Chapter 28: Fortress Assault
The Lanchuan War Zone separated the Geya Alliance from the Sun Kingdom, with the two great nations roughly 30 kilometers apart, which was the longitudinal width of the Lanchuan War Zone.
Fighter jets roared overhead as the Geya Alliance clearly didn't want to miss the chance to kick a dog while it was down.
Su Xiao's company quickly merged into a larger force, a division of the First Legion numbering around 13,000. This was common in wartime; after confirming each other's identities, they directly converged into a single unit.
In the passenger seat of a truck, Su Xiao held a tablet, tackling an inhumanly difficult puzzle game. The little assistant in the driver's seat occasionally glanced over.
"If you hit a tree, you'll be hanging from one tonight."
"Hoo-hoo~"
The little assistant floored the accelerator, and the truck sped up.
"Commander, should we continue the mission?"
"Of course. After reaching the Sun Kingdom's border, find a way to sneak across."
"Huh?"
The little assistant was dumbfounded. Infiltrating an enemy's heavily guarded border seemed utterly impossible.
The journey went relatively smoothly, with no enemy interception. Around 5 PM, Su Xiao arrived near the Sun Kingdom's border.
As soon as he neared the border, Su Xiao heard continuous artillery fire. The Sun Kingdom's forces, upon reaching the border, naturally didn't retreat further. They entered the defensive fortifications there and struck back hard at the pursuing Geya Alliance.
After being bombarded relentlessly, the Geya Alliance's vanguard was battered and forced to retreat.
The Geya Alliance forces set up camp three kilometers from the Sun Kingdom's border. By around 8 PM, a dense sea of tents appeared, surrounded by numerous tanks and trucks.
Several trucks drove out of the camp, hauling loads of corpses. The bodies were haphazardly piled in the truck beds—these were the remains of their own soldiers.
Three legions, nearly 970,000 soldiers, were stationed here. For the Geya Alliance's overall army size, this was at most a vanguard force.
The camp was lively, with soldiers occasionally gathering in small groups to drink. Alcohol was banned in the military, but that was just a rule. Soldiers lived day-to-day, uncertain of survival; not letting them unwind would cause worse problems.
The two great nations had gone from plains warfare to a fortress assault. Now, the Sun Kingdom was on the defensive. They needed to stabilize their internal situation first before considering a counterattack or ceding interests for peace talks.
At present, the Geya Alliance had two options: break through the Saintly Gate Fortress ahead or retreat. As for bypassing the Saintly Gate Fortress and invading the Sun Kingdom from the flanking hilly terrain, that was impossible.
Within 200 kilometers, besides the Saintly Gate Fortress, there were seven other fortresses. Unless the Geya Alliance's high command was brain-dead, they wouldn't attack those seven fortresses. Those godforsaken places only needed a few thousand defenders to hold off hundreds of thousands of troops.
To invade Sun Kingdom territory, the Saintly Gate Fortress was the best choice. Other war zones were only suitable for small-scale harassment. The Sun Kingdom knew this well, which was why they built the Saintly Gate Fortress here.
The Saintly Gate Fortress could garrison 100,000 troops, and the H-shaped military trenches in front could accommodate 200,000 soldiers. It was easy to defend and hard to attack.
The night camp was brightly lit, the smell of alcohol and grilled meat mingling. The atmosphere was lively. Although each soldier's alcohol intake was strictly controlled, any time not spent on the battlefield was happy time.
Su Xiao lay resting in his tent, seizing every spare moment to catch up on sleep.
After a few hours, he was awakened by a piercing bugle call. The tent was dim. He crawled out, and the glaring sunlight made him squint.
Ahead in the camp, soldiers were assembling to attack the Saintly Gate Fortress.
Su Xiao pulled open the flap of the adjacent tent. The little assistant was curled up in a sleeping bag, with only a ventilation hole left.
He kicked the sleeping bag twice.
"Let me sleep a little longer~"
Her groggy voice came from inside. This girl hadn't slept in over 72 hours.
Su Xiao grabbed the bottom of the sleeping bag, lifted it upside down, and unzipped it. The little assistant slid out.
"Huh?"
Just woken up, her face seemed to scream "confusion."
"Fall in."
"Yes, sir!"
She jumped up and dressed in no time.
After leaving the camp, Su Xiao and the little assistant followed the main force toward the Saintly Gate Fortress.
Thousands of tanks led the way. These steel beasts were incredibly fierce, kicking up massive clouds of dust, with countless infantry eating dirt behind them.
The number of trucks and armored vehicles was beyond counting. No wonder other nations described the Geya Alliance as bloodthirsty barbarians with insatiable greed. The current momentum clearly aimed to invade the Sun Kingdom, with no intention of negotiating.
Half an hour later, the Sun Kingdom's trenches and the Saintly Gate Fortress came into view. Before today, Su Xiao had never seen a fortress with an almost entirely metal exterior. Today, he did.
The Saintly Gate Fortress reflected an iron-black sheen in the sunlight. It stood about 60 meters tall. Despite its height, it appeared quite bulky, giving an idea of its massive footprint.
Woo—
A whistling sound came from above. Su Xiao looked up to see a shell over a meter long falling from the sky.
Boom!
Shards of spiral steel flew. A tank was blown apart, and a large group of nearby soldiers was pierced by metal fragments. In an instant, everything within a hundred meters of the impact point was a bloody mess.
"Ahhh!!"
A soldier cut in half by a steel plate screamed in agony. He grabbed a pistol from the ground and shot himself in the head.
Boom! Boom!
The main guns of the tanks ahead belched fire. They were still half a kilometer from the Saintly Gate Fortress, but hitting such a large target was easy.
Shell after shell struck the fortress. After a round of bombardment, only scorch marks were visible on the outer layer of spiral steel.
The tank group stopped 800 meters from the fortress. Below the fortress were the enemy's trenches. Going any closer would be suicide.
Using the tanks for cover, the Geya Alliance soldiers began digging trenches.
A hail of bullets flew in. Friendly soldiers fell from time to time. The enemy trenches below the fortress were packed with troops, and heavy machine guns fired as if bullets cost nothing.
Blood splattered, dirt flew—this was the price the attackers paid. The enemy had solid defenses, and the attackers would inevitably suffer at the start.
Enduring enemy bullets and bombardments, trenches were quickly dug. After installing spiral steel plates and support brackets inside, temporary trenches were completed.
Su Xiao crouched behind a tank. The incoming bullets pinned him down. He hadn't originally wanted to come to this battlefield, but last night, after using the temporary detection ability granted by his "Personal War Main Mission," he had to participate. The mission target, Divine Envoy Dubois Yis, had arrived at the Saintly Gate Fortress from the Sun Kingdom last night. His target was inside the fortress.
"Commander, it's dug."
The little assistant's voice came through the hail of bullets. Su Xiao leaped into the trench. It was about a hundred meters long, with spiral steel plates set up at the front. Trenches without those plates were practically useless.
Su Xiao pulled the bolt of his Mr. 24 sniper rifle. The enemies hiding in trenches and bunkers were just sitting ducks to him. This was a great chance to earn Reincarnation Paradise merits.