binnovel Chapter 347 Siege War
Chapter 347 Siege War
At five in the morning, the girls in the special forces team had already started eating breakfast. Li Chenglong gave each of them a small bottle of Flame Fruit Wine and gave them some instructions. When he came to Han Xiaoling, Li Chenglong took out a short sword from his psionic space. This was the same short sword made of Izamlai metal that El and Tris had given to Li Yunhao before. Han Xiaoling had borrowed it from Yunlan a few times before. Although she liked it very much, she would always return it to Li Yunhao as soon as possible after each mission.
Li Chenglong smiled and said, "Take it. I told the little guy, and he said he'd lend it to his aunt anytime." When Li Chenglong first met Han Xiaoling, the girl was only 13 years old. This year she's 15, and although she's still quite young, it's clear she's a beauty. Actually, Han Xiaoling always wanted the little guy to call her "sister," but the little guy was clever and always called her "aunt." Han Xiaoling happily accepted the short sword and continued listening to Li Chenglong's arrangements for the twelve of them.
This reconnaissance team, composed of 10 special operations soldiers and 2 members of the Special Support Section, was temporarily led by Wang Shuang, with Zhao Liying as the deputy leader. The members were all highly skilled superhumans and awakened individuals, such as Jin Mengqi, Wu Ruilan, and Han Xiaoling. Yun Lan's 30 special operations soldiers wouldn't participate today; their reconnaissance duties would be handled by the information support unit. Li Chenglong's team employed a three-pronged approach: a reconnaissance squad of 12 highly skilled superhumans, the information support unit's reconnaissance team, and the Eagle reconnaissance aircraft in the air.
Of the 20 Tyrannosaurus Rex fighters from the Dawn City Air Force Squadron, 12 were deployed today to support the southward-bound troops, while the remaining 8 were to assist the Qianyun Base in recapturing Beihe Province. After recapturing Beihe Province, the next target would be Yanjing. The 80 crystal beam cannons from the 1st and 2nd Rocket Regiments of the Dawn Army, along with the aircraft from the Dawn City Air Force Squadron, provided significant assistance to the Dawn Army's battle, earning the admiration of everyone in Dawn City and the Dawn Army for Li Chenglong's foresight.
It's important to understand that when Li Chenglong initially decided to establish the Rocket Regiment and the Dawn City Air Force, many voices objected. They argued that the Dawn Army and Dawn City were still in their early stages of development and shouldn't take too big a step, lest they become unstable and unable to progress. However, the results of these recent battles have demonstrated just how wise Li Chenglong's decision was. Even General Chen Guoqiang, the top leader at headquarters, repeatedly mentioned this matter in meetings, specifically praising Li Chenglong's decisions during the construction of Dawn City and the multi-service development of the Dawn Army within Dawn City.
Li Chenglong personally saw Wang Shuang and the reconnaissance company of the information support unit off. He glanced at his watch; it was already 5:30 a.m. Next came the daily routine during the battle: the morning meeting. Li Chenglong gathered officers of regimental and deputy regimental levels and above from all units in his command vehicle and began the operational meeting.
Li Chenglong, sitting in the main seat, said, "Our goal today is to clear out the remaining two zombie hordes in Shangrao City and enter Yingtan City around 3 PM. Yingtan City is relatively small, and according to our reconnaissance team, there aren't any large zombie hordes. We might be able to advance relatively quickly, but just to be on the safe side, we'll stay in Yingtan for a day. We'll also notify all combat units to make sure they clear out all zombies and zombie beasts within their assigned areas."
Then Zheng Yong, Zheng Aiguo, Qi Guoan, and others gave their speeches. They ate and chatted, and time flew by. Before long, it was time to depart. Yun Lan's group was going to enter Nanchang City today. Actually, the Western Route Army's operational area was more extensive, which was Yun Lan's request.
Her idea was to kill more zombies and zombie beasts to speed up her leveling up. Plus, she'd heard last night that a level 12, three-elemental ability user had appeared in both the Northeast and Northwest war zones, which made her feel a sense of crisis. So this morning, as soon as the appointed time arrived, Yunlan eagerly ordered the entire army to set off for Nanchang City.
Nanchang City is the first major obstacle the Dawn Army will face in this battle, as it is the city of Kun, one of the eight great guardians of the zombies. According to the intelligence provided by the female zombie Qin Wan, after using a large formation to "kill" Li Chenglong, the eight guardians, with the help of the zombie emperor, have all raised their strength to mid-level 12. To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Yunlan discussed the situation early this morning with Lei Qingcheng and Li Xue, two level 11 awakened beings. If they encounter Kun, the three of them will attack together. With Li Xue and Lei Qingcheng, two different types of support awakened beings, in a three-on-one situation, Yunlan is confident they can defeat their opponent despite their higher level.
However, when Yunlan led her troops to the zombie city built in Nanchang, they found that although there were many zombies, including quite a few high-level zombies of level 11 and 10, the expected Protector Kun was nowhere to be seen. Yunlan scanned the area with her right eye's Phoenix Eye but found no trace of Protector Kun, which puzzled her. This presented a good opportunity, and Li Chenglong ordered the 1st Regiment of Rocket Force to deploy 40 crystal beam cannons from their four battalions, unleashing a barrage of fire on the opposite city.
Because the crystal beam cannons had a long range, neither the cannons in the zombie city nor the attacks from the mutant zombies could reach Rocket Force 1 Regiment's positions. The hordes of zombies that rushed out to attack the artillery positions were also promptly eliminated by Yun Lan and the others. Therefore, after an hour of bombardment, the northern part of the zombie city was almost entirely reduced to ruins. Yun Lan drew his Dragon-Phoenix Spear and shouted, "Soldiers, follow me, charge in!"
First came Yun Lan, followed by Yang Liu's special forces team, then a formation of superhumans, and finally, ordinary soldiers. More than 20,000 people stormed into the zombie-infested city, beginning a fierce battle. Four hours later, Yun Lan killed the last level 11 superhuman zombie with a single spear thrust, ending the great battle.
Siege warfare is always brutal, especially for the besieging side. Once inside the zombie city, the zombies, led by high-level zombies, engaged the Dawn Army in fierce street fighting. The battle raged for four hours, resulting in significant losses for the Dawn Army. Yun Lan ordered the army to rest and regroup, setting up camp in a clean area of the zombie city for the day before continuing their southward advance the next day. Yun Lan also instructed Yang Liu and others to compile a detailed battle report as soon as the statistics were available and submit it to Li Chenglong.
At 1 p.m., Li Chenglong received a battle report from the Western Route Army. Zheng Yong, after reading it, said with some surprise, "I didn't expect the losses to be so significant. It seems the zombie city is incredibly fortified." Li Chenglong pondered for a moment and immediately said, "Wang Jie, contact Wang Shuang and have the 12 of them stop their intelligence gathering work and go to join the Western Route Army to help Yunlan in the next battle. At the same time, contact the Second Rocket Regiment of the Dawn Army and have them put their crystal beam cannons into storage capsules and also go to join the Western Route Army as quickly as possible. I will make up for the combat power loss caused by their departure."
Wang Jie nodded and immediately began making contact using the large communicator on the command vehicle. Two minutes later, Wang Shuang and the others, having received Li Chenglong's order, stopped moving forward, confirmed the route, and began to march quickly towards the Western Route Army headquarters. Meanwhile, the 2nd Regiment of the Rocket Force began packing up its equipment, and would board troop transport vehicles to join the Western Route Army in half an hour.
Feng Tian walked over happily and said to Yun Lan, "Deputy Commander Yun, Commander Li didn't know that our combat strength was insufficient. He has already transferred the remaining 12 advanced superhumans from the special forces team and the 2nd Rocket Regiment to join us." Yun Lan was looking at the reports brought by various divisions. After hearing this, she frowned and said, "Uncle Feng, no, Chief of Staff Feng, how can this be? The quota for this team was agreed upon beforehand. How can it be transferred at will now?"
Feng Tian sighed, "This is because Commander Li considered that our losses were quite heavy, so he sent reinforcements. He also specifically emphasized that this was not his personal idea, but an order from the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces. Major General Yun Lan, Commander of the Western Route Army of the Dawn Army, must obey the order." Yun Lan wanted to speak, but after glancing at the battle report, she said, "Alright, on behalf of our Western Route Army Command, we thank the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces."