This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 427 - 428: The Storm that Swept Through the Desert!

Chapter 427: Chapter 428: The Storm that Swept Through the Desert!

The night was deep.

In the southeastern part of Sunset Province, twelve "Tiger Whale" transport planes raced across the boundless desert, kicking up billowing dust in their wake as they sped towards Oasis No. 3.

To avoid detection by the Army, the altitude of the flight formation was kept very low, at times less than fifty meters above the ground.

The pale blue electric arcs, though less conspicuous than the exhaust plumes of fuel-powered planes, would be visible in the cloudless night sky to anyone on the ground who wasn’t blind.

Not to mention, the Army also had planes and radar. While their technology was not highly sophisticated, it didn’t mean they posed no threat.

Especially after realizing that the corporations had entered the war.

They would inevitably deploy more anti-aircraft equipment and more anti-armor weapons to the front lines, perhaps even tapping into weapon caches that had been sealed for a century.

That is, as long as they weren’t foolish.

Initially, when Chu Guang presented his plan, the transport crew commander of the corporations had refused to execute it, given that they were merely in charge of logistics transport and had not received orders to enter the war zone.

Sending unarmed transport planes to the front without air supremacy, even without a fighter escort, was equivalent to making a joke of the pilots’ lives.

Even if it had to be done, it would require the authorization of the corporate military department.

However, the window of opportunity in war is fleeting, and the Alliance’s communication with the Lion Kingdom relied on pigeons, whereas communication with the corporations depended on planes.

By the time approval from the corporate military department arrived, the golden flowers would have already wilted.

Fortunately, Yi Chuan and Wu Mu lent a hand, and after much persuasion, they managed to convince the stubborn transport crew commander to turn a blind eye, allowing the flight formation to make an exceptional detour on their return trip—crossing the boundary of Sunset Province.

But they had to be very careful.

Losing a plane was one thing, but even if the planes’ hulls acquired an extra bullet hole, they would have a hard time explaining it to the logistics division of the military department.

As for the pilots, little motivation was needed; the mere mention of flying to Sunset Province had the young men cheering excitedly.

The mobilization for war in Ideal City had already begun before the outbreak of the Rui Valley City battle.

Those young chaps who flew the transport planes had come to the front with burning passion, eager to clash with the big-noses.

Especially after watching that video.

Inside the cabin.

The site boy and the brick, sprawled by the window, almost crammed their heads through to catch a glimpse of the legendary "man-made Oasis."

Oasis No. 9 was said to be the largest oasis in Sunset Province, with a total area of 10 square kilometers, equivalent to an entire "Zhejiang Province."

Alas, the flight was too low to allow a good view.

All he could make out in the night was a rough outline, and what lush secrets lay beyond that horizon remained a mystery.

"Damn it! Why can’t we fly higher?"

Hearing the complaint, Debt Giant Eye, sitting in the adjacent seat, rolled his eyes.

"Do you really want to announce your arrival that badly?"

The conversation between the two roused other nearby players to join in.

"Say, we haven’t entered Oasis No. 9 yet, right? Surely the Army’s anti-aircraft guns can’t reach us here?"

"That’s hard to say. For all we know, they might have anti-aircraft missiles. It’s just typically overkill for survivor settlements."

"Is it possible that they haven’t actually finished the map over there?"

"That makes sense!"

"Not necessarily, it’s Ah Guang we’re talking about. With Ah Guang being so meticulous, he surely finished it; he’s just holding out on us!"

"I’m seething with indifference!"

The "hearty" laughter lacked even a hint of nervousness. The co-pilot peeked back into the cabin and couldn’t help but admire them.

Truly, the elites of the Alliance!

Just the spirit of facing death unflinchingly commanded his respect.

At this very moment, seated in the cabin, were the buddies of the Death Legion’s 200 yuan.

But the equipment on them was now worth far more than 200 Silver coins.

Even 20,000 Silver coins was an understatement!

The mere "Pioneer I Type" military exoskeletons they wore on their bodies were valued at 12,000 Cr, equivalent to three times that of the miner series exoskeleton!

Not to mention the infantry support weapons and heavy personal equipment that were being carried in the cockpit.

Considering that the Death Legion had prior experience in desert warfare, Chu Guang, after much deliberation, entrusted this glorious and arduous task to Edge Shoveling.

This operation was not only to help alleviate the pressure on the allies in the north by cutting off the Army’s supply from River Valley Province Northern Part but also to test the new equipment imported by the alliance from corporations, so the equipment invested could be described as quite luxurious.

It was just short of a full set of power armor!

And because they were operating detached from the supply lines, each soldier carried 2.5 times the standard ammunition; every face showed an expression eager to try their hand.

Edge Shoveling, who had never fought such a well-equipped battle, was thrilled beyond measure, watching the map carefully from the moment he boarded the plane, repeatedly studying the battle plan written next to it, ready to give those ghosts from the West Coast a grand fireworks show.

It was an opportunity he had snatched with difficulty from the Springs, and he couldn’t let the Manager and the alliance down!

The air squadron flew past a cliff.

The co-pilot came over with two cups of black tea, handing one of them to the Army leader "Edge Shoveling."

"Would you like a cup, friend?"

One must admit, the corporation’s technology was something else.

Flying low at high speed, there was not a hint of turbulence felt, and the tea in the cup didn’t spill a drop.

Edge Shoveling took the cup and glanced at it.

"Thanks... Could you get me a cup of plain water instead?"

Noticing the hesitation in his eyes, the co-pilot chuckled and said,

"Don’t worry, it’s been de-alkalized; this tea only has stimulating effects and won’t make you want to use the toilet more."

Hearing this, Edge Shoveling finally relaxed, tilted his head back, and emptied the cup in one gulp, returning the cup to the astonished co-pilot.

If things went well, the battle would end before dawn, but they still had to stay out for a while longer.

Drinking more water wouldn’t hurt.

Seeing the Army leader of the Alliance with a composed expression, showing no signs of tension from infiltrating deep into enemy territory, the co-pilot raised his eyebrows slightly and casually conversed with him,

"It seems you already have a plan?"

Edge Shoveling replied nonchalantly,

"Of course, the command worked out a battle plan overnight; we will launch an attack from the north part of the military base... In coordination with a feint attack by friendly forces in the south to take down the enemy’s ammunition depot. If all goes well, our friendly forces will get a batch of the Army’s equipment, while we will cut off their supply line in the north."

The co-pilot nodded,

"It’s a pity we haven’t fought a battle on this scale for a while, so we can’t create a bigger advantage for you... You’ll have to handle this tough fight on your own."

Edge Shoveling smiled and closed the map in his hands with the battle plan written on it,

"No matter, this is enough!"

They chatted idly for a few more moments, then the co-pilot turned back to the cockpit.

Soon after, an announcement came from the pilot over the intercom,

"We are about to cross a sandstorm area; there will be strong gusts hitting us, so you’d better return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts."

"If you don’t want to get banged up before we even land."

Upon hearing the NPC’s reminder, the players withdrew from the windows and returned to their seats, securely fastening their seatbelts.

Almost half a minute after the broadcast, the plane began to shake violently, and the sound of the howling sand could be heard through the cabin walls.

The sandstorms in Sunset Province contained a small amount of iron oxide, creating some interference with electromagnetic waves, effectively evading radar, infrared heat source detection, and other active surveillance methods.

They were now very close to the front line.

They had to be extremely careful.

...

Hugging the edge of the sandstorm, the air squadron moved in an arc-shaped direction, flying a large circle, and landed behind a dune on the north side of Oasis No.9.

The cargo ramp slammed heavily onto the ground, kicking up billowing dust, and fully armed soldiers with rifles on their backs, in pairs, quickly ran out of the cargo hold carrying boxes one meter wide.

"Land! Move quickly!"

At Edge Shoveling’s urging, within just one minute, all personnel and equipment had been deployed.

Pale blue electric arcs brushed downwards, gradually increasing in output power, as the high-speed airflow carried the heated sand in all directions.

Intermittent voices came through the communication channel.

"... the transport planes are about to return home... soldiers of the Alliance, good luck!"

"Received, and wish you a safe return as well!"

The twelve transport planes came quickly and left quickly, not lingering a moment after completing their deployment, and immediately ignited their engines to return along their original course.

Time was life.

Edge Shoveling didn’t delay either, immediately summoning the brothers in the Army to unload the equipment and supplies from the boxes.

Due to the limited transport capacity, the twelve "Tiger Whale" transport planes could only drop half a thousand team’s worth of troops in the target area, so he only brought the top five hundred elite-ranked from the Army.

Although they couldn’t exploit their numerical superiority, having these brothers was already enough!

After glancing at the deployed equipment around and then at the exoskeleton he wore, Edge Shoveling’s heart was filled with confidence.

"I thought we were going to drop right on top of their heads," said the construction site youth and Brick as they pushed a tricycle over, "are we riding this thing?"

The tricycle’s tires had been widened to better suit the desert terrain, and in the rear basket, there was a mortar.

Next to this, another tricycle looked even more exaggerated; a bracket was welded to its front where a light machine gun was mounted.

One hundred and twenty modified foldable tricycles, plus quadrotor drones used by the Intelligence System players, were all self-produced equipment by the Alliance.

Meanwhile, the "Hellhound" quadruped robots some distance away and the "Seagull" fixed-wing drones that were being assembled were imported from corporations at great cost by the Alliance.

"Parachuting would be fine, but do you want to be shot like a bird by the machine guns on the ground?"

After a laugh and a scolding, Edge Shoveling turned to the dense shadows of people behind him, his expression growing serious as he spoke.

"All centurion captains, take your brothers and equipment to the target assembly point and wait for the signal to attack!"

"Move out!"

Everyone lowered their voices, giving a uniform and coordinated response.

"Received!"

Except for Big Eyes who stayed behind, responsible for operating the "Seagull" fixed-wing drones, the other players boarded the tricycles, with a Strength Type beast pushing hard, advancing towards the predetermined battle positions.

Sitting on the tricycle, Edge Shoveling took a deep breath and pulled out the map again to confirm the battle plan.

Everything had gone smoothly so far, just as planned, yet for some reason, he couldn’t shake a feeling of restlessness.

Was it an illusion?

But he was a Perception Type, after all...

Just then, a sudden explosion sounded in the distance, breaking the silence of the night.

Everyone looked up, directing their gazes toward the direction of the explosion, their eyes filled with surprise.

"It’s that military base we’re targeting..." the construction site youth and Brick muttered in confusion, pedaling the tricycle strenuously, "Weren’t we supposed to start at dawn? Why has it started early?"

They hadn’t even reached their positions yet.

Without the interconnected radio, there was no way to communicate with our allies to find out what the situation was.

Edge Shoveling furrowed his brows and suddenly thought of something, his complexion slightly changing.

"What time was the dawn on the plan brief?"

"What time? Of course, it’s Luo Xia Province’s time—" The construction site youth and Brick suddenly snapped out of it and paused, "Fuck, they didn’t use the Alliance’s time, did they?!"

The Alliance’s Army Command would not make such a low-level mistake. When adopting time zones, they would surely annotate them with symbols on the operation plans and make the necessary conversions to ensure the execution time of the plan was accurate.

The only explanation for such a discrepancy was that the allies’ command had made an error while passing down instructions through the ranks, mistakenly interpreting the time as Alliance time...

Or it could be that there was a traitor within the Falcon Kingdom, unable to pass the intelligence back to the Falcon Kingdom in time, and they could only resort to tampering with the orders as a trick to disrupt the execution of the plan.

Regardless of the situation, as a result, the time zones were "swapped" between the factions, causing this battle to start a full hour earlier than planned!

Damn!

What a mess!

Without the luxury of amusement or distress, Edge Shoveling made a snap decision, pressing the button on his communicator and speaking loudly.

"Attention to all squads!"

"Friendly forces have opened fire prematurely, revealing their positions ahead of schedule... Activate Plan C and continue execution."

"Action!"

...

Time rewinds to dozens of minutes earlier.

Over the desert shrouded in night.

A man draped in a khaki-colored cloak lay prone at the edge of a sand dune, holding a pair of binoculars and gazing at the campfires flickering in the distance.

His name was Ady Honey Badger, the eldest son of the Honey Badger royal family and also the Marshal of the Honey Badger Kingdom’s restoration army.

The beard hanging from his chin was as thick as a broom; his square-jawed face and robust physique greatly resembled his father’s — a stark contrast to his brother, Somer Honey Badger.

Glancing at his watch, Ady waited patiently, savoring the final moments of peace this night, his thoughts drifting away with the evening breeze.

About two months earlier.

The Falcon Kingdom, supported by the Army, launched a surprise attack on the Honey Badger Kingdom, taking control of the entire kingdom in just one week.

His father had died in battle defending the royal city, while he led the remnants of his forces, along with his brother and sister, into the territory of the Lion Kingdom. With support from the Lion royal family, they reorganized their ranks and recruited refugees from Oasis No.3 to form the restoration army.

According to his initial plan, he intended to launch a counteroffensive at the end of the year, aiming to retake the royal territories from the hands of the Falcon Kingdom.

However —

That ferocious "Vulture" gave them no time to prepare.

As the three kingdoms’ letters of condemnation were delivered to the Falcon Kingdom, the Falcon Kingdom, without taking a breath, immediately pressed eastward, turning their offensive spearhead towards the Lion Kingdom that had given them refuge.

The tide of war changed drastically.

As the desert’s dominant force, the Lion Kingdom was much stronger than the Falcon Kingdom, but the latter had been tightening their belts in preparation for war for over a decade and, with support from the Army, had a regular force even larger than that of the Lion Kingdom.

Moreover, as the Honey Badger Kingdom had previously shielded them from threats from beyond the Great Desert in the west, the Lion Kingdom was essentially unprepared.

Now...

The arrogant kings had finally paid the price for their folly and compromise.

They had hoped that sacrificing a lamb would satiate the beast, forgetting that it was a wolf that could never be fed enough.

In less than a month, the blaze of war spread from Oasis No.3 to No.9; the speed of the front line’s advance was so swift that the Falcon’s guns and artillery were less than 100 kilometers from the Lion’s royal city.

The Camel Hump Kingdom and Golden Lizard Kingdom, upon witnessing such ferocious momentum from the Falcon Kingdom — seeing even the longstanding desert ruler with no power to fight back — were both frightened out of their wits. Although they had sent out declarations of war, they dared not deploy their troops.

Facing the combined forces of the Falcon Kingdom and the Army alone, the situation of the Lion Kingdom was perilously unstable.

To gather all their military strength to defend the royal city, the guerrilla teams active in the north had retreated south, rallying to the flag of Prince Wenter, attempting to strain the Falcon Kingdom by relying on robust offenses and defense.

To Ady, this idea seemed as naive as dreaming.

Never taking the initiative to attack meant never taking control. Once the northern guerrilla teams withdrew into their defenses, it meant that the Falcon Kingdom and the Army could freely advance on the northern line, no longer needing to be concerned about the security of their supply lines.

And to expect to exhaust these wolves was even more ludicrous.

Not to mention that the Falcon Kingdom had been preparing for this day for over a decade, but even the treasure plundered from Oasis No.3 alone was enough to sustain their supplies from the east until the Lion Kingdom bled dry...

However, the situation had taken a turn.

Perhaps Somer’s diplomatic efforts had had an effect; the dominant force in the Southern River Province finally recognized the threat from the west, and with corporate support, sent troops to the desert.

Their goal was a military base in the Northern part of Oasis No.9, said to be an important supply hub for the Falcon Kingdom’s northern front line.

If they could capture this military base, it would be possible not only to thwart the Falcon Kingdom’s northern troops’ offensive plans but also to potentially cut off the supply line from the Northern part of the River Valley Province.

Unfortunately, the Lion Kingdom no longer had any troops to deploy in the north, and after a round of arguments, the ball was kicked to him.

Prince Wenter hoped the Honey Badger Kingdom’s restoration army would replace the originally planned 12th and 13th thousand teams and head to the target area to cooperate with the friendly forces’ attack.

The plan was quite risky.

The target military base was located behind the Army’s front line, which also meant they would get no support.

If they were bogged down by the enemy, the enemy’s reinforcements could arrive, and they could very well be annihilated.

Even if the enemy’s reinforcements didn’t make it, the mission was going to be tough enough.

The elite of the Army were stationed there.

Ady, who had clashed with the Army at Oasis No.3, knew better than anyone the formidable combat power of the Army’s elite.

Clearly, Prince Wenter didn’t want his subordinates to suffer unnecessary losses, which is why he proposed that the Restorative Army of the Honey Badger Kingdom take their place as a way to repay the Lion Kingdom for having supported them for over a month.

Ady could have refused to carry out this almost suicidal order, but after some thought, he had ultimately agreed.

After all, this could very well be the opportunity his sister had traded her happiness for...

Plus, the overlord of Southern River Province had promised to hand over seized supplies to the Lion Kingdom, and he could take the opportunity to keep the seized equipment for himself.

Those tanks would just end up being buried in the trenches and used as gun towers by cowards in the Lion Kingdom; they were better off arming his loyal subordinates.

The Restorative Army needed that equipment.

Whether it was to reclaim lost lands or to ensure an autonomous status!

For this purpose, Ady nearly brought all of the Restorative Army’s elite, formed a full thousand team, and personally led them here.

At present...

At least the intelligence was sound.

Ady pulled out a map from his chest, shook off the sand on it, and spread it out on the ground.

He traced his index finger along the marked lines on the map, eventually stopping and tapping on a red circle, muttering to himself softly,

"...This is the place."

Next to Ady, a middle-aged man with a face crisscrossed with wrinkles spoke in a hushed voice,

"Shall we launch an attack?"

His name was Kraf, once captain of the Kingdom’s Royal Guard, and now the Centurion of the Restorative Army, as well as Ady’s bravest and most reliable officer.

"Hmm," Ady nodded, tapped a point on the map with his finger, looked up at the camp shadowed by night, and continued in a low voice,

"Our allies will launch an attack from the north side of the base, and before that, we need to draw fire on the south side to create an opening for our allies’ attack."

An officer couldn’t help but speak up,

"Do we have allies?"

Ady replied with an unwavering voice,

"The Alliance will support us, they have made a promise!"

Except for Kraf’s expression, which remained unchanged, the other few officers around him exchanged glances and simultaneously fell into silence.

The Alliance...

This was the north of Oasis No.9.

Even if one were to cross the Falcon Kingdom’s northern battlefront in a straight line from the Alliance, it would still be over eight hundred kilometers.

The battle plan had been made two days ago; how could it be possible to arrive here in two days?

To many, it seemed they might have been sold out by Prince Wenter or someone else.

There were no such things as allies.

Not everyone in the Lion Kingdom was as sympathetic to them as the Lion Royal Family; many ministers and nobles thought it was the harboring of their group that brought warfare to the Kingdom.

Those people wished they would go to die immediately, using their corpses to stall the Army’s advance on the northern front, buying time for the mobilization of other Kingdoms’ forces and the intervention of external powers...

Perhaps the kings of the desert would ultimately prevail.

But they would die here.

Ady turned to look at his subordinates and read the pessimism in their eyes.

After a moment of silence, he said in a calm voice,

"I know what you’re thinking, but now is not the time to think about such things."

"We only have one chance, and all we can do now is to believe, believe in our compatriots and brothers, believe in our siblings... believe that justice will ultimately prevail over evil."

"Even if we cannot live to the end, our blood soaking into the sands, our souls will live on forever, fighting to the last under the watch of the Spirit of the Sand Sea."

A pair of eyes were rewritten with determination.

Not a single face showed any doubt.

"The Spirit of the Desert Sea will stand with us."

Hands pressed against his forehead, Yard rose from the ground and returned to the back side of the dune, gently patting his subordinates on the shoulder.

"Go, warriors of the Kingdom, dig the trenches past your chests, load your rifles, set up our ’Artillery’ — give those ugly demons a taste of color."

"Even if today this place becomes our burial ground, don’t let our allies think less of us!"

...

Several kilometers away, the camp was lit by scattered lights.

The sentry standing on the watchtower couldn’t help yawning, counting the time left until his shift ended.

This was Camp No.350, a logistic transit base of the Northern Group Army.

Although the strategic value of this location was significant, such that General Clifford deployed heavy guards to protect it, up to this point, the soldiers stationed here hadn’t fought a single battle.

The only thing they could do every day was to bathe in sand or stare blankly at distant cacti.

Compared to wasting their lives here, they’d rather be at the front lines — at least they could fire their guns there.

Instead of now, where they could only talk to the sand to pass the time.

Just then, a thunderous explosion came from the distance, startling the sentry on duty, who instinctively crouched behind the railing.

Before he could recover from the shock, several gas canisters trailing white smoke described five thick parabolas in the air, crashing heavily into the camp.

"Boom—!"

With a series of earth-shattering roars, five bursts of flame erupted instantaneously in the silent military base.

The shrill sound of the alarms blared. Amid the sirens, soldiers sleeping in their beds scrambled up and grabbed their equipment to gather at their battle stations.

After fastening their helmets, a Centurion walked over to the watch post, grabbed a sentry, and demanded with flying spittle.

"What the hell just happened!"

That sentry must have been a rookie because he stood up straight, nervously, and spoke rapidly.

"Report! It’s the Guerrilla Team’s makeshift cannon!"

Those makeshift cannons made from gas canisters were very common in the Sunset Province, only second to the cast-iron Artillery that needed a broom to clear the barrel.

Usually, the desert inhabitants would fill iron cans with explosives made from sugar and then add a mix of nails or gravel. The power of these bombs wasn’t as strong as Black Gold or TNT, but they were cheap and easy to make — a small workshop could churn out a lot.

The most plentiful resource in the oases of the Sunset Province was food, especially sugar canes used for making sugar.

Even a Conqueror tank would be panicked by a "gas canister" bomb loaded with 500 kilograms of explosive.

Of course, that was assuming the bomb hit right on top of the tank turret...

The soldiers of the Army were well-trained and quickly recovered from the initial chaos.

Two teams of ten men had already run into mortar pits and initiated counter-bombardment based on rough estimates of the enemy’s location as observed from the watchtower.

Awakened by the thunderous cannonading, Centurion Piman, who commanded the thousand team, quickly got dressed and stepped out of the barracks.

Having guessed what had happened, he remained collected as he called over a Centurion and gave the order.

"The shells are coming from the south, about 5 kilometers away. Take your men and give those guys a taste of their own medicine!"

"Yes, sir!"

The Centurion who received the order saluted crisply, and without any delay, ran to the military camp nearby to rally his men.

Watching him depart, Piman’s eyebrows relaxed slightly, and he took a cigarette from his pocket to light.

It was just a Guerrilla Team.

Not worth his concern.

Those five gas canisters seemed powerful, and the sound was certainly loud, but in truth, they hadn’t hurt many people — they’d only blown a few sandbags into the air.

The anti-blast bunkers distributed throughout the camp greatly limited the spread of shockwaves and shrapnel in the vertical plane, with most of the force shooting up into the sky like a cone.

The kind of situation where a single artillery shell wiped out an entire hundred men only could happen to the Royal Army of the Lion Kingdom.

Even the Retinue Army trained by them knew how to preserve themselves to the maximum extent amidst barrages.

The only thing Piman couldn’t understand was...

With so many military bases, why did the people of the Lion Kingdom specifically pick this one?

Was it a coincidence?

Or had the intelligence been leaked...

At that moment, a military officer dressed in uniform was striding toward them with an annoyed look on his face.

Piman recognized the man—it was the deputy of the logistics commander of the Northern Group Army, named Antonite, who had come here to inspect the work two days ago.

He also checked the stock in the warehouse.

This guy was extremely cautious, to the point of being neurotic; he even insisted on opening each box to check its contents, as if someone would covet those few bullets.

Piman noticed that the man’s left sock was missing and there was a gray mark on his left knee—he must have fallen out of bed.

"What the hell was going on just now?" Antonite said with an angry face, "I need an explanation!"

Piman held back his laughter and reassured him.

"A minor issue, just a sneak attack by a guerrilla team."

"Guerrilla team? Aren’t those people supposed to have withdrawn?" Antonite frowned.

"Maybe they came back—who knows." Piman patted the logistics officer’s shoulder and said with a relaxed smile, "Don’t worry, my friend, it’s just a group of cannon fodders. They’ll be dealt with quickly."

Antonite stared at him with a warning in his eyes.

"I would advise you to take this seriously. The equipment stored in that warehouse is crucial to the next round of offensive plans for the entire northern front! If you delay General Griffin’s plans, you know full well the consequences!"

Seeing the serious-faced logistics officer, Piman laughed.

"Relax, buddy, I understand the consequences. My men will be very careful to weed out those rats... But to be safe, I still need to trouble you to go hide in the blast shelter for a while with me. Those barbarians are throwing stones in a fit of impotence, and it would be too unjust if we got hit by one of them."

Knowing that rushing wouldn’t help, Antonite breathed deeply, nodded, and followed him to the bomb shelter.

The loading speed of those gas canister shells was very slow; the second round of shells didn’t come even after several minutes.

On the other hand, in the Army camp, eight mortars were firing continuously. After delivering three rounds of area suppression fire to the approximate position of the targets, they then fired a round of illumination flares into the sky, turning a piece of the southern desert as bright as day.

The "Yellow Weasel" reconnaissance vehicle that had set out first had already locked onto the source of the fire.

Under the guidance of the vehicle commander, the four 20-mm heavy machine guns and eight 10-mm machine guns deployed on the south side of the camp opened fire into the sky, crossing over to the restorative army’s position.

Tracers flickered in the night sky, and the large-caliber bullets poured down from the air like fairy scattering flowers, hitting the artillery position hidden behind the sand dunes squarely.

Gas canisters had just been placed on triangular stands and hadn’t been lit yet. The gunners standing nearby were instantly killed or wounded.

Only a few experienced old soldiers who desperately rolled into nearby foxholes managed to barely save their lives.

However, over-the-horizon transverse firing was just the beginning.

With the help of the reconnaissance vehicle, the mortar squad in the military base revised the firing coordinates, guiding the counter-battery fire precisely to land on the heads of the restoration army.

At the same time, a hundred-man infantry team had completed the assembly and boarded four light tracked trucks in batches, charging over imposingly.

Dazed by the relentless bombardment...

Ady, crouched in a trench, fired his rifle outward to resist, trying to suppress the approaching pair of headlights. He also yelled loudly to his comrades beside him.

"Keep holding on!"

"Defend this place at all costs!"

"Your Highness, their firepower is too fierce!" a centurion crouched not far away shouted hoarsely, his voice carrying a hint of despair.

Whether it was the density or power of the fire, the military base five kilometers away exceeded their expectations.

In just ten minutes...

The artillery position was annihilated, and the infantry casualties had exceeded a hundred. The situation was hanging by a thread, but support from friendly forces had still not arrived in time.

Ady clenched his teeth, his clenched fists showing veins, wishing he could crush the rifle handle.

"Even so, you’d better hold on for me!"

Without sufficient supporting fire and reliable anti-armor measures, they could only crouch here and take a beating.

But even so, he was still willing to believe that one-in-a-million chance.

Their allies would not betray him; the reinforcements from the Alliance had already arrived!

And next, it would be their moment to counterattack!

Even if Chu Guang stepped back ten thousand paces, if he made the wrong bet, and Prince Wenter had deceived him, and the Alliance’s reinforcements have never existed from the start...

Dying on the offensive path.

Was still better than dying cowardly in an air-raid shelter!

Far away at the military base.

The sentries on the lookout towers licked their lips as they watched the flames in the distance.

"Sigh, I can already smell the barbecue."

"Anyway, we won’t find anything valuable, so let those panting beasts clean up the battlefield later."

"A whole thousand team, they really dare to come and give their lives."

One sentry said with a laugh.

"Who knows? Maybe they knew they couldn’t win and wanted to take a gamble."

Another sentry shrugged jokingly.

"Too bad they picked the wrong person."

On the other side, inside a concrete-reinforced anti-gun bunker.

Having learned from the communication channel that the front-line troops were about to encounter the enemy, Piman lifted his arm to check his watch, estimating that the battle should be almost over.

Then, he turned to Anthony, speaking in a joking tone.

"Let’s make a bet."

"On what?" Anthony replied absent-mindedly, having felt uneasy ever since a while ago.

Why was it that they were attacked here?

The timing was too coincidental.

And if you assume that the other side was already aware of the strategic value of this military base, their demonstrated attack intensity seemed excessively perfunctory.

Forgive his bluntness.

The combat power those people had shown was barely stronger than Cannon Fodder, completely like they had been sent to be bitten by them.

Maybe he was thinking too much, but... he couldn’t come up with any other reason for those people’s attack except for a suicide mission?

Unaware of anything wrong, Piman said animatedly, seeing Anthony’s furrowed brow.

"Let’s bet... if my guys can take care of that group of punks five kilometers away in five minutes."

Anthony’s eyebrows raised to speak, but suddenly a deafening explosion from outside the anti-blast bunker, coupled with the trembling of the ground, interrupted his thoughts.

Stabilizing himself against the wall, Anthony, who had not stood steady, glanced out of the observation window, but only saw drifting smoke, without seeing where the bomb had hit.

He swore angrily, masking the slight panic that was hard to detect on his face.

"Damn it, how are there bombs falling here!"

Piman’s face was also filled with surprise, which soon turned into a trace of panic, his opening and closing lips muttered quietly.

"No, that sound is definitely not the Guerrilla Team’s crude cannon!"

Without any warning, and without even hearing the whistling of the shell cutting through the air!

Two explosions occurred almost simultaneously, accurately clearing away his mortar position.

Clearly, that was not an arced projectile.

But it fell almost vertically from the sky!

The Lion Kingdom doesn’t have planes.

That leaves only one possibility—

"What is that?" Anthony looked at him dumbfoundedly, waiting for an answer.

However, Piman didn’t respond to his anticipation, but rather darted to the desk like a madman, grabbing the phone that was left on the table.

Rapidly dialing several buttons with his index finger, his face no longer showed any confident expression, almost screaming with all his strength.

"Calling the frontline air control, this is base 530, we’re under air raid!"

"We need support!"

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