186 – David and Goliath (5) – Sherkiv Campaign
The command of the 6th Regiment, which was taking a breather at the precision artillery fire that fell out of nowhere, was turned upside down.
“The very airship appeared! Diabola of Uk ran!!”
“You flew out at night?”
The commander of the 6th Regiment appeared with tousled hair and shouted. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a night attack in mind at all, but he never dreamed of using an airship to strike precisely.
At best, I thought I was going to bombard our trenches.
But that was purely a misjudgment by the military for consumption. The main operating environment of the 8th Assault Magic Infantry Battalion, which first introduced airships, was pitch-black night.
In fact, from the standpoint of inheriting the aviation company of the Assault Magical Infantry Battalion, there was no way that night combat would reduce their proficiency.
“Contact division headquarters and request air support!”
But there was still hope.
Diabola is extremely slow due to its limitations as an airship and is very vulnerable to aerial combat using fighters.
The General Staff Department did not sit idle in Sobi, which oversees this special operation.
They also came up with countermeasures to break the Uk ranian strategy.
I had been thinking a lot about how to neutralize the new weapons of Uk ran, especially Diabola.
It has been about a year since the Principality of Lunetsk, a puppet of the empire, was established in the eastern part of Uk ran.
In the meantime, the Empire has also developed new weapons and revised old military doctrines, although not to the extent of the completely transformed Uk ran.
Unexpectedly, the Soviet Empire was quite advanced compared to the military doctrine of the Free Democratic Republic of Fru or the United Kingdom of Britain.
The fact that the air corps was organized to support the division was proof of that fact.
Of course, it was worse than the doctrine devised by a person named Enoch Levandel who was out of the norm—in fact, possessing knowledge equivalent to the quintessence of modern tactics.
For a country that has lived in peace for hundreds of years, it has prepared for war more than any other country.
That’s how much the imperial emperor’s ambition was clear and certain.
The telegram that Uk ranian airships were appearing and firing artillery fire at the 1st trench line in the direction of Sherkiu occupied by the 6th Regiment went straight to the headquarters of the division.
Since it was impossible to recapture the trench line won with great bloodshed, the commander of the 52nd division, Oldek Mityaev, requested a sortie of the air corps.
It is rather nighttime.
“Only on the ground, he is a god of death, but to an aircraft like him, he is just a big target! Let’s rip and burn their symbols!”
Unlike airships that will be hit somewhere even if you just fire a machine gun at them, there is no way for Uk ran to respond to the fast and flexible fighters.
Similarly, what if a fighter plane was launched and a dogfight broke out?
But it was clear that even that would not be effective. Darkness is fair to all.
“The 6th Regiment must preserve its forces as much as possible from enemy artillery fire! The 17th Regiment will assist the 6th Regiment in fortifying the enemy trenches as soon as the suppression of the enemy airships is complete!!”
The Oldeck division commander’s eyes were red. It is a symbol of the revival of Uk ran to the world by making a splendid debut in the Quernen War.
It was developed by the Reinhardt Empire, but close air support and air strikes using airships have become trademarks of the Uk ranian army and its abominable Enoch Levandel.
If the Imperial Air Corps defeats that Diabola here, and your division completely secures the enemy’s first trench line.
That would be the perfect symbolic victory.
Not long after.
Cooooo—.
Thirty fighters advancing through the night sky passed over the headquarters of the 52nd Mixed Division.
***
Quaang!! Bang!!!
An ear-piercing bombardment sound. A hoarse shout. The noise of creaking machinery.
Diabola’s interior was so noisy that proper conversation was impossible.
“Awesome!!”
“Reload!”
“One, two, three, shoot!!”
Boom!!!
The airship’s ammunition magazine was full of 57mm shells, and it was going to rain down all of them.
As much as that, flames soared ceaselessly on the ground, and the invaders who fearlessly entered the trenches were busy running away wagging their arms awkwardly.
Also, it wasn’t just the gunners of the air corps that were setting the battlefield on fire.
“Fire Rain!!”
A magic circle is drawn, and red mana appears as a shower and pours down on the ground.
Enemy soldiers who barely survived the bombardment could not escape from the mana-filled flames. They rolled on the floor in agony and soon fell limp.
Overwhelming battles close to massacres.
There was no way for the troops on the ground to respond to Diabola floating in the air, and the Uk ranian mages leisurely fired magic without worrying about their skulls being pierced by bullets flying from somewhere.
Red, blue, green, purple, yellow.
Colorful mana shimmers fiercely.
Sonny Zeppelin, the magician’s master, looked at him quietly.
Originally, as a member of the Uk ranian General Staff, she was supposed to control her operations in the rear rather than on these fronts.
She hoped to appear proudly on the Sherkiu front where the fierce battle was taking place.
Confidence that comes from being a great mage.
As a mage representing the country, she is obsessed with being in a place where new history is being written.
And more than anything else, it was because she had a request from Enoch Levandel, her most trusted subordinate, who now held the fate of all of Uk ran in her hands.
“Lieutenant Commander, the wind is blowing. Please go inside, where it is safe and warm.”
“It’s okay. I’ve been rolling around in the snow, but this is chewing gum.”
That was the moment.
Tada da da da da da da da da!!
“!?”
A bullet flew from a straight line. A young lieutenant who assisted Sonny Zeppelin collapsed in awe, and the soldiers who fired a series of artillery fire screamed in surprise.
“What, what!!?”
“Enemy aircraft! Enemy aircraft are coming!”
A body that looks distinctly different from the Manfred, the main fighter of Uk ran. It swings its double-layered wings and fires machine guns.
“Everyone, calm down! To the machine gunner position! Turn them into a hive!”
As soon as the counterattack began, Diabola’s captain jumped out of the bridge and shouted in a heavy voice.
The fact that there would be an ambush was already expected to some degree.
There’s no way the enemy just sits there watching our allies helplessly being bombarded.
After falling into panic for a while, Diavola’s crew quickly regained their composure and responded.
The sorcerers deployed for sorcery bombardment support also prepare wind attribute magic that is effective against fighters.
“9 O’clock! One squadron approaching!”
“Red flag spotted on the side at 3 o’clock!”
“We will take care of the right side!”
Dr.
To da da da da da da da da da da!!
With a sound like grinding stones, the mounted machine guns fired all at once. Green mana engulfs the air and reverses the air currents.
Several enemy planes approaching for ultra-short range shooting hurriedly broke away from the counterattack.
Pyung! It’s tutada!
I couldn’t help it from the blind spot to those who fiercely attacked and bitten.
“The air sac damage is serious!”
“The rear gunner has been hit! Medic!!”
Just as Diabola fooled the troops on the ground so easily, it is no match for the latest fighters that boast much faster speed and spatial flexibility.
“Captain Sony Zeppelin…… !”
In fact, an attack of this magnitude could have been repelled by Sonny Zeppelin alone.
Before she was a lieutenant general in Uk ran, she was one of only 12 great mages in the world.
But I can’t.
Why do the great mages even create their own ‘Supreme Council’ to keep each other in check?
Without doing that, it was because there was no way to counter their mighty power.
Even the slightest use of magic becomes a matter of international controversy. The only thing that can be used in meetings without direct permission is intermediate level magic.
From advanced magic, even if it was not intended to ‘attack’ someone, it was necessary to go through a meeting.
In the event of a violation, all the great mages of the Supreme Council cooperated and even took disciplinary procedures against the person who caused the problem.
This was the reason why Sonny Zeppelin could not use his power to his heart’s content during the coup or the Quernen War.
So that’s why a person who was as big as a great mage put all his effort into developing new weapons and training troops.
Strategic weapon.
Although it acts as a powerful deterrent by itself, it is like a gimmick that cannot be used hastily even if a decision is made that ignores that deterrence.
Coincidentally, that was also the exact description of Sonny Zeppelin’s position.
But.
From Noble mtl dot com
There are always loopholes in such a clause.
“Wait. Because the time will come soon.”
Sonny Zeppelin quietly closed her eyes inside the airship in confusion.
The sound of a rain of bullets, the shouts of artillerymen who bravely continue to fire, and the heavy driving sound unique to biplanes.
And in between.
Wow!
The sharp sound of engines reached Sonny’s ears. A noise that was distinctly different from that of the Consumption Empire I’ve heard so far.
Then a cheerful voice rang out from Diavola’s communicator.
“Thank you for your hard work! From now on, our 1st Fighter Wing will respond!”
Squadron Deployment!
With the voice of a girl who was still young, twenty fighters scattered from Diabola’s rear.
“Roxanna Elim.”
Fishik.
Sonny Zeppelin burst into laughter. It seems like it was just yesterday when she showed up in the 8th Assault Magic Infantry Battalion.
Now that he has become a decent commander leading the squadron, he even appeared at the perfect timing to rescue his allies like Enoch Levandel.
“That child also has a strange color.”
However, even though allies joined forces, Diabola was still the enemy’s main target.
It was natural. To put it bluntly, it is an airship that boasts a massive body that can hit anywhere it shoots.
Unless you are an idiot, there is no reason for the Sovie Air Corps to target Roxanna Elim’s Manfred Fighter.
In addition, the view that it was an ambitious night also played a role.
In the pitch darkness where not even the moonlight can be seen, even if you are a member of Roxanna Elim, who boasts excellent flight skills, it is difficult in many ways to accurately shoot down the plane.
“The engine can’t take it anymore!”
“If the magazine is detonated like this, everyone will die!!”
“Captain! Order!!”
Around the time the cries of flight attendants could be heard from all over the place.
“The 1st Fighter Wing deployment complete.”
“Beam Defense Formation.”
“Lieutenant General Sonny Zeppelin, now!”
She opens her mana with her smile at the communication that correctly refers to herself.
A level of mana poured in, far exceeding the mana of the dozens of mages that Diabola had fired so far.
The color is red.
It reminds me of a huge sun.
The red mana that rose along the air current covered the body of the giant Diabola in an instant.
And finally.
“Flare.”
With the last words of Sonny Zeppelin lightly recited, the darkness that had covered the entire battlefield disappeared at once.
A huge sun created by the great mage’s magic rose above Diabola.
Soviet Air Corps, who used jet black as a weapon to attack the returned blue sky, was confused.
“Identified a total of 32 enemy aircraft.”
“This is Roxanna, I give you permission to engage!”
“Razer, the engagement begins.”
Now was the time for true hunters.
