Chapter 441 Counterattack time!
"BOOM!!!!"
The City of Plenty.
Outside the riverbank.
A devastating roar completely shattered the silence of the afternoon.
The flying gravel and dust fell like raindrops, causing the Falcon Kingdom soldiers squatting in the trenches to subconsciously lower their heads to block the lunch boxes in their arms.
"Damn it——"
"My ears... Shit!"
"What's that sound?"
"Nuclear bomb..."
This is a rumor circulating in the army recently.
The legion intends to use nuclear bombs to wipe the City of Plenty off the map.
Could it be...
It has already been used?
Covering his stinging ears, a soldier struggled to stand up from the ground, found a helmet to put on, and half of his head stuck out of the trench, eagerly looking in the direction of the City of Plenty.
However...
The desperate riverbank still stood.
A trace of despair flashed through the numb eyes.
As if realizing something, he turned his stiff neck and tried to turn around.
And just as he looked behind him, the light in his shrunken eyes suddenly faded, and the despair hidden deep in his soul window also spread across his face at the same time.
Smoke.
Fire.
Floating heat waves.
The whole world seemed to be burning.
The wriggling black smoke connected the sky and the ground, like a torrent pouring down from the Styx, with no end in sight whether it was upward, left, or right.
The center of the explosion was a 100-meter-wide pit, and a corner of the wide battlefield was directly wiped out. The soil, gravel, and corpses that were lifted up... buried the winding trenches.
There was no wailing there.
There was only deathly silence.
He remembered that it was the position of the 7,000th and 10,000th troops of the 10,000th, and he even remembered that those guys had just changed guards with the 4,000th and 20,000th troops that had been crippled yesterday.
His Adam's apple moved slightly, and the sound of swallowing saliva was the only sound left in this silent world.
At this time, it suddenly rained.
The raindrops were red.
He raised his trembling right hand and touched the tip of his nose with his index finger. The burning and sticky touch almost stopped his heart.
The rain suddenly got heavier.
From the drizzle, it became a heavy downpour, and it became hard and rapid. More and more pieces of meat and bones fell from the air, hitting his helmet like hail, making a clanging sound.
What was all this for?
What was the meaning of his existence here?
Fear finally destroyed the soldier's psychological defenses. He knelt in the trench and hugged his helmet with both hands, shouting heartbreakingly.
In the distance, there were deafening artillery sounds, continuous gunfire, and shouts of killing accompanied by the sound of tank tracks rolling...
The anger and hatred of tens of thousands of people completely pulled the remnants of the trenches back to reality from that silent world-
"Kill!"
...
"Bang!"
The thunderous sound of the artillery was like a horn, shattering the surrounding clouds and gently shaking the Heart of Steel cruising under the clouds.
The thick and long smoke column rose from the 400mm main gun, drawing a perfectly curvature parabola, and attacked the surface along with the dive-down propeller plane.
Looking at the column of fire rising from the surface, the commander of the spring standing by the railing of the deck of the Heart of Steel couldn't help but smacked his lips and sighed.
"... This equivalent is probably not less than a tactical nuclear bomb."
And it is environmentally friendly and has no radioactive fallout.
It's just that this pit is a bit big, and it will probably take a lot of effort to fill it.
Speaking of which, the last time he saw this thing firing was on the ground. Now that he had changed his perspective, he felt something completely different.
Facing the fire suppression of this "air battleship", the front line of the Falcon Kingdom besieging the City of Plenty was disintegrating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The aviation formation of the Goblin Corps cruised along the edge of the explosion shock wave, and the machine guns of forty W-2 ground attack aircraft continued to fire at the ground, and this was already the second round of air strikes.
I looked at the spring standing aside.
"When are we going?"
"It's not time for us to go yet."
"Damn, it's all over!"
"The airship is the protagonist of this war, and the charge will be left to our allies. Our role is to appear at the key position at the critical moment, such as carrying anti-tank weapons to reinforce when the enemy's armored forces suddenly arrive, etc. But now it seems that this should not be necessary." Commander Quanshui took out a telescope and looked at the ground.
The enemy's front line disintegrated faster than expected.
It seems that the Legion should have given up this position...
A series of black dots appeared in the distant sky.
The flying squadron of the Falcon Kingdom tried to save the situation, and thirty "Eagle" propeller planes rushed into the battlefield from the northwest.
However, from the moment those flashing red dots appeared on the radar screen of the Heart of Steel, their fate was doomed.
"Master, the enemy aircraft has entered the firing range!"
In the communication channel, Xiao Qi was full of energy.
Chu Guang, standing in front of the French window of the bridge, looked at the clear sky in the distance and announced their death in a calm voice.
"Open fire."
"Received!"
As soon as the playful voice fell, the sky was lit up by the rain of fire in an instant, and the smoke and flames that exploded one after another formed a series of impenetrable walls, and a dark cloud appeared in the clear sky in an instant.
In the face of the overwhelming firepower, any evasive maneuvers were meaningless at this moment.
If the entire airspace cannot be broken through within a breath, being shot into a sieve by countless shrapnel is the only outcome.
Finod, who was standing not far away, swallowed his saliva.
This guy really understood the Iron Heart.
He even had the illusion that the combat effectiveness of this airship in the hands of this demon was directly raised by an order of magnitude.
Under the coordination of the shelter server and the shelter AI system, the performance of each anti-aircraft gun of the Iron Heart was squeezed to the limit, and even covered the explosive shrapnel in Brownian motion in a probabilistic sense, allowing the firepower network to expand by 1.5 times without changing the efficiency!
Especially the idea of changing the deck into an airplane runway.
It made him drop his jaw to the ground.
The Iron Heart can indeed carry carrier-based aircraft, but it usually carries vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
This kind of gameplay of throwing propeller planes out like throwing paper airplanes is really beyond his imagination.
Aren't they worried about accidents at all?
"The enemy air units have been completely wiped out!"
Xiao Qi's report came from the communication channel.
Chu Guang nodded slightly, retracted his gaze from the smoke-filled sky in the distance, and looked back at the City of Plenty not far away.
On the battlefield covered with billowing smoke, the Scarab Ten Thousand Squadron led by Prince Winter was rushing out from the west gate of the river bank, and with the assistance of the Honey Badger Kingdom Restoration Army, they completely defeated the defense line of the Falcon Kingdom's First Ten Thousand Squadron.
In fact, before they rushed out of the river bank, the Falcon Kingdom's defense line was on the verge of collapse.
The successive dives, strafing and bombing of thirty W-2 ground attack aircraft almost paralyzed the fixed firepower points on the position.
And a total of four 400mm heavy high-explosive bombs and heavy incendiary bombs that fell from the sky directly overwhelmed the psychological defense line of the Falcon Kingdom soldiers.
The number of soldiers who laid down their weapons and raised their hands to surrender was far greater than those who were killed on the spot by artillery.
Although the majority of them fought to the last, they still could not change their doomed defeat.
The nuclear bombs were not deployed at the nearest airport, and the Legion did not even approve them to deploy more aircraft.
Even as early as last night, the Alliance's reconnaissance aircraft discovered that at least three 10,000-man teams and two artillery squadrons had evacuated to the northwest.
And those who stayed behind were all abandoned by Griffin to the Alliance.
In the case that the supply line in the north could not be maintained, this was the most realistic judgment, and Griffin's choice was more decisive.
Abandon the fortress that could not be captured directly, and shift strategically without hesitation when the situation was not right, and never take the seemingly insignificant Alliance lightly.
This old fox was more cunning than he thought.
Considering that caution is the best, Chu Guang did not order the airship to go deep behind enemy lines and pursue the retreating enemy.
The Alliance would not design a weapon that the Alliance could not deal with. He had reason to believe that the Legion also had a trump card in its hands that could solve the Heart of Steel.
At least according to the Alliance's chief researcher Yin Fang, the technology of manipulating gravitons was not impeccable, otherwise the Era of Prosperity would not have ended so hastily.
When he had to give it a try, he would not hesitate to put all his chips on the line, but when there was a safer choice, he would not hesitate to choose the latter.
The Heart of Steel would not leave the front line and go deep into the enemy's rear. Chu Guang would personally lead the flagship and move forward steadily along the front line.
There was no suspense about the counterattack of the City of Plenty.
In contrast, he was more worried about the situation in the south.
If his initial strategic judgment was correct, then the Legion's nuclear bombs should have been deployed to the airport in the Lost Valley...
Staring at the battlefield outside the French window, Vanus thought for a moment and suddenly spoke.
"Too fast."
Chu Guang looked at him.
"Fast?"
"Hmm..." Vanus nodded and said thoughtfully, "I didn't even see any effective resistance."
Chu Guang smiled faintly.
"Isn't this bad?"
"It's not bad, it just makes me feel a little strange..."
Vanus pondered for a moment and suddenly spoke.
"Where are Griffin's tanks? We haven't seen a single tank since yesterday. The Restoration Army of the Honey Badger Kingdom rushed into the river bank almost unhindered. If I were him, I would never let the two troops successfully join forces."
A tank separated from the infantry is a spear without a handle.
The situation at that time could have sent several anti-tank teams to cooperate with the armored forces to intercept the Restoration Army of the Honey Badger Kingdom.
There was no need to even annihilate all those people.
The Falcon Kingdom only needed to drag them down and drag them under the river bank. Once the tank stopped, it would be an iron coffin no matter how hard it was.
"Even if this is Luoxia Province, far away from the west coast, and even if they only have so many tanks here, this is too strange..."
After a pause of a few seconds, looking at Chu Guang who was lost in thought, Vanus continued to talk about his opinion.
"It's impossible that all the tanks are in Camp 530?"
...
East of Oasis No. 4, in the desert 300 kilometers away from Shuangtou Peak, dusk gradually enveloped this land.
One tank after another was looming in the flying yellow sand, revealing only a thick and long gun barrel and a turret covered with desert-colored camouflage net.
The front of the vehicle body was reinforced with sandbags and completely buried in the sand.
These tanks are mainly Conqueror No. 5 light tanks and No. 10 heavy tanks.
In order to stretch the battle line long enough, the distance between tanks is very large, and the large gaps in the middle are filled by the trenches where infantry lie down.
At the northernmost side of the battle line, there is a tank with a strange shape.
It has no turret, and the barrel is buried in the wedge-shaped body. What is more surprising is that its tracks are not embedded in the body, but connected to the outside of the body like tires.
The officer in navy blue uniform exposed half of his body on the roof, holding a telescope in his hand, and his raised nose was motionlessly pointing to the east.
His name is Stan, a tank commander under Griffin, and the commander of the 1st Armored Motorcycle Thousand Squadron directly under the Falcon Kingdom.
A few days ago, General Griffin personally explained the operation to him.
"...Our plan is not foolproof, and if they see through our plan, sending a motorized force to raid our airport is their only choice, and it is also their last hope. And what you have to do is to block their last door!"
Although all of this is based on the assumption that "the alliance has seen through their plan", and this possibility is very small.
But it is not impossible.
But Stan is not worried.
Fifty Conqueror V light tanks, forty Conqueror X and XI heavy tanks, and the "Wanderer" under him.
Plus a thousand motorized infantrymen and a large number of anti-tank and anti-infantry equipment, a huge net has been spread across the battle line that is more than ten kilometers wide.
No matter if it's a thousand people.
Or ten thousand people!
Don't even think about crossing this wall!
At this time, the sound of scouts reporting the discovery of enemy vehicles came from the communication channel.
Although the wind and sand here are wrapped in rust and the signal is intermittent, he still heard those key words clearly.
The scout repeated it several times and hung up the phone.
Stan put down the telescope in his hand, adjusted the headset hanging on the side, and ordered in a cold and ruthless voice.
"Attention, all units, the enemy unit is advancing from the south to the G5 area."
"The battle begins!"
The moment the voice fell, a deafening explosion suddenly came from a distance, and a column of smoke slowly rose from the horizon.
Stan's face floated with a slightly stunned expression.
The direction of the smoke...
It seems to be his position?
When he had already ambushed in advance and the scouts had completed the advance search for the enemy, he was actually beaten by the opponent...
How is it possible!
A noisy and chaotic voice came from the headset.
"...This is the 7th team, 'Hunter' and 'Obsidian' were destroyed! We were attacked by a cluster of enemy tanks and need reinforcements!"
"Fuck--"
A deafening gunshot interrupted the voice of the tank commander. The gunner yelled and cursed, while the loader struggled to stuff the shells into the barrel. From the clanging and banging sounds and the rumbling of the coaxial machine guns, it was not difficult to feel the anxiety and chaos of the battle.
When he heard that the "Hunter" was destroyed, Stan's brows finally frowned.
"Hunter" and "Obsidian" were the code names of the No. 3 and No. 4 crews of Squad 7 respectively - a Conqueror No. 10 and No. 11 heavy tanks!
There is no need to say more about the former.
The latter has an equivalent armor thickness of nearly 1.5 meters!
Not only does it have gap interlayers and anti-armor linings, but it also has sandbags as shelters.
Such a "mobile fortress" would not be penetrated by a single shot, right? !
No matter what Squad 7 encountered, now is not the time to hesitate.
Stan had no time to be surprised, and did not say another word. Half of his body immediately retracted into the body of the "Wanderer" tank.
With a sharp electric current sound, the gray-black tank surface seemed to be coated with a transparent film, and the shadow under the gun barrel was even covered with a layer of light frost!
The communication was completely interrupted.
Before the silent state, he handed over the command to the captain of the 1st Armored Motorcycle Thousand-man Squadron directly under the Falcon Kingdom.
And the price he got was almost invincible armor!
Those natives would never have thought that the legion still had this trump card in its hand!
Stan's mouth curled up a cold arc.
Holding the control handle of the artillery with both hands, he calmly turned on the switches of the rangefinder and optical zoom sight, and at the same time looked at the driver sitting in front and ordered.
"Target G5 area--"
"Forward!"
The hunt--
began!
...
In the endless sea of sand, the Alliance's Skeleton Corps and the Falcon Kingdom's Armored Thousand-man Squadron broke out in an encounter.
35 Type 2 tanks and 500 armored grenadiers faced nearly 100 Conqueror tanks and nearly 1,000 light infantrymen who were waiting in defense.
Although the crisis premonition of the perception player and the "thermal vision" of the rich brother helped the Skeleton Corps to discover this ambush in advance, they were able to deploy personnel and equipment urgently before the encounter broke out, avoiding being caught off guard.
But it still couldn't change the difference in numbers between the two sides.
Both sides are the elite of their respective camps, and each has a trump card that the other doesn't know.
This is destined to be a tough battle!
The collision of iron and blood here has just begun, and the fight 200 kilometers away has entered a white-hot stage.
The defenders stationed in the Petra Fortress almost came out in full force, and nearly 20,000 high-spirited soldiers gathered under the command of the Lord of Sean, following the guidance of faith and killing towards the Lost Valley.
All the transportation vehicles in the entire Petra Fortress were temporarily requisitioned. Whether it was motorcycles, trucks, ox carts, or horse carriages, they were all used to transport troops and supplies and to tow artillery. The vast dust was like a rolling sandstorm.
General McLennan was obviously not blind. He quickly noticed the movement in the west, so he immediately sent his troops to form a formation along the wreckage of Highway 7.
The two sides broke out in a fierce exchange of fire in an area 50 kilometers away from the airport.
Since neither side was prepared for this war, the exchange of fire quickly turned into a tragic melee.
The battle line that stretched for more than ten kilometers was full of gunfire and artillery fire.
Both sides could only rely on the general direction to barely distinguish the enemy and us in the gradually falling dusk, and then fire in the direction of the flashing gunfire.
As for the advance and retreat of each unit or defense on the spot, it depends on the small notes occasionally sent by the messenger.
The setting sun lengthened the shadow of the valley, and the entire desert was coated with a layer of blood.
Just as the battle was getting intense, a cuirassiers team of about 1,000 people, led by the captain of the guard of Lord Sean, went around the Zhuobar Mountains to the south of the Lost Valley.
Most of the troops of the Legion and the Falcon Kingdom were pinned down on the east and north sides.
This was the weak link in the defense line, with only a few machine gun positions and sentry towers standing.
They would pierce the softest belly of the beast like a dagger, and then get out from its back, using the explosives and grenades on horseback to destroy the planes parked at the airport on the north side of the camp, or at least the runway...
Accompanying them were the White Bear Knights driving the armed trucks.
"Let's separate here."
The captain of the guard pulled the reins, rode to the front of the truck, looked at the three people and the bear on the truck and continued.
"We will destroy the two planes as much as possible, and as for stopping the ritual of summoning evil spirits, it's up to you!"
Zhimahu, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, nodded seriously.
"Leave it to us... Be careful on the road."
"I will."
The captain of the guard grinned, raised his right fist and knocked on the steel plate breastplate, then pulled the reins to turn the black warhorse around and grabbed the carbine hanging on the horse's back.
No lofty words.
No loud slogans.
He just kicked the horse's belly and rode to the front of the team. Seeing this, more than a thousand cavalrymen behind him followed him tacitly.
Then-
The charge began.
The sound of horse hooves was like thunder rolling on the ground, raising endless dust on the Gobi Desert, and rushing towards the legion's station without hesitation.
"I didn't expect to see cavalry charge in the 24th century..."
Rou Rou's face was full of surprise, and she stared at the north.
"Oh..."
Holding the tail of the machine gun, she also looked at the north, and couldn't help but whispered in surprise.
"... I hope you can come back alive."
Those people made her feel like they were alive.
"It's time for us to act too."
Sissi glanced at the rearview mirror and then at the co-pilot next to her.
After receiving a pair of firm eyes in response, she restarted the truck and headed towards the south side of the Lost Valley.
The Petra Cavalry's target is the defense line on the south side of the Lost Valley and the airport on the north side.
They have only a 50% chance of breaking through this defense line, and this is still in the most optimistic situation.
As for them, their target is the Lost Valley.
Sissi didn't expect that they could receive tasks from the administrator through the official website outside the communication range.
However, the destination of the mission just happened to coincide with the goal of their trip, which was within the ruins of the "river embankment".
Based on the various clues collected, the Legion was looking for something there.
No matter what that thing was, they must not be allowed to find it.
It was quite strange.
The news about Oasis No. 4 and Lost Valley on the official website was basically updated by her alone. Logically, except for the players, the NPCs of the Alliance would not know what happened here.
Can NPCs also access the Internet?
If so, this game is too "real"...
...
On the north side of the Lost Valley, in the tent of the Legion's headquarters.
General McLen was standing in front of a strategic map and a radio station, commanding the deployment and dispatch of frontline troops.
The soldiers of the Camelback Kingdom were no match for the Falcon Kingdom. Both sides were not on the same level in terms of military theory or organization.
The only advantage of the former was probably the piety of faith, and this advantage was often difficult to play a role on the front battlefield.
The Petra Fortress, with only nearly 20,000 men, could not be his opponent.
Although everything was still under his control, he still felt uneasy when his feet were on the ground.
Unfortunately, it would take a little time to get the airship back.
Thinking of this, McLen couldn't help but curse in his heart.
It was not until now that he came to his senses. He seemed to be used as a gun by that skunk.
He was obviously here to find the shield core of the Titan!
As long as he secretly took the core away, and then turned it into a weapon and fired at the Iron Heart, he could make that thing fall from the sky.
As a result, Griffin suddenly threw an order to him, insisting that he build an airport.
Although he was very happy to drop a nuclear bomb on the Alliance, it was another matter to become a front line because of it.
Now it's good.
The Alliance has seen through the skunk's lame plan, and somehow persuaded the Hump Kingdom, which is sitting on the fence.
Now there are only one or two 10,000-man troops, which is not difficult to deal with.
But what about later?
Since the plan of nuclear strike has been seen through, the Alliance must have sent troops to advance here. The nuclear bomb dropped on Qingquan City will not be able to annihilate those troops together.
Not only that, the troops sent out so far are only the garrison of Petra Fortress, and the Oasis No. 4 next door has nearly 100,000 standing troops stationed!
No matter how elite the Falcon Kingdom troops trained by the Legion are, they are not supermen who can fight ten people at once.
At that time, he may have to escape by plane again...
"It's time." The pilot in the command post looked at his watch again.
In fact, there is still some time before the planned time, but staying here always makes him feel strongly uneasy.
McLen waved his hand.
"Go quickly... Go quickly and come back quickly."
The pilot nodded, picked up the helmet on the table, and walked out of the tent.
The escort wingman had taken off under his command. After confirming that the nearby airspace was safe, the H-55 "Hurricane" carrying nuclear warheads would take off soon.
At the same time as the pilot left the command post, an officer trotted in, saluted beside General McLennan, and reported loudly.
"Report! A cavalry unit appeared to our south!"
Staring at the strategic map on the table, McLennan ordered calmly.
"Move the five wheeled reconnaissance vehicles in the camp over, and notify Weiss to take the motorbike 100 in the camp to the southern position for support immediately! Be sure to prevent them from approaching the runway of the airport!"
"Yes!"
The officer saluted and trotted out immediately.
Watching the back disappearing at the door, McLennan felt a little relieved.
He had kept this unit in his hands and had not sent it to the front line, just to guard against the sneak attacks of the natives.
Those barbarians really came!
Cavalry?
McLen sneered.
He would let those people know how stupid it was to go against the Legion.
However, at this moment, the air defense alarm suddenly sounded outside the tent.
McLen was slightly stunned, and once suspected that he had heard it wrong.
Apart from here, where else is there an airport nearby?
At this time, an officer lifted the curtain of the tent and walked in quickly from outside.
McLen read the severity of the situation from the panicked face.
Before he could ask, the officer reported quickly.
"There is a plane approaching us-"
"Is it from the Alliance or the Enterprise?" McLen grabbed his collar and asked hurriedly, "Where is our plane? Has it taken off?"
A series of questions made the officer's scalp numb.
Looking at the nose that was almost poking into his eyes, he shook his head nervously.
"I... don't know."