"Head, lower left."
"I see it."
Responding briefly, Lian Mingyang’s attention returned to the dashboard in front of him, but only glanced montarily before looking ahead.
It was 8:45.
On the road to the northeast, an armored unit was advancing northward.
Indeed, it was the 04101 Armored Battalion.
The tops of turrets and infantry fighting vehicles, backs of the vehicle bodies, and sides of the turrets and bodies were brushed with fluorescent paint in an inverted "V" for identification purposes.
In the air, it was very clear through the low-light night vision equipnt.
As to why this symbol was used, rumors suggest it originated from the Sri Lanka pacification operation, the inadvertent act of a soldier.
This way, using the low-light night vision equipnt, one could instantly identify which tanks and vehicles were allies, minimizing the chances of friendly fire.
Actually, everything appeared green in the low-light night vision equipnt.
As for the fluorescent symbols, they simply appeared a bit brighter.
For a long period, night combat was always a weakness of the Empire Army. During the Boi War, the Imperial Army suffered greatly in night operations.
Subsequently, the Empire Army invested significant efforts to solve the night combat issue.
The result was that various types of night vision equipnt, including low-light night vision devices, beca standard for the troops.
Night vision goggles had long since beco standard equipnt for the Air Force and Special Forces, and Land Air Force helicopter pilots each had one.
Actually, on the Boss Bay battlefield, the Empire Army had already showcased extrely strong night combat capabilities, with operational efficiency at night even surpassing dayti. Key target bombing operations were almost exclusively conducted at night, and the "Attack-11" was primarily deployed nocturnally.
At this mont, Lian Mingyang was wearing binocular low-light night vision goggles.
This night vision equipnt, weighing less than 1000 grams and attached directly to the flight helt, was standard gear, providing pilots with a visual range of about 1000 ters at night. Although not sufficient for combat, it was more than adequate for piloting helicopters.
After surpassing the ground-based armored forces, Lian Mingyang opened the formation communication channel and issued the first command.
Slow down.
Reduce flying speed from 220 kiloters per hour to 150 kiloters per hour.
Of course, it was also necessary to check the status of the helicopter and weapons, and prepare for combat.
In standard air-ground coordinated tactics, ard helicopters typically operate about 50 kiloters ahead of the armored group, eliminating threats along the way.
They also intercept enemy ard helicopters if necessary.
Since they needed to provide cover for armored forces, there was no need to advance too far forward.
The "battle line" was not a single line, having a defense depth ranging from several kiloters to dozens of kiloters. If ard helicopters tasked with covering advanced too quickly and distanced themselves from the rear armored units, it could create gaps, allowing the enemy to exploit them.
Moreover, maintaining an appropriate distance allowed for support from ground units.
The most crucial among these was the field forces’ self-propelled air defense systems.
Truth be told, the Empire Army was likely the least concerned with air defense globally.
However, this was not entirely the Army’s fault.
At the root, it was related to the Air Force.
According to the rules established during the "separation," air defense systems at campaign level and above, with ranges exceeding 60 kiloters, primarily for battle zone air defense, were assigned to the Air Force.
In the Air Force’s combat theory, ground-air defense weapons were rely a component of the fighter-jet-centric air defense system.
Actually, in the Air Force’s planning, defense systems were rely a supplent to the existing air superiority system; the most effective air defense thod was to seize and maintain air supremacy.
With absolute air supremacy, is additional air defense needed?
As such, the Army could only develop field air defense systems.
Because the Empire Air Force was strong enough and consistently pursued an offensive strategy, the Empire Army hadn’t faced severe aerial threats in the past few decades.
Frankly, if the air defense cover provided by the Empire Air Force wasn’t secure enough, having advanced field air defense systems would essentially be ornantal. Against modern aerial forces, the operational efficiency of field air defense systems was nearly zero.
This is not an exaggeration.
In the internal joint exercises of the Imperial Army, the Army’s field air defense systems never successfully intercepted any long-range strikes initiated by the Air Force.
In fact, the greatest value of field air defense systems was forcing the Air Force to develop weapons with longer ranges.
On this basis, the Empire Air Force was the first to propose the concept of "out-of-area weapons," and developed various strike munitions with ranges over 80 kiloters, such as glide bombs with wings and rocket boosters, capable of being launched at high altitudes over 100 kiloters away.
However, these are side discussions.
Strictly speaking, it was only after the advent of ard helicopters that the Empire Army recognized the significance of field air defense systems.
Simply put, regardless of how advanced the fighter aircraft or how far-reaching the regional air defense missiles controlled by the Air Force are, they are ineffective or incapable of reaching ard helicopters flying at treetop levels.
Thus, the responsibility of combating ard helicopters fell onto the Army’s field air defense systems.
In fact, during the Boi War, when the Empire Army Air Force lost several thousand helicopters, it was evident that small-caliber High-altitude Guns posed a sufficient threat to low-altitude targets.
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