Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 65: Defending the Edge Node City (Part 65)
Since there weren't enough weapons operators on board, Cipher had to multitask. Plus, he had to control the distance and maintain the engine...

Soon, the fleeing small vehicles disappeared from sight.

But he was not in a hurry at all, because the internal signals used by these people in the blocked area had been analyzed.

After blocking out the noise bands, these people didn't even bother to use encryption - perhaps they thought that as long as the shortwave signal could be transmitted close enough, they could coordinate among themselves.

He commanded the vehicle to remain silent, constantly receiving these signals from the desert that had not yet been disturbed by various complex environments, and then suddenly realized.

It seems like I accidentally followed that group of people to the rear of the enemy?

Since it is the rear area, the general arrangement would be medium and large vehicles with strong ships and powerful guns, or perhaps medical ships to receive the wounded?

While he was thinking about how to strike the enemy, what was the situation on the front battlefield of Edge Node City?
The answer is quite complicated.

From a tactical point of view, it is impossible for the strongholds and mercenaries in the edge node city to stay in the city safely.

The underground city, which is spacious for humans, will make people realize what narrowness is once the battle begins. Those mobile bases are parked in various parking areas, and the overly dense formation can only be said to be a bunch of targets.

Therefore, in order to maximize defense, all strongholds must be opened. In the cities where defenses are weak, experienced mercenaries and their machines with special operations capabilities will be left to handle.

Around the node city, where strong winds and even sandstorms were blowing, the defense forces based in the city were deployed layer by layer. The enemy's position, layout, and even number were unknown, so they did not dare to expand too much.

But soon, the silence turned into roars and shouts transmitted through the radio waves.

"Covering fire!!"

The artillery fire that fell from the sky was like a slowly advancing sickle. The artillery fire that fell from the sky regardless of cost and consumption made people confused - they were all small-caliber, drizzle, who are you hitting?
The city patrol team immediately gave an analysis... This was a test fire. The other side was preparing to take advantage of the wind and sand to seize the initiative when both sides were firing blindly.

The first round of artillery fire is used to mark ground units, followed by deadly heavy artillery.

All mobile bases and combat vehicles immediately became active, forming formations and moving to new positions.

They couldn't control what was happening inside the city. In other words, as long as they could block the outsiders, it didn't matter even if the city's management was blown to pieces by those special operations aircraft.

The invading troops were quite aware of this, and after the intensive barrage of projectile fire, there was the terrifying sound of heavy artillery hitting the sand, creating craters that glowed and splashed sand all around.

The roar of countless vehicles was intertwined, and no one in the audience wanted to fire flares, because the dark night and sandstorm were the best ways to improve concealment for both sides.

But reconnaissance still needs to be done... Several vehicles that are good at reconnaissance and can find possible enemies and the location of heavy artillery in windy and sandy weather are quickly dispatched.

Ruts would betray their presence, but as long as they were small enough, these ruts would quickly dissipate - the sound was clear and ready in a dedicated anti-interference frequency band.

And cherish life.

Ultimately, this conflict is essentially a confrontation between two companies. Mercenaries are paid to do a job, but they are not fools who will die in vain. There is not even a question of who is just.

The reconnaissance team is only responsible for finding people. After finding them, they will provide continuous illumination at most. Other things will be done by those large trucks with wide vehicles and powerful guns. This is in line with the habits of mercenaries.

Tien, who was in the back row, following the unified command, was of course aware of this. She was busy directing her men to load the missiles from her unique skill (now shared with a mercenary) into the launcher. In her personal communications, all external communications were grayed out, except for the name of 'Red Crossbow Arrow,' which had lit up a few minutes ago, indicating that the person was now approaching the edge node city.

What's this idiot doing here? Just a car, a small one at that, and he expects to turn the tide of battle with it? Has he read too many stories or been in the aberrations for too long? Are these newbies really not afraid of death?
Tien tapped his toes anxiously and told his men to be ready to contact him at any time, then turned to look at the guy in the launch pad.

The biggest problem with this thing is that it doesn't distinguish between friend and foe, and its duration is uncontrollable... but it's useful!
"Everyone, pay attention... What did you say? Have we discovered the heavy artillery position?" She immediately waved her hand to open the protective plate and reveal the missile.

The defensive position was in the process of maneuvering when a missile suddenly jumped out of the vehicle, ignited, and headed straight for the target.

However, no one accused her of exposing her position by rashly counterattacking. After all, her position was already exposed, and now she had to rely on movement to dodge...

Amidst the loud bang, an unlucky car was hit in the rear by a shell. It flipped over and slid on the sand for a long time before slowly coming to a stop.

Attacks that did not directly penetrate the vehicle body would not cause too many casualties. Everyone in the defensive position did not pay attention to the losses, but just maintained a slow outward advance to put themselves within the appropriate range.

The enemy's vanguard has gradually appeared in the communication link, and the explosions and roars of close-range firefights have made everyone unable to pay attention to other places.

They had no intention of caring about the fixed artillery positions that had been moved to the ground and were being destroyed one by one by heavy artillery.

The shells falling from the sky kept leaving behind one deep, glowing pit after another on the ground. They were scattered across the desert, covered in smoke but blown away by the strong wind.

The vanguard troops of both sides were moving around, touching each other and then immediately separating, just like the scumbag and the tea girl were testing each other without going deep, and mainly pulling each other.

The core force attracted the firepower, allowing more artillery fire to greet them, but they subtly kept a distance where they could not be hit, and they drained each other's blood.

Occasionally, a vehicle body would be hit, but some would simply bounce away. Even if it crashed into the vehicle, the damage management teams inside would immediately follow up to prevent further damage.

As for the heavy artillery positions in the last row, although many fixed positions were destroyed, there are still mobile positions - those medium and large-sized vehicles that were previously parked in special parking areas for protection and maintenance are providing real fire support.

The shells flew back and forth in the sky, and the accuracy and level of mobile shooting were just so-so even with the help of high-precision fire control.

However, it is obvious that the defending side has more advantages, because they only need to delay time and try to ensure their manpower. The one who cannot break in is the opponent, and the one who is anxious is also the opponent, right?

Just as the besieged but stubbornly resisting Node City thought, the most impatient... was the other side.

Strictly speaking, they were trapped by an inexplicable signal blockade area and had to transfer a large-scale offensive team to another sector. The commander was still trying to coordinate the team to form a pincer-shaped trap from both sides.

He had just been arguing with the commander of the other team because they had advanced too quickly, lost a vehicle, and had already added multiple layers of defense to the city. Coupled with their current lack of preparation, the team advancing from the rear was lagging behind...

The entire combat operation was not as closely connected as people imagined, and the combat quality was basically a tug-of-war between mercenaries, relying entirely on personal strength.

Even when they were on the front line, they still argued. After all, no one wanted to lose too many people, which would make the work more difficult.

In the midst of this dispute, a third party, the financial sponsor, suddenly appeared: "You idiots! Why haven't you broken in yet?!"

A group of people paused their argument, and the first thing they wanted to ask was - the signal was blocked, how did you get in?
(End of this chapter)