Chapter 565: Chapter 332: The Titan is completely finished
The Phoenix Battle Group had been a part of this battle right from the beginning.
As such a reliable force, Perbov of course wouldn’t overlook them.
On the contrary, they were his ace in the hole.
He was aware that the Alliance Army held a complete advantage in all aspects against the enemy, except for the Knight Titans.
If you let these Knight Titans loose, one Knight Titan tearing apart a hundred Lion Tanks was not a problem.
Conversely, the Alliance’s conventional forces found it extraordinarily difficult to pose a threat to these terrifying war machines. If it came down to a direct confrontation, then they could only send enough armor units to serve as ‘sandbags’ to take the hits, to act as meat shields. Then, they would use the tanks’ armor-piercing cannons and heavy artillery from the rear to wear down the Knight Titans’ energy shields until breaking through and ultimately destroying them.
The casualties in this process were simply incalculable.
From the beginning, Perbov didn’t quite hope that the battle would evolve into that state.
It was just too passive.
Having the Interstellar Warriors in hand and not using them would be foolish.
But even after consulting with Commander Matins, he didn’t immediately place the Phoenixes in an obvious position.
On one hand, it’s best to use good steel on the cutting edge; common fights don’t need their involvement. On the other hand, it’s essential to keep a trick up the sleeve to prevent the enemy from noticing and preparing for them right from the start.
Of course, those Knight Titans were on guard.
Once the silhouettes of Interstellar Warriors appeared among the enemies, who could ignore them?
But maintaining attention incurs a ‘cost’. When the battle became so fierce that they could hardly spare attention elsewhere, how could they keep focus on the Interstellar Warriors who hadn’t yet appeared on the battlefield?
Thus, the first sacrifice appeared.
Like specters, the Phoenixes darted out from behind a Lion Tank. Already less than a hundred meters from the target, they could reach it in a matter of seconds in a full sprint.
Some were responsible for fire suppression, eliminating the obstructive Sentry Mecha, while others breached quickly. Dodging a reactionary kick from the Knight Titan, they leapt high, landed on the Titan, placed thermite charges, and rapidly withdrew.
The power of a thermite bomb was sufficient, and most crucially, the thermite, being placed in close proximity, was entirely unaffected by the energy shield, making the destruction of a Knight Titan without question.
After the first one, the second one followed immediately.
The two Titan Knights who dared to plow through the ranks met their desired fate. The time between their destruction was just a mere eight minutes apart.
The remaining four were genuinely alarmed.
Before them was a surging cluster of tanks; behind them, a great number of self-propelled guns. Amidst the hail of fire, the remaining four Titans didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger, yet the accompanying troops beneath them were gradually showing signs of not holding up.
If the forces on both sides were on the same level, then that would be a different story; however, during the preceding withdrawal, some units, while retreating, had lost their way, while others, in the face of the Alliance Army’s fervent pursuit, were pinned down – either they were annihilated, dispersed, or still engaged in fierce gunfire.
At this moment, the regular units beside them were already few in number; under the onslaught, they were even more on the verge of collapsing.
Once the regular units crumbled, these four Titans would be like lambs to the slaughter.
Without the cooperation and protection of regular units, the towering Titans were vulnerable to overlooked enemies sneaking up to their feet, bypassing the energy shields, and then being destroyed.
Ordinarily this would not have been easy, after all, the Titan Knights were not without close-range self-defense capabilities. Against conventional means, a Titan Knight’s punches and kicks, along with melee weapons, were fatally threatening.
However, weren’t the figures of Interstellar Warriors now appearing before their eyes?
Having witnessed the destruction of two Knight Titans, how could they not understand the danger?
The risk was too great, they felt it inappropriate to continue fighting, and began contemplating a retreat.
Before retreating, they aimed at the Phoenix’s red silhouettes and fiercely bombarded them with heavy artillery.
Indeed, even for the Interstellar Warriors, the firepower of the Titan Knights posed a threat.
Within their sight, three Phoenixes fell to the ground after being bombarded by heavy artillery from the Titans and did not get up.
They had no time to confirm the casualty status of the targets, just retreating while continuing to bombard them.
When the Titan Knights wanted to withdraw, indeed, nothing could stop them in the short term. However, the Alliance forces, relentlessly pursuing them, did not let up the attack.
And worse, this would trigger a series of chain reactions.
The kingdom’s regular forces began to experience a more severe morale collapse.
Before, with six Titans serving as the core of the entire front line, even under the impact of a steel deluge, seeing tanks being destroyed one by one, there was still some courage left to fight. But now, with two Titans in pieces and the remaining four about to flee, what could they do?
The regular units collapsed.
And there was nothing the four Titans could do about it.
They had tried to call on the troops to hold their resistance, but to little avail.
Only a very few stayed by their side, accompanying them as they withdrew together.