Chapter 240: Collapse at the Beginning of War

Half an hour after receiving the order from the coalition forces, the Atlas ‘First Mixed Synthetic Brigade’ broke camp.

Since the No. 13 temporary camp where Amber and his team were located was basically at the rear of the coalition forces, it could be said to be the safest of all the temporary camps.

Therefore, the entire mixed synthetic brigade was not fully deployed, including self-propelled artillery and multi-legged tanks, most of the combat vehicles were in a marching state.

In addition, this camp built with the ‘rapid wall building technology’ did not need to be recovered, so the entire synthetic brigade basically just loaded some supplies and tents onto the truck and could start marching immediately.

Amid various commands, shouts and the roar of engines, the No. 13 temporary camp seemed to come alive.

Amber stood on the top of the command vehicle, watching a large number of wheeled infantry fighting vehicles and light multi-legged tanks line up in a marching formation in the dust and go far away.

This was the third medium-sized synthetic battalion serving as the vanguard.

After accepting the order from the Rubion Galaxy Autonomous Government, Amber immediately overturned the idea of ​​using the old American Marine Battalion to make do first.

Instead, they were immediately reorganized into a synthetic force and placed orders for various vehicles that were missing.

In addition to the mobile infantry accompanying the vehicles, the combat units of the medium-sized synthetic battalion mainly consisted of 20 "Wolf Spider" light multi-legged tanks, 2 ultra-short wave reconnaissance jamming vehicles that were reduced in configuration, and 46 "Serval" wheeled infantry fighting vehicles - this thing is actually the sister car of the "Mongoose".

It is mainly sold to private civilian armed forces. After adding a lot of fancy functions, it is sold at a price higher than the "Mongoose" series.

In addition, there are some auxiliary vehicles such as trailers, trucks, and repair vehicles.

Among them, 20 "Wolf Spider" light multi-legged tanks have the common 120mm straight/curved dual-purpose electrothermal chemical gun as the main gun.

In addition to providing direct fire support, it can also play the role of a self-propelled mortar howitzer and conduct indirect fire strikes.

This also led to the fact that almost all self-propelled mortar howitzers commonly seen in synthetic battalions and battalion-level tactical groups have basically withdrawn from the stage.

The huge convoy was almost invisible from head to tail. According to the information on the command terminal, the front vehicle had already entered the highway and was heading towards the intercity highway.

Because the feint attack position of Atlas was on the right wing of the entire battlefield.

Therefore, the mixed composite brigade, which was still in the rear of the entire coalition, had to use the road network to maneuver quickly so that it could reach the scheduled offensive assembly area within two days.

In fact, this time was relatively tight, especially for brigade-level units.

When the entire composite brigade was maneuvering, the biggest factor affecting the marching speed was not the performance of the vehicle, but the road's passing capacity and the severity of the traffic jam.

Fortunately, the city level here was relatively high, so the level of the intercity highway and highway was also the highest level.

In addition, at this time point, civilians had either fled long ago or stayed at home honestly, so as long as the composite brigade's convoy did not have any problems, the traffic jam should not be very serious.

In order to ensure the ability to pass, Amber also found Major General Benjamin in advance and applied for dozens of trailers from the space elevator base area to assist the main battle tanks and heavy multi-legged vehicles in long-distance maneuvers.

At this critical juncture, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces did not want any accidents, so he readily agreed to Amber's request.

There is no need to say more about the two-day march and maneuver. After crossing the friendly front, the entire synthetic brigade immediately deployed and entered a vigilant posture.

During the entire march, except for some vehicles having mechanical failures and causing some vehicles to be unable to continue to be used, there were no other accidents.

The equipment loss rate of 1.4% is within the acceptable range.

When the entire Atlas mixed synthetic brigade entered the preparation area in the direction of their attack and the various units began to make the final pre-war corrections, Amber also received a not-so-good news from the coalition headquarters.

Just one and a half hours before they finished their march, the imperial troops on the first line of defense took the initiative to advance and launched a round of attacks while the coalition frontline troops were advancing.

Based on the attack width, force and enemy firepower, the command center judged that it should be an armored cavalry battalion + an armored combined battalion launched an attack with indirect fire support.

This attack also directly defeated a light synthetic battalion on the coalition side and severely damaged another heavy synthetic battalion that came to support.

In particular, the light battalion that was ambushed at the front was destroyed in less than 20 minutes.

There were not many HCPs that first launched an attack on the Imperial Armored Cavalry Battalion, because the Armored Cavalry Battalion is essentially a "three-reconnaissance and one-heavy" firepower reconnaissance unit.

But the four HCPs still brought some wheeled battles and light multi-legged chariots, and like a pair of pliers, they "clamped" the light battalion that had not yet fully deployed from both wings.

We don't know for the time being what the commander of this coalition force thought of putting a light synthetic battalion that lacked armored units at the forefront.

Anyway, the final result was that after 5 main battle tanks and 5 heavy multi-legged vehicles, along with the remaining mechanized infantry, launched a frontal attack, the hasty and fragile resistance of the light battalion was completely disintegrated.

The light multi-legged vehicles had the strongest firepower in the light battalion.

If they were asked to attack heavy armored units, they could only look for opportunities from the side and rear, and they might not be able to penetrate them.

But the electromagnetic reconnection guns of main battle tanks and heavy multi-legged vehicles can really kill them with one shot.

With an initial velocity of 3000 meters per second, it can be said that it can hit whatever it points to in the engagement distance of ground combat.

Moreover, the units hit are directly smashed into parts by the powerful kinetic attack, and there is no way to save them.

After receiving the distress signal 15 kilometers away, the heavy synthetic battalion immediately came to support this side. It really didn't expect that its friendly forces would collapse so quickly.

Since they are all troops from the same company, the commander of this heavy synthetic battalion is still quite anxious and worried.

But it is precisely because of this "anxiety and worry" that he rashly entered the kill zone of the Imperial Armored Combined Battalion.

Although the commander of this synthetic battalion had already discovered the problem after the two HCPs reported that several reconnaissance drones were shot down.

But the sudden attack of the 155mm self-propelled artillery group interrupted the order he was about to issue.

Although the troops had already deployed, they did not cause much loss, but the heavy artillery fire still caused some units of this synthetic battalion to fall into chaos.

The opposite imperial army obviously knew how to seize the opportunity, and the armored combined battalion that took the initiative to attack from the flank of the synthetic battalion soon achieved amazing results.

The armored combined battalion of the Imperial Royal Army's synthetic forces, with its "two-layer and one-step" configuration, is itself used to benchmark the heavy synthetic battalion on the Federation side.

It is the standard frontal attacker or offensive spearhead in the synthetic force.

The imperial battalion-level units deployed at the forefront were also filled with units from other troops and even strengthened.

So when this armored combined battalion, which had been prepared for the attack, launched the attack, the heavy-armored combined battalion on the coalition side immediately fell into a passive situation.

If they were not also a heavy-armored battalion-level unit, relying on heavy equipment to withstand the first wave of impact, and the firepower company was desperately supporting them in the back, they might have followed the footsteps of the light synthetic battalion.

But even so, their situation is still not good.

Because after leaving a small force to deal with the remnants, the Imperial Armored Cavalry Battalion that killed the light battalion has begun to attack from another direction.

Obviously, these two battalion-level units of the Imperial Army, which cooperated very well, intended to eat up both battalions of the coalition forces.

In the end, if the two HCP platoons had not rushed up from the back and forced a gap to allow the surviving units of the heavy composite battalion to retreat in time, the coalition forces might have really lost two composite battalions in the first two hours of the war.

After reading the simple battle report, Amber had a bad premonition in his heart.

He knew that these "company troops" of the coalition forces might not be so good at fighting, but he never thought that they were so weak.

He immediately ordered the entire mixed brigade to adjust to a defensive formation and deploy, and each unit immediately sent reconnaissance teams and observation posts to the front.

At the same time, the self-propelled artillery of the firepower battalion near the brigade headquarters was deployed, ready to provide long-range firepower support to the front troops at any time.

At present, the deployment width of the entire mixed brigade of Atlas is 25 kilometers. The two heavy synthetic battalions are at the forefront, and the distance between them is only about 5 kilometers.

The remaining two medium synthetic battalions are in the rear position, ready to maneuver forward according to tactical needs.

The firepower battalion and the brigade where Amber is located are in the relatively safe rear.

This is also the standard combat width of a synthetic brigade in a square formation under normal circumstances.

If it is close to the city or directly enters the city, this width will be further reduced to less than 10 kilometers.

In fact, Amber used to think that a standard brigade-level unit could reach a combat width of 30 or even 50 kilometers after deployment.

Because he believed that since it was equipped with HCP, a land combat unit with firepower, mobility, and certain defensive capabilities, the combat width would definitely be able to be deployed wider.

So, when he first conducted a simulated command and deduction in the game, he also deployed it in this way.

As a result, he was interspersed by the land combat veterans of the guild and his mother didn't recognize him.

Because the opponent also has HCP, and this unit is much better at tactical penetration than controlling the front line in terms of combat effectiveness.

Just like the two battalion-level units that were just defeated by the Imperial Army, the 15-kilometer distance leaked everything that should and shouldn't be leaked.

Until now, Amber still remembers that after the simulation battle, the elder brother who served in the staff of a heavy synthetic brigade of a certain group army before retiring patted his shoulder and said:

"What do you think? The distance between the two battalions is 10 kilometers, so why should I defend? Just break up into pieces and go deep into your depth, divide and surround and annihilate, isn't it nice?

Always remember, 'concentrate your strength to do big things', instead of spreading your fists and destroying your martial arts!"

When the order from the brigade was issued, the various battalion-level units quickly adjusted their positions according to the instructions, and Amber also sent a warning to the coalition units deeper on the right wing, asking them to pay attention to retreat.

It was at this time that a series of icons representing "in combat", "retreating", and "requesting support" appeared like dominoes on the tactical map of the command terminal.

Although the data links and command and control systems of each company have not been fully connected, they can only maintain the most basic communication and information sharing, but this is only for human technical officers.

Lilith, who has long been in the "Great Perfection" stage in network intrusion, has actually solved the problem of incompatible data transmission interfaces between various systems.

So at this moment, among the entire coalition forces, Atlas may be the only one who can integrate the combat situations of various companies.

But for Amber, looking at the densely packed battle icons on the map and the central coalition forces showing signs of retreat, will only make his brows deeper and deeper.

After all, when everyone was meeting at the coalition command center, the commanders of those companies were so high-spirited, as if victory was within reach.

But now the troops in their hands are being eliminated or retreating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"It's so unreliable. How come they were defeated right at the beginning? Is there an imperial superman on the opposite side?"

The entire coalition's frontal offensive force was counterattacked by the imperial army almost at the same time.

The current situation is just as Amber guessed when she met with the combat staff two days ago.

The remnants of the empire are really gathering together to defeat the coalition forces in one wave.

And judging from the intensity of the attack, Amber now even suspects that the two armored brigade-level combat teams deployed in the rear of the remnants of the empire may also come up.

If we infer from the current situation, the fortifications and troop assembly detected by the drone before are likely to be a confusing behavior of the opponent.

The purpose is to make the coalition forces mistakenly believe that the remnants of the empire want to rely on defense to hold on, rather than preparing for an attack.