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

Chapter 387 The Last Day of the Old Era

Inside Jinling City.

When the first shot rang out, the meaning of the word "cost" itself had already ceased to exist.

In the city center, the bodies of the Imperial Guards and the Holy Army, who had put up a final resistance, were carried one by one to the outskirts of Nanjing. The waiting freight trucks then continued to transport these bodies to a temporary cemetery 15 kilometers away from the city.

Without a doubt, this was a fierce battle.
-
However, this only applies to the defenders of the Mechanicus.

Faced with the complete suppression of the Huaxia Army, they had absolutely no room for resistance.

As the battle drew to a close, the desperate Imperial Guards launched a fearless charge against the Chinese army.

However, they failed to drag anyone down with them.

The cold radar waves emitted by the unmanned combat swarm recorded one moving target after another. The warhead precisely mobilized each combat unit, and the fire control radar guided the gun muzzles to clear out the resisting enemy with the highest efficiency and the most orderly rhythm.

When their blood flowed like rivers on the ground, the true fighting force of the Huaxia Army stepped onto this battlefield.

All they had to do was clean up the battlefield.

Jiang Yu stood beside Lei Jie; this time, she did not pilot a bomber to provide support.

Because this battle doesn't require such strong firepower support at all.

The rifle barrel in her hand hadn't completely cooled down yet; when she reached out to touch it, she could feel a slight warmth.

This made her feel a little better.
-
After all, the vomiting she had just experienced had already exhausted her energy.

Seeing her slightly pale expression, Lei Jie said jokingly:
"I thought you were the kind of emotionless female warrior—like Ji Xing and Xie Liu."

"But now it seems... you're not as formidable as you appear, are you?"

Jiang Yu exhaled softly, feeling as if her lungs were filled with the pungent smell of blood, which lingered for a long time.

After a few seconds, she finally answered:

"Not at all."

"I've fought in battles and seen dead people."

“When the village was attacked by monsters before, our companions died in a more gruesome way than the people here now.”

"But how should I put it?"

"Those monsters are hunting."

"And we are just cleaning up."

"It's hard for me to describe this feeling to you—you'll understand if you've ever been hunting."

"You could kill a dozen rabbits, wild boars, or wild deer in a single day without feeling anything."

"But if you step on an ant nest and then drown all the ants in it with water, you will feel a nauseous sensation that makes your whole body numb."

That's roughly the situation right now.

Hearing Jiang Yu's words, Lei Jie nodded thoughtfully.

indeed.

Even I have an instinctive resistance when entering the battlefield.

Because he had already foreseen the outcome of the battle and anticipated that the Mechanicus would be unable to mount any effective resistance.

What he had to face was nothing more than a city in ruins, and the panic, anger, and hostility of its residents.

The psychological barrier caused by this resistance is really not easy to overcome.

Taking a deep breath, Lei Jie asked:
"Has He Shuo's plan started yet?"

Fuxi's voice came through the headphones.

"The materials are ready and we are distributing leaflets throughout the city."

"The intelligence task force has entered."

"Public opinion control is expected to begin within 4 hours."

"clear."

Lei Jie nodded slightly.

In fact, He Shuo's business dealings in this city are already quite extensive.

At least when it was decided to take action, most of the merchants in Jinling City switched sides immediately.

This significantly reduced the intensity of the conflict and kept the final casualty figures at a relatively low level.

On the smart goggles, the casualty statistics are still being updated.

From the initial 150 people, to the current 340 people.

The rate of increase gradually slowed down, and according to Lei Jie's prediction, the number should eventually stop at around "500".

Of these, approximately 80% were "professional soldiers" of the Mechanicus Cult. The remaining 20% were mostly civilians temporarily forming mech servants and city defense troops.

There were very few civilian casualties, no more than 10.

This is good news for Reggie.

It's not just because it proved the precision of the Chinese army's attack, nor is it just because this offensive against Nanjing set a template for actions in other cities and towns.

Most importantly, the lower the civilian casualties, the lower the civilians' will to resist.

This indirectly proves that the influence of the Mechanicus is rapidly dissipating.

The renovation work will proceed more smoothly.

This also officially fills the final piece of the puzzle in the Chinese military's strategy to manage the entire region.

By this time, the last body had been carried out of the city.

Lei Jie walked toward the temple of the Cult of the Machine God, with Jiang Yu following behind him.

The two looked up at the crumbling symbol of the Holy Trinity in the sanctuary, and Reggie spoke:
"We need a real flag."

"It's not the August 1st Army Flag, it's the real Red Flag."

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Wanzhou city.

Guo Xu had already taken off his heavy armor, and blood was still seeping from the wound on his arm.

In fact, the wound had been completely stitched up, and the bleeding was due to the heavy baggage he was carrying.

Guns, ammunition, dry rations, emergency medicine, clothing, bedding, and canvas for setting up tents.
The combined weight of these items exceeded 30 kilograms, which felt extremely heavy even to someone as seasoned as him.

Not to mention, the road ahead of him is longer than ever before.

Yu Qian stood beside him and said:
"Goodbye."

"Although you said you wanted to go and take a look, I still want to remind you one last time."

"Don't try to spread the ideas of the Mechanism Church anymore, because you are not a missionary and you have no ability to change their beliefs."

"You can only watch, not do, understand?"

"clear."

Guo Xu nodded.

He was ready to set off.

But before leaving, he still asked the question he shouldn't have asked.

"So, why did you let me go?"

"Aren't you worried that this is like letting a tiger return to the mountains?"

Yu Qian shook his head.

"You still don't understand."

"Our biggest problem is not the existence of the enemy, but the dispersion of the enemy."

"If you really have the ability to bring together people who are impossible for us to change and who are impossible for us to accept the new world, then that would actually be a good thing for us."

"Because in that case, we could wipe out this whole group at once."

"The commander said that when a new era arrives, the old era always has to make one last struggle."

"But people like you often make such struggles disappear quickly."

"So, letting you go won't do us any harm."

"understood."

Guo Xu suddenly laughed.

"Then I won't let you succeed."

Having said that, he walked forward with firm steps, without looking back.

Watching his retreating figure, Yu Qian's adjutant asked:

"Are we really just going to let him go like this?"

"Are we just going to let the others go like this?"

Yu Qian shook his head.