Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 1466: Chapter 11: Iron Tide

Phoenix City.

With the issuance of an order, the various units stationed in the city and its surroundings, like swarms of ants disturbed in their nests, began to move frantically.

Squad after squad of soldiers dashed out of their barracks at the electronic loudspeakers’ assembly calls and the frantic shouts of junior officers. In the roar of engines and the shaking ground filling with dust, mechas rolled out of the tarmac and warehouses. Transport mechas filled with soldiers, convoys of military vehicles loaded with various supplies and ammunition, burst out of the base and charged onto the highway. Fighter jets emergency took off with great roars, soared into the sky, whistling over the bustling city, heading west.

The streets were filled with the roar of mechas and vehicles. The checkpoint guard posts at intersections had long been withdrawn, the sandbags and barbed wire roadblocks were moved away with the collective effort of many soldiers, and small military off-road vehicles carrying officers or staff weaved through the traffic of military trucks, suddenly turning a corner at intersections, disappearing from people’s sight, leaving only a sweep of wind and dust.

Leave has been canceled, everyone, regardless of rank or position, must immediately report back to their units. Even several units that had just withdrawn from the front lines stopped their steps into Phoenix City, ready and waiting in their tracks.

The tense atmosphere was spreading. The officers and soldiers didn’t know what was happening at the front lines. After completing the emergency assembly, they sat on the ground, waiting for further orders. This allowed them some downtime to observe their officers pacing back and forth with serious faces, checking their watches, or secretly exchanging whispers or glances of doubts.

Which section of the front line couldn’t hold up?

Did the rumored fall of Frenso Town several hours ago cause a massive rout?

Has the command finally decided to launch a major counterattack to end this two-month passive defense?

The 102nd Armored Division and the 103rd Armored Division of the 10th Army have moved out. The 231st Mechanical Infantry Division, the 235th Mechanical Infantry Division, and the 236th Armored Division of the 23rd Army have also moved out... One message after another was passed among the soldiers from the unmoving mouths of platoon leaders or squad leaders with serious expressions.

The heartbeat quickened.

This is not a drill.

Regardless of what happened at the frontline, this time, the command is not planning to commit just one division after another into a bottomless defensive line for attrition with the enemy.

An iron torrent surged westward. The Resk Main Army was ready to make a big move!

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A convoy under the escort of dozens of mechas, wrapped in a sky of dust and sand, rushed into a valley surrounded by towering mountains on both sides.

The guards hurriedly removed the warning barriers, ammo boxes piled like mountains, dust-covered mechas, and busily moving soldiers flashed by outside the car window.

A moment later, the snakelike convoy had stopped before the temporary command post at the center of the camp area.

A major officer in a dark gray uniform ran forward and opened the heavy door of the armored off-road flying car.

With the emergence of a polished black long boot stepping out of the door, the white-haired, stocky Suss Marshal Bellif appeared before the waiting Western Alliance generals.

The generals promptly stood at attention and saluted.

Though it was before a rudimentary temporary camp formed by expanded command mechas, camouflage nets, sandbagged ammo boxes, the impeccably uniformed generals from the Suss, Jiepeng, and Binart of the Three Great Empires, gathered together, still exuded an aura of solemnity.

Busy soldiers around were kept far away by stern-eyed guards, peeking with envy and awe.

This place belongs to the southwest mountainous area of the Socrates Mountain Range. The tall and magnificent Socrates Mountains, permanently snow-capped, meander from the northeast, lowering through several terraces, reaching here—a mixed region of mountainous hills spanning several thousand square kilometers. The surrounding mountains rise to seven or eight hundred meters at most, and at the lowest, are just a continuous range of several dozen meters high hills.

The vegetation in the mountainous area isn’t dense. Because northwest lies the desert, with little rain throughout the year, the ground soil is desertifying. A single step raises a fine dust.

Only to the southeast does the forest gradually become lush and verdant. Over the winding Dorai River, towns with increasing populations stretch east, all the way to the east of the Phoenix Plain, a land rich and fertile.

Despite modern technological developments making humans no longer worried about food, settling by water remains a key factor for locating cities on Immigrant Planets. Phoenix City, with its developed industry, numerous surrounding mining and agricultural areas, and extensive transportation networks, has always been a key strategic point on Leifeng Star. Historically, it was said, ”he who controls Phoenix City controls Leifeng Star.”

The soldiers knew that with Bellif’s arrival, the long-planned battle was about to commence. The twenty armored divisions gathered here were already two-thirds of the Northern Battle Zone’s armored strength. Hundreds of thousands of mechas were distributed throughout this vast mountainous region, from south to north, east to west, and in the mountainous forests kilometers apart, everywhere were the Western Alliance Forces.

Just waiting for Bellif’s order, these eager iron brigades would surge like a tide toward the Chuckna people’s positions, break through the defense line, charge into Phoenix Plain, galloping unhindered. They would tear to pieces any Fei Alliance people daring to stand in their way.

Under the excited yet reverent gazes of the soldiers, wearing a marshal’s uniform and draped in a black cloak, Bellif smiled and returned the salute to the generals.

At sixty-five years old, Bellif has a face that is hard to forget at first sight.

His eyes are a deep gray, appearing exceptionally sharp under his low-pressed light yellow eyebrows. His nose is large and thick, his mouth wide and thin. His philtrum is rather short on the upper lip, with the lower lip slightly protruding. Coupled with his slightly sagging cheeks, he looks just like a fierce old Brawler, full of aggression.

Bellif took off his gloves, exchanged handshakes and greetings with the Generals, and then looked around. His gaze fell on a small hill at the left front of the valley. He turned his head and said gently, ”Let’s go up and have a look.”

Despite the imminent war, with every minute and second being extremely precious, the Generals present showed no impatience. They surrounded Bellif, passing through the bustling and chaotic camp, and headed towards the opposite hillside. As they climbed the slope, their view gradually broadened. Upon reaching the hilltop, under the awed gaze of several electronic platoon soldiers stationed on the hill, the Generals paused at a small mound at the highest point.

Looking down, they saw the Western Alliance Forces stretching eastward across the mountains and fields. The mountainous terrain, jungle, banners fluttered amidst myriad horses and armies. A lofty feeling of commanding thousands of troops and pointing at great lands naturally arose.

”Long live the Empire...” Bellif gazed towards the east and said slowly, ”A century-old wish, a century of preparation, the final result lies here in the Resk Star Domain, on this Leifeng Star, in the hands of us!”

The mountain winds swept by, rolling and shaking the black cloak in the wind. His hand gently patted the rough and hard bark of the old tree beside him, his voice firm and clear in the wind: ”Whether it’s the Suss Empire or the Jiepeng Empire, at this moment of national fate, the only thing we can do is unite sincerely, lead our army, and win this war for our Empire...”

Behind him, Generals from both Suss and Jiepeng stood solemnly.

”Frenso Town has already been breached by us. With the Judger Force’s assistance, no one can stop their advance.” Bellif’s eyes squinted slightly, radiating brilliance: ”Currently, the Northern Group Army’s First Army’s five divisions have advanced to a position less than forty kilometers from Sunset Mountain, and the Third Army’s four divisions have moved into an attack position less than twenty kilometers west of Frenso Town. Our opponents, caught in a dilemma on the prolonged defense line, find themselves in a swamp where retreat or advance is equally difficult. They have fewer than twenty divisions worth of reserve troops to defend such an extensive line...”

”They already lack the strength to stop us. I have done everything I can, and now...” Bellif turned around with a smile, scanning the Generals behind him, and said each word clearly: ”It is your time now. Head east! Break through Sunset Mountain, occupy Phoenix City! Lead our warriors all the way, to occupy the entire Leifeng Star, entire Resk, entire Chuckna!”

”I will be here watching, waiting for your good news!” A wave of fanatic and pathological redness surged on Bellif’s somewhat pale cheeks.

Standing straight and saluting, this short and stout, fierce-looking old man said, ”Wish you all military success, unstoppable!”

The solemnly saluting Generals, with boiling blood surging in their chests, strode down the hill.

As they stepped into their off-road flying cars or Mechas, heading to their respective troops, they unanimously looked up at that hilltop. The figure clad in the black cloak, surrounded by dozens of staff officers, stood silently under the big tree.

Beside their ears, the sound of the military bugle rang out. Without looking, they knew that the Western Alliance Armored Forces scattered across the mountains, the forests, and the canyons, were rushing out from the hilltops and marching overwhelmingly to the east.

As they closed the car doors, there was only one thought left in the Generals’ minds.

No one can stop this steel torrent.

Absolutely no one!

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January 5, 2063.

The air battle over Frenso Town continues.

The Western Alliance Northern Group Army and the Fei Alliance Resk Army have deployed a large number of land-based fighters in this region. After the first wave of encounters, successive waves of second and third fighters from other distant cities arrive to join the frenzied killing battle.

Fighters whirl like swallows. The dimming sky is canopied by crisscrossing smoke trails from energy cannons and missiles. The erratically flying decoy missiles form black clouds that obscure the sun. Occasionally, a fighter gets hit, transforming into a ball of debris hurling fire in the skies, or disintegrating amidst ribbons of flame, or plunging into the distant hills in plumes of smoke.

The fighter skirmish has opened the prelude to this decisive battle. Both sides, with their distinct schemes, are determined to finish their air confrontation above Frenso Town.

The fighting pilots do not know that while they are battling over Frenso Town, a treacherous land army battle will erupt two hundred and twenty kilometers away at Sunset Mountain.

And below their flipping fighters, a highest level Mecha battle aimed at controlling the battlefield and obscuring intelligence has already begun.

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.(To be continued. To find out what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com to access more Chapters, support the author, and enjoy legitimate reading!)