She tore off her shoulder boards, removed her collar patches, and ripped the military insignia from her upper arm as well.
Then she turned around and headed north all the way...
......
Introduction:
Empire Type V Tank: Combat weight 62 tons.
Armor: Frontal hull armor 120 millimeters, 55-degree inclination, wedge-shaped. Frontal turret armor 200 millimeters, 10-degree inclination, single-slab sloped armor. Hull side and rear armor are entirely 60 millimeters at a 10-degree inclination. Turret side and rear armor are entirely 90 millimeters at a 10-degree inclination.
Armament: Main gun is a 100mm L/60 tank gun. One coaxial 7.92mm general-purpose machine gun. The roof features an armored commander's cupola housing a 13mm heavy machine gun. The front right side of the hull is equipped with a 7.92mm general-purpose machine gun.
Powerplant: 900-horsepower diesel engine, 8 forward gears, 4 reverse gears, equipped with dual-radius steering. Maximum road speed 50 kilometers per hour, maximum off-road speed 20-35 kilometers per hour.
Exterior reference: Pzkw. VIB "King Tiger" H tank.
Empire Type IV Tank: Combat weight 41 tons.
Exterior and armor completely referenced from the Pzkw. V "Panther" G medium tank.
The hull was downsized to reduce weight and production time.
The interior weapon system is identical to the original Panther G, except the roof-mounted 7.92mm general-purpose machine gun was replaced with a 13mm heavy machine gun.
The engine was upgraded from the original Panther G's 650-horsepower gasoline engine to a 700-horsepower diesel engine, the transmission added 3 reverse gears, road speed 55 kilometers per hour, off-road speed 35-40 kilometers per hour. (Finally, I don't have to endure that -4 reverse gear.)
Empire Type III Tank: Combat weight 32 tons.
The overall vehicle styling references the T-34-76, but with a shortened engine compartment.
Armor: Frontal hull armor is 50-millimeter wedge-shaped armor at a 45-degree inclination. Sides and rear are entirely 40-millimeter armor. Frontal turret armor is 60-millimeter vertical armor. Turret sides and rear are 40-millimeter curved armor.
Armament: One 75mm L/40 main gun, one 7.92mm coaxial general-purpose machine gun, one 7.92mm hull machine gun.
Powerplant: 550-horsepower diesel engine, 6 forward gears, 2 reverse gears, no dual-radius steering, road speed 60 kilometers per hour, off-road speed 40-50 kilometers per hour.
Empire Type II Tank: Combat weight 22 tons.
Armor: Hull is entirely 13-millimeter sloped armor, capable of effectively withstanding 13mm heavy machine gun armor-piercing rounds strafing from the front at a distance of 100 meters. Frontal turret armor 25 millimeters, gun mantlet 50 millimeters, the rest 13 millimeters.
Armament: Equipped with a 75mm L/50 main gun, fitted with a complex muzzle brake. An all-directional 13mm heavy machine gun mounted on the roof.
Powerplant: A 700-horsepower diesel engine equipped with dual-radius steering, 10 forward gears, 6 reverse gears. Road speed 80 kilometers per hour, off-road speed 60-70 kilometers per hour.
The rear of the hull is also equipped with a high-power radio and a small anti-aircraft radar with performance limited to "barely functional."
Exterior and configuration can be referenced from the M18 "Hellcat." Its role is a multi-role reconnaissance and fire support vehicle.
Empire Type I Tank: Combat weight 14 tons.
Armor: Hull armor is entirely 30-millimeter vertical armor, making it look like a square box. A total of two turrets, one high and one low. The low turret is circular with an armor thickness of 40 millimeters. The high turret is also circular with an armor thickness of 40 millimeters.
Armament: The main turret is equipped with a 37mm L/40 rapid-fire cannon, and the secondary turret is equipped with a 13mm heavy machine gun.
Powerplant: Equipped with a 300-horsepower diesel engine, lacking dual-radius steering, 6 forward gears, 2 reverse gears. Road speed 40 kilometers per hour, off-road speed around 30 kilometers per hour.
Exterior and configuration can be referenced from the Type 95 heavy tank. Its purpose is to support mechanized infantry advance.
The above are the current main battle tanks of the Germanania Empire. Other special ground combat armored units remain to be introduced in the future,
such as self-propelled artillery, tank destroyers, and multiple rocket launchers.
The next day, late at night.
Beside one of the Germanania frontline artillery positions, a dozen people were lying flat in the grass, observing the Germanania artillerymen handling ammunition.
This was an artillery unit that had just deployed its guns and was preparing for a barrage.
They happened to run right into a fire team trying to take a detour.
The deployment of this artillery unit also proved that the strategic deployment of Germanania had not changed; they still planned to launch a general offensive the following morning at dawn.
"We have two days of rations left. If we keep taking detours like this, we'll all starve to death before we even break out of enemy lines.
The intelligence provided earlier by the air force is completely unreliable; many guard posts and encampments weren't marked at all.
It's utterly impossible to escape relying on the defensive deployment map we currently have...
However, this artillery unit should have the deployment map for this vicinity..."
Lieutenant Hoffmann trailed off and stopped there.
After a day and a night of rushing about, the mental state of most squad members was abysmal.
If they kept wearing themselves out against the Germanania army like this, they would be done for sooner rather than later.
Everyone knew clearly in their hearts that there were only two choices now.
First choice: Continue with the original plan, find the deployment map at this artillery position, break through the front lines, and then bypass the enemy-occupied zone to travel toward the front lines between the Soviet and Germanania, attempting to rendezvous with the Soviet counter-offensive forces from there.
Second choice: Surrender, provide the defensive deployment intelligence of the Southern United Front, fight for better treatment as prisoners of war, or simply act as guides.
As for breaking through in the reverse direction to approach the United Front frontline troops, that was out of the question. Once Germanania launched its general offensive, the United Front's first line of defense would be doing well to hold out for half a day, and would completely collapse within two days, leaving no chance at all.
(For combat capability, please benchmark against the performance of Great Britain, almost lacking Ireland, and not much of a United Kingdom in the French theater of World War II.)
Because of Lieutenant Hoffmann's presence, the road of surrender was definitely out of the question; the lieutenant held an intense, bone-deep hatred for these initiators of the war.
Now the squad members could only consider how to acquire the deployment map with zero casualties...
"Raise your hand if you're willing to go raise hell at their command post with me!"
All 12 people present raised their hands.
"I will provide fire cover for you."
Violet shouldered her anti-tank rifle.
During assault operations, the existence of a sniper is extremely important. In reality, any position might harbor hidden sentries, concealed bunkers, or even hidden artillery units. A sniper's task is to immediately pick off these hidden fire points once they open fire, in order to prevent them from inflicting casualties on the advancing troops.
"Schuetz, you stay behind too. Don't even think about charging with that battered rifle."
Schuetz nodded and began inspecting his rifle, which had been fitted with a telescopic sight.
The rest of the men checked their submachine guns if they had them, or drew their pistols to check for malfunctions if they didn't.
"Dreylman, Fritz, Gordon, Ramsay, Karl, you five infiltrate from the northwest direction. Dreylman will take command.
Schuetz will be responsible for your fire support."
Lieutenant Hoffmann pointed out half the men.
"Sir!"
"The rest of you infiltrate with me from the northeast direction, with Violet providing fire support."
Hoffmann paused slightly.
"Remember this: under no circumstances let the enemy know we came for the deployment map!
Do you all understand?!"
"Understood!"
The southern 160-degree sector of the artillery position was where the artillery pieces were deployed.
Currently, most of the Germanania artillerymen were adjusting the guns and fitting fuses to the shells, preparing for the first wave of artillery barrages to be launched at dawn.
The northwest direction of the artillery position was an open area covered in waist-high weeds.
Directly to the north was the ammunition stockpile.
The open ground was piled high with wooden crates reaching half a person's height, each crate packed with a large number of high-explosive shells, smoke shells, and air-burst shrapnel.
The northeast corner of the position was where towing vehicles and transport trucks were parked.
Dozens of trucks and kettenkrads were parked quietly along both sides of a dirt road.
Two Germanania sentries were sitting on several empty oil drums, drinking coffee while playing a game of guessing fingers.
They looked terribly bored.
"Hans, did you put sugar in when you brewed the coffee?"
The sentry on the right took a sip of coffee and looked with mild disgust at the other person sitting opposite him.
"I like sweet coffee, so I put quite a bit of sugar in when I brewed it."
Hans also took a sip and smiled at the person across from him.
"Oh, damn it, Hans, the coffee you brew tastes awful."
The man made a wry face.
"If you think it tastes bad, go brew it yourself next time!"
While chatting, the two of them were completely unaware of the abnormalities around them.
In the dark of night, several stealthy heads poked out from behind a kettenkrad, observed the situation for a moment, and then ducked back down.
After a brief moment, several figures emerged from behind different vehicles, moved quickly forward, and concealed themselves behind other vehicles.
Poking their heads out stealthily once more, they searched for the next cover.
The two derelict sentries just kept drinking their sweet coffee, chatting, and even pulled out a deck of playing cards to start a game.
Lieutenant Hoffmann led several men and slipped quite easily into the vicinity of the temporary artillery command post.
Along the way, they ran into two shifts of sentries, and both were slacking off...
Uh... perhaps it was because the United Front was too weak that they let their guard down completely?
The infiltration on the other side went just as smoothly; the sentries were either slacking off or dozing away. Along the way, they encountered quite a few busy Germanania soldiers rushing about, none of whom noticed them.
How should I put it... StarCraft players are forbidden from enlisting!
They had thought that such laxity was already the absolute limit, but!
When both infiltration squads reached the temporary command post, both teams were dumbfounded.
Wait, where are the people?
There wasn't a single soul in the entire temporary command post, and there was even a cup of hot coffee sitting on the table.
The deployment map, mission documents, communication call signs, and the like were just laid out openly on the desk...
Although bewildered, these guys' hands didn't stop moving.
Sweeping through everything like a storm, they quickly gathered up all documents favorable to their escape and rapidly withdrew.
Before leaving, they didn't forget to knock over the oil lamp, setting the wooden table ablaze.
Just like that, the entire infiltration encountered no obstacles whatsoever—in and out fast, grab and run.
"Lieutenant, isn't this a bit too simple..."
Dreylman looked down at the detailed deployment map in his hand and fell into deep thought...
Lieutenant Hoffmann was equally baffled.
What on earth is going on here?
How could it be this easy?!
The squad members were also dizzy with disbelief. They had all prepared themselves to make the ultimate sacrifice to cover the rear, and yet... this was it?
"Let's move out, make good use of our time."
Lieutenant Hoffmann decided that if he couldn't figure it out, he would stop thinking about it.
Violet also appeared before the rest of the squad at that moment, carrying her anti-tank rifle on her back.
"Where's Schuetz?"
Dreylman noticed the absence of Schuetz.
Gordon felt a sudden sinking feeling in his chest.
Violet immediately realized that something must have happened to Schuetz.
"I'll go take a look."
With those words, Violet vanished back into the tall grass.
"Everyone stay alert, deploy into a defensive formation right here."
Violet moved rapidly across the top of the grass, looking as though she were flying along the tips of the blades.
In reality, she was indeed flying along the grass tips, as Zhurong was using psychokinesis to levitate and propel her forward.
"There are only a few dozen pull-pin landmines scattered around the entire artillery position. Could we have stumbled onto them by sheer luck?"
Zhurong voiced his hypothesis.
"Most likely..."
Zhurong had spotted a pull-pin landmine long before, back when Violet was searching for her sniper perch.
After marking two landmines relatively close to Violet, Zhurong searched the surrounding area again and found a total of only 8 mines.
Judging by this density, the outer perimeter of the entire artillery position should only have a few dozen mines, and they were laid out very sparsely.
When Violet arrived, Schuetz was maintaining a semi-kneeling posture, his face looking extremely grim.
"Don't come over. There's a landmine right beneath my knee."
Violet immediately halted ten paces away.
"Let me take a look."
Violet produced a small shovel from goodness knows where and began digging up the dirt beside the landmine. (Taken out by Zhurong.)
Soon, the landmine was exposed.