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Overrun — Description

The noise grew stronger and stronger. It was clearly the noise of engines coning from the frontline and flanks.

A soldier came running -Incoming! Tanks! Many of them! They have crossed the river!

-How many? -Asked the sergeant. -Dozens! And infantry too!

-Oh Lord... Get ready to engage them! If we run away now they will catch us on the open fields!

You! Run back to the telephone! Inform the base, go!

-I see one! -Interrupted one soldier. -Here they come...-Said another one with a grim.

-Gentlemen! Show them what we are made of. Give them hell! -Shouted the sergeant as he took the safety off his SMG

We all got in the best positions we could find and prayed whatever we knew.

By then we could see a mass of tanks and men, zigzagging in order to avoid the massive trees and their intricate aerial root system.

The roar of the engines was tremendous, and the ground trembled under our feet as we saw that that wall of steel coming towards us. It felt like witnessing a tsunami.

-Fire at will! -Shouted the sergeant. We opened fire and they answered with an overwhelming machinegun barrage, while still advancing.

The anti-tank rifle fired and hit a tank, probably killing its driver, but, instead of stopping, the vehicle accelerated and ran wildly towards us, guns blazing, until it ran into a tree. It stopped firing, probably to reload. I grabbed my anti-tank grenade (that by the way was just a dynamite stick with a grenade fuse). Suddenly something exploded too near to me. I was half blinded and deaf, but I didn't flinch. I was ready to finish that poor bastard.

The Vehicles - Kôrmitz light tanks

These light tanks where produced in large numbers by the Mitzish industry for propaganda purposes, but when planning the invasion it became evident that these thinly armored and weakly armed vehicles wouldn't be enough to defeat the Salaian fortifications and armor.

This realization made the Mitzish high command invest in developing and producing heavy assault guns, which were eventually deployed, but at a great expense.

The mitzish army still lacked of medium armor, but they didn't have enough funds to develop and produce it, and the best factories where bound to produce heavy assault guns, so they had to rely on a stopgag.

They started producing Kôrmitz based GPG's, tank destroyers, command and auxiliary vehicles, as well as upgunning and modifying the existing tanks.

In battle, the lack of quality had to be compensated with quantity and heavy gun support.

The context - Battle of Arcosa Valley

The Mitzish invasion of Salai trough Arcosa Valley was brought to a halt by a local garrison when they flooded the fields and demolished the bridges. The Mitzish general on that front knew that they had to take the mountain pass that connects the valley and plains before hostile reinforcements arrived, so they launched a quick offensive trough a shallow section of the river and advanced towards the town, steamrolling the outnumbered and outgunned defenders.

Technical

Drawn with a 0.5mm mechanical pencil and painted with Photoshop. I have tried to use a different technique for painting it, using only flat colors.