Empire Conquest-Chapter 787 - 65: Forward Position (Part 2)

Pavlov sized up Situ Lin for a moment before heading towards the table placed against the wall.

On the table was a small-scale military map.

"You arrived just in time."

Pavlov spoke in Liangxia Language, with a noticeable Northwest accent.

It was nothing strange, as one of the first officers of the East Luosha Defense Army, Pavlov had studied at the Empire’s military academy in his younger years.

At the time, to support East Luosha in rebuilding its defense forces and to further control East Luosha’s armed forces, the Imperial Army Academy had specially established a Northwest branch.

For decades afterward, officers of the East Luosha Army attended that branch for advanced studies and training, making most East Luosha Army officers capable of speaking Liangxia Language.

"What do you need us to do?" Situ Lin was straightforward, without beating around the bush.

He was there to fight a battle, with no need to talk around the issue.

"The enemy launched three waves of attacks, all repelled by us. However, the forces deployed in these three attacks weren’t large. In my judgment, this is probing until the main force arrives. If the main force has reached the staging area for the attack, an assault is expected within an hour. The key is, without a particularly critical reason, the enemy has no reason to delay for so long."

While saying this, Pavlov circled a location on the map.

To the north of the defense line, near the western road. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The distance wasn’t very far, just a few kilometers from the defense line.

However, the key point was Pavlov’s final sentence.

The enemy’s vanguard didn’t immediately attack but stopped to await the main force, indicating the main force is likely stronger and may well include the Tiaoman Army’s armored forces.

Pavlov didn’t explicitly state this, indicating it was merely his speculation.

"Have you conducted any artillery strikes?"

"Artillery strikes have been conducted on the enemy’s staging area, but the effect wasn’t ideal."

Situ Lin nodded slightly, not dwelling on that issue.

Reconnaissance soldiers couldn’t reach the site to determine the enemy forces’ deployment, so the unsatisfactory results of long-range artillery strikes were quite normal.

In modern warfare, blanket artillery bombardment not only holds little significance but may also spell disaster.

Using artillery radar, enemy artillery positions can be calculated in dozens of seconds, allowing friendly artillery units to launch a counterattack within minutes.

As such, field artillery adopts a "hit-and-run" tactic, unable to sustain fire suppression on the enemy.

This is actually why tracked self-propelled artillery is so prevalent.

"Colonel, assign us the mission."

Pavlov glanced at Situ Lin again before saying, "Before you arrived, we received news. The low-altitude assault force providing cover will return to base in half an hour, as those armed helicopters are nearly out of fuel. If I’m not mistaken, the enemy will launch an attack after the armed helicopters withdraw. We will do our best to hold the ground line, but as you’ve seen, we’re all infantry, and the early preparation work was too hasty, leaving many gaps in the defensive deployment. Even if we exhaust every effort, we may not withstand the attack."

"Then we can only rely on a reprisal."

In fact, Situ Lin had already guessed his intention before Pavlov finished speaking.

Relying on infantry, especially reserve forces, to withstand the West Continent group’s armored forces is nothing short of a pipe dream.

Even if replaced by the Empire’s infantry units, they still wouldn’t hold.

After artillery fire coverage, before the infantry returned, the enemy’s tank vehicles stormed the position.

Clearly, the key boils down to one point.

When necessary, use reprisal to delay the enemy’s advance, buying time for the defense!

Of course, in defensive battles, tactical reprisal is a critical step, and only with a successful reprisal can the position likely hold.

The only forces capable of executing a reprisal mission are armored units.

This, in fact, is the primary value of armored units in defensive combat.

Sizing up the map for a while, Situ Lin pointed at a spot on it and said, "The enemy’s main force is concentrated near the western road. We’ll move to the east, awaiting orders in the lowlands by the hills. Once the battle commences, we’ll launch an assault from the east upon your signal."

After contemplating for a moment, Pavlov nodded and said, "I’ll send someone to guide you. Follow the three red signal flares as the cue."

"I want to go to the frontlines to have a look, is that okay?"

Pavlov didn’t waste any words, picking up the binoculars on the table, and also called several guards remaining at the command post.

Though he was a colonel and Situ Lin was a major, Pavlov clearly understood the disparity in their statuses and even more the significance carried by the surname "Situ."

Upon leaving the command post, they were already at the forward position.

To see more clearly, Situ Lin followed Pavlov through the hastily dug communication trench to a fire point near the front line.

Although it’s a firepoint, it’s extremely simple, just a bit larger than a foxhole, with sleepers on top covered by about half a meter of soil.

There’s an infantry squad, with their main weapon being an 8mm general-purpose machine gun mounted on a tripod.

Nearby, there are a few foxholes, with reverse slope positions to defend against artillery fire situated tens of meters behind. The squad leader and the machine gunner are veterans, while the others are new recruits.

On the outer positions, scattered around are the wreckage of dozens of tanks and armored vehicles.

They are very far away, the closest being around 2000 meters, so it’s certain that the tanks were destroyed not by the infantry’s anti-tank missiles, but by armed helicopters.

Near the firepoint, there are craters everywhere.

Undoubtedly, before the enemy launched their attack, they carried out a blanket artillery barrage on the defensive positions, focusing primarily on the forward firepoints.

Fortunately, this firepoint wasn’t hit directly by shells.

Actually, it was just luck.

On the way over, Situ Lin saw several firepoints that had been bombed and collapsed, and it’s clear that all were directly hit by large-caliber shells.

"Over there."

Pavlov pointed out the direction of the enemy’s assembly area to Situ Lin.

Actually, it wasn’t necessary at all.

On the left-front of the position, about 10 kilometers away, there’s a brightly lit open space, but the woods block the view of the situation there.

From a distance, it looks like there’s a town over there.

In fact, the night sky isn’t completely pitch-black.

From time to time, fiery dragons, like waving long whips, appear, followed by a faint but discernible rumble.

That’s the machine guns of armed helicopters firing, and the fired bullets include tracer bullets, making them visible from afar.

The battle is to the north of the positions, and it seems that the Empire’s Land Air Force’s armed helicopters have the upper hand.

When Situ Lin felt it was about time to return, a bright fireball appeared in the night sky.

It was an armed helicopter hit by machine gun fire and exploded in mid-air!

Unfortunately, Pavlov had brought an ordinary telescope, and it was too far, thousands of meters away, so it was impossible to identify whose helicopter it was.

Almost at the same time, a message came from the command post.

It was in Luosha language.

After a brief conversation, Pavlov put away the walkie-talkie and reminded Situ Lin once again to observe the northwest attack assembly area closely.

After looking through the telescope for a bit, accurately speaking after adjusting to the darkness, Situ Lin saw a unit appear at the edge of the forest.

An armored unit.

At the front were not the T-series tanks, jokingly called "Turtle Shells," but another type of tank.

The turrets had clear-cut edges and were obviously larger than the T-series.

No doubt, it’s the "Leopard 2" from the Tiaoman Empire.

As expected, the Tiaoman Empire dispatched elite forces to replace the West Luosha armored forces to undertake the assault task to maintain the offensive momentum.

If the intelligence is correct, it should be the Tiaoman Army’s 11th Guard Armored Division.

Of course, it could also be a brigade of that division.

If West Luosha wanted to win a total war, the T-series tanks are very rudimentary, then the Tiaoman’s "Leopard 2" is a carefully crafted work of art.

Globally, "Leopard 2" is one of the few main battle tanks that can rival the ZT-99.

At least, according to Tiaoman Empire’s propaganda, the "Leopard 2" is the most advanced main battle tank today, with the most balanced firepower, defense, and mobility.

Of course, whether it is or not, only combat can verify.

"Major?"

"Let’s go down."

Situ Lin didn’t say much, nor was there a need to.

The enemy’s armored forces have already deployed from the assembly area and will soon launch an attack.

As expected, the enemy would begin artillery preparation in ten to fifteen minutes, and only then did Pavlov remind Situ Lin that he should leave the forward positions.