FVN Chapter 575: Loss has reached one third
Chapter 575: Loss has reached one third
Chapter 575: Loss has reached one third
In a small village filled with captives, beside a number 4 tank, riddled with bullet holes, Liu Guozhu received the Third Class Cavalry Medal that belonged to him.
This medal was exclusive to the tank forces, personally designed and established by His Majesty Tang Mo of the Great Tang Kingdom.@@@@
Being able to receive such a medal on the first day of the war, Liu Guozhu could be said to have stood out among the many armored troops commanders.
He stood at attention and saluted, then shared a warm embrace with the infantry platoon leader who had also received the Third Class Blade Medal—their grueling fight in the afternoon had not been in vain, as soon as the regiment headquarters arrived and took over the prisoners, they immediately received the medals issued by the division headquarters.
To commend these valiant frontline soldiers, the division headquarters specifically sent a car to transport the chief of staff to them, who personally awarded the medals to both men.
For higher honors, such as the Second Class Medals, they would need to be reported to the higher-level military headquarters or the frontline command for approval, which would be much slower.
“Thank you for bravely fighting for the Great Tang! His Majesty will not forget your merits!” the equally young chief of staff stood at attention and saluted, smiling as he spoke to the two heroes who had received the medals.
“Long live the Great Tang! Long live the King!” Liu Guozhu shouted, feeling that all the hardships of the previous battle were worthwhile.
After the small award ceremony was over, Liu Guozhu could finally take a rest. As evening fell, they had to wait for the fuel supply, for the ammunition vehicles to arrive, and to take their meals, so there was basically no need to continue the attack.
The reconnaissance troops had already spread out to scout the nearby enemy situation. Aside from the newly arrived regiment headquarters in the village, there was also a battalion headquarters of the infantry and some engineers who were preparing to build a supply station there.
Everyone had a good meal because the Qi Military really had accumulated a lot of good things. There were military tins produced by Qi Country, fresh vegetables, and even beef and alcohol among the war spoils.
All took the time to rest because after a day of fighting, they were truly exhausted. Some corners were already filled with the sounds of soldiers’ snoring, and collapsed houses inside and out could be seen crammed with sleeping soldiers.
Liu Guozhu walked to the corner of the village, where he saw the enemy artillery that had threatened the safety of his tank crew and which he had taken out.
It was a knockoff 76mm caliber anti-aircraft gun, originally meant to defend against airships. It posed almost no threat to aircraft, but obviously, it still had some effectiveness when firing horizontally at tanks.
The good news was that it had no armor-piercing rounds at all, merely managing with high-explosive shells. The bad news was that even with high-explosives, it could threaten a number 4 tank.
Since Liu Guozhu had actual combat experience against an “anti-tank gun,” the regiment headquarters’ staff hoped he would quickly write up some summary of his experiences and share as much of this knowledge as possible with the other tank crew members in the regiment.
So that night, Liu Guozhu could stay at the regiment headquarters, enjoy a room with lighting all to himself, and let the clerical officers of the regiment help him polish his manuscript.
Some said that each of the regiment’s clerical officers was as beautiful as a flower, with ample bosoms and shapely behinds, but Liu Guozhu didn’t see what was so special—after all, he was still young and somewhat naïve.
Liu Guozhu strolled along the village pathway, where he could still make out mortar shell craters and even found the low wall his tank had crushed.
Some bloodstains on the bricks and tiles hadn’t yet been cleaned up, and from time to time, vehicles laden with petrol or ammunition would arrive, slowly driving into the village.
Yes, you read that right! The number of tanks that had to stop midway awaiting repairs from the logistics maintenance troops was greater than those destroyed by the Qi Army.
As of now, of the 47 tanks in the 1st battalion, only about 30 could proceed normally forward by tomorrow.
In fact, this was already an incredibly good maintenance rate—when World War II began, the German Army might not have had such a high operational readiness rate.
Similarly, the situation for the 2nd battalion was not much better. They also had only about 30 tanks remaining, with even two of the battalion headquarters’ command tanks broken down.
The 3rd battalion was in even worse shape, as they were initially only equipped with a little over 30 tanks and were never at full strength—now, only 15 remained battle-ready.
A regiment that should have had about 150 tanks now had only about half that number combat-ready.
Even if we include the tanks repaired and returned to the ranks tomorrow, the best-case scenario would be a restoration of about two-thirds of the combat strength.
Similarly, trucks from the regimental and divisional headquarters had their share of destruction, mechanical failures, and blockages on the roads... about one-third were of no use.
This is an inevitable problem for mechanized troops in combat; no matter how reliable the machinery, when it accumulates to a certain quantity, the rate of failure will still be enough to make one’s scalp tingle.
Not to mention automobiles, even the horse-drawn carriages of the Tang Military’s transport units experienced axle breakages and other malfunctions, as overloading was very common. Some units carried twice the ammunition in order to maintain continuous combat operations.
Thankfully, these losses had their rewards. After the battle erupted, the Tang Army broke through the line and sprinted a hundred kilometers deep into Qi Army territory.
This had left all attempts at remedy and adjustment by the Qi Army far behind. Likewise, this pace of advance completely disrupted the preparatory movements of the Dahua Empire’s border troops.
They originally planned to enter Qi Country in marching formation to assist, but before they could act, the Tang Army was already in front of them.
This was completely different from the plan: safely entering Qi Country and the preparations needed to breach the Tang Army’s defensive line are not the same concept. The commanders from the Dahua Empire dared not lightly engage in a positional war; their tens of thousands of men could not withstand such attrition.
The Tang Army, which encountered virtually no significant resistance, stopped that evening; the Qi Army, finding themselves in a disadvantageous and desperate situation, took advantage of the precious night and began to prepare for a counterattack.
In the eyes of the Qi Country commanders, only by making good use of this precious night to turn the unfavorable situation around could they stabilize their front line before dawn and regain the initiative!
———
There will be no additional chapters today; everyone should rest early.
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