At noon, the battlefield was cleared, Cangyuan withdrew his troops, and returned to the camp.
Apart from the power armor, the spoils of this battle itself were limited.
Lu Yuan had completely lost interest in the large number of rifles and ammunition; these things were at best used for training new recruits in target practice. Two infantry fighting vehicles were in decent condition and could be driven after repairs, and scanning them yielded blueprints for 25mm autocannons.
This book is first published on the whole network.
The vehicle wreckage was directly towed away by Red Iron Town to be melted down for steel; they didn't even want to bother bringing it back to the camp.
But the supplies in those few branch camps of the Stormwind Gang were another matter.
In the next eight hours, the players swiftly captured these lightly defended facilities, taking over a total of 330 tons of various fuels, 500 tons of fresh water, over 500 rounds of large-caliber artillery shells, and 13 light all-terrain vehicles in quite good condition.
When attacking the last branch camp, Lu Yuan deliberately let a vehicle of Raiders escape, allowing them to bring the news of defeat back to the main base.
…………
Twenty hours after the Stormwind Gang dispatched its troops, Team Leader Hart's anxiety reached his limit.
Logically, the main army should have returned loaded with spoils and beautiful female slaves, but now, not only had not a single person returned, but even communications were cut off.
The air force also went missing.
Too strange!
Mass defection?
No, impossible! So many people couldn't possibly be of one mind, much less without any warning signs.
Perhaps there have just been some solar flare activities in the past few days, causing poor communication. The air force might have made an emergency landing elsewhere due to a malfunction. Don't overthink it.
At this moment, the adjutant walked into the room, his salute becoming somewhat weak.
"Lieutenant Colonel, our eastern branch camp... has been captured!"
Hart's eyebrow twitched, but he didn't lose his composure.
Don't panic, I expected this and was prepared.
During a major military operation, it's just extremely bad luck that weak branch camps were infiltrated by other large and medium-sized war gangs taking advantage of the void. There's nothing that can be done about it for now; we'll just have back later.
"When?"
"Just a few hours ago, the survivors just ran back."
"Got it. Immediately arrange a counterattack plan."
"Also..." the adjutant's voice lowered, his gaze shifting, "Scouts discovered vehicle wreckage dozens of kilometers outside Red Iron Town. On it... on it was painted our emblem."
Hart narrowed his eyes and stood up.
"Vehicle wreckage? Are you sure it's ours? How many?"
"Not many, maybe four or five locations, but..."
"But what!?"
"The staff unanimously believe that the number of vehicles destroyed is more than this because closer to the town, there are traces left by a large number of vehicles driving and dragging things, as well as charred metal fragments, as if someone had cleared the battlefield..."
Hart frowned.
Clearing the battlefield?
Who cleared whose battlefield?
Red Iron Town, clearing me? Me!?
"Where is that scout? Didn't he take a look near Red Iron Town? Call him in!"
Soon, the scout was called into the room.
"Lieutenant Colonel, I went and looked near the town. Houses there are collapsed and ruined, it was definitely attacked, but I didn't see our people."
"Not a single one?!"
"No... none."
Hart's upper and lower lips trembled a few times, and in the end, he said nothing.
He wasn't stupid; this series of signs indicated that the dispatched force was 90% wiped out.
But how?! Completely wiped out?!
Who? Who did it?
Given Red Iron Town's previous state, it couldn't possibly stop his army for even half a step. Even if Oasis City backstabbed them, it wouldn't be a complete wipeout; it would be a back-and-forth battle!
Is it that group of new Celestials? But there were no signs of their activity before. They clearly only landed on the planet's surface on a small scale, their strength not worth mentioning, otherwise they would have clashed with Apollo long ago.
Right, Apollo...
It must be Oasis City and Apollo working together, launching an air strike!
But this isn't logical either! Eliminating the Stormwind Gang is of no benefit to Apollo. Why would Apollo agree?
Hart had some understanding of this Celestial organization. On the surface, they claimed to be an interstellar colonial development company, but in reality, just like him, they were a bunch of bandits.
He looked blankly at the map table beside him.
Who exactly is the enemy? Where are they now?
I don't know.
But he knew he was about to be finished.
"Notify everyone still outside to return to the main camp as soon as possible, cancel all plans to counterattack the branch camps, and strengthen the main camp's defenses... All of you, leave first."
After dismissing his subordinates, Hart walked to a large wardrobe and pulled open the door with a slightly trembling hand.
Inside was a set of meticulously maintained, gleaming power armor, which he had traded 70 female slaves for from Apollo.
Unlike the ones distributed to his capable lieutenants, this power armor he bought for himself was fully equipped with additional modules.
Currently, this was the only thing that could bring Hart a sense of security.
…………
Earth time, 1 AM,
Players who had been playing for over a day logged off one after another.
Since their brains had rested during the game, they didn't feel tired at all and continued chatting in the player community.
Lu Yuan collected their first-person battle footage, combined with the drone and mechanical guard perspectives, and edited a 25-minute video.
The cloud players, who had been impatiently waiting, finally watched the battle in panoramic view, learning every detail of the fight, and immediately erupted into heated discussion.
"Awesome!!"
"I thought the Stormwind Gang's mechanized forces would be tough to chew, but this... they were completely hammered!"
"If it were an armor-piercing round vs. armor fight, we might not necessarily win against the other side. Unfortunately, the battlefield is one-way transparent to the players. No matter how powerful the Stormwind Gang's weapons are, they're useless if they can't find a target."
Most cloud players believed this great victory was achieved through wisdom.
However, some "high-end professional players" held different opinions.
"Oh come on, the developers just wanted the players to win. Otherwise, if the Stormwind Gang had used those five planes for reconnaissance, they would have retreated completely long ago. Only players can do aerial reconnaissance, not the enemies. It's laughable, treating this like playing house and taking it seriously."
This statement seems reasonable, but upon closer inspection, it's full of flaws.
"That's not right. You're looking at it from a post-game analysis perspective, pointing out the most logical move the Stormwind Gang could have made at the time. But is it actually logical? Players use drones for reconnaissance, and they don't feel bad if they get shot down."
"Exactly. Planes are the most expensive and fragile equipment for the Stormwind Gang. They only sortie when safety is confirmed. If they were used for scouting, what if they ran into air defense units?"
"The Raiders' weapons were purchased from Oasis City, which means Oasis City definitely uses better ones themselves, perhaps even having anti-aircraft missiles."
"A squishy hero face-checking a bush? I wouldn't do it either."
"You guys are so professional, he's going to stop talking."
"I think he's just reverse-trolling."
【Bei Hai Xian Yu】: "Actually, we discussed four operational plans to deal with various different battle situations. I can only say the enemy chose the most easily predictable tactic. We were indeed lucky."
"He bit! Awesome, we fished out the person involved!"
"Salty Fish Team Leader, please give an internal recommendation! I'll work like an ox or a horse!"
"Salty Fish is basically a warband commander as soon as he logs in, and he's a new player. So envious."
"No, in the long run, these 25 players are all veterans."
"In the future, he'll be a general, at least."
【Victory Male God】: "I don't want to be a general, I just want to be on the front line! By the way, I looked so cool when I was shooting, I want to print it out and hang it in the living room~"
"Hmm... there are mascots too."
【Old Man Emitting Black Smoke】: "To be fair, the two support groups did fight well and accounted for most of the damage."
【Wo Yao Chi Dan Ta】: "Please, the main group destroyed 30 vehicles, more than you guys, okay? And half the people went back to support the urban warfare, averaging over twenty kills per person."
【Shenceng Jubian】: "Are we comparing kill counts now? Heh heh, I'll just watch, I won't say anything."
"To all the big shots, please give an internal recommendation~ I've sent my total playtime in various games and real-world skills via private message~"
The discussion continued until dawn the next day.