This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 325: Great Victory at Pine Forest Pass!

Chapter 325: Chapter 325: Great Victory at Pine Forest Pass!

When Dillon finally stood on the southern high ground of the pine forest, an hour had already passed.

Having smoked an entire cigarette, he still couldn’t understand how the New Alliance, with fewer than two hundred people, had managed to hold out for a full hour under the siege of two thousand-strong teams.

What astonished him even more was that not a single prisoner had been captured.

The resistance from the soldiers of the New Alliance was exceptionally fierce. Many times their troops had already breached the trenches, only to be repelled by the enemy’s desperate counter-fire.

These soldiers seemed to possess endless strength and courage, fighting with bayonets, rifle butts, engineer shovels, or even rocks picked up at random when they ran out of bullets.

Killing one New Alliance soldier often cost them five—or even more—casualties.

And this was when the enemy was nearly out of ammunition and supplies.

As for taking prisoners, that was impossible.

Those indefatigable warriors would always save the last hand grenade for themselves, using it in the final seconds of their lives—as a blaze of glory—even though they could have thrown it.

Even from the enemy’s perspective, Dillon had to admit that these were formidable opponents.

"We’ve found five hundred... I mean two hundred seventy bodies," said Bear Tooth, bending over nervously as he spoke to the silent commander.

He had thought about inflating the number a bit—after all, that was an old tribal tradition—but Dillon had demanded that they drag every single body out into the open, which made embellishment difficult.

Dillon didn’t say anything, just silently lit a second cigarette from a matchbox.

Standing by, Tu Men didn’t dare speak up. He conscientiously began taking stock of their own casualties and, while crossing the trenches, sent for a Centurion to come over and ordered some men to search the trenches for any remaining explosives or mines.

They had been tricked by the Blue Ground Squirrels before, and the experience had left them thoroughly scared.

If the artillery barrage came and they found explosives stuffed inside their anti-cannon holes... that would be a complete disaster.

It took some time to tally the casualties.

Returning to Dillon’s side, Tu Men subconsciously saluted in the military fashion of their army, reporting with a serious expression,

"...there are 7 anti-aircraft trucks left."

Dillon didn’t look at him and continued,

"And the casualties?"

"2,410 casualties... 3,122 still able to move."

Hearing this number, Dillon’s heart sank.

Only a little over three thousand men left...

The casualties were nearly half!

The losses from this battle had far exceeded his expectations.

If it had been an hour earlier, Dillon would have immediately ordered a brief rest for his troops before moving rapidly toward Qingstone County to destroy the New Alliance’s artillery positions and take the railway, aiming to reach the north suburb of Qingquan City in one fell swoop.

But now...

Facing the devastated battlefield before him, he couldn’t maintain his former optimism.

The enemy had inflicted a standstill with less than three hundred casualties against their armored column and five thousand-strong teams...

What further price would they have to pay in Qingstone County?

A serious expression appeared on Dillon’s face.

Attack, and they have a thirty percent chance of victory.

Not attack, and they could preserve their strength, but he would surely be doomed.

Before the plan began, he had promised Golden Tooth that at the cost of ten tanks, they could take the City of Dawn.

But now...

Forget about the City of Dawn.

They hadn’t even seen a glimpse of Qingstone County.

"We can’t explain this to the chief..." Standing next to Dillon, Bear Tooth said in a low voice, "He’ll be furious and will likely send us to be fed to the Hyenas."

Dillon gave him a look.

"Good that you know."

Bear Tooth said fearfully,

"So, what should we do?"

Dillon answered decisively,

"Keep moving south."

Bear Tooth looked at him in astonishment, exclaiming,

"Are you insane?! Keep moving south?! Just this high ground alone cost us over eight hundred bodies, what do we have left to attack Qingstone County with!"

"Fortitude."

Dillon stared at him, pausing deliberately before continuing,

"If you want to live, this is the only way. Or you can go back alone and tell Golden Tooth everything about what happened here."

Hearing this, Bear Tooth immediately shut his mouth, though inwardly he was full of regrets.

If only he hadn’t promised that much initially.

Conquer Qingstone County in ten days?

Now, he just wanted to stay as far away from those demons as possible.

Watching Bear Tooth, who looked as if he were constipated, Dillon paused before speaking again.

"Think optimistically, we still have a chance."

"Those fifty planes are probably their last resource... We’ve suffered great losses, but so have they. Use your brain and think about it; if they had enough manpower, why would they only station three hundred men on this highland?"

"This..." Bear Tooth was stunned.

That was something he had not considered.

"Gather the ammunition; we leave in half an hour."

Dillon cast one last glance at the simple, brawny man, shook his head without a word, and walked toward the rear logistical team gathering the spoils of war.

Although the soldiers of the New Alliance had tried to destroy their remaining supplies before their defenses collapsed, they had still managed to capture a portion.

This includes twelve mortars and several shells, as well as over a dozen 20mm large-caliber anti-tank rifles and rocket launchers similar to "Iron Fist".

The reserve forces on the north highlands had all moved to the south highlands, and he planned to set off immediately after taking inventory of the spoils of war.

However, it was at that moment that a loud explosion suddenly rang out across the battlefield.

Startled by the noise, though it was dozens of meters away, his highly strung nerves reflexively made him jump into the nearby trench.

"What happened?!"

The explosion seemed only a prelude to the crisis.

Yet before he could react, accompanied by the sound of piercing air from the sky, a flickering light and explosions successively erupted on the battlefield.

The Looters, who were counting the spoils, were caught off guard. The flying shrapnel instantly killed a group of people, and the rest desperately rolled into the trenches to avoid the same fate.

The truck parked next to the trench was not so lucky: shells falling from the sky went straight for it. Two hit the quad-mounted 12mm machine guns in the cargo hold, and another struck the cab, instantly carrying away the crew and gunner.

Artillery?!

No—

This power was somewhat

Dylon was shocked and suddenly looked up, only to see a hovering cross through the low, dense clouds.

The shells were coming from there!

"Damn... How does the New Alliance still have planes?!"

"Weren’t their ’Sparrows’ already shot down?!"

"And what’s the deal with that plane? How can it fly sideways and shoot at the same time?!"

The Looters who had jumped into the trench with him also noticed the situation overhead and were crowding toward the edges of the trench in panic.

The plane hovering overhead made them feel extremely unsafe.

Especially with the trails of tracer bullets raining down from the sky.

Except for the fully enclosed anti-cannon holes, there were almost no blind spots on the entire battlefield!

With sweat streaming down his forehead, Dylon made a snap decision and grabbed the walkie-talkie, shouting,

"Scatter the vehicles!"

"Anti-air squad, shoot at the sky!"

The supply trucks dispersed to evade, and the caught-off-guard anti-aircraft trucks finally came to their senses, turned their guns, and began counterattacking.

However, due to the lack of early warning radar, the previous sneak attack had already taken out three anti-aircraft vehicles, leaving only four of the Ya Clan’s anti-aircraft vehicles.

At least half of those remaining were only equipped with 7mm-caliber quadruple small tubes.

7mm bullets on anti-aircraft fire, relying on firing speed and firepower, could somewhat intercept small planes diving into close range, but once the shooting distance exceeded one kilometer, the bullets drifted as if performing Brownian motion.

It was not just about hitting the target; the bullets lacked any deterrence.

Unless luck struck and damaged the propeller.

Facing the plane circling at an altitude of a thousand meters, only the 12mm medium-caliber machine guns could somewhat function.

Yet there were too few of them, and before they could be effective, the aerial gunboat circling in the sky specifically targeted them, breaking the weapons and cockpits with several armor-piercing incendiary bombs.

Dylon raised his binoculars, quickly looking towards the sky.

He saw a moderately sized "door" open on the side of the plane, and two dark barrels extending from the side of the fuselage.

Seeing this, he was dumbfounded.

Putting guns on the side of the plane?

Can you really play that way?!

...

"Bang bang bang—!"

Hot shell casings ejected from the fuselage, followed by several short bursts of gunfire. The reversing quad-mounted anti-aircraft vehicles were penetrated by armor-piercing incendiary bombs falling from the sky and soon bursts of flames indicating their demise rose.

It was probably hit in the ammunition box.

The area around the anti-aircraft truck erupted with pops and crackles of light, like firecrackers going off. Nearby Looters dove headfirst into the trenches, frantically fleeing toward the anti-cannon holes.

"Beautiful—!"

Watching the Looters running for cover through the optical sight, Ice and Fire Brother excitedly swung his fist.

The power of the twin-mounted 37mm ground-attack guns was not to be underestimated!

Although it had less firepower than the quad-mounted 20mm guns, its lethality and armor-piercing capability were much stronger by more than just a notch.

Not to mention a few anti-aircraft trucks.

Even against a Sherman, he was confident he could hit it!

As the last anti-aircraft vehicle was put out of action, the Ya Clan’s front-line forces completely lost all their air defense capabilities.

Without armored units and anti-aircraft weapons for protection, the remaining more than three thousand infantry were like fish on a chopping block.

There wasn’t a trench on the southern highlands large enough to hold three thousand people; the Death Legion had only three hundred soldiers, and the fortifications they dug could at most accommodate a thousand men.

The only thirty anti-cannon holes were quickly filled.

The remaining Looters either fled toward the pine forest down the northern slope or could only lie in the trenches or under the armor, praying.

Watching the dense crowd of people, Ice and Fire Brother let out a cruel smile and without hesitation pulled the trigger, sweeping the last half magazine of armor-piercing incendiary bullets out.

A series of continuous booms was followed by shells trailing orange flames from the sky, hitting the ground and sending up clouds of dust.

The running Looters quickly fell like cut wheat.

Standing by, Brother Ciso heard the gunfire and couldn’t resist saying,

"Move over, let me have a go."

Brother Fire, who was happily shooting, was not willing to give up his spot. His half face was almost stuck to the optical sight, and without turning his head, he said,

"What can you do with your Strength type from this height? Can you even aim properly? Stop blabbering and start reloading! Bring some high-explosive!"

"F**k, do you think this is like ordering food?!"

Although he cursed, Brother Ciso still did as told.

After all, he was his own hired weapons tester.

After all, the battlefield performance of new equipment determined the earnings of the test mission and the orders for new equipment.

In unstable high-altitude air currents without a fire control system, the ability to take down seven anti-aircraft vehicles with 120 armor-piercing incendiary rounds was already quite impressive.

Brother Ciso quickly replaced the ammunition for the twin-mounted 37mm ground attack cannons and walked to the nose of the aircraft, tapping on the cockpit door and calling out,

"Bun Brother, the anti-aircraft fire is sorted out, come down a bit closer."

Sitting in the cabin, the pig-headed man complained,

"My ID is named ’Anti-Bun Professional,’ you can call me Anti-Bun or Not Professional, but why call me Bun?!"

"Okay, Bun Brother."

"%￥#@!"

The plane began to descend from one kilometer above the ground to about five to six hundred meters, the left gun position aiming at the ground, continuing to circle counterclockwise.

Firing from this range posed almost no difficulty.

Brother Fire, sitting at the gun position, was already familiar with the trajectory and switched directly to burst mode, targeting wherever there were more people.

The fire rained down from above, leaving almost no dead angles for escape.

Anti-Bun Professional adjusted the joystick angle, grunted as he bent down, picked up a steel bar gathered near the airport, and secured the joystick firmly, then leaned back in his seat and switched to spectator mode.

In the settings, New Alliance’s small drones could provide players on specific battlefields with a fixed, non-draggable zoomed view.

It was said that veteran players had seen the drone, a small metal sphere, but he had never seen it himself and took it as just a background setting.

Strings of orange-yellow tracers fell from the sky, exploding on the ground in an intense flurry of dust and light, the impact areas splattered with blood and flesh.

Watching the destruction through the VM, Bun Brother felt a burst of envy.

"Damn... those high-explosive bombs do smash delightfully."

If we didn’t score at least 200/0 KD from the opposing AA personnel going down this round, we’d just be scrubbing toes.

A KD of 300 was barely passable, given the amount of ammunition we had. Once those routed troops pushed into the pine forest downhill, it wouldn’t be so easy to collect heads.

After firing empty over a dozen magazines, Brother Fire, still unsatisfied, said,

"37mm is still too small. If you guys could mount a 105mm cannon on here, I’d blast their woods away!"

Hearing this picky comment, Brother Ciso couldn’t help rolling his eyes.

"You’re dreaming."

That wouldn’t be easy!

The large-caliber cannons currently used by the New Alliance were mainly captured or replicated 100mm cannons.

Whether it was modifying the 100mm cannons to reduce recoil and chamber pressure for aircraft or designing a special large-caliber aircraft cannon, both would take time.

Moreover, weapon deployment was dictated by battlefield demands and real conditions.

Without a reliable fire control system and aircraft that could guarantee hitting exactly the targeted area, an overcharged large-caliber aircraft cannon would be less effective than a sufficiently powerful small-caliber one.

The latter not only could carry more ammunition, but crucially, if one shot missed, a barrage could follow. It allowed continuous shooting while adjusting the trajectory using tracer bullets to specifically target enemies behind cover.

As for destroying fixed installations, the dive-bombing Mosquitoes produced by the neighboring factory were sufficient, economic, and effective.

When the New Alliance had money, their H-1 universal aircraft could be slightly modified to convert into a horizontal bomber for carpet bombing.

Wouldn’t that be much more appealing than any large-caliber aircraft cannon?

"How many rounds do we still have?"

"I brought 1200 rounds spare, just fire away," Brother Ciso casually responded while loading.

Hearing this, Brother Fire was startled.

"Holy crap?! That many?!"

Smirking, Brother Ciso glanced at the rows of aluminum alloy ammunition racks beside him, his eyebrows proudly arched.

"What did you think?"

"Did you think our maximum payload of over ten tons was just for show?"

...

While the H-1 aerial gunboat was unleashing a barrage, harvesting the looters fleeing from the southern highlands, Chu Guang, clad in power armor, was leading nearly a thousand players to the edge of the battlefield.

The entire operational plan was divided into three stages.

The first stage involved the Goblin Corps’ air squad taking advantage of a break in the artificial rainfall to strike the tanks and anti-aircraft trucks behind the Ya Clan’s front lines.

Ideally, all tanks would be completely destroyed, but if not, it wasn’t a big deal; forcing the remaining tanks into the forest, reducing the enemy’s anti-aircraft firepower by more than half, would be sufficient to consider the mission accomplished.

The second stage was conducted by the Death Legion’s Intelligence System players, who controlled drones equipped with IEDs to launch surprise attacks on the tanks at extremely close range.

Since six-rotor drones were extremely fragile, even rifles could easily shoot them down, this phase required enemy armored units to come close enough, surrounding infantry to suffer substantial casualties, and disengage from dense fire protection...

As for the third stage, the counterattack phase, it was likely the opposition had already taken the high ground. They would face two choices: either continue southward to push into Qingstone County in one go or expand their installations while resting and continuing forward steadily.

Regardless of their choice, Factory No.81-produced aerial gunboats would timely arrive above their heads. Facing the bombardment from above, looters on the high ground would be instantly split into two groups—some would hide in limited defensive facilities, while others would flee down the slope.

Or just lie down and await death.

By this point, the fight held no surprises.

In fact, according to the command center’s operational plan, once the second stage was completed, the highland defense could be abandoned.

Unless there were tanks that hadn’t exploded, necessitating a charge to break their tracks.

If this had been an ordinary troop formation, Chu Guang would have unequivocally issued a death order for all highland soldiers to retreat.

But since it was players, considering gameplay, Chu Guang ultimately offered the Death Legion two choices.

Return to the rear for rest or stay and face the challenge.

What if?

What if Edge, leading a few hundred survivors, annihilated thousands of opponents?

The possibility of such an event was small, but it wasn’t entirely impossible. Otherwise, where would the historical records of epic victories come from?

Even a failure wouldn’t be a loss.

Each death would make those undying players stronger.

Observing the entire battlefield through the Hummingbird drones deployed above, Chu Guang surveyed all the combative movements.

Only in the corner of the high ground on the south side,

Bodies, incomplete and disfigured, were scattered haphazardly on the ground.

Even though the Looters had stripped them of their helmets, gas masks, VMs, and even their clothes, Chu Guang could still recognize who they were.

"The Alliance will remember your sacrifice."

’—Afterward, I will have Xiao Qi upload the edited combat footage to the official website.’

Mourning for a second for the small players who couldn’t log into the Game and could only post on the Forum for three days, Chu Guang slowly raised the warhammer in his hand and swung it forward violently.

The sound, amplified by loudspeakers, echoed around the edges of the forest.

"All forces—"

"Advance!"

Twelve 100mm shells landed simultaneously on the high ground, towering columns of smoke rose from the ground, and the scorching air currents boiled over the position.

At the same time, the charge sounded.

Numerous Army Corps, large and small, launched their attacks, the players, unable to wait any longer, charged towards the high ground in the distance with deafening war cries for a thousand-man scale assault.

Leading the charge up the high ground was still the Skeleton Corps, which followed the "Mobile Warfare Doctrine." The originally single armored truck of the entire corps had now turned into six.

Apart from two trucks carrying Quad 20mm cannons, there were also two trucks equipped with the latest product from Factory No. 81—an 88mm low-pressure smoothbore cannon.

Though the production line of this barrel was converted from that of an 88mm mortar, the former and the latter were entirely different things.

As for the remaining two trucks, they were armored troop carriers, each with a 10mm heavy machine gun welded on top, nominally carrying 12 people each.

But in reality, squeezing in 20 people was not a problem.

"Don’t worry about those infantry cats in the trenches! Our target is those fleeing heads to the north!"

"Brothers of the Skeleton Corps, hold tight, drivers floor the throtle, armored units, don’t stop, keep charging forward!"

"Let’s drive straight to the high land in the north and collect heads!"

Sitting in the co-driver’s seat of the armored troop carrier, Mole, wearing a headset, opened the all-team voice chat and shouted excitedly.

After charging up the high ground, the Skeleton Corps immediately entered race mode, ignoring the Looters crouching in the trenches.

On the troop carrier, the heavy machine gun stuttered continuously, and under the cover of fire suppression, the six armored trucks broke through the high ground in less than two minutes.

In the pine forest below the high ground, there was a path cleared by artillery, which was also the main route previously advanced by the Ya Clan’s tank forces.

Tank and anti-aircraft vehicles that were scrapped were anchored on the roadside or leaned against the roadside pine forest. Mole, sitting in the co-driver’s seat, looked out the window at the pile of scrap metal, feeling a pang of regret.

"...It’s such a pity that they exploded."

It would be great if I could get one!

While the Skeleton Corps was charging over the high ground, other player groups like the Jungle Corps and Storm Corps also successively charged up the high ground.

Less than an hour after taking the southern high ground, these Looters simply had no time to dig trenches facing the south. They had never anticipated that those Blue Ground Mice would dare to leave their defensive fortifications in Qingstone County and launch an attack on them.

Especially with the aerial gunboats and the continuous suppression from 100mm guns, the stunned Looters didn’t even realize that the New Alliance troops had already charged up.

And by the time they did realize it, the faster players had almost reached the edge of the trenches.

The bloody trench melee raised the curtain on battle.

Only a thousand Looters remained in the trenches.

Facing an equal number of players, who boasted superior physical and equipment advantages, these villains—who had just endured a bloody battle—were virtually scrubbed back and forth in the trenches.

Facing the powerful firepower advantage of the LD-47 assault rifles, the Looters who were only equipped with half submachine guns and automatic rifles were quickly forced into the few remaining anti-cannon holes.

At that point, the flamethrowers previously prepared to resist the Tide were once again put to use...

"Don’t go into the hole! Let me handle this!"

Wearing a green-painted KV-1 Exoskeleton and carrying a hundred-kilogram fuel tank, a Picheng Paratrooper scurried over.

Smirking at his comrades from the Jungle Corps beside him, the Brother swaggered to the entrance of the anti-cannon hole, ready to begin his task.

"People inside, do you surrender?" holding a large-caliber shotgun, Midnight Chicken Killing shouted down into the trench hole.

No response.

Midnight Chicken Killing wasted no more words and simply gave a gesture.

Though capturing prisoners scored points, time was also precious. It was best if they were willing to surrender; if not, there was no need to waste everyone’s time.

The teammate with the flamethrower, without a second word, pulled the trigger, and a thick stream of fire burst from the nozzle, quickly shooting into the hole.

"Ah, Ahhh!"

Screams of agony echoed from inside the anti-cannon hole.

Within seconds, all was silent.

Watching stick figures run out from the hole, the Ground Model standing aside suddenly remembered something and spoke up.

"Wait, the warning you shouted just now seemed to be in Mandarin."

Midnight Chicken Killing paused, then realized those NPCs wouldn’t understand.

"Oh right... why didn’t you say that earlier?"

"Whatever, if they can’t understand, that’s on them. Next hole." The Picheng Paratrooper, only looking for fun, grinned and, carrying the fire-spitting nozzle, headed towards the next anti-cannon hole.

The whole position was permeated with the stench of barbecued meat, and corpses were everywhere.

When Chu Guang, clad in powered armor, stepped onto the high ground, the battle at Pine Forest Pass was almost over, with only sporadic gunfire from the Skeleton Corps at the north side high ground still audible.

Faced with the pincer tactic and continuous casualties, those Looters who fled into the pine forest began to throw down their weapons and surrender one after another.

In fact, even without surrendering, the few remaining of them could not survive several rounds of machine gun fire.

The armored trucks of the Skeleton Corps had already cut off their escape routes and leveled the quadruple anti-aircraft cannon in front ready for them.

Those who emerged from the forest holding weapons were met with bursts of high-explosive shells until they completely gave up resistance.

The H-1 air gunboats, out of ammunition, began to return.

The various corps, having completed their occupation tasks, also began to tally their own casualties and prisoners.

In just ten minutes, the New Alliance had retaken the southern highlands of Pine Forest Pass and almost completely annihilated the Looters occupying this area.

After this battle, the Ya Clan had completely lost all their assets to continue resisting the New Alliance.

A great victory in this battle!

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