The "line of defense" is actually a traditional and one-sided concept.

The line of defense is not a line, but a belt-like area. The line of defense in modern warfare is not coherent and is cobbled together from numerous fortifications.

The solidity of the fortifications and the density of the troops are determined by the needs of the operation and the situation of the battlefield.

The barbed wire and trenches that were common in traditional defensive lines have become extinct in modern warfare.

The main body of the defense line is actually a dense number of foxholes, and interspersed fire support points reinforced with sandbags and sleepers.

Compared with previous wars, especially the defense line during the First Global War, it can be said to be very rudimentary.

However, for modern warfare, which has already been electronicized and is about to enter the information age, a fixed line of defense is not the key factor in determining victory or defeat.

In a sense, the line of defense is like an artificially demarcated line.

Of course, it is not an easy task to break through the defense line built and defended by modern armies, and it is bound to pay a very heavy price.

To the north of Astrakhan, on the eastern bank of the Volga, there was such a line of defense.

The front of the line was on the ridge of a low hill, in fact less than 20 meters above the plain on the eastern bank of the Volga. This height difference is just enough to provide cover for the tanks on the anti-slope position, and allow the tanks to rely on the preset fire support points to deal with the enemy from the north.

At each end of the defensive line, there is a slightly higher hill, which is the two key defensive areas.

There is only one reason why the line of defense is here.

It is located next to the road and railway to Astrakhan.

The road was on the western side of the line, less than 500 meters away, and could be blocked with a few heavy machine guns from the hill at the western end of the line.

The railway was on the eastern side of the defensive line, at a distance of about 1000 meters.

Although it was a little farther away, it was within the range of large-caliber machine guns, automatic grenade launchers, and small-caliber mortars issued to company platoons.

In addition, both roads and railways are within range of infantry-operated anti-tank missiles.

The enemy from the north, whether by road or rail, had to pass in front of the line and was attacked by fire from the defending forces.

Obviously, if the enemy wants to continue there, he must take this line of defense!

According to the plan, the East Luosha Army should send a reinforced regiment of 4,000 troops to guard the defensive line, which is nearly 10 kilometers long and 2 kilometers deep.

It was indeed a reinforced infantry regiment that was sent, but it was not at full strength!

The regiment nominally had four infantry battalions and one independent artillery battalion, as well as numerous regimental support companies, but the actual strength was less than 2,400 men, only 60 percent of the 4,000 it should have. The key point is that not only is there a lack of main battle equipment such as heavy artillery, but also a serious shortage of anti-tank firepower.

In total, there were only 12 sets of anti-tank missile launchers in the whole regiment, and only more than 20 missiles were issued.

With this missile, you can't survive a battle!

There is no other reason: this is a reserve force.

On the Astrakhan side, the East Luosha Army has no regular troops.

To be precise, the only regular troops remained in Astrakhan, where they were responsible for the strategic retreat, organizing the transfer of local residents and enterprises to the rear.

In addition, it was responsible for the deployment of the defense of Astrakhan.

It can be seen that even the authorities in East Luosha decided that they could not hold Astrakhan. Even if it could be defended, the city would be reduced to rubble in the flames of war.

The rest of the regular forces were far away, and the main force was on the west bank of the Volga, that is, on the side of the shackled land bridge.

This reserve infantry regiment, which has less than 30 percent personnel in peacetime, has been able to more than double its strength in just a few days, which is already very good.

Fortunately, the quality of the soldiers is not bad.

In any case, most of the officers and men of the unit are retired servicemen under the age of 45, and they undergo one month of intensive training every year.

When Situ Lin arrived with his troops, the troops had already withstood three rounds of enemy attacks.

In fact, it mainly relied on the support of low-altitude assault troops that arrived in advance, as well as long-range artillery deployed about 30 kilometers in the rear.

After learning that the 04101st Battalion was a reinforcement of the Imperial Army, the second lieutenant in charge of supply personally led Situ Lin to the front.

A distance of a few hundred meters, turning left and right for more than ten minutes, in several open areas, the two of them still crawled and touched it.

It can't be helped, because no one can be sure that there are no enemy snipers outside the line.

Of course, it should be accurate to say that it should be the accurate shooter who is integrated into the grassroots wing.

In the Imperial Army and the Eastern Luosha Army, each platoon had several accurate marksmen armed with sniper rifles, whose main task was to shoot and kill the enemy's high-value personnel.

Usually, it refers to the front-line commanders.

The front-line command was about 100 meters from the front and was well concealed.

From the outside, it looks more like an ordinary firepower point.

Because there is still some distance from the front line, the probability of the headquarters being hit by a key attack in the battle is not large, and it is relatively safe.

"Report!"

The second lieutenant who brought Situ Lin over turned around and retreated after shouting a report.

Although he speaks Luosha, for Situ Lin, who has been stationed in East Luosha for a long time, he can understand simple passwords.

The regiment was headed by Colonel Pavlov, an old officer who was almost 50 years old.

"The commander of the 04101st Battalion of the Imperial Army, Major Situ Lin has come to report!" Situ Lin knew the rules, and before Colonel Pavlov turned around, he had already stood up and saluted.

Pavlov looked at Situ Lin for a moment before walking towards the table placed against the wall.

On the table, a small-scale military map is spread.

"You came just in time."

Pavlov spoke Liangxia with a distinct Northwest accent.

It is not surprising that Pavlov, one of the first officers of the East Luosha Wehrmacht, studied at the military academy of the Reich at a young age.

At that time, in order to support the rebuilding of the national defense force in Dongluosha, and in order to control the armed forces in Dongluosha, the Imperial Army Academy opened a special northwest branch.

In the following decades, the officers of the East Luosha Army had to go to the branch for further study and training, so most of the East Luosha Army officers could speak Liangxia language.

"What do you need us to do?" Situ Lin was very direct and didn't beat around the bush.

He's here to fight, and he doesn't need to worry about him.

"The enemy launched three rounds of attacks, all of which were repulsed by us. It's just that the enemy did not invest a lot of troops in these three rounds of attacks. In my judgment, this is a test to wait for the main force to arrive. If the main forces have already reached the offensive assembly area, an offensive is expected within an hour. The point is that there is no reason for the enemy to delay so much time without a particularly critical reason. ”

While saying this, Pavlov circled a location on the map.

To the north of the defensive line, near the road to the west.

The distance is not very far, only a few kilometers to the line of defense.

Only, the point is Pavlov's last word.

The enemy's advance did not attack immediately, but stopped and waited for the main force, which would have been stronger, probably the armored forces of the Manman Army.

Pavlov did not say it explicitly, indicating that it was only his speculation.

"Did you get a fire strike?"

"Artillery strikes have already been carried out on the enemy's concentration areas, and the results are not very satisfactory."

Situ Lin nodded slightly, not dwelling on this issue.

Scouts can't go up, there is no way to determine the deployment of enemy combat units, and it is normal for long-range artillery strikes to be less effective.

In modern warfare, covered artillery bombardment is not only meaningless, but can also lead to annihilation.

Relying on artillery radar, it is possible to calculate the enemy's artillery position in tens of seconds, and let your own artillery units launch a counterattack within a few minutes.

It is precisely because of this that the field artillery adopts the tactics of hitting and running, and cannot continue to suppress the enemy's firepower.

In fact, this is also the key to the popularity of tracked self-propelled guns.

"Colonel, give us a mission."

Pavlov glanced at Situ Lin again before he said, "I didn't receive the news until you came over." The low-altitude assault force providing cover would return in half an hour, and the helicopter gunships were running out of fuel. If you guessed correctly, the enemy will attack after the helicopter gunships have withdrawn. We're going to do our best to hold the ground line, but as you can see, we're all infantry, and we're too hasty in our preparations, and there's a lot of holes in our defenses. Even if you try your best, you may not be able to withstand it. ”

"That can only be done with a counterattack."

In fact, before Pavlov finished speaking, Situ Lin had already guessed his intentions.

It is undoubtedly a fool's dream to rely on infantry or reserve troops to withstand the armored forces of the Western Continent Group.

Even if it was replaced by the infantry units of the Imperial Army, it would not be able to hold it.

After being covered by artillery fire, without waiting for the infantry to return, the enemy's tanks and fighting vehicles rushed to the positions.

It can be seen that the key is one point.

When necessary, slow down the enemy's advance by counterattacking to buy time for defense!

Of course, in defensive operations, tactical counterattacks are the most crucial link, and only when counterattacks are fought well can we hope to hold the position.

The only ones that can carry out counterattack missions are armored units.

In fact, this is also the main value of armored forces in defensive operations.

After staring at the map for a while, Situ Lin pointed at it and said, "The enemy's main force is concentrated on the west side near the road, and we move to the east and stand by in the low-lying place next to the hill. Once the battle has begun, wait for your signal to launch a surprise attack from the east. ”

After thinking about it, Pavlov nodded and said, "I will send someone to lead the way, and when the time comes, three red flares shall prevail." ”

"I'd like to go to the front and have a look, can I?"

Pavlov didn't dwell at all, picked up the binoculars that were placed on the table, and then called in a few of the guards who remained at the command.

Although he is a colonel and Situ Lin is a major, Pavlov is very aware of the identity gap between the two, and knows the meaning of the surname "Situ".

Coming out of the command headquarters, it is already a forward position.

In order to see more clearly, Situ Lin followed Pavlov along the improvised communication trench to a firing point close to the front line.

Although it was a point of fire, it was very rudimentary, only larger than the foxhole, and there were sleepers on the top, covered with about half a meter of earth.

There was an infantry squad, the main armament was an 8-mm universal machine gun with a tripod.

There were several foxholes nearby, the anti-incline positions against shelling were a few dozen meters away, the squad leader and machine gunner were veterans, and the others were recruits.

On the positions outside, the wreckage of dozens of tanks and combat vehicles was scattered everywhere.

It was far away, the closest were about 2,000 meters away, so it was certain that it was not the anti-tank missiles in the hands of the infantry that destroyed those tanks, but helicopter gunships.

In the vicinity of the firing point, there were bomb craters in a dense area.

There is no doubt that the enemy, before launching the offensive, carried out covered artillery shelling of defensive positions, focusing on the forward firing points.

Fortunately, this point of fire was not directly hit by shells.

Actually, it's just luck.

On the way over, Situ Lin saw several collapsed firing points, and it was obvious that all of them were directly hit by large-caliber shells.

"Over there."

Pavlov pointed out the direction of the enemy's assembly positions for Situ Lin.

Actually, not at all.

In the left front of the position, about 10 kilometers away, a clearing was brightly lit, but it was obscured by the woods, and it was impossible to see what was going on there.

From a distance, there seems to be a town over there.

Actually, the night sky isn't completely dark.

Every now and then, a fiery dragon will appear like a whip, and then a faintly discernible roar will be heard.

It was a machine gun gunship firing from a helicopter gunship, and the shells fired were tracer rounds, so they could be seen even from a great distance.

The battle was on the north side of the position, and helicopter gunships, which looked like Imperial Army Aviation, had the upper hand.

When Situ Lin felt that it was almost time and was about to return, a bright fireball appeared in the night sky.

It was a gunship that had been hit by machine guns and exploded in the air!

Unfortunately, Pavlov brought an ordinary telescope, and it was so far away that it was impossible to identify whose helicopter it was from a few kilometers away.

Almost simultaneously, a message came from the command.

It speaks the Luosha language.

After talking, Pavlov put away the walkie-talkie, and then reminded Situ Lin again and asked him to carefully observe the offensive assembly positions in the northwest direction.

After looking at the binoculars for a while, to be precise, after adapting to the dark light, Situ Lin saw that a force appeared at the edge of the woods.

An armored unit.

Rushing to the front was not the T-series tank, which was nicknamed the "Turtle Shell", but a different kind of tank.

The turret is angular and significantly larger in size than the T-Series.

That's right, it's the "Leopard 2" of the Manman Empire.

Sure enough, the Empire sent elite troops to replace the armored forces of Xiluosha to undertake the assault mission in order to maintain the momentum of the offensive.

If the intelligence is correct, it should be the 11th Guards Panzer Division of the Rimman Army.

Perhaps, of course, a brigade of the division.

If the T series tanks are very simple in order to win the all-out war in Xiluosha, then the "Leopard 2" of the Er Man is a well-crafted craft.

Globally, the Leopard 2 is one of the few main battle tanks that can compete with the ZT-99.

At least, according to the propaganda of the Empire, the Leopard 2 is the most advanced main battle tank today, with the most balanced firepower, defense and maneuverability.

Of course, whether it is or not can only be known through actual combat testing.

"Major?"

"Let's go down."

Situ Lin didn't say much, and he didn't need to say more.

The enemy's armored forces have already opened their assembly positions and will soon attack.

Unsurprisingly, the enemy would begin artillery preparations within ten to fifteen minutes before Pavlov reminded Situ that it was time to leave the forward position.