Chapter 167: Chapter 138, The Limits of Perseverance_2
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These orc-like creatures tactically divided into four formations and launched simultaneous attacks on both the infantry at the front and the armored units at the rear.
Suddenly engaging in close-quarters, the infantry squads suffered greatly in the exchange of fire. They managed to kill four or five enemies at close range, but they were also subjected to close-range blasts from the Green Skins. The crude firearms in their hands could incapacitate a soldier with a single shot, even if it hit a bulletproof vest—it might not be fatal, but breaking ribs and causing internal injuries that significantly reduced combat capability was not an issue.
What was even more terrifying was that the Green Skins were fond of using shotguns; the scattered pellets sometimes even shattered limbs.
In close-quarter combat, the casualties among the soldiers were heavy.
After that, when the Green Skins closed in to the range of melee combat, despite the G9 rifles being equipped with bayonets and serving as decent pole weapons, they were still no match for the Green Skins.
More critically, they could not get immediate fire support from the armored units.
The armored units had their own troubles.
Over twenty Green Skin Orcs, using obstacles as cover, approached the vehicles from the side and continuously moved while the artillery and machine-gun angles were rotating, forcing the vehicles to be unable to fully utilize their firepower advantage.
Despite a considerable number of Green Skins dying in the charge and two being taken down by the protective infantry accompanying the armored units, seven or eight still managed to get close.
With their shotguns, they eliminated the accompanying infantry and placed explosive packages on the tanks’ tracks and the rear sides of the armor, and the armored vehicles received the same treatment.
Such explosive packages destroyed a tank and an armored vehicle.
Had it not been for the squad leader who was ambushed immediately sending out a distress signal, and fortuitously, a team located just a few hundred meters away coming to their aid, they might have been completely wiped out.
Yet, even so, their losses could still be considered severe.
Of the more than twenty infantry who survived, only six remained, one tank was destroyed, and out of two infantry fighting vehicles, only one was left.
A warning bell sounded in Perbov’s head.
The enemy they faced this time wasn’t something easy to deal with like common marauders.
Although these Green Skin Orcs only had light and melee weapons at their disposal and had to rely on such primitive methods as manually placing explosives to destroy armored units, it was apparent that the Green Skins were severely lacking in long-range firepower.
But by virtue of their beast-like physical fitness and their surprisingly strong combat ability at close range, as well as their reckless disregard for death…
Even if his forces had a significant firepower advantage over the enemy, they still could not avoid losses in battle.
From the time they left Weixing City until now, Perbov’s First Battalion had already lost two tanks (one had broken down en route and had not been repaired), two armored vehicles, and nearly a hundred personnel were either killed or wounded.
This meant his forces had already lost over 10%.
The battle against the Green Skins would surely be tough, but they had already sustained such heavy casualties at the very beginning… What about moving forward?
Unthinkable!
But soon, he pushed these tentative thoughts back down.
The fight had to go on.
The troops that set out earlier had, as planned, advanced the frontline by two kilometers, eliminating a considerable number of Green Skins. Also, because of their decisive push forward, many Green Skins that had been on the offensive had to pull back.
It must be stated again that although these Green Skins were wild, warlike, and bloodthirsty, prone to get carried away, they were not without intelligence. On the contrary, they were quite cunning and pragmatic when it came to combat.
Realizing that they were at a great disadvantage and suffering heavy losses in open ground combat against armored assaults, those Green Skins didn’t continue to stubbornly charge headlong into firepower with their flesh and blood.
This made Perbov somewhat regretful; otherwise, the number of Green Skin heads taken might have been more than just over three hundred.
The retreating Green Skins started to construct simple fortifications, or simply relied on the ruins of the terrain, and set up layered defenses.
The difficulty for the armored combined force to continue advancing would become much greater after that. It was foreseeable that further assault would not only see a sharp decline in military achievements, but their own losses would be significant, and it was possible they would face a one-to-two or even one-to-one casualty rate.
Perbov did not have enough troops to wear down these Green Skins.
Having achieved the predetermined objectives, there was no need to continue pushing forward.
The front-line combat units began to fortify their positions on site, also relying on the ruins of the terrain, and started constructing key fire points and defensive fortifications. Their advantage over the Green Skins lay in the fact that their defensive positions were supported by armored vehicles and tanks providing mobile firepower from a distance. If the Green Skins dared to rush out and charge the positions, tank cannons, machine guns, and bomb-firing machine guns would teach them a lesson.
Both sides thus entered a standoff phase.
If this situation were maintained, Perbov could accept it.
He had already discussed and agreed upon the objectives of this operation with the commissar at the battalion headquarters, as well as with several staff members and adjutants.
They could not possibly reverse the deteriorating situation of the entire war with the strength of just one battalion. What they needed to do was to stabilize the frontlines, be the mainstay, plug the gaps, and stop an all-out collapse.