From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 265 'The sun' rises as usual

"It has passed the second track point and entered the reconnaissance area. The belly reconnaissance component has been activated."

"The current altitude is 12000 meters and the speed is Mach 5.1."

"The adaptive variable cycle engine has switched to 'supersonic cruise mode'. The current working condition is good and the fuselage surface temperature is normal."

In the cockpit of the Swift supersonic reconnaissance aircraft, pilot Jacob heard the information reported by the onboard AI in a sweet female voice.

Swift does not have a glass canopy, and there are only some instruments and displays in the fully enclosed cockpit.

But the comprehensive head-mounted display on Jacob's head, which integrated optical sensors from all over the fuselage, still clearly displayed the picture below the belly of the fuselage in front of him.

At this moment, visible fires were erupting all over Ptolemaic City.

And Jacob didn't even need to look at the picture synthesized by the belly reconnaissance component. Just by looking at the firefight with the naked eye, he could see that the coalition forces had completely occupied the outer defense line and advanced a lot into the city.

Jacob looked at a virtual mark marked on the integrated head-mounted display - that was the location he needed to focus on during this penetrating reconnaissance flight.

Please give priority to using terminally sensitive bombs and anti-personnel anti-personnel bombs, high-throw ballistics, and the dispersion method is standard 2. The attack unit can be attacked when it is ready. Complete! "

One of the two multi-legged tanks was directly destroyed, and the other was cleared of sensors and other debris on the surface by rockets. Several of the surrounding infantry also fell.

The target of the attack is estimated to be a mixed force composed of mechanized infantry, combat vehicles, and HCP.

Baninger reported all the key information for requesting long-range fire support in one breath, and his words were directly input into the terminal of the fire command vehicle after being recognized by the combat auxiliary AI.

He blinked, and an optical sensor on the belly of the machine immediately enlarged the screen according to the 'preset command'.

After the fire commander confirmed the map, he took the 20 self-propelled artillery towards a preset position closer to the front.

"SAT, this is FDC. The fire strike will start in 5 seconds. A total of 5 rounds of strikes will be carried out. It is expected that the first round of strikes will hit the impact point in 82 seconds. Please leave the strike area in time. I wish you good luck. Over!"

These self-propelled artillery that have deployed the hoe raised the barrel high, and the automatic loader in the turret also selected the relevant ammunition based on the information shared by the data link.

The fire coordination officer at the rear command quickly saw a very high priority 'fire support' request coming in.

"Don't rush in, guard your position, and retreat if necessary!"

Immediately afterwards, two team members with four multi-functional launch chambers installed on their shoulder armors emptied the thermal smoke bombs loaded in them in one breath.

Baninger replied while firing a shot at an Imperial soldier on the ground who was still struggling to raise his weapon.

During this process, Baninger also began to call for long-range fire support.

After Hogg's instructions were conveyed, in a hidden artillery position behind the battle line, 20 self-propelled artillery lowered their barrels and switched back to marching mode.

After confirming that friendly artillery fire was about to arrive, Baninger gave the order for the entire team to enter the nearest building and hide.

"Damn it, did the building collapse?"

Several attitude control nozzles on the projectile were powered by compressed gas. After adjusting the trajectory and dispersion position, eight smoke bombs exploded in the air and directly sealed the street in front of them.

Just after he led his team to jump out of the window and launched a 'Justice from Heaven' style assault, the group of imperial soldiers outside who tried to surround them were instantly wiped out.

When Hogg and the others saw this scene and the signs of continued firefights around them, they knew that the special operations team was probably in trouble.

"The boss has come to support us. Since the enemy has set up an ambush and wants to eat us, let's hold them back!"

Hogg gave the order without hesitation to prepare the self-propelled artillery group for support in advance.

At the same time, the footage captured by the reconnaissance aircraft was quickly transmitted back to the headquarters.

After seeing that the source of the request was the special operations team, he immediately transferred the 'request' to the prepared strike team.

"FDC, this is SAT. Emergency long-range fire support is needed now. Please cover the coordinates YD772481.

The headquarters and the special operations team had discussed some operational details before, and Hogg knew that if the special operations team was in an emergency, they would call for fire support from the rear.

Nearly a minute and a half later, as a deafening explosion sounded in the streets outside, long-range fire support from friendly forces also arrived as scheduled.

In the communication channel, the commander of Group A shouted loudly in the background of the 'gun sonata'.

"Notify the self-propelled artillery group to separate 20 self-propelled artillery and prepare to support the special operations team!"

Taking this opportunity, the members of Group B, led by Baninger, rushed through the street at high speed despite the enemy's probing shots inside the smoke.

"Thank you for your support! SAT call completed!"

They first rushed to the corner of the building and used miniature rocket nests and anti-vehicle missiles to repel an assault of imperial infantry and multi-legged tanks.

The fire commander at the other end of the communication, after confirming that the information was correct, transmitted it to his 20 self-propelled artillery pieces.

Looking at the building lying on the road like a Kirby beast, Jacob couldn't help but exclaimed.

Baninger looked around to confirm that there was no fish that had slipped through the net before continuing:
"The most important thing is to ensure your own safety first! Find cover first, and I'll call for artillery support!"

Moreover, the teaching team is indeed the elite of Atlas. Not to mention their combat effectiveness, their role in training alone is difficult to replace.

The coordinates he just reported to the fire commander were the stadium gate and the surrounding area.

While Baninger was on the phone with Team A, he made a 'smoke cutoff' gesture to the surrounding team members, and the other team members in Team B immediately understood.

"All aircraft! Speed ​​up the assault and support the special operations team!"
-
"Lieutenant Baninger! The enemy's firepower is too strong, we can't rush over!"

Of course, this exclamation was made in the heart. Pilots would not do such unnecessary actions when flying at supersonic speeds.

Amber also has feelings for these veterans who were killed on the Robert IV.

At the same time, Amber, who was rushing into the city, was also a little anxious after receiving the message from the rear command post.

In 20 seconds, 20 self-propelled artillery poured a full 100 rounds of terminally sensitive bombs and anti-personnel anti-personnel bombs into this area.

Then they immediately put away their picks, put down their artillery, and began to run away.

After all, we still don’t know how many self-propelled artillery pieces the Empire’s remnants have left. If the opponent engages in counter-artillery operations, it would be very dangerous to stay in this relatively forward position, where they may have already entered the attack range of the opponent’s artillery.

Judging from the current performance of the anti-artillery radar on the coalition side, the coordinates of the artillery position can be calculated before the enemy's artillery shells fly to a high point.

It is assumed that the anti-artillery radar performance of the remaining imperial troops is similar, and self-propelled artillery is also retained to perform anti-artillery operations.

So theoretically, 10 seconds after the self-propelled artillery unit of the coalition fires the last round of shells, their artillery will also fire back.

Naturally, the fire commander did not want to capsize the ship in the gutter, so after the fifth round of salvos, he immediately issued an order to transfer positions.

In the city, after the tremors of the earth stopped, Baninger and the members of Group B used the various messy things in the room to cover themselves and cautiously approached the edge of the hall on the first floor.

The smoke bombs on the street outside the building have been blown away by the shock wave of the shell explosion. On the quiet street are vehicles blazing with fire, and the corpses of imperial soldiers who were unable to hide in time are lying on the ground.

But at this moment, an HCP with blackened armor suddenly emerged from another street, breaking the moment of silence.

A huge heavy particle cannon has been deployed on its shoulders, and Baninger can even see a blue light glowing in the accelerating orbit.

"grass"

The veteran felt as if time had stood still, and he even felt as if a revolving door of life had appeared in front of his eyes.

But an 'inhuman' howl came from the communication channel, waking him up abruptly. "Ahhhhhh! Don't touch my soldiers!!!"

The dark red steel giant was like a hero who appeared at a critical moment in a traditional play, carrying a shield and gliding to the building where Baninger was located.

In the flash of lightning, Baninger even saw the sparks caused by the machine's mechanical feet rubbing on the ground, as well as the Mach rings faintly visible in the flames of the attitude control nozzles on the right side of the machine.

The next second, the raging heavy metal ion jet bombarded the deflection field deployed by the machine body, and the wildly dancing silver-white electric snakes seemed to change the color of the world.

At the moment when the bombardment ended, Amber threw away the nearly useless shield, held the plasma heavy sword in both hands, and rushed forward with a step forward slash.

The opponent's pilot obviously did not expect that an enemy HCP would rush out at this point. He kept retreating in panic, and Amber cut open the cockpit before he could even take off his secondary weapon.

The giant sword in Amber's hand, which had been cut all the way, finally reached its limit and broke into two pieces after completing the blow.

Fortunately, the 15 HCPs that followed him in the assault also arrived on the battlefield. After he controlled the machine body to load the fighting spike mounted on the outside of the robotic arm, the five fastest-running Holy Shields were already protecting him behind him.

"Baninger! Are you okay?"

After hearing Amber's words, Baninger quickly glanced at the command interface.

Fortunately, the members of the special operations team are still there, but almost everyone is injured, and the ammunition reserve is almost empty.

"Boss, we're fine! But it's hard to continue fighting!"

"Copy that, stay still and wait for follow-up troops to respond!"

After saying this, Amber controlled the machine and rushed to the door of the gymnasium.

At this time, the Imperial soldiers and combat vehicles that survived the bombardment had gathered and were guarding behind bunkers near the stadium.

Viscount Drake and others also climbed out of the overturned armored vehicle and were now standing at the main entrance of the stadium. A fanatic with one missing arm was standing in front of them with a shield raised.

"Order the troops to surrender! Viscount Drake, you have no reason to continue fighting!"

Amber's voice came out through the machine's speakers.

"You have fought until today while being abandoned by the navy. Whether it is for your emperor or for your own honor, it is enough!

Don't let your soldiers die anymore, lay down your weapons and surrender, Atlas will keep you all safe! "

Viscount Drake, who was surrounded by the staff, raised his eyebrows. He did not expect that the other party already knew his true identity, but now was not the time to pay attention to that.

He kept a calm expression and smiled, then said:
"Your Excellency, it sounds like you are a commander? If so, then I have to admit that you are indeed a strong opponent. But why do you think that you have already won?"

"You want to say, how many tactical nuclear bombs do you still have in your hand?"

Amber said, while looking at the ten HCPs that had been distributed around the stadium on the tactical map. They did not rush straight into the stadium like Amber and the five Holy Shields.

Instead, they dispersed around, looking for the last remaining HCPs of the enemy's nuclear strike team.

Before returning to the base, in addition to maintaining surveillance of the war zone, another important task of RQ220 is to find undiscovered nuclear strike teams.

However, neither RQ220 nor the attacking troops reported that they had found any trace of these HCPs.

So Amber was guessing from the beginning whether the remaining HCPs carrying tactical nuclear bombs were with the enemy's command headquarters, preparing to "die together".

This is another reason why Amber took the HCP reinforcement company to carry out the 'decapitation operation'.

And now, while Amber and Viscount Drake were talking, the ten HCPs that turned on their optical camouflage and spread out to search had successively locked onto the five nuclear strike HCPs lurking in the surrounding area.

The nuclear strike HCP that has activated the launch box and is on standby cannot activate the covert action mode at this time as before.

So it was easily discovered by Atlas HCP who was ordered to find them.

However, these pilots did not act rashly before Amber's order.

After all, it is a tactical nuclear bomb, a powerful weapon that can destroy one's own troops if not careful.

On the other side, the negotiations between Amber and Drake continued.

"That's right, if you don't want this city to be destroyed, then let your troops withdraw." Drake looked firm and had no intention of surrendering.

"Your Excellency, there is no need for this battle to go to this point."

"No! This is the honor of our imperial soldiers!"

"Honour? Is it honor to detonate a nuclear bomb and bury all the civilians in the city with you?"

Amber laughed angrily at Drake's words. He felt that the Imperial Viscount in front of him was starting to go crazy when he was desperate.

"You federal people don't understand what honor is at all," Viscount Drake continued.

But Amber has decided not to waste time with the other party.

"Do it!"

Following the order he issued on the command channel, the ten HCPs that had been prepared immediately removed their optical camouflage and rushed towards the target.

According to the analysis of the two captured nuclear strike HCPs, Amber and the others already know that as long as the launch box is separated from the HCP, the pilots in the HCP will not be able to launch these tactical nuclear bombs.

Therefore, these HCPs operating in teams of two are aiming to dismantle the opponent's launch box.

Before the HCPs could react to the nuclear strike being targeted.

In these two-machine teams, one person controlled the body and held a shield and rammed directly into it, while the other HCP at the side and rear took the opportunity to rush up and slashed the heavy sword at the connection between the HCP and the nuclear bomb launch box.

As each launch box was chopped down, the emergency safety device on it took effect at the same time, and the green light representing 'ready to launch' also went out.

"Safety!"

"Safety!"

The team carrying out the assault mission continued to speak out on the communication channel, but before Amber could breathe a sigh of relief, a frightened voice suddenly sounded.

"There are no warheads in the Boss launch box!"

"what?!"

At this moment, Amber felt a chill running down his spine. He looked through the cockpit at Viscount Drake in front of him.

The military nobleman of the Star Dragon Empire took out an exquisite mechanical pocket watch from his pocket and took a look at it, then a relieved smile appeared on his face.

"For the Empire."

"For the Empire."

In several buildings scattered throughout the war zone in the south of the city, five imperial officers in crisp uniforms said these words at the same time as they watched the countdown on their respective terminals end.

Then without hesitation, he activated the mechanical detonation device connected to the nuclear warhead in his hand.

The next moment, five rising 'little suns' illuminated the southern part of Ptolemaic City.

(End of this chapter)