Galactic Empire in New World

Part 7 Chapter 16 5th days of 11 Country Conference

15 km north of Erde city, Laifor

The Gra Valkas troops approaching from the northern side of Erde city began to prepare themselves to move back towards Erde city. It was hoped that today they would be able to approach below 10 km so that they could use cannons to bombard the defenses in Erde City. The troops were also in better condition than those in the south. This was due to the fact that they were able to resupply, replace worn-out troops with fresh ones, and evacuate injured troops despite constant attacks from Mu Empire troops on both land and in the air.

Nevertheless, casualties on the Gra Valkas side were extremely high. More than half of their troops were killed or wounded. As for their combat vehicles, more than 70% of the initial number had been destroyed. But with resupply, they were still able to retain more than 50% of their combat vehicles. The same goes for their infantry troops.

Hit-and-run attacks as well as airstrikes from Mu Empire troops were already a very common occurrence. This caused the Gra Valkas troops to have low morale and also get tired very quickly.

Currently, they are still in the forest and thus more protected from airstrikes, but after this, they will enter the open area of fields and grasslands. The conditions are dire due to the danger of airstrikes. Therefore, they planned to place AA and anti-tank cannons right at the edge of the grassland to protect their troops that would pass through.

Gra Valkas troops came out of the forest at a wide distance—almost 2 km along the edge of the forest. Gra Valkas combat vehicles and infantry came out of the forest. They moved at full speed towards the city of Erde. That movement did not escape the observation of the scouts from the Mu Empire.

Only 5 minutes after the Gra Valkas troops came out of the forest, the roar of the engines of the Mu Empire's Marin airplanes could already be heard. All Gra Valkas troops, manned by AA Guns, immediately got ready. In addition to the AA gun at the edge of the forest, there were also several trucks equipped with heavy machine guns that acted as improvised AA guns that moved with the Gra Valkas troops.

A barrage of 12.7mm canons and FFAR rockets rained down on the Gra Valkas from the Marin fighters. The Gra Valkas military vehicles at the edge of the Gra Valkas column closest to the arrival of the Marin fighters fell victim to the fire. Tanks, trucks, and other vehicles were blown up by FFAR, and hundreds of soldiers fell victim to the 12.7mm cannon.

As the Marin fighters of the Mu Empire passed over the column of Gra Valkas troops, they dropped many small bombs weighing only 25 kg. Because of the large number of bombs, part of the Gra Valkas column was covered with flames and smoke from the bombs. But unexpectedly, a barrage of AA cannon fire from the edge of the forest, as well as heavy machine guns from several trucks, returned fire from the Marin aircraft. This came as a complete surprise to the pilots of the Marin aircraft, as they were currently flying at a fairly low altitude. Two Marin aircraft were hit by gunfire and emitted smoke. One plane immediately gained altitude to avoid further fire and reached a safe altitude for its pilot to parachute out. The other was unable to ascend as its engine had died and it crash-landed more than 5km from the battlefield. The remaining Marin aircraft immediately gained altitude to avoid further fire from the Gra Valkas.

The next group of Marin aircraft did not directly attack the Gra Valkas troops, but they bombed the outskirts of the forest to destroy the cannons there. From between the trees, the explosions of the small 25-kg bombs could be seen. More than half of the Gra Valkas troops were casualties, and the AA cannons were temporarily unable to fire, waiting for the replacement of the wounded on the AA cannons that were still functioning.

The Marin fighters then circled back and began firing their FFARs at the Gra Valkas troops on the grassland, especially at the trucks carrying heavy machine guns used for AA weapons. Despite this, two Marin fighters fell victim to the Gra Valkas' fire. One was from the machine guns on the trucks before FFAR rockets destroyed them, and the other was from the Gra Valkas infantry's lucky shots. But in the end, all of the Gra Valkas' heavy machine gun trucks were destroyed in the attack by the Marin aircraft.