After capturing the southern entrance to the fortress, Armin discovered that the entire outer area of the fortress had been reduced to ruins during the previous siege.
Although many outer outposts are still intact, the soldiers guarding the outposts are missing. According to statistics, there are about 190,000 surviving residents of the fortress, of which less than 50,000 are able to pick up guns and have certain combat capabilities.
Armin then met with the lord of Explorer Fortress No. 6 and informed him of the subsequent evacuation plan, but it was obvious that the enemy would not give up the attack plan, because signs of the enemy's build-up had been observed from the high-altitude sentry tower.
Its scale is even much 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 chip.
Naturally, Armin would not sit still and wait for death. The mission briefing clearly stated that they should stay in place until everyone evacuated and call for reinforcements if necessary.
He then took over command of the fortress and began arranging the work of mortal troops capable of combat, scouting the terrain and picking up heavy weapons from abandoned enemy positions.
And he established his headquarters on the Stargazer Tower, the second tallest in the fortress, so that he could observe the terrain at any time and build appropriate defenses.
He personally prefers layered defense. Fortress No. 6 was established nearly four hundred years ago. The area where the colonists lived in the first two hundred years was called the old city. The area that subsequently expanded with the increase in population was called the new city.
The new city is three times the size of the old city. The outer defensive circle includes the entire new city area, while the inner defensive circle is only concentrated in the old city.
"Currently, our existing strength can only hold half of the outer circle."
The non-commissioned officers of the 10th Company gathered in a circle and used rough maps to divide the defense zones.
"Naturally, we will direct our defense deployment to the south, because the enemy will most likely use the most direct approach - at least initially."
Armin used his dagger to point at the newly recaptured southern entrance on the map.
"Laser cannons and heavy logging guns are deployed here, here and on the roof here."
Then he pointed to a series of buildings on the outer edge of the area, thus achieving a fire blockade on the main attack direction.
"The primary task of the laser cannon is to destroy as many vehicles as possible and suppress the enemy's counterattack. At least five thousand people will be arranged in a large arc formation to cover all routes entering from the south, and a small team must be left behind for rapid reinforcement at any time.
weakness."
Then he stopped and studied the map thoughtfully.
"As the battle continues, we can expect them to conduct probing attacks on our flanks, looking for less heavily defended areas. We must remain flexible and ready to adjust our troop deployments and fall back to the interior lines if necessary."
"Then why don't we just retreat to the inside?"
The speaker was Hao Mo.
Armin shook his head and replied softly:
"Because our mission is to cover the evacuation of residents, and now-"
He looked up and looked out the window. Several floating barges were taking off precariously.
"Five ships at a time can only carry 3,000 people. It takes at least 2 hours to go back and forth. We can only evacuate 30,000 people in 10 hours. Let's assume that there are only 180,000 people here. We have to hold on for at least 60 hours. If it is easy
If we give up the outer area that is not easy to defend, then we may hardly have 60 hours."
"Availability is also an issue."
Robin then pointed out something he had been thinking about for a long time.
"After a day of fierce fighting, the soldiers have very little ammunition 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 also have many advantages in other aspects. First of all, we have orbital advantage, so the enemy cannot use their heavy weapons to deal with us without risking being bombed from orbit, so they cannot use long-range weapons to deal with us."
Artillery bombing us, on the contrary, in order to avoid orbital strikes, they have to go deep into the battle line to clear us, which makes their operations more difficult. Second, if there is some problem with our ammunition supply, then the enemy's problem will only be bigger, they are on this planet
"Isolated and helpless, Attica has been plowed through by orbital bombardments and cannot provide them with any material support."
He gave all the non-commissioned officers a firm look.
"This is not going to be a protracted siege. The enemy only has the resources to sustain a fierce battle for a day or two, and then either we evacuate all the residents, or they run out of ammunition and retreat."
"clear!"
Afterwards, everyone started busy preparations.
An hour passed and the atmosphere became tense. As time went on, the sounds of small transport planes and floating barges descending through the cloudy sky became more frequent.
At about 8 o'clock in the morning the next day, everyone heard a faint crackle of small arms fire from somewhere in the distance.
The Astartes wondered if any Sentinels had managed to survive and put up a desperate resistance.
However, the sounds of the battle gradually died down within minutes, and an unsettling silence fell again.
Four hours after dawn, the roar of engines in the sky headed north, and observers reported that a small convoy of armored personnel carriers was heading toward the northern perimeter at high speed, only to be destroyed by Thunderhawks and Storm Ravens.
But Armin knew that the enemy had an extensive transportation network underground and did not entirely need to rely on ground activities.
Sure enough, not long after, the observers received information from the other end of the command network that a large number of armored vehicles were coming from the south. They appeared without warning, and they obviously appeared from an underground passage.
Armin responded calmly and ordered all mortal troops to prepare their weapons.
Twenty minutes later, the rumble of the armored column echoed across the ground. The rumble got closer and closer as time passed, and billowing exhaust gas drifted southward from the middle of the cabin.
Then, the gunners facing the enemy's advance began to shout out what they saw: three rows of simple tanks and armored personnel carriers converted from tractors.
Armin accepted the news calmly.
"For artillery positions, give priority to targeting tanks and wait for the enemy to enter the effective killing range before firing."
As the armored column approached rapidly, laser cannons and automatic cannons opened fire almost simultaneously. Bright red beams shot down from the narrow road and hit the vehicle head-on.
One of the tanks exploded directly, another lost a track and stopped, and the third tank continued to move forward with a scratch on the side of the turret.
Then, its main gun raised and fired a high-explosive shell.
The shell flew across the position and struck a statue on the north side of the area.
The artillerymen continued to fire, firing beam after beam and ammunition after ammunition at the tanks. With the Astartes behind them, everyone's morale was very high.