Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 669 Raid
After nightfall, the entire Ice Sea Base was shrouded in moonless darkness. Apart from the soldiers who were still on guard at their posts, patrolling with magic stone flashlights, most of the people who had been busy all day went into the barracks.

Around the empty camp, a large number of alchemical beasts patrolled back and forth, guarding the area. The rustling sound of mechanical prosthetics being inserted into the snow, along with the occasional airships passing overhead, all contributed to creating a psychological defense that allowed the soldiers in the entire base to sleep peacefully.

Despite being the overall commander of the battlefield, Vaughn showed no signs of sleepiness.

After suspending the plan to launch a counterattack on the second floating island, he had to withstand constant pressure from various departments every day, and continuously dispatch a large number of reconnaissance units to investigate the enemy, trying to find out the true intentions of those alien races as soon as possible.

After concluding the last round of tactical meetings for the day, it was already close to midnight. Not intending to rest, he took several adjutants and soldiers and boarded a small airship to head to the front line more than ten miles away.

Looking from the air towards the enemy's location, even from a distance of nearly a hundred miles, Vaughn could almost see a huge floating island standing abruptly on the ice field. The enormous monster hidden in the darkness seemed to be silently casting its gaze upon them, staring at them, this group of "weak" humans, with undisguised malice, trying to devour them in the next second.

Upon receiving news of the commander's midnight visit, Duff and Wayne, who were holding the line, rushed to greet him.

"They launched another attack this morning, but the battle lasted less than half an hour before they were forced to retreat again under our firepower."

Wayne pointed to the sand table map on the long table, which clearly marked the distribution path of the ice trenches dug by the Lizardmen. "Right now they are moving laterally to both flanks, trying to bypass our defenses and advance to the rear. The artillery units have timely bombarded them, blasting down all the trenches that have just been dug."

"How much longer are we going to drag this out?" Duff asked, frowning. "Even if it's advantageous for us to keep going, we can't just keep wasting time like this. The airship force is already prepared. Why don't we advance towards the second floating island as soon as possible?"

Vaughn shook his head with a somber face, and after a long pause, slowly said, "A few days ago, I used the soul crystal that His Majesty gave me to deploy a force of about ten thousand miniature alchemical beasts to the vicinity of the Seventeenth Sea Surge to explore that unknown area."

"Are there signs that the enemy has created a new floating island?"

"No... or rather, we haven't received any feedback at all. After such a huge number of alchemical beasts entered that hot spring mist sea, they lost their connection with the soul crystal and haven't made a sound since."

How could this be?
Wayne and Duff exchanged a glance, their expressions revealing undisguised surprise.

"Could it be that the terrain and environment there are too special, and the high temperature and moisture caused the alchemical beast to lose control?"

Vaughn nodded. "After I reported this to His Majesty, he thought so too... After all, those miniature alchemical beasts are only driven by a single magic stone. Without a controller nearby to direct them, they can easily lose their way in complex environments, eventually leading to energy depletion and system failure."

“So we still need to send people to investigate.” Wayne frowned. “So… you’re worried that the Lizardmen are using the concealment there to hide a floating island fortress that has never been discovered, and that they’ll launch a surprise attack on the flank of the Ice Sea Base while we’re advancing toward the second floating island?”

Before Vaughn could answer, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the command post.

The three of them stood up at the same time, looking at the door that was suddenly pushed open and the legendary Chief Dawson who walked in with hurried steps.

The staff officers and soldiers on night duty all looked surprised and uncertain. Why were the commander and the chief visiting the front line one after the other tonight?

Before he could even ask, Dawson said with a grim face, "They're hiding below our lines! These alien races are indeed secretly digging deeper ice trenches!"

what?
Without waiting for the commander's order, Wayne rushed to the communications officer, grabbed the communicator, and shouted, "Sound the alarm! Attack alarm!" Wayne only hesitated for a few seconds before quickly realizing what was happening... The prisoners who had been cursed by the chief a few days ago and then secretly released during the enemy attack had been reintegrated into the enemy's combat forces, inadvertently providing them with firsthand intelligence that exposed the enemy's movements!
The chief, who was closely monitoring those "human bombs," naturally discovered their whereabouts immediately!

He rubbed his leg against the thick steel plate beneath his feet, and without hesitation ordered, "Immediately order the airship force at the base to prepare! The enemy may be making a big move tonight... Have them fly to the front lines to reinforce immediately!"

……

The biting wind howled day and night across the icy plains, making life unbearable for the soldiers who held their trenches even at night.

In the central defensive line area where Benny was stationed, despite wearing thick military uniforms and being able to huddle in ice forts that were repaired every so often in the trenches to avoid the wind, most of the soldiers were still shivering from the cold and had to be rotated several times a night to keep their bodies from freezing.

Battalion Commander Newman was incredibly unlucky. In the first battle against the Lizardmen, he was unfortunately hit in the waist and abdomen by the enemy's new weapon. Although his life was not in danger, he could only stay at the military hospital of the Big Bear Lake base for a period of time to recuperate.

Currently, his battalion headquarters can only be temporarily managed by the deputy battalion commander, while being directly commanded by the battalion commander next door, Chiron.

At night, frontline soldiers must strictly adhere to the silence control regulations and are not allowed to turn on any additional lighting devices at will. If they want to observe the direction of the enemy's attack from the trenches, they can only rely on the magic stone searchlights that are lit all night long in the rear watchtowers. The huge beams of light sweep across the battlefield every few minutes, and the soldiers will take the opportunity to get up and use the binoculars to quickly complete the observation.

This is just the basic procedure for night watch on the battlefield, but based on past experience... the Lizardmen will not attack them at night at all; they seem to prefer to launch surprise attacks at dawn and dusk, when day and night are intertwined.

Although open flames were not allowed in the trenches, small alchemical furnaces could be used. Benny had just finished inspecting his section of the trench and immediately returned to the ice fortress, placing his feet close to the furnace to warm his frozen military boots.

"Captain, the soldiers on rotation just passed by here and said they saw General Vaughn's airship parked at the rear command post. Is something big about to happen? Are they planning to launch a full-scale counterattack against the enemy?"

"Finally... These past two weeks of squatting in the trenches have been torture. It's not just the cold at night, but the lizardmen who always come to harass me on time are really disgusting. I don't even dare to let go of the trigger when I'm resting!"

"We should advance on their stronghold immediately! Let our heavy artillery and machine guns blast them to pieces!"

Benny rolled his eyes in exasperation, threw the shoe-shining rag in his hand at the talkative soldier's face, and was about to reprimand him—

Wait! Something's not right with the wind outside!
He immediately poked his head out of the ice castle and listened intently to the strange noises mixed with the howling cold wind.

"It's... a whooshing sound! Take cover!"

The moment the vice-captain pulled him into the ice fortress, several crystal spikes, taking advantage of the darkness, suddenly struck the ice wall of the trench above their heads. The crystal spike fragments scattered and shattered, flying in all directions with a cloud of snow.

Almost simultaneously, piercing enemy attack alarms blared across the entire battlefield.

(End of this chapter)