The battle continues until noon, at least from the watch, Ivan knows it is noon now, even though the sky is still dark.
"Comrade Commander, we are unable to use the night vision equipment anymore." Report from the BTR crew.
Ivan frowned. They had done the test before, after the enhancement from the elf's magic, the night vision that originally could only be used for 15-30 minutes due to overheating can now operate longer than before; they even tested that it can be operated for a whole day, so, what happens now?
"Does it burn?"
Soviet night vision devices commonly use electron multiplier image intensifier tubes, which are extremely sensitive to heat. Extended use or continuous high-brightness input will burn out the gain tube or accelerate ageing. If there is any reason why the night vision is malfunctioning, it will only be overheating.
"Yes, it burns. The magic enhancements are not working now, not only the night vision, but also the barrel."
By this time, the infantry also reported to Ivan that the magic enhancements were not working now, regardless of whether it was on the bullets or the cooling barrel.
Ivan only thinks of one worse scenario in his mind, he opened the guidelines dispatched, and flipped to a page that read Alpha-I. A creature that is benchmarking to the Tier-5 wizards of the Karak, able to create a corrupted anti-magic field.
In the manual, Beta units can be easier to counter even with infantry themselves, while Alpha will need the help from artillery and heavy equipment. There are also gamma units, where the manual only says they may need help from the ballistics, missile and air force, but the effectiveness is uncertain.
"Shit! Isn't it said Alpha-I will only join the battle after some time? Why would it be here now, on the first day? Unreliable elves."
He put down the manual, raised his binoculars, trying to find out where the Alpha-I was.
"God Damm it! Where the hell is it?"
The problem with these types of creatures is that it is difficult to find and kill them, of course, if they are not using magic, they can't even know its existence. Ivan tried for tens of seconds and gave up. He should not be so dumb and try to find it with his eyes.
"Comrade Commander, there are Alpha-I here, requesting fire support."
"Roger that, I received a similar report from the other platoons as well, 122 mm artillery is going to shell the coast. In two minutes, a rocket salvo will be fired to cover the front of your position. Take cover."
---
On the other side, Akhromeyev stand in the middle of an operation room located in Eldario. In front of him was a group of screens showing the image sent back by UAVs from each part of the battlefield. But now, from the image, it seems like the UAVs are getting some kind of jamming, though it does not affect them much.
"Over the past hour, all troops on the west coast have reported an increase in the number, speed and variation of the enemy. Currently, no enemy has been found on the Dwarf coast."
The adjutant announced the summary report from the past hour. Under Akhromeyev's order, he wants an update on each part of the front every hour.
"Comrade Marshal, urgent from the front, many parts have contact with enemies Alpha-I." The chief of staff, Valentin Varennikov, ran to Akhromeyev.
Akhromeyev frowned.
"Can the outpost hold its position?"
"I believe they could, a few rounds of rocket salvo will solve the Alpha-I."
Akhromey nodded and asked the same question as those at the front, Why does it come out so early?
With his doubt, he looks at the old elf who sits in the corner of the room, the eldest and most honourable elf in the whole kingdom, Sliversword. An old man who experienced ten times of chaotic attacks.
"Mr Sliversword, is this normal in the chaos attack?" Akhromeyev asked.
Sliversword shakes his head and sighs.
"From the second hour of the attack began I knew it would not be normal. There had never been for that creature to appear half a day after the attack, not even on the first day and week of the attack, at least I never experienced that in the 10 times of chaos attack."
"It normally joins the battle after one or two months the attack begins, instead, many of the creatures I saw today were not even supposed to be joining the battle. From the past, the first day should have just been the rotten bodies that were walking slowly, and it was supposed to be more dense than a few hours ago."
"I bet something must have changed that causes them to be this."
Akhromeyev, after listening, only felt more and more serious. Many of the people in the Red Army, even he, though this was just another round of undead assault, most likely just a stronger version.
There might be some sacrifice, but no one will doubt that they can't stop the attack; some even doubt it is necessary to build 10 lines and fortify all the cities. But now, Akhromeyev has to admit that these decisions made by the general staff were correct.
This is only the first day. In the upcoming weeks and even months later, something even worse will happen, something that even the elves could not understand may happen. It can't be that the chaos feels the arrival of the Soviets and decides to increase their attack strength, right?
"In any case, report the situation here and our speculation to the General Staff," Akhromeyev tells Valentin.
"Yes, Comrade Marshal."
By the time now, from the image sent by UAVs, it can be seen that the multiple rocket launcher are launching their rocket on the coast.
From the view of UAVs, it seemed like the explosion of rocket is small, but in the view of Ivan and Gromov, those who are in the front, they can see every explosion thousands of shell fragment are flying and cut those chaos creature on the coast into pieces, including the Alpha-I that hiding in the dark.
If there is Alpha-I that is so lucky to escape the bombardment from the rocket salvo, then soon there will be a second wave to visit them. Nothing can't be solved with a rocket salvo; if there is, then two.