Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 1521: Chapter 32: Blitzkrieg (15)_3

As the pincer posture was forming, the First Battalion’s position was already as solid as an iron fortress. Immediately afterward, the Vice Admiral used the electronic control lever to push half of the First Battalion’s forces toward another northern peak where the Second Battalion was positioned.

Because the two positions were actually on the same mountain range, the First Battalion could move along the mountainside, crest the ridge at a far faster speed than the bandit army, and then swing around to the flank of the Second Battalion’s position. In this way, the reinforcing battalion, together with the Second Battalion, formed a crisscrossing threat that directly endangered the bandit army units attacking the Second Battalion.

Similarly, this kind of tactic was also being applied to the other positions. Across a battle zone of several hundred square kilometers, it was as if there was an invisible rope stretched between the units rushing toward each position: once touched, it would immediately trigger mechanisms on all sides.

”The bandit army has taken the bait.” The Vice Admiral put down the electronic control lever and exchanged a smile with the officers. ”Next, we’ll see how Admiral Beize stages this splendid show.”

The officers, without prior agreement, all turned their eyes toward the command platform.

Suddenly, everyone’s gaze froze. They saw that on the command platform, the forehead of Beize Xian—whose face had been like iron, without a trace of emotional fluctuation—was now beaded with sweat the size of soybeans. His eyes were bloodshot.

On the left screen of the console in front of the old man, a large Jiepeng Forces unit was racing toward Feisha Valley at extreme speed. On the right screen, however, the unit cursor representing one position went dark like a lamp being extinguished.

Right after that, another one.

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”Order the Second Battalion to enter the position immediately!”

On the mountaintop position shrouded in smoke and shaken by artillery, Owens gripped the communicator and shouted.

On the position more than two hundred meters in front of him, Jiepeng Mecha Warriors were desperately trying to hold back the bandit army’s assault. Mechas of various colors were locked in deadly combat across the position.

With several hundred fresh warriors from the Second Battalion thrown in, the bandit army Mechas that were about to surge up onto the position finally ebbed away like a receding tide. They left behind a shattered position full of craters and wreckage, telling of the brutality of the fight.

Wiping a cold sweat from his brow, Owens dared not delay for even a moment as he inspected the position.

The hastily built position had already been shaved down by nearly two meters in the previous waves of attacks. Large swaths of metal bulletproof walls were exposed from the earth. Several sections of trench had completely collapsed, with fallen soil and rock piled in the middle, and on top of them lay the wrecks of several Spirit Cat Mechas, twisted in all directions.

The engineering squad had begun repairing the position the moment the enemy pulled back, and the Heavy Mechas and Medium-sized Mechas providing fire support had also withdrawn to the rear of the position.

”Complete emergency repairs to the position within five minutes, hurry and replenish energy ammo. First Battalion pull back, Second Battalion takes over the defense.”

Owens shouted loudly as he walked.

On both sides of the trenches he passed, battered Single Soldier Mechas were slumped haphazardly against the earthen walls. In their open cockpits, the participating Mechanical Warriors were already exhausted, faces pale.

With no time to worry about his own men, Owens went to an observation post, took the portable long-range viewer handed to him by the staff officer, and, face dark, examined the bandit army’s assault positions at the foot of the mountain.

The bandit army’s assault positions were very crude. Apart from a few Transport Mechas under tight protection, there was no other logistics support. Seven to eight hundred Green Mechas sat or stood casually, seemingly resting. Two or three dozen Mechanic Soldiers drove maintenance vehicles, weaving through the Mecha Group.

If he didn’t know that the moment artillery struck, those exposed Mechas would immediately hide behind the low hill in front of the assault position, Owens would have loved to rain every shell he had down on them.

It was these two battalions that had launched three successive attacks in just twenty minutes, causing the First Battalion the loss of two hundred Mechas. Personnel casualties were over four hundred. And they themselves had lost no more than fifty units.

Just thinking about the tremendous combat power these Mechas displayed once they broke into the position made Owens’ lips go dry.

The way these Green Mechas fought completely overturned his understanding of Mechas. The standard technical maneuvers of Jiepeng Mecha Warriors looked like childish showy flourishes in front of these Green Mechas.

In close combat, one-on-one, not a single Jiepeng Mecha Warrior was a match for these Green Mechas.

Fortunately, their formations still appeared loose, their attack organization was slow and clumsy, and their Commanders lacked sufficient experience.

If he were the one commanding these Green Mechas, the position would have fallen long ago!

In his ears, artillery and explosions rumbled on without end. That was from the northern sector where the Second Battalion was. Obviously, the Second Battalion was facing the bandit army’s fierce assault as well.

Owens checked the time, his expression growing more anxious.

By rights, the two Armored Camps from the 2531st Division that the command had dispatched should have already reached their designated location. But the time was now more than ten minutes past, and there was still no sign of these two battalions. What on earth had happened?!

Seeing the bandit army Mechas at the foot of the mountain once again form into a skirmish line amid a flurry of activity, apparently getting ready to launch another attack, Owens hurriedly left the observation post. Walking back, he issued orders in an urgent rush: ”Prepare for battle. Engineering Mechas pull out, Heavy Mechas move into fire positions, 3rd Battalion move into reserve positions.”

Amid the bustle, suddenly a voice came over the communications channel: ”Regimental Commander, my 2531st Division reinforcements have arrived! We’re currently only ten kilometers away from here.”