Empire Conquest-Chapter 803 - 73: The Fall of the Defensive Line

In an instant, crimson flames filled the entire field of vision.

Suddenly, Situ Lin snapped back to reality.

A deafening explosion erupted; it was the T-72B that had exploded!

What happened?

Before Situ Lin could figure it out, several explosions occurred one after another to the north, all involving Luosha’s tank vehicles, also very suddenly.

"Boss—"

Pushed several times by Wu Qitie, Situ Lin turned his head and looked towards the night sky.

Above, some streaks of light resembling meteors flew from the south towards the north. Those weren’t meteors; they were rockets fired by armed helicopters.

Moreover, the initial explosions were also related to the armed helicopters; the anti-tank missiles launched by the helicopters hit the enemy’s tank vehicles.

Since the anti-tank missile uses a rocket engine and operates for only a few seconds, it doesn’t emit visible light before hitting the target.

Although rockets are also propelled by rocket engines, their range is much shorter than anti-tank missiles.

In an instant, explosive flames swept over the positions that the enemy had already seized.

Then, several "Z-10A" helicopters flew over Situ Lin’s head.

They didn’t fly far; after reaching the north of the defensive line, they turned back and began strafing ground enemies with their machine guns.

One of them flew back and circled above the ZT-99B.

That was Lian Mingyang piloting the lead aircraft.

After contacting Situ Lin, Lian Mingyang only said one thing.

He wanted Situ Lin to immediately organize the troops to retreat; in about 30 minutes, attack aircraft would arrive to bomb the enemy who had already taken the position.

As the position was deemed overrun, the attack aircraft would not distinguish between friend and foe when dropping bombs.

Subsequently, Luosha’s long-range artillery would conduct minesweeping operations.

Furthermore, the western end of the defensive line had already been breached by the enemy.

About half an hour ago, the regimental guard company led by Pavlov conducted the last fight and then signaled that the position was overrun.

Below Pavlov, about 1,500 soldiers from three battalions and three independent companies of Luosha were almost entirely killed in action.

Moreover, the two tank companies Situ Lin left there were also completely spent; all 22 ZT-99Bs were combat-damaged, with only a few tank crews managing to retreat.

They were actually sent to a rear support point by Pavlov after losing combat capability due to injuries.

Lian Mingyang had already dispatched several armed helicopters over there to hold off the enemy, buying time for Situ Lin and his men to retreat.

However, it would only last for about half an hour at most.

No matter how powerful, even the armed helicopters couldn’t withstand the tide of incoming enemies, and they had to retreat before the Air Force’s indiscriminate bombing arrived.

At the forward support point, Luo Youliang was organizing the retreat, first sending away the wounded who couldn’t move on their own.

Those sent to the support point were all severely wounded.

For this, the Land Air Force had already arranged transport helicopters to the support point.

In summary, this defensive line was done for.

It was only then that Situ Lin noticed that the eastern sky was already white.

Unknowingly, they had been fighting here for nearly three hours, and dawn was approaching.

It was late summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and in the mid-high latitude regions, it would be light around 5:30.

After fighting so long, we still couldn’t hold the position.

However, there’s no point in being depressed.

That night, the enemy launched repeated attacks, committing at least three armored brigades, and only broke through the line defended by a reserve infantry regiment and an armored battalion after paying a very steep price. Including the artillery used on both sides, the disparity in forces was even greater.

For Situ Lin and his men, the defeat was actually an honorable one.

In truth, the entire battalion only had 38 ZT-99Bs; in the end, Situ Lin’s was the only one still operational.

After the armed helicopters flew away, Situ Lin went to find the other tank commanders.

Among the five tanks that participated in the last battle, three were destroyed by the enemy; one was pierced by an armor-piercing bullet from the side, and the other two lost mobility due to damage to their running gear. After stopping, they were then destroyed by enemy armor-piercing bullets from the rear.

Another one ran out of shells, and to prevent enemy capture, the commander used incendiary grenades to destroy it.

Of the 12 tank crew members of these four tanks, seven survived.

Subsequently, Situ Lin and his men found more than 20 Luosha soldiers.

All were wounded, with less than 10 able to walk on their own, some of whom were already at death’s door. Even if they were evacuated, they might not make it to the field hospital alive.

Time was limited, and Situ Lin didn’t dare to delay, immediately arranging for the soldiers to evacuate the severely wounded.

Fortunately, there were still a few infantry fighting vehicles that hadn’t been destroyed.

Speaking of which, the two mechanized infantry companies that were coordinating suffered the heaviest casualties.

Nearly all 168 soldiers from six platoons were killed in the barrage.

It was too sudden, and the anti-tank groups, scattered across various launch points, couldn’t hide in time, plus there were no places nearby for concealment.

After the barrage, many soldiers were left with no remains.

Although there was no news yet from the first and second companies, according to Lian Mingyang, the two tank companies must have suffered heavy casualties.

An enhanced armored battalion, apart from the logistics support company, was almost completely spent.

This was none other than Situ Lin’s own battalion!

As they withdrew from the position, a squadron of Air Force "Attack-9A" roared overhead.

Although they had nighttime operational capabilities, such as using television-guided short-range air-to-ground missiles at night, due to limitations in electronic equipment, like the overly simplistic fire control system, "Attack-9A" rarely operated at night, mainly providing support to ground forces during the day.