion. "No, as you just said, our men have come all the way from Komamoni, and they are exhausted. Many of our equipment have also broken down. It's time to stop and rest."
Of course, he didn't mention another reason: these Elgins were no longer the easily routed border guards. Over time, the Kingdom of Elgin was gradually adapting to Belken's new tactics and researching ways to counter them. The 5th Battalion's direct assault on the Elgin defensive positions without rest was partly due to being blinded by their long-term victories, and partly a tactic to probe the city's defenses.
As it turned out, the defending troops possessed high morale and were relatively well-prepared. A headstrong and reckless attack on the city would likely result in a bloody defeat… Therefore, his troops needed to change their offensive strategy, adopting a more cautious and methodical approach to minimize casualties in the conquest of the city. (Nine)
What constitutes a steady and methodical approach?
For the Belken people, that naturally meant setting up cannons and blasting their mothers.
Coincidentally, the Elgin troops stationed there were also staunch believers in the theory of superior firepower. Just as the infantry company that was providing cover was about to flee, bursts of 75mm artillery fire erupted from within the city. The Elgins quickly unleashed nearly a hundred shells on the positions that were still under their control just seconds before. The Belken soldiers who had just captured the position were caught in the crossfire, and whether tanks or infantry, they could only flee in panic under this heavy firepower.
"Where are the reconnaissance planes? Sending reconnaissance planes from the Air Force—the smoke and dust from so much artillery fire can't possibly be missed from the sky," Berken's division commander said coldly. "The military approved so much funding for the Air Force, not so they could fly around the battlefield on free vacations."