Prepare for Artillery Combat!
The fierce battle continued ahead of the Cimon’s position.
The Metal Iris tank corps and the enemy Eber-2s were exchanging intense artillery fire.
In order to their respective opponent’s flank, Metal Iris Silhouettes and armored combat vehicles clashed with the Argoforce Silhouettes and Tilpad-type Aberration Arms.
The Tilpad-types seemed capable of traversing through most terrain regular Silhouettes were capable of traversing as well. Their armor was easily penetrated, but their outstanding mobility was quite troublesome.
The earth trembled intensely, and a Fighting Bull, Metal Iris’ main MBT, was pulverized with a single blow.
「What happened?!」
The wolf-type Familiar, Utz, who was commanding the vanguard troops, shuddered in agitation.
「It was artillery bombardment from the land cruiser! An 800 mm railgun huh? Even though it’s more logical to use explosive-propelled ammunition for high-angle firing.」
Rick grinded his teeth. The Fighting Bull’s armor was by no means thin.
The destructive power of the enemy’s long-range artillery bombardment was quite formidable.
「In other words, if you get targeted, you’d be as good as dead. Understood! Always be mindful of your positions! Don’t let your guards down even if you’re located further at the back!」
Utz immediately gave out instructions to the troops under him.
「The defense line has fallen back too much. We’re now less than 30 kilometers away from the Cimon. What’s our next move, Rick? That land cruiser seems very heavily armored.」
「Hey now. Our heavy hitters aren’t just limited to railguns you know?」
Rick grinned with bravado.
「Even though the Cimon is currently immobile, it’s protected by high-dimensional projection armor powered by a high-output A-Carbuncle. It wouldn’t fall that easily.」
「Even so, we still have to do something about that land cruiser’s ultra large caliber railgun.」
Jenny pondered aloud.
It seemed that she was in contact with someone else earlier, but the transmission seemed to have ended.
「Rick, we’ll be handling that thing. Please continue to support the tank corps.」
「Thanks Jenny. Don’t worry and leave this place to me.」
「Barry, what about your end? It would be great if you guys can disrupt the enemy’s anti-aircraft for a bit. A few moments is enough.」
「I’m going in. Calculate my coordinates and fire missiles toward my position when I give the go-ahead.」
Barry advanced toward the front line with the Lanius C.
「Please don’t do anything too reckless!」
「I know!」
Before long, Barry finally arrived at the front line.
「Now then, how do I plunge in? I’m not Kou, but……」
「Commander, we’re here too you know?」
The transmission was sent by Jamie of the Assault Silhouette squadron.
「It’s gonna be really dangerous!」
「I can’t let you take risks alone, commander.」
The Assault Silhouette squadron proceeded to try and approach the enemy land cruiser by taking a flanking route. Barry also joined them.
The land cruiser let out a roar.
The round fired by its gigantic main gun directly hit the Cimon.
The Cimon’s hull violently shook.
「It’s located about 30 meters above sea level, sitting on top of a hill. The range should be about 30 kilometers.」
Barry analyzed the enemy land cruiser’s capabilities based on the gathered data.
「I’ve captured it on camera. It’s over there. I’ll send you the coordinates now!」
Even though what Barry was doing was supposed to be the job of a frontline scout unit, the Lanius was also equipped with relatively excellent sensors. That’s why it could perform such a role without any trouble.
「All troops! Make use of the Cimon as a defensive wall! We will now commence artillery combat!」
Jenny began giving out orders.
「Prepare for artillery combat. Target acquisition complete. First salvo. Hyper velocity gliding projectile, ready. Commence firing!」
The hyper velocity gliding projectile. It was a ground-to-ground missile with a scramjet engine that had a range of several hundred kilometers.
It was launched from the Cimon’s missile silo and flew at a speed nearing Mach 15. Unlike ballistic missiles, it was a missile that can move freely like a glider and reach its target directly.
「Second salvo! Indirect fire unit! Commence firing!」
The multiple missile and howitzer batteries deployed behind the Cimon commenced indirect bombardment. The projectiles drew arcs and headed straight for the land cruiser.
「Third salvo! Programmed bombardment, ready. High-speed guided projectiles, commence firing!」
Lastly, cruise missiles were fired from the Cimon’s missile silo. The cruise missiles were able to reach a higher trajectory compared to a hyper velocity gliding projectile, although they do lose out in terms of speed.
However, the projectiles were mostly intercepted by the Gespenst’s anti-aircraft batteries, plasma barrier, and escort anti-aircraft combat vehicles.
The only ones to score direct hits were the howitzers from the second salvo. Even then, they were unable to penetrate the Gespenst’s electromagnetic barrier and armor.
The land cruiser began firing back in retaliation.
Flaming explosions and dust danced in the air, and the Cimon’s hull violently shook.
However, Jenny remained unfazed. The Cimon wouldn’t be brought down that easily.
「Is this enough, Jenny?」
「More than enough.」
Jenny displayed a daring grin.
「Time for your grand entrance, Kou-kun! Aerial corps, launch immediately and assist our Big Boss!」
With those words as a signal, the Harmonia swooped down from above.
The Yoanias biding their time in the Cimon took off all at once. It was finally time for these Mach 4 heavy fighters to enter the scene.
「I’m dropping you now, Big Boss!」
「Roger that!」
The Harmonia’s pilot this time around was a Familiar. Abel moved from Fortress Area P336 to the Silhouette Base to undertake weapon design duties.
The Harmonia swooped down.
Due to the Cimon’s earlier attack, the enemy’s anti-aircraft batteries were almost exhausted of their ammo.
Therefore, they were unable to immediately respond to the Harmonia’s sudden descent.
Diving down from an altitude of 1000 meters, Unit 5 swooped downward like a bullet as it grabbed the hilt of Kogetsu.
「A large plane is swooping down from the sky!」
「Even though we’re only powered by an A-Spinel, the Gespenst’s armor is quite thick! Mere missiles wouldn’t even make a dent!」
「The warhead has– No! It’s not a missile! It’s a Silhouette!」
「What?!」
Unit 5 proceeded to emit a plasma barrier, neutralizing the anti-aircraft missiles that were fired at it. The Gespenst’s anti-aircraft countermeasures couldn’t properly respond to Unit 5 that was rapidly falling while constantly changing its trajectory.
「You’re mine!」
The instant Unit 5 drew its katana, it managed to cut off the Gespenst’s gigantic main gun.
It hadn’t slowed down. It was in free fall. And then, it immediately switched to a horizontal trajectory and rapidly pulled away from the land cruiser.
「It managed to cut the main gun with a single strike!?」
The main gun’s considerably thick barrel wasn’t supposed to be cut off so easily. It having been slashed off by a single sword stroke was akin to a nightmare for the Argoforce troops.
「Target that Silhouette! That pilot is considerably skilled!」
The order was just given out when a transmission came in.
「What is it?」
「The enemy’s large ground self-propelled explosive charges are approaching from the rear at supersonic speed in quick succession, throwing our troops into chaos.」
「How much damage have we suffered?」
「Many Silhouettes were directly run over! Only two tanks were destroyed. It seems that the explosive charges were not equipped with precision guidance systems.」
「Idiots! Just ignore those things then!」
As the Argoforce field commander bellowed, Lanius had managed to disappear into the nearby forest.
The Harmonia had already landed on the Cimon’s deck.
「Just what is with that thing’s mobility!? Is that a newly developed cutting-edge Silhouette!?」
There weren’t many Argoforce Silhouettes that could reach supersonic speeds at such a low altitude.
The earlier missile barrage was a diversion. The Argoforce field commander felt that he had been led around by the enemy.
Furthermore, the Yoania’s air raids had intensified.
These high-speed heavy fighters proved to be very troublesome opponents.
「Ours functions like an aircraft carrier as well, y’know? It’s only a given that our main force would be aerial units.」
Jenny wryly smiled.
Their impromptu operation was a resounding success.
「We still can’t let our guards down yet. They probably have a replacement barrel prepared.」
「Of course. But we definitely bought some time. This is enough.」
Jenny and Rick checked the combat situation once more.
The Cimon, who was currently immobile, was forced to transform into its fortress mode.
「It will be fine as long as our reinforcements make it.」
Jenny looked at the screen and took a deep breath.
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