This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 312 Of Course We Fly There!

Chapter 312: Chapter 312 Of Course We Fly There!

"Boom—!"

Early in the morning.

Artillery shells fell one after another, kicking up billowing dust from the central to southern parts of the pine forest.

Watching the smoke billow from the highlands two kilometers away, Bear Tooth holding a telescope in his hand, coldly chuckled and waved his hand forward.

The eager Centurion waiting by the side immediately chambered his rifle and called his brothers to move forward.

"Brothers, follow me!"

A crowd of Looters, rifles in hand, excitedly howled.

"Chop off their heads!"

"Awoooo!"

Though he shouted the loudest, the Centurion did not charge to the front line but cleverly let a few of his deputies, each leading a squad, take the lead.

A group of about 120 people was divided into three echelons—left, center, and right—each consisting of four squads of ten, moving forward quickly under the cover of the pine trees.

According to previous intelligence, a Claw of Death lurked within the pine forest, and brothers stationed at the northern outpost had heard its roar.

Everyone widened their eyes, both because their artillery had blown the enemy’s positions sky high and because they did not dare to lower their guard.

At the same time, on the battlefield just plowed by artillery fire, two little players slowly poked their heads out of a trench.

"Damn... my ears are almost deafened." The player nicknamed Silver Sword cursed and spat out the dirt-filled saliva.

Crouching nearby, Silver Daddy stretched his neck to peek outside, his mouth non-stop.

"How many did they fire just now? Did you count?"

Silver Sword thought for a moment.

"Not sure... about twenty?"

Silver Daddy pursed his lips.

"Tsk, paupers!"

They stopped fire after just 20 shots.

As if they could drop two hundred!

Weaklings!

The previous round of bombardment, though fierce, hadn’t much affected the players on duty at the position.

Thanks to Brother Fang Chang’s godlike foresight, he had anticipated that the Ya Clan would dishonorably shell their position; therefore, everyone had dug anti-cannon holes in the trenches in advance.

When the first shell fell in the forest in front of the position, the players crouched in the trenches immediately hid in the holes.

By the time those Looters had corrected their artillery fire to hit their position, there was no one left in the trenches.

Those anti-cannon holes, dug into the trenches, were five to six meters deep, and their walls and ceilings were reinforced with logs as thick as thighs. Despite the thunderous bombardment outside, it caused no actual harm to the players inside.

After all, the 100mm artillery was still too weak.

Doubling the caliber and charge might make a difference.

Meanwhile, players from the Burning Corps seated around the edges of the anti-cannon hole and resting, one by one opened their eyes, waking up from sleep.

Startled by those suddenly opened eyes, Silver Hand, squatting at the entrance of the hole, exclaimed in surprise.

"Dang, you guys logged on so quickly? I was about to go down and call you."

Fang Chang shook his groggy head, looking at the dust on his lap, immediately understanding what had happened, and calmly asked.

"What’s the situation outside now?"

Silver Hand quickly replied.

"The enemy showered us with dozens of shells, about seven or eight landed on our position, but we hid just in time, no casualties!"

"Having shells hit our position accurately, there must be Looter observers nearby..." Swiftly making a judgment, Old White immediately looked towards Night Ten to his side, "Night Ten, go check the nearby mountain, and also see if anyone’s coming from our north."

Night Ten, having removed his helmet visor, already consciously grabbed the sniper rifle and backpack off the ground.

"Roger that! Wild Wind, let’s go."

"Hmm."

Wild Wind, as always of few words, nodded, picked up the rifle and drone backpack resting next to him, and bent down as he moved toward the hole’s entrance.

The two left the anti-cannon hole.

Fang Chang moved to the observation port and glanced outside.

"... the bombardment has stopped, the enemy is likely planning to charge."

The slope’s pine forest was silent, morning light filtering through the tree cracks. If not for those shell craters emitting wisps of heat, few would associate this place with a battlefield.

However, even though Fang Chang was not a Perception-type player, looking through the nearly covered observation port, he could sense the lurking murderous intent.

Without hesitation, Old White tapped twice quickly on the VM, switching the communication channel to team voice, and shouted.

"Everyone, immediately to battle positions!"

"Prepare to face the enemy!"

Players who had just logged into the game instantly climbed out of the anti-canon holes and rushed into the trenches, rapidly readying their rifles and light machine guns.

At the same time, the Looter’s hundred-man team, crossing through the woods, finally reached the edge of the pine forest!

Both sides caught sight of each other.

The Centurion at the bottom of the hill had no time to wonder why, despite several rounds of high-explosive shelling towards the highlands, so many people were still standing in the trenches before him.

Now, there was only one thing he could do—

"Fire! Everyone, open fire!"

Yelling loudly, the Centurion decisively lay down behind a thigh-thick pine tree, firing his rifle towards the highlands while urging the squad leader next to him to press forward.

Players stationed on the high grounds would not let them succeed, and Old White was the first to pull the trigger, firing the first shot in the defense battle of Pine Forest Gully.

"Free fire! I repeat, free fire!"

"All squad members, hit them hard!"

The battle was on!

As soon as the Looters charged to the bottom of the hill, they were driven back by the sloping fire from the highlands.

Seeing the fierce firepower on the high ground, the Looters were forced to halt their charge, diving into craters left by previous bombardments and using fallen pine trees and rocks as cover to exchange intense fire with the players on the high ground.

Gunfire erupted all around the slope.

The battle situation was incredibly tense!

Seeing that the high ground ahead had been under attack for a long time, Bear Tooth, standing two kilometers away on the northern slope, became anxious and couldn’t help but curse.

"These idiots aren’t eating their wheaties!"

Standing next to Bear Tooth, Tu Men, serving as a staff officer, held binoculars and observed the distant position with furrowed brows.

The firepower was too dense!

There were probably a hundred people crouching in the trenches; about a dozen light machine guns pinned down those on the slope below, making it impossible for them to raise their heads, as if the position had not been bombarded at all.

"...Those guys must have dug anti-cannon holes in the trenches."

Tu Men couldn’t understand.

No matter how he calculated, the other side had only 18 hours to build defensive works.

Even if they dug non-stop, just excavating the trenches in such a short time was challenging enough. Yet they had done more than that; they had even dug shelters against the bombardment.

Even real ground squirrels couldn’t match that speed.

Putting down the binoculars, Tu Men looked at the Centurion standing beside him and spoke with a grave expression.

"The enemy has rich experience in field combat. This battle might not be easy!"

Hearing the staff officer’s evaluation, a flash of annoyance crossed Bear Tooth’s eyes.

Especially when he thought of the mocking look from the Apostle of the Torch Church, it made him furious.

Difficult to fight?

He couldn’t believe it!

Looking towards the mortar that had just been set up not far behind him, Bear Tooth shouted his orders.

"Mortar team, listen up!"

"Target the high ground ahead, smash it for me!"

Following several thuds of mortar fire, numerous mortar shells arced into the sky, landing heavily on the southern slope of the pine forest.

Explosions ensued one after another, and the high ground on the southern side of the pine forest momentarily filled with dust.

Unexpectedly, these Looters were tactless enough not to care about their comrades who were still charging, even bombing their own people.

Those crouching in the trenches were caught off-guard, all ducking behind cover to avoid the rampant shrapnel.

Feeling the shrapnel whizzing over his head, Fang Chang shouted to Old White,

"There are too many people in the trench, keep three squads of ten each! Let the others retreat to the anti-cannon holes for now. Any man down out there, another takes his place!"

"Alright!"

Old White, clearly realizing the problem too, immediately issued commands to the squads through the command channel.

Twenty light machine guns remained on the position, with two men by each gun – one firing, one supplying ammunition. The rest crouched at the entrance of the dugouts, ready to rush out and replace their fallen comrades.

As the deployment adjusted, the intensity of fire on the position slightly diminished, but the efficiency significantly increased.

And the Looters down the slope fared much worse.

The mortar shells coming from behind them had no accuracy at all; less than half of them landed on the high ground.

As for the other half...

Either they fell too far or landed on their own people’s faces.

With enemy machine guns on the slope ahead and friendly mortars bombarding from behind, caught in the middle, they were in a dire plight, uncertain whether to advance or retreat.

In less than ten minutes, half of the hundred-man team was wiped out!

"Motherfucker! You can bomb, can’t you..."

Mosquito, lying in the trench, muttered angrily as he fiddled with the VM screen, setting the coordinates for a bombardment on the northern slope of the Pine Forest Gully.

Pine Forest Gully was about ten kilometers from Qing Shi County, almost reaching his 130mm rockets’ maximum range.

But that wasn’t a big problem!

The Goblin Corps’ rocket artillery was mounted on electric donkey trucks, and after capturing Qing Shi County, they had stationed near the department store camp.

At the beginning of the battle, he had already ordered his artillery group to drive the trucks equipped with launch tubes to an open space in the northern suburbs of Qing Shi County for deployment.

Now, his gunners had reached their positions, ready to launch a counter-bombardment on the enemy’s mortar positions at any moment!

"Goblin Corps artillery group, attention! Bombardment coordinates updated – commence a salvo of rockets—"

"Bomb the hell out of them!"

After a few minutes of waiting, a wooing sound swiftly passed overhead, like an organ being played.

Accompanied by the screech of the beeper, thick trails of rocket exhaust tore through the quiet twilight, raining down like droplets on the northern part of Pine Forest Gully.

Fifty rockets suddenly poured down!

Although these rockets lacked accuracy, their sheer number made up for this flaw.

The deafening roar silenced the northern mortar position instantly, and smoke billowed across the northern high ground.

In less than half a minute, dozens were killed by the barrage of rocket fire, and nearly a hundred were injured.

The smoked-ridden battlefield was full of screams and chaos, with countless Looters losing limbs, a scene resembling hell itself.

Struggling to rise from the muddy ground, Bear Tooth, ignoring the dirt on his face that spelled shock, exclaimed,

"What the hell was that?!"

He had never seen such a terrifying weapon before.

Countless missiles almost obscured the sky, one of which had landed less than twenty meters away from him, the blast wave knocking him to the ground.

He had never been so close to death.

For a moment, he even felt like he had lost the ability to breathe.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have been so full of bravado...

"Rocket artillery... damn, they’ve managed to deploy that!"

Not far from Bear Tooth, Tu Men also appeared disheveled, but as someone who had seen the world, his reaction was relatively composed.

Glancing at the devastated position behind him, Tu Men’s spirits plummeted.

Lacking defensive fortifications and cover, this sudden, all-out fire strike cost them at least a hundred-man team’s combat power.

Thankfully, he had held back and not allowed the rest of the troops to follow, or the losses would have been even more severe...

"The enemy’s support firepower is likely superior to ours. We need vehicle support... otherwise, if we keep fighting like this, even a thousand more men wouldn’t be enough."

"Get your men to pull back!"

Although he hated to admit it, the facts were right before his eyes.

"Damn ground squirrels... if you have the guts, come down from the highlands and fight me face-to-face like a man!"

Bear Tooth cursed shakily as he pulled out a signal gun from his waist, loaded it with a green signal flare, and fired it into the sky.

As the green light ascended, the Centurion commanding the front line saw the flare and finally breathed a sigh of relief, shouting for the Looter surrounding him to retreat.

"Old White, they’re retreating! What do you say, chase them?"

As Quit Smoking, propping up his machine gun, excitedly shouted upon seeing the Looter starting to retreat, he looked towards Old White.

Old White, frowning deeply at the slope below, shook his head.

"Hold your ground!"

Compared to the five hundred men they had stopped yesterday, these men were clearly much tougher. At least they knew to seek cover and advance in dispersed groups, instead of charging head-on into their gunfire.

It seemed the difficulty of the checkpoint was gradually increasing...

However, just then, Old White suddenly noticed Trash Lord rubbing his hands eagerly at the entrance of the anti-cannon hole, and an idea struck him, appending a phrase to his previous command.

"Except for Trash Lord."

Upon hearing this, the eager Pick Up Trash 99 Level immediately crawled out from the anti-cannon hole.

"Hahaha! Finally my turn! Brothers, cover me!"

Having said this, the heavily armored Lizard threw back his head excitedly and bellowed, leaping out of the trench without any delay and racing towards the pine forest down the hillside.

Seeing the big Lizard leap from the trench, the Thousands of Leaders and the Military Staff on the opposite position were stunned.

"...What was that just now?" Bear Tooth swallowed hard and said.

Tu Men, staring hard at the edge of the pine forest, spoke with difficulty.

"It looks a bit like the Claw of Death... but smaller."

If this creature reached their rear, the hundred-man team they had sent to seize the high ground might not return alive.

Bear Tooth didn’t dare hesitate, hurriedly pushing the Centurion standing next to him, urging him to issue orders.

"Quick! Lead your men up!"

"Cover our men as they fall back!"

With Iron Fist Rocket Launchers and heavy rifles for hunting large Variants, a hundred-man team set off toward the slope, albeit reluctantly.

Yet, they were still a step too late.

Trash Lord, bursting into the crowd like a rampaging tank, took multiple lives with each swipe of his steel claws.

When the reinforcements, running down the hill, finally caught up with the fleeing allies, the hundred-man team sent to capture the high ground had been reduced to just over ten men.

Encountering the Looter reinforcements, Trash Lord didn’t linger for a fight; he instantly ceased the pursuit and turned to vanish into the pine forest behind him.

The first encounter between the Bear Tooth Tribe and the Burning Corps thus descended into history.

The Centurion-led team of Looters initiated the attack, leaving behind more than a hundred bodies, with only about ten managing to escape back to the northern position.

The previous round of rocket artillery not only caused more than a hundred casualties but also completely intimidated the arrogant Bear Tooth Tribe, who had boasted they would take over Qingstone County within ten days.

It wasn’t just Qingstone County.

Merely securing a highland on the north side of Qingstone County had cost them nearly twenty percent of their forces...

After weighing the pros and cons, Bear Tooth heeded his staff’s advice, abandoned the position on the north side of the pine forest valley, and retreated five kilometers towards West State City, leaving only two hundred-strong teams to build trenches and blast shelters at the original site.

On the player’s side, they too had suffered seventeen casualties, half of whom had been carried off by the enemy’s mortars.

Discovering the Looter’s withdrawal from the northern position, the players, led by the Army Commander, immediately set to work reinforcing their own position without even taking the time to celebrate the victory.

It was clear that the enemy would not let this rest.

No one knew when the next round of artillery would come.

Meanwhile, as Old White was digging trenches with his comrades, he soon received a new mission through VM—hold the southern highland position in Pine Valley for at least 48 hours.

Supplies would arrive within two hours, including ten 10mm heavy machine guns and a mortar squad composed of twenty NPC’s.

After 48 hours, the Death Legion would replace them.

...

Qingstone County.

Temporary command center.

Looking at the battle reports coming simultaneously from the front lines and the logistics department, Chu Guang felt a mix of joy and anxiety.

The war had only started 24 hours earlier, and his players had already destroyed one hundred fifty 130mm rockets, 400 100mm howitzers, and dozens of 100kg aerial bombs and planes making bombing runs.

In addition, they used nearly 31 tons of basic ammunition — including 670,000 rounds of 7mm full-power rifle and machine gun bullets.

As for the rewards given to the players for their missions?

Those were trivial.

Even calculating an average campaign reward of 1000 silver coins per person, the money distributed barely exceeded one million silver coins. With the silver coin consignment platform functioning as a "secondary market," some players would exchange silver coins for real money to improve their lives, while a large number of user-booked players would help him to absorb this inflation.

However, spent bullets were not something you could put on credit.

This might be the biggest difference between the virtual economy and the real economy.

Although he had made ample preparations before the war, Chu Guang still acutely felt how costly warfare could be.

Of course, the results obtained under the advantage of firepower were also quite astonishing.

A thousand-strong Army had wiped out an entire thousand-strong troop of the Ya Clan in less than half a day, and the Burning Corps stationed in Pine Valley had managed to fend off a regiment trying to seize the high grounds with just a company’s worth of troops.

Moreover, the equipment seized from Lion Tooth and the copper mine that was resuming production had also allowed him to somewhat recover.

As Chu Guang silently calculated his expenses, the officers inside the command center discussed the next battle strategy.

Currently speaking was Wrench.

With the experience gained from several battles, although he still lacked in frontline combat knowledge, his strategic insight had greatly improved compared to his days in the guard.

Normally, it would have been Vanus speaking at this juncture, but now he was also able to contribute his insights based on the intelligence feedback from the frontline troops.

"...Pine forest is the only way from Qingstone County to West State City, and as long as the commander of the Ya Clan is not incompetent, they will spare no expense to take this strategic location."

"Currently, the thousand team of the Ya Clan has been repelled by our troops, but I believe it won’t be long before a fiercer second wave arrives!"

"I think so too."

Standing beside them, Vanus stared at the map and slowly nodded.

"... If we allow the Ya Clan to occupy the high ground on the south side of the Pine forest, their 100mm cannons would be able to reach into Qingstone County."

"If we have the capability to hold it, my suggestion is to send more troops and do everything possible to secure this position!"

Though Vanus had thought the strategy to "push the frontline northward by ten kilometers" too aggressive until this morning, the war report sent from the front lines by the Burning Corps dissipated all of his concerns.

The strength of this elite corps was far greater than he had imagined!

If each one of these men could take on ten enemies, it was possible they might indeed create a miracle, transforming the impossible into reality.

As he listened to the officers discussing, Chu Guang, who sat at the command table, suddenly spoke.

"How many people do you think we need?"

Vanus thought for a moment and said,

"The terrain of Pine forest can accommodate forces up to three thousand team in strength, to hold off an advance of three thousand... at least a thousand men conservatively."

Chu Guang asked,

"What about more aggressively?"

Vanus was silent for a moment.

"Five hundred."

It was then that Bernie, who had been quiet all this while, suddenly spoke up.

"Five hundred might not be enough, I know your infantry are strong, but the Ya Clan has tanks. They have suffered a defeat at your hands once and won’t make the same mistake again."

Everyone turned to look at him at once.

This man had once been a leader of a thousand in the Expeditionary Army’s 210,000 people team; after following his superior in defecting to the Chewing Bone Tribe, he joined under Lion Tooth as an advisor.

As a result of Vanus’s persuasion, he now, as a war prisoner working towards redemption, was temporarily serving as "military operations consultant" for the Chewing Bone Tribe.

Even though Bernie’s position was rather sensitive, Chu Guang didn’t ignore the intelligence he provided and instead looked at him, asking,

"How many tanks do they have?"

Bernie shook his head, "I don’t know the exact number... If it’s just the equipment taken over from our side, it’s about twelve, but if we include what they’ve bought elsewhere, it’s hard to say."

"Bought?" Chu Guang slightly frowned, "There’s someone selling tanks to them?"

Bernie gave a bitter smile.

"Not just tanks, but also replacement parts, repair tools, fuel, and artillery shells... You don’t believe those barbarians can be self-sufficient, do you?"

Chu Guang: "Go on."

Bernie paused for a moment then continued,

"...As far as I know, in the northern part of River Valley Province, there’s a place called ’Bugra,’ claiming themselves as Bugra Free State, where most residents are bounty hunters, mercenaries, or thieves... and the merchants who launder their spoils and factory owners who pay for these stolen goods. These people are not picky about buyers or sellers, naturally, they conduct business with the Looters too, and due to the proximity to the Grand Canyon, they even manage to get some rare items from the Wasteland."

Chu Guang slightly surprised, admitted,

"I thought the Chewing Bone Tribe would just rob everything they encountered."

Bernie made a helpless gesture.

"They are indeed doing so, even aiming to establish a kingdom for the Looters in the River Valley Province. However, nothing is absolute; they must trade the treasures they rob, so not everyone is a target for them. For example, Red River Town was once their second largest market for disposing of stolen goods. However, the towering heap of refuse there was too tempting, and it also happened to block the eastward advance of the Snake Tribe... so both sides quickly separated after a brief partnership."

"As for the Bugra Free State... it’s too close to the Grand Canyon; the Chewing Bone Tribe doesn’t dare provoke those tough ones there, they are constantly moving south."

No wonder.

Chu Guang nodded slightly, deep in thought.

He had been curious about how those Looters managed to drive tanks all the way here from the north. Even with fuel, if a part broke down along the way, it had to be repaired, right?

Equipment cut off from logistical support was a non-renewable resource.

This was also one reason why Giant Stone City would rather pay a hoard of Cannon Fodder to deal with the Tide rather than deploy their power armor.

Regarding this trading partner of the Chewing Bone Tribe, Chu Guang was not very worried. Those people were in business, not charity.

Without sufficient war trophies and without profitable industries, even with trade routes, it was still just a facade.

And the tanks?

Chu Guang was even less concerned about that.

Afraid of a 100 kg aircraft missile?

Even if the Legion left their coffins sturdy, the people inside were still made of flesh. A hundred-kilogram aircraft missile dropped down would blast even fungi to bits, let alone a few rookie tankers.

Chu Guang hoped they would bring out their tanks sooner. Those machines were of the same nature as the power armor of Giant Stone City—the fewer there were, the better.

"...The longer this battle drags on, the more advantageous it is for us, the Ya Clan might have the numbers, but their logistical state is not on our level!"

"We just need to exert all our strength to constrain them at our positions, use the fortified line and artillery to deplete their manpower and supplies—the final victory will undoubtedly be ours!"

Liuding, who had been staring at the map, suddenly sighed.

"It would be nice if we could send a squad to infiltrate their rear... Even if we don’t engage them head-on, just causing some trouble in conjunction with the local resistance would be good."

Of course, he was just speaking hypothetically.

Infiltrating the enemy’s rear was easy to say, but in reality, it was incredibly difficult.

It essentially required a group of soldiers to continue fighting while cut off from supplies and deeply surrounded.

Without securing a significant advantage first, this kind of risky plan was tantamount to sending them to their deaths.

However, Chu Guang’s eyes lit up when he heard this.

"That’s a good idea!"

Bernie shook his head with a frown.

"That’s difficult... based on my understanding of the terrain in this area, Pine forest is the only road from Qingstone County to West State City. Unless we circumvent through Tianshui, but that’s Snake Tribe territory."

Vanus also cast a doubtful look at Chu Guang.

"How do you plan to get the troops across?"

Chu Guang stood up and looked at the map, smiling slightly.

"Obviously, we fly them over!"