CHAPTER 435: CHAPTER 211: I WILL STILL STAND BEFORE YOU

When the Penetration Company suffered its first casualty, the bloody battle truly commenced.

The main force of the Beast Tide had really arrived, and the battle had entered the stage of close combat.

Attack, transfer, resupply, and attack again...

The intensity of the battle rose to unprecedented levels, and the pace was so fast that there was no room for a breather.

Of the total sorties flown by the three bombers equipped each day, over a third were used for material drops.

Even so, the supply materials on the southwestern battlefield were like a thin rope, always at risk of snapping.

Yu Qian, who had taken over the position of squad leader, hadn’t slept for 27 consecutive hours. There were so many things he didn’t understand, so many skills he needed to learn.

So even when his teammates finally seized a gap in the battle, shaking off the pursuing beasts and getting some precious rest, he still had to maintain communication with Fu Xi, constantly discussing and updating the next combat plan.

He didn’t know how much longer he could hold on.

But he did know that the battle against the Beast Tide would not end anytime soon.

Perhaps when he finally fell, someone would stand up and take his place?

The "successor," who had endured a longer period of training and learning compared to him.

By the time they take over, maybe it wouldn’t be as difficult for them as it was for him.

Thinking of this, Yu Qian even felt a bit comforted.

He took a deep breath, and his nostrils were suddenly filled with the stench of decay.

At first, he thought it was just because he hadn’t bathed in a long time.

But upon checking, he found that a piece of monster carrion had somehow ended up in his chest harness, silently rotting in the space originally meant for a magazine.

He suppressed his nausea and pulled the carrion out of his chest pocket in disgust, discarding it to the side, then wiped his hands on the damp ground.

The other team members, who were eating, saw his actions, and one purposefully made a gagging motion, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"Haha."

The first laugh sounded.

Then.

"Hahahahaha..."

The group burst into laughter.

Yu Qian awkwardly joined in with a laugh, then pretended to be stern as he said:

"Everyone check your equipment."

"Be sure to check all the nooks and crannies. If any remains of carrion are left, they might carry bacteria!"

"Understood."

The group nodded while joking, quickly moving to check each other’s unseen corners.

This scene reminded Yu Qian of the days back in the Imperial City.

In the Imperial City, many people would also sit together, checking each other’s bodies.

Except, back then, people were checking for lice.

Now, they were cleaning off the blood and flesh of enemies they had killed, which lingered on them.

"Is everyone finished checking?"

Yu Qian asked.

"Finished!"

"All done!"

The group answered one by one.

Yu Qian raised his hand and said:

"Then let’s end the rest break and move on."

"We need to get to the mobile supply point to receive the next round of supplies."

"The commander has assigned personnel to inspect our vehicles and equipment. We should have two hours of downtime there."

"That will give us a chance to catch some sleep!"

"Got it!"

With the order given, everyone immediately boarded the vehicles.

The Humvee roared loudly, its wheels spinning, splattering the blood-red mud.

This battle-proven vehicle continued to valiantly act on the battlefield, with a trail of several "shattered and ruined" monster corpses behind it...

...

On the other side, the infantry-tank cooperation team.

Huang Meng emerged from the tank, the fresh air hit him, invigorating him, but the intense smell of smoke mixed in the air almost made him choke.

"Damn!"

"Why hasn’t the smoke cleared yet?"

Huang Meng spat out some saliva, while the gunner who crawled out after him shook his head and replied:

"It’s not the smoke we fired."

"It’s the smoke emitted from the Benghu Defense Line."

"I heard the commander collected a lot of gunpowder to create smoke, paired with a few thermal imaging night-vision devices given to the artillery, it’s quite effective."

"The smoke now extends over a kilometer, and the monsters have lost their sense of attack direction, hovering around the perimeter of the Benghu Defense Line."

"We should be able to catch a breath – the tank’s condition isn’t great, we need to rush repairs."

"What’s wrong?"

Huang Meng asked, frowning.

"The auto-loader."

The gunner replied:

"It’s shaking quite heavily, feels like it’ll break at any moment."

"That’s not an issue."

Huang Meng shook his head and said:

"I’ve asked Fu Xi, the auto-loader’s vibration is a common problem in 30A tanks, it’s not a big issue."

"The damping system is the more serious problem now; the terrain is too rough, and the wear on the damping system has reached 60%."

"If we don’t replace it soon, if we break down here, we’re stuck."

"Also, two Cat cars are at their limits."

"These can’t be fixed at all, if the follow-up personnel can’t keep up, we’ll have to abandon the infantry-tank coordination tactics."

The squad leader of the third squad nearby heard what he said and quickly asked.

"Sir, where do we go?"

"I don’t know either."

Huang Meng sighed.

"First report the situation to Commander Shen and see his next arrangement."

"Our personnel is too few, consumption too high, and the battle too long."

"Now, almost every squad is at its limit."

"And the scale of the Beast Tide is still over 150 heads."