This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 489: Extended the Fuselage and Wingspan, Removed the Engine

Chapter 489: Chapter 489: Extended the Fuselage and Wingspan, Removed the Engine

Oasis-based survivor settlements are mostly arranged in a circular layout.

And the main reason for this phenomenon is that the divine gift from the Spirit of the Sand Sea, "Dike," is mostly circular.

Under such circumstances, the closer to the center, the more humid the climate becomes.

Thus, the royal aristocrats mainly reside in the very center, and important administrative institutions are also largely set up there.

However, it was also because of this that the Alliance didn’t need to meticulously choose bombing areas; they just estimated the distance and altitude, hurling the bombs as close to the target center as possible.

As soon as the Alliance’s leaflets were airdropped, the defender-in-chief of Falcon City, Pofu, ordered the evacuation of people from the city’s central area.

However, the headache was that His Majesty refused to move, insisting on sitting on his throne until they won the war.

Anyone with eyes could see they had already lost the war.

But that person didn’t think so.

Until Middel’s last audience, His Majesty still stubbornly believed that declaring war from Triumph City against Ideal City would fix everything.

"His Majesty does not want to leave the Royal Palace; he wants to wait there for Prince William’s triumph... We have no choice, we must do everything possible to preserve the palace and ensure that not a single shell falls on it."

Listening to the Guards Captain’s words, the face of the city’s defender-in-chief, Pofu, twisted with concern.

"The target of the castle is too large... we cannot possibly negotiate with our enemies to move His Majesty’s palace out of the bombing range."

He also did not believe that the enemy would sincerely bomb only the areas marked on the leaflets; it might very well be a ploy to gather them together for a slaughter.

Therefore, he specifically ordered the evacuation of civilians hiding in the "safe zone," directing them to specified areas to avoid the air raids, or to honestly go home.

At least don’t stay on the streets and get in the way.

Middel knew his request was causing difficulty, but he had no better solution and could only sigh.

"Set up several more anti-aircraft cannons near the castle."

With the fire from the anti-aircraft guns, they could at least avoid dive bombing by tactical bombers. As for the high-altitude horizontal bombing by strategic bombers, that would be left to luck.

No one could accurately predict where the bombs would fall.

Pofu nodded gravely.

"That’s all we can do."

The Alliance had built an airport near Bister Town and reportedly deployed a large number of propeller aircraft; the bombers were probably planning to take off from there.

In an attempt to intercept the Alliance’s planes, their ace pilot, Baron Akant, had already led Air Squadron No.1 to the front lines.

If things looked optimistic, they should be able to intercept the bomber formation shortly after its takeoff.

However, no one felt optimistic.

After all, even the "Peidao" jet fighters from the Weilante People had been shot down by the Alliance, so hoping a few dozen "Eagle Type" fighters could regain air supremacy from the Alliance was like a pipe dream.

While Middel and Pofu were discussing which defensive zone to pull anti-aircraft guns from to deploy on His Majesty’s castle, a guard carrying a rifle came running over.

"Report! A telegram from the front line!"

Middel stepped forward, took the telegram paper from the guard, and unfolded it to read, his brow furrowing.

Noticing the change in his demeanor, Pofu stepped forward and asked.

"What’s wrong?"

Middel handed him the telegram paper and said,

"News from the general headquarters, Griffin believes it’s possible the Alliance will deploy paratroopers to raid Falcon City and urges us to be on high alert. He has coordinated for the second ten thousand troops to be redeployed here, they should arrive by tomorrow if fast."

"The second ten thousand troops... which second ten thousand?"

"Our own, the ones previously pulled from Oasis No. 9."

Pofu’s facial muscles twitched slightly, and he couldn’t help saying,

"What’s the use of sending those men... to demonstrate how miserably the Alliance has beaten them?"

Those men were all remnants from the retreat from the City of Abundance.

I heard that out of more than ten thousand men, only two thousand remained, ten thousand-man teams pieced together barely managed to form two full units.

As for reinforcement...

There were no more manpower resources available to fill the ranks.

Seeing Middel did not speak, Pofu continued,

"In my opinion, increasing the mobilization scale would be better than letting those fellows come."

Middel shook his head.

"There are no surplus manpower resources available anymore... even if we immediately had all the city’s women give birth, it wouldn’t be soon enough."

All able-bodied people had been sent to the front line or to labor camps, and societal production had almost completely halted.

In fact, even if the war stopped immediately, their economy was already doomed, maintaining only a faint breath because the fighting continued.

Thinking of the kingdom’s current situation, both fell into silence.

Looking at the silent Pofu, Middel patted his shoulder and offered a slight encouragement.

"Don’t worry too much... even if the Alliance has designs on our royal city, they can’t just bypass the tens of thousands of troops on the border."

"At least we need to get through tonight."

Although Griffin believed it was possible that the Alliance would use paratroopers to raid Falcon City, both of them did not take the hyperbolic warnings of that telegram seriously.

Aerial warfare and air raids are completely different matters.

Even if the Alliance had already gained air supremacy, Falcon City was heavily guarded, with five to six thousand soldiers and two to three hundred thousand civilians.

Even if they really intended to deploy paratroopers, it was unlikely to be tonight.

They’d also have to be bombed for days before we could discuss...

Just then, an anti-aircraft alert suddenly rang out from the east of the city.

The piercing alarm interrupted Middel’s thoughts, and he looked toward the pitch-black eastern night sky, furrowing his brow slightly.

"Has the Alliance’s airplane arrived already?"

Pofu didn’t speak, but his mood had plummeted.

Now that the Alliance’s airplanes had emerged over the Royal City, it seemed Baron Akant’s Air Squadron No.1 had ultimately lost.

But...

Wasn’t this too fast?

He hadn’t even received any news about an aerial battle between the two air forces.

If the Alliance’s airplanes really had taken off near Bister Town, wouldn’t the troops stationed at the front line have at least given him a heads-up?

At that moment, a messenger ran up in a panic.

Before he could even start his report, Pofu immediately grabbed him and asked,

"What’s the situation in the east?"

The messenger swallowed, his voice quivering as he spoke,

"Steel, the Steel Heart! That airship! It appeared to our due east!"

Pofu was stunned.

So was Middel standing beside him.

Looking at the panic-stricken messenger, he hurriedly asked,

"Steel Heart! Are you sure it’s the Steel Heart?"

"I’m certain!" the messenger nodded vigorously, his voice trembling as he continued, "It’s been spotted by more than one outpost."

Multiple outposts witnessing it simultaneously, it seemed there was no mistake.

That Steel Heart airship might very well have already crossed the border of Oasis No. 2, only about 200 kilometers at most from the Royal City!

And in reality, it could be even closer!

Pofu furrowed his brow, a trace of severity emerging between his brows.

"It seems they plan to bomb us with airships..."

He had heard about the Steel Heart.

It was said that typical anti-aircraft cannons stood no chance against it.

However, such aerial beasts were not invincible. If they could somehow limit its maneuverability, even if they couldn’t immediately handle it, they could render it ineffective.

For instance, deploying dense formations of balloons and steel cables over the airship’s inevitable path...

Long ago, Griffin had ordered the formation of two special "Balloon Troops" to deal with that behemoth.

Unfortunately, the Alliance was always cautious, never letting airships penetrate deep into the enemy lines alone. Instead, they made steady and secure progress behind the attacking troops.

Why had they suddenly changed their usual tactics this time?

"Sending airships deep into enemy lines alone... Have they gone mad?" murmured Middel, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Rather than a command error...

He was more inclined to believe this was a deliberate gamble by the opponent.

...

One thing Middel indeed guessed,

Sending the Steel Heart uncharacteristically deep into Oasis No. 2 was indeed a strategic gamble intentionally made by the Alliance’s higher-ups.

However, to Chu Guang’s surprise, Griffin’s response was just a bit quicker than he anticipated. The Steel Heart had barely penetrated less than a hundred kilometers into Oasis No. 2 when it encountered Griffin’s "balloon formation."

Balloons trailing wires rose from the ground under the cover of night, bathing under the descending tracer light as they slowly crossed the clouds.

These balloons were compartmentalized inside, with a thin metal sheet covering the exterior. Even if hit by machine guns and high-explosive bombs, they would only sustain partial damage, maintaining overall buoyancy.

Several steel-wire-linked balloons rose side by side. Steel wires entangled by finer wires between them, forming a skirt-like curtain of steel wires.

Although the crewmembers aboard the Steel Heart discovered the ground movements immediately, it was already too late to slow down. They could only shut down the propellers to prevent the cables from entangling them.

Hundreds of balloons, like massive bubbles, clustered alongside the even more massive bubble of Steel Heart.

The power-off Steel Heart continued to move forward slowly under inertia, but its speed was now greatly reduced. Its propellers, fixed by steel wires, creaked lightly amidst the bitter wind.

Looking at the balloons floating outside the bridge’s panoramic window, a look of surprise flashed across Chu Guang’s face, but it soon turned into an appreciative smile.

"...Not bad, you’ve learned this trick."

In fact, during the battle of Rui Valley City, capturing the Steel Heart using a dense balloon formation was also one of the strategic options initially considered by the Alliance Command.

The slow-moving balloons could break through the deflection shield of Steel Heart, as the steel wires suspended between them could entangle the propellers.

However, for several reasons, this operational concept was ultimately not adopted.

The primary reason was the urgency of time, not allowing enough preparation of anti-aircraft balloons before the departure of Steel Heart.

And another reason was, all the balloons could do was to deprive Steel Heart of its maneuverability—they could neither destroy it nor disable its firepower.

Compared to the costs, the benefits gained were indeed too limited!

Waiting for the airship to stabilize, Chu Guang shifted his gaze from the window back to the young boy standing beside him serving as the acting captain.

"Report on the damages."

After asking about the crew, the acting Captain immediately arrived.

"The propellers on both sides are entangled with steel cables... but they’re not broken!"

"How long will the repairs take?"

"Within twelve hours!"

Twelve hours, huh...

Chu Guang glanced at the holographic screen displaying the map, confirmed the distance from their current location to the Royal City, slowly nodded, and continued to issue orders.

"Drop the anchor chain!"

"Also, have the shipborne aircraft take off and coordinate with the artillery to cover the Storm Corps as they deploy to the ground!"

The acting Captain stood at attention and accepted the order.

"Yes sir!"

As Chu Guang’s orders were issued, twenty W-2 attack aircraft took off from the deck, avoiding balloons entwined around the airship, and dropped flares into the airspace where enemy forces might be lurking.

Simultaneously, the heavy anchor chain thudded down onto the plains below the airship, dragging for a while before gradually bringing the airship to a stop.

Guided by the flares, the gunners in the airship’s gun deck quickly opened fire on the ground, unleashing fierce firepower on the enemy troops releasing balloons.

Dozens of trucks were instantly reduced to scrap metal under the coverage of 155mm artillery.

At the same time, the Storm Corps methodically deployed to the ground via the airship’s elevators, infiltrating deep into the Falcon Kingdom’s territory by company, commencing a military operation codenamed "Punishment."

Although they had started an hour earlier than planned, this minor variation had no effect on the execution of the plan.

When devising the plan, the Army Command had already considered the possibility that the airship might lose its mobility, even preparing for the eventuality that the airship could lose its combat capabilities entirely.

Compared to the worst-case scenario, a twelve-hour delay and a deviation of a few dozen kilometers were hardly worth mentioning.

Everything was proceeding smoothly.

At this moment, both the Falcon Kingdom and the Army most likely remained ignorant of the Alliance’s strategic intentions, still only considering the possibility of either an air raid or a sudden assault on the Royal City.

Hands gripping the railing beside the wall, General Mclen finally stabilized himself.

Despite slightly disheveled from the turbulence, seeing his foe thwarted brought a honeyed sweetness to his heart.

Amid his schadenfreude, he couldn’t help but sneer sarcastically.

"Ha, even if they learned to use the tools of civilized people, savages will always be savages. To detach from the ground forces and penetrate deep alone, only you could think of something so absurd."

"Oh?"

Chu Guang shot him an unexpected look.

Good lord.

So you knew?

However, Mclen clearly misunderstood something and thought Chu Guang was surprised by the Army’s tactics, his smug smile growing even more pronounced.

"Just because Griffin is not a swine, he will surely guard against your airship, I thought you would deploy ground troops immediately after entering Oasis No. 2, but you are no different after all."

"I admit I was indeed surprised; we all thought that even if Griffin was prepared, he would struggle to stop us before we got within fifty kilometers of the Royal City... Yet his response was quicker than we anticipated by several kilometers."

Ignoring Mclen’s mockery, Chu Guang paused for a moment, a hint of disappointment crossing his face.

"However, I am a bit disappointed, I originally thought you’d have more surprising countermeasures... Turns out your final hand was just a bunch of balloons."

Since the war was nearing its end, probing the Army’s final reserves wasn’t a bad idea, and would be useful in anticipating future conflicts.

He had originally wanted to see what kind of trump card Griffin had left for his Iron Heart, only to find it was just a bunch of balloons.

What a waste of his previous caution.

Mclen’s face turned crimson, clearly wanting to argue, but realizing this guy might be trying to trick him, he held back.

"Heh... Do we need powerful weapons to deal with you? Once it loses mobility, this thing is just a sitting duck."

Chu Guang feigned surprise as he looked at him.

"So, you knew."

Stunned, Mclen didn’t catch on at first, but quickly realized what was happening, his face visibly swelling to the color of liver, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word in his anger.

Enjoying the dramatic change in expression, Chu Guang teased him with a smile.

"I thought you had forgotten all about Rui Valley City, turns out you just didn’t remember for a moment."

Finod averted his gaze, unable to watch.

To be humiliated by the enemy like this...

Was this guy really his General Mclen?

Ignoring the furiously irrational Mclen, Chu Guang turned his gaze toward the vast expanse of balloons and clouds outside the bridge.

The Storm Corps had completed their deployment.

Based on the intelligence gathered by the Skeleton Corps from Bister Town, they would sabotage major roads and industrial facilities within the Falcon Kingdom.

The Goblin Corps stationed in Bister Town, equipped with numerous W-2 ground attack aircraft and hundred-kilogram aviation bombs, would coordinate with their actions.

They were confident they could utterly destroy the Falcon Kingdom’s industrial achievements and infrastructure, incapacitating them for a decade, ensuring they learned this lesson by heart.

As for the "aerial raid" on Falcon City.

He had entrusted it to the Alliance’s strongest card—the Burning Corps.

These Awakeners, all equipped with exoskeletons, would deliver a heavy blow to the poorly supplied Retinue Soldiers, who could barely muster a few automatic weapons, finalizing this war’s killing stroke.

Chu Guang’s lips curled into a faint smile.

"Now, it’s all up to you."

...

At the same time.

On the deck of the Iron Heart, the biting cold wind whipped around.

Looking at Wild Wind who was sitting in the cockpit and then at the plane which only had a windshield and couldn’t even close its canopy, Old White, clad in the Light Cavalry Exoskeleton, stood frozen for a while before he cautiously asked.

"Can you... manage?"

Wild Wind, holding the control stick, paused.

"Manage what?"

Old White couldn’t help but laugh and cry, saying,

"It’s not that I don’t trust you, brother... I just wanted to ask, when did you learn to fly a plane?"

It’s one thing for Mosquito to know how to fly.

After all, he had died so many times and crashed just as often.

But you, an Intelligence System player who usually hasn’t even touched a plane, since when can you fly this thing?!

Wild Wind, looking puzzled at Old White who was hesitating to get on board, finally countered after a moment,

"When did I say I knew how to fly?"

Old White: "???"

Night Ten, sitting at the machine gun, interjected with a smirk,

"Don’t listen to Wild Wind’s nonsense. When you weren’t here, we actually practiced, flew a few times! It’s not as hard as you think."

Old White couldn’t resist asking,

"A few times?"

After thinking, Wild Wind answered,

"Should be three times."

Old White: "..."

"Trust me, brother," Wild Wind gave a thumbs up with a reliable expression, "Steady as hell!"

Confronted with that earnest look, Old White fell silent for a long time, and finally sighed and stepped into the open cockpit.

"Alright..."

It’s just a life anyway.

Before boarding, he had saved his progress; if he died, then so be it— it was only a pity about the exoskeleton worth ten thousand silver coins he was wearing.

Looking at the sparse layout inside the cockpit, Old White felt something was off and cautiously asked,

"Is this another one of Mosquito’s making?"

Wild Wind succinctly replied,

"W-1A, a modified version of the W-1. Now it can seat three, and overloading by one isn’t a big problem. You might not know, being in the rear, but we’ve only come into contact with this thing in the past couple of days."

So it was modified from the W-1.

No wonder they could assemble so many.

Old White turned to look at the deck filled with black masses of planes, somehow not surprised at all.

However, the design of the planes gave him an ominous feeling.

Although he had reached the front lines a few days ago, he had only boarded the Iron Heart today. During this time, Wild Wind had acted as the interim Army leader, and naturally, he was in charge of commanding this operation.

However, before the operation began, Old White had carefully read the mission briefing.

They would break through Falcon City’s anti-aircraft firepower with the help of the Goblin Corps using gliders, land in the city along with the air-to-ground missiles, and capture Falcon City’s Royal Palace with support from air units...

He originally thought at least the Goblin Corps’ pilots would fly transport planes to take them to their destination, but it turned out they had to pilot the transport themselves.

Although he trusted that Wild Wind would not set him up and his brothers would not joke about such a crucial mission, Old White still cautiously asked,

"This W-1A, what specific modifications were made?"

Wild Wind casually answered,

"Lengthened the fuselage and wingspan, removed the engine."

"Oh..." not quite understanding planes, Old White nodded dumfoundedly, but quickly a jolt of realization hit him, "Wait, what the hell did you remove?!"

Wild Wind didn’t answer but instead looked outside the cockpit where several Strength Type buffoons associated with the glider made an OK hand gesture.

"Wind speed is good, ready to take off!"

The newbie laughed, made an OK gesture back, then took out a lighter and ignited two rocket tubes as thick as small arms attached to the back end of the plane.

The searing flame blasted out, the massive thrust pushing the lightweight glider forward, causing the wings to tremble and Old White’s heart almost leaped to his throat.

"What the fuck?! Are you serious?!"

He’d rather parachute than ride in this thing!

However, unlike him, Wild Wind’s eyes were filled with excitement at the moment, his usually expressionless face flashing with an unusual frenzy.

He had never done something this thrilling.

Moreover, he was with his good brothers —

"Trust me, I’ve calculated... we’ll make it."

He pulled down the goggles on his helmet, his hands gripping the control stick tightly.

"Hold tight!"

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