"Reverse, reverse, hurry!"

Situ Lin urged three times in a row, which was actually a superfluous move, because before he shouted, Tang Xuebing had already hung up the reverse gear and stepped on the accelerator.

With the roar of the engine, the bulky tank rushed backwards onto the ramp behind.

The tank gun was at its maximum elevation angle, and it was still impossible to aim at the opposite slope, and the T-72B with its muzzle turned to this side, also waiting for a chance to fire.

That's right, the latest model of the T-72.

Compared with the heavily equipped T-72A, the most obvious difference between the T-72B and the larger turret is the use of thicker composite armor.

In addition, it is equipped with a laser rangefinder with irradiation function, which can use 9K120 artillery missiles.

As for the protection, although it has been somewhat enhanced, in the face of the tank guns of the ZT-99B, the increased equivalent thickness of protection is not worth at all.

Hurry, hurry, hurry!

Situ Lin was anxious and remorseful.

Before rushing up, to be precise, rushing out of the position, Situ Lin did not expect that outside the position, there was a T-72B that had not been completely destroyed.

The T-72B was parked there, the hatch at the top of the turret was open, and the engine was turned off, as if it had been wrecked.

After the ZT-99B driven by Situ Lin crossed the ridge of the hill, the T-72B suddenly "came alive" and fired first.

Before being attacked, Situ Lin did not see the danger at all.

At that time, he was staring ahead, concentrating on finding a worthy target.

It's just that Situ Lin is very lucky.

The commander of the ZT-99B behind him accelerated in time to catch up and block the deadly armor-piercing bullet for Situ Lin.

Actually, the tank of the guard platoon did not see danger either, but just happened to appear next to it and blocked in front of the muzzle of the T-72B.

The point is, the distance is too close, less than 500 meters.

Although the ZT-99B of the guard platoon had already turned the turret when it rushed up, and its task was to keep an eye on the left side, the hull did not turn over, and the side armor of the hull was very thin, with an equivalent protective thickness of only 200 mm, which could only cope with machine guns, and could not block armor-piercing shells at all.

The body that was hit was the body of the car!

It was only at this time that Situ Lin discovered the danger.

The T-72B was parked on a slope, and it was blocked by the destroyed ZT-99B, so Situ Lin could not aim, so he had to let the tank reverse.

It is necessary to retreat to the ramp to the right rear in order to get the angle of fire.

The turret of that T-72B was also turning, also waiting for the opportunity to fire at the ZT-99B.

"Big rice balls, wait a minute!" In a hurry, Situ Lin directly called out the nickname of Tang Xuebi.

After Situ Lin gave the order, Tang Xuebing loosened the throttle a little and slowed down the reversing speed.

"You mark the location of the target, wait for the smoke screen to clear, then reverse the car and open fire immediately, without giving the enemy a chance."

"Understood!"

Wu Qitie immediately figured out what Situ Lin meant.

Smoke bombs were fired first to block the view of both sides. Because the T-72B couldn't move, there was no way to maneuver around the smoke screen.

In this way, the ZT-99B was able to safely retreat to the hillside and fire again at the T-72B.

After being instructed, Situ Lin fired two smoke bombs.

On each side of the ZT-99B turret, there is an 8-barrel grenade launcher capable of firing anti-personnel grenades, although the main purpose is to fire smoke grenades.

Strictly speaking, smoke grenades belong to special grenades.

In the face of danger, creating a smoke screen is the main and even the only means of self-protection for the main battle tank.

After throwing the smoke screen, Situ Lin stared outside, observing the spread speed of the smoke screen to make sure that he seized the fleeting opportunity.

"Big rice balls!"

"Sit tight!"

As Tang Xuebing stepped on the accelerator, the ZT-99B continued to retreat in the roar of the engine and rushed directly to the rear ramp.

"W-"

"Bang ......"

A sharp whistling sound was heard, but it passed to the left of the tank, and then there was the sound of shelling.

Apparently, the T-72B fired first, but was aimed at the left side of the ZT-99B, i.e., the commander of the T-72B probably thought that the ZT-99B would turn to the left after releasing the smoke screen, so he aimed to the left of the T-99B and tried to destroy it with a preemptive attack.

If it is an emergency evasion after being threatened, then after the smoke screen is released, the probability of turning to the left is indeed the greatest.

It's an instinct to avoid to the left.

Otherwise, the aircraft carrier will not set the island on the right side of the flight deck.

It's just that Situ Lin didn't evade them!

"Bang ......"

Before Situ Lin could give the order, Wu Qitie opened fire.

Although the T-72B could not be seen through the infrared imager due to the smoke screen, through the periscope, the muzzle flash produced by the T-72B's firing could be clearly seen.

And crucially, the location of that T-72B has not changed.

"Iron Braincase, hit!"

Tang Xuebing saw the explosion through the periscope.

Any tank will have a set of periscopes specially prepared for the driver, and in the past, there would be a reflector on the left and right sides of the hull.

The main thing is that the driver must stay inside the car during the fight and can only observe the outside situation through the periscope.

"Go back, don't stop!"

After instructing Tang Xuebing, Situ Lin gave an order to the other 2 ZT-99Bs to retreat behind the ridgeline of the hill.

So far, there are a total of 9 ZT-99Bs, and 5 can continue to fight, and there are 3 on Situ Lin's side.

In the open field north of the ridgeline of the hill are densely packed with the wreckage of about 80 T-72Bs, in addition to about 30 BMP-2s.

Less than a third of these were the results of the ZT-99B.

Most of the T-72Bs and BMP-2s were destroyed by anti-tank missiles fired from the rear, and some were taken out by the infantry who burst forward with bazookas.

When Situ Lin was charging with his tanks, more than 10 BZ-98s from two infantry companies drove up and provided fire support with heavy anti-tank missiles near the ridgeline of the hills.

It was probably Situ Lin that they came too suddenly, and the enemy didn't notice these chariots at all.

It's just that this position will definitely not be able to hold.

Almost all the fortifications have been destroyed, even the temporarily dug foxholes have been damaged. While dense craters can provide some cover for infantry, there is no way to use heavy weapons such as heavy machine guns and automatic grenade launchers without a point of fire.

Wait, the enemy only needs to carry out a round of artillery fire, and then send infantry up to capture the position.

Anti-tank missiles are capable of dealing with enemy tanks and fighting vehicles, but they are not able to deal with swarming infantry.

In fact, there were not many infantry on the position, including the lightly wounded, there were not 300 people.

"Units report the situation."

"The armor-piercing rounds of No. 1333 have been used up, and there are 8 multi-purpose grenades, 3 more submachine guns and 6 magazines, and 3 grenades."

Hearing this, Situ Lin's heart suddenly tightened.

No. 1333 is the No. 3 tank of three companies and three platoons, and this means that the company commander who fought there is most likely Captain Zhang Jianguo has been killed.

At least, the tanks piloted by it were destroyed by the enemy in the battles that began.

"No. 1322 also has 2 armor-piercing shells and 9 multi-purpose grenades."

The situation in the second platoon is similar, only 1 ZT-99B is left to fight, and the second platoon commander, Lieutenant Niu Hailong, is probably also more than lucky.

Subsequently, the commanders of 2 ZT-99Bs of the guard platoon made a report that the remaining ammunition was in single digits, and the armor-piercing shells were about to run out.

In fact, Situ Lin's situation is not much better.

There were still 3 armor-piercing shells and 7 multi-purpose grenades, and 4 of them were stored in the hull, and when Situ Lin inquired about the situation, Wu Qitie was taking out the 4 spare shells and loading them into the magazine behind the turret. If it is another tank, this work is usually carried out by the commander. Since there is no loader, a lot of the work that the loader is responsible for has to be shared between the commander and the gunner.

If you want to say, this is also the most criticized thing about the ZT-99.

Not to mention fighting, even in normal times, because there are only 3 members, each member bears a third more maintenance work than in the past.

5 tanks is not too little, after all, the enemy has suffered heavy losses and even more losses, and even if he attacks again, he will not invest too many troops.

But the problem is that if there are no armor-piercing shells available, the trouble is big!

Although the multi-purpose grenade can be used as an armor-piercing projectile by setting the fuse explosion, and the power is not small, the equivalent armor-piercing thickness reaches 600 mm, which is completely easy to deal with the second-generation main battle tank, but the frontal protection thickness of the T-72B's turret and hull is definitely more than 600 mm.

Actually, there is no need to guess at all.

In the beginning of the battle, several anti-tank teams from Dongluosha felt the front line and attacked the T-72B with rocket launchers, but it turned out that the armored rockets with a shaped jet armor-piercing warhead with a thickness of 550 mm could not penetrate the armor on the front of the T-72B's turret and hull.

It is necessary to move to the side or to the rear in order to destroy the T-72B with a bazooka.

Obviously, in the face of the T-72B, multi-purpose grenades simply do not come in handy.

It is precisely because of this that in the beginning of the battle, Situ Lin used armor-piercing shells almost all of them, and only multi-purpose grenades were used against infantry fighting vehicles.

The logistics force had to be allowed to bring in the ammunition.

After grasping the situation, Situ Lin activated the long-distance radio station, contacted the logistics support company left at the support point, and asked if he could deliver the ammunition as soon as possible.

Actually, Situ Lin played a clever trick.

Don't forget, the Army Airlines arranged for transport helicopters to deliver "repeater" anti-tank missiles to forward support points, so that the forward deployed helicopter gunships could continue to sort.

As a rule, these transport helicopters do not return empty, but take some of the wounded with them when they return.

Of course, it was mainly the wounded of the East Luosha Army.

Prior to this, Pavlov had already arranged personnel, to be precise, some lightly wounded, to drive the seriously wounded to the rear support points.

Well, it is quite possible that the transport helicopter of the Army Airlines is still at the forward support point and has not left.

Even if there is only one, it is enough to send dozens of armor-piercing shells.

The mass of a 125-mm armor-piercing projectile is about 30 kilograms, and 50 armor-piercing shells are only 1,500 kilograms, and the carrying capacity of the army aviation general transport helicopter is about 2 tons.

Because there are also very few enemy tanks left, an average of 99 armor-piercing shells per ZT-10B are replenished, which is enough.

According to Situ Lin's judgment, the armored brigade of the West Luosha Army could not muster 50 tanks at all, and it was the limit to be able to dispatch 20 tanks.

As for the range, it's even less of a problem.

It is more than 100 kilometers round trip, and it can be refueled after returning to the support point.

Including the time it takes to carry the shells to the helicopter, it will only take half an hour at most.

Unfortunately, the situation is not so ideal.

"Luo Youliang, your grandmother has been following me for so long, and you still don't understand the priorities? No matter what indiscriminate means you use, get a helicopter right away and send me armor-piercing shells as soon as possible. Otherwise, the brothers in the whole camp will not forgive you! ”

"Please rest assured, battalion commander, even if I crawl, I will drag the shells to the position!"

"Fuck you!"

Without waiting for the other party to answer, Situ Lin hung up.

Luo Youliang is the company commander of the support company and one of Situ Lin's most trusted subordinates.

He has said it all to this point, Situ Lin should not continue to press.

The Army Airlines transport helicopters arrived ahead of schedule, and the wounded of the East Luosha Army had not yet arrived, so after unloading the ammunition provided to the gunships, the three transport helicopters flew away. The front was so tight everywhere that it was impossible for helicopters to stop and wait for the wounded to arrive.

Fortunately, Luo Youliang had already called for support before this and asked the rear to send a helicopter to pick up the seriously wounded.

As expected, the ambulance helicopter, which also belongs to the Army Airlines, will arrive at the forward support point within a few minutes, and Luo Youliang promised to personally requisition the helicopter.

It's just that the ambulance helicopter was improved from the "Z-4".

The Z-4, which has been in service with the Imperial Army for more than 30 years, is a typical light helicopter with a transport version that can carry up to 8 infantrymen.

The key is that its maximum load capacity is just over 1 ton.

Because the ambulance helicopter has a lot of first-aid equipment, the actual load capacity is less than 1 ton.

Even if an ambulance helicopter is requisitioned, it will only be possible to deliver 20 to 25 armor-piercing shells to the front line.

A maximum of 5 tanks can be allocated.

Obviously, this amount is far from enough.

Luo Youliang also made a special guarantee that he would send vehicles to the front line to deliver ammunition, but it would take more time, at least two hours to wait.

Obviously, no one can say what it will be like in two hours.

Situ Lin scolded Luo Youliang, but he didn't really get angry, because all this was not Luo Youliang's fault, and it wasn't anyone's fault.

It's a miracle that the battle has been fought so far, and it is still able to hold the position!

In total, they only have 15 tanks, and even if you count the combat vehicles of the infantry company, they are equivalent to half an armored battalion at most.

With this little force, in less than an hour, they crushed a full brigade of the enemy!

When he was fighting, Situ Lin didn't have time to think about it, and he didn't have any emotion at all, after all, all his energy was on the battle.

It wasn't until the end of the battle that he realized that he was so lucky that he was still alive.

Before that, if someone told Situ Lin that he could lead half a battalion to withstand the attack of an armored brigade of Xiluosha, he would definitely not believe it.

Thinking back on the battle, Situ Lin was extremely afraid.

In the beginning, if you don't stop and then shoot a smoke bomb, you may be destroyed by the armor-piercing bullets fired by the T-72B when you retreat up the hill.

After sitting down, Situ Lin habitually took out his cigarette and lighter, but he lit it three times in a row, but he couldn't light it.

His hands were shaking all the time, and he couldn't even hold his cigarette.

It wasn't until Wu Qitie turned around and took the lighter that he lit a cigarette.

Usually, it is strictly forbidden to smoke inside the tank, because there are a lot of electronics inside the tank, and there is a lot of ammunition, but now no one cares.

However, only a few puffs were taken.

"Head, here we go again!"

Hearing Tang Xuebing's reminder, Situ Lin involuntarily shivered a few times, and then hurriedly took two puffs before throwing the cigarette butt out of the hatch.