The steel belts of the tank roared in the wilderness. A T-84 main battle tank rolled over the plains, leaving a trail of dust behind it.
This steel beast was modified from the former Soviet T-80UD main battle tank and was particularly fierce on the open plains. It acted as the main tank in the Ukrainian government armored force and was a nightmare for the militants.
“Eight T-845, no identity.”
“…confirmed the tank formation belongs to the Arrow. Attack is approved.”
“Roger that.”
Across the hill two kilometers away, a group of soldiers wearing kinetic skeletons kneeled behind the tall grass.
On the third day, the First Orbital Airborne Brigade Zhang Feng belonged to was competing with the Ukrainian 4th Armored Brigade and Arrow Mercenary for control of the northern town of Donetsk.
Zhang Feng, who was at the front, held a telescope and locked his sight on the eight tanks. When the tanks slammed into the marked positions, he gestured to Sergey behind him. The Slavic boy understood and tapped a few times on the holographic screen of the arm guard.
At the same time, several drone hives were deployed from behind the bunker two kilometers away. Dozens of Hummingbird drones came out from the hive. With the remote-controlled road signs, they were soaring towards the eight tanks.
They weren’t equipped with machine guns but had viscoelastic bombs installed on them.
The tank formation broke across the edge of the farmland and began to slow down and prepare to drive through the ditch.
Entering the low-lying area, the visibility of several tanks was greatly reduced. A machine gunman opened the top of the tank and exposed half of his body. Both of his hands held onto the grip of the machine gun; the gun was used in case any danger appeared.
At this time, dozens of drones that had already entered the blind spot of the tank suddenly leaped out from the grass and rushed toward the tank formation that was moving through the ditch.
The machine gunman’s pupil suddenly shrank. He shouted while pulling the trigger to open fire as he used his foot to kick the occupant below him. After a clip of bullets, only one drone was unfortunately hit. Most of the bullets pierced into the cabin behind the drones, breaking the piles of rotten wood into pieces.
“He said to reverse.” Behind the hill two kilometers away, Sergey stared at the screen and bite his tongue in excitement.
“Do not talk nonsense,” Zhang Feng impatiently ordered.
“Okay, cap, they can’t run away.” Sergey target set the attack target for the drone with a grimacing smile before pressing the last button.
Seeing that the flies could not be hit, the machine gunner hurriedly hid into the tank. After the captain issued an order to withdraw by one kilometer, he immediately opened the electromagnetic shielding device hanging outside the tank, but it was too late. All the attack commands processed by the terminal were already cached on the chip built into the drone.
The entire tank formation had just started to reverse when the first echelon of drones began to attack the tanks from above. The fist-sized viscoelastic bombs landed on the surface of the tank, and when all the viscoelastic were in place, they exploded. All the reaction armor hanging on the surface of the T-84 turned to scraps.
After discovering the intent of these drones, several tanks suddenly panicked, and their engines roared. However, no matter how much they accelerated the engine, it was impossible to escape. The second echelon of drones already appeared over their heads, and the viscoelastic bombs directly stuck to the tanks’ surface.
“Goodbye.”
Sergey murmured.
There was no deafening explosion. Only a short flash of fire. Eight tanks collectively stalled and slowly stopped after losing power. This amount of explosive alone, of course, couldn’t blow up an entire tank. However, the “caving effect” formed inside the armor due to the explosion turned the members inside the tank into sieves.
It was a strategy that Zheng Feng summarized when he served in the Celestial Trade Marine Corps. At that time, they dealt with the enemies in City M equipped with the M1A1 main battle tank with this technique and captured a tank.
Not far away, a Ukrainian dressed as a farmer stepped out from the bushes and ran to the nearest tank. He took out a pistol from his pocket, climbed onto the tank, and carefully opened the top.
After confirming that all members inside the tank were dead, he immediately stood on top of the turret and whistled in excitement to the comrades in the bushes.
Soon, more than a dozen civilian militants dressed in camouflage moved closer to the tanks. They checked the inside of the tanks. A few courageous boys even jumped into the tanks and pulled out the fleshy bodies.
“It’s going to be fun tonight.”
The man behind Sergey suddenly smirked with a sly look on his face. His appearance gave Sergey goosebumps.
“Today’s mission is over. Let’s go.” Zhang Feng took the lead and stood up. Then several soldiers walked toward the tanks two kilometers away.
When they met with the militants, they immediately received a warm cheer. A passionate Ukrainian female soldier even daringly stepped forward and gave several heroes a big hug. Finally, she gave the man named Hans a French kiss…
Zhang Feng saw with the corner of his eye that Hans brought the Ukrainian girl to a cabin. The two conversated while smiling. Later, Hans gave her a pack of cigarettes, and the two walked inside.
At this time, an unshaven Ukrainian who was wearing a muddy gray coat, walked over and handed him a crumpled up cigarette. Zhang Feng had some impressions of him. He was the first one who climbed onto the tank.
“Do you smoke?” He said in English.
“Smoke mine.”
Zhang Feng took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket and took out two. He put one in his mouth and handed the other one to the man. In the resistance zone, cigarettes were equivalent to dollars, which acted as a local hard currency. Zhang Feng himself didn’t lack cigarettes.
The Ukrainian did not reject the offer. After taking the cigarette from Zhang Feng’s hand, he took out the lighter from his pocket and lit it for Zhang Feng and himself.
“Eight T-845, I have to thank you for the tank battalion. They have always wanted to get a few T-845 from the enemy. Now their dream has come true and can finally get rid of the tractors.” Philip laughed.
“You’d better add anti-disintegration lining inside. Armor that has already experienced the caving effect is prone to secondary caving.” Zhang Feng shook off the ash and pointed to the nearest tank.
“We will be careful!”
Celestial Trade naturally had no interest in the tanks, but they were all treasures to the militants. Of course, Celestial Trade did not do the job for free. These trophies were converted into rubles and sold to the militants.
Of course, the wouldn’t get the money immediately. The tanks would be loaned to the Republic of Donetsk and paid for after the war, and even if they aren’t able to pay for them later, compared to the depreciating banknotes, Celestial Trade’s stance always favored other goods in exchange.
After a few words with the man named Philip, Zhang Feng estimated that his comrades should be done, so he extinguished his cigarette.
However, not so far away, voices of dispute attracted his attention…
