Empire Conquest-Chapter 799 - 71: Changing Tactics

What, are we not allowed to live!?

Situ Lin was full of complaints but dared not delay for a moment, immediately issuing the combat orders.

To the north of the position, a dispersed group of infantry was quietly advancing under the cover of night towards this location.

It looked like they were coming to locate any surviving personnel on our side.

But this battle isn’t over yet, the sky hasn’t even gotten light, even if they’re here to collect bodies, it’s a bit early.

"All units maintain concealment, don’t open fire without my order." After the suspicion arose, Situ Lin instructed the other tank commanders.

As the saying goes, fortune favors the brave.

In war, there are soldiers who will take risks for wealth, such as searching for valuable belongings of the deceased on the battlefield after the fighting concludes.

The problem is, similar situations generally occur after the battle ends.

The more greedy a person is, the more afraid they are of death, the less likely they are to gamble with their lives.

Moreover, those profiting from the dead are mostly rogue soldiers who act alone, at most three to five in a group, not a whole swarm rushing in.

Either way, this is something that cannot be seen in the light.

After careful observation for a while, Situ Lin always felt something was amiss.

Those Western Luosha troops were not completely scattered but moved in groups of three or five, being especially cautious in their advance.

Each team consisted of three or five members.

Could those be anti-tank groups?

If equipped with heavy anti-tank missiles, it usually requires 5 soldiers per group. When using rocket launchers, 3 personnel are sufficient.

Indeed, those grouped enemies are anti-tank teams!

"All units be vigilant, keep an eye on the approaching enemies. Once the battle starts, don’t initiate blind charges, try to stay behind the ridge line."

While Situ Lin was making arrangements, Wu Qitie got up and exited the turret.

Having used up many smoke grenades, Wu Qitie originally intended to rest for a moment, catch his breath and then reload, but it seems like a luxury now.

After reloading the smoke grenades, Wu Qitie didn’t stop. He first checked the heavy machine gun and automatic grenade launcher mounted on the ring rail, then returned to the turret to move out a few boxes of spare ammunition and placed them at the fixed location outside the turret.

The infantry that came this time, when the fight starts later, the heavy machine gun and automatic grenade launcher will come in handy.

Next, Wu Qitie also inspected the coaxial machine gun and prepared 2 boxes of spare bullets.

Aside from the 125mm Smoothbore Cannon, the ZT-99B’s weapons include only 2 machine guns and the automatic grenade launcher installed during the Astrakhan campaign.

Both machine guns are 8mm heavy machine guns.

Although during the design phase, the Army considered equipping the ZT-99 with 13mm or even 15mm large-calibre machine guns based on the ZT-80 standard, providing the ZT-99 with some self-defense air capabilities, after comprehensive consideration, the Empire Army abandoned the idea of equipping the ZT-99 with large-calibre machine guns to simplify logistics.

Of course, this is also a very sufficient reason.

According to the current plan, the 15mm high-altitude machine guns will be gradually retired, and directly retired, as the Empire Army will no longer retain this calibre of weapon.

It’s very simple, the high-altitude machine gun has no use anymore.

Even if anti-air capability is needed, it’s with small-calibre high-altitude guns.

Additionally, the scale of 13mm heavy machine gun equipment will also decrease, mainly provided to Quick Reaction Force, meaning equipped on various wheeled combat vehicles.

In many Quick Reaction Forces, the 13mm large-calibre machine gun is the most important long-range suppression firepower.

Thus, in the Empire Army’s equipment system, the most widely equipped weapon is actually the 8mm machine gun, and it’s progressing towards becoming a General-purpose Machine Gun.

If stronger suppression firepower is needed, one can choose a 35mm automatic grenade launcher.

Within armored forces, there are 30mm machine guns on infantry fighting vehicles, 125mm smoothbore cannons on tanks, and various calibre firearms.

Even at grassroots units, there are 82mm mortars.

Even for small unit operations, there are unassigned rocket launchers and every infantry squad has at least one gun-mounted grenade launcher.

This way, in armored forces, there’s really no need to equip 13mm large-calibre machine guns.

Thus, there’s even less need to prepare an additional type of ammunition to give tanks limited anti-air capabilities, increasing logistical burden.

Furthermore, the practical value of large-calibre machine guns is not significant.

The heavy anti-tank missiles carried by armed helicopters have ranges above 5 kilometers, not mentioning high-altitude machine guns, even small-calibre high-altitude guns, their range is far from sufficient.

They simply can’t reach, so what’s the value?

When dealing with infantry, large-calibre machine guns may not be more effective than heavy machine guns.

Limited by firing rate and more recoil, large-calibre machine guns have less suppressive effect on infantry compared to heavy machine guns.

Additionally, large-calibre machine guns have fewer ammunition reserves, less fire sustainability than heavy machine guns, and much larger logistical support burdens.

During the Boi War, Empire Army tankers liked adding a heavy machine gun on the turret top, specifically to deal with elusive infantry.

To enhance infantry suppression capability, some tankers even chose Gatling rotary machine guns.

As a result, the ZT-99B can normally carry 20,000 rounds of 8mm ammunition and 4 spare barrels. However, in actual combat, tankers typically make full use of space inside the vehicle to carry more ammo, and may even bring a few assault rifles.