After capturing the southern entrance to the fortress, Armin discovered that the entire outer area of ​​the fortress had turned into ruins during the previous siege.
Although many peripheral posts are still intact, the soldiers guarding the posts are missing. After statistics, there are about 190,000 surviving residents of the fortress, of which less than 50,000 can pick up guns and have certain combat capabilities.
Armin then met with the lord of Explorer Fortress No. 6 and informed of the subsequent evacuation plan, but it was obvious that the enemy would not give up the attack plan, because the high-level sentry tower had observed signs of the enemy's assemblage.
Its scale is even far larger than the previous attacks.
There is no doubt that the Black Legion has figured out the number of Imperial reinforcements and plans to increase its bargaining chips.
Naturally, Armin would not sit still and wait for death. The mission briefing was very clear. They had to stay where they were until everyone evacuated and call for reinforcements if necessary.
He then took over the command of the fortress and began to arrange the work of mortal troops who could fight, reconnaissance the terrain, and pick up heavy weapons from abandoned enemy positions.
He built the command center on the second tallest stargazer tower in the fortress, so that he could observe the terrain at any time and establish appropriate fortifications.
He personally tends to layered defense. Fortress No. 6 was established for nearly four hundred years. In the first two hundred years, the area where the colonists lived was called the old city area. The subsequent expansion with the increase of population was called the new city area. The new city area was three times larger than the old city area. The outer defense circle included the entire new city area, while the inner defense circle was only concentrated in the old city area of ​​the fortress.
"At present, our existing strength can only hold half of the outer circle."
The non-commissioned officers from the 10th Company formed a circle and divided the defense zones with a rough map.
"It's natural that we will point our defense deployment to the south, because the enemy will most likely use the most direct method - at least in the beginning."
Armin used his dagger to point to the newly recaptured southern entrance on the map.
"Laser cannons and re-logging guns are arranged here, here and here on the roof."
Then he pointed to a series of buildings on the outer edge of the area, thus achieving a firepower blockade in the main attack direction.
"The primary task of laser cannons is to destroy as many vehicles as possible and suppress the enemy's counterattack. At least five thousand men will be arranged in a large arc formation that will cover all routes entering from the south, and a team must be left to quickly reinforce the weak links at any time."
Then he stopped and studied the map thoughtfully.
"As the battle continues, it is expected that they will be tentative offensives on our flanks, looking for areas with less tight defense, and we must remain flexible and ready to adjust our troops and retreat to the inside if necessary."
"Then why don't we retreat directly to the inside?"
The one who spoke was Haumo.
Armin shook his head and replied softly:
“Because our mission is to cover the evacuation of residents, and now—”
He looked up at the window and several floating barges were shaking off.
"Five ships can only carry 3,000 people at a time. It takes at least 2 hours to go back and forth. In 10 hours, we can only evacuate 30,000 people. For a moment, there are only 180,000 people here. We have to stick to at least 60 hours. If we give up the peripheral area that is not easy to defend, then it will be difficult for us to have 60 hours."
“Availability is also a problem.”
Robin then pointed out something he had thought about for a long time.
"After a day of fierce fighting, the warriors had little ammunition reserve left. When will the airdrop support arrive?"
"The airdrop will arrive in about two hours."
Armin then raised a hand.
"And don't be so pessimistic. We have many advantages in other aspects. First, we have orbital advantages, so the enemy cannot take out their heavy weapons against us without risking being bombed by orbit, so they cannot bomb us with long-range artillery. On the contrary, in order to avoid orbital strikes, they must go deep into the front to clean us, which makes their operations more difficult. Second, if there is something wrong with our ammunition supply, the enemy's problems will only be greater. They are isolated on this planet, and Attica has been plowed by orbital bombing and cannot provide them with any material support."
He glanced firmly at all the non-commissioned officers.
"It won't be a protracted siege, the enemy has only the resources to maintain a fierce battle for a day or two, and then either we evacuate all the residents, or they retreat inadequately with ammunition."
"clear!"
Then, everyone started to prepare for it.
An hour passed and the atmosphere began to get tense, and over time, the sound of small transport aircraft and floating barges falling through cloudy days became more and more frequent.
At around 8 o'clock the next morning, everyone heard a faint crackling sound of light weapons shooting somewhere in the distance.
The Astartes didn't know if there were sentries who managed to survive and resist desperately.
However, the sound of the battle gradually faded in a few minutes, and the unsettling silence once again came.
Four hours after dawn, the engines in the sky roared northward, and observers reported that a small convoy of armored personnel carriers was heading towards the northern perimeter at high speed, but was then destroyed by Thunderhawks and Storm Crows.
But Alson knew that the enemy had a well-connected transportation network underground and did not completely rely on ground activities.
Sure enough, not long after, the observers came from the other end of the command network, and a large number of armored vehicles were coming from the south, and they appeared without warning, obviously from an underground passage.
Armin responded calmly and ordered all mortal troops to prepare their weapons.
Twenty minutes later, the rumbling of the armored column echoed on the ground, and the roar became closer and closer with the passage of time, and the rolling exhaust gas drifted south from the middle of the cabin.
Then, the gunners facing the enemy's advance began to shout out the scene they saw: three simple tanks and armored personnel carriers converted into tractors.
Armin accepted the news calmly.
"Article positions, give priority to aim at tanks, wait for the enemy to enter the effective killing distance before firing the artillery."
As the armored column approached quickly, the laser cannon and the automatic cannon fired almost simultaneously, and a bright red beam of light shot down from the narrow road and hit the vehicle head-on.
One of them exploded directly, the other lost one track and stopped, the third tank continued to advance, with a scratch on one side of the turret.
Subsequently, its main gun was raised and a high-explosive shell was fired.
The shells flew over the position and crashed into a statue on the north side of the area.
The artillery continued to fire, firing beams of light and rounds of ammunition at the tanks. With Astart behind them, everyone's morale was very high.
Chapter completed!