And it was often at this time that individual rocket launchers would lock onto them.
Yet, individual rocket launchers were still not enough to destroy a Sentinel Mecha. Drex saw one Sentinel that had taken at least four rockets. It was scorched black, its left arm blown off, and its power system malfunctioned, but it still had one hand able to lift its remaining machine gun and attempt to fight back, trying to eliminate the several infantry squads that attacked it head-on.
However, the Sentinel, after killing fewer than ten men, was met with the ultimate infantry destroyer: A battery of mortars was fired at it.
In a short while, at least four mortar shells had exploded on it.
At the same time, a mounted heavy machine gun on the ground, seemingly belonging to the enemy’s company support fire, showered it with a dense barrage of heavy rounds.
There were also the machine guns on the infantry fighting vehicles…
Having endured such a degree of attack, the Sentinel Mecha could no longer withstand the onslaught and was destroyed.
Drex had already reacted. He raised his left hand and fired several heavy grenades from the mount beneath his mechanical arm, destroying the fire support position composed of the enemy company’s mortars and the fixed heavy machine gun. In addition, with a laser cannon shot, he blew up an accompanying infantry fighting vehicle.
Yet, Drex was still bewildered.
As he did all this, with a sweep of his gaze, he saw two more Sentinel Mechas destroyed in a similar fashion.
Even more quickly.
After all, the opposing army was not just made up of infantry.
The Lion Tanks also showed their power, with their Magnetic Rail Main Guns capable of blasting Sentinel Mechas in one hit.
Conversely, Sentinel Mechas had no real means to deal with Lion Tanks.
By this time, he realized that the difference between Sentinel Mechas and Lion Tanks was too great.
Although the cost of both might be similar, with Sentinel Mechas being slightly cheaper and presumably in the same price range, their role on the battlefield was vastly different.
Sentinel Mechas at most are accompanying infantry equipment, anti-infantry units; they are agile, able to follow the infantry into cover, fight inside buildings; their humanoid leg structure allows them to enter complex environments.
That was their advantage.
However, squaring off against Lion Tanks on plains was overly foolish. They were large, had thick armor, and heavy cannons.
Machine guns that could penetrate armored vehicles merely left dents on Lion Tanks. Unless you concentrated fire and rapid-fired for a minute, enlarging the dent, causing metal fatigue, only then could you penetrate the armor.
But that was very difficult, with the enemy’s guns turning towards you, whether it was a laser auxiliary gun or a Magnetic Rail Main Gun, all were capable of a deadly single shot.
Twenty minutes into the battle, fifteen Sentinel Mechas had been blown up.
This was a significant loss.
These ‘Knights’ were also his people.
They were his vassals and effectively his direct forces. These losses were all on his head.
Drex was gradually seeing red.
After quickly annihilating the main firepower of an infantry company, he turned his head to fight Lion Tanks.
He no longer hesitated or struggled. After sending a message through the comms for his companion to provide fire cover, he activated the auto-reloader to resupply his left arm’s grenade launcher with ammunition as he strode forward.
He set his sights on three Lion Tanks advancing in a wedge formation and charging swiftly.
These three had irked him for a while.
Their Magnetic Rail guns and laser cannons kept bombarding him.
His Shield Generator, which hadn’t fully recovered to peak condition, although still faithfully blocking each barrage, ran the risk of being broken through if the bombardment continued unchecked.
And those three Lion Tanks were indeed a bit too close to him.
Less than two kilometers away, with the Knight Titan advancing with large strides and both sides heading towards each other, it took him three minutes to reach them.
The three Lion Tanks had realized the danger and moved apart, trying to make a detour. But what was their maneuverability compared to that of the Knight Titan?
Drex caught up with one, braving a round of firing while on the run, and with a powered punch from his right arm, smashed through the tank from above.
The height of a Lion Tank was about three and a half meters, just over half the height of a Knight Titan.
After dispatching one, he quickly turned and rushed to the second, flipping the tank over with a powered punch to its side.
Then it was the turn of the third.
The whole process took just a few more minutes.
Discover hidden stories at empire
Drex felt incredibly exhilarated!
By this time, his left arm’s grenade launcher had also been reloaded. He looked up, searching for new targets with the visual information transmitted through the observation optics on the head of the Knight Titan.
But at this point, two things happened.
Firstly, his comrade, the other Knight Titan’s pilot, sent him an anxious voice message.
“Prepare to retreat, another group holding the town has broken out, our rear guard hasn’t held, and they have started to fall apart.”
Drex was quite displeased, “So what? With the two of us together and unless facing concentrated artillery, what’s there to fear? His Majesty has commanded us to win at all costs, don’t tell me…”
Before he could finish, he felt a violent shake!
This was the consequence of the second event that had occurred earlier.
An infantry fighting vehicle had approached very close to him and deployed an infantry squad.