CHAPTER 860: CHAPTER 860: THE ALLIANCE’S IRON CAVALRY!

"Wasteland OL" Official Website.

Canyon Escaping Mole: "...Ahem! Did the server go down for maintenance just now, guys?"

Quit smoking: "???"

Tail:

Edge Shoveling: "What??"

Fang Chang: "Generally, we call this scenario a resurrection cooldown."

Makabazi: "Hahaha! That’s hilarious!"

Spring Water Commander: "Bro, you okay? (Funny)"

I Max Black: "If it really doesn’t work out, just let us take over. (Grin)"

Canyon Escaping Mole: "Scram, scram, scram, everyone makes mistakes... MMP! This sure was unlucky!"

Fang Chang: "Indeed, everyone has their off days, but at least Brother Mole’s team is still online, so it shouldn’t be a big issue."

Night Ten: "Is it just my imagination or has a similar conversation happened before? (Funny)"

Elena: "You should ask, which day haven’t we had similar conversations? (Funny)"

Gnome King Riches: "This game is too real. (Funny)"

Canyon Escaping Mole: "Whoa, how come you two came down too?!"

Elena: "Just here to tease you, heading back right away. (Funny)"

Gnome King Riches: "Fare thee well, Commander! (Funny)"

Canyon Escaping Mole: "@#&@!"

...

As it turns out, flaunting won’t get you struck by lightning, but underestimating one’s enemy will definitely cause problems.

The 34th squad of the Southern Army, though merely a "Mechanized Infantry Brigade" and caught off guard due to lack of good luck, was not the easy squashable group Mole imagined it to be.

In fact, one could say the mechanized infantry that coordinated with artillery were their true aces compared to their somewhat unfamiliar use of armored troops!

Being a reserve unit only defines their strategic role, not their capabilities as rookies.

Time rolled back to half an hour ago.

Horn Number had already been deployed to the frontline, and the 30th squad led by Commander Ryan was advancing triumphantly whilst the 34th squad had to rely on its reconnaissance team and regularly patrolling recon aircraft to locate enemies.

In fact, with the war reaching this stage, capturing Lion City was no longer any challenge. No one in the Southern Army doubted they would conquer the entire Lion State before month’s end, forcing Poluo Country to sign a truce, then focusing on the Mammoth Nation occupying the Northern Three States.

Under such circumstances, the 34th squad naturally wasn’t worried about a Poluo Country land force counterattack, focusing instead on those annoying tunnels and "rat holes".

However, fate had it that while they were playing whack-a-mole, they unexpectedly ran into the Skeleton Corps who had rushed to the southern Reedbull County.

The two sides made contact on a gentle slope where forest meets farmland.

The 34th squad of the Southern Army immediately paid the price for their carelessness.

The unfortunate ten "Greyhound" recon cars had barely spotted the iron flood before their armor was shattered by incoming 155mm high-explosive shells.

The players chose high-explosive shells over armor-piercing specifically to prevent "over-penetration".

The armor thickness of the "Greyhound" recon cars was akin to paper before Alliance’s Type Three Tanks; one shell causes two holes, with destructive effects possibly lesser than that of high-explosive shells.

Destroying ten armored units upon first contact, the players of the Skeleton Corps were greatly boosted in morale!

Mole immediately ordered an advance, planning to collaborate with the goblin corps’ air force brothers to devour the entire brigade.

However, the Weilante people on the opposing side were no pushovers either.

Having taken a sudden hit, Commander Gibson of the 34th squad quickly snapped to attention, calling for air support while issuing combat orders.

Moreover, this guy employed a cunning tactic, splitting two mechanized thousand teams to unload infantry and anti-tank gear from armored troop carriers, dispatching them to ambush in dugouts and rat holes excavated by Poluo soldiers, and deployed self-propelled artillery and light tanks behind these dugouts.

It must be said, this tactic was indeed somewhat effective.

Although those "rat holes" were narrow for the Weilante people, they could still squeeze in somehow.

High-explosive shell’s blast zones primarily spread upward, causing limited damage to targets below ground level.

When the Skeleton Corps entered the range of the scouts’ sight, the Weilante infantry hiding in rat holes immediately reported positions and called for long-range bombardment using radio communications.

Fifty-two "Fire Crossbow" self-propelled artillery first launched a barrage, raining dense shells onto the 1st battalion of the Skeleton Corps.

In truth, with the Type Three tank’s protection, unless directly hit by a shell, it’s not too concerned about long-range fire. At this distance, striking the tank with indirect fire was akin to winning the lottery.

Yet by sheer coincidence, someone was really that unlucky.

A 200mm capped armor-piercing grenade struck Mole Old Brother’s vehicle squarely, penetrating through the weak top cap, resulting in a deadly explosion.

From the moment the shell pierced the armor to its detonation, the entire process took less than a second, leaving Mole no time to react before he was already offline.

Simultaneously, an air squadron urgently took off from West Sail Port and arrived on the battlefield, dropping bombs weighing 100kg downwards.

Thankfully, the goblin corps departing from Tiandu’s airstrip also joined the fray, preventing the Skeleton Corps from becoming sitting targets.

"Dagger" engagements against 200 "Mosquito-style" squadrons, both sides clashed fiercely under and above the clouds.

And while the intense aerial battle raged on, four "Thunder" fighters launched from Jinjaron Harbor and six "Peidao" from Evernight Harbor also joined the engagement.

The former were next-gen aircraft from the Alliance, incorporating advanced yet unstable plasma thrusters.

The latter were elder statesmen used by the army for over a century, despite employing outdated jet engines, the technical advancements and manufacturing were close to the pinnacle of "chemical power engines".

The choice for jet-engines wasn’t due to "path dependency", but rather the rarity in the wasteland of a force like the Army opting for supersonic aircraft, except for corporations and the Alliance.

Its missiles cost much more than those from propeller planes, and limited ammo capacity wasn’t favored by neither the army nor their air force, only rarely utilized during ceremonies.

Previously in the Luo Xia Province, Falling Feather piloted the "Soaring Clouds" fighter against this machine, barely winning by merging with Xiaoyu.

However, now neither he nor Xiaoyu, nor the Alliance’s aircraft were at their previous level,

let alone four vs six, even solo against six! He was confident of trying again three days later!

With both hands on the control stick, taking a deep breath, Falling Feather immersed his consciousness into the biological body suit.

Xiaoyu’s sub-entity spread throughout the cockpit.

Thanks to these "biomass sensors," he could even perceive the gusts brushing the canopy and the vibration at the wingtips!

The entire aircraft seemed to merge with him!

His "vision" transcended clouds, seemingly "seeing" the enemy pilot’s heartbeats and breaths as a missile skimmed the cloud’s edge approaching him.

Without a trace of fear, his chest instead burned with a boiling battle spirit.

When he fought against the Torch Church before, their flying units barely reached a speed of 200 yards.

Finally, there’s a worthy opponent!

"Xiaoyu, get ready!"

With the missile radar powered on, a gentle call came from deep within the sea of consciousness.

"Yiw!"

Traces of long trail lights flickered up and down in the air, with occasional air-to-air missiles whistling past, and from time to time a plane turned into a ball of fire, falling together with parachutes.

Those were mainly the parachutes of the Weilante people.

The pilots of the Goblin Corps didn’t need such a thing, and Mosquito never equipped them with one.

The battle in the sky gradually entered a white-hot stage, and it was difficult to determine the winner for a while.

At the same time, the ground battle continued.

Although Brother Mole received his "boxed lunch" at the start, the command system of the Skeleton Corps didn’t collapse because of it. Instead, it made the commanders of the subsequent vehicles laugh.

"Damn, that luck of Mole is too damn good."

"How could he hit this?! Must be cheating!"

"The dog plan adjusted the difficulty."

"The consequence of not doing proper business, got sanctioned."

The communication channel was full of cheerful air; many people seized the chance to curse a bit during Mole’s absence.

However, the battle continued, and the group didn’t waste all their time chatting, quickly shifting their focus back to the battlefield.

Even if it’s just to avenge Brother Mole, they have to show some real skill!

Elena quickly took over command, shouting into the communication channel.

"...anti-aircraft company, did you see anything nearby up close? Like drones or something."

A response quickly came through the communication channel.

"No! Not to mention a drone, there isn’t even a bird nearby."

The enemy air force was still engaged in a dogfight with the Goblin Corps, temporarily unable to take care of this place.

Elena nodded slightly.

"Very well... it seems that the enemy’s ’eyes’ and radio are hidden just in front of us."

It was a chance encounter, without much time for advanced deployment.

In such a short time, it’s unlikely that the 34th squad had the time to deploy infantry on the flanks in their direction of advance.

Especially since such behavior risks exposing their artillery to the enemy armored forces.

Having figured out the opponent’s deployment roughly, Elena immediately made a judgment and issued a series of orders through the communication channel.

"Support company, take note! Head to the marked position on the map and deploy independently, await further instructions."

"First and second armored battalions swing left, third armored faces right, aiming for enemy self-propelled artillery and light armor units, watch out for enemy anti-tank weapons. Fifth mechanized infantry battalion, cover the fourth battalion as they continue to advance!"

All battalion leaders: "Received!"

After a pause, Elena continued her orders.

"Additionally, air defense company, lower the high cannon! Push up your FK and fire a couple salvos at anything that looks like it’s hiding someone or has a dugout!"

FK-1 "Defender" Crew: "Received!"

With each order issued, the Skeleton Corps immediately shifted their formation for advancing.

The vanguard units switched from Type-Three main battle tanks to Chimera armored vehicles, while the heavy armor dispersed on both flanks charged straight towards the artillery positions of the 34th squad like two giant axes.

The Skeleton Corps’ assault didn’t fall into chaos because they lost their commander.

Rather, it’s because of the confidence that "even if I am gone, the Skeleton Corps can still fight," that Mole dared to charge at the forefront with the command vehicle on the battlefield.

Each main battle tank was equipped with an "offline operator," replacing the position of the communicator, responsible for relaying offline deployments online for strategic deployment. And online communications were handled by the tank commander, liaising with other crews in real-time.

This was the experience they summarized from the Battle of Falling Leaves.

Not to mention losing a commander, even if the entire reinforced regiment suffers a strategic-level EMP strike, communication between crews and crews could still proceed relatively real-time.

Upon discovering the motions of the Allied armored forces, the ten-thousand leader Gibson of the 34th squad felt a rush of trouble.

Hit by artillery, they didn’t charge hastily towards the infantry’s positions but chose to sidestep the frontal positions from both sides.

Seeing the air force still unable to effectively deploy, with the enemy’s armored units rapidly approaching, Gibson could only grit his teeth and order a withdrawal of the deployed self-propelled artillery, letting the nearby armored troop carriers follow suit.

As for the over three thousand soldiers left behind, they were told to take cover in place.

After all, in such a vast area, it would be pretty challenging for the Alliance to locate them all, and it’s unlikely they would waste so much time searching.

Though standing in the position of the commander, Gibson did indeed make the right judgment, but in doing so, left the infantry tasked with ambushing tanks as sacrificial pawns.

Deprived of support firepower and the protection of light armor, the over three thousand scattered soldiers instantly became orphans in the positions.

After discovering the enemy stopped firing, Elena immediately issued orders to the support company that had completed deployment on their side, releasing guiding drones to blast three rounds of incendiary bombs on the suspected areas.

Blazing flames swept across the wilderness, though not massive, yet effective against the Weilante soldiers hiding in the burrows.

Hefty in build, the cramped burrows were already a tight fit, and the flames consumed the oxygen above ground, forcing many to escape, while some suffocated miserably underground.

Seeing that the burn was about enough, Elena shouted "disembark," then led over three hundred brothers from the fourth battalion off the vehicle, progressing forward in groups with Chimera armored cars.

Ever since the Battle of Skulls, all mechanized infantry in the Skeleton Corps have been re-equipped with Type-Five lightweight exoskeletons, which have both mobility and defensive power.

Spotting the enemy halt firing, Elena immediately instructed the now deployed support company to fire three rounds of incendiary bombs at areas suspected of hiding personnel.

Raging flames burned across the plains. Although not extensive, it consumed the oxygen on the ground, forcing some to crawl out, unable to withstand it.

Bullets converged like rain, slicing through the air with a swishing sound as they were shot at each glimpse of movement.

7mm full-power bullets pierced the helmet, leaving the once hidden enemy sprawled like a potato stuck at the edge of a dugout, silenced.

Instead of inducing fear, the sight of their fallen comrade incited a primal fury among the Weilante.

Gunfire echoed continuously across the fields, but however fierce their return fire was, it paled in comparison to the 37mm cannon of the Chimera armored vehicle.

"""

"Three o’clock direction! Hit hard with high-explosive bombs! We’ll keep an eye on the tubes!"

Elena hammered the car door twice with her fist, then mounted her rifle on the front armor side of the armored car, aiming at a guy crawling out of a dugout with an anti-tank rocket launcher and pulled the trigger.

With a few short bursts of gunfire, the guy fell to the ground before he could even reload.

The enemy commander clearly underestimated the size of these dugouts and the bulk of his own soldiers and equipment.

The Poluo could fire RPGs from these dugouts, but the Weilante people could barely fit in, let alone reload an anti-tank rocket launcher, which required them to crawl out for operation.

Perhaps switching to cheaper, disposable "Iron Fist" rocket launchers might be better.

After all, against lightly armored targets, the armor-piercing ability of different shaped charges hardly matters.

The anti-tank infantry was easily taken care of by Elena, and his team’s Chimera armored car, used as cover, also focused on those soft targets firing rifles.

The 37mm cannon fired bang bang bang, shell casings clanging on the armored car’s turret and body. Within a few breaths, most of the Weilante infantry in front of them were dead or injured.

Meanwhile, the FK-1 "Defender" behind the group was also moving forward.

The 20mm "Red Dot" rapid-fire cannon, designed from a destroyer’s close-in weapon system, aimed at the muddy black ground ahead, suddenly unleashed a sewing machine-like roar.

The dense barrage of bullets, like a raging storm, swept over the rows of dugouts ahead, tearing up the very ground, reducing the vehicle’s mass by 6% in just a few minutes.

Although these electromagnetically accelerated light mass bullets weren’t very penetrating, they unexpectedly worked wonders against soft soil.

Where high-explosive shell fragments couldn’t penetrate, these directional metal spheres easily did, even punching through those dugouts.

The enemy’s breakthrough fell silent instantly, and Elena cautiously fired a few shots. Discovering no response, she moved forward with Old Wang and another brother.

Upon reaching the nearest dugout, she found it completely buried by collapsed soil, with the mound covering it dotted with numerous small holes, like a honeycomb.

"Damn... this is bloody miserable."

Clicking her tongue, Elena overcame her discomfort, removed the engineer shovel from her exoskeleton, dug open the buried dugout, and took a photo of the pit.

It’s not for his morbid curiosity.

Confirming the weapon’s destructive effect is part of the combat mission, given that it’s the FK-1 "Defender’s" battlefield debut.

Seeing the bloody pulp, even Old Wang, seasoned with hellish sights, couldn’t help but feel his stomach churn, muttering a complaint.

"...Can’t even salvage the equipment."

"At this point, it’s probably unnecessary anyway."

Ever since the alliance’s industrial development, they’ve rarely used captured equipment.

Those items are usually given to newcomers for transition, or sold to interested Waste Land Wanderers, or handed to Huge Rock Military Industry for study.

Elena silently chanted "Amitabha" and covered the bloody pit back up.

Too grisly.

This game always shows unnecessary realism in inexplicable places. No wonder Ah Guang won’t let kids play.

If Lord Arrogant Brother saw this, wouldn’t he be scared to wet himself on the spot?

Elsewhere, the aerial battle seemed to be nearing its end.

The Southern Legion’s Third Air Squadron was showing signs of defeat, even the ace pilot, who claimed to down ten alliance planes in the "Port Defense Battle," was defeated, becoming a horizontal stroke in Feng Qing’s cockpit tally.

Falling Feather also had an impressive battle record, downing two out of six "Peidao" fighter jets.

Two more were taken down by teammates.

Though the price was one-for-one, it was not a big deal!

The initial advantage turned to stalemate, and the remaining two "Peidao" chose to retreat.

With limited ammunition, Falling Feather didn’t choose to pursue but covered another damaged allied plane, returning toward Jinjaron Harbor.

In terms of acceleration, the early-stage plasma engine indeed couldn’t compete with the mature chemical engines, with its main advantages in endurance and stability.

After the air battle ended, Mosquito similarly didn’t pursue the retreating Southern Legion Third Air Squadron but led the remaining thirty-nine planes to pounce on the 34th squad retreating towards the northern railway.

His plane’s ammunition wasn’t even depleted; going home like that would be too unfortunate.

Although he didn’t bring any air-dropped bombs this sortie, it didn’t stop him from using the 20mm cannons to create some trouble for the Weilante fleeing with tails between their legs.

"Brothers! Ignore the armored cars, target those transport vehicles for me!"

Shouting into the communication channel, Mosquito pulled down the goggles on his head and dived down with a yell.

With the trigger pressed, two 20mm cannons spat fire, blasting the head of an armored troop carrier.

The Weilante soldiers in the rear compartment hurriedly jumped out, scattering into the nearby woods under the officer’s urging.

The once orderly convoy descended into chaos instantly, some enraged Weilante grabbed assault rifles and submachine guns, firing into the sky, not even scratching the plane’s shadow.

"Using a submachine gun on me? Are you crazy? Haha—what the hell!?"

A light crack sounded, suddenly adding a bullet hole in the cockpit’s glass.

Just as Mosquito was feeling himself, he was startled, quickly pulling the control stick to lift the nose up.

Thirty-nine propeller planes took turns swooping down, almost destroying all still-moving transport vehicles, disabling or removing the tires. Only some unrecoverable armored cars and light tanks remained on the ground.

The Skeleton Corps brothers would deal with those things.

With the last round of ammunition spent, their mission was complete.

As Mosquito Brother led his brothers heading back to Tiandu, three armored battalions of the Skeleton Corps had already caught up with the fleeing 34th squad.

The entire ten thousand troops were almost sorted out.

Except for the fifty-two "Fire Crossbow" self-propelled guns, which escaped with their thick armor, almost all the remaining soldiers, due to losing transport, were forced to scatter into the mountains and forests.

It’s a pity Old Na’s two mechanized infantry brigades didn’t keep up; otherwise, they might have captured the entire opposing division-level combat unit.

However, Old Na couldn’t be fully blamed for this.

After all, he didn’t expect those Weilante to be so stubborn, unwilling to surrender even when orphaned.

Three thousand big-nosed with nearly half a division’s anti-tank equipment, hiding in the fifteen-kilometer-long battlefield.

Even if he exhausted the entire regiment’s ammunition, he might still not clear out those three thousand scattered soldiers.

Lack of manpower is a significant disadvantage.

Two battalions only totaled about 600 men, trying to sweep a ten-plus-kilometer line was like finding a needle in a haystack.

The most crucial point is that their current position counts as behind enemy lines; stopping would risk encirclement.

The opponents clearly understood this, refusing to surrender unless directly threatened, so calling out was ineffective.

Elena couldn’t help but wonder in her heart, who the hell are the ground squirrels here anyway?

We can’t just ignore these people, or this unit will definitely bite us when we retreat.

Just when Old Na was in a dilemma, a few horses suddenly approached from a distance.

Hearing the sound of hoofbeats, he instinctively aimed his rifle over, but saw the other party raise his hand.

"Alliance brothers, don’t shoot! It’s us!"

After saying this, the person pulled on the reins and then dismounted in one swift motion.

Elena eyed the man in civilian clothes and lowered the barrel of her gun.

"Who are you?"

The man, face radiant and respectful, straightened up and gave a military salute.

"Commander of the 110,000th Squad of Poluo Country! Yakale!"

Goodness.

A commander coming to a frontline place like this? Can you revive every three days?

Elena gave him a surprised glance and then looked at the soldiers who dismounted with him.

"Where’s your unit? Just a few of you?"

Yakale quickly explained.

"Our troop is nearby. Commander Udonuo assigned me to conduct guerrilla warfare in this area! Hearing gunfire, I rode ahead first. My men are running behind, they’ll be here in about ten minutes."

The Poluo Army lacks vehicles, and most soldiers rely on their legs for mobility.

When facing the mechanized troops, their reinforcement speed is far slower than the opponents’ speeding vehicles. Often, before the corpse of a friend is cold, they are still running on the road.

Because of this, the Southern Legion doesn’t take this 200,000-strong army seriously.

Units unable to reach the battlefield on time are useless no matter their numbers.

It’s probably out of this helplessness that the frontline commander of Poluo Country sent this troop for guerrilla warfare.

Although Elena thought that with their level of communication—a hundred people sharing one radio—it wouldn’t be long before the centurion couldn’t find the centurion, but they had no better option now.

At this moment, a thought struck him, and he asked the officer in front of him.

"How many of you are there?"

Yakale confidently said.

"Apart from us, there are another 10,000 or so! We can take your command!"

"Excellent!"

Elena joyfully patted his shoulder, then glanced at the "potato field" behind them and continued.

"These big-noses are hiding in their rat holes and refuse to come out. We can’t persuade them, so take your men and find them. They have radios, and although on the same frequency as the Southern Legion, with some code words, you’ll manage."

Not just radios, but also exoskeletons and rocket launchers and things like that.

Though he looked down on those things, the Poluo Army wouldn’t be picky.

Sure enough, upon hearing his words, Yakale’s face instantly lit up with delight, and he excitedly took the order.

"Leave it to us! I promise to bring them all out!"

"Alright, it’s up to you!" Elena smiled, patting his shoulder, and reminded, "Act quickly because you never know when their reinforcements will arrive. Once you have the equipment, head south. It’s too late to go to Lion City anyway."

After leaving a grateful Yakale, Elena waited for the Poluo Army to come and hand over the "potato field" to them.

They can refuse to surrender; he also felt it troublesome to bring along prisoners.

Silently praying for those stubborn Weilante young men, Old Na then led everyone, escorting the hooded prisoners back to the vehicle.

The logistics company would process these captured prisoners and send them to the rear POW camp.

"Battalion Four, Battalion Five, along with Support and Anti-Air Companies, focus on the north railroad! Advance!"

The rumbling wheels pressed on, advancing through the rear of the Southern Legion’s eastern line troops.

Unfortunately, the local victories didn’t change the overall situation of the battle.

While the Skeleton Corps was engaged in fierce crossfire around the armored train with the 350,000-strong returning forces along the railway, the 300,000-strong unit led by Commander Ryan had already pierced through the northeastern defenses of Reed Bull County and kicked open the gates of Lion City.

Facing the joint attack of three 10,000-strong units of the Southern Legion and an Iron Airship, the six 10,000-strong units of Poluo Country stationed outside the city were battered and disoriented, retreating into the city to prepare for street battles.

Udonuo had already evacuated some civilians, and some realized the trouble and fled on their own.

However, Lion City with over a million residents wasn’t easy to empty.

More so, not just Absek harbored fantasies about the Weilante people.

Even having witnessed the West Sail Port massacre, some Poluo people still believed the dead Poluo people deserved it, and that the Southern Legion’s "decisiveness" was justified.

Upon hearing about the defeat of the 34th Squad, Ryan’s reaction was unexpectedly calm. He didn’t even get angry with Commander Gibson, who reported, and simply made quiet deployments.

At this stage of the war, even the most naive Weilante wouldn’t think their opponents were those filthy Poluo people.

The real opposition was the Alliance.

Facing a historical enemy, momentary setbacks aren’t shameful, and losing two battles doesn’t change their overwhelmingly advancing momentum.

However, since the local survivors chose to side with the remnants of the War Construction Committee against the Weilante people, they couldn’t blame him for being ruthless...

On the command vehicle.

Watching the settlement shrouded in black smoke on the holographic screen, Commander Ryan issued an order to the "Horn" airship without any expression.

"Move your airship over the southern urban district of Lion City."

The captain of the Horn understood his intent and didn’t find it problematic, but couldn’t help feeling whether it was too extreme.

They didn’t need a ruin.

Such things littered the Great Desert, and no one would take them even if given for free.

"Does this have any meaning? What’s left are remnants. If you’re worried about casualties among our soldiers, we could release a round of ’dogs’; they are cheaper than shells."

The so-called ’dogs’ referred to those without military numbers in the Glory Army.

Ryan didn’t bother explaining, and coldly responded.

"Do as I say."

He needed to crush the local resistance, making them understand the consequences of opposing the Southern Legion.

The captain of the Horn sighed and refrained from further objection.

"Alright...ahem, I mean, as you command."