Chapter 199: Who says a sharpshooter can't fire artillery?

All units, attack!

The attack horn sounded, and the Third Battalion's formation began to change.

Like a sharp spear, it launched an unstoppable assault on the Second Battalion's main position.

Although there were still some uncleared minefields, and although the Second Battalion still had a few anti-tank guns,

but when facing the charge of the steel beasts, it still seemed somewhat inadequate.

In particular, before the attack, an assault platoon from the Third Battalion suddenly thrust in from the side, cutting the Second Battalion's defensive position into two parts.

This greatly reduced the defensive strength; the rear guards were tied up and could not timely provide fire support to the main position.

Zhou Kaidong, on the rear defensive position, was anxious and flushed, continuously firing mortars at the enemies on the main position.

Although it could not damage armor, it could still destroy targets such as sights and machine-gun muzzles.

Although it could not damage armor, it could still destroy targets such as sights and machine-gun muzzles.

Heavy shells were almost exhausted; Zhou Kaidong had no choice but to use mortars to suppress the enemy armor.

Although it was just scratching an itch through the boot, it was better than nothing; even killing a few machine-gunners would be good.

Booming gunfire echoed continuously; under the pressure of the advancing army, the main position was in peril.

Even Kang Changyi, who had been tied up earlier, had no choice but to join the fight, picking up the last heavy cannon.

He wanted to shine in the final moment, blow up a tank, to at least make up for his earlier command mistake.

But he didn't expect that, as soon as he lifted the rocket launcher, the enemy armored vehicle's co‑machine‑gunner spotted him sharply.

A burst of gunfire swept across, cutting him in half at the waist and killing him on the spot.

Kang Changyi's head smoked, and with the rocket launcher in his hand he plopped onto the ground, feeling a sense of inevitable defeat.

On the battlefield, machine‑gunners, rocket‑launcher operators, and snipers are always given special attention and targeted.

Such a big gun barrel, once carried out, becomes the focus of concentrated fire.

At the military academy, Kang Changyi never lost.

But after coming to the grassroots unit, he never won.

I don't know where the problem lies; clearly it works in theory, but in practice issues constantly arise.

It's hard to imagine how our predecessors, lacking food and clothing, with outdated weapons, in extreme cold, defeated the enemy's torrent of aircraft, artillery, and steel.

Where exactly is the problem? Our weapons and equipment are more advanced than before, yet we still can't win.

After Zhou Kaidong expended all the ammunition in his light machine gun, he tied on cluster grenades, preparing to rush out and die together with the enemy tank.

But before he could get close, he was turned into a sieve by concentrated fire from the machine‑gunners and the infantry behind the tank.

Zhou Kaidong's heroic sacrifice ultimately failed; he could only watch helplessly as those steel beasts rumbled past before his eyes.

Like crushing dry weeds, it rolled over the main position and launched an assault on the two remaining companies in the rear.

Minefields were set up near the companies, but clearing them was only a matter of time.

With the Second Battalion's remaining forces, they could hardly hold out for long.

One shell from the 59‑style tank's smoothbore gun smashed the machine‑gun and mortar positions near the companies to pieces.

In just a few hours, the position defended by the Second Battalion was peeled away layer by layer like an onion.

Seeing that the outcome was decided, the remaining resisting soldiers felt resentful and helpless.

Although they had actually experienced this feeling of defeat before, each time they saw the enemy's armor pass before their eyes,

watching those opponents flaunt their power above, their hearts still surged with a deep sense of defeat and anger.

Even just winning once!

Even just drawing!

Does a weapons and equipment advantage truly cannot be compensated?

With equal numbers, can light infantry really not beat those armored soldiers hiding in iron turtles?

Bang!

Suddenly, a soldier from the Third Battalion hiding behind an armored vehicle had his head blown apart.

Soon after, several more were killed by bullets fired from behind.

"Get down! There are enemies behind!"

Everyone quickly lay prone on the ground.

Engine roar came, and a motorcycle appeared out of nowhere.

Liu Ziqiang rode the motorcycle, while Lu Yang in the rear seat continuously fired at them.

You know that shooting accuracy drops sharply when moving at high speed, but Lu Yang's marksmanship is extremely steady, almost as if he were standing still on flat ground.

Facing the enemy's swift countermeasure, he and Liu Ziqiang jumped off the motorcycle together and rolled into cover behind a barrier.

Liu Ziqiang fell hard on his back, his arms, waist, and legs all aching.

But Lu Yang, after landing and rolling to dissipate the force, did not suffer much impact.

Relying on a tree as cover, he fired again at the enemies' backs.

Shell casings clinked out; the Third Battalion soldiers trailing the armored units all became living targets.

Chen Panpan and Sun Chen also appeared from another side, launching rear attacks on the enemy to hinder their advance.

In short, it's like sneaking up and stabbing you in the butt with a knife while you charge; it might not be fatal, but the pain is real.

Gao Feng, hiding in the infantry fighting vehicle, saw this through the periscope and instantly fumed: "You bastards, actually ambushing from behind—send people to take them out right away!"

Although Gao Feng reacted quickly, even leaving an armored vehicle behind as cover.

The goal was to annihilate Lu Yang and completely wipe out this gang that had been harassing them to the point of misery.

But Lu Yang and his companions ran too fast; they simply could not be caught.

The Iron Foot's main training is running—various terrains, various ways.

High mobility, plus precise marksmanship, even if the enemy has armored vehicles for cover.

But as long as they dare to show their heads, as long as they leave the protection of armor, in Lu Yang's eyes they are already dead.

The intense gunfire, the constant falling of enemies, finally gave the allied forces a glimmer of hope in the darkness.

Lu Yang, while shifting positions, shouted into the radio: "Hold on, as long as we hold out until artillery support arrives, there is hope to turn defeat into victory!"

"We have lost so many times, been defeated in so many battles; we must let us win once, even if only once, even if we sacrifice all our lives!"

"I am Lu Yang, assistant squad leader of the Sixth Company's Sixth Squad; I will lead my people to constantly harass the outskirts, creating resistance to their advance!"

"As long as we coordinate inside and out, bind and drag their steps, we will definitely be able to hold the position!"

From every radio on the allied positions came Lu Yang's firm voice.

Such clear encouragement and goal gave great confidence to those soldiers who thought the defeat was already certain.

At this point, the forty‑eight‑hour deadline for holding the position is already near; as long as they can fight to the death in resistance, there is a sliver of hope.

The Fourth Company's commander is in a precarious situation, and the Fifth Company's commander has already been overrun.

During the covering retreat, the two company commanders issued death‑orders, demanding that everyone must hold the position to the death.

"Throw out all anti‑tank mines and anti‑personnel mines!"

"Those that have no time to be buried, just toss them into the grass, onto the road!"

"Blocking even a little is good; delaying even a second is good!"

"Mortar shells, fire them all until none are left; don't worry about whether they hit the enemy or whether they work against armored vehicles—just blast any target you see!"

"This position must be defended with lives, piled up with human lives—I must hold it! This is an order, this is an order!"

Hoarse shouts of rage rang out across all allied positions, and every soldier of the Second Battalion entered a state of frenzied blood‑rage.

Seeing so many comrades killed by artillery shells, seeing the painstakingly prepared defensive lines and positions torn apart by the enemy, they were unwilling to accept defeat like this, unwilling to abandon the position they had held for two days and two nights.

The sudden change startled even the Third Battalion commander who was hiding inside the tank.

"In past drills, we have never seen such a situation—have these guys all gone berserk?"

"Battalion commander, many anti‑tank mines have been thrown onto the road ahead, none of them buried. Tanks can't pass; only infantry can clear them."

"Have the mortar squad prepare to use artillery fire to detonate the visible mines ahead!"

"Yes!"

Subordinates immediately passed the order via the walkie‑talkie.

The mortar squad of the Ninth Company, Third Battalion, immediately made preparations.

They aimed at the coordinates, preparing to use mortar shells to conduct explosive clearance of the visible mines on the route to the objective.

On the battlefield, mine‑clearance methods usually come in three types;

First, engineers go up and dig, dig, dig—but it is time‑consuming, labor‑intensive, and dangerous.

Second, using mortar fire or howitzer cannons—both essentially fight explosion with explosion, pre‑detonating the minefield.

The third method is more vicious: letting engineers bury new mines on top of these minefields, creating various bait mines; making the poisonous area even more poisonous, it can be said to be extremely vicious.

The first round of mortar fire did not all land in the forward minefield; some shots went off target.

This is normal in combat; the first round is mostly test shots, mainly used to adjust the trajectory angle and coordinates.

But when the mortar squad had corrected the barrel position and was preparing for the second round, Lu Yang appeared in time and gave them a burst.

Against these mortar squads crouched on the ground, utterly unprepared, one didn't even need to aim—just spray a straight line of bullets.

"Holy shit, where did this guy come from!"

"He wiped out an entire squad in one go!"

"Damn, we were just a bit away from getting the shells off!"

Lu Yang walked over, shoved the smoking squad leader aside, and began fiddling with the mortar on the ground.

The mortar squad leader was furious: "Hey, don't mess with things you don't understand—who'll be responsible if the barrel blows up later?"

Lu Yang completely ignored the dead man's words, using his thumb to roughly indicate a position.

He crouched on the ground, then picked up a shell and dropped it into the barrel.

At first, these mortar squads thought Lu Yang was just putting on an act, pretending to know what he was doing.

But when they saw the shell successfully ignited and land precisely on their own troops, blowing three or four soldiers sky‑high, his eyes almost popped out of his head.