Ever since Yan Zhihuan left the valley, he felt his heart trembling, his soul detached.

Although there were no signs indicating that the Dawn Army had discovered them, he just felt something was off.

How could it be so coincidental that, at a distance of over twenty kilometers from the Dawn Army, they hadn't been discovered?

How could it be so coincidental that their rescue helicopter was spotted and shot down?

How could it be so coincidental that they had no clothing, no food, and were forced to abandon their advantage and launch a frontal attack in the snowy weather?

How could it be so coincidental that this snowstorm suddenly started?

Yan Zhihuan even suspected that the Dawn Army might have used artificial snowing, but seeing the world covered in white, he dismissed this ridiculous thought.

However, he still harbored a slight hope that the Dawn Army had not discovered them, allowing them to reach the frontline smoothly.

As long as they reached the frontline and commenced the attack and defense, Guo Zhun's reinforcements would arrive, and there might still be a chance for victory.

After emerging from the valley, they had to cross twenty kilometers of plains to reach the border of the Dawn Army's territory. He hoped these twenty kilometers would be uneventful.

Soon, the cold and starving Yan Zhihuan led his troops ten kilometers forward.

At that moment, the news that reached him made his soul leave his body.

The Dawn Army's armored units had been lying in wait on this plain, ready for some time.

All of Yan Zhihuan's last hopes vanished, realizing that the Dawn Army had ambushed them in this place where they couldn't advance or retreat, intending not to leave him any chance to escape.

At this point, he had no other thoughts and ordered the armored units to charge, followed by forty thousand infantry, to execute a coordinated infantry-tank assault.

"Advance! We have forty thousand men and five hundred tanks, more than the entire Dawn Army. In this snowy weather, air support is hindered. I refuse to believe the Dawn Army has some supernatural abilities!"

Under Yan Zhihuan's command, the armored forces launched their attack.

Five hundred tanks, three hundred of which were purchased from the Dawn Army, followed by five hundred armored vehicles, half of which also came from Dawn City.

When they acquired these weapons, Guo Zhun and Yan Zhihuan were ecstatic, as the weapons looked brand new and had no performance issues.

They believed these weapons could become the Dawn Army's nightmare. Now, the moment had come to test them in battle.

The Dawn Army, on the other hand, initiated a barrage of artillery fire against Yan Zhihuan and his group.

It must be said, the Dawn Army chose the perfect timing.

Yan Zhihuan's logistics support had been destroyed, forcing them to leave the valley and fight in the middle of this plain. Retreat was no longer an option, and without artillery support, they could only grit their teeth and charge.

This stretch of road was just within the artillery range of the Dawn Army, a few tens of kilometers away.

Through the snowstorm, a barrage of artillery fire rained down, shattering the Liberation Army's cohesion.

Some mortars and HJ-8s might not cripple the tanks.

But the infantry, inadequately dressed and shivering in the cold wind, had difficulty moving, and the flying artillery shrapnel caused tremendous casualties.

Each shell left many soldiers on the ground, and some with minor injuries stayed down to avoid further shelling as they advanced.

Fortunately, the distance wasn't too great, and soon the Dawn Army's tanks entered the battlefield, giving the infantry a chance to catch their breath.

A battle reminiscent of armored clashes from the last century began.

The Dawn Army deployed three hundred main battle tanks and fifty strange vehicles with massive metal repair arms.

Those repair vehicles followed behind, with three hundred main battle tanks at the forefront.

This was the first appearance of the Dawn Army's new armored corps.

Due to the snowfall, neither side could see the other yet, relying only on radar for monitoring.

Once the enemy entered the radar range, they could fire.

All these tanks were equipped with fire-control radar, products of the late last century—a radar that dominated for decades.

After the apocalypse began, this type of fire-control radar was still quite effective, able to lock onto enemies without issue.

But this time, something went wrong.

As soon as the Liberation Army's radar turned on, the radar screens of a large number of tanks ahead began to flicker.

Crackle~~~!

The screens were filled with snow and waves, as unpredictable as the weather outside.

In fact, the battlefield was not big, only a few kilometers apart.

If it were normal times, both sides could see each other with binoculars.

But not today, not with this heavy snow.

When the radar malfunctioned, neither optical telescopes nor the naked eye could see more than a mere hundred meters.

So, without radar, the tanks were blind on the battlefield.

"This is bad! Our radar is broken!"

"Use your brain, it's not broken, it's been jammed."

"Pay attention to dispersing and outflanking on both sides. Don't rush in!"

The commander kept shouting orders, but they were of no use.

The Dawn Army's tanks hadn't even appeared, yet the shells were already incoming.

Boom, boom, boom~~~!

Streaks of fire shot through the snowstorm, and those crimson lines swung like the scythe of death, each shot precisely hitting a tank.

Amidst the roaring explosions, the Liberation Army's many tank turrets were blown open.

Some tanks were hit at their ammunition storage, causing a catastrophic detonation.

In one encounter, the Liberation Army lost nearly forty tanks.

This really upset the tank unit's Commander; he didn't know how the Dawn Army achieved the electronic interference.

Electronic warfare is quite a high-tech skill. At such times, shouldn't it be the era of artillery bombardment and infantry shootouts? How did they manage it?

But the facts were right before his eyes. Normally he might choose to retreat, but now he couldn't.

Behind him were a large number of Liberation Army soldiers; if the armored units retreat, the opponent's tanks will roll over, leaving these soldiers as easy targets.

So the armored units could only grit their teeth and charge forward. He even mobilized armored vehicles to take the lead, with tanks following behind.

This was a method that sacrificed armored vehicles, but now they had to cover the tanks' advance. As long as these tanks could break into the Dawn Army's position, the fierce battle would begin.

The infantry in the armored vehicles disembarked, leaving only one driver per vehicle to minimize sacrifices.

On the Dawn Army's side, they gladly accepted the "gift" sent to their doorsteps.

Three hundred main battle tanks had already fanned out; with each shot, an armored vehicle was knocked out.

However, the Dawn Army soldiers were not too ruthless; disabling the armored vehicles or tanks from moving was enough, without destroying them completely.

Because these captured items could be repaired, and once repaired, they could even be sold back to the Liberation Army.

Once destroyed, they couldn't be repaired or sold anymore.

For the tank gunners, today's battle was as easy as playing a game.

The Dawn Army's main battle tanks were equipped with battlefield surveillance radar, a generation ahead of the fire control radar which was prone to interference.

Moreover, the electronic warfare unit showcased its power, successfully completing radio interference that blinded the Liberation Army's tank radar.

This was the Dawn Army's first use of electronic warfare. With this technology, it wouldn't be long before the army could produce electronic warfare vehicles.

Now employing this method, the effect was surprisingly effective. The Liberation Army's tanks could only blindly fire into the wind and snow with very low hit rates, virtually ineffective.

While the Dawn Army's side was hitting the mark almost every time, even missing twice would be considered poor performance.

In the short three-kilometer stretch, the Liberation Army's side had over 150 armored vehicles and more than 90 tanks knocked out.

Such massive sacrifices were not without results, as the distance between the sides closed to less than three hundred meters.

At this distance, it was almost direct shootout range.

Although the Liberation Army still couldn't see clearly, they could vaguely make out positions from the glow of the Dawn Army's gunfire.

"Finally see them! Prepare to fire!"

The tank unit's Commander was seething with anger. Watching the armored vehicles being almost wiped out and having lost a fifth of the tanks, he only now saw the enemy through the snowstorm. How could he not be furious?

So he ordered all units to retaliate and fire at the Dawn Army tanks.

The Dawn Army's tank unit was also behaving peculiarly today, almost not dodging but directly engaging the Liberation Army head-on.

The current hit ratio between the two sides was about three to one.

The Dawn Army could destroy an enemy tank with one shell, while the Liberation Army needed three.

In principle, with more than 400 tanks, the Liberation Army should have been able to destroy some Dawn Army tanks.

Especially seeing the occasional red flare in the snow, indicating a Dawn Army tank hit, brought cheers among the Liberation Army.

As long as they could inflict damage on the enemy, they were content.

So the Liberation Army charged forward as if fueled by adrenaline, leading this tank battle, which could have lasted much longer, to a decisive conclusion in less than an hour and a half.

The Liberation Army's artillery fire went from dense to sparse, from sparse to silent, in just an hour and a half!

On the other hand, the Dawn Army's side continuously pummeled the Liberation Army with relentless and sustained artillery fire.

Five hundred tanks and three hundred armored vehicles, less than two hours later, fewer than thirty were still operational!

And with such a heavy price, when some tanks finally approached the Dawn Army's position, they found the Dawn Army's tanks virtually undamaged.

Those main battle tanks had extraordinarily thick armor; the 105mm smoothbore guns of light tanks couldn't inflict lethal damage!

Even without causing lethal damage, the repair vehicles with massive metal arms followed the ranks and conducted battlefield repairs!

Tanks that originally emitted smoke could be back in action within minutes, revitalized and reengaging in battle!

This discovery drove the Liberation Army into despair.

How could the Dawn Army's tanks be so tough?

The tank unit's Commander died in battle, killed when his vehicle was destroyed by a Dawn Army tank while advancing.

Yan Zhihuan was almost in despair; he knew there might be a gap between them and the Dawn Army, but he had not imagined it to be this wide.

The enemy's tactical success, the advantage of the weather, electronic supremacy, the robustness of their vehicles, and many other factors forged an almost invincible army!

The only slight comfort was that, despite almost losing all his armored units, the infantry finally reached near the Dawn Army's position.

Although relying solely on these forty thousand infantry, it might be challenging to capture the Dawn Army's position, but Guo Zhun was on his way with more troops.

On the call out of the valley, Guo Zhun told Yan Zhihuan: "Hold for five hours, reinforcements are on the way!"

As the tank battle gradually drew to a close, more than two hours had already passed.

If he could just hold on for another two hours, maybe victory could be theirs, and Yan Zhihuan could only console himself this way at the moment.

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