Hence, Lion Tanks, Strider Combat Vehicles, and 155 Towed Artillery simultaneously poured the warriors’ fury upon the heads of those mechanical monsters. They had to vent their shame in this manner.
On the flat terrain of the battlefield, the armored troops deployed massively. Artillery had already stopped far behind, and 12 heavy guns began to fire in the direction of the armored troops’ assault. Roughly every two minutes, a barrage of a hundred shells was unleashed, and the 475th Battalion’s ammunition reserves were enough to sustain this rate of fire for twenty minutes.
Following the barrage, Lion Tanks at the forefront kept firing their cannons, while the co-axial machine guns swept fire madly.
Charging alongside the tanks were the infantry fighting vehicles, whose autocannons couldn’t penetrate the opposing tanks’ armor, but were deadly against other units. Their mounted machine guns could also elevate to engage flying drones. Not to mention, interspersed among them were several anti-aircraft vehicles, specially equipped with anti-aircraft guns and fire control systems that were more effective against drones.
And the enemy was clearly not well-prepared in the south; the troops on the defensive line seemed to be the same mechanical units that had attacked the 9th Company’s positions, resulting in a loss of more than a third of their forces and most of their Challenger tanks abandoned.
Under the retaliation from the 475th Battalion, they were utterly powerless. After being bombed, followed by a charge from the armored troops, the entire defensive line was breached. Then the infantry that came up after cleared out any remaining enemies, and almost without resistance, the entire situation tilted completely in favor of Major Deliu.
Afterwards, the troops continued forward, coming across the enemy’s main artillery position.
There, at least a hundred self-propelled artillery pieces were aimed northward.
What other outcome could there be when the artillery position was pierced right in the rear by the armored troops?
The whole unmanned self-propelled artillery position was utterly dismantled within half an hour, not a single artillery piece escaped.
…
At the Alliance Field Command, a dozen or so officers converged.
They had just received the latest intelligence; the battle at the front had largely ended, and the Alliance Army naturally achieved the final victory. The breakthrough from the southern front, attacking the Mechanical Legion on the Western Desert Avenue, had been annihilated.
All fifteen thousand mechanical units were completely destroyed here.
The situation was settled.
This ‘settlement’ referred not only to the current battle, but the entire ‘Flash Tail Operation’ could be considered as part of it.
According to the Alliance’s reconnaissance information, the last mobile force that Blackbird Heavy Industries could muster and deploy along the entire line of defense was already there.
This of course did not mean that the loss of more than fifteen thousand mechanical units was a significant blow to Blackbird Heavy Industries. Nevertheless, the 400,000 units Blackbird had deployed on the front line were also scattered over a thousand kilometers of the front, spread quite thinly.
When the Alliance pinpointed a section and launched the ‘Flash Tail’ operation, creating a huge salient 300 kilometers deep in just three days, Blackbird could muster only so many troops in the surrounding area in a short time.
There were, of course, other units, whether elsewhere on the front lines or in the rear, but they could not fly over; here, there were no more.
With these fifteen thousand enemies gone, Blackbird no longer had the capability to redeploy forces in the short term. This also meant that the nearly 300-kilometer deep salient formed by the Wind-Extinguishing Brigade, the Beast Slaughter Brigade, the 47th and 48th Brigades, was now secure, with no further threats.
Under their assault, their target, namely the enemy’s logistical assembly base centered on Scorpion Tail Oasis, had been completely exposed.
It was estimated that in no more than three days, they would achieve their intended combat objective: the complete destruction of the enemy’s logistics support base.
Ammunition, batteries, fuel… With these destroyed, armies composed purely of mechanical units faced greater struggles and had fewer solutions than human armies.
Human troops, without vehicles, without food, could still run on two legs, taking up guns, wielding cannons, relying on their rations and water bottles to continue fighting for another two or three days. Although this would severely test their morale and the soldiers’ tenacity, there were still ways to endure.
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But mechanical troops are different. Without batteries, without fuel, that’s just it. When they’re down, they’re down, completely immobilized.
At the end of Operation Flash Tail, after dealing with the enemy’s logistical center, there would be some actions left. They’d block the enemy’s retreat, sweep the supply lines that the enemy is using from even further back, and other brother units along the entire front would launch attacks, not to annihilate the enemy, but to bite and exhaust.
According to estimates, in another three days, all the mechanical troops that hadn’t managed to retreat would never be able to. Human troops, following up, would then be able to effortlessly capture countless immobile mechanical units along the road and destroy them.
In this respect, Operation Flash Tail was exceedingly significant. And now, the first light of victory had already shone down, and logically speaking, the atmosphere in this frontline command post should be very good.
But the reality was just the opposite.
The dozen or so officers in the command post were all from the four brigades involved in the operation. They were either brigade commanders, brigade chiefs of staff, or political commissars—the rank and file of colonel-level officers, with the lowest being a major and most being lieutenant colonels.
Normally, there would also be many operational staff members here.
They would gather here and, under the supervision of the senior officers of the four brigades, work together to coordinate the joint actions of the four brigades.
Before, this place was busy and meticulous, with intelligence relayed in a simple and efficient manner after communication, and then orders passed down.
Now that victory had come, however, those ordinary staff members had all been sent out, leaving only the senior officers of the brigades.
The highest commander of the entire operation was without a doubt Major General Yan Fangxu, the head of the Western War Zone. However, he was not present here but taking command from behind, as even though ‘Operation Flash Tail’ was important, he still had to carry the command responsibilities for over twenty divisions and brigade-level units in the entire Western War Zone; he couldn’t just run to the frontline.
Thus, under him, the top commander, among the four brigades, there was another frontline commander.
This person in charge, who also happened to hold the highest rank in the command post, was Colonel Lucy Lee Ko Xi.
There were actually two colonels here, with the other being Colonel Danny Dewillis from the Wind-Extinguishing Brigade. He took up the position after Perbov was promoted to army group commander of the Blackbird Expeditionary Force, so he was relatively junior.
By contrast, Colonel Li Kexi’s tenure was much longer. Having once been a mercenary wandering around Rubbish Town, he formed the ‘Beast Slaughter Group’. When the Alliance gained control of Rubbish Town, he was among the first to pitch in, in what one might call ‘investing with expertise’.
Thereafter, based on the former ‘Beast Slaughter Group,’ the Alliance’s 3rd Independent Regiment was formed, which, through solid battle achievements, produced many heroic figures, among which ‘Soldier King’ Rorschach was the most famous. The regiment, based on its merits, had its special ‘Beast Slaughter’ designation restored and was upgraded to the Alliance’s 3rd Beast-slaying Brigade.
During this process, Li Kexi himself was promoted three times in rank, from major to colonel. However, his position has always been the leader of the Beast Slaughter Brigade. In this campaign, he was appointed by General Yan Fangxu as the frontline commander, responsible for coordinating the cooperation of the four brigade-level units. The other three brigades were to respect his opinions and accept his commands.
During the previous coordination efforts, Li Kexi always maintained a calm demeanor. He didn’t speak much, and his decisions were decisive when disputes arose.
But now, having won the battle, he could no longer suppress his emotions. Experience more tales on My Virtual Library Empire
After sending all the ordinary staff out, he sat in the central position and ranted for over ten minutes.
Everyone silently endured the fury of this old-timer colonel.
In this battle, the Beast Slaughter Brigade suffered the heaviest casualties.
And the ones he scolded the most fiercely were the three officers from the 47th Brigade.
————
4k words, it’s not dawn yet, so it’s still technically night (guilty conscience).
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