Chapter 139, The Limit of Persistence
Seeing the appearance of the 'Challenger' tank and another war machine that he did not recognize, Li Kexi was shocked at first.
He really didn't expect to see such a thing here.
He once thought about buying a Challenger tank, especially after joining the Beast Slaughter Group. If there is such a tank as the core of the battle, accompanied by a large number of walking troops, and an artillery can provide support at any time, the battle will be much easier.
Unfortunately, affordability is one thing. The key is that there are no channels to buy it.
Not to mention the chariot next to it. Although there are no cannons on it, the double-barreled machine cannon is not something to be underestimated.
When the two fire together, the effect is astonishing.
A tank gun exploded among those green-skinned orcs, causing at least three casualties. What was even more terrifying was the machine gun on the infantry fighting vehicle, and the parallel machine gun that didn't look like a machine gun. blow.
A 40 mm caliber machine gun can also cause fatal damage when hitting a green skin; the strange parallel machine gun that explodes when fired can still explode from the enemy's body after one hit, ensuring that it can kill an enemy. Greenskin.
Under the crazy shooting, six or seven greenskins were killed on the road in one round.
After this round of firepower projection, plus the ones eliminated by the infantry squad in front, a total of fifteen green-skinned orcs were killed.
Facts have proved that the orcs are not really brainless. They know how to rush up when encountering a battle. On the contrary, their intelligence in combat - or instinct, is extremely outstanding.
They knew that if they continued to charge upward with this level of firepower, even if they all died on the road, they would never be able to get past the last twenty or thirty meters.
They dispersed to the surroundings and found cover urgently. A guy popped up and fired a shot at the infantry squad. He really hit the target and broke a soldier's left arm.
Someone helped to perform a simple bandage with medical gauze - mainly to press and block the wound to minimize blood loss, and then the other two people worked hard to evacuate with the wounded.
The remaining seven people were not in a hurry to attack - just wait for the tanks and armored vehicles behind them to come up.
After clearing this wave of enemies, they will continue to move forward, encounter the enemy again, stop again, and fight, trying to eliminate the enemy. If they cannot eliminate the enemy, they will save their strength, and tanks and armored vehicles will come up soon.
Infantry-tank coordination is by no means a simple armored team in front, with the infantry following behind using tanks or armored vehicles as cover. That is a very low-level approach.
In fact, when conducting an assault in an area with wide terrain and few obstacles, the armored troops can be in the front and the infantry can follow up the attack within a few dozen meters behind.
But at this moment, here, in the battle in the ruins of the city, the infantry is usually required to fight in the front line, and the armored troops cover the advance of the infantry with firepower, and use the infantry's close combat advantage to eliminate the enemies one by one.
If the armored forces are in front, the terrain and enemy situation are complicated. Who knows what kind of enemy will appear from somewhere and what weapons they will use to pose a threat to the armored vehicles?
For example, if there is an ambush or hidden enemy infantry, they can use weapons such as explosive packs and anti-tank rocket launchers to attack tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.
Of course, Li Kexi didn't quite understand these so-called infantry-tank coordination tactics. He only knew that the seemingly large group of green-skinned orcs had no chance of making a comeback, and would definitely end up being wiped out. .
Compared with this tactical system of coordinated operations of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and infantry, Li Kexi actually envied the tanks and armored vehicles themselves more.
I have an entire beast-slaying regiment with six to seven thousand men, but I can't even get a single tank together; the offensive tactics of an infantry squad require the coordination of tanks and armored vehicles...
We are all human beings, how come the gap is so huge? !
You can practice tactics and other things; if you say you don’t have equipment, you really don’t have it, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
……
Perbov was not in a good mood.
He has received several battle damage reports.
According to the previous plan, there were almost twenty assault groups coordinated by infantry and tanks. They attacked in waves and only controlled a battlefield area of about three or four kilometers wide.
He asked the front-line combat troops to advance two kilometers to the front of the battle, which would be a head-on blow to the green-skinned orcs who were still rushing in.
Perbov's troops did successfully achieve their intended goals. Moreover, during the two-kilometer advance, at least 300 green-skinned orcs were wiped out under the firepower of infantry and armored troops.
However, his troops were not unscathed in the process.
Two tanks were blown up, three armored vehicles were destroyed, and more than 50 soldiers were injured or killed... This was enough to make him heartbroken.
Moreover, this level of casualties will indeed affect the combat effectiveness of the entire battalion.
One of the biggest losses was that an assault group was almost wiped out.
Perbov saw the verbal summary of the wounded soldiers after they retreated. It was said that they were ambushed by green-skinned orcs while marching.
Those greenskins were very cunning enough to hide in the ruins of buildings and avoid the scope of the infantry's search for enemies. Immediately afterwards, they launched an attack at the same time, and by the time they were discovered, they were already sixty or seventy meters away.
These orcs were tactically divided into four formations and attacked the infantry in front and the armor in the rear from both sides at the same time.
Suddenly entering close range, the infantry squad still suffered a big loss in the exchange of fire. They shot four or five people at close range. But he was also shot at close range by the green-skinned men. The crude firearms in their hands can render a soldier incapable of combat with one shot. Even if it hits a bulletproof vest, he may not die, but it is not a problem to break ribs and cause internal damage, causing a sharp reduction in his combat effectiveness.
What's even more frightening is that those greenskins like to use shotguns, and the flying bullets will sometimes break their limbs.
In close combat, the soldiers suffered heavy casualties.
Later, the greenskins approached the category of cold weapon combat. Although the G9 rifle with a bayonet can be regarded as a useful long-handled weapon, it is still no match for those greenskins.
More importantly, they did not receive fire support from the armored forces for a while.
The armored forces cannot protect themselves.
More than twenty green-skinned orcs, protected by obstacles and bunkers, approached the vehicle from the side, and kept moving even as the muzzle and machine gun firing angles rotated, forcing the vehicle to be unable to fully exert its firepower. Advantages.
Although a considerable number of greenskins died on the way to the charge, and two were killed by the protective infantry accompanying the armored troops, there were still seven or eight greenskins approaching.
The shotguns in their hands eliminated the accompanying infantry, and they also installed explosive bags on the track sides of the tanks and the armor on the sides and rear. They also treated the armored vehicles in the same way.
These explosive charges destroyed a tank and an armored vehicle.
If the squad leader who was ambushed had not sent out a distress signal as soon as possible, and there happened to be a team a few hundred meters away from the nearest position, and immediately came to support, they might have really been wiped out by the team. .
But despite this, they still suffered heavy losses.
Only six of the more than twenty infantrymen survived. The tanks were destroyed and only one of the two infantry fighting vehicles remained. A warning bell rang in Purbeuf's head.
The enemies we faced this time were by no means easy to deal with like looters.
Although these green-skinned orcs only have light weapons and even cold weapons in their hands, the only way to destroy armored troops is to use human flesh to install explosive packs, which is a rather backward and primitive method. It also seems that these green-skinned orcs seriously lack long-range fire.
But with their animal-like physical fitness, their surprisingly strong fighting ability at close range, and their fearlessness of death...
Even though his troops had far superior firepower than their opponents, they still inevitably suffered losses in the battle.
To sum up, since the self-defense Xingcheng was dispatched, by now, Purbov's first battalion had lost a total of two tanks (one lying on the road has not been repaired), two armored vehicles, and nearly a hundred casualties.
This means that his troops have lost more than 10%.
The battle against the greenskins must be arduous, but it has just begun and there are already so many casualties... What happens next?
I dare not even think about it!
But soon, he suppressed this uneasy thought.
The battle must go on.
The troops that set out in front had already pushed the front line two kilometers away as planned, and eliminated a large number of greenskins. At the same time, due to their decisive forward pressure, a large number of greenskins who were in an offensive posture had to retreat back.
It must be said again that these greenskins are wild, warlike, bloodthirsty, and easy to get angry, but they are not without intelligence. On the contrary, they are quite cunning and pragmatic when it comes to fighting.
After realizing that in the face of armored impact, fighting on the ground would be a disadvantage and the losses would be huge, those greenskins did not continue to fight recklessly with flesh and blood.
This also makes Purbov a bit regretful, otherwise the number of greenskin heads captured might not be just over three hundred.
The greenskins that shrank back began to build simple fortifications, or simply rely on the ruins of the terrain to defend themselves layer by layer.
The difficulty for the armored combined force to continue advancing will become very great later. It is foreseeable that if you push forward further, not only will the results of the battle drop sharply, but your own losses will also be huge. It is possible that the enemy will fight at a loss of 1 to 2 or 1 to 1.
Purbov doesn't have that many manpower to fight these greenskins.
Once you have accomplished your intended goal, there is no need to keep pushing forward.
The front-line combat troops began to defend on the spot, also relying on the ruined terrain, and built firepower points and fortifications at key locations. The advantage over those greenskins is that the defensive positions established by his troops are supported by armored vehicles and tanks at a slightly distant rear. If those greenskins dare to show up and attack the position, tank guns, machine guns, and bolt machine guns will teach them how to behave.
The two sides entered a confrontation stage.
If it stays like this, Purbeuf can accept it.
He had already discussed the goals of this battle with the political commissar of the battalion headquarters and several staff officers and adjutants.
It was impossible for them to turn the entire rotten battle into victory with just one battalion. What they have to do is to stabilize the front, become the mainstay, plug the gaps, and prevent a comprehensive collapse.
As long as the battle can be sustained until the Governor arrives, it will be considered a success.
But those greenskins don't seem to be willing to give up. They still have the idea of continuing to break through human defenses.
But this time, Purbov was not polite to them.
Twelve kilometers away from the front-line battlefield, the 155 howitzer position has been constructed. It's not the advance stage. A large number of adventurers have also retreated from the front line to regroup. There is no need to worry about accidental injuries. Our own troops have also passed back the shooting elements from the front line.
Without saying anything else, he fired five rounds of artillery fire.
Sixty heavy artillery pieces landed on the attack route of the green-skinned orcs in less than ten minutes. The nearest artillery shell was less than a hundred meters away from the frontline soldiers.
The exact number of casualties caused by these five rounds of shelling is difficult to detect beyond the frontline positions. But according to a rough estimate, those green-skinned orcs may have suffered more casualties than the previous casualties caused by tanks, armored vehicles, and infantry.
After losing another three to four hundred greenskin orcs, the greenskins attacking the fifth area basically lost 20% of their effective strength.
After five rounds of artillery fire, the attack that the green-skinned orcs were gathering strength to launch was ended, and they finally died down.
The 20% loss certainly did not exceed the upper limit that the green-skinned orcs could bear. But the casualties must be meaningful. Bite the bullet and attack a layered defensive position with heavy artillery. That is not a matter of bravery or not, that is a matter of stupidity.
Greenskins are anything but stupid in combat.
Moreover, the greenskin does not necessarily have to bear this death. The fighting surface that the first battalion deployed to withstand was only five or six kilometers wide. However, the width of the front line attacking Junk Town within the ruins of the entire high tower is probably more than 60 kilometers, covering the entire high tower area and the surrounding suburbs. There is a lot of front width for penetration and outflanking.
If you can't chew it off, stop chewing it and just change the place to hit it.
Purbov also understands this.
The scale of this war was that a team of nearly 100,000 adventurers and armed scavengers faced off against tens of thousands to 20,000 green-skinned orcs. A combined battalion of 800 people, no matter how well-equipped it is, is like a heavy weight that can affect the balance of the scale.
But that's about it at the highest level. You can't expect a battalion to withstand a 60-kilometer front.
If you can achieve the current results, that's fine.
It killed a large number of green-skinned troops, stabilized the defense line, and withstood the peak of the green-skinned orcs' assault force, buying time for the reorganization of the follow-up troops.
Perbov has done what he can. The rest depends on how well people like Denison Henry and Jason Swan can do.
Oh, yes, he also received information that there was a leader of the beast-slaying group who was rescued by them.
You can also count on it.
Purbov had an estimate of how long he could withstand it: he could defend until the artillery support company ran out of ammunition; if the pressure was too great and the 155 howitzer shells ran out, there was nothing to say and he had to withdraw quickly.
If we don't withdraw, it will be like trapping our troops here in vain.
A 155mm howitzer weighs 60 kilograms. There are 12 artillery pieces. After just five rounds, the shells alone fired three and a half tons. The logistics support company has three trucks specifically used to transport artillery shells. Excluding those used in Sanchi Town, the remaining cannonballs can last thirty rounds if fully loaded.
This is the limit of persistence.
(End of chapter)