Counterfeit Hero

Between the two highlands, there is a natural gentle valley. Resource Road No. 2 passes through here, bypassing the main peak of Pingqi Ridge, heading north.

At this moment, dust is flying on the yellow soil of the two highlands. Explosions throw up rocks and sand into the air like rolling waves, each crest higher than the last. Amidst the deafening sounds of artillery, red and white flashes densely appear on the mountaintop.

Zhang Fusheng curled up in the trench, covered in sand fallen from explosions. The ground’s violent shaking caused the sand on him to bounce furiously.

Zhang Fusheng tried hard to huddle into the bulletproof pit surrounded by the modular metal bulletproof wall, spitting out sand from his mouth while pressing his dirty face against the electronic observation mirror, with one eye closed, watching the movements of the Suss Armored Group at the foot of the mountain.

The gray-brown ”Boxing King” mechas once again leaped out of their positions in a triangular formation. The front mechas have fully accelerated, engines roaring, like steel giants stepping on the trembling ground, advancing towards the highlands. The light from the bandit army’s energy cannons exploded beside them, making their figures appear and disappear amidst the flying dust.

”Everyone, get ready!” A roar from platoon leader Keynes came through the earpiece: ”The enemy is coming! Send them back!”

”Boom!” Another earth-shattering explosion erupted beside Zhang Fusheng. Despite his quick reaction, the edge of the observation mirror still cut his right eyebrow. A few drops of blood fell to the ground, the rest flowed down his dust-covered eyelashes, carving black-red streaks on his face.

”Damn it!” Zhang Fusheng didn’t bother to wipe off the blood, just blinked a few times, grabbed the portable missile launcher, and quickly emerged from the bulletproof pit.

Zhang Fusheng used to be a member of the Tai Sect’s armed organization, the Black Flag Mercenary Army. After Geoffrey and other traditional forces of Tai Sect split from Kubo, the Black Flag Mercenary Army, with only 350 members under Geoffrey’s command, was reorganized into the bandit’s First Mechanized Infantry Division.

Later on, after witnessing the crazy battles involving 120 mechas in Puluo Town, every member of the Black Flag Mercenary Army became the most loyal followers of the bandit army. They cooperated with the armored units to maintain order in Puluo Town, carried out defense tasks, underwent rigorous combat training, discussed the fatty officer’s thirty-meter disappearing stealth and fighting skills, and polished the silver bandit badges on their collars every day.

As the bandit army grew stronger, the originally small First Division expanded into four full regiments. Various armed organizations under different factions, including mercenary armies and guard teams, were integrated into this division. Kentai people, Vibo people, Spari people, Chuckna people, Gnus people... each was either a professional soldier or a violent criminal with exceptional skills.

The fatty seemed to understand everyone’s preferences well. These people who had fought or knew how to fight were gathered together by him, adopting formal military management, along with extremely rich training programs and tactical explanations. Everyone, including Zhang Fusheng, felt they had returned to their days in the army.

Such days made these professional soldiers feel quite satisfied. Especially when they saw the bandit army’s self-manufactured energy cannons and portable missile launchers, everyone felt they had chosen the right leader. Compared to these peculiar but powerful weapons, the old weapons seemed like children’s toys.

Currently, the other two regiments of the First Division were still training at the base with two newly formed regiments of the Second Infantry Division, taking over Zhang Fusheng’s previous patrol tasks. Meanwhile, the First Regiment and Second Regiment of the First Division were ordered to guard the Pingqi Ridge Defense Line.

In the past, encountering the Suss’s military combat mecha units would have made Zhang Fusheng run for his life. But now, he had no intention of retreating at all—Suss’s regular army was nothing special. This was already their sixth assault on Hill 205, leaving behind hundreds of mecha wrecks at the front, without gaining any advantage! If they couldn’t overcome Hill 205, there was no way they could reach Hill 261 behind it!

This was real combat! Zhang Fusheng crawled through the blast-proof armor covering the trench, reaching his combat position. Holding the heavy portable missile launcher, he felt reassured! With this equipment, he had already destroyed the drive systems of two Suss mechas—no matter the mecha, the leg drive was always the weak spot.

”Everyone, get ready... Point One... Point Six... Point Nine, prepare your fire points. Damn it... let them get closer! Observer, notify the artillery battalion... fire suppression.” Zhang Fusheng removed the completely jammed communication headset, carefully distinguishing the intermittent voice of platoon leader Keynes through the loudspeaker and synchronized sound wave transmitter amid the sounds of artillery and explosions.

Zhang Fusheng set up his missile launcher, adjusting the lock-on device, targeting a Suss ”Boxing King” mecha through the crosshairs on the launcher screen...

Twenty seconds later, overwhelming artillery fire swept across the entire highland. Suss’s mecha cannons, the bandit’s long-range artillery hidden behind Hill 205, missiles shooting out from the positions, high-speed energy cannons like light chains, mecha landmines, fusion hand grenades... all kinds of weapons frantically ravaged the land. Deafening explosions echoed through the sky.

Amid the explosions, an armored unit leaped over the ridge of Pingqi, entering the positions behind Hill 205.

Zhang Fusheng, who first saw this armored unit, threw away the launcher that was out of missiles and smiled. He knew his mission was complete.

As he crawled back along the trench, he thought, wondering what expressions the Suss Empire’s mecha pilots would have when they found out that it wouldn’t be infantry facing them next time.

Watching those mechas sneakily entering the deep mecha trenches, Zhang Fusheng grinned, his crawling butt wiggling with increasing vigor.

”Interesting!” Chuck gently brushed the dust off his crisp uniform with white gloves, looking at the long-range viewer screen on the command platform, and then turned to smile at the staff officers beside him: ”To hold out for so long under the full assault of our two battalions, I really must believe this hero is not just famous without reason.”

The distant sounds of artillery and explosions were continuous. Hearing Chuck’s words, the expressions of several combat staff and lower officers became somewhat unnatural.

Suss’s 19th Division 401 and 402 regiments were organized into three combat battalions, a logistics company, a sharp blade company, an electronic platoon, an engineer company, and a company-level reserve team. The main individual mecha of the entire regiment was the ”Boxing King” Eighth Generation mecha, and each platoon was also equipped with a ”Fortress” humanoid heavy mecha.

From 16:00 in the afternoon till now, with dusk approaching, the two combat battalions of the 402 regiment, along with the electronic mecha providing electronic shielding over the entire battlefield, spent nearly three hours failing to capture a hilltop. It was indeed inexcusable. Everyone knew, although Chuck was smiling, the veins bulging on his forehead already revealed his anger.

The command room, temporarily set up in base mode by the command mecha, was utterly silent. Everyone stared at the images transmitted back by the electronic mecha, speechless—were they really just facing two infantry regiments of the Free World?

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(To be continued, for more chapters, please visit www.qidian.com. Support the author and read legitimate content!)