The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3243

Chapter 3243: The Great Advance

It was as if the appetizers had just made way for the main course of the meal. The entry of every other mech that had previously remained in reserve was a shocking sight that instantly increased the intensity of the battlefield by an order of magnitude!

Thousands of positron beams struck the sturdy and formidable knight mechs of the Molten Hammers. The mech pilots of these dwarven units all possessed the courage to charge in front of everyone else for very good reasons.

The short height of these defensive mechs might not provide as much cover to the mechs following from behind, but they also made it a lot harder to strike them from a distance.

Their thicker physical shields and stockier forms also meant it would take longer to take them down despite getting hit a lot of times. Their high mass and solid constructions allowed each of them to maintain a stable and purposeful flight trajectory despite getting hit by dozens of gauss rounds or positron beams. Even if their shields were close to falling apart, the mechs did not stop until their frames became more and more ragged.

At that point, the damaged space knights smoothly fell out of formation and turned around to retreat back to their motherships.

This not only preserved the functionality of their machines, but also allowed them to act as emergency reserves!

If there was ever a need for their services in the later stages of a battle, they could always deploy again with backup shields in their hands to block incoming damage at critical moments.

"What a well-executed approach!" Ves sighed with admiration.

While there were many defensive units that employed similar rotations, the dwarves were much more proficient at it. Their defensive mechs were tougher and did not break as easily when put under fire. The dwarven mech pilots had also practiced this maneuver a lot and were able to judge when their mechs were close to suffering internal damage.

As long as the damage to their machines was contained to the exterior, the damaged armor sections could always be repaired or patched up with haste as long as they returned to their motherships. However, once their critical internal parts started taking damage, it became a lot more troublesome and time-consuming to bring them back up to full functionality.

In essence, the hardy mechs of the dwarves granted them a lot more staying power than normal. Many people such as Ves and General Verle were already able to figure out that they could not afford to get locked in a battle of attrition against these resilient opponents!

"The Hivar Roarers mechs have also begun to move!"

Whereas the Molten Hammer and Slug Ranger mechs were all accelerating straight ahead, the mechs of the bestial mech regiment weren't as straightforward.

Only a few of their heavier and less mobile bestial mechs all joined the main formations that were moving straight ahead. Most of their mechs split up into two different prongs and began to arc around so that they would be able to converge upon the expeditionary fleet from different angles.

That caused Ves to take the Hivar Roarers more seriously. As he studied their mech models, he saw that they consisted of a variety of ranged and melee machines that took up all kinds of different animal shapes.

One of the more distinct Roarer mechs was the odd-looking turtle mechs. They looked almost exactly how they sounded. They resembled giant turtles though with at least some of their limbs replaced by guns. Cannons and other weapon modules were also mounted to their sides sometimes.

"Don't waste your firepower on these turtle mechs. They're too difficult to hit, and even if you strike them, they hardly look any worse!"

This was the most interesting characteristic about the turtle mechs. Since they were flying forward with their distinct turtle shells facing upwards, their silhouette was quite flat and minimal. This made it very difficult for the ranged mechs of the expeditionary fleet to hit these odd-looking bestial mechs.

Of course, the fact that shots could easily bypass these turtle mechs also meant that they were not good at blocking incoming fire. The mechs that were flying close to them had to endure the incoming fire without much cover!

Ves soon figured out the concept behind these hardy bestial mechs.

"Don't underestimate the threat posed by the Hivar Roarer turtle mechs." Ves called. "They are self-contained weapon platforms that can unleash a constant barrage of fire at our forces. Think of them as doom crawlers in space! As long as they are able to take up positions on our flanks, they can enfilade our ranks!"

That quickly woke up the Larkinsons. Although the firepower of the turtle mechs didn't actually match that of a doom crawler, they still came close enough to the Cracker line of the Slug Rangers. The cannons mounted on the turtle mechs could inflict even more damage to the expeditionary fleet's forces because they would incur damage from their sides or even their rear!

As long as any mech or formation of mechs had to defend against incoming fire from multiple sides, the poor machines wouldn't be able to hold their ground anymore. They either had to retreat or face a swift defeat.

Neither of these options were acceptable! There was no room for the mechs to retreat or else they would bump right into the ships of the expeditionary fleet. If these crucial vessels began to get bombarded from multiple sides, then it was unlikely that they would be able to last much longer either.

"As long as the dwarves attack us from the front, we can concentrate all of our defenses forward so we can fend off their attacks for a long time. If we have to worry about getting stabbed from the side, we'll have to split our defensive resources and weaken our ability to defend from either direction. This is not ideal!"

This was not an ideal situation. In fact, it was one of the nightmare scenarios that the Golden Skull Alliance had anticipated. The Ferrils could easily afford to split off a third of their mechs to perform a pincer maneuver because they had the numbers to spare!

The best solution to attack these dangerous turtle mechs was to fight them up close. As ranged mechs, they were unable to defend themselves properly against melee mechs.

However, the large escort of other bestial mechs meant it wouldn't be easy to get at the turtle mechs. A large number of tiger mechs, avian mechs and other oddly-shaped mechs followed behind the turtle mechs.

Whether they were melee or ranged-oriented, these eclectic bestial mechs could easily entangle any detachment that attempted to intercept the pincers.

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