Chapter 961 Attack and Defense of Fortress No. 6
After seizing the southern entrance of the fortress, Armin discovered that the entire outer area of the fortress had been reduced to ruins during the previous siege.
Although many outer posts are still intact, the soldiers guarding the posts are missing. According to statistics, there are about 190,000 surviving residents of the fortress, among whom there are many who can pick up guns and have certain combat capabilities. to 50,000 people.
Armin then met with the lord of Explorer Fortress No. 6 and informed him of the subsequent evacuation plan, but it was obvious that the enemy would not give up the attack plan because the sentry tower at a high place had already observed the enemy gathering. signs.
The scale is even much larger than the previous attacks.
There is no doubt that the Black Legion has figured out the number of imperial reinforcements and plans to increase their chips.
Of course Armin will not sit still and wait for death. The mission briefing clearly states that they must stay in place until everyone evacuates and call for reinforcements if necessary.
He then took over the command of the fortress and began arranging the work of mortal troops capable of combat, scouting the terrain and picking up heavy weapons from abandoned enemy positions.
And he built his headquarters on the Stargazer Tower, the second tallest in the fortress, so that he could observe the terrain at any time and build appropriate defenses.
He personally prefers layered defense. Fortress No. 6 was established nearly four hundred years ago. The area where the colonists lived in the first two hundred years was called the old city, and the area that expanded with the increase in population was called the old city. Called the new city, the new city is three times the size of the old city. The outer defensive circle includes the entire new city area, while the inner defensive circle is only concentrated in the old city of the fortress.
"Currently, our existing strength can only defend half of the outer circle."
The non-commissioned officers of the 10th Company gathered in a circle and used rough maps to divide the defense zones.
"It is natural that we will point our defensive deployment to the south, because the enemy will most likely use the most direct method-at least initially."
Armin uses a dagger Click on the newly recaptured southern entrance on the map.
"Laser cannons and heavy logging guns are positioned on the roofs here, here and here."
Then he pointed to a series of buildings on the outer edge of the area, thereby blocking fire from the main attack direction.
“The primary task of the laser cannon is to destroy as many vehicles as possible and suppress the enemy’s counterattack. At least five thousand people will be arranged in a large arc formation that will cover all routes entering from the south and must remain A small team can quickly reinforce weak points at any time."
Then he stopped and studied the map thoughtfully.
"As the battle continues, it can be expected that they will conduct probing attacks on our flanks, looking for less heavily defended areas. We must remain flexible and ready to adjust our troop deployments and fall back if necessary. Inside. ”
“Then why don’t we just retreat to the inside?”
It was Hao Mo who spoke.
Armin shook his head and replied softly:
"Because our task is to cover the evacuation of residents, and now-"
He looked up out of the window, almost A floating barge is taking off precariously.
“Five ships at a time can only carry 3,000 people. It takes at least 2 hours to go back and forth. In 10 hours, we can only evacuate 30,000 people. Let’s assume that there are only 180,000 people here. We must at least hold on. 60 hours. If we easily give up the peripheral areas that are not easy to defend, then we may hardly have 60 hours.”
"But supply is also a problem."
Robin then pointed out something he had been thinking about for a long time.
"After a day of fierce fighting, the soldiers have very little ammunition reserves left. When will the airdrop support arrive?"
"The airdrop will arrive in about two hours." Then Armin Raise a hand.
"And don't be so pessimistic. We also have many advantages in other aspects. First of all, we have orbital advantage, so the enemy cannot use their heavy weapons to deal with us without risking being bombarded from orbit, so they cannot use long-range weapons to deal with us." Artillery bombing us, on the contrary, in order to avoid orbital strikes, they have to go deep into the battle line to clear us, which makes their operations more difficult. Secondly, if our ammunition supply has some problems, then the enemy's problem will only be bigger, and they are on this planet Isolated and helpless, Attica had been plowed through by orbital bombardments and was unable to provide them with any material support."
He gave all the non-commissioned officers a firm look.
"This will not be a protracted siege. The enemy only has the resources to sustain a fierce battle for a day or two, and then either we evacuate all residents, or they run out of ammunition and retreat."
"Understood!"
Then everyone started busy preparations.
An hour passed and the atmosphere became tense, the sounds of small transport planes and floating barges descending through the overcast sky becoming more frequent as the day wore on.
At around 8 o'clock in the morning the next day, everyone heard a faint crackle of small arms fire from somewhere in the distance.
The Astartes wondered if any Sentinels had managed to survive and put up a desperate resistance.
However, the sounds of the battle died down within a few minutes, and an unsettling silence fell again.
Four hours after dawn, the rumble of engines in the sky flew north. Observers reported that a small convoy of armored personnel carriers was heading towards the northern perimeter at high speed, but was then overwhelmed by Thunderhawks and Storms. Crow destroyed.
But Armin knew that the enemy had an extensive transportation network underground and did not entirely need to rely on ground activities.
As expected, not long after, the observers received information from the other end of the command network that a large number of armored vehicles were coming from the south. They appeared without warning, and they obviously appeared from an underground passage.
Armin responded calmly, ordering all mortal troops to prepare their weapons.
Twenty minutes later, the rumble of the armored column echoed across the ground. The rumble got closer and closer as time passed, and the billowing exhaust gas drifted from the middle of the cabin to the south.
Then, the gunners facing the enemy's advance began to shout out what they saw: three rows of simple tanks and armored personnel carriers converted from tractors.
Armin accepted the news calmly.
"For artillery positions, give priority to targeting tanks and wait for the enemy to enter the effective killing distance before firing."
As the armored column quickly approached, the laser cannon and automatic cannon fired almost simultaneously, bright red The beam came down the narrow road and hit the vehicle head-on.
One of the tanks exploded directly, another lost a track and stopped, and the third tank continued to advance forward with a scratch on the side of the turret.
Its main gun then raised and fired a high-explosive shell.
The shell flew across the position and struck a statue on the north side of the area.
The artillerymen continued to fire, firing beam after beam and ammunition after ammunition at the tanks. With the Astartes behind them, everyone's morale was very high.
Soon, the last three tanks were all destroyed.
(End of this chapter)