In order to avoid affecting morale, the news of the injured pangolin was not disclosed to the Legion. Today's broadcast, for the first time, did not report on the glorious achievements of the G53-7 defense zone. Instead, it broadcast trivial matters that had nothing to do with the battle situation on the front line.
Position G40.
There was a large pot standing at the door of the bomb shelter. The broth in the pot was floating with fragrant foam, and there was sliced bread on the shelf next to it. The clone soldiers lined up under the leadership of the captain.
The chef holding the spoon shouted impatiently.
"Next."
Most of the clone troopers are not very smart and have a single mind.
Absolute obedience is one of their strengths, but on the other hand, if no one orders them, they will do nothing.
If the cook doesn't tell them it's time to roll, they will wait in front of the pot.
A spoonful of broth, half a sausage and a piece of bran bread that is hard enough to open a can is a simple meal for the clone group.
Occasionally the broth and sausage will be replaced by stew or canned meat, but the iconic bran bread rarely changes.
The kind of bread that needs to be dipped in soup to soften. Even a mouse would lose two of its front teeth. Not only is it bulletproof at critical times, it can also be stuffed into a sack as a bunker, or it can be used as a substitute for a blunt instrument to beat up the enemy.
.
Next to the cauldron for cooking soup stood a wooden pole two people high, with a speaker tied to it with a wire, which was broadcasting today's headlines from the "Triumph".
Although newspapers are also delivered to the front lines, supply trucks do not come every day. If you want to know the latest news, you can only listen to the radio next to the mobile kitchen.
After receiving his portion of the lunch box, Daniel sat on the small bench under the loudspeaker and picked up a small stool to use as a dining table.
Most of the officers who were born as natives of the Falcon Kingdom were not very particular, but he was a Wilant and a centurion, so naturally he would not squat in the trenches to eat like those big soldiers.
At this time, his adjutant Peterson came over, picked up a bench and sat across from him, took out a bottle of wine and placed it on the "dining table".
Daniel raised his eyebrows and glanced at the bottle of gin in surprise, with a hint of surprise on his face.
"Good stuff, where did you get it?
"Some time ago, when the trade route to the north was still open, I bought it from someone over there, and a bottle cost 500 dinars.
Peterson grinned, unscrewed the bottle cap with a sharp click, and magically took out two bottles the size of bottle caps. First he poured a cup for the officer, and then for himself.
"...Those damn old turtles have cut off our business with the Bugla Free State. There is quite a lot of food on the front line. Good wine with a pure flavor is very hard to come by."
Daniel picked up the cup and took a sip, with an intoxicated expression on his face, and sipped it as if aftertaste.
"It's not cheap to get, 500 dinars... two bottles of wine buy a slave.
Not all officers have their own manors. Generally, junior officers such as centurions live on salary, which is only two to three thousand dinars a month. The centurion salary will be more, but if you are younger, it is not
Children of aristocrats usually don't have much savings.
Although this money sounds like a lot, as one month of work can buy two or three strong slaves, in fact it is just enough to maintain a decent life.
Especially large cities like Triumph City that are directly under the jurisdiction of legions have strict regulations on the working environment and living standards of slaves.
In remote areas like Luoxia Province, no one will care about them. The nobles' territories and manors are also a different matter. But if they are in Triumph City, they need to prepare an 8-square-meter room for the slaves and ensure that the slaves have a daily life.
If you have three meals a day, you can live healthily to over fifty years old, otherwise you will need to pay expensive fines to the local area.
And once the transaction is completed, the owner cannot terminate the slave contract without authorization unless the slave resists the execution of the order.
It sounds more like a lifetime employment.
Although it restricts the freedom of life and is coercive, it is still more "civilized" than the practice of shackling slaves in most survivor settlements.
And these are one of the few rules personally set by His Majesty the Marshal.
"Enough for me to drink at the tavern on 70th Street in Triumph City for half a month." Peterson grinned.
Daniel laughed, with a hint of fascination in his eyes.
"The tavern on 70th Street? It's really a good place. You can smell the fragrance of pinewood from across the street... I used to go there to drink when I was in military academy. Damn it, I haven't been back in five years.
Already.
"Sometimes I can't help but wonder what we came here for," Peterson said with a melancholy look as he swung the wine glass as big as a bottle cap. "There is indeed a lot of food here, but the oasis is only as big as a palm. Even the feeding
The people in Triumph City are quite miserable. Not to mention there is a huge desert in between... It is not easy for us to go back home, not to mention the need for people to move food.
"This is not something we should be concerned about." After half a minute of being sober from his drunkenness, Daniel immediately stopped the topic.
Peterson also realized his gaffe, his eyes drifted to the radio speaker aside, and he changed the topic of his hometown and future.
"...It's really strange that there is no news about 537 today."
Daniel's lips curled up into a smile.
"It seems that the savages are also afraid."
Come to think of it, they had already lost three thousand lives on one position, and what was guarding that position was just a hundred-man team made up of retinue officers and clones.
If the commander on the opposite side knew what kind of opponent he had been battling wits with for so long, he would definitely be so angry that his nostrils would bleed.
There are not many awakened ones like the "Pangolin", but there are as many as there are of those centurions stationed in the G53-7 defense area.
It's a pity that they don't have enough ammunition.
Otherwise, there is no need to waste time here, just march forward with the whole army, and you can trample those natives under your feet in minutes!
After clearing the food on the plate, Daniel returned the plate to the kitchen and took Peterson to inspect the frontline positions.
It's still calm on the front line today.
Although there were not many bullets in the soldiers' backpacks, the alliance was already contained in Defense Area 53, and he was not worried about what would go wrong.
He picked up the telescope and looked into the distance. Seeing that there was no trace on the horizon, Daniel planned to go back to the cannon hole to rest.
However, at this moment, a majestic figure slowly emerged from the thick clouds, hanging in the air like a shining sharp blade without any warning.
Seeing the majestic bow and front pod, Daniel was stunned for two seconds, and then a touch of panic appeared on his face.
Heart of Steel!
The siren sounded at the same time, resounding throughout the sky above the entire position.
Daniel shouted loudly and rushed towards the direction of the bombhole.
"Enemy airship!"
"Everyone! Hide!"
Almost at the same time as the words fell, twelve firelights flickered below the clouds, and strings of white smoke floated to the side and merged into the clouds.
Dragging orange tracers, twelve 155mm heavy artillery pieces fell heavily on the position of G40-1 defense area like thunder falling from the sky.
Apart from the alarm that had been sounded previously, without any warning, the explosion's flames bloomed on the battlefield like a goddess scattering flowers.
Because the bombardment came too suddenly, many clone soldiers were still eating on the edge and failed to respond as soon as the alarm sounded.
Caught off guard, more than 30 people died suddenly on the spot, some were injured by explosion fragments and shock waves, and some were buried in the dust kicked up. Fully half of the 120-person Centurion lost their combat effectiveness.
Those who survived all had expressions of shock on their faces, looking at the sky in the distance in panic, with fear gradually written in their pupils.
"Grass……"
A captain of ten raised his head, his white lips and the hand holding his rifle couldn't help but tremble. His expression was as if he had seen a ghost.
"This is a 100mm gun?!"
"Absolutely not!"
"I heard! The Alliance people modified the airship! People who came back from the front line said that they redid the front gun bay and replaced it with larger-caliber artillery——"
Before the words could even be finished, the second round of bombardment soon came over everyone's heads, and the flying soil and stones almost fed into the mouths of the captains.
Daniel, who was lucky enough to escape the first round of shelling, was not so lucky this time.
A cannonball landed just near the entrance of the anti-cannon cave,
"boom--!"
The pots and pans in the mobile kitchen were blown into the sky, boiling soup flew everywhere, and bones, scraps and minced meat were scattered all over the floor.
Almost as soon as he heard the deafening roar, the spreading shock wave hit him hard on the back like a hammer.
A stream of blood rushed to his throat, and Daniel coughed violently, but he did not dare to stop.
He almost rolled into the shell-proof cave along with the rubble and smoke thrown up by the explosion.
"Oh shit!"
When the dust cleared, Daniel got up from the ground with a curse, raised his sleeve and wiped the blood from his mouth, with a look of shock written all over his face.
Peterson, who was following him, had the same look of disgrace. Although he was lucky to survive, there was no trace of joy in the aftermath of the disaster on his face.
"What's happening here."
Daniel swallowed the bloody saliva and replied with a trembling voice.
"I have no idea……"
Heart of Steel!
Ever since the big guy was captured from McClun, this thing has become the main force of the Alliance... But why is the main force of the Alliance appearing here?!
They suffered a loss on the G53 defense line. Shouldn't they get up where they fell?
Why did you focus on them here!
Although it was just shelling now, Daniel knew very well that shelling was often just a prelude to an attack, and the alliance's ground troops would soon follow and occupy the land that had been plowed by artillery fire.
Thinking of this, Daniel's face gradually turned ugly.
Their ammunition had been distributed to Defense Area 53 before. He didn't know the situation on the Thousand-Man Team, but he knew very well about the Hundred-Man Team in his own hands.
Those clone troopers can't even get twenty rounds of ammunition out of their backpacks, and the entire Centurion only has five Iron Fist rocket launchers!
He gritted his teeth and looked at Peterson standing aside.
"I'll go to the radio to call for reinforcements...you wait here. When their artillery stops, you and the remaining people must hold on!"
Peterson nodded bravely.
"yes!"
After giving the order, Daniel quickly walked into the depths of the bomb-proof cave, found the only radio station in the entire Centurion, put the earphones on his head, and shouted loudly.
"This is defense area G40-1! We are under fire!"
"The Alliance is attacking our position, we need reinforcements—!"
There was no response from the other side of the communication channel, only a continuous busy tone.
There are only two possibilities -
Either the other party used some direct or indirect means to interfere with their communications! Or the headquarters was also experiencing the same situation and was busy taking care of itself at the moment.
Daniel cursed, threw the earphones on the radio, grabbed the rifle that was leaning on the side, and strode toward the entrance of the bombhole.
Fortunately, the noise caused by the artillery on the opposite side was loud enough.
Not to mention the headquarters of a thousand-man troop that is twenty kilometers away, even the headquarters of a ten-thousand-man troop that is a hundred kilometers away can detect the situation here.
Maintaining a one-minute rhythm, the bombardment lasted for a full five minutes, and the alliance poured at least sixty rounds of artillery shells into their positions!
Daniel waited quietly for the sound of artillery to subside, then took Peterson with him, lowered his body through the winding tunnel, and moved to the observation port of the anti-gun cave.
The figure of the Alliance Army has appeared in the distance.
Rolling dust surged from the end of the horizon. Daniel unconsciously tightened his grip on the rifle in his hand, his heart in his throat.
He is a well-trained officer. He has followed General Griffin all the way here and has experienced hundreds of battles. He will not be frightened by this small battle.
Daniel was rapidly thinking about how to survive this round of offensive. He would at least hold on until the friendly forces in defense zones 41 and 39 came to support him.
The Heart of Steel is indeed a trouble, but the Air Force can't land on the ground to occupy points. As long as it holds on like a pangolin, the final victory will definitely belong to them——
However, just as he was thinking this, his eyes caught a glimpse of a vague outline in the dust that covered the sky.
It was this discovery that made him freeze on the spot, and no trace of blood could be seen on his pale face.
tank!
And there are hundreds of them!
The thick and long barrel is like a lance's spear, exuding a cold light under the scorching sun. The desert-colored steel armor blends into the horizon, blending into the rolling yellow sand, like a steel city wall charging forward.
!
Not just tanks -
Hundreds of armored trucks with steel plates welded to them followed closely behind. The dust kicked off by their tracks rolled in, and together with the tanks in front, they formed the torrent of steel.
Murderous Union soldiers sat on the back of the truck, with their helmets leaning against automatic rifles that were far more sophisticated than them.
One more minute at most——
They will collide head-on with this steel torrent!
Seeing everything in front of him, Daniel felt as if a basin of ice water had been poured on his head. The cold that penetrated his bones reached from his back to the soles of his feet, firmly nailing him to the spot.
He suddenly realized that the round of shelling just now was just the appetizer.
The real highlight has just begun...
"Damn..." Peterson squeezed out a sentence with trembling lips, "Did they bring all the tanks to our place?!"
In addition to the models he could not recognize, there were also about fifty Conqueror 10s and 5s in this torrent of steel.
He knows it very well.
The armor-piercing projectiles fired by Panzerfaust cannot penetrate the armor of the Conqueror 10 tank.
In other words, they had no means to withstand this torrent of steel, and could only watch helplessly as the defense line was torn open by them.
In fact, this is already happening.
Hundreds of tanks opened fire in unison, and another round of hundreds of flowers bloomed on the trenches of the regiment.
After a round of direct fire coverage, more than twenty trucks accelerated out of the queue, and under the cover of fire from the roof-mounted machine guns, drove directly into the face of this hundred-man team.
"Infantry get out of the car! Find cover! Quick!"
Irena jumped out from the back of the carriage first, holding an LD-50 submachine gun in her hand and rushing forward. She charged towards the trench in front of the wheel and sent away the clone soldiers who were about to get up from the ground.
.
"Ahhh!"
The clone soldiers hiding behind the sandbags suddenly sprang out, screaming shrilly, grabbing rifles with bayonets and rushing toward Irena.
However, in the eyes of Elf King Fugui on the side, that lame movement was as slow as a mosquito with its wings plucked. He unhurriedly took out the shotgun, loaded it, and pushed the clone back into the sandbag with a bang.
Later, they were sent to meet their marshal.
Seeing that the Alliance soldiers had already rushed into the trenches, the captain who was guarding the trenches howled loudly and asked his clone soldiers to insert bayonets into their rifles.
Immediately afterwards, he pulled out the plug of the smoke bomb and set up the "self-deception smoke" in the trench, preparing for the final resistance.
"Tsk, there don't seem to be many survivors..."
Brother Fugui, who activated his hot-blooded vision, glanced at the smoke-filled trench and quickly saw the two old men hiding in the corner.
He was holding the rifle tightly and waiting for an opportunity, and it was obvious that he had no intention of surrendering.
So he unceremoniously put on the LD-47, swept over with a sudden sweep, and collected the two heads.
"The artillery and tanks have finished all their work. All that's left for us is to clean up the battlefield." Irena said with a funny smile.
After all, after preparing for half a month in advance, this operation went much easier than imagined.
The Legion did not expect that the Alliance would launch an attack at this point in time, nor did they expect that the Alliance would choose this location. Just as they were building Position 53 into an iron barrel, the Alliance's armored spearheads had already circled their flanks.
A hole was torn open in position 40.
From the legion's point of view, this is the place least likely to be attacked.
After all, if we choose to attack here, it means that the alliance's supply line will be stretched by at least two hundred kilometers.
Not only are there holes in every meter of these two hundred kilometers, but Position 39 and Position 41, which are at odds with Position 40, will quickly come to support us.
Even if the Alliance completely captures Position 40, the reinforcements at Positions 39 and 41 will close the dagger in the pocket like a closed pocket.
It is precisely for this reason that they gave priority to the ammunition from Position 40 to Position 53 which was under attack.
When Quan Shui formulated the specific offensive bill, he obviously saw their confidence and decisively took advantage of this to take advantage of the situation.
The legion would not have guessed that the alliance, which was determined to launch an all-out offensive, had no intention of leaving a way out. And as the vanguard of this all-out offensive, the Skeleton Corps, which was the first to attack position 40, had no intention of putting on the brakes.
This torrent of steel will move forward, splitting the entire battlefield in two from the middle!
The voice of Corps Commander Mole came from the communication channel.
"Clean the trenches and shell holes! Find the legion's command post! You're right when you see the radio and map!"
"The surrendered prisoners will all be gathered in the artillery caves. We won't stay here for too long. The friendly forces of the Lion Kingdom will watch them for us."
At the same time that the order was issued, the fighting in the trenches was basically over.
These "Panzergrenadiers" who fight in infantry combat are all veteran players, and the recently recruited batch of new recruits are mainly drivers and gunners.
They don't need much direction.
Just take some time to familiarize yourself with these familiar equipment.
Leading a ten-man team to the front, Irena quickly locked the location of the enemy's frontline command post.
There was a bomb crater at the door of the bombhole, and beside it could be seen broken pot racks and lunch boxes, as well as black food residues on the ground.
Clearing his throat, he shouted into the cave using non-standard human couplets.
"Hey, is there anyone alive inside? If not, we'll throw incendiary bottles."
There were obviously people in the bombhole.
Upon hearing this, the people hiding inside reacted immediately and shouted loudly in panic.
"Don't! Don't shoot!"
"We surrender!"
Seeing that the other party was so aggressive, Irena also showed a happy smile on her face and fired two shots into the sky.
"Then come out quickly! Don't waste our time, give you ten seconds!"
Toulon is easy to say.
Prisoners are worth much more than corpses.
After hearing Lao Na's ultimatum, the two people in the explosion-proof cave immediately rolled and crawled out. They were pointed at by the players with guns and squatted in the corner with their heads in their hands.
"Good guys, the two centurions are squatting together." Looking at the clothes on the two men, Elf King Fugui smacked his tongue in surprise.
Irena also said with a smile.
"It saves us time."
Less than three minutes.
The first section of the No. 40 Defense Line has been occupied, and the entire flank of the 40th Thousand Soldiers is exposed to the guns of the Skeleton Corps!
but---
Their goal is not there.
Friendly troops can do the work of cleaning up the battlefield and clearing away enemy remnants.
What they have to do now is to move forward, join up with the Burning Corps airborne to the front, and pull out the frontline command post of the 40th Thousand Man Corps!
At the same time that the two centurions surrendered, the tanks of the Skeleton Corps had already arrived at the position.
The hatch on the top of the turret was opened, and Mole leaned out half of his body, glanced at the completely occupied position, and held the walkie-talkie and gave orders to the squad leaders.
"The prisoners stay where they are, all infantrymen get on board!"
"Leave this place to friendly forces, let's move forward!"
"Move quickly!"
A uniform reply came from the communication channel,
"receive!"
Without any hesitation, the Panzergrenadier who got off the truck quickly returned to the truck.
The Skeleton Corps, armed to the teeth with steel, quickly got back on the road and continued to advance along the temporary dirt road built by the Corps.
The friendly forces are about a kilometer behind them and will arrive here soon.
These prisoners who were left behind had lost their ability to resist. Even if they were not tied up, they would not be able to make any waves.
If you dare to resist, then you can deal with it again.
Looking at the dust kicked up behind the torrent of steel, the dozens of prisoners who were thrown away had confused expressions on their faces.
Less than ten minutes before and after.
Before they could realize what was happening, everything had already started.
Peterson swallowed and said with a trembling voice.
“…Are these people really indigenous?”
Looking at the direction in which the torrent of steel was leaving, Han Niel also had a dumbfounded expression, wondering what those people were planning to do.
However, at this moment, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind, and he vaguely seemed to understand something.
Withdrawing his gaze from the outline that reintegrated into the horizon, Hanil relaxed his tense shoulders and sighed softly.
"it's over."
Looking at the look of resignation on the officer's face, Peterson was stunned for a moment.
"The end is..."
Having completely figured it out, Han Niel's expression became much more relaxed in an instant.
Without looking at his deputy, he said to himself.
"It's nothing... If everything goes well, it won't take long for us to go home."