Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 940 - 933: Striking at Morale

Chapter 940: Chapter 933: Striking at Morale

"Fula, Fula, notify Feng to intercept them, don’t let them regroup, they’re trying to break out and fight a positional battle!" Cheng Ziang saw the situation and quickly shouted the command, but his call was in vain, as Fulajie’er did not respond to him.

This group of mercenaries was entirely different from those the Advance Team had encountered before; even with heavy losses, even with their leader killed, their morale had not collapsed. Their retreat, although somewhat chaotic, was not a rout.

Once these people escaped the ambush of the pocket formation and then concentrated their forces to break through one by one, the Advance Team would actually be very passive.

Although they could rely on their super mobility devices to maneuver quickly and contain the enemy, the sheer number of the enemy, along with their relatively high combat proficiency, made it difficult for the Advance Team members to scatter them using kite-flying tactics. On the contrary, their ammunition issue would become very urgent.

Before, they had thought they could attack these people with guerilla tactics to wear down their morale, but given the current situation, such an idea seemed far too naive.

The level of these opponents was completely different from previous enemies they had encountered; it was very difficult to repeat old tricks and completely deplete their morale.

So Cheng Ziang’s idea was to annihilate the enemies in the pocket formation as quickly as possible, not to let them make contact with the follow-up troops, because these people had already basically grasped the Advance Team’s deployment and the strength of their firepower. Once the two sides started communicating, the enemy’s follow-up troops would be able to target them for a counterattack, and by then, things would really become tricky—predictably, the Advance Team might become the one forced to retreat.

However, fortunately, at this time, Fulajie’er was not slacking off; she was reporting the current battle situation to Luo’er. According to her briefing, Luo’er also immediately realized this point.

"The problem is a bit troubling," Luo’er said, bracing himself against the table and then staring at the map, "The enemy seems to be making contact with their follow-up troops, breaking out of the pocket formation to establish a battle line. Their weapons and equipment are not bad, and we are also at a numerical disadvantage. Once they establish a battle line and stand off against us, it will be very unfavorable for us."

"These people are joining up with their main force; they know the firepower of the Advance Team. Once the two groups merge and exchange information, our disadvantages will be exposed to the enemy, and by then we might have to retreat," Tangmo nodded and said thoughtfully.

"Moumou, go pack up our gear, we need to prepare for the worst-case scenario. If the ambush fails, everyone must immediately break contact and retreat into the deep mountains," Luo’er directed Tangmo.

"I understand," Tangmo nodded and then left the room.

"Fula," Luo’er turned to Fulajie’er and then sighed, "You shouldn’t have reported the situation to me; Ziang must have also realized that something was off. You should have listened to his opinion."

"Yes, I’m sorry, I, I was thinking..." Fulajie’er immediately became flustered after being reprimanded by Luo’er.

"No, it’s not your fault, it was I who asked you to return periodically to report the situation," Luo’er waved his hand, paused, and continued, "Go back to the battlefield immediately, tell Feng to intercept these people at all costs. Right now, we can only rely on her. As long as Feng can kill off the majority of those retreating, then the enemy might lose the confidence to confront us, no matter what. We cannot annihilate everyone, depleting their morale is the best strategy."

"I know, I’ll go right away!" Fulajie’er replied emphatically, nodding vigorously, and then vanished into thin air.

Thanks to her ethereal form, Fulajie’er’s speed flying through the air was extraordinarily fast; if search time was disregarded, she could reach Feng’s side in the blink of an eye.

"Feng!" Fulajie’er struggled to manifest her body and then called out loudly.

"Oh!" Feng, clutching his knife and crouched behind a tree trunk, looked up at her as he heard her voice.

"Kill them all!" Fulajie’er didn’t waste words, directly conveying Luo’er’s instructions.

"Received!" Feng nodded, then stood up from the ground, her eyes immediately sharpening.

With the help of high-mobility gear, Feng took only a few light steps to appear in front of the retreating enemies. Faced with this suddenly appearing, sword-wielding girl, these men were first taken aback, then raised their guns to shoot at her.

Although they were semi-automatic rifles, these people still managed to fire at a fully automatic rate, sending a dense barrage of bullets at Feng, enough to riddle her with holes.

However, what happened next was shocking enough to make their eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. An invisible barrier formed in front of the girl, and the bullets and missiles they shot did not hit their target, instead being caught by the shield and suspended densely in mid-air.

"I’ll cover you. Go!" Fulajie’er shouted to Feng.

As her spells ceased, the bullets hovering in mid-air clattered to the ground; the still-warm bullet casings melted holes into the snowy ground as they fell.

"Break!" Feng uttered coldly.

With a sudden swing of her long sword, she executed an upward diagonal slash. The moment the blade’s edge reached its peak, the men felt a chilling sensation through their bodies, followed by a scene that horrified them.

Their bodies were slowly separating and falling to the ground. The man at the very front watched in horror as his upper and lower halves parted ways; as his upper body slid into the snow, he could even see his lower half standing erect before him.

With just a single strike, their defenses were as nothing before Feng’s technique, slicing through them as easily as cutting tofu.

In the blink of an eye, all the men that appeared before Feng had fallen into the snow, their bodies bisected, staining the snow with their blood. Some of their weapons were also sliced in two, exposing the mechanical structure inside.

Nearly all the men did not have a chance to make a sound before they just stared blankly, and it took a while before those who died realized the intense pain from their segmented bodies, and then finally, exhausted screams were heard.

Soon, several more enemies approached Feng, and with a backhanded swing, their heads hit the snowy ground before they could even utter a sound. Their bodies, still unresponsive, stumbled forward a few steps before collapsing into the snow, their blood soaking into it, creating a chilling sight.

The enemies who had entered this battlefield finally realized the existence of Feng, akin to a death god. But their attacks were futile, for no matter how they fired, Fulajie’er intercepted the bullets.

Fulajie’er’s shield magic could adjust its hardness and softness, so it could directly intercept and capture the bullets instead of simply bouncing them away like traditional shield magic.

With their attacks proving ineffective and their comrades dying gruesomely, and with continued enemy fire from behind, the crushing weight of it all finally broke the spirit of these enemies caught in the encirclement. They no longer had the courage to resist and began to scatter like birds and beasts, throwing away their weapons.

"Good, just like that, let them go. Let them disrupt the morale of the main troops," Fulajie’er said with satisfaction, though she dared not look directly at the battlefield akin to a charnel ground.

By then, she probably also understood Luo’er’s and the Advance Team’s combat strategy, which was to strike at the enemy’s morale, forcing them to lose the courage to resist and thus retreat. This was more convenient than killing them all, and the method was much gentler.

So letting these fleeing enemies go was not a concern; they would not be able to regroup and communicate with the larger force. They had already lost their morale and could easily influence the enemy’s main troops, achieving unexpectedly effective results.

It was like in the Battle of Fei River, where the routed soldiers who shouted "our army has been defeated" spread panic. If these men were lucky enough to return to their main force, they would likely have the same effect.