Chapter 954: Veterans illuminate the path forward for rookies
The heavily armored warriors who appeared this time were definitely not as quick and powerful as the first ones who appeared.
This incident undoubtedly reminded P5092 again that the enemy he was facing was extremely cunning and cautious in terms of tactics and strategies.
The incident back when the Pyro Company was lured north and nearly got wiped out was still fresh in his mind. P5092 said to a staff officer, “Tell the 2nd Regiment’s commander to keep the remaining thermobaric bombs for now. I’ll have the 4th Regiment use mortars to slow down the expeditionary army’s attacks for the time being.”
The staff officer left to carry out the order. w.a.n.g Yun said, “Although those heavily armored warriors can’t be compared to the ones back then, they’re still considerably strong, being somewhere between the elites and the average soldier. This expeditionary army is really ruthless. They’re actually trading lives to probe our defense.”
“We’ll just have to counter whatever they throw at us. Since it isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with them, I’m not too worried about it,” P5092 said.
“Then what are you worried about?” w.a.n.g Yun asked.
“I’m worried that something will happen to the weapons we’re depending on,” P5092 said.
w.a.n.g Yun was taken aback. “Are you saying there’s a problem with the weapons supplied by the w.a.n.g Consortium?”
“No.” P5092 said, “You’ve checked them as well. They’re fine. I’m referring to the lifespan of the HMGs and the lack of ammo.”
Humans had a lifespan, and so did guns. Someone once tried to continuously fire an automatic rifle to see what would happen.
In the end, the barrel of the automatic rifle slowly turned red hot before melting.
This was the situation they were facing. As the expeditionary army was attacking too aggressively, there was no time to cool the guns at many of the 6th Combat Brigade’s positions.
Since the water from the spring was limited, it could not be used to cool the gun barrels. As such, the only way would be to have the soldiers pee on them. However, they would also run out of urine eventually.
Moreover, it was not only a matter of whether the gun barrels could withstand high-intensity battles. If any of the heavy machine guns were to malfunction, it might cause a certain position to crumble.
In war, all kinds of accidents could happen. Just like how people would fall sick, sophisticated machines would break down.
And the ammunition the 6th Combat Brigade had might not last very long. There were simply too many enemies.
At Position 2’s Guangfu Road, a veteran was firing a heavy machine gun in bursts at the barbarians. As the machine gun spat out a barrage of fire, bra.s.s sh.e.l.ls were constantly ejected out of the chamber.
Clinks rang as the numerous sh.e.l.ls dropped to the ground and acc.u.mulated and collided with each other.
“Reload!” Seeing that the machine gun was about to run out of ammo, the veteran called his a.s.sistant over to reload.
The recruit ran over with a box containing the ammo belt. He opened the cover on top of the machine gun and inserted the first round of the ammo belt into it.
Everything was proceeding very smoothly, but when he wanted to close the cover, he realized he could not!
The veteran shouted, “What’s the matter? The barbarians are almost in front of us!”
The recruit was nearly in tears. “I don’t know! I can’t seem to close the cover!”
The veteran took a close look and knew it was not due to the recruit being clumsy, but that the front section of the ammo belt was not aligned properly, resulting in the cover failing to close. They would have to readjust the ammo belt before loading it again.
Ammo belts were invented to provide more ammo for heavy machine guns with a high rate of fire. They were more practical than having to reload from magazines and ammo drums.
However, the ammo belt also had its own flaws, which was that its loading speed was far slower than that of a magazine and ammo drum.
Of course, this was caused by their own carelessness. Soldiers were supposed to check that everything was proper before heading into battle, and such mistakes were not allowed.
The veteran did not say anything further. He drew a dagger from his belt and started to fix the ammo belt. But there was no time. The expeditionary army in front of them was only a few dozen meters away from the position.
When the barbarians heard the gunfire stop, they immediately rushed forward. They were almost running with all their might.
The veteran roared, “Covering fire! Toss grenades, fire grenade launchers!”
The soldiers around him provided suppressive fire with their automatic rifles, but the power of the automatic rifles was negligible compared to the heavy machine gun’s.
Some of the soldiers tossed their grenades at the barbarians, but when the barbarians saw that they were not far from breaking through the defensive position, they abandoned their battered s.h.i.+elds and used their powerful physical fitness to avoid the trajectory of the grenades.
The hand grenades still proved to be effective, as many of the barbarians immediately lost their combat capacity when they were hit by the blast or fragmentation from the grenades.
Moreover, this defensive line was equipped with four handheld grenade launchers. In an instant, dozens of barbarians were killed by the blasts!
However, these suppressive fire measures were still not enough to deal with the numerous barbarians rus.h.i.+ng fearlessly up to the position.
It was not that they were not deadly enough, but that the barbarians did not cower at all. When their comrades at the front died, those behind would automatically take their place and continue the charge. The barbarians were mentally prepared to sacrifice themselves to the suppressive fire.
And as long as a few sporadic barbarians managed to get close to the position, there would be a continuous stream of barbarians behind trying to force an opening from there.
The veteran finally fixed the ammo belt. However, it was too late. He could even clearly make out the facial features of the barbarians by now. They were so close he could almost hear their heavy breathing and ferocious roars.
It was over.
The veteran’s face turned ashen. He pulled the soldier beside him over. “You’re the machine gunner now!”
With that, he pulled out a strip of explosives wrapped in yellow paper from under the blind and prepared to jump out of the position.
Hand grenades alone would no longer be effective.
The recruit grabbed the veteran’s arm. “Platoon Commander, where are you going? It’s all my fault, I didn’t check it beforehand—”
The veteran slapped him. “Don’t you f.u.c.king get in my way! Learn from this! You’re now a veteran too!”
The recruit realized his platoon commander intended to sacrifice himself and block the barbarians’ path. He wanted to open up a new firing line for the machine gun position.
There was a seven-second delay for the explosives he was holding, so he could not toss them at the enemy. If the barbarians caught them and threw them back at the position, it would all be over.
The recruit suddenly remembered a conversation he had with the platoon commander a few days ago. “What’s the difference between a veteran and a recruit other than not having gone into battle or killed someone before?”
The veteran’s answer left him confused at that time. His platoon commander said, “The molars of our martyrs are buried under the copper bell at Fortress 178. They belong to the veterans who were killed in action. Do you remember the words engraved on that copper bell? ‘Life should be a candle, burning brightly from wick to end.’ The candle represents us veterans, and we’re responsible for illuminating the path forward for you rookies and also s.h.i.+ning the light home.”
It wasn’t until this moment that the recruit realized what those words meant.
The veteran propped himself up with one hand and prepared to vault over the blind.
But in the blink of an eye, the veteran suddenly saw a b.l.o.o.d.y mist erupting from two barbarians’ chests five or six meters away from him!
Snipers! The two snipers!