Chapter 805
Chapter 805: Chapter 442, annihilation battles are still more effective
The battle across the great river was progressing swiftly.
Although the scale of the Beastmenâs assembly had far exceeded expectations and the breach in the front line was larger than imagined, causing the three divisions and the Native Defense Forces responsible for plugging the gap to suffer significant casualties within less than a week of combat.
But, under the valiant and relentless defense of the human troops, they still managed to carve out the opportunity that Perbov required.
The forces he had mustered included four Army Groups from the Alliance Army alone, amounting to over three million people; the Native Defense Forces had mobilized on a similar scale.
Some forces were marching from the west side of the encirclement, some were decisively interceding southwards, and some provided reinforcements to the defense line north of the great river, preparing to pursue the enemy across the river after their entire line waveredâŠ
The decisive battle was one that Perbov himself personally commanded.
Summoned were not only several Skeleton Divisions and Elite Armored Divisions of the Alliance but also the most important strategic force at his disposalâthe âKnight Order,â which was actually a Titan Cluster known as the National Knightsâ Regiment!
This force was Perbovâs pride and joy, his treasured darling. The total number of Titans the Alliance had accumulated wasnât actually that high, with only twenty-three produced over the years; there were, however, about three hundred Ranger Knight Mechas.
With such strength, the âNational Knightsâ Regiment,â though not a large-scale force, could be termed a miniature Titan army corps, lacking only in quantity compared to a real Titan Legion, and some higher-quality Titans.
Whatâs the point of just having Warhound-class units? If there were Warlord Level, even Battle Command Level Titans as the core, then it would truly resemble a proper Titan Legion!
Of course, those thoughts were still a bit far off for now.
At present, although the National Knightsâ Regiment had not fully entered the battle and not all were under Perbovâs command, with only half participating, the impact they could have on the battlefield was already tremendous.
From the west bank of the river, a fierce assault was launched by three Titans, leading over eighty Knight Mechas, seventy Lion King Tanks, two thousand Lion Tanks, and more than forty thousand various types of Armored Combat Vehicles, sweeping in like a torrent!
What is called a steel flood?
This is the steel flood!
At least ten thousand cannons, located even further away, were providing fire support for the human armyâs phased and distributed full-frontal assault, dropping two to three thousand shells per minute over this hundred-kilometer-wide and sixty-kilometer-deep battlefield!
Under the baptism of heavy artillery and the onslaught of the steel flood, the Green Skin Orcs, who initially focused their military efforts on attacking the river, simply couldnât withstand such an assault.
Their reserves on the western side were the first to collapse, utterly failing to serve as a blockade, a delay, or a defense.
Even though the Green Skins were fierce fighters, they couldnât endure such a charge.
Subsequently, the Green Skinâs offensive on the riverbanks was forcefully halted. Some units were hurriedly engaged in combat, while others, still oblivious to what was happening, were fiercely attacked from the sides. The artillery units didnât even have time to turn their barrels before the mechanized infantry was upon them.
The autocannon fire from the Armored Combat Vehicles raked across the field, the rifle infantry attacked ferociously, and the Green Skins manning the cannons â who moments earlier were gleefully lobbing firepower across the river â were now beaten into crying out for relief. Not even the roaring of the Beastman Overlordâs enforcers could stem the tide, as their ranks crumbled on the spot.
The Green Skinsâ artillery positions were swiftly overrun, one after another, as armored vehicles carrying troops sped towards their next targets. Even if vehicles got stuck in the mud halfway, at most a few soldiers would attempt a hurried rescue or simply abandon them to be reclaimed later, as maintaining speed was paramount.
When these mechanized infantry units encountered the enemy, they would deploy their foot soldiers and engage in coordinated combat. The Beastmen were only foot infantry or armed with trucks, which would be directly targeted and destroyed; if the engagement involved a large force or powerful enemy units were difficult to handle, they would call for support.
The best support to arrive would be divisional artillery, followed by the Army Groupâs artillery. In any case, during this assault, there was an abundance of cannons availableâjust donât stray too far, and the artillery would respond upon being called.
Air force support was second, with two thousand planes at their disposal. Even if only Wind Falcons arrived, a salvo of missiles or a sweep from an autocannon would be helpful. However, since the air force would have to contend with the enemyâs air force, they were a bit harder to summon than the artillery.
If the enemy was truly formidable, then donât engage; call for more troops, or even summon tanks from the Armored Division or Titans. Such non-main directional units couldnât be called easily, but it generally wouldnât come to that.
As for the actual main thrust, Titans, Knight Mecha clusters, and tank battalions didnât need summoning but instead acted in coordination with various infantry units sweeping through the Green Skin Orcsâ unprepared heavy units like a fierce wind sweeping away leaves, clearing out important strongpoints and barracks.
The Green Skin Orcs certainly didnât lack the ability to resist.
The Beastman Overlord, clearly unwilling to accept defeat just like that.
At the same time Perbov was making mistakes, he too erred. He overestimated the offensive capability of his own forces and underestimated the stubborn defenses of those on the opposite riverbank. In his view, controlling ten times the manpower should have smoothly led to success in crossing the river. Those Shrimp should have collapsed at his assault just as before. Even if some areas managed to muster a strong defense, crossing the river elsewhere and then launching an attack from the opposite riverbank should have led to a swift victory.
But unexpectedly, crossing the river proved to be much more difficult than anticipated, and the losses were substantial. Quite a few of his troops did manage to cross, even sending many heavy units over. However, the Shrimp he expected to quickly crumble and be annihilated turns out to have tenaciously held their positions along the defense line.