Hill 330, dusk has just fallen.
Sitting on the bench in the observation post, the centurion of the 11th support squadron, Yot, was looking at the Gobi Desert gradually shrouded by darkness outside the observation window, his eyes fascinated.
A few hours ago, he received news from the front-line command post that the barbaric Alliance concentrated all its forces to launch a surprise attack on the Corps' defense line, and the G40-1 position had fallen.
At the latest 48 hours, the Alliance's tanks will drive to the foot of Hill 330.
The four thousand-man teams on the front line are retreating to defend, and Soft has only one task for him - to cooperate with the returning defense troops to block the Alliance's armored forces that have penetrated deep into their own territory.
Yot couldn't help but be a little confused.
The day before yesterday, their friendly forces were still punching the Alliance on the radio, beating the latter black and blue, how come they were suddenly beaten through?
In any case, the command center is not kidding him.
Yot didn't want to joke with his life, so he immediately sent a reconnaissance team and an engineering team to bury explosives at the foot of the mountain.
Except for the team operating the radar and anti-aircraft guns, he sent others to dig pits and set up defenses on the halfway slope of the highland.
At this time, a sentry ran in and saluted.
"Report! There are troops approaching from the rear!"
Rear?
Yot's heart moved slightly, and he immediately got up from the bench, walked out of the observation post quickly, and went straight to the north side of the highway on the 330th highland.
I saw the dust rolling in the night, and the fully armed soldiers filled dozens of trucks, and were marching towards this side from the direction of the command post.
"What's the situation over there?" Yot's adjutant was also standing next to the road.
He obviously noticed the movement in the north and came here to take a look.
Yot did not answer immediately. He raised the telescope hanging around his neck and took a look. He saw a total of thirty light trucks.
After staring at the convoy for a while, he blurted out.
"It's the direct 1,000-man team."
"Direct?!" The adjutant standing next to him looked at him in surprise, "What are they doing here?"
Isn't the direct 1,000-man team responsible for the defense and support of the command post?
Could it be that Soft plans to move the command post to the 330 high ground? !
"I don't know," Yot threw the telescope in his hand to him, and made a release gesture to the sentry tower in the distance, "Let them in!"
The sentry post opened.
The convoy quickly drove to the position.
The artillerymen of the 11th Hundred-man Team stood on both sides of the road, looking at the trucks driving to the position and the well-equipped comrades on the trucks, all with envious expressions on their faces.
"Good fellows, each of them has an automatic rifle."
"I heard that the guys directly under them have three times the standard ammunition of the general front-line troops!"
"Three times? What a joke, it's more than three times! They are the only ones in the entire 10,000-man team who don't lack ammunition."
Unlike those clone soldiers who were just making up the numbers, the soldiers on the trucks were all pure-blooded Weyland people.
Not only did they have an assault rifle, but each person was also equipped with a set of light or heavy bulletproof armor.
The shiny black shell emitted a cold light in the moonlight, and a single burst of fire could not penetrate their armor at all!
Not only were they well-equipped, but the military literacy of these soldiers was far beyond that of the general filling-in troops, and they could be called the trump card of the entire 40,000-man team!
The convoy stopped steadily.
A man nearly two meters tall jumped down from the co-pilot seat of the leading truck.
He wore a steel helmet, his features were sharp, and he was tall and strong. There was no obvious identification on his combat uniform, but Yot recognized the man in front of him.
The man was none other than Simond, the captain of the Thousand-Man Squad.
When he first joined the 40,000-man Squad, he had served as a centurion under this man.
After a customary military salute, Yot stepped forward and said to Simond with a smile.
"Captain Simond, what brings you here?"
Without wasting time on greetings and courtesies, Simond said concisely.
"The order of the General Command asked me to go to Hill 330 and take over the defense here."
Hearing this, Yot cast a surprised look at Simond.
The General Command directly mobilized the front-line troops?
Is this a cross-level command?
And the mobilization was still the Thousand-Man Squad...
He could even imagine the furious expression of General Soft.
Noticing the surprised expression on Yot's face, Simond added a blank expression.
"Don't worry, just keep doing your job, and leave the defense to us."
Yot immediately stood up and saluted.
"Yes!"
Simond nodded and waved to his adjutant, who immediately understood and trotted to the truck.
Thousands of soldiers quickly got off the truck, dragging wooden boxes, and rushed to the front line of the highland. Ten teams spread out, some were responsible for digging, some were responsible for carrying earth, and they cooperated tacitly to expand the fortifications outward.
Simond was not idle either, and asked Yot for a more detailed regional map with the latest markings drawn by the scouts, including the shortcut from the foot of the mountain to the highland, and the areas that needed to be focused on.
After staring at the map for a long time, Simond suddenly frowned and looked at Yot on the side.
"Take me to the place with the best view."
"Yes! Please follow me!"
Yot immediately walked in front and took Simond to the frontline observation post.
The entire east, south and west sides of the highland can be seen from this observation post.
"Why is there no firing point on the southwest side of the highland?"
Yot was slightly stunned and explained quickly.
"Yes, but there are no machine guns deployed... We are an anti-aircraft squadron. There are only two heavy machine guns in the whole team. These two machine guns are deployed in the south and southeast, which is the direction facing the road-"
Simond interrupted him and continued to ask.
"How many anti-aircraft guns are there?"
"... Four."
"Then remove one and put it here."
Simond stretched out his index finger and knocked on the bulge of the contour line on the southwest side of the map. "There is a defense gap in the southwest side position, and this gap must be filled."
Yot moved closer to the map, looked at the position selected by Commander Simond on the map, and then raised his head with a smile.
"Sir... there is no road to our southwest, and there are mountains everywhere! No one will come from that direction!"
"In addition to mountains, there are also vegetation. There is no more perfect location nearby." Simond glanced out the window.
I saw clusters of fluffy sea buckthorn grass swaying on the hills shrouded in the night in the distance.
Not only vegetation, but also rocks standing.
There are even bunkers there.
"But they can't fly over here." Yot couldn't help but remind him, "Even if their tank tracks are made of titanium alloy, it is impossible to cross-country for 150 kilometers in the mountainous area where there is no road. Unless they plan to stay here until next month."
"They may really fly over." Simond said lightly.
Yot was stunned.
"...What do you mean."
Simond continued.
"The command post of the 40,000th Army is the target of the Alliance armored forces. They will probably leave Hill 330 to the airborne troops."
Yot suddenly looked at the night sky outside the observation window. It was clear there, without even a dark cloud. There was no sign of airborne troops.
However, Simond's words made him cautious.
If the Alliance really intends to send infantry to infiltrate his position from the southwest...
With the anti-aircraft artillery units in his hands, he may not be able to withstand it.
Looking at Yot, who was moved, Simond continued to speak.
"If I were the commander of the Alliance, I would throw the airborne troops behind the hills on the southwest side, and use the cover of night and vegetation to infiltrate Hill 330 on foot."
As he said, he patted the centurion on the shoulder.
"Hill 330 determines how far they can go. Let your people be mentally prepared. There will probably be a tough battle tonight."
Yot swallowed hard and stood up straight.
"Yes!"
Just when Simond was explaining the defense plan to Yot, the two did not know that several sneaky figures were lying under their noses.
On the southwest side of the hill of 330 Highland, behind the reverse slope of the top of the slope.
Edge Paddling was lying behind the swaying sea buckthorn grass with several teammates, quietly watching the position in front.
The time now is eight o'clock in the evening.
It took them only eight hours to complete this forced march of 150 kilometers of cross-country!
There are no modern means of transportation, not even roads, and all along the way are Gobi and sand dunes with no villages in front and no shops behind!
If this were put in reality, let alone being recorded in military history, it would be enough to break the Guinness World Record!
But Edge Paddling was not proud.
Reaching the battle position is only the first step, and there is nothing to brag about just being fast.
It's not too late to show off on the forum after taking down the position in front of you.
"Wow, there are quite a few people on the opposite hill!"
Looking at the hilltop so close, Big Eyes with a telescope in his hand couldn't help smacking his lips.
Laplace, who was lying next to him, was also full of surprise.
"Is this a team of 100 people?!"
"I think there are more than 100 people on the southwest side alone!" Yang Youbao couldn't help but complain.
Big Eyes looked at the silent Edge Water and asked in a low voice.
"It seems that they have quite a few people... Should we go a little further west? Go around to their north and pick their asses!"
Edge Water shook his head.
"If we go any further, we will go around to the defense zone of other troops. This is the most suitable position."
A dozen or twenty kilometers further west of Hill 330 is another anti-aircraft artillery position. Once discovered, they will be faced with crossfire from both the east and west sides.
The entire mountainous area was almost under the control of the Legion, and the troops were scattered in various defense zones and hills, leaving the attackers with very few tactical options.
He could only choose the ones with the highest success rate from the limited options.
"There seems to be movement on the opposite hill." An agile player suddenly said, "Is that... a heavy machine gun?"
"It's an anti-aircraft gun!" Another agile player whispered, "They seem to be planning to move the anti-aircraft gun to the southwest side!"
Hearing this, the players lying on the reverse slope looked at each other.
"Did they find us?"
"They may not have found us, but they may have found a loophole in the southwest defense line," Bianbian Huashui frowned, staring at the engineers who were busy deploying anti-aircraft guns, "There is an engineer platoon at the foot of the mountain, and another one on the top of the mountain. The engineers are almost a company, how can this be a hundred-man team."
"I think so too," Yang Youbao nodded seriously, "The engineer company must be a regiment-level configuration! There must be at least a thousand-man team on the top of the mountain!"
"What should we do now?" Looking at the old man on the edge, Midnight, with an umbrella but no knife, whispered, "Why don't we wait for the construction site guys to catch up before fighting."
We are not in a numerical advantage, and we are still fighting a tough battle, which is a bit reckless.
When the brothers riding tricycles behind catch up, it will be much more stable if three thousand people push up together.
"We can't wait any longer, if we wait any longer, they will even build a bunker!" Bianbian Huashui put down the telescope in his hand and looked at Da Yan who was lying on the side, "Where is your drone?"
Seeing that the battle was about to begin, Big Eyes in Debt said excitedly.
"We're ready!"
"Very good," Edge Water nodded and continued to instruct, "Send out all the drones, remember to mark the target first, and wait for my order before shooting! Try to knock out their firepower points at once, and don't give them any chance to breathe!"
"Okay!"
Big Eyes in Debt nodded excitedly and slid down the hillside.
Bian Water continued to look at Yang Youbao who was lying on the side.
"Take 500 infantrymen and quickly go around to the southeast of Hill 330, and launch a feint attack on the hilltop along the edge of the road!"
"Yes!"
Yang Youbao nodded quickly and followed the direction of Big Eyes in Debt.
Retreating to the back of the reverse slope, Edge Water took advantage of the faint light and glanced at the time on the VM screen.
It is now Alliance time [20:15].
Fifteen minutes.
Those "little guys" should have rested well.
He tapped the earphone with his index finger, switched the communication system to the general channel, and said in a low voice.
"Attention, teams, the operation will start in ten minutes!"
Without a trace of fear, he was responded to by eager answers.
"Received!"
...
[20:22]
It was still quiet around Hill 330.
Glancing at the engineers working on the hillside, Yot, who was patrolling the position, breathed a sigh of relief and turned off the flashlight in his hand.
It was already this time, and there was still no movement.
It seemed that the Alliance was planning to postpone the operation to the second half of the night.
Thinking of this, Yot, who was relaxed, couldn't help but feel a little irritated. It seemed that he couldn't sleep well tonight.
The adjutant who was following Yot was silent for a long time, and finally couldn't help asking.
"I don't understand. Since General Griffin has determined that the Alliance will definitely launch an attack tonight and send airborne troops... why don't we send planes to intercept them directly?"
Yote said casually.
"Our planes are already on standby, but the Alliance's planes are a bit strange. It is difficult for ordinary airborne radars to detect them."
This is what Commander Simond told him.
In fact, he could have guessed it even if he didn't say it.
The several bombed anti-aircraft artillery positions in the 40th defense zone were not discovered by radar until the enemy aircraft approached the visual range.
From this perspective, it is indeed possible for the Alliance to throw the airborne troops under their noses under the cover of night.
Even if the cruising speed of the "Saber" fighter is fast, it is unlikely to destroy those transport planes at the moment of discovering them and before those airborne soldiers parachute.
Looking at the worried adjutant, Yot patted him on the shoulder and said comfortingly.
"Don't worry, General Soft has sent his direct 1,000-man team here. Even if the Alliance really throws paratroopers in our faces, we can kill them halfway up the mountain like slapping a mosquito—"
Before he finished speaking, the quiet night was suddenly broken by a "pop" of gunfire.
The lights on the hillside shook violently, and an engineer who was digging a pit was shot and fell to the ground. The engineer next to him quickly turned off the flashlight in his hand and lay down.
However, their actions were still half a beat slower.
In less than half a second, dense gunfire rang out like firecrackers on the southeast side of Hill 330. The engineer team that was burying explosives suffered heavy casualties in an instant, and only weak wailing was left on the hillside.
"Enemy attack!"
Yot, who came to his senses, roared and quickly rushed to the nearest bunker. Almost at the same time, the piercing alarm sounded throughout the entire No. 330 position.
"It's actually the southeast direction!"
Looking at the southeast position through the small window of the observation post, Simond's expression changed slightly.
However, this does not mean that his judgment is wrong.
Even if they landed behind the hill on the southwest side, those people could go around to their southeast side along the reverse slope and launch an attack.
Perhaps it was the sight of the flat anti-aircraft gun that made them change their mind...
Without any hesitation, Simond decisively picked up the walkie-talkie and ordered.
"The 1st Support Squadron fires flares!"
At the same time as the order was issued, the mortar soldiers directly under the 1,000-man team had quickly arrived at the combat position.
With a few crisp bangs, dozens of flares rose into the sky, lighting up all the hills around Hill 330.
I saw a line of people lying on the hill on the southeast side. They dug simple foxholes and were firing light machine guns and rifles at Hill 330.
The distance between the two sides was less than 500 meters.
At the same time, the two 100-man teams took advantage of the cover of night and had already reached the foot of the mountain on the east and south sides of Hill 330, and had fierce exchanges of fire with nearby sentries and several teams that rushed to the road to support the engineers.
Looking at the flickering fire on the hills not far away and at the foot of the mountain, Simond's brows were furrowed.
Two groups of support, two groups of invasion, clear division of labor, tacit cooperation... It is indeed worthy of the name of elite. And with this firepower density, there must be at least four 100-man teams!
Maybe five!
If I hadn't come here, Hill 330 might have fallen into the hands of the Alliance!
Simond's mouth curled up a sneer.
These barbarians probably never thought that they were facing not the support squadron of only a hundred people seen during the day, but the strongest trump card of the 40,000-man team - the direct 1,000-man team!
Picking up the intercom, Simond ordered in a cold voice.
"Attention, all units. The unit in front of us is the rumored most elite trump card of the alliance - the Burning Corps."
"It was these cockroaches who humiliated our air force brothers and stole the Heart of Steel."
"The group of softies in the Air Marine Corps gave them confidence, but this time they obviously picked the wrong opponent!"
"Hit them hard!"
"Tell them what a real trump card is!"
...
The 40,000-man Corps Headquarters.
Upon hearing the news that the 330th position was attacked, General Soft, who was greeting Griffin's mother a second ago, broke out in a cold sweat.
The 330th highland is only 17 kilometers away from here!
He certainly knew what it would mean to him if he lost the place after looking at the map for so long.
Not only will the command post be exposed to the firepower projection range of the alliance, but the four thousand-man teams returning for support will also face the encirclement and suppression of the alliance armored forces and supporting artillery in turn.
The 40,000th Corps may only be left with a number in the end...
"These beasts... have a very deep mind! Haha, go eat shit!"
Take out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and Soft stared at the strategic map on the table, feeling both fear and excitement.
Unexpectedly, the Alliance dared to throw the airborne troops without gaining air superiority, and threw out the trump card at the first move, which really surprised him.
His judgment before was too absolute, and a limiting condition should be added before "absolutely impossible" - "if the commander of the Alliance is not a gambler".
But fortunately, he is a person who listens to advice and executes General Griffin's order, otherwise he really capsized in the gutter.
Soft couldn't help but exclaim.
"General Griffin is really as good as a god!"
Secretly taking a look at his immediate superior, the adjutant standing beside him silently chose to shut up.
I don't know who it was, but after hanging up the phone, he greeted General Griffin's family warmly...
Finally calming his pounding heart, Soft looked at his adjutant and gave an order in an excited voice.
"Call Simond! Tell him that air support is on the way, and tell him to wipe out the elite of the alliance at the foot of Hill 330 at all costs!"
"If we win this battle, the balance of victory will be in our hands!"
The adjutant immediately stood up and saluted.
"Yes!"
...
On the other side, the Legion's headquarters at Oasis No. 3.
Sitting in the command account, General Griffin was concentrating on the radio on the table.
After the buzzing busy tone, the pilot's voice came.
"...This is 'Saber-1', no enemy aircraft has been found in the target airspace."
Hearing the unexpected reply, Griffin frowned slightly.
"Have they withdrawn?"
The staff officer standing by was also lost in thought, and spoke after a moment.
"This speed is too fast."
According to General Griffin's deployment, the Alliance's airborne troops were directly under the 40,000th Brigade, and the "Saber" fighters were responsible for destroying the Alliance Air Force that covered the airborne troops.
However, unexpectedly, the Alliance did not send aircraft to support the airborne troops attacking Hill 330, and seemed to intend to leave the entire hill to the infantry.
Not only that, they didn't even see the transport planes that delivered those infantry, and the flapping-wing aircraft that attacked the air defense position of the No. 40 defense zone before seemed to have disappeared.
"Did they guess it?" Griffin's heart moved slightly, but he quickly rejected this possibility.
If the Alliance knew that they were ready to deal with it, they would not throw the airborne troops to the No. 330 position at all.
Could it be...
The Alliance actually didn't expect the 40,000th Corps to send additional personnel to Hill 330, but was betting that the Corps had no idea that they would use the same trick to send airborne troops to attack, so they simply left Hill 330 completely to the infantry.
A moment of confusion flashed across those pupils full of wisdom, and Griffin was stunned for a few seconds.
This possibility is not impossible.
But based on their previous performance...
They shouldn't suddenly make a fool of themselves.
Underestimating the opponent is a taboo. Griffin's brows tightened, his eyes fixed on the map, and his mind quickly thought of countless possibilities.
At this time, the staff officer standing by reminded him.
"Further south is the radar search area of the Iron Heart... Our planes can't go any further."
The Iron Heart's anti-aircraft guns are very ineffective against supersonic aircraft, and it is basically difficult to hit them above Mach 3.
However, under the harassment of anti-aircraft guns, their planes can't play any particularly big role.
Griffin nodded, looked at the signalman and gave an order.
"Let Sabre provide a round of fire support for the defenders of Hill 330, and then immediately return to the front-line airport to wait."
"In addition, let the Falcon Kingdom's First Air Squadron take off and replace Sabre to provide close-range support for Hill 330!"
The signalman stood at attention and saluted.
"Yes!"
...
"Pu——!"
The hill on the southeast side of Hill 330.
The whistling rain of bullets bit the ground almost at the same time as the roar of the machine gun, and instantly splashed pieces of boiling dust and broken limbs.
The sudden air strike silenced the alliance's position for two seconds.
Although the gunshots continued to sound soon, they obviously lost the momentum as before and began to become much more cautious.
Obviously, the airstrike caused them a lot of casualties.
Without the cover of the rear firepower, the two hundred-man teams that were attacking immediately fell into a dangerous situation.
Simond, who was in command, did not miss this opportunity. He immediately pulled out a hundred-man team from other defense zones and transferred it to the east intersection, intending to go down the mountain to outflank the rear of the alliance's invading forces and annihilate the two hundred-man teams of the alliance that were nailed on the hillside in one fell swoop!
Although he had the advantage at the moment, Simond knew very well that his soldiers did not have much ammunition. If he could not fight quickly in a short time, the two sides would soon fall into a stalemate.
"Haha! Well done!" Watching the fighter planes whizzing past his head and leaving, Yot waved his fist excitedly.
The adjutant standing next to him was also very happy.
The alliance was probably stunned at this moment.
They would never dream that there would be more than a thousand people on the hilltop where there was only one hundred-man team during the day.
Only 500 people wanted to rush to their position.
What a daydream!
However, at this moment, on the hill on the southwest side, a black shadow suddenly appeared behind the swaying sea buckthorn grass and rushed down the hill at a very fast speed.
Yot, who was squatting in the observation post watching the battle, vaguely saw something, but did not take it too seriously at first.
After all, the speed of that thing was too fast, so fast that it was not like a human being.
Until the sentry standing guard on the southwest side of the position also found something wrong, he immediately chased the shadows and shone the searchlight to the foot of the southwest side of the highland...
I saw a creepy claw and a tail covered with scaly armor, emitting a cold light under the illumination of the searchlight.
When the eyes met those amber pupils, Yot's eyes were absent for a moment, and the smug expression froze on his face.
The feeling of being targeted by a predator made him feel stiff all over as if his blood vessels were frozen and his feet were filled with lead.
Even though he was hundreds of meters away and was looking down from a high place, he could not feel the slightest bit of security.
"Death Claw..."
It was actually the Death Claw!
But this was Luoxia Province, how could there be such a thing? !