Chapter 288, let the bolter roar!
Valenzuan's 9th Company must cross 35 kilometers of desert terrain to reach the scheduled combat location within two hours, and no more than three hours at most.
There was relatively plenty of time, but it was still impossible to run around on two legs carrying a bunch of heavy equipment. We still had to drive.
He was sitting in the passenger seat, holding two maps.One is large and the other is small.
The larger one was drawn before departure, with a large scale and a rough plan of the marching route - only for his company.This was copied from the regiment staff when I went to the regiment headquarters for a meeting.The smaller one was just drawn, based on the big map, reduced in scale, and based on the mission briefing given by the regiment's chief of staff during the phone call just now.
While looking at the map, he directed the driver next to him to correct the route.
Marching in the desert, even with a car, is difficult.
In the Western Desert area, except for the main road that runs from east to west, which is a paved and hardened road, there are no roads in other places - some of them were trampled out by caravans with their feet, ox hooves, and wheels.
This is very difficult to walk.
Although, the terrain here can be considered flat and endless as far as the eye can see.But when you really drive, gravel, sand, small pits and slopes are all things that restrict vehicle access, which is a great test of the vehicle's off-road performance.
But fortunately, the alliance's newly equipped Tieniu-200 military version is greatly upgraded compared to the previous generation.Not only is the rear body fully enclosed with metal, but the vehicle's tires, suspension and other aspects have been upgraded, with particular emphasis on off-road capabilities.
Bumps are unavoidable, and you can't drive too fast. Otherwise, who knows, a certain piece of gravel that the wheels run over will blow out your tire at this critical moment of the mission, and you'll be finished.Although there is a spare tire, changing the tire is a waste of time, not to mention that the spare tire may not be enough.
The convoy ran on the desert at a speed of about 25 kilometers per hour, leaving some extra time.
Valenzuan felt that under the circumstances, he should be able to arrive at the location at the scheduled time.
It would be better if it could be earlier.If they arrive early and have more time left, they can dig a few more foxholes and dig deeper, and the subsequent battle will be easier.
Asking for war and being warlike does not mean that we will actually fight and risk the lives of our brothers.
While traveling, they were not walking stupidly.
Valenzuan had already sent out a reconnaissance squad and drove several three-wheeled motorcycles in the company to the west to investigate the situation.
The alliance's military has fully distributed communications equipment to the squad level.
The investigation team will send back a piece of information every once in a while.
They also met scouts from other brotherhoods. Based on this intelligence and the battles detected ahead, Valenzuan roughly pieced together the current situation.
The number of mechanical legions is unknown, but there must be a lot of them, and they are being attacked by a synthetic battalion of the Xifeng Brigade.That should be the 2nd Battalion of the Xifeng Brigade. They were bombed and were counterattacking under artillery fire.
They alone are definitely not enough. Although there are Lion tanks, chariots, and elite infantry, quantity is always a problem.
However, although the number of front-line offensive troops is much smaller than that of the enemy, the firepower is extremely fierce!
Among them, the most important source of firepower was the Alliance artillery force that was already on the move.
The artillerymen of a combined battalion of the Xiefeng Brigade were not the only ones participating in the battle.The artillery battalion under the brigade, the artillery support companies within reach of other battalions, and even the artillery of the 3rd Brigade next door, whatever they could reach, were pouring firepower into the place.
The intensity of artillery support was much greater than the size of the participating troops.
With such artillery support, the brother troops of the 2nd Battalion next door made great progress.
Valenzua really felt a sense of urgency in his heart.
He calculated the distance and time. It would be no problem to arrive at the scheduled location in two hours, but he still had to try as early as possible.
Hurrying slowly, they arrived at the scheduled combat location about an hour and a half after setting off.
The enemy hasn't arrived yet.
They quickly arranged their positions.
Logically speaking, they have about an hour to set up the fortifications.
There are only more than 130 people in their company, and they carry some engineering equipment, including shovels and hammers.Each class and platoon found a suitable place and started working.
Of course, it would be impossible for such a small number of people to dig out an intricate and fully functional battlefield trench in just one hour.
Anti-blast holes, tunnels, bunkers, command posts, rest areas...
None of these things are available.
But it's impossible to stand upright on the wasteland and shoot at people.
They would temporarily dig some foxholes and use some gravel they could pick up in front of the holes to serve as bunkers and firepower points. If conditions allowed, they would dig another hole next to the foxholes - keep it. The covered pit served as a bombproof hole.
But it is not easy.
The wasteland in the Western Desert is not a desert, and it is not covered with quicksand.However, the soil structure is still not strong enough. If the hole is dug without artificial support, it may collapse on its own.
There are only some simple engineering tools available in the company now, unlike the serious engineering companies and engineering battalions. Recently, they have been equipped with military-type engineering machines. It is a bit difficult to dig such holes.
Valenzuan and the company instructor walked around, checking the defense status of each team and assessing the progress of the project.
But while they were digging the hole hard, something happened.
From the northwest, there are shadows moving.
The soldiers immediately became nervous.
They haven't finished digging the hole yet. In fact, the time is not up to the scheduled two hours at this time, it is still two and ten minutes short.
But on the battlefield, anything unexpected can happen.It is impossible for the enemy to cooperate with our actions and arrive whenever we say.They may have withdrawn early, or they may have sent out reconnaissance or vanguards to ensure the safety of their retreat.
The soldiers still had to prepare for battle quickly and crawled into fairly shallow foxholes that had not been dug yet; some who had no place to crawl had to hide behind the Iron Bull truck; Using a tool as a bunker is obviously not a good choice, but if a soldier doesn't even have this option, he can only find a place to lie down on the spot.
However, what happened next... I don't know whether it was a false alarm or worse news.
Those who came were not enemies, but friendly forces.
There are many familiar faces inside.
That was the brotherly company next door, the 3rd Company belonging to the 2rd Brigade and 3nd Regiment.
There were a total of twenty people who came over, many of them had injuries on their bodies and looked very embarrassed.
When he saw these guys from a distance, Valenzuan had very bad thoughts in his mind.
He shouted to the brothers what to do next. At the same time, the company instructor had already led a group of people to greet him.
Valenzuan took a telescope and took a look.The distant sounds can't be heard clearly here, but it can be seen that there seems to be some conflict between the two sides. The good-tempered instructor of the 9th Company seemed to be cursing something angrily, and even took out his pistol and loaded it.The soldiers on the opposite side were dejected. Some argued for a few words, but in the end there was no movement.
In the end, the instructor and the soldiers of the company suppressed the group and walked back.
Fortunately, no bigger trouble occurred, and it didn't reach the point of disarming the gang.
After bringing the people back, the instructor arranged for them to find a place and temporarily formed an extra class to dig holes and make preparations for the war.As for himself, he came back to find the company commander to prepare a report.
Valenzuan asked: "Desert?"
The instructor's face looked a little ugly. He hesitated for a moment and then changed his characterization: "To be precise, it should be a rout."
Valenzuan was noncommittal.
The instructor still relented.
'Deserts' and 'defeated soldiers' are completely different in nature.The former will have to go to a military court, or on the front line, any military or political officer has the right to shoot directly.As for the latter, it is a helpless choice and there is no way.
If it's a rout, that's fine, it can still be used if it's gathered up.But if they were deserters, then Valenzuan would not dare to trust this group of people.
If you can escape once, there will be a second time.At the critical moment of the battle, if one part of one's defense line escapes directly in the face of the battle, it will affect the life and death of the entire company.
Looking at the company commander's expression, the instructor hurriedly said: "It's really a defeat! Look, there are no officers in that group. The highest military rank is just a sergeant..."
Then, he talked about the information he got from the defeated soldiers.
The 3rd company is just northwest of where they are now. The mission they received is similar to that of the 9th company, which is to outflank the back road and fight a blocking battle.
But their situation and luck are relatively bad.First they ran into trouble on the road. They encountered a small group of enemies and had to get out of the car and fight.This caused them to arrive on the battlefield later than scheduled, and their scheduled area was relatively close to the enemy. Therefore, they ran into most of the enemy without having time to prepare.
"...According to what they said, they were attacked by a round of artillery before they even got out of the car. One of their vehicles was blown up and one person in the car was killed. As soon as they got off the car, there was no bunker, so they could only rely on the vehicle to fight with the enemy. Fighting, but with continuous artillery fire and combat drones attacking from the sky, they were unable to resist, and the firepower points in the company could not be deployed. The casualties were high from the beginning. When the mechanical dog rushed over, they There's no way to stop it."
"The entire unit suffered heavy casualties, and the remaining people had to fight and run. Let alone the dead, the living were all scattered. They don't know where the other comrades have gone, or even where they have gone. Is there anyone left alive but themselves."
Valenzuan was quite emotional and sympathized with the 3rd company's experience.
There is a huge difference in the outcome of a battle, whether you are prepared or not.
He touched his chin and said: "This does sound excusable, but in order for them to participate in the next battle, you must always pay attention to their fighting will."
"I'll be watching."
...
The defeated troops have already arrived, so the enemy will naturally not be far away.
In fact, within a few minutes, the scouts on the front line sent intelligence, saying that they had seen traces of the enemy, and they had even knocked down two combat drones.
And soon, they also returned to the team.
There is no need to move forward to explore, the enemy is already here.Valenzuan held the telescope and could already see it.
"Fire!" he ordered.
There is no need to get closer and fight again. This is not an ambush. In this endless wilderness, there is no condition for an ambush.Try to destroy the enemy from a long distance and prevent the enemy from getting closer. That is of course the best.
However, the firearms in the hands of ordinary soldiers did not fire.
Now, the enemy is still 3000 meters away, and firing an ordinary rifle is a waste of bullets.
At the moment, the only ones that project firepower are mortars owned by company and platoon-level units.The upgraded 80mm gun has much more firepower than before without sacrificing portability too much.Five such guns, operated by the mortar crew, violently projected firepower forward.
The other weapon that can fire is the heavy bolter.The effective range of this thing is completely over 3000 meters, and at this distance, accuracy can still be guaranteed - the only thing that cannot guarantee accuracy is people.After all, if the human eye sees something 3000 meters away, it would be nice to see a small black dot.
However, if there are a bunch of small black spots, just rely on the scale on the firearm and training experience to scan them.
It was heavy firepower at the level of an infantry company. The enemy suffered such a blow, and for a moment it felt like he was on his back after being bombed.
They seemed to have not expected that the infantry troops could project such fierce firepower.They had just eliminated and defeated the 3rd company that was not prepared for the war. At that time, the soldiers of the 3rd company suddenly entered into a close firefight without even having time to deploy their heavy weapons.
But now, facing the firepower of the prepared human infantry positions, they suffered heavy losses.
Valenzuan, holding the telescope, saw many cyborgs, mechanical dogs, and even another previously rare machine with four mechanical legs that could walk sideways like a crab and equipped with a firepower platform. A string of heavy explosive bombs destroyed it.
Captain Valenzuan was smiling.
It's quite important to get a head start. At least the morale of the troops has been mobilized.
But soon, the enemy's counterattack also arrived.
The sky roared, and shells were coming.
The artillery shells were fired out of reach, and they would definitely be unable to counterattack anyway.The enemy does have large-caliber self-propelled heavy artillery that can hit targets dozens of kilometers away. At least it is as powerful as the Alliance's 155 grenade.
These artillery shells fell and hit the 9th company's position, suddenly making the entire place filled with dust.
When Valenzuan heard the sound of the roaring shells, he shouted "shell shot", then lowered his head and wanted to bury himself in the soil of the foxhole.
The ground shook violently, the explosion almost deafened him, the sand and gravel falling on his helmet and uniform...
These are extremely shocking.
But as soon as the bombardment ended, Valenzuan immediately raised his head and looked around.
The damage was difficult to assess. One of the Iron Bulls was blown over, and no one was in the other foxholes for the time being. It was unknown what happened to them.
But he clearly saw that where the heavy bolter was placed, the original gunner and the bomb supplyer's bodies were abnormally distorted, and they were obviously dead.
Looking further ahead, the mechanical monsters that had been suppressed by fire had already taken the opportunity to charge.
He gritted his teeth, grabbed a soldier next to him, and rushed out with his waist bent.
He controlled the bolter, and the little soldier he dragged over, who was still a little dazed, fed him ammunition.
Fortunately, the heavy bolter itself is still relatively strong, and the shells did not fall directly into the foxhole, so the gun is still usable.
After some manipulation, he made the bolter roar again!
(End of this chapter)