amaotonovel Chapter 344 A Great Victory in the First Battle
Chapter 344 A Great Victory in the First Battle
As the zombie horde drew ever closer, Li Chenglong's expression grew serious. Li Xue from the Information Support Department was meticulously calculating the distance; once the zombies entered firing range, all units could attack in sequence, ensuring that more than half the enemy was eliminated in the first wave of attacks.
Li Xue stared at the large screen in the information support unit's command room, holding a communicator in her hand. As soon as the zombie flying force entered firing range, Li Xue immediately said, "Begin the attack!" The crystal machine guns and energy rifle formations of the four divisions opened fire, and countless tongues of fire and energy beams shot out from more than a dozen positions, attacking the zombie flying force diagonally above.
However, the zombies riding the zombie birds naturally wouldn't just stay there and let the humans attack them. The zombies unleashed their skills and attacked the human positions. Some of the zombie birds spewed fireballs from their mouths, while others spat out acid, like small bombers.
Ordinary human soldiers were naturally unable to withstand the attacks of these mutant zombies and zombie birds. They retreated in an orderly fashion, firing as they went, at which point the mutant formation behind them stepped forward. The long-range attack mutants were placed in the back mainly due to their range. Even the highest-level wind-type mutant at level 11 only had a maximum attack range of 800 meters, which was naturally no match for the more than 1000-meter range of energy rifles and crystal machine guns.
However, there is an exception: Li Chenglong, a Level 12 SSS-rank Awakened Holy Dragon Body. He possesses two extremely long-range attack skills: Dragon Fist and Dragon Emperor's Dimensional Strike. He tested them during training with the special forces, finding that Dragon Fist could reach up to two kilometers away. While he hadn't tested Dragon Emperor's Dimensional Strike, its area of effect during battles against the resistance forces was significantly larger than one square kilometer.
The various skills unleashed by the zombies and zombie birds were all neutralized by the ranged attacks of the dozen or so formations of superhumans. Furthermore, because the human superhumans were stronger, many zombie birds and zombies were hit and fell from mid-air. However, with many more zombie birds and zombies remaining, even advanced superhumans couldn't continuously unleash their skills. After more than ten minutes of fighting, the human superhumans began to focus their attacks on enemies that posed a significant threat to the battlefield.
Even so, many ordinary soldiers were still hit by zombie attacks and paid with their precious lives. Li Chenglong's face darkened. It seemed that he needed to speed up the research on the super-powered anti-aircraft gun, otherwise the sacrifices in the future would be even greater. He looked at Yun Lan: "There are too many enemies in the air, and our air firepower is insufficient. Let's go and help them out."
Yunlan had already intended this, and upon hearing Li Chenglong's suggestion, she readily agreed. She took out her Dragon-Phoenix Spear, activated the Phoenix Dance Technique, and ascended into the air, beginning her attack on the higher-level zombie birds and zombies. Meanwhile, Li Chenglong used dimensional teleportation twice to arrive behind the zombie flying force. He used Dragon Soaring Technique to levitate high in the sky, his right fist releasing a dazzling golden light.
"Dragon Fist!" Li Chenglong roared, his right fist lashing out. A golden dragon roared from his fist, tumbling and tumbling among the zombie flying troops in front of him. Whether it was a level 7 zombie bird or a level 10 zombie, they were all reduced to ashes the instant the golden dragon roared past.
However, Li Chenglong only used this one move. After finishing, he returned to the roof of the command vehicle, admiring Yun Lan's heroic fighting posture high in the sky. Even if he killed all these zombie troops, he wouldn't gain much experience. It was better to let Yun Lan kill more, although Yun Lan wouldn't gain much experience either.
At this moment, the ranged attack-type ability users, who had already recovered their energy by eating crystals or flame fruits, resumed their battle. With the warriors' skillful coordination, thousands of zombies and zombie birds were shot down and killed. Those that landed on the ground but did not die were promptly finished off by the close-range attack-type ability users.
The battle lasted for 40 minutes. With Zheng Aiguo using a flying stone to kill the last escaping level 8 zombie bird, the battle ended in a resounding victory for the Dawn Army. Next came the cleanup. Li Chenglong instructed the entire army to quickly clear the battlefield, after which the troops swiftly set off to continue their southward advance.
At the start of the battle, Li Chenglong notified the entire army that the speed of their advance was not important, but they must be careful. Since this was a battle of annihilation, wherever the Dawn Army went, they had to eliminate all zombies, zombie beasts, and other alien species that could harm humans.
Upon entering Xijiang Province, the Dawn Army will split into two forces: the Western Route Army and the Eastern Route Army. The Western Route Army's objectives are, in order, Jiujiang City, Nanchang City, Yichun City, Pingxiang City, and Ji'an City, finally reaching Ganzhou City to join forces with the Eastern Route Army. The Eastern Route Army's objectives are, in order, Jingdezhen City, Shangrao City, Yingtan City, and Fuzhou City, finally reaching Ganzhou City to join forces with the Western Route Army. After the main force meets in Ganzhou City, it will march eastward to join forces with the allied forces to the east in attacking Fujian Province, thus achieving the ultimate strategic objective.
Li Chenglong listened to reports from Xu Qingming and Wei Huasheng, who were fighting in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, from his command vehicle. Their army had also fought a battle early that morning, and it was not over yet. However, the allied forces had gained the upper hand and expected to finish the battle before 11 o'clock.
The allied forces, primarily composed of two armies from the Feiyun base, employed a different operational method in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces compared to the Dawn Army. Their large armies did not split up; instead, they swept through one city at a time, conducting thorough cleanup operations wherever they arrived. Li Chenglong also stated that speed was not the priority, but quality was paramount.
When they arrived at Feiyun Base the day before yesterday, Xu Qingming's father, Xu Limin, invited Li Chenglong and Yun Lan separately and subtly proposed marriage, specifically regarding Xu Qingming and Li Xue. Li Chenglong had learned from Yun Lan that Li Xue had good feelings for Xu Qingming, and since Li Xue was already 23 years old, he, as her older brother, wouldn't interfere too much in his sister's relationship.
Regarding this matter, Li Chenglong's attitude was that he would neither interfere nor oppose it, because he possessed memories of the future world and knew about Li Xue and Xu Qingming's future. Deep down, he still wanted Xue'er and Xu Qingming to be together. Yun Lan's point was that this was indeed not the time to discuss marriage, because there had been too many unusual movements from the zombies recently. She suggested that once this period had passed and the situation had stabilized, the two families could find a time to sit down and discuss the matter properly.
An hour later, a battle report was handed to Li Chenglong, and Yunlan joined him to look at it. In this operation, the Dawn Army annihilated no fewer than 20,000 enemies. While some zombies were completely obliterated, making the exact number difficult to determine, it was still no less than 20,000. They obtained 160 level 9 pink crystals, 422 level 8 purple crystals, 1070 level 7 blue crystals, and 12630 other crystals. Considering that some zombies or zombie beasts don't drop crystals, this number of over 20,000 enemies should be accurate.
The battle resulted in the loss of 30 crystal machine guns and 27 energy rifles. A total of 211 soldiers were killed in action, none of whom were superhumans. There were 350 wounded; some recovered after treatment, some needed rest, and a small number, though not fatally wounded, were too badly injured to return to the battlefield. Li Chenglong ordered the seriously wounded to be transported back to the Huangshan base in southern Huian Province. He had already spoken with the base's commander, who was willing to properly care for all the wounded soldiers of the allied forces.
For the fallen soldiers, Li Chenglong ordered them to be collected in storage capsules and buried upon returning to Dawn City. Every fallen soldier's story must be meticulously recorded, and their families must be properly cared for according to Dawn City's laws.
Yunlan said from the side, "The first battle was a great victory, which boosted the morale of the whole army. We will enter Xijiang Province at noon today and split into two forces. I will lead the western route army and you will lead the eastern route army. What do you think?" Li Chenglong nodded, "Okay, General Feng Tian will travel with you, and the military command vehicle will also travel with you. Zheng Yong and I will lead the eastern route army together."
At 1 PM, the Dawn Army officially split up. Yun Lan and Feng Tian led the 1st and 4th Divisions, the 1st Rocket Regiment, and half of the equipment, logistics, and information support units, entering from Jiujiang City in Xijiang Province. Li Chenglong and Zheng Yong led the 2nd and 3rd Divisions, the 2nd Rocket Regiment, and the other half of the equipment, logistics, and information support units, entering from Jingdezhen City. The mopping-up operation officially began.