Translator: Legge
The supply line was known as the lifeline because if it got destroyed, more than a 100,000 soldiers at the front line would get plunged into starvation.
No matter how brave the soldiers were or how great their commander’s military expertise was, once they ran out of food, it would be a terrifying event that would inevitably lead to their defeat in war.
When P5092 came to Mt. Zuoyun at the beginning, he was not actually planning to disrupt the barbarians’ supply line. After all, the barbarians would definitely guard it heavily, and that was exactly how it was. In order to protect their supply line, the expeditionary army surrounded Mt. Zuoyun with 70,000 troops.
Therefore, P5092 only wanted to force the expeditionary army to come here and trade their lives for the position. He did not think his strategy would pose any threat to the barbarians’ supply line.
But neither P5092 nor the expeditionary army could have expected that this impossible task would really be so “conveniently” completed by Ren Xiaosu.
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Currently, the expeditionary army was facing a food shortage. They did not wish to launch an all-out attack at this time, but the situation forced their hand.
Just as P5092 had said, the expeditionary army was launching a desperate counterattack.
Wang Yun was stunned. But when he saw P5092 with a frown on his face, he asked, “Since we have the initiative now, why are you still frowning?”
“Because from this moment on, the true brutality of war will be vividly showcased.” P5092 said, “War’s not a chess game on a chessboard but a journey towards tragic victory built on the backs of many lives.”
The inside of the tents glowed orange while the outside was pitch-dark. Several flares shot up into the sky above the defensive position and released a blazing red glow before falling down to the ground slowly.
While in midair, the magnesium powder in the flares burned brightly as it reacted with the oxidizing agent, barium nitrate. It was a truly spectacular sight.
But under this beautiful glow, the hideous expeditionary army charged forward with their ugly leather shields. This time, the expeditionary army’s pace of attack was several times faster than before. Just as P5092 had guessed, the barbarians could no longer tolerate the 6th Combat Brigade’s presence at Mt. Zuoyun. They would have to end the battle here as quickly as possible.
At the defensive position, the heavy machine guns were spitting out barrages of fire that resembled red-orange eggs in the night. When the 12.7 mm bullets burst out from the gun chamber at a speed of 800 meters per second, they resembled a burning flame in the darkness.
As the bullets passed through the rifling in the barrel, they started spinning rapidly, and this spinning force helped it to penetrate everything in its path.
After being hit by such tremendous power, the barbarians’ leather shields started cracking like hideous flowers blooming in the mud.
However, there was no longer any hesitation from the barbarians today. They held up their rapidly deteriorating shields and kept charging forward just so they could get to the point below the defensive position before their shields were completely destroyed.
This was a tactic that held no regard for their lives. The barbarians sent here paved the way for the rest of the troops like they were cannon fodder. They sacrificed themselves to close the gap between the expeditionary army and the defensive position.
When P5092 saw this from the defensive position, he called Zhang Xiaoman over and instructed, “It looks like the barbarians will try to breach our defensive position and catch us off guard tonight. They probably still don’t know we’re waiting for them, so they launched their fiercest attack immediately. Go and tell the 2nd Regiment that the things I had them prepare will get put to use soon!”
As the expeditionary army gave their all to breach the defensive position, the defenders finally penetrated the barbarians’ heavy shields when they were about 400 meters away.
But a second later, several dozen heavily armored warriors rushed out from behind the shields. They held steel shields in their hands and charged forward bravely without fear of death.
The barbarians who died earlier were just cannon fodder. Not until they were 400 meters away did they reveal their intentions.
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So it turned out the cannon fodder’s mission was to conceal the presence of these heavily armored warriors behind their leather shields and escort them here.
The heavily armored warriors were wearing their own armor and carrying steel shields that were dismantled from the Pyro Company’s armored brigade they had defeated.
The 6th Combat Brigade quickly concentrated their heavy machine guns’ firepower near these several dozen barbarians. But even if they could delay their advance a little, they were unable to deal any effective damage to these heavily armored warriors.
P5092 said to a staff officer, “Tell the 2nd Regiment to intercept them right away.”
At Position 1’s Northwest Road, 20 soldiers taking cover behind the blinds suddenly placed an RPG-like weapon onto their shoulders and aimed them at the heavily armored warriors, covered by their comrades’ fire.
The 2nd Regiment’s commander calculated the distance between them and the barbarians and shouted, “On my mark! Once those heavily armored warriors get within 310 meters of us, open fire! No fucking breakfast tomorrow for those who miss their targets!”
These soldiers were not carrying RPG launchers but thermobaric bombs! It was the most terrifyingly destructive weapon among all the incendiary bombs!
Initially, napalm was commonly used in the wars between the Alliance of Strongholds. However, it was gradually phased out.
Some people said that napalm attacks were too cruel. But in fact, if there was really anything that could make the military give up a weapon voluntarily, it was most likely an even more advanced weapon that could replace it.
This time, the 6th Combat Brigade came to the Central Plains with 32 single-use, man-portable thermobaric bombs. Currently, they were all in the hands of the 2nd Regiment.
“Open fire!” the 2nd Regiment’s commander roared.
As soon as he gave the order, 20 thermobaric bombs were launched onto the battlefield.
The thermobaric bombs landed near the targets in the blink of an eye. Instantly, the first microexplosions occurred, and the secondary charges within were quickly dispersed into the air.
The secondary charge was not an explosive but a high-energy fuel such as ethylene oxide.
When the second explosion went off, the fuel burned at intense temperatures, instantly reaching up to 2,500 degrees Celsius at the explosion’s core. This caused an extreme pressure to build up and created a powerful blast wave.
As the thermobaric bombs did not contain an oxidizing agent, all the oxygen in the surrounding air would be consumed upon an explosion, and an anoxic zone would be created.
As the heavily armored warriors charged forward bravely, the thermobaric bombs exploded around them. A modern civilization had collided violently with a barbaric civilization.
No matter how strong the barbarians’ heavy armor was or how solid their shields might be, the high temperature and pressure would wipe everything out.
Then the anoxic zone created would cause the subsequent barbarians who rushed in to quickly suffocate.
But P5092 suddenly frowned. “Wang Yun, is there any difference between this group of heavily armored warriors and the ones that rushed out the first time?”
Wang Yun quickly compared the differences between the two groups. It only took him a second to say, “Something’s not right. The heavily armored warriors this time are much slower than the first ones we saw!”
P5092 sighed. “I see. Order the 2nd Regiment to stop launching the thermobaric bombs and wait for my orders.”
P5092 was glad he had anticipated this and was prepared beforehand. He did not order the 2nd Regiment to fire all of the thermobaric bombs in one go and kept 12 unused.
That was because the heavily armored warriors who showed up this time were probably just the higher-level cannon fodder the expeditionary army used to deplete their weapons and supplies. The real elites were still hidden in the shadows!