Macho Wars

Considering that the orders given to them by their superiors were to block the enemy's reinforcements in the town of Orphee and buy time for the friendly forces to capture the harbour, Dragon felt that only half of the town in the east of the river was enough.

So the Independence Group stopped its offensive and deployed on the east bank of the river. Dragoon also came to the river in person after dark and secretly observed the other bank.

Judging from the fighting in the afternoon, the enemy's 552 infantry regiment is strong, and the full federation's standard ordnance should belong to the frontline unit of the Principality Army, and it has been strengthened specifically for street fighting.

However, it is a pity that they do not have heavy armor like tanks, and they lack sufficient anti-tank weapons. Therefore, when the tanks of the Independent Regiment entered the city to cooperate with the infantry, they soon fell into a disadvantage.

Speaking of which, although the number of main anti-tank weapons of the Principality’s army is insufficient, there are many tricks.There are large-caliber anti-tank guns, anti-tank mines, heavy machine guns that use hard-core armor-piercing shells, and a small number of war defense guns.

These messy weapons can be used to deal with the thin-skinned light tanks, and it will be fine if you encounter a medium-sized "cuirass knight" such as a tusks.

They fought for an afternoon, and the Independence Group lost a total of eleven tanks before and after, but all the tracks were broken, and no armor was penetrated.

The maintenance soldiers patted their chests and assured them that as long as they were given one night, they would ensure that all the tanks in the nest would be put into combat by tomorrow morning.

After nightfall, the town was completely silent.The two sides started a confrontation across the river, and they all refrained from firing a shot.

Dragon took the opportunity to let the soldiers seize the time to evacuate the residents of the town.The fighting during the day affected them greatly, and both sides caused considerable civilian casualties.

However, what is surprising is that some male residents are unwilling to evacuate. They even asked the imperial king to give them some weapons so that they could join the battle and avenge the damned principality army.

For more than a year, the Principality’s army in the occupied area of ​​Tarrance can be said to be a bad thing. As long as the local residents refuse to kneel and become running dogs, they all hate them.

Looking at these indignant people in the occupied territories, Dragon believed that their anger against the Principality Army was not false, but still rejected them.

Let a group of empty-blooded and angry people go to the battlefield?It would be nice if they didn't help!

After forcibly expelling these local residents, Dragun placed his three infantry battalions along the east bank, and placed the fourth battalion (artillery battalion) and two tank battalions behind.

Compared with the 552 regiment on the other side, Dragon is more concerned about when will the subsequent reinforcements of the Principality Army come?How much can you come?

At the same time, in the northern seaport, the two regiments of the Marine Brigade 771 and 772, which were advancing fast along the coast, have reached their doorstep. The sea is the imperial expedition fleet that has just merged with hundreds of large and small naval guns. All aimed at the defenders on the shore.

The commander-in-chief Henry Martini, who has been transferred to the flagship of the main formation, stood in front of the porthole of the bridge, staring at the harbor in front of him, and couldn't help but whisper.

"This is ours soon!"

Chapter 272

That night, the town of Orphee was peaceful. The Independence Regiment sent only a small number of reconnaissance troops to infiltrate from the upper and lower reaches of the river, and set up a concealed observation post on the opposite bank to monitor the main traffic road in the rear. Once enemy reinforcements appear, immediately report to Dragon. .

The first batch of reinforcements from the Principality Army arrived to the west of Orphee Town at more than two o'clock in the morning. According to the report from the observation post, the enemy army was all cavalry. There were thousands of them. The size should be a cavalry regiment.

Dragon said that this is still a strange thing, because since modern times, with the emergence of modern big killers such as machine guns, artillery and tanks, the status of the cavalry, the former trump card, has deteriorated.

The first-class powers were the first to realize the decline of the cavalry. Take the Sidney Empire as an example. This country once had the largest cavalry corps in the world. At its peak, it reached 250,000, and now the entire army adds up to only 10,000. In the early days, only cavalry companies were set up in units of the second line regiment level to be responsible for investigation and communication support tasks.

Compared with the big animals that need to be carefully served and who sometimes play bad tempers with you, the easy-to-handle "three-bungee motorcycles" are more popular with scouts.

However, this mechanization trend can only be afforded by the military of a large country with strong industrial strength. For small countries without heavy industry like the Sapphire Principality, the cavalry is still an indispensable mobile force in their military.

After the arrival of this cavalry, some small groups of reinforcements arrived in the town of Orphee one after another. They seemed to be the vanguard, with cavalry and jeeps. It wasn't until 10 o'clock the next morning that there was a real large army.

The observation post said that a large number of infantry came from the southwest, and the entire troop stretched for several kilometers with thousands of people.Although they do not have many trucks, there are many caravans towed by animal power.

Not surprisingly, this unit should be the fifth infantry division of the Principality Army mentioned in the intelligence.Their station is 30 kilometers southwest of Offi Town, and is the nearest main force division to Offi Town.

It has been less than 30 hours since the start of the landing operation at four o'clock in the morning yesterday. For a force that mainly relies on two-legged maneuvers, this reinforcement speed is not too slow.

With their arrival, the strength of the forces on the east and west sides of the town of Orphee has been severely tilted. The Principality’s army is about 15,000 to 20,000, while Dragoon’s men have only 3,000, a difference of five to six times.

But Dragon didn't panic at all. After all, his task was to block the enemy's reinforcements in the town of Orphee, relying on the terrain to persist until the main force took the port.

And he also has two armored battalions on his side, more than 60 tanks, and better infantry equipment. With a better firepower density, his regiment may not be worse than the opposite division.

So after the arrival of the main enemy reinforcements, Dragon took the lead. He had four 150mm howitzers supported by the brigade.

These large-caliber heavy artillery were actually in place yesterday afternoon, but Dragon had never used it. He only used the eight 75-mountain cannons directly under the regiment, and deliberately sold a flaw to the opponent.

Regardless of the fact that both sides have heavy artillery of the same caliber, the model in Dragon’s hand is the main heavy artillery currently in service in the Empire. The cannon has a longer barrel and more shells. Its performance is better than that of the Principality. The old model equipped by the army has a range of 1.5 times that of the opposite side!

Therefore, the cannon fired at the independent regiment placed forward, and the shells directly passed the western part of Offi Town and hit the enemy reinforcements heavily.

After this shelling, the Principality Army was hit unexpectedly.Originally rushed all night, the poor infantry were tired of people and horses, and finally rushed to the destination. Before sitting down to catch a breath, the enemy's shells flew over.

With the help of an observation post in a dark place, the independent regiment had a very high hit rate in this round of shelling, and it was designed to hit the heavy vehicles of the 5th Infantry Division, especially those towed artillery.

This round of artillery bombardment lasted more than 20 minutes, and more than half of the artillery shells they brought was shot out. The 5th Division of the Principality Army was caught off guard and suffered heavy losses.

Hundreds of infantrymen were directly bombed into the sky before they even saw what their opponents looked like. More than a thousand others were injured and lost a lot of supplies.

The observation post saw the fruitful results of the shelling, and sneaked away while the enemy was still in chaos.

After the shelling, the Principality Army quickly carried out a round of retaliatory shelling in return for Dragoon.

However, the Independent Regiment had been prepared long ago. The four heavy artillery pieces were scattered and the firing positions were all positioned to ensure that the gun smoke from the muzzle could not be visually detected on the opposite side. During the period, it also changed its position once, and then ran when it was finished.

When the other side reacted vigorously, shelling in the general direction according to the sound of the guns, there was nowhere to be seen!

Therefore, after this round of retaliatory shelling, the loss of the independent regiment was minimal. Most of the soldiers had already hid in the dug foxholes in advance, and only 30 unlucky ones died.

With the current artillery accuracy of this era, if a shell wants to accurately fall into a foxhole less than one meter in diameter, it can only be done by fate.

In the first round of confrontation with the Fifth Division, the Independent Group took a lot of advantage, but Dragon knew very well that this was just the beginning, and the Fifth Division would not be the only opponent they had to face.

According to intelligence, there are three main divisions in the Principality Army in the southwest of Orphee Town. The Fifth Division is the nearest, and the other two divisions may also come for reinforcements.

The town of Orphee is their only way, and Dragon's Independence Group is the obstacle in front of them.

Dragon learned via radio that the offensive at the port was very smooth. The 771 and 772 regiments, supported by the naval fleet's firepower, fought like a broken bamboo, and the other three divisions also landed along the coast.

However, the local garrison troops were very hard-spirited. They had not completely collapsed after five hours of fire from the navy, and they were still fighting the imperial army.I don't know who the commander is, but it is obviously not a general one to bring the troops like this!

Out of a trace of respect, and also hoping to end the battle as soon as possible, Henry deliberately left a gap for the opponent in the encirclement net, hoping that the opponent's commander would understand the difficulty and retreat, and hurriedly get out of the gap.

Once they take the port, heavy equipment and supplies can be quickly landed ashore, allowing the troops to quickly advance inland.

And the mainland side of the empire is also waiting and watching. As long as they make rapid progress here, Howard can say that the military headquarters and the Senate will be further increased to the Far East, and the elite troops will be directly transferred from the local area.

After all, there are many princes in the empire, and all of them serve in the army. These children and ministers who are eager to prove themselves in front of their father will never turn a blind eye to this opportunity for performance before their eyes.

Chapter 273: Air Superiority

Perhaps it was the artillery battle during the day that made the Fifth Division a bit of a rat, but after they arrived in Orphee Town, they did not immediately attack.The infantry of the two sides confronted each other on both sides of the river bank, and the slightest appearance would attract a cold gun from the opposite side.

Dragoon didn't seem to be very anxious to meet the other side, speculating that they might be waiting for the sun to go down, so they seized the time to consolidate their defenses, and after dark, let the engineers secretly leave the town and mine the open areas on both sides of the river beach.

After nightfall, there was a drizzle in the sky, and the temperature dropped to 12 degrees Celsius. Many soldiers from the warm south of the empire had never experienced such a temperature in the midsummer of August.