Empire Conquest-Chapter 759 - 52 Ground Reprisal

By the time Jiang Shanggui had climbed up and secured himself on a tree branch, Lian Mingyang handed over the binoculars, then pointed toward the plains to the east.

The forest was atop a small hillock, and the blasted "Shilkha" lay on the other side of the woods.

Climbing to the tree canopy, about a dozen meters off the ground, they could take in the whole battlefield.

The armored cluster of the Western Luosha had suffered heavy damage. What could be confirmed was that over 50 tanks had been destroyed, along with nearly a hundred other armored vehicles.

However, it was far from reaching a state of collapse.

In the northwest of the woods, the second armored group had already arrived, and the self-propelled High-altitude Gun that had taken out Lian and his team belonged to that cluster.

Now, that cluster had already charged to the front and continued to push toward the southeast. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The battle situation was crystal clear.

The mission of the Luosha Army was not only to encircle Volzhsky but also to advance southeast along the Volga River, that is, downstream toward Astrakhan.

Considering the continuous deployment of armored clusters, the Luosha Army might not have intended to forcefully attack Volzhsky.

This was understandable.

The greatest value of Volzhsky was to act as a bridgehead for the march to Astrakhan. If the Western Luosha Army found another solution, that is, a bridgehead that could replace Volzhsky, there was no need to expend troop strength and time to capture this city, which had always been fortified as a military stronghold. They could use valuable troops elsewhere, in other, more important places.

As long as they continued the push eastward, taking down Volzhsky would be inevitable.

Lian Mingyang had Jiang Shanggui come up not to see the destroyed tanks and armored vehicles but to observe the ground combat that was about to unfold.

That’s right, it was tank warfare!

In the northeastern direction, an armored force was advancing towards this side.

Although still somewhat distant, the dust kicked up—or more accurately, the dust cloud generated by the rapid advance of the armored vehicles—suggested a force at least the size of a battalion.

This likely belonged to the 22nd Armored Division of the Eastern Luosha Army, a tank battalion stationed at Elton.

The 22nd Armored Division was one of the Eastern Luosha Army’s ace units and was among the first to receive the "ZT-99AG" tanks, with their headquarters in Elton.

The primary mission of the division was to launch Reprisal after the outbreak of the war and make every effort to delay the enemy’s advance.

Of course, it also had to come to the aid of Volzhsky.

Don’t forget, there was also an Infantry Division in Volzhsky.

In the "Westward" joint exercises held in previous years, the Eastern Luosha 22nd Armored Division was tasked with Reprisal, buying time for the Reserve Team in the rear.

Indeed, this was a key reason for the division’s deployment in Elton.

The city not only bordered the railway leading to Astrakhan but was also over 100 kilometers from the Volga River, outside the range of the enemy’s long-range artillery.

Crucially, this distance was also not too far—well within the striking range of an Armored Forces assault.

Since they would face an enemy that outnumbered them by several times, or even by orders of magnitude, with the possibility of fighting an isolated battle, and with the Reprisal task having crucial significance, even winning just a few hours would be enough for the troops on the second line of defense to prepare. Therefore, the 22nd Armored Division had the best equipment of the Eastern Luosha Army, with all main weapons imported from the Liangxia Empire and a very high state of combat readiness.

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

In New Calendar Year 142, the second year after the "ZT-99A" was equipped by the Imperial Army, Eastern Luosha received the export rights to these tanks.

At that time, even the Gaoju Kingdom and Bakistan hadn’t received this privilege.

Only after the Imperial Authority approved exports to Eastern Luosha did the producer of the "ZT-99A" follow the usual practice of developing an export model.

In the following years, Eastern Luosha imported 1,200 "ZT-99AG" tanks from the Empire, mainly equipping three ace units including the 22nd Armored Division.

Later, Eastern Luosha also purchased the production rights for the "ZT-99AG."

According to the plans of the Eastern Luosha authorities, the domestically produced "ZT-99AG" would gradually replace the "ZT-55" series and supplant the "ZT-80" series in front-line units, with an expected final production exceeding 6,000 units, to become the absolute main force in main battle equipment.

Unfortunately, the tank production line in Chelyabinsk was not expected to start production until the following year.

Additionally, the Eastern Luosha Army was the biggest user of the "ZT-99" series apart from the Imperial Army, and their equipment number far surpassed that of the third-ranking Gaoju Kingdom.

However, the first few batches of "ZT-99AG" sold to Eastern Luosha were actually the "ZT-99A" from the Imperial Army with sensitive equipment removed. The ammunition supplied was downgraded a level as well, such as using conventional Armor-piercing bullets. In other respects, there were no differences.

The reason was simple: the Western Luosha Army had already obtained the T-80B, and this new-generation tank had obviously superior combat capabilities compared to the Eastern Luosha Army’s "ZT-80" series.

Of these "ZT-99AG," about a third were equipped to the 22nd Armored Division.

Lian Mingyang had long heard from officers and soldiers at the base that last month, the Imperial garrison had supplied a batch of standard ammunition to the 22nd Armored Division, mainly Armor-piercing bullets for tanks.

Since there was little difference between the "ZT-99A" of the Imperial Army and the 22nd Armored Division’s "ZT-99AG," they could use the Imperial Army’s Armor-piercing bullets.

In a sense, this was also about reducing stock inventory.

The reason being that the Imperial Army had already begun to procure the "ZT-99B." This improved Main Battle Tank was fitted with a new tank gun using unitary ammunition, making the separately-loaded ammunition purchased for the "ZT-99A" completely redundant and certainly in need of disposal.