It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 41 | Total Collapse

Four hours later, near a hilly area.

"Attention, squads and platoons, prepare to advance!"

"Boo-hoo--"

Two red flares shot into the blue sky, marking the beginning of the tactical counterattack.

A detachment of the Blue Army seized three high grounds here, becoming a thorn in the side of this area.

The 24th Infantry Division was certainly unwilling to tolerate their presence, so it ordered the 71st Infantry Regiment to eliminate them as soon as possible.

The armored unit led by Shang Moumou arrived in time and provided flexible direct-fire support to the attacking forces.

Infantry-tank coordination tactics are not rigid. Whether infantry or tanks are in the front depends on the situation and should be adapted to local conditions.

In order to support the current hilly terrain mission, Shang Ke commanded the entire company to slowly move to the front of the offensive starting position, and then lined up in a row to temporarily serve as a mobile artillery position.

Because the tank gun had insufficient elevation, he called on nearby friendly infantry to come and help dig the soil, built some slopes, and piled a lot of sandbags on the tank to enhance protection.

“BOOM BOOM BOOM—BOOM BOOM—”

The regimental infantry artillery company and the battalion mortar company opened fire.

At the same time, at the rear artillery position seven or eight kilometers away, the division's artillery regiment was also providing artillery support.

Of course, all the guns fired blanks, but at least the atmosphere was there.

People from the director's department are everywhere, and every little detail will be recorded.

For example, when Shang led his troops on a march, the tanks did not maintain the 40-meter distance between each other as required by the regulations, and this was also recorded by the people in the directorate.

The division's artillery regiment was also deducted points for being too slow in formulating its firepower plan.

Soon, with the support of their own powerful artillery fire, the two participating companies attacked in multiple waves and easily captured the first high ground.

Since it’s not a real fight, how do we determine success or failure?

The outcome of each battle is actually evaluated and decided by the people in the director's department.

For example, just now, the directorate team here compared the situations of the red and blue sides - the number of troops, firepower, morale, and whether there were any mistakes. They analyzed that the blue side could take it down in one battle, so they announced that the first high ground had been captured by the blue side.

At the same time, they would also calculate the manpower losses and ammunition consumption of both sides.

Finally, they roll a dice to randomly simulate the luck of the battle.

This luck weight determination step has been controversial since it was included in the exercise regulations two years ago.

A thousand men attacked a hundred, but the latter had a stroke of luck and not only repelled the attack but also killed a great number of people.

Are there similar wars in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad?
There must be.

However, the introduction of this concept into the exercise made many generals unhappy, and complaints continued.

For example, Shang Ke wants to curse right now.

He called over the director's office, put his hands on his hips and demanded, "Are you kidding me? Half of my dozen tanks were deemed destroyed?"

The captain pondered and said, "The Red Army has anti-tank guns. Your cavalry tanks are weakly armored and cannot withstand them."

"Why don't you take a look at what you're talking about?" Shang Ke's blood pressure soared. He pointed at a few tanks and said, "Guess why I asked everyone to put sandbags on the tanks?"

One student also said indignantly: "It's already difficult for an anti-tank rifle to penetrate a cavalry tank at a distance of 900 meters. It's definitely impossible to penetrate it with sandbags blocking it."

The captain of the directorate hesitated and said, "Uh... let me think..."

Shang Ke, with a frown on his face, waved his hand and said sternly, "Don't think about it. Come on, go get a box of live ammunition. Xiao Sheng, get out of the car and give your seat to this gentleman. Let him experience for himself whether the anti-tank gun can penetrate it."

Li Qingsheng jumped out of the car.

The captain waved his hands repeatedly and coughed dryly, saying, "Let's forget it." So, under the protest of Shang, the director team revised the results and determined that two tanks were damaged.

The battle lasted from morning till sunset.

Despite a long and hard fight on the third hill, the 71st Infantry Regiment captured all three objectives before dark, eliminating the blue enemy, with 202 casualties and 280 enemy casualties.

After marching for half a night yesterday and fighting for a whole day today, everyone in the cavalry and chariot company led by Shang Ke was exhausted.

Fortunately, we were able to have a hot meal at the friendly army's field kitchen, otherwise we would have had to eat only dry rations.

At midnight, the battle situation became increasingly tense.

The blue team's attack was extremely sharp, and the red team, who were defending on the spot, was in a state of panic.

The first line of defense lasted twelve hours shorter than expected!
The Blue team pursued the victory, hoping to defeat the retreating Red team in one fell swoop while it was still struggling to gain a firm foothold.

That night, a combat patrol from the Blue Army's detachment found the junction between the two Red Army's infantry divisions.

The next day, the Blue Army concentrated two tank brigades and assigned them to the only standing infantry division, launching a fierce attack on this weak point.

The Red Army launched a counterattack by deploying its tactical reserves, but to no avail. The tactical reserves melted away like snowflakes.

As the defense line was torn apart, the Red Army had to make a difficult response - letting the elite training tank brigade act as a fire brigade to resist the Blue Army's offensive, and the remaining divisions retreated 20 kilometers to rebuild the last line of defense.

The battle situation was in chaos.

It is no exaggeration to say that it is a mess.

At dusk on the third day, Shang Ke was leading his team waiting for supplies.

The sunset glow in the west was bright red, and the sky quickly darkened.

The 71st Regiment left more than ten hours ago. Now, the vast wilderness seemed deserted, but the radio channel was bustling with call signs of the 45th Infantry Regiment, the 3rd Independent Engineer Brigade, the 24th Artillery Regiment and other units.

The cavalry tank company had received a retreat order before, but now it lacks supplies. Each tank has only about 20% of gasoline and 15% of ammunition left. It can be said that it can neither run nor fight.

"What's going on? Where have all the friendly troops gone?"

The driver and the communicator were complaining, while Li Qingsheng was opening a can.

Shang Ke was staring at the field map distractedly. The information about the troops of both sides marked on it was from half a day ago and was already out of date. He could only deduce various possibilities in his mind.

Our side collapsed too quickly. This is the power of armored forces - break through one point, advance deep, and shock the entire line.

I hope the main force can hold its ground and hold the last line of defense.

At this time, joyful shouts were heard outside.

"Friendly forces are coming!"

Shang Ke opened the hatch and stuck his upper body out, only to see a series of light spots appearing in the dark and boundless night.

Those spots of light swayed and moved continuously.

A quarter of an hour later, this friendly force joined the cavalry tank company.

"Which unit are you from?!" a captain cadet who served as platoon leader asked loudly.

"We are from the 3rd Engineer Brigade. The troops have dispersed and retreated. Here are the 2nd Engineer Battalion and the Chemical Defense Battalion." The tall lieutenant colonel replied.

"Sir, when was the map in your hands updated?" Shang Ke saluted.

"About two or three hours ago."

"Quick! Let me see!"

(End of this chapter)