Empire Conquest-Chapter 826 - 84: Flying Bus

Actually, the "Z-8L" piloted by Lian Mingyang took off only about 15 minutes later than those "Attack-9B" helicopters of the Air Force.

Just like piloting an armed helicopter, Lian Mingyang is still at the forefront, personally carrying out the most risky assault missions.

On his "Z-8L" general-purpose transport helicopter, besides him and Jiang Shanggui, there are 2 machine gunners and a squad of 12 assault team members on board.

In fact, the "Z-8L" can carry a maximum of 16 fully armed infantry soldiers. In the front and back personnel cabins, separated by a middle partition, face-to-face seating arrangements allow for 4 infantry in each of the 4 rows. However, each row leaves one seat empty for ammunition and other supplies, so only 12 soldiers are carried.

In the special operations model, the "Z-8T," because the last row of seats is removed to install a 600-liter internal fuel tank, it can also only carry 12 soldiers.

This carrying capacity is actually very deliberate.

In low-altitude assault forces, the minimum configuration for an infantry squad is 6 people, meaning 12 soldiers can theoretically form 2 infantry squads.

However, infantry squads are not the standard formation for air assault forces.

When performing high-difficulty combat tasks, a 4-man combat team formation is generally adopted, and usually, 3 combat teams act together.

Evidently, 12 officers and soldiers form exactly 3 combat teams, which is a complete combat unit.

The 12 officers and soldiers onboard with Lian Mingyang form one complete combat unit.

In these 3 4-man combat teams, the commander’s team consists of the commander, a sniper, a machine gunner, and a rifleman who assists the machine gunner. Because the commander is a rifleman, and the machine gunner uses a light machine gun, this combat team possesses comprehensive suppressing firepower from long to short range. In the deputy commander’s team, there is the deputy commander, a machine gunner, and two riflemen carrying light anti-tank missile systems. The main task of this team is anti-tank, and while serving as a sniper, the deputy commander must also carry spare ammunition for the squad machine gunner. The third team comprises the team leader, a machine gunner, a rifleman assisting the machine gunner, and a rifleman carrying a rocket launcher, but this team primarily focuses on machine gun fire, having the squad’s only general-purpose machine gun.

Only when the 3 teams fight together do they have complete firepower and combat effectiveness.

If we must say, the main problem with such a combat unit is the lack of strong sustained combat capability.

The reason is simple: 12 officers and soldiers have to carry various suppressive weapons covering all ranges, making it impossible to carry sufficient ammunition.

Although ammunition and supplies can be balanced within the squad, the heavy burden remains overwhelming for soldiers who have taken on too many tasks.

Even for a short-term operational task spanning three days, the individual load has reached an astonishing 35 kilograms.

If the combat time is extended to seven days, without additional ammunition but only necessary supplies, the individual load is close to 45 kilograms.

According to the Empire Army’s calculations, once the load exceeds 45 kilograms, a soldier’s combat efficiency will plummet.

If possible, try to keep the combat load under 35 kilograms.

This is also the main reason why the Army has the "Z-8L" carry only 12 officers and soldiers. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

By carrying 4 fewer infantry, approximately 600 kilograms of weapons and ammunition can be carried additionally.

Importantly, the helicopter can directly deliver the combat forces to the positions, eliminating the problem of moving weapons and ammunition to the front lines.

To put it simply, using helicopters to airlift troops and supplies for vertical airborne operations on the front line is a new tactic developed by the Empire Army during the Boi War.

This time is actually no different.

The mission of Lian Mingyang and his team is to deliver the Reprisal troops to the northern part of the frontline, to a hill on the eastern shore of the Volga River, near the main highway.

After the first batch of assault forces controls the position, engineers and equipment will be sent up.

In short, it is to help the Air Assault Forces occupy and fortify the position and complete combat deployment before the enemy reacts.

Once the battle begins, reinforcements and combat supplies will continue to be sent to the front.

Operations are planned and directed from the rear, and Lian Mingyang and his team just need to act strictly according to plan, accurately speaking, until encountering unforeseen circumstances.

This includes the departure and arrival times.

It must be said, the first assault transport arrived only about 2 minutes later than scheduled.

The 2-minute delay was also according to the front-line command’s order to slow down mid-flight while pre-assault fire strikes were still underway.

To avoid friendly fire, the transport helicopters had to enter the field after the fire strike ended.

On the way to them, the Air Force’s attack aircraft concentrated strikes on the nearby western Luosha Army. The eastern Luosha Army also deployed long-range rocket artillery for a quarter-hour, covering bombardment over this hill, firing a total of over a thousand large-caliber rockets.

To say the least, the effect of the artillery strike was even more apparent.

In fact, among the entire Eastern Group, only the eastern Luosha Army particularly emphasizes artillery.

As mentioned before, the eastern Luosha possesses the best long-range artillery in the group.

In terms of rocket artillery, the situation is similar, even more outstanding.

All large-caliber long-range rocket artillery of the Eastern Group, at least the large-caliber ones, were developed based on the eastern Luosha "Tornado."