Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 1514: Chapter 30: Blitzkrieg (13)

Tulun River.

The river water flowed heavily across the wide river surface.

Under the warm sunlight, the reef in the river and the weeds on the nearshore shoals cut through the flow, stirring up white splashes that resembled small white flames, joyfully leaping in the muddy stream.

On both sides, the mountains, from low to high, spread indefinitely into the distance. The various peaks stood like towering giants, entangling silently, competing with each other, unwilling to yield yet inseparable.

At ten in the morning, with the first sound of artillery shaking the mountains and forests, the quiet southern bank of the Tulun River exploded into activity.

The mountains and the people stationed there were stunned by this sudden sound.

They stared blankly at the fireballs flashing from the southern, southwestern, and southeastern peaks, taking a fierce breath towards the surroundings, red flames piercing the sky, and thick black smoke rolling in all directions.

The black smoke moved so aggressively, like a group of devils wrapped in a black curtain, continually crashing outwards, finally condensing into gray-black mushroom clouds.

The mountains trembled, and the river waters fled.

Squadrons of bandit armored troops charged into the valleys like an overwhelming torrent, wave after wave pouring over the mountaintops.

The hillsides and fields were covered with these blue, black, and dark green mechas. Tens of thousands of combat mechas paved the way, and the massive logistics troops followed closely, protected by numerous heavy and medium-sized mechas. The entire unit stretched over ten kilometers, vast and unstoppable, sweeping northward.

The relatively flat terrain on the southern bank of the Tulun River provided this force with extremely high mobility.

Once they plunged into the right flank of the Jiepeng 25 Army Group control area, in just half an hour, the double-arrow formation composed of the bandit army’s First Armored Division and Second Armored Division had already penetrated fifteen kilometers deep. The Jiepeng garrison along the way had no time to react before being swallowed up by this rolling torrent.

The first to bear the brunt was the Jiepeng 2521 Division’s regiment.

As a reserve unit, this regiment was stationed in a valley near the Tulun River.

Because it was nearly sixty kilometers away from the Jingfeng Valley front line, and there was no danger appearing in the surrounding area, the unit was always ready to move to the front line to relieve other units. Apart from constructing the valley into a base composed of deployed mechas, tents, camouflage nets, and modular bulletproof walls, they only deployed a small number of guard units on several surrounding hills.

When the first artillery sound came from the south, the Jiepeng soldiers who were having lunch hadn’t reacted yet. Holding lunchboxes, they chewed while walking out of the canopy of the open-air dining hall, looking towards the direction from which the faint sound of artillery came. The engineering mechas unloading supplies or tunneling into the mountain walls made such loud noises, they didn’t even stop.

It wasn’t until the dense artillery fire turned into a continuous cascade and the base’s alarm emitted a piercing wail that the Jiepeng soldiers realized something had happened. They dropped their lunch boxes and frantically ran towards the helipad, with the entire base in a state of panicked confusion.

The regimental commander issued orders to assemble the troops in a frenzy. However, stationed in the base were only the Electronic Company, Staff Department, and logistics troops, with only the regiment’s Guard Company as a combat unit. Other subordinate combat units were distributed around, and urgent assembly would take at least five minutes.

Five minutes, for an armored regiment that had withdrawn from the frontline for five days of rest with no combat tasks, was just enough time to leisurely smoke a cigarette during idle days.

But in the time of smoking that cigarette, the two companies two kilometers away had already collapsed.

Jiepeng soldiers abandoning their camps and positions fled wildly through the jungle. Countless energy cannon, energy machine gun bullets cut through the forest, relentlessly pursuing them. Dirt splattered, wood chips flew. The ground suddenly bore rows of bullet holes, bushes were shredded, and tree trunks were blasted with gaping white wounds and gaps.

All that’s left was flame, blood, and the sound of Fei Alliance Mechas thundering through the forest like a wolf pack running wild.

When the artillery fire sounded, the bandit army’s vanguard was two kilometers away. By the time the Jiepeng Armored Group’s mechanical warriors rushed out of their barracks and mounted their mechas, the bandit army had already appeared at the mouth of the valley.

The Jiepeng forces located in the southern mouth of the valley fought desperately, trying to buy time for the units behind them.

Many of them had just gotten into their mechas when they were engulfed by the oncoming artillery fire. Many others managed to start their mechas but were knocked to the ground by bandit army mechas charging at leopard speed before they could even fire a shot, smashing them to pieces.

Buildings collapsed in the artillery fire; mechas were consumed by explosive flames; Jiepeng soldiers fell to the ground screaming.....

Amidst this tragic backdrop, countless bandit army mechas swept by like the wind, spraying torrents of blood.

The base in the valley was transformed into a sea of fire. The Jiepeng Armored Group’s regimental commander finally took advantage of the blocking by the forward units to lead a small number of surviving troops to escape to the 3rd Battalion’s station, three kilometers to the north. Simultaneously, stationed in the east, the Second Battalion also swiftly approached the 3rd Battalion’s location under his orders.

Behind the 3rd Battalion’s station was a steep peak. Upon arrival, he immediately ordered the troops to establish a temporary interception line centered on this mountain.