Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Chapter 305 The Sun Did Not Rise

Chapter 305 The Sun Did Not Rise
The infiltration company was gathering its last strength to head to the Banghu defense line to cover the retreat of the Hanshui City expeditionary force; they were destined to survive this fierce battle.

On the other hand, the situation on the Machinist Church's Xuyi defense line had deteriorated to an all-time low.

Initially, things did indeed proceed according to Zhang Tao's plan.

Starting from Nüshan Lake, the beast tide continued its attack towards Xuyi.

There, the Holy Army launched the first wave of attacks against the beast tide using their heavy artillery and giant cannons.

Their first target was Qin Yuan, the most threatening level-two monster that had already been identified.

Dozens of giant cannons and more than 40 heavy cannons, with the cooperation of artillery priests and machine servants, launched a barrage of attacks on the Qinyuan mother body. When the shells fell densely, Zhang Tao even had a kind of illusion.

It's stable this time.

If the Chinese army can carry out precise strikes against monsters at a distance of more than ten kilometers, and even use a so-called "electromagnetic shell" to accurately decapitate a level two monster without any explosive damage, then can't their dozens of cannons kill a Qin Yuan monster that is not particularly large and, based on past experience, not particularly well protected, at a distance of less than five kilometers?
-
The answer is no.

He clearly forgot one fact.

The reason why this Qinyuan Mother was defined as a "Level 2 Monster" is because before the appearance of the Chinese army, there was no force in the wasteland that could deal with it without suffering heavy casualties.

And the reason is very simple.

Fast, and slow.

Qin Yuan's movement speed was too fast, and the shells landed too slowly.

Furthermore, due to outdated artillery handling techniques, the artillery unit under their command was simply unable to achieve precise fire coverage.

The bombardment zone created by the falling shells looked as chaotic as if someone had casually scattered a handful of beans from the sky.

In the vast vacuum zone, the Qinyuan Mother Body doesn't even need complicated actions to avoid fatal damage.

It only needs to stand still.

Some monsters, however, were unable to dodge in time and were hit by this round of shells, dying on the way to the first charge.

However, the deaths of these monsters will not affect the overall situation.

When the Qin Yuan reached the north bank of Nüshan Lake, the shockwaves swept across the lake, creating layers upon layers of waves.

In an instant, the First Battle Regiment of the Holy Army, deployed on the first line of defense on the south bank, collapsed to the ground before they could react. They were hit by infrasound waves exceeding 190 decibels. Although they did not die on the spot, almost all of them were rendered incapacitated.

No one can rescue them.

The first battle group, consisting of nearly two hundred people, was thus submerged in the surging sound waves.

The beast tide didn't even need additional attacks; it could completely wear down the First Warband simply by relying on continuous sonic damage.

"We have to save them!"

At this moment, Zhang Tao was still able to remain calm. He calmly issued orders and mobilized the limited resources at his disposal.

"Take advantage of Qinyuan's reduced speed and launch another bombardment!"

Forget about machine spirits!

"Get all the priests moving to move the cannonballs!"

"They can pray while they carry it!"

"I want the shells to explode, at least enough to disrupt the sound waves from Qinyuan!"

"understand!"

The archbishop's face was filled with panic, but as a capable man promoted by Zhang Tao, he still maintained basic composure in the face of such a tense situation.

"Artillery! Load!"

"Fire at those aliens!"

"For the honor of the Holy Trinity!"

"We must save our brothers from the clutches of the monster!"

"Second Battle Group! Prepare yourselves!"

"Once Qin Yuan's attack stops, immediately move forward to rescue the First Battle Group!"

"For the Holy Trinity!"

As detailed orders were issued, the soldiers of the Second Regiment responded in unison.

The stretcher team was already prepared, but these rescue teams, composed of civilians with only brief training, were obviously unlikely to be of much use.

Each of them wore a fearful expression, and some even vomited from the tension when facing the monster.

Panic spread through the crowd, and a disturbance seemed inevitable.

Fortunately, under the archbishop's strong suppression, the cannons had already opened fire.

"boom!"

The deafening explosions echoed one after another, interrupting the sound waves emitted by the Qinyuan mother body. Zhang Tao gave the order:
"Charge forward!"

A bizarre scene unfolded on the battlefield: monsters rushed from the north side of Nüshan Lake to the south side, while the Second Battle Group of the Holy Army also charged towards Nüshan Lake from south to north.

It was as if both sides were truly fearless teams, about to engage in a decisive battle on the shores of Nüshan Lake.

But that's obviously impossible.

Upon arriving at the First Regiment's position, without any hesitation, the Second Regiment immediately led the stretcher team to begin rescuing their brothers.

They simply cannot distinguish which people are still treatable and which are too badly injured to survive.

They simply did their best to lift each soldier lying on the ground, put them on stretchers, and then quickly retreated to the second line of defense under the cover of artillery fire.

Chaos became the dominant theme of this battlefield, with everyone running around helplessly.

The carefully laid out defenses did nothing to stop the beast tide. A huge number of monsters leisurely leaped into the lake and swam towards the south bank.

"There's no time."

"We must retreat to the third line of defense, to the east of Qili Lake!"

"We need someone to stay behind and detonate the nuclear bomb."

"Where are my Imperial Guards?!"

"My lord, the Imperial Guards are always by your side."

The true leader of the "Imperial Guard" stepped forward, and Zhang Tao issued the order in a low voice:
"I want you to lead two soldiers to stay on the second line of defense."

"What you need to do is to conceal yourselves as much as possible."

"When those monsters, especially that giant Qin Yuan, pass by, detonate the nuclear bomb and raise the sun!"

"The blazing sun of the Holy Trinity will melt everything, including you."

"But your pure souls will be redeemed."

"You will return to the Kingdom of the Holy Trinity, where you will become one with the Holy Trinity and become a great machine soul that transcends all things."

"Yes, my lord."

The commander of the Imperial Guards lowered his head and answered calmly:

"For the Holy Trinity."

"For the Holy Trinity!"

Zhang Tao took a deep breath and then gave the order:

"Everyone, evacuate immediately."

"Establish a defense line on the east bank of Qili Lake."

"Start all the locomotives!"

"We still have time to take all the cannons!"

"understand!"

The archbishop relayed Zhang Tao's order again.

Moments later, an absurd rout unfolded on the battlefield.

This Holy Army, which many people in Jinling City considered "invincible," hadn't even truly engaged the beast tide. They had only fired a few shots from a distance of several kilometers before hastily abandoning their defensive line.

They only have one line of defense left.

If this defensive line falls, the entire city of Jinling will lose its only shield.

Perhaps the Holy Army should retreat directly back into Jinling City?

But what's the point?

At this moment, Zhang Tao felt utterly desperate.

He realized that he had overestimated himself and the power of the Mechanicus.

He originally planned to take Jinling New City in one fell swoop after clearing out the beast tide from the north, while the Huaxia army was exhausted from fighting the beast tides from other directions, and then kill those heretics who had never truly had faith and replace them.

But now it seems that this was nothing but wishful thinking. Yes, my sole purpose in doing this was for the sake of those people, for the future of humanity.

But this future seems too heavy for me.
We can't afford it.

Zhang Tao's eyes dimmed slightly.

He boarded the diesel locomotive and retreated towards Qili Lake, while behind him, three solitary, yet exceptionally tall figures waved to him from afar.
"We won't survive."

The commander of the Imperial Guards, prostrate on the ground, asked a soldier beside him holding a rifle:
"Zhang Chao, will you resent me for calling your name at the last minute?"

"What I mean is, if you retreat to the Qilihu defense line with the others, you might survive."

“But if you stay here with me, you will have no chance of survival.”

"Sir, you should ask Liu Hao that question."

Zhang Chao glanced at the third person also prostrate on the ground on the other side, and said in a slightly teasing tone:
“He has a family, and he should probably be even less likely to stay here than I am.”

"After all, leaving one's wife and children behind to go to the Kingdom of the Holy Trinity doesn't seem like a very moral thing to do."

"Right, Liu Hao?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a slightly mocking smile appeared on the face of the Imperial Guard named Liu Hao.

Do you really think we can go to heaven?

After he finished speaking, the other two fell silent.

Liu Hao continued:
“I am not saying that the Kingdom of the Holy Trinity does not exist.”

"I just feel that there's a high chance I won't get into heaven this way."

"But it's okay."

"At least, as long as this so-called nuclear bomb is detonated and the sun rises here, my family in Jinling City will most likely be able to save their lives."

As he spoke, Liu Hao glanced at the cylindrical object beside him that was tightly encased in explosives.

On the outside of the columnar structure, a dense array of fuses linked all the explosives together. Even without considering the power of the "nuclear bomb," the explosives on the outside alone would be enough to instantly reduce all living things within a radius of tens of meters to ashes.

What a terrifying weapon!
Liu Hao sighed, reached out and touched the fuse, then continued:
"If we want to detonate the explosives as quickly as possible, it seems we need to ignite three threads simultaneously?"

"Is that why the three of us need to stay together?"

"Yes."

The commander of the Imperial Guards nodded and replied:
"Only when they explode simultaneously and generate enough pressure can a nuclear bomb be detonated."

"This is knowledge that the archbishop painstakingly obtained from the holy scriptures, so it must be correct."

"hope so."

Liu Hao nodded slightly and looked towards the shore of Nüshan Lake not far away.

At this moment, a large number of monsters had already landed on the south bank of Nüshan Lake. Liu Hao said with emotion:

"This is the first time I've ever seen so many giant monsters gathered together."

"It's terrifying, but also spectacular."

"Perhaps we should run far away after lighting the fuse and fight the monster to the end with the weapons in our hands."

"We must demonstrate our loyalty to the Holy Trinity before we can have a chance to enter its kingdom, right?"

"That makes sense."

The commander of the Imperial Guards turned to look at Liu Hao and said with deep agreement:

“I never thought of this, but it seems to be the best solution.”

"Yes."

Zhang Chao, who was beside him, also nodded. In that instant, the three Imperial Guards who had been "abandoned" but bore an extremely important responsibility immediately reached a consensus.

They both looked back at the same time, and not far away, the Holy Army, which had withdrawn from the second line of defense, had arrived at the west bank of Qili Lake and was crossing the river using steamships that had been prepared in advance.

Even just boarding the ship would take them at least 20 minutes.

Not to mention, they were also carrying so much heavy equipment, including giant cannons.

A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in the leader's heart.

What if the nuclear bomb doesn't explode?
What if, even if it explodes, it doesn't generate enough power to stop the advancing beast tide?

The beast tide will soon catch up with the Holy Army and drown them in the lake.

Without a doubt, that would be the most tragic ending.

The leader frowned, but at this moment, he had no more time to think.

The first monster had already passed their hiding place. Foul-smelling slime fell from the sky, and the monster's heavy feet, like rows of gears, crushed huge, eerie tracks into the ground.

Then came the second head, and the third head.

Fortunately, not a single monster discovered their presence.

And this is the opportunity they've been waiting for.

"Light the fuse."

The leader gave the order in a deep voice, and the other two simultaneously drew their lighters.

A spark from the flint flashed by, and a tiny flame ignited.

Immediately afterwards, the three of them brought the flames in their hands to the fuse.

"laugh--"

The fuse burned fiercely, and the leader suddenly stood up, raising the rifle in his hand.

"For the Holy Trinity!"

The three men's shouts sounded so small amidst the surging tide of beasts.

In the southward torrent, the three who managed to turn the tide seemed even more insignificant.