After Jiang Shanggui climbed up and fixed himself on a branch, Lian Mingyang handed over the telescope and pointed towards the plain to the east.

The woods were on top of a small hill, and the blasted Shilka was on the other side of the woods.

Climbing to the canopy of a tree more than ten meters above the ground can take in the entire battlefield.

The armored cluster in West Luosha was heavily damaged, and only what can be determined is that more than 50 tanks were destroyed, in addition to almost a hundred other armored vehicles.

Only, far from being defeated.

To the northwest of the woods, a second armored group had been reached, and the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun that shot down Lian Mingyang belonged to that group.

Now, the cluster has rushed to the front and continues to advance in a southeasterly direction.

The battle situation is clear at a glance.

The task of the army of Western Luosha was not only to encircle Volzhsky, but also to advance along the Volga to the southeast, that is, to Astrakhan downstream.

Judging by the continuous investment of armored clusters, the army of Western Luosha may not have thought of storming Volzhsky.

This is also understandable.

The greatest value of Volzhsky was nothing more than serving as a bridgehead for the march to Astrakhan. If the army of Western Luosha had solved this problem by another means, that is, by obtaining a bridgehead that could replace Volzhasky, then there would be no need to spend troops and time to capture this city, which had always been built as a military fortress, and could use its precious forces in other and more important places.

As long as the advance to the east continues, then the capture of Volzhsky is inevitable.

Lian Mingyang asked Jiang Shanggui to climb up, not to let him see the destroyed tanks and combat vehicles, but to observe the ground battle that was about to start.

That's right, armored warfare!

To the northeast, an armored unit is advancing to this side.

Although it is still a little far away, the dust raised, to be precise, is at least the strength of a battalion.

Most likely, a tank battalion of the 22nd Panzer Division of the East Luosha Army deployed in Elton.

The 22nd Panzer Division is one of the ace units of the East Luosha Army, and it is the first unit to obtain the "ZT-99AG", and its base camp is in Elton.

The first task of the unit is to launch a counterattack after the outbreak of war, and do its best to slow down the enemy's advance.

And, of course, to the aid of Volzhasky.

Do not forget that in Volzhsky there was also an infantry division.

In the "Westward Advance" joint exercise held in previous years, the 22nd Armored Division of Dongluosha carried out a counterattack mission to buy time for the reserves in the rear.

In fact, this is also the key to the deployment of the 22nd Armored Division in Elton.

The city, located not only next to the railway to Astrakhan, but also more than 100 kilometers from the Volga River, was outside the range of enemy long-range artillery.

The point is, this distance is also not very far, within the range of the assault of armored forces.

Because it is more likely to fight alone in the face of a strong enemy that is several times or even dozens of times its own, and the counterattack task undertaken is of vital value, even if it can only be won for a few hours, it is enough to prepare the combat troops on the second line of defense, so the 22nd Armored Division has the best equipment of the East Luosha Army, and the main battle weapons are all imported from the Liangxia Empire, and the combat readiness rate is also very high.

In fact, the first to receive the "ZT-99AG" was the East Luosha Army.

In the year 142 of the new calendar, that is, the second year after the "ZT-99A" was equipped with the Imperial Army, Dong Luosha obtained the right to import this tank.

At that time, even the Kingdom of Gaoju and Pakistan did not receive this privilege.

That is, after the imperial authorities approved the export to Dongluosha, the production enterprises of the "ZT-99" developed an export version according to the usual practice.

In the years that followed, Dong Luosha imported 1,200 "ZT-99AGs" from the Empire, and mainly equipped with three ace units, including the 22nd Armored Division.

Later, Dongluosha also purchased a production license for the "ZT-99AG".

According to the arrangement of the Dongluosha authorities, in the future, the "ZT-99AG" series will be replaced by the self-produced "ZT-55AG", and the "ZT-80" series in the next line of troops will be replaced, and the final production volume is expected to exceed 6,000 units, becoming the absolute main force of the main battle equipment.

Unfortunately, the tank production line in Chelyabinsk is not expected to go into production until next year.

In addition, the East Luosha Army is the largest user of the "ZT-99" series in addition to the Imperial Army, and the number of equipment far exceeds that of the third-ranked Tall Giant Kingdom.

It's just that the first batches of "ZT-99AG" sold to Dong Luosha were actually "ZT-99A" of the Imperial Army, but some sensitive equipment was removed, and the matching ammunition was lowered by one level, such as the use of old-fashioned armor-piercing shells, and there was no difference in other aspects.

The reason is also very simple, the West Luosha Army had already obtained the T-80B at that time, and the combat effectiveness of this new tank was obviously above the "ZT-80" series of the East Luosha Army.

About a third of these "ZT-99AGs" are equipped with the 22nd Panzer Division.

Lian Mingyang had long heard the officers and men of the base mention that last month, the imperial garrison had provided the 22nd Armored Division with a batch of standard ammunition, and it was mainly armor-piercing shells for tanks.

Because it is not much different from the "ZT-99A" of the Imperial Army, the "ZT-99AG" of the 22nd Panzer Division can use the armor-piercing shells of the Imperial Army.

If you want to say, this is also destocking.

The reason is that the Imperial Army has already begun to purchase "ZT-99B". This improved main battle tank is equipped with a new tank gun with fully equipped shells, so the sub-pack shells purchased for the "ZT-99A" are not used at all, so they must find a way to dispose of them.

The Imperial Army has commissioned manufacturers to transform part of the "ZT-99A" into an export version, and then export it as second-hand goods.

According to the previous plan, even if it is not sold, it will be sealed within a few years.

Of course, in the current situation, the possibility of mothballing is gone.

Now these "ZT-99AG", equipped with new armor-piercing shells, are rushing towards the armored cluster of the West Luosha Army.

"Head!"

Lian Mingyang nodded, indicating that he had seen it.

Although several kilometers away, the muzzle flash of the tank gun when it opened fire was still clearly visible.

When there were still almost 3,000 meters away from the Xiluosha armored cluster, those "ZT-99A" opened fire, and judging from the number of muzzle flashes, the main battle tanks rushing to the front line were about 30, and this is almost the number of an armored battalion.

It's just that this distance is too far!

“…… 11、12、13……”

"How many hits?"

"14 or 15."

After Jiang Shanggui answered, Lian Mingyang nodded slightly.

With a hit rate of less than 50%, it doesn't seem very high, but it's actually very good.

The distance is more than 3000 meters, and those "ZT-99AG" did not stop when they opened fire, and those tanks of the West Luosha Army were also moving.

In actual combat, the hit rate of dynamic to dynamic is close to 50%, which is already very high!

In fact, the enemy's reaction is more revealing.

After receiving a surprise strike, the T-80U did not immediately return fire, even with artillery-launched anti-tank missiles with a theoretical range of 5,000 meters.

Apparently, the enemy's tankmen did not have much confidence in such missiles.

The enemy's first reaction is to release a smoke screen!

In a matter of seconds, dozens of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles threw smoke bombs.

The point is that most of the tanks are reversing, that is, hiding in the smoke screen, maneuvering with the help of the cover of the smoke screen, seeking favorable counterattack opportunities.

This is the basic, or rather very common tactic.

Although Lian Mingyang is not a tank soldier, as a pilot of a helicopter gunship specializing in fighting tanks, he must know tank tactics well.

At this time, the maneuverability of the T-80U was vividly displayed.

It's just that the opposite "ZT-99AG" did not fall behind.

To say that, advanced electronics, especially sighting equipment, partially compensate for the lack of maneuverability, and the acceleration performance of the 1200 hp diesel engine is indeed slightly worse.

When firing, the "ZT-99AG" did not stop, did not even slow down, and reached speeds of up to 30 kilometers per hour.

After more than ten seconds, these "ZT-99AGs" opened fire again, only at those infantry fighting vehicles that were further away and had not yet had time to release a smoke screen.

Subsequently, the "ZT-99AG", which rushed to the front, began to move westward, and the infantry fighting vehicles that followed behind were still moving in a southwesterly direction.

This is also a typical armored tactic.

The smoke screen will not last forever, only a few minutes at most, and those T-80Us that have fallen back will definitely rush out from other directions.

Suppressing an opponent with an anti-tank missile on the front, and a little farther away, will allow the tank to outflank from the flank.

It must be admitted that the 22nd Panzer Division is indeed the elite unit of the East Luosha Army.

Of course, this has to do with the perennial training of confrontation with the Imperial Army.

As for this set of tactics, it was actually learned from the Imperial Army, and the key point is that the tanks of the West Luosha Army do not have a high hit rate when they engage at a long distance, so they must try to control the engagement distance and avoid entering within 2,000 meters too early.

As for ammunition consumption, it's not a big deal.

Of course, what needs to be worried about is the enemy's artillery missiles.

However, for the "ZT-99AG", the problem is not too big, that is, the protective strength of the turret and frontal armor of the hull of the "ZT-99AG" is equivalent to 1000 mm of homogeneous armor, and the 80M9 gun-launched missile equipped with the T-119U has an armor-piercing depth of less than 1000 mm.

According to the intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Agency, the armor penetration depth of the 9M119 is about 800 mm, and the maximum is 900 mm.

It's not that I look down on Xi Luosha, but the caliber of the tank gun limits the diameter of the armor-piercing warhead of the missile, which also limits the armor-piercing power.

Those infantry fighting vehicles in the back, you need to worry.

This is also the key to keeping a distance of more than 2,000 meters between infantry fighting vehicles and tanks, and advancing at a slightly slower rate.

Don't forget that the range of artillery missiles is only 5,000 meters.

On the contrary, the maximum range of heavy anti-tank missiles carried by infantry fighting vehicles can reach 8,000 meters, and the actual range must exceed 6,000 meters, so they can fire outside the range of the enemy's artillery missiles to avoid prematurely entering the strike range of artillery missiles.

As for the actual range being 2000 meters less than the maximum range, it is not a problem with the missile, but with the sighting system.

If you can't see it or aim it accurately, it's useless for the missile to hit far.

However, the tide turned almost instantaneously.

When those meteor-like objects fell from the sky, Lian Mingyang didn't react for a moment, but then he was stunned.

Not shells.

It's rockets!

A concentrated fire strike of at least one long-range artillery battalion!

That's too ruthless, isn't it?

Hundreds of rockets flew, and most likely all of them were equipped with anti-armor submunitions, which were scattered enough to cover most of the "ZT-99AG".

Apparently, the enemy had already discovered this counterattack force, only for a little longer in preparation.

The point is that to the west, perhaps on the other side of the Volga, there must be an artillery unit of army group level, equipped with long-range rocket artillery.

To say, long-range rocket artillery has also always been the strong point of the West Luosha Army.

Nicknamed the "Tornado", the 9A52 has a maximum range of 70 kilometers and can fire 12 rockets equipped with anti-armor submunitions at a time.

Nine "Tornadoes" in one artillery battalion fired at the same time, theoretically capable of destroying all tank fighting vehicles of an armored brigade in a grouped state.

It is also very effective against armored units on the march.

In a large-scale war, the main value of long-range rocket artillery is to block the enemy's armored forces and consume the enemy's armored forces as much as possible.

In fact, the Imperial Army also has long-range rocket artillery, which is also equipped with army-level combat units, mainly used to deal with the steel torrent of Xiluosha.

In just one covered shelling, more than 30 tanks of a battalion lost more than half!

It's so miserable!

The remaining 10 or so "ZT-99AGs", immediately after the third firing, released smoke bombs, and, it can be seen, all of them were reversing.

In addition, those infantry fighting vehicles in the front also opened fire at this time, and even machine guns were used.

With the loss of more than half of the tanks, there is no way to fight this battle, and if you don't withdraw, the whole army will be wiped out!

Fortunately, the West Luosha armored unit also suffered heavy losses.

After three rounds of attacks in a row, he never managed to fight back!

Even in the last two times, the hit rate of the "ZT-99AG" was not very high, but it still gained something, destroying a total of almost 30 tank combat vehicles before and after. Counting the previous killings by helicopter gunships, the losses of the army of Xiluosha in this direction are almost equivalent to an armored brigade.

It was this that at the time when the "ZT-99AG" released smoke and retreated, the West Luosha tanks did not pursue, but sent BMP infantry fighting vehicles.

It was a wise decision.

"ZT-99AG" has a lethal threat even when retreating, and its armor-piercing shells will not be halved by retreat.

What's more, all the "ZT-99AG" were reversing, and the muzzles were still aimed at the armored cluster in West Luosha.

Because the reverse speed is relatively much slower, when retreating, the hit rate of the "ZT-99AG" will increase by a large margin.

This short, but also extremely fierce tank battle was extinguished.

Lian Mingyang also sighed that if it had not been shelled, those "ZT-99AGs" of the 22nd Armored Division might have been able to completely annihilate the armored cluster of Xiluosha and strike a small climax of counterattack in this direction, thus defeating the assault momentum of the Xiluosha army in this direction.

It's just that there is no "if" in battle.

Just as Lian Mingyang and Jiang Shanggui watched the counterattack troops of the 22nd Armored Division withdraw, shouts came from the west side of the woods.

It was none other than the officers and men of the West Luosha Army who came.

A team of about dozens of people, almost a platoon of infantry.

Apparently, they definitely saw the fallen "Z-10A".

Lian Mingyang and Jiang Shanggui climbed the tree just to avoid the chasing soldiers who were about to arrive, not to say that they wanted to climb up to see the excitement.

Of course, before going up the tree, the two cleaned up the traces left behind, and also sprinkled the powder in the survival kit that was specially used to deal with military dogs nearby. It's just that now it seems that it was an ordinary army that rushed in, and did not deliberately search for the helicopter pilots who were hiding.