Lord of the Desert

Chapter 594 Cooperation
The logic is very clear.

Unlike machinery, sand grains only have friction and no chemical bonds.

The humanoid structure is extremely prone to falling apart when subjected to impact or its own movement, requiring a continuous consumption of true energy to "bind" it. This is much more difficult than simply maintaining a solid sphere or a moving wave.

Furthermore, when the Colossus attacked, only a very small portion of its limbs participated in the direct attack; the vast majority of its mass used to constitute the "body" became dead weight, reducing its effectiveness in inflicting damage.

The biggest problem lies in control.

Normal human activities rely on the precise cooperation of the brain, cerebellum, brainstem, and spinal cord. The brain performs strategic thinking and issues macro-level instructions, the cerebellum calculates the timing, angle, force, and pattern of movements, and the brainstem and spinal cord are responsible for the final execution of muscle contraction and so on.

In this mode, rhythmic signals such as alternating flexion and extension of the legs and maintaining balance are generated automatically by the spinal cord and do not become a burden on the brain.

However, the sand colossi do not possess intermediate or lower-level nervous systems.

Every movement of the colossus—the shift of its center of gravity when taking a step, the trajectory of its movement when throwing a punch, the rise and fall of momentum and kinetic energy, and even the combined force and antagonism of each piece of sand—requires the operator to calculate in real time; the terrifying perception and parallel computing power required are still an enormous burden for Hong Fan at present, even without the assistance of the Spirit.

He then realized he had taken the wrong path.

Combat can be abstracted as a constrained trajectory optimization problem—given constants such as strength, speed, endurance, reaction time, arm span, and range of motion of joints, with relative body position, posture, speed, and acceleration as variables—the solution to this problem is extremely complex and must also take into account the opponent's real-time decisions.

However, after advancing to the Yuan Magnetic realm, with Hong Fan's current killing methods and configurations, especially in response to the battlefield environment, the logic of combat doesn't need to be so complicated.

Projection, explosion.

If that's not enough, throw more bombs and make it even more intense.

"Mechs may be a man's romance, but they are good for self-defense but not for offense."

Hong Fan loosely clenched his fists.

The sand and soil undulate like living things, rising into a square five meters long and three meters wide, with clear and sharp lines on all four sides, and a gun emplacement with three gun barrels totaling eighteen breechblocks sculpted on top.

[Fire.]

In a flash, the firelight illuminated the valley.

The initial bursts of fire from the eighteen cannons sounded uneven and choppy, but as Wu Xiangling took over the highly repetitive mechanical tasks such as preparing ammunition, reloading, and firing, the noise in the song disappeared.

[Moving.]

Hong Fan issued the order.

The tank rolled smoothly over the snow, its narrow, thin sand tracks perfectly conforming to the ground, filtering out most of the disturbance and ensuring accurate firing.

Thunder and flames marched in formation.

They fired continuously for a minute as they moved, and thousands of incendiary bombs cleared a space hundreds of meters long in the coniferous forest.

"It still has to be self-propelled artillery!"

Hong Fan emptied his true energy with satisfaction, finally casting aside all notions of "manly romance."

······
An hour later.

The town's garrison.

The lights illuminated the densely packed mountain and river markings on the map.

"Military intelligence from Qingzhou: The first battle took place in Moon Soul City. The enemy army, led by the ancient 'Emerald Mountain,' launched a fierce offensive, with over a thousand casualties every day."

Yi Hong stood in front of the sand table, his fingertips pressing on a spot.

"Ten days ago, 'Cangming' led his army south to Yunxi Fortress to establish an advance camp, while General Huo went north alone to Duanhong City to take charge."

Cangming is one of the three giant leaders who command the army north of Zuowei. He is renowned and his combat power is close to the upper limit of Yuanci.

"Four days ago, the forces of Xuandan Fortress and Xingcha Fortress joined forces and approached Luopeng Mountain. General Huo Wei sent a letter urging the delivery of the previously ordered batch of firearms."

A small red flag was planted next to the mound representing Luopeng Fort.

Xuandan Fortress was breached by the Chisha Army in the thirty-fourth year of the Zhenghe era, and the great formation inside the fortress was also destroyed. However, this place is isolated in the northern border and lacks water, so no troops have been stationed here. Finally, in July of last year, it was taken back by the Giant Spirit and rebuilt.

Hong Fan looked at Cui Yutang.

The latter was transferred to Fengsui last autumn to be specifically responsible for the Red Sand Army's external logistics procurement. "The muskets and 3/3 cannons from Luopeng Fort have already begun loading onto the trucks and will definitely be dispatched within two days."

Cui Yutang answered without hesitation.

"Thank you for your hard work. How's the situation on the other side of Throat Mountain?"

Hong Fan nodded and looked at Yang Haorang.

To protect the crucial supply line to Liangzhou, Fengsui City built a small fortress on the shore of Shuohai Lake, garrisoning over a thousand soldiers.

"The wolf cavalry from the north have infiltrated forty miles, and both sides have suffered casualties in the clash between enemy and friendly scouts."

Yang Haorang replied.

"The main force of the Giant Spirits is concentrated along the line from Luopeng Mountain to Duanhong City, so Juehou Mountain is not a big problem."

Xu Yuntao made a judgment.

"Where are the martial arts elixirs?"

Hong Fan continued.

"No merchant has had any stock of the Cave Refining True Treasure Pill for the past six months. I have already raised the price to three times the usual amount, but there is still no market for it."

Cui Yutang looked troubled.

"This month I did acquire a pot of Seven-Turn Azure Light Pills for 1,700 strings of cash. The thirty True Yuan Bullets sent by the Liangzhou Weapon Workshop were put into storage today. There are currently 120 bullets in the warehouse, enough for a major battle."

The True Essence Bullet he mentioned was made by hand from top-grade chalcedony, with each one worth more than ten strings of cash. It contained various True Essence, such as metal-based armor-piercing and fire-based explosive, as needed. A single hit could severely injure or even kill an ordinary giant spirit.

An hour later, the crowd dispersed.

Hong Fan felt a little stuffy and got up to open the west window.

The candlelight flickered, and the spring breeze that blew in was dry and cold, carrying with it the stench of gunpowder and earth.

The sun had already set, leaving only a murky dark red streak across the sky.

A crescent moon hung above the battlements, its halo a rusty red like blood stains—this was the celestial phenomenon of the divine war that Kou Fei spoke of, the heavens and earth like a cage, drawing away the scattered life force of the fallen.

Hong Fan stared at it for a moment, until the red light seemed to penetrate his eyes, before he walked back to his desk and took out a secret letter.

This is an imperial edict delivered by Fei Lian. It is concise and to the point that the emperor intends to use war to weaken Zhenbeiwei and hopes that Fei Lian and Chisha Army will "cooperate" at an appropriate time.

Hong Fan read it silently twice more, then used his fingertips to generate heat and licked the letter.

The flames engulfed the neat, official script; the paper curled and charred, and as the last embers fell, they shimmered with the same dark red hue as the moon halo outside the window.

The two most dangerous places in Zhenbei Left Guard today are Luopeng Mountain and Duanhong City. Huo Wei is located in the former, while Huo Zhan is personally in charge of the latter.

Xiao Ce was far away in Shenjing.

Upon realizing this, Hong Fan couldn't help but let out a short, mocking laugh.

PS:

Brothers, it's time for me to take a break.

I feel that my brain has become associated with writing and pain under chronic stress; for quite some time now, I no longer naturally start brainstorming whenever I have free time, and I take out my phone from time to time to record inspiration.

For the past month, I haven't even been able to find joy in writing.

There's only pressure; thinking about updating only brings pressure.

This won't work; it will not only make you write slowly but also make you write poorly.

With the year-end approaching, I plan to take two trips with the operations manager after the New Year, read more poetry and novels, and then, at a relaxed pace, sort out the rest of the story in this book.

In summary, I will be taking approximately two months off, with the next update scheduled for April 1st.

(End of this chapter)