Empire Conquest-Chapter 797 - 70: A Matter of Life and Death

"Quick reverse, quickly quickly!"

Situ Lin urged three times in succession, although it was unnecessary, because before he shouted, Tang Xuebing had already shifted to reverse gear and pressed the accelerator.

In the roar of the engine, the cumbersome tank forcefully reversed up the slope behind.

The tank cannon was at its maximum elevation, but it still couldn’t aim at the slope across, where a T-72B with its gun barrel also turning this way was waiting for an opportunity to fire.

That’s right, the latest model of the T-72.

Compared to the widely equipped T-72A, the most obvious difference in the T-72B is the enlarged turret due to the use of thicker composite armor.

Additionally, it is equipped with a laser rangefinder with illumination capabilities and can use the 9K120 type gun-fired missile.

As for defense, although some enhancements were made, they are worth nothing in the face of the ZT-99B’s tank gun.

Faster, faster, faster!

Situ Lin was anxiously impatient and full of regret.

Before charging up, or more accurately, before charging out of the position, Situ Lin didn’t expect there to be a T-72B outside the position that was not completely destroyed.

That T-72B just sat there, with the turret top hatch open, and the engine off, as if it was disabled.

After the ZT-99B Situ Lin was riding crossed the hill’s ridgeline, that T-72B suddenly "came alive" and preemptively fired.

Before the attack, Situ Lin had no indication of danger.

At that moment, he was focusing intently on finding targets worth attacking ahead.

Fortunately for Situ Lin, he was very lucky.

The commander of the ZT-99B at the rear accelerated just in time to catch up and blocked the deadly armor-piercing bullet for Situ Lin.

Actually, the tank from the guard platoon didn’t notice the danger either; it happened to appear on the side, blocking the T-72B’s line of fire.

Crucially, the distance was extremely close, less than 500 meters.

Although the ZT-99B from the guard platoon had turned its turret as it rushed up, its task was to watch the left side, but the hull hadn’t turned, and the side armor of the hull was very thin, with an equivalent protective thickness of only 200 millimeters, only sufficient against machine guns, certainly not stopping armor-piercing bullets.

It hit the hull!

Only at that moment did Situ Lin realize the danger.

That T-72B was parked on the slope, covered by the damaged ZT-99B, preventing Situ Lin from aiming, so the tank had to reverse.

It needed to retreat onto the right rear slope to gain a firing angle.

The T-72B’s turret was also turning, waiting for an opportunity to fire at the ZT-99B.

"Sweet Dumpling, hold on!" In the urgency of the moment, Situ Lin shouted Tang Xuebing’s nickname.

After Situ Lin issued the order, Tang Xuebing eased off the accelerator slightly, slowing the reverse speed.

"Position the target’s bearing, once the smoke screen clears, reverse back and immediately open fire, don’t give the enemy a chance to strike."

"Understood!"

Wu Qitie immediately understood Situ Lin’s intention.

First, launch smoke grenades to obscure both sides’ views. Because that T-72B couldn’t maneuver, it couldn’t avoid the smoke screen.

With this, the ZT-99B could safely retreat onto the hillside and then fire at the T-72B.

After issuing the instructions, Situ Lin fired two smoke grenades.

On both sides of the ZT-99B turret, there were eight-tube grenade launchers capable of firing fragmentation grenades, though their primary use was for smoke grenades.

Strictly speaking, smoke grenades are a type of special grenade.

In a dangerous encounter, generating smoke is the main and sometimes the only self-preservation tactic available to a Main Battle Tank.

After deploying the smoke grenades, Situ Lin fixed his gaze outside, observing the spread rate of the smoke to ensure seizing the fleeting opportunity. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Sweet Dumpling!"

"Hold on tight!"

With Tang Xuebing pressing the accelerator, the ZT-99B continued to reverse amidst the engine’s roar, directly charging up the slope behind.

"Ziii—"

"Boom..."

A sharp whistling sound was heard, passing by the left side of the tank, followed by the sound of cannon fire.

Clearly, that T-72B had preemptively fired, but it aimed at the ZT-99B’s left flank, maybe because the T-72B’s commander thought the ZT-99B would turn left after deploying the smoke and aimed at its left, trying to destroy it with a preemptive strike.

In typical scenarios of emergency evasion when threatened, the probability of turning left after deploying smoke indeed was highest.

Veering left is an instinct.

Otherwise, carriers would not place the island on the right side of the flight deck.

However, Situ Lin and his team did not evade!

"Boom..."

Before Situ Lin gave the command, Wu Qitie had already fired.

Though obstructed by the smoke and unable to see the T-72B with the thermal imager, the muzzle flash from the T-72B firing could be clearly seen through the periscope.

Crucially, the T-72B’s position had not changed.

"Iron Head, it’s hit!"

Tang Xuebing saw the explosion’s flash through the periscope.

Every tank is equipped with a set of periscopes specifically for the driver, and usually, reflective mirrors are placed on the left and right sides of the hull.

Primarily, this is because the driver must stay inside the hull during combat and can only observe external conditions via periscopes.

"Reverse, don’t stop!"

After instructing Tang Xuebing, Situ Lin ordered the other two ZT-99Bs to retreat behind the hill ridgeline.

To this point, out of a total of 9 ZT-99Bs, 5 can still continue the fight, and Situ Lin’s side had 3 of them.

On the open ground north of the hill ridgeline, approximately 80 T-72Bs were densely placed, along with about 30 BMP-2 wrecks.

Only less than a third of these were the result of actions by the ZT-99Bs.