Judging by the time, the battle should be over in another twenty minutes.
Naturally, it would end in a crushing victory for the red side, sweeping away all resistance like rotten wood.
Another glorious achievement for his service record.
It was rough on Old Li, but there was no helping it.
In a military exercise, one side had to lose.
Failure was the mother of success. At worst, he could get Old Li a few suits of exoskeleton armor afterward.
That would soothe his old comrade's wounded heart.
Hahaha, just thinking about it makes me happy.
The entire division headquarters brimmed with joy.
"Division Commander, should we hold a victory banquet tonight?" a staff officer suddenly asked.
"Do you even have to ask? Absolutely! We've got to serve up some proper dishes!"
Suddenly.
A deep, muffled hum rang out overhead.
The headquarters tent shook violently.
Its fabric flapped and snapped nonstop.
"What's goin' on? A typhoon?" Unease stirred in Division Commander Kong's heart, and he cried out.
Before he could react further.
An even stronger wind surged in with mountain-toppling, sea-churning force, inflating the entire headquarters tent into an almost perfect sphere.
The steel guy wires snapped with loud bangs.
The gale tore the whole tent from the ground and blew it into the sky.
Division Commander Kong's temporary headquarters lost its roof in an instant.
Chaos erupted on the ground.
"Watch out, everyone! It's a typhoon! Stay safe!"
Even Division Commander Kong's jacket had blown away, leaving only a red undershirt on his upper body.
He had barely shouted those words.
When he saw a red figure hurtling down from the sky at tremendous speed.
Before he could raise his binoculars for a clear look.
The red steel figure was already right before him.
Without slowing in the slightest, it slammed heavily into the ground.
Rumble-!
The ground shook violently.
Spiderweb cracks spread across the earth in every direction.
Division Commander Kong and everyone at headquarters froze.
Staring at the steel mech looming overhead, they were utterly dumbfounded.
Their lips trembled nonstop.
Incoherent "ababa" sounds escaped them.
Only after a brief daze did he recover and shout in panic,
"Report this immediately! The Autobots have invaded Earth!"
After shouting, he dragged his legs, which felt as though they had been filled with lead, and called for everyone to run.
He had just turned around.
When another streak of red light descended.
The ground shook violently, even more fiercely than before.
A huge crater was smashed straight into the rocky ground.
Another mech, with a sharp-edged design and an aura that could swallow the heavens, blocked Division Commander Kong's path.
The newly appeared mech frightened Division Commander Kong so badly that he landed on his backside.
Scrambling and kicking, he pushed himself upright into a sitting position.
The moment he raised his head, he saw a twin-barreled cannon, thicker than his head, pressed tightly against his deathly pale face.
Its icy touch sent a chill through his heart.
Division Commander Kong's eyes became bloodshot.
His face flushed red.
His whole body kept trembling in intermittent spasms.
Forcing down the shock inside him, he asked in a quavering voice,
"A-A... Autobots, what do you want?"
The staff officers beside him were stunned!
They had been scared pissless, but Division Commander Kong's righteous fearlessness won them over.
As expected of Division Commander Kong-he actually had the guts to negotiate with the Autobots!
Tears welled in the men's eyes!
In an instant, Division Commander Kong's stature rose several yards in the staff officers' eyes.
Just then.
The mech actually spoke in a half-human, half-mechanical voice,
"Lead your soldiers in surrender to the blue side immediately, and report your decision to the military exercise observation office!"
Division Commander Kong froze.
The shock in his heart grew even greater.
An utterly horrifying conjecture flashed into his mind.
Li Guozhong took his troops and defected to the Autobots???
What the fuck!
Having figured this out, Division Commander Kong's feelings became indescribably complicated.
Old Li looked so honest and dependable, yet he had fucking betrayed them.
"Ptooey!"
Though his lips were dry, that did not stop Division Commander Kong from spitting fiercely.
Since even you've betrayed us, Old Li, I'll swallow this humiliation for now.
Preserve our effective strength and surrender temporarily.
Division Commander Kong spoke to the communications soldier beside him, who had already been scared witless,
"Tell the entire division to surrender to the blue side. Don't make any pointless sacrifices!"
At the same time, he took out his phone and called the military exercise observation office.
At the military exercise observation office.
Luo Bing and Zhu Guodong were already heading downstairs, preparing to leave after a short rest.
After seeing the strength of the exoskeleton armored troops, they had concluded that the battle's outcome was no longer in doubt.
Continuing to watch would only waste time.
Just then, the phone rang.
Luo Bing picked it up and saw that the caller was actually Kong Erlengzi, the red side's commander-in-chief.
Exercise regulations prohibited any contact with the observation office during the exercise.
Apparently, the exercise was already over.
"Hello, Young Kong. Calling to share the good news the moment you win? You really are impatient."
Instead, a voice on the verge of tears immediately came from the other end,
"Reporting, sir! Our division headquarters has been attacked by Autobots. A cannon is pressed against my face right now. Under its threats, our entire force has surrendered to the blue side."
"What was that?"
Luo Bing froze, then his face filled with anger.
"Ridiculous!"
"You've watched too much fucking Transformers!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you! Spreading rumors in wartime will get you court-martialed!"
Hearing that, the man on the other end hesitated, then paused briefly before saying,
"Sir, actually, they might not be Autobots. They could also be Granzort, or Gundams..."
"Ghk-"
Luo Bing nearly stopped breathing, his face instantly turning as black as the bottom of a pot.
Young Kong was clearly making a fool of him.
In all his years commanding the Southeast Theater Command, this was the first time a subordinate had played him for an idiot.
He had actually made up nonsense about Autobots!
And fucking Granzort and Gundams, too.
Old Zhu, his former commanding officer, was right beside him. If he tolerated even this, how could he show his face in military circles again?
"Good! Very good!"
"Division Commander Kong, since you're so certain, connect the video call!"
"If I don't see any Autobots, I'll send your ass to a court-martial!"
His face scarlet and the veins on his forehead bulging, Luo Bing roared furiously.
Zhu Guodong, beside him, had worked out what was going on.
He found it equally absurd.
A ground combat division commander, playing such an outrageous joke on the head of the Southeast Military Region in broad daylight.
It really was going too far.
Still, there had to be a reason. Perhaps he had suffered some major shock and developed a mental problem.
They would know after having a military doctor give him a brain CT scan later.
A minute later, Luo Bing's phone really did receive a video call invitation.
"Oh? You actually dare to video call me? Let's see where on earth these Autobots came from!"
"Bzzzt-"
The video connected.
With a sneer on his lips, Luo Bing looked at the phone screen.
At first glance.
Huge, elongated twin cannon barrels gleamed with an icy metallic sheen.
They were pressed firmly against Division Commander Kong's face.
Behind him stood a gigantic steel mech like an iron tower, its eyes emitting an eerie, cross-shaped red glow.
Its sharp corners and fierce design carried an unparalleled sense of oppression, instantly shocking Luo Bing's eyes wide open.
"I-it really is an Autobot!"
Luo Bing was dumbfounded.
Beside him, Zhu Guodong was stunned too.
His mouth hung open, his face full of terror, his eyes bulging out of their sockets.
Perhaps because he was getting on in years and could not withstand such a great shock.
His eyes kept rolling upward.
The guard beside him was frightened and cried out.
He hurried forward to support him.
"Sir! Sir, what's wrong?"