Chapter 403.3: The Glory Obtained From Blood
The Army's armored squadron was completely destroyed, and 20 armored trucks carrying quad anti-air guns burst from the side of the highway, chasing in the direction of the first 1,000-man team of the Army. They were drifting while shooting.
Escaping Mole's voice came over the communication channel. "Tank unit, continue forward! Cut straight through their northern position! Reach the western position and cover the Death Corps' attack!"
Receiving the order, Makka Pakka yelled happily, "Copy!"
The battlefield shifted from the urban to the suburban areas, with the vanguard changed from the Death Corps to the Skeleton Corps. Crossing the muddy northern side of the town, five tanks and 20 armored trucks quickly moved towards the town's western side, brutally splitting the first and second 1,000-man teams of marines.
At the same time, the Death Corps' Wolf Cavalry followed closely behind the tracks of the Skeleton Corps, launching a second wave of attacks.
Looking at the battlefield ablaze, Richie, who was supporting himself with a rifle that was shoved into the ground, revealed a face full of shock.
When he saw the burst of fire on the airship, a bad premonition arose in his heart. Soon, the bad feeling was confirmed as the whistling sound descended on his troops like locusts.
Just one round of rocket bombardment had caused over half of his forces to die, and those who were lucky enough to survive were mostly wounded. They wouldn't be able to fight anytime soon.
Not to mention the battle wasn't over yet.
The enemy's armored force rolled over the dense smoke, and the chaotic gunfire and flying bullets almost made him lose his sense of direction.
He no longer had time to think about where those people had come from.
In the midst of the noisy communication channel, Richie roared loudly, trying to regroup the remaining forces to salvage the situation. However, it was too late.
The piercing whistle came from all directions, tormenting his eardrums and nearly shattered his nerves.
The loud military horns didn't help either.
Swift figures passed through the smoke. Looking closely, all of them were Deathclaws and there were even soldiers mounted on those beasts.
Those barbarian cavalry yells slogans he couldn't understand, waving huge revolvers in their hands. They also scattered grenades towards their position from behind, charging over like a tsunami.
Through the boiling sea of smoke, he saw a person in an azure exoframe.
That person held a hammer in his hands, and the Deathclaw he rode was covered from head to toe in a sharply angled exoskeleton, starkly different from other cavalry.
That person didn't charge over but just quietly watched him, as if he had been targeted a long time ago. The Deathclaw he was riding also shot a death glare over, those amber pupils radiating a bloodthirsty light. It seemed eager to feast.
Richie gulped, gripping the rifle in his hands that brought him little security. He felt a force penetrating his armor and chest, gripping his hot, throbbing heart.
That force seemed not to come from those amber pupils, but from the exoframe, or rather, the person within it.
A flicker of fear passed through Richie's eyes, but it was just a momentary flicker. He quickly dispelled it before replacing it with a resolute look.
From the moment the rocket rain fell, he knew he had lost.
But... He would not surrender.
Gripping the rifle in his hands, Richie aimed at the man riding on the back of the Deathclaw, releasing his final frenzy with a roar. "Come on!"
"There are no cowards in the Army!"
The moment he pulled the trigger, bullets sprayed at his target, forming a scorching net in the air.
However...
Those bullets flying towards the man's chest seemed to hit an invisible wall. Not even a scratch was left on the azure exoframe as the bullets were swept away by a silent storm.
Enraged by the gunfire, Neeko roared, its thick hind legs pushed against the ground, launching them forward like a cannonball.
Richie's eyes were filled with complete madness. He threw away his empty rifle, drew his seldom-used military saber, and charged towards the beast.
"Go to hell!"
However, the sound of scraping metal failed to ring.
His blade didn't even touch a nail of the Deathclaw as a massive air current blasted him in his chest.
The Nitrogen-Powered Hammer effortlessly broke through his defense, the black exoskeleton he wore was instantly shattered. He was sent flying backwards in an instant.
The nitrogen blast not only pierced his armor but also shattered his internal organs
Richie spat out a mouthful of blood, his body drawing a beautiful arc through the skies for several meters before heavily crashing into the wreckage of a Scorpion vehicle and he fell motionless.
Neeko exhaled softly and shook its neck, its amber pupils showing a bit of pity.
To hunt with its master and yet the prey was so weak it failed to touch its claws...
But, it quite liked the armor its master had prepared. Wearing it, it felt invincible.
Turning its gaze away from the motionless Richie, Chu Guang, mounted on Neeko, raised the hammer over his head.
Through the exoframe's speaker, his voice echoed over the wilderness, reverberating in the smoke-filled battlefield.
"Charge! Chop off the heads of those brutes! Water our soil with their blood! Next year, fertile soil will bloom with flowers..."
"... And we will honor the immortal souls with victory and glory!"
"Advance!"
The roar ignited the entire battlefield, echoes resounded from the hills and fields, all in response to his command.
"Charge!"
"Kill!"
"For Xiaoyu and Boss Xia!"
"For the doggy developer!"
"Long live the administrator!!"
"Demacia!"
The cavalry's charge had ended, and the Death Corps' infantry, amid the whistle and charge horn, launched their charge towards victory.
Three squads led by the Storm Corps burst from the forest's edge, intercepting the retreating second and third 1,000-man teams.
Looking at the azure exoframe charging across the battlefield, many mercenaries from Boulder Town showed surprise on their faces.
"Is that the New Alliance's administrator?!"
"Blue exoframe! That's him! I saw him at the celebration at the beginning of the year!"
The New Alliance's administrator actually stood with them!
He was even rushing at the very front!
In their eyes, that was something unimaginable.
In past confrontations with the tide, not to mention the city lord who never showed up, they had never even seen the head of the militia.
At most, a military officer would come, wearing an impenetrable exoframe, find a safe spot to sit, then watch them fight to their deaths.
That towering figure in the azure exoframe planted a seed in many people's hearts.
Although they didn't understand what it was, nor why their blood boiled like molten iron, at that moment, even the most wimpy mercenaries burst into unstoppable roars, shouting alongside those players as they charged at the retreating Army.
The kilometers-long battle line was engulfed in dense smoke.
First, the Death Corps' Wolf Cavalry split the enemy up, followed by the infantry swarm tearing the line from all sides. With that, half of the marines were killed, and the already decimated reserve army was completely annihilated.
Without the protection of armored units... With their casualties mounting, and their frontline commander slain...
The Army's marines surrounding the town finally faced a total collapse, fleeing towards the position directly beneath the airship.
That was their only hope for survival.
If they could retreat, those who survived might have a chance to reorganize the defense.
It was a shame. They didn't know that while their main forces were pinned down, the Jungle Corps had taken advantage of the airship's forced landing to infiltrate the area beneath it.
500 players in KV-1 exoskeletons, experts of the strength type, arrived suddenly. They unleashed death from their heavy machine guns, catching the teams in the camp completely off guard.
By then, the Heart of Steel was already in chaos.
With the entire forward cannon bay blown up, the people on the airship were too busy to warn them in advance.
Listening to the gunfire erupting from the camp, the officer in charge of the camp revealed a look of panic.
Grabbing his adjutant, he roared, "What about the Falling Leaf Camp?! Why hasn't Cowley arrived!"
The adjutant's face was filled with horror, stuttering, "Sir, those wastelanders revolted!"
"Damn it, those backstabbing dogs!" Without time for outrage, the officer quickly ordered the organization of defense, but before they could form an effective resistance, the second round of rocket fire descended on their heads.
Without counter-battery fire to suppress the opposing rocket artillery, their camp quickly turned into a sea of flames.
The outermost defenses swiftly collapsed under the lead of Midnight Pubg, and the Jungle Corps took less than 10 minutes to secure the camp.
They barely suffered any casualties. At most, a dozen of them died.