Necromancer, What the Heck Is a 055 Summon? Part 41

"Understood!" The voices rang out in unison, and the excitement of the officers present seemed to fill the entire conference room to overflowing.

Then a bucket of cold water was poured over their heads.

"Do you see this aerial photograph?"

"The current exercise scenario is as follows: our forces are concealed at this position inside the red circle and must find a way to break through the defenses at this mountain pass on the perimeter."

"The parameters for both sides are as follows. We have twenty-one fighters available, equipped with light melee weapons, long sabers, and crossbows. The detailed specifications are here for you to review."

"The enemy's numbers are unknown, but estimated at over one hundred and twenty. They also use melee weapons, though they may have heavy ones. Their camp is behind them, with a lookout post in front, giving them an overwhelming advantage in both numbers and terrain."

The staff officers exchanged looks. The war game had suddenly turned into a ground battle with cold weapons. Had the Indians stirred up trouble again?

"Note that the forests and mountains on both sides are restricted areas. Passage is forbidden."

Invisible walls too?

"We know our side has one, uh... super soldier, the kind who can withstand all of the enemy's ranged attacks at medium distance. The number of enemy super soldiers is unknown, but we suspect they have some!"

"Our side is about to receive a batch of firearm support. You must produce an operational plan as quickly as possible and ensure our side wins this small-scale local battle with the lowest possible losses!"

Super soldiers, firearms... all right, this war game has taken a new turn.

The staff officers began rubbing their hands in anticipation. Howitzer batteries, rockets, medium-range ballistic missiles, drone swarms, air-to-ground bombing...

Taking out a camp armed with cold weapons would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?

Then Commander Zhenyue said a single sentence that put the staff officers and commanders right back in their seats.

"The support equipment is limited to around one hundred kilograms, preferably no more than one hundred and ten."

"Also, there will be no satellite or communications support whatsoever!"

Chapter 67: Eastern Xia's Tactical War Game

Chief of the General Staff Gu Liyang wore a crisp Eastern Xia military service uniform, the stars on his shoulder boards glinting faintly under the lights.

To have distinguished himself amid struggles between various factions and reached such an important position, he was a standout among the middle generation of Eastern Xia's military, whether in background, character, or ability.

After quickly reviewing the materials the old marshal had provided, he cleared his throat and stood up.

"Everyone, let me share my understanding!"

"I suggest we change our perspective. We can think of the so-called super soldier as a heavy tank with exceptionally strong defenses, but no comparable means of long-range attack. On our side, then, the attack we're planning is a small-scale, high-intensity infantry-tank operation."

With that change in perspective, the awkwardness they had felt just now eased considerably.

Gu Liyang walked up to the large screen and drew a circle with his laser pointer. "On the other side, the confirmed information includes a large number of infantry and a certain number of armored vehicles-that is, the 'squad leader' class in the intelligence-as well as unconfirmed heavy tanks that may be present, the 'super soldier' class."

"Combined with what the commander-in-chief just said, the battlefield conditions are extremely harsh: no satellites, no base stations, and no communications support. That means the precision-guided weapons systems we rely on most are completely unusable. We can only use inertial guidance, image recognition, or manual control."

"Finally, the terrain severely limits our tactical options. We can't go around them or maneuver through their lines; our only choice is a frontal assault! Our sole advantage is that"-Chief of Staff Gu tapped the screen-"the enemy is completely unaware of our presence and our intent to attack. They're still maintaining their usual small-scale lookout and guard."

"Commander, is anything in the battlefield scenario I've outlined wrong, missing, or inaccurate?"

Longxiang Zhenyue nodded in satisfaction.

A good executive team could break down a leader's various strange strategic intentions, long-term plans, and sudden whims, and turn them into concrete plans of action that those below could understand and carry out.

After that reframing, the problem became much simpler.

How could they take out the enemy infantry? How could they take out the enemy armored vehicles? How could they take out the tanks the enemy might have?

As the staff officers quickly put together one operational plan after another, a young officer raised his hand. "Chief of Staff, are the weapons we use subject to international conventions? Can we use biological and chemical weapons, or certain conventional weapons?"

Chief of Staff Gu Liyang immediately looked at the man seated at the head of the table.

The old man pondered for a few seconds, then gave a firm answer. "Ensure the safety of personnel behind our lines. All weapons may be used."

The chief of staff jolted. He had to read that statement in reverse.

If all weapons could be used, that meant they were no longer bound by the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention, the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, or even the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

And ensuring the safety of personnel in the rear meant the combat personnel at the front were allowed to be "unsafe"!

Almost instantly, the chief of staff connected it to one possibility: opening a path for the personnel in the rear, whatever the cost.

With the tactical analysis at this stage, the task had become quite easy. The greatest difficulty lay in the weight of many weapons, which the staff officers could not accurately assess. With no other choice, the logistics department called in two technicians.

Several plans were prepared, and ultimately, after selecting the best of the best, they produced the one everyone felt was the closest fit.

Longxiang went over the final plan once more, waved his hand to dismiss the meeting, and then took Gu Liyang to another office at the back of the base. A major general was already waiting there at attention. Upon seeing the old marshal arrive, he hurriedly rose and saluted.

"Gu, this is a comrade from the equipment department. You're more familiar with the plan, so have them prepare the full set of matching weapons according to these requirements immediately. They'll cooperate with your requests unconditionally. The sooner, the better!"

The chief of staff's heart was in turmoil, but in the end, he did not dare ask a single question.

"Yes, sir! I'll see the mission through!"

The efficiency of "industrial Cthulhu" was naturally dependable.

After an agonizing wait, Chen Mo, on the Starry Continent, finally received a response from the "god of industrial Cthulhu."

There was no bone dragon, and Commandery Princess Liushuang's face showed undisguised disappointment.

Of course, she would be even more disappointed in a moment, because the "divine recitation aid" Chen Mo had promised her would have to wait until at least the next summoning.

The largest share of the weight this time went to three specially made [Big-Headed Eagle] loitering munitions.

Chen Mo read the manual in silence. Each of these big weapons weighed twenty-three kilograms, needed no launch rack, could climb to an altitude of 2,500 meters, and could loiter for up to about twenty-five minutes.

Once it locked onto a target and began its attack, its terminal dive speed could reach 180 meters per second.

To ensure the [Big-Headed Eagle]'s killing efficiency, the Eastern Xia equipment department's warfare engineers had been downright "deranged": they had stuffed three layers of greetings into the loitering munition's weight-limited warhead.

A high-explosive thermobaric bomb, a white phosphorus incendiary bomb, and a nerve gas bomb!

If that thing were dropped, even an elf's [Eversong] and a healer's [Hymn] probably couldn't bring anyone back.

To ensure the thing could hit accurately, the Eastern Xia equipment department had sent a medium-sized smart gimbal carrying four miniature reconnaissance drones weighing 1.8 kilograms apiece, along with three handheld terminals.

The reconnaissance drones, loitering munitions, gimbal, and handheld terminals had already been linked into a local network. With the reconnaissance drones scouting ahead, they could provide precise coordinates and identify targets for the loitering munitions.

If all the reconnaissance drones were destroyed or disabled, the loitering munitions could still be guided into an attack by watching the screen and using the handheld terminals as remote controls.

This long-range, brute-force strike system alone consumed eighty percent of the transfer weight.

Next came two long guns, one heavy and one light. The heavy one was an anti-materiel rifle equipped with tungsten-core armor-piercing rounds, intended for the enemy's possible "tank"-type fighter.

The lighter one was a light sniper rifle, meant for taking out enemy scouts or fleeing soldiers at long range.

Finally, an additional batch of various grenades, together with two gas masks, completely filled the remaining weight allowance.

The weapons were chosen for sheer power, ease of use, the ability to finish the job in one go, and independence from logistical support.

Just from looking over the weapons, Chen Mo had already pieced together a complete attack plan in his head. Naturally, the execution plan Eastern Xia had provided was detailed to the fullest.

After a brief discussion and rehearsal, the Cloudmist Territory squad launched its assault on a dark and windy night.

A light breeze swept along the mountainside, rustling the trees and masking the faint movement in the woods. On the lookout tower, a Wangshan City sentry remained dutifully on guard, but he could not spot the eye high in the sky above him.

A faint sound of air being cut rang out as two [Big-Headed Eagle] loitering munitions dived straight down from an altitude of 2,000 meters. Their targets were two marked points amid the clustered tents, ensuring that the blast zones would cover the entire barracks.

Just in case, the last loitering munition also circled overhead on standby.

"Boom-!!!"

With a muffled roar that made hearts stop, two orange-red fireballs swelled almost simultaneously around the impact points, instantly swallowing the tents in the camp.

Chapter 68: Breaking Through the Formation and Pass

The ultra-high-pressure shockwaves from the explosions struck in every direction like invisible sledgehammers, tossing tents farther away into the air like scraps of paper and tearing them apart! The air seemed to ignite in an instant, creating an unbroken hell of pressure and heat.

Hard on the shockwaves came burning material, viscous as ghostly fire, scattering across the sky like flowers strewn by a celestial maiden under the force of the blasts! It clung to everything, flammable or not-tents, weapons, warhorses, and... living human bodies!

The fierce flames sizzled, filling the air with acrid smoke and the scorched smell of roasting flesh. The white phosphorus powder ignited on contact, clinging like a shadow and refusing to let go! Amid the infernal chaos, a mixture of three nerve gases spread silently through the camp.

On the lookout tower at the front of the mountain pass, the sentry turned in terror, his face bathed bloodred by the flames soaring into the sky.

He instinctively reached for the handle of the alarm bell. The instant its ringing began, a bullet pierced his head. The young warrior's body went rigid, and he toppled from the high lookout tower.

That was Little White's work.

In the current Cloudmist Territory team, Little White was the best shot. First, its hands did not shake. Second, throughout Chen Mo's long period of study and cultivation, Little White had been shut in the room every day, practicing aiming and shouldering a gun over and over.

Although it still lacked some live-fire experience, hitting an enemy was no great trouble with the help of a high-powered scope.

The sentry on the other side was assigned to a heavy anti-materiel rifle. But after its deep report rang out, the sentry was still ringing the bell frantically. The shot had clearly missed.

The shooter was not Chen Mo. With his little arms and legs, he could not even lift the anti-materiel sniper rifle.

The person operating it was the young commandery princess, Liushuang.

That was right. Although the ornate longsword at her waist had never been put to use, and the young commandery princess usually looked like an immature little girl, Liushuang had studied under Anpo, a renowned female swordmaster of the Emerald Duchy, and received Peiwen's careful instruction and sparring practice. She was a genuine professional swordswoman with a second-tier iron badge.

If she were not so lazy, she should have achieved far more.

After the young commandery princess twirled the nearly twenty-kilogram heavy anti-materiel rifle with one hand, Chen Mo immediately agreed to her request to "play with guns." At the same time, he began seriously considering her earlier suggestion that they have an affair.

His thoughts were not dirty at all. He was just worried that if she used too much force, she might leave him with nothing but broken eggs...

No one knew where the first shot of the young commandery princess's career had gone.

But Captain of the Guard Peiwen seemed to have foreseen it.

Since there were only two gas masks, only Peiwen and another captain went forward to attack. Under cover of darkness, they had quietly made their way to the edge of the woods and concealed themselves. The instant the earth-shaking blast sounded, they both rushed out.

Captain Peiwen emerged from the forest and headed straight for the lookout tower assigned to the young commandery princess. With one violent charge, she reduced the wooden platform to a shower of splinters.

After easily knocking out the sentry who had fallen from the shattered lookout tower, Peiwen rose and charged into the barracks once more.

The "trinity" strike plan devised by the Eastern Xia General Staff had worked to perfection.

The thermobaric bombs destroyed obstacles, tore away cover, and caused chaos and casualties.

The white phosphorus bombs followed close behind. Once the cover was broken, they became a tenaciously clinging fire of death, reaping the exposed living forces.

The nerve gas served as the final cleanup crew, taking care of anything missed and covering places the white phosphorus had not reached.

By the time Captain of the Guard Peiwen rushed into the camp, what she saw was a scene of hell on earth.