Empire Conquest-Chapter 789 - 66: Armored Reprisal_2

Before the artillery reprisal ended, Situ Lin had already led his troops to the eastern side of the position.

During the march, Situ Lin assigned the tasks.

The three tank companies deployed in sequence in platoons at the northeast of the position, maintaining a 200-meter interval; the battalion’s security platoon, directly commanded by Situ Lin, was at the northernmost side.

As for the two reinforced mechanized infantry companies, they followed the tank companies, responsible for the rear once the battle started, and providing cover during retreat.

According to standard tactics, the infantry fighting vehicles of the two mechanized infantry companies stayed a few kilometers behind.

After the counterattack began, the infantry would disembark and set up defensive positions.

If the counterattack encountered trouble, for example, if the task was not completed and retreat was necessary, anti-tank missiles would be used to attack the enemy’s armored vehicles.

In fact, these are conventional tactics.

As one of the few armored battalions in the 4th Mechanized Infantry Division, the officers and soldiers of the 04101 Battalion were very clear on how to fight this counterattack battle.

Not to mention, they were regular troops, not temporary reserve personnel.

Actually, this was also Situ Lin’s first time participating in actual combat.

Even though they had participated in large-scale exercises a few times each year over the past few years, and there were certainly live-fire confrontation parts, exercises were just exercises and could not be compared to real combat.

Not to mention, Situ Lin was very nervous.

Just like in exercises, he had the driver Tang Xuebing stop the tank at the front of the squad, with all four tanks of the security platoon behind them.

The entire battalion, only the security platoon had five tanks.

The other three companies all had 11 tanks, with three tanks per platoon and the company commander and deputy company commander’s vehicles.

In regular situations, the company commander and deputy company commander directly commanded a platoon, acting as the sharp spearhead in the attack, while another platoon served as a backup from behind.

After the tank stopped, Situ Lin stayed outside the turret, accurately in the commander’s position.

Although the normal configuration equipped the ZT-99B with only one anti-aircraft machine gun, before departure from Astrakhan, Situ Lin specially acquired dozens of automatic grenade launchers, mounting one on each tank to enhance firepower against infantry in close combat.

To be honest, this was also the biggest issue with the ZT-99 series.

Due to the adoption of automatic loaders, eliminating the need for a loader, compared to the ZT-80 series, in the ZT-99 series, only the commander could operate weapons such as the machine gun mounted on the turret during combat. Consequently, it often became difficult to fend off nearby enemies.

To address this issue, the Empire Army proposed developing a weapon system remotely controlled by the commander within the turret, specially designed to deal with nearby enemies. Unfortunately, relevant development work was still underway, and even if it succeeded, it could only be used on the next improved model.

Of course, there are always other solutions.

The simplest way is to install more self-defense weapons.

Another one out for "fresh air" was the gunner Wu Qitie.

Tang Xuebing also opened the hatch above his head, though he didn’t stick his body out.

Truth be told, the driver had it the worst.

To ensure the front armor of the hull was thick enough, besides using a large slant angle setup, the space for the driver’s legs was greatly compressed.

Although equipped with an automatic transmission and a steering wheel driving system to reduce driver burden, the space available for the driver was extremely cramped, inevitably leading to rapid physical fatigue during long-term tank operations.

Truthfully, the "fresh air" was mainly due to nerves.

In less than 10 minutes, Situ Lin smoked two cigarettes.

Lighting a third cigarette, he glanced back.

The commanders of the other four tanks were also outside the turrets, all smoking.

On the left front, at the western end of the defensive line, the battle had been fought for over 10 minutes, not only could the blinding flashes of explosions be seen, but the sounds of blasts and gunfire could also vaguely be heard.

To be precise, it was actually the sound of machine guns firing.

From several kilometers away, the sound of gunfire couldn’t be conveyed at all.

As for the sounds of machine guns, everyone knew well in their hearts.

The Luosha Army defending the line didn’t have machine guns; their largest caliber weapon was merely a 13mm heavy machine gun.

The ones using machine guns were certainly the enemy’s infantry fighting vehicles!

The infantry fighting vehicles were already engaged in battle, which could only mean the enemy had reached the position, at least advancing to the forefront of the position.

Why hasn’t Pavlov given the signal yet?

Situ Lin was very worried, even frightened.

Pavlov only had 2,400 officers and soldiers, and no hope for reinforcements in the coming days.

If they exhausted their forces on the first night, even if they only suffered heavy casualties, it would mean failing to complete the task assigned by the Battle Zone Headquarter.

If the line fell prematurely, Astrakhan could very likely be captured by the enemy!

However, Situ Lin also knew that as an experienced commander, Pavlov would not make low-level mistakes. He might be waiting for the best moment.

Simply put, it was about repelling the enemy’s offensive momentum with a decisive counterattack.

If done well, perhaps tonight’s battle could conclude just here!

From a tactical level, this required as much as possible to have the enemy concentrated in front of the defensive line, essentially blocking the enemy’s advance at the forefront of the line.

When the enemy concentrated its forces to attack the defense line guarded by the Luosha Army, Situ Lin and his forces could launch an assault from the side, potentially routing the enemy in one strike.