From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

Chapter 449: A whole squad wiped out in 10 minutes
If it's a routine tactical deployment, the theater commanders are too old to stay up all night, so they'll probably go back to rest and see the results tomorrow.

Unfortunately, Chen Jun only told half of what he meant, leaving people in suspense before stopping.

Even if the leaders go back, they probably won't be able to sleep.

"Judging from Chen Jun's attitude, he probably doesn't even trust us. He knows we're watching him, but he's trying to keep it from us too," the war zone's big boss said helplessly.

When dealing with someone like Chen Jun who doesn't play by the rules, the big boss of the war zone has no idea what he's going to do.

It's really quite frustrating!

"I bet with his cunning brain, he's not coming up with anything good. It won't be long before Chu Zhangang gets so angry that he'll start cursing and fighting again, haha."

Chief of Staff Shen laughed as he spoke, showing that he was in a very good mood.

"Chen Jun is a real shrewd guy. He's keeping his tactics so well hidden. It must be a very tricky game. If we don't want to miss a good show, we'll probably have to stay up all night tonight, haha."

The big boss of the war zone usually goes to sleep at this time, but now he is not sleepy at all.

He looks full of energy; I'm looking forward to Chen Jun's performance.

What leaders fear most is that their subordinates are mediocre and just getting by, and what they like most is that their subordinates can stir things up and produce something of substance.

That's practically a "treasure in the palm of your hand".

Chen Jun is clearly the kind of "precious treasure" that leaders would find hard to dislike, even if they didn't want to.

"Then I'll stay up all night with the commander and see what Chen Jun is really up to. Hopefully, we won't have stayed up all night for nothing."

Chief of Staff Shen was actually quite uneasy, worried that Chen Jun would mess up this final battle.

After all, the Red Army was at a significant disadvantage overall.

If you are not careful, you will lose everything.

"Commanders, why don't you two go and rest first? There's a rest room next to the command center. I'll call you when the fighting starts," Zhou S, the base commander, said with concern.

"No need, I may be getting old, but I'm not old. Staying up all night is nothing to me."

The big boss refused to rest, adding, "If we really get to the battlefield, do you think the enemy will stop fighting just because we're old and give us time to rest? Obviously not."

"The commander is right."

Chief of Staff Shen chimed in, "How about this, have someone prepare some late-night snacks and send them over, and brew a pot of strong tea to help the commander stay alert."

"Okay, I'll get on it right away."

After Zhou S finished speaking, he got up and went to personally carry out Chief of Staff Shen's instructions.

……

The directing staff is ready to watch the show, and both the Red Army and the Blue Army have completed their respective deployments. The final battle is about to begin.

The Blue Army's 909th Brigade was completely unaware that danger was about to befall them.

They thought that since their main force was approaching, the Red Army would definitely find a way to strengthen their defenses on the position and would no longer pose any threat to them.

Therefore, all the units below were pretty much the same, all trying to make themselves look "glamorous and presentable".

Showering, washing hair, grooming hair and beard, changing into a clean combat uniform, and so on—once the routine was completed, the first half of the night was over.

Because Chu Zhangang has already issued the order that all units should arrive by 6 PM tomorrow.

So the troops on the left flank stopped at the dispatch station, took a good shower with the water from the train station, and wiped down all the tanks and armored vehicles.

Then we set up temporary tents in the open space of the train station, got a good night's sleep, and prepared for tomorrow's big battle.

The central force followed the brigade command, and their operations were basically the same as those of the left-wing force. After they finished, they went into their tents to rest and sleep.

Only the Blue Team's right flank didn't rest; after packing up, they set off overnight as ordered.

They will take a more covert new route to deploy at Hill 330.

Furthermore, the advancing formation was also based on orders, with the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion leading the way, followed by the Artillery Regiment, with a one-kilometer gap between them.

It was past 2 a.m.

The Blue Army's right flank officially set off, heading towards Huanxin Village.

The road here isn't a narrow path, but it's not a wide avenue either; it's just an ordinary village road, about two car widths wide, paved with cement.

Normally, there are no paved roads in the village, and the nationwide road construction program for every village has not yet begun.

The reason why Huanxin Village has a cement-paved village road is because it is close to the Langshan Base military area, and the base needs to build a road from here to get there.

A portion of Huanxin Village was incorporated into the base, which is less than 20 kilometers away from the 535 defense line attacked by the Blue Army.

Abandoning the main highway that leads directly to the base and taking the village road that runs through the village to reach Hill 330 is closer than your route, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Therefore, Commander Zhu, who was in charge of the right flank, had no questions about this order.

After walking for about an hour, the Blue Army's 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion, which was at the forefront, entered the village first and crossed the village to officially enter the Langshan exercise area.

Dozens of trucks roared into the village, waking up the villagers.

There was no panic; the villagers were used to it.

At most, I'll just turn on the lights and go out to see what's going on.

The 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion passed through the village without any unexpected incidents, and the artillery regiment followed closely behind.

The whole process remained very peaceful, with no other incidents except for villagers coming out to watch and discuss the commotion.

This made Commander Zhu, who was initially somewhat wary, completely lower his guard, convinced that the route was safe and that they would soon reach Hill 330.

However, just when Commander Zhu thought everything was going smoothly and that the march would soon end and they would reach their destination...

Shortly after passing through the village and entering the exercise area, the main force of the artillery regiment had to stop on the road because the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion had stopped ahead of them.

The village road was already quite narrow, and if the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion blocked the way in front, the artillery regiment's vehicles behind would definitely not be able to get in.

"Calling the Third Battalion, what's the situation up ahead? Why is everyone stopped on the road?"

Commander Zhu tried calling the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion twice on the vehicle radio, but received no response; it was as if the call had sunk into the sea.

"What's going on? Why has the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion stopped? We can't get in touch with them by radio either?"

Commander Zhu couldn't understand what was going on, so he put down the microphone, frowned, got out of the car, and looked up at the road ahead.

The woods were pitch black late at night, and nothing could be seen ahead of the road.

"Reporting to the regimental commander, for some reason, our communications seem to have been cut off. We can't contact the Third Battalion, and we can't even contact the brigade headquarters."

An aide rushed over, his face covered in fine beads of sweat.

You can tell they're really anxious!

"Communications are down? That can't be right. The signal must be bad here. It should be restored once we get past this mountain road. The most important thing to figure out now is why the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion has stopped." Commander Zhu hadn't realized he'd fallen into a trap and ordered the staff officer, "Send two men to the front and ask what's going on."

"Yes!"

The staff officer didn't dare to delay and ran out in a flash.

But he had only run less than ten meters when he saw someone running back with a flashlight in front of him.
Upon recognizing the man as the deputy battalion commander of the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion, Commander Zhu quickly stepped forward to greet him and asked, "Deputy Battalion Commander Guo, what are you doing stopping on the road?"

"Commander Zhu, a section of the road ahead has collapsed. We are organizing people to clear it. For some reason, we are unable to contact the artillery regiment. The battalion commander was worried that you would be waiting anxiously, so he specifically sent me to tell you," Deputy Battalion Commander Guo reported.

"It seems everyone's communication has been cut off; the signal here is indeed very bad."

Once Commander Zhu understood the cause—it was merely a section of the road that had collapsed—his tense heart relaxed, and he said, "Then you must clear the road quickly. As long as you reach Hill 330 before dawn, I don't think the brigade commander will blame you..."

"Boom bang bang..."

Suddenly, the sound of cannons firing came from all directions, interrupting Commander Zhu's words.

"Enemy attack!!"

Almost without thinking, those two words popped into everyone's mind.

Regardless of the exact location of the Red Army, the artillery regiment and the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion were simply parked on the road, making them easy targets.

The 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion couldn't get forward, and its rear was blocked by its own artillery regiment.

The battalion commander reacted quickly.

He decisively ordered all soldiers to disembark and immediately hide in the woods on both sides of the road, and to find cover and build a defensive line on the spot.

The artillery regiments behind them couldn't defend in place, and they couldn't tow artillery into the woods.

As the commander of the artillery regiment, Commander Zhu's reaction was also correct: to get the shells away from the danger zone as soon as possible.

Therefore, Commander Zhu immediately issued an order: the artillery regiment's rear guard became the front guard, turned around on the spot, and withdrew immediately.

However, issuing commands is quick, but actually performing them is another matter entirely.

The village road is not the main road of the base outside. For a towed artillery piece to be towed by a vehicle to turn around on the village road, it not only tests the skills but also takes a lot of time.

This is also the main reason why Chen Jun deliberately sent a false order to lure the artillery regiment here.

If an attack is encountered on the main road, the motorized artillery regiment can evacuate in all directions and leave the attack area in a very short time.

The losses will not be significant.

But once you get onto the narrow village roads, the situation is completely different.

The artillery regiment hurriedly searched for a place to turn around, but before they could even turn around, a group of steel behemoths appeared behind them.

The Red Army's 1st Armored Battalion, which had been lying in ambush in the woods, emerged from the woods and blocked their path.

The main guns were relentless, unleashing a brutal and merciless bombardment on the artillery vehicles and cannons trapped in the middle.

Even though the tanks were firing blanks, the sound of dozens of cannons booming could still be heard.

The artillery soldiers were still terrified, their faces turning deathly pale.

of course.

The artillery regiment had a total of dozens of cannons in its three battalions, stretching for more than a kilometer along the village road. The tanks of the tank battalion alone could not destroy them all.

Because the road was completely blocked, the Red Army's tanks couldn't get into the middle to bomb the enemy.

However, as long as the artillery vehicles behind the artillery regiment are destroyed, and the road is completely blocked, leaving the shells with nowhere to go, the 1st Armored Battalion will have completed its mission.

The remaining cleanup of the shells and other artillery pieces was handed over to the ground artillery battalion for destruction.

This location is less than 20 kilometers from the 535 defense line, and is well within the artillery range of the ground artillery battalion.

The Blue Army artillery regiment was blocked on the road and unable to move, giving the Red Army ground artillery battalion enough time to adjust its firing parameters and carry out artillery fire one by one along the road.

Let's have a standard firing round!

"Commander, dozens of tanks have appeared behind us. We can't retreat anymore. What do we do now?" The political commissar of the artillery regiment rushed over and asked.

"What can I do? What can I do?"

Commander Zhu looked at the blocked-off troops in front of him, listened to the various artillery sounds all over the mountains and fields, and saw the vehicles of the troops belching thick smoke one after another.

My mind went completely blank, with only three words floating out—

Ruined! !

Commander Zhu was merely the commander of an artillery regiment; he wasn't a superhuman capable of flying or disappearing into the ground. Faced with this deadly situation, he was truly powerless to do anything about it.

Compared to the artillery regiment, the situation of the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion was much better.

However, upon hearing the continuous sound of artillery fire from behind, they learned that a large number of Red Army armored tanks had appeared and were launching a frenzied attack on several artillery regiments.

The 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion could no longer hide in the woods to avoid the artillery fire that could come down on them at any moment.

They could only and had to come out of their bunkers and run to the rear to protect the artillery regiment that was under attack and try to stop the Red Army's tank advance.

How devastating will the battle be when infantry encounters a frontal assault from a tank?

Anyone who has watched war movies knows this.

Not to mention, there was also a Red Army artillery battalion that was firing intensely from 20 kilometers away, determined to tear this road apart.

Under such intense firepower, they were trapped in such a narrow space.

No matter how much you struggle, the outcome is already predetermined.

After the ambush lasted for nearly ten minutes, all the vehicles and artillery of the artillery regiment were emitting thick white smoke, indicating that they had been destroyed.

All the vehicles of the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion were destroyed, and the infantry losses of the three battalions were devastating.

Seeing that the battle was basically over, Chen Jun then gave the electronic battalion the order to remove the strong electromagnetic interference and restore the communication signals here to normal.

With the help of the Blue Army artillery regiment and the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion's dispatchers, the situation here was finally reported to the command headquarters.

Inside the command center, everyone was taken aback by the Red Army's sudden action upon receiving the report, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.

After extensive data analysis by numerous staff members, a consensus was reached.

The Blue Army's right flank was completely wiped out!
"They wiped out the Blues' right flank in just ten minutes??"

The war zone commander, who was already exhausted by 3 a.m. and had begun to doze off, suddenly became incredibly clear-headed upon hearing the verdict.

He said excitedly, "It wasn't a waste of time. Chen Jun really didn't make me wait in vain. He destroyed the Blue Army's right flank in one fell swoop, taking down an artillery regiment and a motorized infantry battalion. It's like cutting off one of the Blue Army's arms."

But what I'm more curious about is, how did he do it? How exactly did he do it?
Zhou Weimin, find a way to figure this out immediately. I need to know the entire tactic of the Red Army's attack; not a single detail can be overlooked.

(End of this chapter)