The SATRA troops were advancing, but at a cost. Systems of bunkers, trenches and tunnels were hard to break even with armored support, sometimes inaccessible for vehicles. AT missles and grenades were incoming from all sides. Some were specially designed to counter APS, which those combat vehicles were covered with. Heavy plasma guns, though less destructive than missles, weren’t affected by APS and the only thing in their way was armor. Mines and other traps were set off regularly.
Those that went into the trenches and tunnels, were forced to engage in brutal, close quarters combat. Botniak soldiers, characterised by the skulls they painted on their faces and lack of any standard uniforms, used trench guns, terrifying rifles firing a scattered mess of plasma, turning opponents into smoking swiss cheese, flamethrowers, machetes, bayonetts, knives, fists and sometimes teeth to push back their enemies. Smaller infantry squads were frequently ambushed. But not everything was going well.
“Where are our supplies, artillery support and air coverage?!” Screamed into radios Botniak officers. “The fuck do you mean there isn’t any?! If you want us to hold this hill, we will need it!”
Even in defence, Botniaks favored agressivness, action and mobility. Sitting in a fortified stronghold wasn’t their thing, elastic defense and ambushes were. They weren’t prepared for such high numbers of armored vehicles. Attacks with them on this scale weren’t common, especially when it came to the Red Army. The enemy was advancing, but at a cost. And they wanted to take those hills, they would need to clear the tunnels and bunkers.
