Chapter 322: Even The Invincible Blue Force Gets Pinned Down!
Under the execution of Wolf Two Operation, the Red Army’s entire battalion operated like a precision machine, swiftly running with division of labor and cooperation to complete their respective tasks.
The Blue Army frontline reconnaissance detected the Red Army situation and fed it back to the Blue Army Command Post at the first moment.
Sun Dongping, who was extremely arrogant with his advanced training title and always liked to have the final say, was still the same when he arrived at Zhu Rihe; he never consulted others on decisions.
Even though the Blue Army Battalion Headquarters had borrowed from Steel Seventh Battalion and set up a staff group and a first staff officer specifically responsible for negotiating tactical play.
Sun Dongping only used the staff group for odd jobs and never discussed tactical decisions with anyone.
He considered himself unmatched, so there was naturally no need for discussion.
Sun Dongping knew the Red Army was replenishing supplies, preparing for the upcoming attack on the second defense line, and he wished he could immediately send the troops out to fight and kill.
But recalling the Red Army’s fierce offensive rhythm, which pressed him so hard he could barely breathe in terms of tactical play.
Even if Sun Dongping didn’t want to admit it, he had to admit it.
He was really a bit scared!
Moreover, even without meeting, Sun Dongping could guess that the person commanding the Red Army and putting such great pressure on him was definitely not the Red Army’s Battalion Commander Gao Cheng.
It must be Chen Jun, who had driven him out of Steel Seventh Battalion back then, making him want to bite his flesh.
Only that Chen Jun, who looked young, at most twenty-four or twenty-five years old, yet completely incomprehensible to him, could command the combined arms unit so sharply.
However.
Although the powerful strength shown by Chen Jun made Sun Dongping, who had led his battalion to sweep the entire army for the first time, feel great pressure, it was still not enough to crush him just like that.
Sun Dongping still had some confidence and could turn the tables against the wind to teach Chen Jun a lesson.
Because he still had several trump cards up his sleeve that he hadn’t used!
Relying on the trump cards that could reverse the battle situation, Sun Dongping did not send out troops during the Red Army’s replenishment of supplies, and didn’t even shell the Red Army engineers.
He just let the Red Army engineers run around on the frontline, removing or marking the positions of the Blue Army minefields.
It wasn’t that Sun Dongping didn’t want to fight; it was just that deploying the heavy artillery company to shell a few engineers was like using a cannon to hit mosquitoes, which was really not cost-effective.
Instead, it would expose the artillery company position, risking being counter-fired by the Red Army artillery.
The cost and harvest were completely out of proportion.
Naturally, there was no need to do it.
Thus, after the Red and Blue sides fought a battle, they tacitly ceased fire at this moment, each busy with their own affairs, each starting a new round of preparation.
The only ones still clashing during this period were the electronic warfare troops of both the Red and Blue sides.
Through the Red Army’s unimpeded command, the Blue Army had seen through the Red Army’s deployment trick and restarted communication jamming targeting the Red Army.
Electronic warfare is a war without smoke, but its intensity is in no way inferior to frontline clashes.
Once the Blue Army figured out the Red Army’s technology and found ways to jam and strike the Red Army, it would really have a great impact on the Red Army’s upcoming offense.
So the “killing intent” of the Blue Army electronic troops at this moment was bound to be unprecedentedly fierce.
And for the Red Army to ensure the upcoming offense with unimpeded command, they also had to find ways to stop the Blue Army’s sabotage actions.
And it had to be with all their might, sparing no cost to stop the Blue Army.
Both sides were in a situation with no retreat, both having a resolute attitude to complete their own mission, which doomed this smokeless war to be extremely intense and fierce.
In the blink of an eye, two hours passed.
The sunset had already fallen from the mountaintop, and nightfall once again descended on this land.
At the moment when nightfall enveloped the land, the Red Army, having completed all preparations, launched a new round of charge under the cover of darkness.
This time the target was the Blue Army’s second defense line.
As long as they broke through this defense line of the Blue Army, the one main and two auxiliary three Blue Army highlands behind would be directly exposed in front of the Red Army.
Although attacking the highland was the most difficult, at this step it was also the most hopeful.
Because as long as within the stipulated two days, they took the two front auxiliary positions, they could be judged as a tie with the Blue Army.
If they could take the Blue Army’s main position, then the Red Army could win this confrontation.
Taking the first blood of the invincible First Blue Army Brigade!
It would also completely knock down the old opponent Sun Dongping, letting him know who was the number one in China’s combined arms tactics, and what it meant that there are people beyond people and skies beyond skies.
The armored vehicles and tanks equipped by the Red and Blue armies were the most advanced batch in the army now.
The vehicles were equipped with night vision equipment, and some even had infrared equipment, fully meeting the field of vision needs for night combat.
The Blue Army’s second defense line was very wide, at least two or three kilometers.
Deployed along the way at higher terrain positions, with a lot of camouflage and fortifications, even with thermal imaging equipment, it was hard to find all the Blue Army.
In addition, many anti-tank ditches were dug along the way, and some even had special camouflage on top; if tanks didn’t pay attention and drove over, they would fall in and couldn’t get out.
So for the attack on the second defense line, the Red Army had to be cautious, even more cautious.
They could only let Armored Infantry Third Company and Special Reconnaissance Seventh Company, these two infantry units, take the lead, using armored vehicles with stronger passability for reconnaissance.
Have them open up a passage in front, or find the Blue Army tanks.
Then let the armored company go up to fight the Blue Army.
Fighting on the desert grassland terrain was different from the conventional cognition of set defense lines, where everyone hides behind fortifications for position warfare.
Here the Blue Army tanks were separated, distributed on the defense line at certain distances from each other.
The Red Army could only continue to penetrate deeper for combat after clearing out or driving away all the Blue Army tanks on the defense line.
Otherwise, a Blue Army tank hiding somewhere popping out from behind would be disastrous.
And once the infantry discovered the Blue Army tanks, a small-scale battle would inevitably erupt; infantry armored vehicles couldn’t withstand tank cannons and had to retreat from the front first.
Wait for the Red Army tanks behind to come up, engage the Blue Army tanks head-on, and after taking out the Blue Army tanks, the Red Army could continue to advance.
Every battle took a certain amount of time; with four tank companies from both sides mixed on one battle line, once the fighting started, fights broke out everywhere quickly.
The tank soldiers from both sides went back and forth, using various tactics in one-on-one kills.
And both sides’ heavy artillery and helicopters occasionally joined this battlefield, making this tank battle even more intense.
The Blue Army’s defense was very tenacious; even with Steel Seventh Battalion’s infantry-tank coordination unique to mechanized troops, the advance speed was not fast.
Sometimes they advanced five hundred meters, only to be pushed back by the Blue Army counterattack.
On the main battlefield, it was a mess in the sky and on the ground; the small battlefields were no less.
Both sides fought invisible electronic warfare fiercely for more intelligence, and their scouts were equally busy.
Usually acting in squad units, taking concealed routes for reconnaissance soldiers.
In the dense and frequent mutual reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance, small-scale battles inevitably erupted between both sides, with people constantly killed in action in combat.
And the Red Army had some special operations platoons, so the dispatched reconnaissance soldiers were all “special forces soldiers”.
Special forces soldiers had little role on the frontal battlefield, but on such local small battlefields, especially on the counter-reconnaissance and reconnaissance levels.
Reconnaissance squads formed by special forces soldiers had absolute advantages.
The Blue Army combined arms battalion, as a latecomer, was mostly “borrowed” from Steel Seventh Battalion, and far superior in equipment.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have a “special operations platoon”!
Setting up an all-officer special operations platoon in grassroots units, looking across the entire army, only Steel Seventh Battalion this pilot unit had it, because it was a pilot that they had such privileges.
Zhu Rihe’s First Blue Army Brigade was standardized, serving as a template for the entire army’s informatization.
Impossible establishments would not be added.
So even though this combined arms battalion under Sun Dongping had background and resources far exceeding Steel Seventh Battalion, and Sun Dongping himself was ever so envious and wanted it.
The Blue Army combined arms battalion he commanded still did not have a special operations platoon configured.
Even if Sun Dongping personally strived for it, he only added a professional armored reconnaissance platoon in the only armored infantry company.
No matter how professional a reconnaissance platoon was, it was still not as good as a special operations platoon.
This led to the Blue Army being comprehensively behind the Red Army in ground reconnaissance, or even completely beaten by the Red Army special operations platoon.
Three hours after the second defense line battle erupted, the Blue Army’s reconnaissance platoon had been taken out nearly half.
While the Red Army special operations platoon’s losses were only three people.
If not for the Blue Army electronic warfare company having good equipment and always occupying the active advantage in the confrontation, with the Red Army passively defending throughout.
The special operations platoon didn’t dare to go too deep into the Blue Army, fearing being caught by some electronic reconnaissance.
Back when Steel Seventh Battalion was waiting to participate in the confrontation, the ground vibration sensing equipment in the preparation area, who knows if the Blue Army electronic company had it equipped.
The Blue Army’s intelligence had long been infiltrated and pierced; even what underpants Sun Dongping wore would be found out.
As both sides clashed fiercely, time passed quickly.
Eleven o’clock at night.
By then, nearly five hours had passed since the Red Army launched the offense, and both sides had erupted in dozens of large and small battles on the second defense line.
Both the Red Army and Blue Army had heavy losses, each losing at least half an armored company on the position.
Perhaps the Blue Army couldn’t withstand the pressure; after all, as the defending side, the Blue Army’s troops were more dispersed, and big losses meant they had to compress the defense line.
When the time reached eleven fifteen, the Blue Army on the left suddenly began an overall withdrawal.
“Bang bang bang…”
After a series of smoke grenades exploded, they formed a wall of several hundred meters in the air.
Using the cover of this smoke wall, the Blue Army on the left all began to withdraw, not worrying about the Red Army’s long-range artillery; the smoke wall could block night vision and infrared equipment.
“Report to Battalion Commander, Blue Army on the left flank is withdrawing, target is Hill Number Six…”
The frontline situation was transmitted back to battalion headquarters; Gao Cheng, who had been commanding on site for almost two days without sleep, had bloodshot eyes looking completely red, adding a bit of ferocity and also some fatigue.
But hearing this frontline good news, the joy immediately dispelled the fatigue.
He said without hesitation: “Old Chen, good opportunity, quickly have Second Company chase up, must bite and take them out, absolutely cannot let them return to Hill Number Six.”
“Yes, if they return to Hill Number Six, it will be much more difficult when attacking Hill Number Six.” Man Guangzhi also echoed.
Then the other staff officers chimed in one after another, expressing their views on the matter.
Chen Jun, as the commander, fell into thought.
On the left, there was half a company of Blue Army tanks, now fleeing with no fighting spirit; as long as they chased up now, taking them down wouldn’t be difficult.
If they entered Hill Number Six, with air defense and heavy artillery protection, plus the absolute terrain advantage.
Then they would inevitably become a strong stumbling block for the Red Army when charging the highland and taking the final victory; the Red Army would pay a considerable cost to take them out.
“Old Chen, make up your mind quickly; if we delay, the Blue Army will all run away.”
On the battlefield, speed is of the essence in war; every extra minute delayed, the Blue Army would run farther; if not for Chen Jun being the tactical commander, Gao Cheng would have ordered it himself.
Hearing Gao Cheng’s impatient urging, and the time indeed being very precious now.
Chen Jun didn’t think any more and picked up the radio to issue the order, having Armored Company Two chase up at the fastest speed to annihilate the fleeing Blue Army in one go.
After the order was issued.
Chen Jun always felt something was off, but couldn’t pinpoint it for the moment; for insurance, he then issued another order.
Having the Army Aviation Company, which hadn’t participated yet, send an attack helicopter over for cover.
Facts proved that Chen Jun’s war intuition indeed had godlike calculation ability; without the backup arrangement, the Red Army would have suffered greatly.
Because the Blue Army suddenly abandoning the defense line and fleeing was not because they couldn’t hold and fled in panic.
It was Sun Dongping’s trick!
Sun Dongping used half a Blue Army tank company as bait and indeed fooled everyone in the Red Army; even Chen Jun didn’t see through it for a moment.
When Red Army Armored Company Two chased over, in the dark night they only focused on accelerating the chase and didn’t pay much attention to the surrounding environment.
After chasing for more than ten minutes, they didn’t realize they had entered a terrain flanked by hillsides where tanks could hardly charge up, with only the middle being a roadway.
Even more didn’t notice that once the Red Army fully entered the terrain, two camouflaged mine-laying vehicles suddenly appeared at the entrance.
The landmines laid by this fast mine-laying vehicle, though not as concealed as manually laid ones, had an advantage that manual couldn’t compare to—
That was speed!
A terrain entrance over fifty meters wide would take at least two hours to fully cover manually.
But the specialized mine-laying vehicle was like a hen laying eggs, able to lay while driving; once driven over, the mines were laid; for a fifty-meter wide intersection, two mine-laying vehicles working together could finish in just a few minutes.
If the mine-laying vehicles really completed the laying, and the fleeing Blue Army ahead turned back and blocked the narrow exit.
Then the chasing Red Army Armored Company Two would be doomed; unable to rush out ahead, unable to escape behind, equivalent to turtles in a jar.
Ten deaths no life, a certain death situation.
Sun Dongping at the Blue Army Command Post, hearing the frontline report that the Blue Army pursuers had entered the trap, thinking of swallowing a Red Army company with victory in sight, was so excited his eyes turned red.
Little did he know that when the fast mine-laying vehicle appeared, an attack helicopter also appeared in the not-too-distant sky.
