Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 195 Fierce War (Eighth Update)
Shintaro Takayama's orders were quickly transmitted throughout the entire combat network via encrypted data links, and Arasaka's war machine was once again running at full speed.

After a brief respite, a far more intense offensive erupted on the landing field.

Arakasa's armored forces deployed in an attack formation outside Night City.

The main battle tanks formed the first shockwave, their heavy tracks grinding across the rubble-strewn ground, their turrets slowly rotating as they searched for any suspicious targets ahead.

Armored personnel carriers followed closely behind, maintaining a safe distance, with heavy machine guns mounted on their roofs already aimed at the distant outline of the defensive line.

The infantrymen gripped their weapons tightly through the firing ports, their breathing becoming heavy inside their gas masks.

The power armor units were dispersed on the flanks and in the gaps of the armored formation, and the heavy footsteps of the "Onimusha" mixed with the roar of the tank engines to create a continuous low-frequency vibration.

These three-meter-tall steel soldiers are more agile than tanks and can quickly respond to sudden threats.

Behind the armored column, the self-propelled artillery units have completed their firing preparations.

The gun barrel continuously fine-tunes its angle based on the data transmitted from the front, and the loading machine delivers the first wave of shells into the chamber.

The crisp sound of metal clashing echoed across the artillery positions.

Meanwhile, carrier-based aircraft took off one after another from the deck of the Beluga.

After the attack aircraft group completed its formation in the designated airspace, it advanced towards the abandoned town in combat formation.

The pilot checked the weapon status, and target data was continuously updated into the fire control system.

The entire Arasaka attack echelon advanced steadily forward like a sophisticated killing machine, following a predetermined program.

Brief confirmation signals were transmitted over the radio, and the units maintained strict operational distances.

There were no superfluous sounds, only the symphony of metal friction, engine roar, and track crushing, which heralded the prelude to a full-scale offensive on the smoke-filled battlefield.
-
Outside the ruined town, the joint defensive line built by the Ghost Hounds and the Lhasa Road troops is under the heaviest pressure since the start of the war.

"Attention all units! Engage the enemy head-on! Repeat, large-scale armored formation engaging the enemy head-on!" The warning from the frontline observation post on the communication channel carried an undisguised tension.

Colonel Hansen's one eye was fixed on the tactics panel, where densely packed red signals almost covered the entire frontal area.

His expression turned unusually serious.

"Execute the planned defense!" he growled into the microphone. "Echelon deployment, organize crossfire! Lhasa Road Squad, utilize your mobility advantage, hunt down and eliminate key targets!"
"All squads of the Ghost Hounds, rely on the existing fortifications and steadily resist! No one is allowed to retreat a single step without my order!"

The battle began with the Arasaka artillery group.

Dense artillery shells slammed into the defending positions with a piercing whistle, and flashes of light from the explosions continued to appear, forming a blazing sea of ​​fire.

Smoke billowed into the sky and quickly filled the entire battlefield.

The earth trembled violently from the continuous explosions.

The machine gun bunker, constructed of precast reinforced concrete, shook violently under continuous shelling, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface reinforcement layer.

When a firing bunker constructed using standard sandbags is directly hit, the entire structure instantly disintegrates, sending sand and debris, along with smoke, soaring into the sky.

The trench walls, reinforced by engineers, peeled away in large chunks under the impact of near-miss, exposing the rough internal reinforcement framework.

Every heavy artillery shell that landed left a shocking crater on the battlefield.

Fragments of precast components, twisted metal supports, and sandbag debris were scattered everywhere by the shockwave of the explosion.

Although these fortifications were much sturdier than the makeshift bunkers, their defensive capabilities were being gradually eroded by the continuous heavy artillery bombardment. The violent shockwaves from the explosions made the soldiers holding them feel their internal organs churning, while the flying metal fragments and concrete debris posed an even more deadly threat.

As the artillery fire began to extend deeper into the territory, Arasaka's armored forces surged forward like a flood bursting its banks.

The tank's main gun spewed out dazzling flames, and high-explosive and armor-piercing shells ripped through the air, slamming into the Ghost Hound's firing positions.

The heavy machine guns on the armored personnel carriers continuously spewed fire, suppressing any possible counterattack attempts by the defenders with a dense barrage.

"Fire!" Hansen's roar rang out during the brief interval between explosions.

On the Ghost Hound's position, all weapons simultaneously unleashed deadly firepower.

Soldiers equipped with new laser rifles were firing precise shots, beams of crimson light shooting at the tank's observation equipment and the joints of the power armor.

Soldiers using conventional live ammunition continuously fired armor-piercing ammunition belts at the sides and tracks of the armored personnel carrier.

The hastily reinforced anti-tank rocket launcher gunners pulled the triggers, and the rockets, trailing clear plumes of flame and emitting a piercing whistle, hurtled straight towards the Arasaka tank charging at the forefront.

However, on this vast and chaotic front line, the limitations of shield technology began to emerge.

For veteran mercenaries on Lhasa Road, the shield generator installed on their power armor is like a second life.

Relying on their superb driving skills and battlefield intuition, they can accurately judge the level of threat and the direction of attack, and only activate their shields to block or dodge at critical moments, thereby significantly improving their survivability and combat efficiency.

These power armors move nimbly across the battlefield, using the brief defensive windows created by their shields to quickly cut into the flanks or rear of the Arasaka armored forces, destroying tanks and armored vehicles one by one with precise firepower.

But for the larger number of ordinary Ghost Hound soldiers, whose training levels and combat experience vary, the situation is completely different.

Their basic exoskeleton's shield generator was inferior in performance to the Lhasa Road model, with limited energy reserves and continuous operating time.

Faced with overwhelming artillery fire and dense machine gun barrage, many new recruits, due to tension and lack of experience, often activated their shields prematurely or continuously, causing the energy core to quickly overload and shut down in the early stages of the engagement.

"My shield! The shield has failed!"

"Power depleted! Recharge now!"

"The charging can't keep up! Their firepower is too intense!"

Panic-stricken cries began to ring out on the communication channels.

Without the protection of shields, the Ghost Hound soldiers still relied on their basic exoskeletons and bulletproof armor, and their protection level was instantly reduced to its original level.

The large-caliber machine gun bullets fired by the Arasaka soldiers easily tore through the exoskeleton's protection, and the armor-piercing rounds from the anti-materiel rifles could cause terrifying casualties.

In an instant, the number of casualties on the Ghost Hound's battlefield began to rise significantly.

Soldiers were constantly being hit and falling, their screams and cries for help echoing throughout the battlefield.

Battlefield medics braved gunfire to traverse the battlefield, but often found themselves powerless to reverse the situation.

The firepower density on the defensive line began to decrease due to personnel losses.

What surprised the Arasaka soldiers even more was that, in the fierce close-quarters combat, they discovered that the shields of the enemy power armor seemed to have lost their effectiveness.

(End of this chapter)