Empire Conquest-Chapter 795 - 69: Tactical Reprisal
The enemy, as if gone mad, launched an attack before the end of artillery preparation.
By the time Situ Lin received the message from the frontline troops and arrived with the guard platoon, the enemy had already climbed onto the position. The Third Tank Company, which had been thrown into battle earlier, lost 5 tanks, with the remaining 6 tanks scattered on the 2-kilometer-long defensive line, facing more than 70 T-series tanks.
They were not the elite T-80U, nor the mediocre T-72A, but a new tank model that had not appeared before.
It resembled the T-72A in appearance, except the turret size was noticeably larger, and reactive armor was installed outside the turret and hull.
A brand new T-72?
Whether it is or not, the enemy’s tanks were just too many.
On a battlefield of approximately 2 kilometers, deploying nearly 70 tanks, equivalent to 2 Armored Battalions, indicated the enemy intended to capture this position in one fell swoop.
Specifically, the enemy had committed a total of 3 Armored Battalions. However, in previous battles, they had already lost about 1 battalion’s worth of troops.
This was almost the entire strength of an Armored Brigade!
Insane!
The destroyed tanks were all beyond 2000 meters north of the defensive line, with some even beyond 4000 meters, exceeding the range of tank guns.
Evidently, the tanks were destroyed by Heavy Anti-Tank Missiles.
The Eastern Luosha Army guarding this position had only 4 anti-tank missile launchers, with less than 10 missiles available, but the mechanized infantry companies brought by Situ Lin each had a missile platoon specifically for tanks, with each platoon having 6 anti-tank teams equipped with 6 Heavy Anti-Tank Missile launchers, and each team had 6 missiles. Together, the mechanized infantry companies had as many as 72 Heavy Anti-Tank Missiles directly used by infantry.
Since each anti-tank team had 5 members, with 2 being shooters, they could carry at most 3 missiles, so only 36 missiles could be used in one battle. Typically, the remaining missiles were left on the combat vehicles, unable to be brought to the frontline.
If fighting in mountainous terrain, the missile carrying capacity would be reduced to 2 missiles to lighten the combat load and enhance the tactical flexibility of the anti-tank teams.
Moreover, the infantry fighting vehicles were also equipped with anti-tank missiles.
For logistical convenience, the Army adopted the "Crossbow Cannon" anti-tank missile uniformly. The vehicle-mounted and infantry versions used different launchers, with the infantry version having a simple aiming device, while the vehicle-mounted version directly used the combat vehicle’s aiming system without needing additional aiming equipment.
The Anti-tank Missiles could demonstrate their power not only because of their sufficient range but also due to the support provided by rear artillery.
During the reprisal, the artillery used illumination shells.
The anti-tank teams deployed on the rear positions seized these precious few minutes to launch a small surge, using the "Crossbow Cannon" to destroy dozens of tank vehicles.
To improve the efficiency of the reprisal, many anti-tank teams fired 3 missiles within 10 minutes.
This firing rate far exceeded normal training.
Fortunately, most anti-tank teams were firing missiles from 3000 meters, or even 4000 meters away, thus avoiding enemy reprisal.
Unfortunately, the enemy had too many troops.
Even after suffering heavy losses, the Western Luosha Army did not stop advancing; instead, they used the second wave of shelling to push to the front of the defensive line.
In fact, from the end of artillery preparation, the Western Luosha Armored Forces took only 10 minutes to storm the defensive positions.
In the second wave of shelling, a bombardment barrage from afar to near, the exposed anti-tank teams suffered heavy casualties and almost all lost combat capacity.
The result was that after withstanding the first wave of reprisal, the Western Luosha Armored Forces encountered almost no resistance.
Although relying on the anti-artillery holes set on the reverse slope positions, most of the Eastern Luosha officers and soldiers avoided the shelling, and the casualties and losses were not large.
But the problem was, there was no time to return to the defensive position.
Furthermore, most of the defensive works had been destroyed by shelling.
Compared to the western defensive positions, the eastern segment of the positions was built noticeably more carelessly, not only because Pavlov did not come to supervise but also due to terrain reasons.
The entire position was on a protruding hill.
Although the slope of the hill was not steep, the height difference of nearly 50 meters made it extremely advantageous for defense.
However, relying solely on foxholes, without suitable weapons, and even lacking many rocket launchers, the Eastern Luosha officers and soldiers couldn’t stop the rolling tide of steel.
One could say, this was a significant feature of the Western Luosha Army’s offensive.
To make a breakthrough at any cost, expand the breach, and make adjustments to exposed problems once having gained battlefield initiative.
Simply put, during the strong attack phase, a breakthrough was pursued at any cost.
In fact, this was the only tactic available when the technological level of weaponry was inferior to the opponent, in order to seize the battlefield initiative.
This point directly dictated the Western Luosha’s basic stance in developing their weapons and equipment.
To put it simply, no matter how advanced the weapons and equipment, they are consumables in total war, and loss rates would not significantly reduce due to higher technological levels.
Relatively speaking, the loss rate of the same type of weaponry would not have much difference.
For example, even if the Empire Army’s ZT-99 series was more advanced, the combat loss rate of Main Battle Tanks would not be much lower than the slightly less performing T-80U.
According to cost calculations, then the exchange ratio of T-80U would definitely be above the ZT-99.
