Without a doubt, for the pitiful, weak, helpless humans of Earth, the power wielded by Apokolips's New Gods was utterly overwhelming and despair-inducing.
Before long, the number of Parademons pouring out of the Boom Tubes had exceeded Earth's total population several times over.
The sight of them blotting out the sky scared the American troops, who had originally planned to make a desperate last stand, so badly that they pissed themselves.
The air force outright refused to carry out their superiors' orders to take off and bomb the enemy. The army, which had already established positions along the perimeter, turned around on the spot and began retreating in the opposite direction, not daring to remain in this hellish place for even one more second.
Infighting even broke out over vehicles and other means of transport. Several senior officers and even generals were shot dead in the chaos, their corpses thrown from helicopters and trampled repeatedly by others.
As for the navy waiting near the coast for orders and ready to provide support at any moment, it likewise headed at full speed into the depths of the ocean, clearly fleeing outright.
The reason the military collapsed and mutinied before the battle had even begun was simple.
The disparity in strength was so vast that a single glance was enough to tell them they could not win.
Coupled with the prevalence of selfish individualism in society, once they realized that their country, Earth itself, and humanity as a whole were doomed, their first thought was naturally how to keep themselves alive.
After all, most people believed that as long as they hid well enough and avoided the first wave of devastating slaughter, they might survive.
After all, Apokolips's New Gods certainly would not waste vast amounts of time and effort conducting needle-in-a-haystack