With the loss of the high-speed fighter jets, the ground bases' air-defense capabilities dropped several notches. The countless Anti-aircraft Electromagnetic Cannons at the coastal bases fired millions of high-velocity shells into the sky every minute, but nearly all of them were useless. Stopping even a few missiles would have been considered lucky.
Ground-attack missiles burning with orange-red flames continuously collided and exploded with the enemy's anti-aircraft missiles in the air. Every exchange filled the sky with hundreds of fireballs, and within just ten minutes, several thousand hypersonic missiles had exploded.
Several dozen specially made Dust Bombs were loaded with vast quantities of micron-sized particles. Mixed among the ground-attack bombing missiles, they were destroyed by anti-aircraft missiles. As a result, this coastline stretching for more than ten kilometers was shrouded in smoke and dust within a minute.
At the heart of the Coastal Base, orange-red high-energy laser beams continuously shot from the tops of five hundred-meter towers several kilometers apart. These Large Solid-State Lasers, each with an output exceeding 100,000 kilowatts, cost as much as missile destroyers and consumed staggering amounts of power and maintenance funds.
Their exorbitant cost brought equally enormous returns. They could shoot down and destroy every high-speed missile that crossed the anti-aircraft missile line. They were the strongest shields and the core of the entire air-defense system.
No military had ever used Dust Bombs in an offensive before, because while smog blocked lasers, it also affected missile guidance. Both sides would be forced into close-range ground warfare.
In such weather, cheap Electromagnetic Cannons became the main force of war. A fully equipped main base could fire millions of metal shells per minute. This metal storm was enough to tear apart any ground army and would instead greatly favor the defenders.
After all, the number of shells carried