Chapter 246 Mushroom Cloud Rising from the Battlefield
Rubyon 5, 80 kilometers south of Ptolemaic City, the coalition headquarters.
The coalition command headquarters, which had already retreated once, was now deployed at a previously selected backup location.
In the camouflaged shelter vehicle that is used as a large mobile command post, Major General Benjamin, the commander of the coalition forces, is staring seriously at the enemy and enemy situation map on the battlefield presented on the electronic sand table.
To sum it up in one sentence, ‘Alarm across the board, the organization level of each department is steadily declining’.
The coalition's first battle group is composed of troops from seven private military companies and defense contractors, with a total of seven brigades.
The determination of the battle is also to concentrate superior forces on the left wing of the battle line to break through while the right-wing troops are feigning an attack and the central troops are slowly advancing, and to intersperse and surround the enemy troops in the central part
Let’s not talk about anything else. The concept of battle determination is actually very beautiful.
However, from the beginning of the war to the present, the three brigade-level units responsible for the attack on the left wing have all been blocked.
Not only failed to complete the task of breaking through the defense line, but also lost a lot of effective forces in the counterattack of the remaining imperial soldiers and caused the battle line to continue to retreat.
Especially the two brigade-level combat units on the far left, which were composed of three companies, suffered casualties as soon as they contacted the enemy.
According to the newly updated information, the Imperial Armored Brigade Combat Teams in front of these two brigades are currently pursuing them.
Its highly mobile HCP troops have begun to conduct interspersed attacks, trying to separate and encircle some battalion-level units of the two brigades on the left wing of the coalition.
"What are these things? Two combined brigade troops were chased and beaten by a brigade-level unit of the Imperial Man!"
Major General Benjamin angrily threw his cigarette butt on the cabin truck On the ground, after detecting the smoke, the ventilation device above the head increased the power and started buzzing.
The orderly next to him glanced down and saw that many cigarette butts had been crushed on the floor.
In other words, this major general has never stopped smoking from the beginning of the war to now.
Although according to daily management regulations, smoking is prohibited in the command cabin.
But who calls this person in front of him the commander of the entire coalition forces? At this time, there was no one with greater military rank and command authority than him in the entire combat force.
Major General Benjamin did not know that the orderly beside him, who was recruited from the local area and was good at handling housekeeping, cooking, and preparing afternoon tea, was thinking about something else.
He looked at the electronic sand table in front of him, and inexplicably felt that the familiar feeling of being defeated when he led the planetary defense force in the face of the invasion of the imperial army came back.
This 'top student' who graduated from the command post of the First Federation Army Command Academy was able to achieve the position of commander of the planetary defense force at the age of over 40 years old.
In addition to the relatively solid basic skills and business capabilities, the support given by the family business behind the scenes is also considerable.
At least on Lubion 5, there are several large industrial parks invested by the family company behind Benjamin.
Despite these objective reasons, the young major general still believes that his ability to climb to this position is 'inseparable' from his excellent performance in combat command.
Even though the expeditionary force dropped by the Empire was swept away, Major General Benjamin attributed the reason to the poor combat capabilities of the planetary defense force.
The same applies to the coalition forces he currently commands. In his opinion, they are just some miscellaneous troops that pretend to be nothing.
Why else would he be beaten like this under his textbook-standard combat deployment?
However, there is not no good news on the entire front.
Although the attack of the two brigades located in the middle of the front was also blocked, at least they held their own and were not repulsed.
These two brigades are also the troops of Thunder Defense, which has the strongest comprehensive strength among the 15 companies.
In addition, Atlas, which was originally deployed on the right wing and was responsible for containment and feint attacks, was mixed into a brigade - this company was looked down upon by other companies because it was not optimistic about this attack in the pre-war meeting. on the team.
On the contrary, it became the only combat unit on the entire front that could "attack".
“What are these things?”
Major General Benjamin had to admit at this time that he had indeed made a mistake before.
But at the same time, he still believed that his deployment was 'indispensable'.
If it hadn’t been for his ‘magic move’, he would have placed Atlas’s troops on the right wing to take charge of the feint attack.
This mixed brigade of more than 3,000 people cannot achieve this effect.
Thinking of this, Major General Benjamin couldn't help but think of the beam of light falling from the sky in the night sky, and the huge fireball that rose afterward.
After confirmation from multiple channels, the coalition command, including other forces, also knew that this round of strikes was completed by Atlas warships in orbit.
"How many other good things is hidden in this Atlas?"
Not to mention Major General Benjamin who is at the rear command post, even the commanders at the front who are organizing the retreat of the brigade headquarters are also there. I wonder how this little-known company accomplished this 'shattering blow'.
Many people even took advantage of their company's warships to communicate with the captains of these warships when they were over the top, asking them if they could learn from Atlas's warships and provide fire support for ground troops.
While one of the captains was laughing at these "Army idiots who don't know how to command the Navy" in his heart, he also gave a darkly humorous answer.
“It can be supported, but there are two possibilities, each accounting for 50%.”
"What two possibilities? Hit the target or miss? It doesn't matter! You can scare the Imperial Army on the opposite side."
"No." The captain interrupted the emotional commander. , then said:
“There is a 50% chance that the supporting warship will fall into the atmosphere, and a 50% chance that this attack will fall on the top of one’s own people.”
“.”
< br>——
Located about 35 kilometers behind the offensive line of the imperial forces, several armored command vehicles equipped with anti-detection camouflage nets were parked in a relatively dense forest.
Several soldiers from the brigade's communications support company were checking several optical fibers connected to the vehicle's external interface.
These optical fibers are connected to the command information network management vehicle and communication node vehicle 3 kilometers away. While ensuring smooth communication, the brigade headquarters will not be discovered without the communication node being discovered. One piece of reimbursement.
In the armored command vehicle, several imperial officers were crowded together, looking at the vehicle-mounted command terminal. Since the mobile command shelter vehicle had to be destroyed and abandoned due to mechanical failure in previous battles, the combat command headquarters could only move to a few armored command vehicles.
The overall commander in charge of this 'Broken Blade' counterattack, Colonel Viscount Drake of the Royal Army of the Star Dragon Empire, also looked at the electronic sand table with some worry.
Judging from the current situation, the imperial forces' counterattack is progressing at a rapid pace in most directions.
Most of the federal troops they faced were easier to fight than they imagined.
Especially on the west side of the battle line, the 58th Armored Brigade Combat Team was even chasing two federal brigade combat units on its own.
But that dazzling protrusion on the Eastern Front pierced Colonel Drake's heart like a nail.
According to the news sent back by the 49th Armored Brigade Combat Team that was contacting the enemy in that direction, the combat effectiveness of the enemy brigade-level unit in the salient was not at the same level as other enemies.
The extremely strong frontal attack capability, coupled with the terrifying orbital strike, has caused two battalion-level units of the 49th Brigade to withdraw from the battle.
The entire 49th Brigade was also forced to stop the offensive momentum under the opponent's rapid attack. Now it is relying on a small town to barely stabilize the front.
"Lord Viscount, the troops in the east have encountered this tough problem, which is not easy to deal with."
A combat staff officer said:
"The 49th Brigade was reinforced with personnel and combat vehicles before the attack was launched. It can be said to be the brigade with the strongest offensive capabilities on the front. But now it is like this. I suggest that the 54th Brigade on their flanks provide emergency support. Let them withdraw first."
As the combat staff spoke, he extended a dotted line representing the 'planned attack' on the attack arrow of the Atlas mixed brigade.
"Obviously, this enemy force wants to cut off the retreat of the 49th Brigade and try to completely annihilate them."
"I second the proposal, Lord Viscount." Another staff officer also said. .
“We have now lost support and supplies, and we absolutely cannot afford the loss of our organic troops. Pulling back the 49th Brigade is the best choice now. If we are dragged into urban warfare in the future, we will also Can have more mobile troops for defense.”
After listening to what the staff said, Colonel Drake did not think for too long, and the fierce battle situation on the front line did not allow him to think carefully.
And he has actually made his own decision.
“Give me an order to have the 54th Brigade speed up the attack and coordinate the 49th Brigade to withdraw before the enemy encirclement is formed.”
While issuing this order, the imperial commander opened the to the personal terminal, and after identity verification, an authorization command was transmitted to the command terminal.
“At 0230 hours, authorize the 58th Armored Brigade Combat Team to use tactical nuclear weapons and tell the commander of the 58th Brigade to annihilate the opponent’s effective forces as much as possible before the headquarters orders a retreat! He knows what to do.”< br>
Drake's order was quickly issued, and at the same time, a combat staff officer in the command vehicle also asked cautiously:
"Sir, are you sure you want to use nuclear weapons?"
"What? Do I still have to think about protecting the environment of this planet at this time to facilitate subsequent colonization?"
Colonel Drake said disdainfully, his tone full of resentment towards the empire and navy:
br>
“**** (imperial expletive), those sons of bitches in the Navy ran away and left us on this planet to die. Do I still have to think about these bullshit things?”
——
After receiving the order from the headquarters and seeing the authorization code for the tactical nuclear weapon, the commander of the 58th Armored Brigade Combat Team looked at the battlefield situation map and immediately understood that Drake Colonel means.
Under his order, the troops that were already attacking smoothly accelerated their attack pace.
The HCP troops that have penetrated into the junction between enemy units have also received new instructions - to focus on attacking the enemy's accompanying air defense units and draw the enemy's HCP troops away. Weaken the enemy's air defense capabilities as much as possible.
After receiving the order, the Imperial HCP pilots immediately abandoned some armored and infantry units in front of them, and then relied on the HCP's mobility to crush other units on the ground to search and destroy all air defense units.
The two brigades being pursued by the coalition forces were also confused. Their commanders did not understand why the enemy in front of them was going crazy and frantically targeting their own air defense units.
But they didn't have time to think so much, so they could only let the HCP troops that could still fight go forward to intercept and protect their own air defense units, which were not cheap.
Just when the HCP and air defense units of both sides started to play the game of "Eagle Catching Chicken".
On a hillside 5 kilometers away, an HCP carrying a huge launch box removed its optical camouflage and walked out of the forest.
After the walking unit popped out a few mechanical auxiliary tools for buffering and fixing, the seemingly ordinary launch box on its back opened the front cover, revealing a stealth configuration inside. warhead.
"'Light Picker' has arrived at the designated launch location and is undergoing the second phase of the 'Breaking Point' operation."
"Enter the authorization code and verification has been completed!"
"Launch program unlocked !”
“HQ, confirm for the last time, do you want to execute the final stage of the ‘breaking point’ operation?”
“This is HQ, confirm the execution of the final stage of the ‘breaking point’ operation? .”
"Received, start executing the launch program. The program enters the irreversible stage."
"3, 2, 1, launch!"
In the sudden smoke and dust on this hillside, a The warhead with tail flames quickly rushed towards the target airspace amidst the explosion that broke the sound barrier.
At this moment, all imperial units on the western front stopped attacking. The mobile infantry either hid in vehicles or used vehicles as bunkers. All units also turned on the 'nuclear defense' mode.
The coalition HCPs on the front looked at the enemy units that suddenly retreated, thinking that the other party had given up on continuing the attack due to their interference, and cheered.
The next second, an extremely dazzling light tore through the dark night sky, like a supernova exploding on the surface of Lubion 5.
The huge fireball expanded rapidly like the blazing sun in midsummer, lifting itself up with its majestic power and climbing towards the sky.
The brightness makes it impossible to look directly at it. Even on the distant front, you can see the reflection of this bright light on the armor of mobile infantry and vehicles.
As the fireball soared into the sky, the air at the center of the explosion was compressed and violently expanded in an instant, eventually forming an invisible but destructive supersonic shock wave that swept away in all directions.
Everywhere he went, whether it was solid concrete fortifications or armored units such as main battle tanks and HCPs, they were easily torn apart and thrown like paper in the face of this huge force, with fragments mixed in. , mud, and the cries of countless unfortunates.
In the end, when the huge mushroom cloud slowly rose in the firelight, the units on both sides of the battlefield finally felt the sense of oppression that the former 'King of War' should have.
(End of this chapter)