Chapter 182: The Cossack Terminator Arrives In His Loyal Zaporizhzhia
Lelouch had no time to worry about the waves he had stirred up or the flood-like impact it caused in the rear.
He was now only thinking about how to advance to Zaporizhzhia as quickly as possible and completely cut off the retreat route of Lusha 6th Army Group.
To annihilate this army group again completely, which had already been half-annihilated in July and then rebuilt.
At noon on September 25, Lelouch personally led one armored regiment, one mechanized infantry regiment, and one motorized infantry regiment, a total of about 10,000 troops, enduring the still fierce autumn sun, advancing north along the railway from Melitopol to Zaporizhzhia.
After annihilating the security garrison troops in two towns along the way, Lelouch finally allowed the troops to stop and rest for about an hour in the just-captured town, avoiding the hottest afternoon period, and also having lunch and cooling down the armored cars.
Armored cars of this era were really not meant for humans to drive.
Historically, whether the first-generation tanks made by Britannians or Germanian people, because they completely ignored ergonomic design, combat environment, and engine cooling, the temperature inside the vehicle could easily soar above 50 degrees after prolonged operation.
The initial armored cars made by Dr. Porsche similarly had no time to consider those issues, so the combat environment was equally harsh. These problems could not be solved without one or two years of effort.
Now it was not winter, and under the scorching sun, the afternoon vehicle interior could reach 60 degrees.
Lelouch had already gulped down at least 5 liters of water in the morning, yet he was still sweating profusely, looking like he had just been pulled out of a swimming pool.
All the handsome uniforms were unwearable; he barely wore a silk bulletproof vest as underwear, put on a steel helmet, and nothing else.
After barely eating a piece of bread and drinking a cup of room-temperature coffee, Lelouch gave the two pickled sausages originally allocated to him to the armored car driver and gunner, letting those subordinates doing physical labor get more supplements.
He himself, as a sedentary commander doing mental work, had no appetite even for greasy and salty food.
Putting down the coffee cup, he casually asked the division staff officer in another vehicle nearby: “How far are we from Zaporizhzhia now?”
Division staff officer: “Report to Division Commander, still 80 kilometers away. We definitely won’t make it today unless we march through the night; we might arrive in the early hours of tomorrow morning. But with our forces, we absolutely have no capability for siege; that’s where the enemy 6th Army Group headquarters is, guarded by at least two main force divisions.”
The straight-line distance between Melitopol and Zaporizhzhia is over 120 kilometers; actually, following the railway, considering it zigzags left and right occasionally, the actual distance is even longer, so it’s indeed impossible to reach in one day.
Previously, from Troitske to Melitopol was only 90 kilometers; alternating day and night advances to cover that was normal, while now this stretch is at least a third longer than yesterday’s.
Lelouch assessed: “No problem, I didn’t expect us to assault the city ourselves anyway. As long as we advance near Zaporizhzhia and completely cut this railway, the strategic objective will be achieved. The subsequent siege can rely on friendly forces catching up, using heavy infantry groups for the assault.
You guys plan it a bit; try to advance to a position 50~60 kilometers from Zaporizhzhia before dark tonight. Um, at least to Mikhailivka; aggressively, try for Vasylivka.
Then hand over at 8 p.m.; our three regiments switch to rest, let Deputy Division Commander Rommel take over, and try to reach the southern suburbs of Zaporizhzhia before 8 a.m. tomorrow.”
After the orders and deployment were set, subordinates immediately began the corresponding adjustments; the troops rested until 1:30 p.m., then set off north from the town again.
……
After the troops advanced north again, about an hour and a half passed,
At exactly 3 p.m., when Lelouch advanced to the southern suburbs of Vasylivka town, 65 kilometers from Zaporizhzhia, the unexpected still happened.
The vanguard reconnaissance company of the armored regiment sent back a radio plaintext urgent telegram; the radio operator didn’t need to translate much and read it directly:
“Report to Division Commander! Reconnaissance company spotted suspected enemy Cossack cavalry division blocking troops 5 kilometers ahead! Seems like two divisions! About 9 kilometers from us. Reconnaissance company has stopped advancing after encountering the enemy, waiting for us to close in.”
During the march, Lelouch’s armored troops maintained a relatively spread formation; the armored reconnaissance company advanced 3 kilometers ahead of the regiment main force to scout. The mechanized infantry regiment and motorized infantry regiment also followed sequentially, each maintaining 2~3 kilometers spacing.
After the vanguard encountered the enemy, they were to immediately stop advancing, slightly disperse to the flanks, wait for the main force to catch up, and switch to combat formation.
Upon learning the vanguard had encountered the enemy, Lelouch immediately ordered the whole army to accelerate forward to rescue the reconnaissance company.
After a burst of full-speed driving, in just a few minutes, Lelouch saw ahead that one reconnaissance company, a total of 9 armored cars, was about to be surrounded and attacked by Lushan Cossack cavalry.
According to the organization provided by Lelouch, a full-strength armored company has 14 armored cars, an armored regiment 6 companies, 84 vehicles.
But after days of intense combat, equipment had many combat losses and malfunctions, so today’s reconnaissance company only had 9 vehicles operational.
The opposing Cossack cavalry division saw the Germanian vanguard reconnaissance troops isolated, bullied them for being few in number, and swarmed from all directions to take advantage with numbers.
……
These cavalrymen were no fools; although most still wielded sabers rather than rifles, they all had pistols at their waists and grenades hanging.
The cavalry officers had heard from friendly forces’ rapid defeats in the past two days about the power of the enemy’s new weapon, hoping grenades in close combat could destroy these iron turtles.
“Don’t be afraid! Disperse and charge from all directions! The enemy is few in number! Their machine guns can’t easily turn directions; charging from the side and rear will definitely allow us to grenade them!”
“As long as we can capture enemy armored cars and bring them back, even if just wreckage, ordinary soldiers can be promoted directly to major! Lieutenants and above to captain promoted two ranks! Field officers directly one rank up!”
A Cossack division commander directed the troops in a frenzied attack, re-emphasizing the new rewards promised by Front Army Commander Pavel Pleve General just that morning.
The threat of the enemy armored assault troops had reached the heavens, with His Majesty the Tsar personally calling to inquire. Of course, the Front Army Commander was not stingy with heavy rewards and titles to spur warriors to fight.
Cossacks were inherently bloodthirsty and title-hungry; instantly spurred red-eyed by these promises, they charged and enveloped the armored car group.
On the Germanian side, that armored reconnaissance company commander didn’t dare slack; as soon as he noticed Lushans extending to both flanks trying to surround from all sides, he decisively ordered a turn to pull distance.
But the enemy was too numerous, the attack direction too tricky; crucially, armored cars of this era had no rotating machine gun turrets, so once turning to retreat, the machine guns lost firing arcs. Seeing the enemy closing in, the German armored reconnaissance company had to turn back to face them again.
The “rat-tat-tat~” heavy machine gun muzzle flames began fiercely sweeping the Lusha cavalry group, mowing down the frontal enemy in swaths; instantly, hundreds of man-horse corpses fell on the grassland.
But Cossacks surged from all directions; after clearing a large frontal patch, the flanks charged ever closer.
“Quick, turn around! Point the vehicle front toward the direction the enemy is charging from!”
“No, we should form a vehicle laager, not fight individually wasting firepower! Every 3 vehicles with 6 heavy machine guns cover one direction! Otherwise we’ll be caught off-guard!”
In the midst of fighting, the German reconnaissance company commander realized something was wrong; if only there were 360-degree rotating machine guns, but now, they could only circle all combat vehicles, all fronts outward, ensuring machine gun suppression in every direction.
Even so, in the brief chaotic gap of reforming, quite a few Cossack cavalry rushed close, throwing large numbers of grenades at the armored car group.
Although the cavalry were harvested in swaths, falling into pools of blood, still at least dozens of grenades flew into the vehicle group.
“Boom-boom~” muffled explosions rang out successively; no grenade could penetrate the armored cars’ armor, even the side 10mm armor.
But armored cars had relatively high chassis, especially to adapt to grassland off-road and future possible muddy environments; the wheels were very large.
Even with hinged 10mm steel side skirts hanging to block bullets, some ricocheting or rolling grenades still rolled under the vehicles and exploded.
The unprotected bottom leaf springs, drive shafts, and underbody beams were successively damaged by grenade blasts. Although the vehicle bodies remained intact and the crew inside unharmed by blasts, the power transmission systems broke down.
Fortunately, by then the vehicle laager was barely formed; all heavy machine guns swept different directions forming a tight firepower net, finally mowing down the remaining Cossack cavalry in large swaths and forcing them back completely.
Only about a hundred cavalry had entered inside the armored car laager, hiding in machine gun blind spots, continuing to throw grenades at close range to damage.
Some brave accompanying German soldiers refused to sit idle; they had to open the armored car top hatches, poke out their upper bodies with an MG15 light machine gun or MP15 submachine gun, sweeping at the cavalry at close quarters mere dozens of meters away.
The cavalry fired back with pistols at the daring exposed accompanying infantry.
After a bloody battle, this group of successfully closed-in cavalry was gradually purged, while in the distance Lelouch’s armored regiment main force arrived, using masses of MG15 machine guns to madly sweep the enemy cavalry surrounding their comrades, completely ending this encounter battle.
“How are the reconnaissance company’s losses?” Lelouch asked concernedly upon arriving at the battlefield.
“2 armored cars completely destroyed—in the final counterattack, soldiers opened hatches to poke out and counter with light machine guns and submachine guns, but enemy-thrown grenades poured in.
Another 5 had transmission systems bombed out, all from grenades rolling under and exploding; likely need drive shaft and differential gear replacements. Our army 8 killed, 27 wounded. The killed were all shot in head and neck while poking out to sweep enemy cavalry; the wounded mostly blast-shocked inside vehicles.
Total enemy cavalry killed/wounded at least over 1,000, equivalent to annihilating at least 6 cavalry companies.”
Nearby officers quickly tallied the losses and results.
Lelouch sighed upon hearing: “These Cossacks are too barbaric, far more fearless of death than Britannian cavalry; in the future, we need to strengthen reconnaissance company sizes, shorten marching intervals between units, no more advancing too far ahead.
What was bound to come still came. We advanced so fast, enemy regular reinforcements couldn’t catch up, so they could only use Cossack cavalry to delay us. Later we may encounter more cavalry, possibly several divisions’ scale.”
That reconnaissance company commander also had minor wounds; enduring the pain, he came to report to the officer: “Report to Division Commander! Originally we didn’t think armored cars had issues.
But in this war of maneuver, with enemies charging from all directions, non-rotating heavy machine guns are too disadvantaged; the original fixed machine guns are still only good for frontal assaults. Can this still be modified?”
Lelouch shook his head: “Can’t modify now; adding a rotating machine gun turret would make the structure far too complex, tonnage beyond current chassis capacity. At least need to upgrade to six-seven ton chassis to ten tons for full upgrade.
But what you said does need attention; didn’t anticipate this tactic of enemy cavalry charging from all sides throwing grenades. Alright, I’ll urgently request 300 sets of bulletproof steel armor from the rear, plus 300 heavy custom steel helmets with neck guards; give them to the machine gunners operating from the top poking out upper bodies.”
In 1915, the Germania Army actually already had all-steel bulletproof armor, steel plate thickness 4~8mm varying; the thickest 8mm plate was almost as thick as tank side armor, able to withstand sustained machine gun bullet sweeps.
This bizarre weapon persisted through the entire World War I before being phased out. Its bulletproof effect was absolutely reliable, just too heavy, dozens of kilograms, only wearable by stationary heavy machine gunners; once on, couldn’t walk.
（Note: Book friends with pictures can post in comments; I couldn’t find pics of this bulletproof steel armor）
But for vehicle interior combat, with personnel already seated at machine gun positions poking out upper bodies, mobility inconvenience didn’t matter.
Moreover, for vehicle-mounted machine gunners, no need to consider lower body; just upper chest-back armor, weight compressible to under 20kg.
Lelouch acted immediately, sending another telegram back, relayed layer by layer.
Finally, the Duke received it and specially approved, requiring bulletproof steel armor prepared and delivered to the front line by train within 48 hours.
This 48 hours included in-transit transport time; couldn’t be faster.
Only because Lelouch was the Duke’s most trusted subordinate general and had just achieved great merit was he given such special treatment. Otherwise, others wouldn’t get it.
After the telegram was sent, Lelouch couldn’t just wait; he continued leading the armored troops in sustained offense.
In the last few hours of the afternoon, enemy resistance indeed grew increasingly fierce.
At exactly 4 p.m., Lelouch encountered a bloody battle of 3 Cossack cavalry divisions’ full encirclement assault.
His entire one armored regiment faced the enemy’s fearless, swift come-and-go encirclement attacks.
Fierce machine gun bullet storms mowed down swaths of enemy cavalry on the vast grassland, blood staining the wild grass, forming an exaggerated scene of violent aesthetics.
Toward the end, Lelouch even worried if his armored regiment’s machine gun bullets would suffice—he could only deploy over 60 armored cars at once, each carrying just a few thousand rounds. After firing over 200,000 machine gun bullets, what then?
Fortunately, the situation didn’t arise; when Lelouch had used only over 100,000 rounds, the rear mechanized infantry regiment caught up, jointly relieving him.
Looking at the additional thousands of corpses on the ground, Lelouch felt deep fatigue.
Information transmission in this era was too slow; how were there always so many fearless people unaware friendly forces had suffered the same losses?
Were these Cossacks illiterate or unable to understand rumors?
Fortunately, this was the last desperate charge of cavalry most fearlessly against the armored regiment.
After this bloody battle on the evening of the 25th, starting that night, Cossacks adjusted tactics.
They began bypassing Lelouch’s armored regiment this absolute hard nut, then launching sneak attacks on the mechanized infantry regiment and motorized infantry regiment behind them.
Or simply dispatching cavalry companies or battalions to destroy the railway line behind Lelouch.
That midnight, a military train from the rear carrying supplies for the frontline armored assault troops derailed due to railway sabotage, and several cars were hit by Lushan-planted railway bombs.
Machine guns slaughtering cavalry were efficient, but bullet consumption was astonishing; sweeping distant enemies might take hundreds or even thousands of rounds per kill—
Doubters of this number, play a round of PUBG to see; check how many bullets your iron-sight machine gun takes to down a driving or motorcycling enemy.
Killing several thousand Cossack cavalry meant over a million machine gun bullets consumed; Lelouch couldn’t carry that many with the army.
He had to slightly slow the advance speed, waiting for rear troops to bring up more line-filling infantry to defend and control the entire railway line.
At the same time, he had to change the original “two shifts” offense plan to one force focused on attack, resting when tired.
The other half armored cars and half-tracks all switched to mobile defense troops, patrolling along the railway, ready to rescue anytime.
Once line-holding sentry troops anywhere faced major enemy cavalry full assaults, notify armored troops to rush aid immediately.
Thus, whenever Cossack cavalry appeared, armored car regiments would race to the rescue within half an hour. Front-rear pincers with railway defense line-fillers to finish off the Cossack cavalry.
After two more bloody losses, Cossacks finally had to gradually abandon this tactic.
Ultimately, the planned arrival at Zaporizhzhia on the morning of the 26th was dragged to the 28th.
Germanian railways were sabotaged three times, losing several supply trains. Railway guard soldiers paid 1~2,000 casualties.
But over three days, Cossack cavalry lost at least over 20,000 killed, purely using lives to hard-delay Lelouch’s steps.
However, though speed slowed a bit, the Germania Army fought more solidly.
The extra two days allowed more infantry divisions to smoothly follow up, making this breakthrough pincer flank more solid and broad. Engineer corps dug temporary trenches non-stop along both sides of the railway, so when facing enemy cavalry breakthroughs and harassment, defense would be stronger.
“Originally planned 80 hours of combat, total advance 260 kilometers to Zaporozhye City outskirts. Ended up 120 hours for 260 kilometers, plus several supply trains bombed.”
Looking at the Zaporizhzhia southern suburb building clusters appearing in the gunner’s sight, Lelouch felt quite emotional inside.
In any case, the encirclement was closed.
The mere two-day time difference gave no chance for Lusha main forces on the Kherson-Yevpatoria front line to withdraw and breakout.
These 3 main armies of Lusha 6th Army Group, he was determined to annihilate.
