Chapter 148: Dimensional Strike |
Flames erupted everywhere.
The previously pitch-black Braze Mountain was instantly illuminated as several brilliant blossoms of fire erupted across the slopes. The flashing light lit up the dark forest, and the deafening roars of the explosions echoed through the heavens.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
The guards shouted, trying to blow their warning horns, but George was quick and grabbed one of them immediately. "Stop! This is just the enemy's trick to draw us out! Haven't you noticed that none of these shells are landing in our encampment?"
Hearing George's shout, everyone recovered from their panic. Looking closely, it was exactly as George had said. Although that aerial battleship was constantly pouring artillery fire toward the ground, the shells were all flying past their encampment. It looked entirely like random, blind firing.
"Order everyone to stay alert and keep their composure!"
George issued the command and returned to the command post tent. By now, the other officers had assembled, looking at their commander-in-chief, waiting for his next orders.
"We must absolutely maintain our calm," George declared with immense confidence. "It is obvious that the enemy is attempting to use this method to disrupt our morale and force our forces hiding in Braze Mountain to panic. Once they run out of Braze Mountain, they will immediately be annihilated by the surrounding Imperial Army..."
However, before George could finish his sentence, a frantic shouting came from outside.
Before the voice could even fade, everyone saw a blood-stained soldier rush in. "Report, sir! The 36th Battalion's position has been completely destroyed!"
"Destroyed?"
"Yes! A sudden bombardment covered the entire position! No one escaped except me!"
"This..."
Hearing this, George frowned. He had just said the Empire was firing blindly, and now a camp had already been destroyed?
"Report!"
Soon, another loud shout rang out, and another soldier was carried into the tent. "Report, commander... the 15th, 18th, and 27th Battalion positions have been destroyed... severe casualties..."
"How is this possible?!"
Hearing this, George could no longer sit still. He walked out of the tent and looked around once more. The bombardment was still continuing. The iron warship floating in the sky was like a solid fortress, mercilessly pouring fire in all directions. It was true that the Imperial Army possessed formidable firepower, but no matter how powerful it was, it was impossible to flip the entire Braze Mountain upside down! From the current firepower, it was also clear that the Empire's aerial battleship was not conducting indiscriminate bombing across the whole mountain. How on earth was this...
"Da da da da da—!"
The rapid sound of hooves echoed. George turned his head and saw a warhorse carrying a blood-soaked soldier rushing in. The latter charged straight in front of George, failing to even dismount properly before tumbling headfirst into George's arms.
"Warren? What happened to you?"
Looking at the comrade before him, George was pale with shock. This was no ordinary soldier, but a brother-in-arms who had fought side by side with George and possessed his deepest trust. Yet at this moment, he had lost a leg and half an arm, looking as if he had been fished out of a pool of blood.
"George..." Seeing Warren, George reached out with his remaining intact hand and grabbed him tightly. "Eva... evacuate immediately...!"
"Evacuate?"
"Our positions... have been discovered by the Imperial Army! All positions have been destroyed!"
"That's impossible!" George was dumbfounded by Warren's words. "I admit the Empire is using a saturation attack this time, but there is no way they could know the location of every single one of our positions!"
"I don't know how they did it either, but they did..." Warren gripped George tightly, staring at him. "When the first round of attacks began, just to be safe, I ordered all soldiers to evacuate the position immediately. In fact, not long after I gave the order, the position I was responsible for was shelled... Not only that, the remaining soldiers I led had just escaped danger when the second round of bombardment came straight for us! It was as if, as if the Imperial Army knew exactly which direction we were retreating! Our positions are completely exposed, George. Leave this place, any later and you won't get away..."
Warren could not finish his words. He gripped George's arm, staring at him with his mouth open, as a torrent of blood mixed with foam surged from his throat. Then, Warren collapsed into George's arms, his eyes still wide open, staring into the void with a mix of confusion and despair.
At this moment, George could no longer care about any of that. He just stared blankly while holding Warren's corpse, his mind completely blank.
All position locations were leaked? How was that possible? It was absolutely impossible! George had also worried about spies, so he had issued orders to the other commanders individually, assigning them distinct positions and combat zones. In the entire National Army, only George himself knew the locations of all positions, and he was absolutely certain he had never revealed them to anyone!
And even if he took a step back and assumed the information about their positions had been leaked, how was the location to which Warren led his men to evacuate exposed?
George was completely baffled by this.
But to Levi at this moment, this was not a problem at all.
Under the massive shadow of the iron fortress, a small reconnaissance airship hovered in the sky. Levi stared at the ground through a viewing scope—in his eyes, the earth was entirely dark. Even the bombardment of the Imperial warships was equally dark; only the soul radiance struggling within that darkness was so distinct and dazzling.
Ah, this group of people is running this way.
Levi stared at the rebels who had abandoned their position and begun to retreat toward the south. He reached out and drew a circle and an arrow on the map beside him. Seeing this, a messenger standing next to Levi immediately picked up the communicator, looked at the map, and reported.
"The enemy in area A12 is retreating toward area A14!"
"Very good." Hearing the report, General Howe nodded. "Conduct a saturation bombardment on area A14!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Boom, boom, boom—!"
Three shells whistled out from the muzzles of the aerial battleship, flying toward the southern part of Braze Mountain. Then, streaks of fire flashed, accompanied by a massive roar, as soaring smoke and whistling, scattered dirt covered everything.
Excellent, handled.
Seeing that the dozens of light points originally in his vision had completely disappeared, Levi nodded and drew an X on area A14. Then he shifted his gaze again, looking toward other parts of the battlefield.
Indeed, under Levi's [Soul Sight], the location of the rebels across the entire Braze Mountain was almost completely exposed. Even if the first wave of attacks did not completely wipe them out, Levi could directly determine the direction of their retreat and mark it on the corresponding part of the map.
Then, specialized soldiers were responsible for reporting the coordinates, and subsequently, the Cyclops would conduct saturation bombardment on the target area.
As a main aerial battleship of the Empire, the Cyclops possessed eight 380mm main cannons used for ground suppression, and its power was naturally self-evident. As long as the position was accurately pinpointed, a single wave of artillery fire was enough to completely send the enemy to the heavens.
Provided the position was accurately pinpointed.
"Prepare to evacuate."
George naturally had no idea what the situation was in the sky right now, but since his companion had not forgotten to notify him before dying, he also knew they could no longer stay here. No matter how the Imperial Army found out, at least for now, the rebel plan had completely failed. Their only option now was to immediately retreat into Noyock City and stand with the citizens against the Empire's tyranny—
"Whoosh—!!"
However, before George could give the command, a strange sound of breaking air suddenly echoed through the atmosphere. This was followed by a series of metallic clangs as several objects resembling ship anchors descended from the sky, slamming heavily into the ground around the encampment.
What is that...
Seeing the anchors connected to steel cables, George froze for a moment, and then seemed to realize something. "Everyone, retreat immediately—!"
"Boom!"
Drop pods sliding rapidly down the steel cables slammed heavily into the encampment, and the resulting shockwave and blast of air instantly scattered the surrounding soldiers and officers. As the hatch doors opened, warriors clad in steel armor holding steam machine guns strode out!
It was the Empire's Steam Mech-Soldiers!
At this moment, George finally understood. This was all a trap by the Empire!
And the reality was exactly as George thought.
Levi's [Soul Sight] was indeed useful, but after all, it was just a simple skill. It wasn't like an RPG Game that gave you gold or red highlights to distinguish the importance of targets. Therefore, even though Levi could lock onto all the rebel positions across Braze Mountain, he had no idea which one was the command post.
And that was when General Howe made his move.
He used the opportunity of negotiations to present the rebels with a peace proposal again and delivered a letter. General Howe knew very well that whether it succeeded or failed, the other party would definitely deliver his letter to the rebels' commander-in-chief. Therefore, when the negotiation representative left the city carrying General Howe's letter, Levi had been monitoring him until the messenger reached his destination, thereby confirming the command post.
Then, things were easy to handle. For the other positions, the Empire wiped them out directly, while the command post was left for last, to be fully suppressed by the airborne Steam Mech-Soldiers.
After all, as the leader of the rebels, he had to be brought back for a public trial and sentencing. Blowing him to pieces with a single shell would certainly be convenient, but it wouldn't look good when spoken of in the future.
Once the Steam Mech-Soldiers landed, the remaining issues were naturally no longer issues.
Soon, Levi received the report from the Cyclops. "The rebel position has been completely suppressed. All rebel officers and their leader have been captured!"
"Phew..."
Hearing this, Levi also dropped the pen in his hand and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he could go home for the holidays.