Chapter 564: Chapter 331, The Great Battle_2
At the moment, this firepower proved immensely effective.
Under heavy artillery bombardment, the unprotected Sentry Mecha in retreat were destroyed at an alarming rate.
Especially when the range of engagement closed in, the infantry of the Alliance Army also posed a significant threat to them.
As for the company- and platoon-level mortars, there’s not much to say. Their accuracy isn’t great; hitting the much more agile Sentry Mecha compared to tanks isn’t easy. They could only be used to target the cannon fodder infantry of the kingdom’s army.
But that was enough.
An even more terrifying asset in the hands of the infantry was the heavy grenade launcher.
A platoon was equipped with one; taking a few hits, even a dozen, wasn’t a big deal. But if they were barraged by a volley, even tanks might not withstand it, let alone the Sentry Mecha with significantly thinner armor compared to heavy armored vehicles like tanks.
The machine guns and grenade launchers on the infantry fighting vehicles, the heavy grenade launchers in the infantry platoons, the long-range 155mm heavy artillery… Dozens of Sentry Mecha and several thousand kingdom’s troops couldn’t withstand such fierce firepower for long and were quickly routed.
Not many surrendered or escaped; the majority were annihilated on the spot.
After such events occurred multiple times, the six retreating Titans sensed something was amiss.
Bleeding too heavily, they had lost an army of over thirty thousand in less than half a day.
If the loss of ordinary infantry wasn’t a concern for them, after all, they were just low-value cannon fodder, the destruction of over a hundred Sentry Mecha could not be ignored.
The Sentry Mecha were expensive, important combat machines!
And what was even more fearsome was that they were merely engaged in a standard tactical withdrawal, pulling back their fist to throw a stronger punch later on.
But the way things were looking, their tactical retreat was edging towards a complete collapse.
These six Knight Titans amassed together in the core area had no big issues, but other parts were at the risk of being completely overrun by the Alliance’s vanguard.
They couldn’t help but feel conflicted.
Although these six Titans were the most important, losing the rest of their forces would not bode well for the upcoming decisive battle. After all, having only Titans, lacking infantry, and lacking the protection of Sentry Mecha meant the Knight Titans couldn’t exert their full strength and could easily be targeted at their weak points and destroyed.
They discussed whether they needed to return and reinforce while gathering their forces more closely together.
However, while they were still considering the so-called upcoming “decisive battle,” for the Alliance Army, the decisive battle had already begun and had reached its climax at this stage!
As they hesitated, they were caught up with.
First to appear within their sight was the 61st Armored Brigade of the Alliance Central Corps.
The reason they could recognize this unit was that the brigade, as well as the battalions and companies under its command, emblazoned their unit numbers on red battle flags, which flew high on armored vehicles, easily identifiable at a glance.
More than sixty Lion Tanks gathered together, each maintaining a distance of around twenty to thirty meters. Tanks raised their guns high, and while on the move, they would occasionally recoil, either lobbing high-explosive shells at the kingdom’s infantry or piercing a Sentry Mecha with armor-piercing rounds.
Over one hundred and fifty armored fighting vehicles accompanied them, interspersed around, providing additional fire support.
The brave and elite infantry didn’t shrink back; instead, they marched between the tanks and even ahead of the armored units. They seemed to have no fear of death; under the support of tank and fighting vehicle gunfire from behind, and with the accompaniment of artillery fire from self-propelled guns further back, they coordinated their attack.
Often after a barrage of heavy fire, before the kingdom’s troops could recover from the deafening blasts, the Alliance infantry had already appeared mere dozens of meters in front of them, their cold gun muzzles practically shoved in their mouths.
Under those circumstances, the six Knight Titans finally reached a consensus.
They could retreat no longer; they had to turn and fight.
In fact, there was no other option for them to retreat.
At this distance, the Alliance’s self-propelled guns had already started to shell them with artillery, but it was only deflected by the energy shield.
The six Knight Titans, determined for battle, found themselves essentially dragged into a major confrontation without much psychological preparation.
Yet despite the facts, at that moment, they still hadn’t fully grasped the situation.
After all, what appeared before them was only a single brigade.
Their initial attitude may have been to destroy this brigade, or at least beat it back temporarily, then they could continue to retreat and regroup with the other six Knight Titans as per the command of their overall leader.
Therefore, their counterattacks appeared somewhat feeble and ineffective.
First, they launched a series of missiles.
These missiles did indeed destroy many of the 61st Brigade’s self-propelled howitzers, greatly reducing the Alliance Army’s firepower density in a short amount of time. Following that, they began bombarding the Alliance’s tanks with automatic-loading grenade launchers mounted on their arms.
The precise artillery fire was capable of destroying a Lion Tank with a single shot, and with automatic loading and multiple barrels, their rate of fire was quite fast.
After these Titans initiated their counterattack, the 61st Armored Brigade began to suffer heavy casualties.
However, it must be said that the timing of these Titans launching their counterattacks was just a bit too late.
The surrounding kingdom’s military forces had already begun to disintegrate.
And what delivered the final blow to their morale was the appearance of two military unit designations, advancing simultaneously from the left and the right on the front lines.
Those were the 1st Extinguishing Wind Brigade and the 13th Armored Brigade.
Combined, these two brigade-level units possessed three hundred Lion Tanks.
When they advanced en masse, their tracks kicked up a storm of yellow sand, elevating the atmosphere of the battlefield to its zenith.
The voices of the Knight Titans echoed throughout the ranks. They valiantly fired artillery, eliminated tanks, and tried to stabilize the morale of their forces.
However, the effect was less than ideal.
Eventually, tanks, armored vehicles, and even infantry units charged up to proximity, deploying their firepower at distances around a kilometer, to engage in a direct exchange of fire with them.
The energy shields on the six Titans flickered constantly. Despite suffering heavy casualties, the Alliance pressured these Titans into a state where they had to fight to their fullest capacity.
A distance of a kilometer was already quite close for the Titans.
They were no cowards, and after a brief tactical discussion, two of them began advancing rapidly.
Apart from their long-range firepower, the Titans were equipped with Gravity Fists and giant chainsaw swords, which were even more formidable weapons.
When they charged into the tank formations, one sword stroke, one kick, one punch—that’s all it took to scrap a tank.
True, the energy shields were ineffective at close range, but accompanying their charge were the Sentry Mecha, the kingdom’s most elite soldiers, and the covering fire from the other four Titans in the rear. Normally, the Alliance troops couldn’t actively approach within the range of the energy shields.
They began to wreak havoc.
Then, all of a sudden, the most intense explosion erupted on the battlefield.
The epicenter of the explosion occurred on one of the Knight Titans engaged in close combat.
A squad of elites dressed in Red Powered Armor emerged from the center of the explosion.
Those were naturally the Phoenixes.
With the covering fire from regular units, they approached the Knight Titan, swiftly eliminated the surrounding Sentry Mecha, and planted thermite bombs before making a full retreat!