121: The Russian bear army is coming!

In the Winter is Coming instance.

Half a day had passed, and it was now deep into the night.

Kim Geun-seok had already commanded fifty thousand Challengers to complete all strategic deployments around Lake Ubsu-Nur.

On the western side of Lake Ubsu-Nur, deep trenches, like a winding giant dragon, had been quietly completed, crisscrossing the terrain.

At this moment, Park Jung-young had already led a group of Challengers from the Park family conglomerate to set up an ambush in the trenches.

Each firing point, like a scale on the giant dragon's body, stood ready, glinting with cold light.

Carefully selected machine gun emplacements were cleverly hidden in the shadows, like concealed venomous snakes, quietly awaiting the moment to strike.

Inside the trenches, explosive weapons like grenades and hand grenades were piled high, ready at any moment for a barrage of fire, to be unleashed entirely upon the Mao Xiong.

Large tank units and howitzer units guarded the southern and northern sides of Lake Ubsu-Nur respectively, like two guardian deities, eager and ready, awaiting only a single command!

As soon as the firing officially began, these steel beasts would launch a full-scale bombardment of Lake Ubsu-Nur from higher ground, ultimately crushing all the scattered soldiers of the Mao Xiong Country.

At this moment, the shores of Lake Ubsu-Nur had transformed into a place of grim readiness. Trenches, tanks, machine guns—everything combined to form a magnificent tableau of war.

The entire strategic deployment could absolutely be described as flawless!

“Hiss—”

Kim Geun-seok lit a cigar and smoked it contentedly.

Unlike the initial panic upon entering Mao Xiong Country territory, he was now brimming with confidence.

He was confident that few people on the entire Azure Star could arrange a formation like the one at Lake Ubsu-Nur.

Kim Geun-seok planned to directly design this strategic layout into his own instance for other Challengers on Azure Star to challenge.

Putting himself in their shoes, if he were the one tasked with attacking Lake Ubsu-Nur now, he would have no way to break through this impenetrable defense.

Kim Geun-seok’s mind was racing at this moment; this divine move in a desperate situation had truly turned misfortune into a blessing for him.

He felt his understanding of warfare had been elevated at this moment.

If such a layout couldn't defend against Lin Ye, then it could only mean that the combat power of the entire Settlement was insufficient…

In that case, even if Commander Park Chengwan of the Settlement were to blame him, he would still have room to defend himself.

-------------------------------------

But while Kim Geun-seok was full of confidence in the instance.

Outside the instance.

Inside the Commander’s building of the South Goryeo Settlement.

Park Chengwan was already overwhelmed at his desk.

Secretaries and subordinates around him continuously delivered bad news.

“Commander Park, something terrible has happened! We are under a premeditated attack!”

“Commander Park, many instances in the South Goryeo Settlement were conquered today… In less than a day, nearly a thousand instances have been conquered!”

“According to our investigation, it should be a coordinated group attack from the Great Xia Settlement!”

“The various research institutes of Great Xia seem truly enraged this time. From simple instances designed by LV1 Designers to large instances designed by various official Goryeo organizations, without exception, all have been attacked by them!”

“Commander Park… we just received news that General Li Yunlong, the Army Commander of Great Xia, has broken through the difficult-level instance ‘Sea of Vengeance War’ of Kim Chan-hoon, the former head of the Cui Family… Old man Kim Chan-hoon lost a large amount of points this time and should have been demoted to LV2.”

Park Chengwan sent everyone out of his office, then slammed his palm heavily onto the desk.

He truly hadn't expected Great Xia's reaction to be so strong this time!

Before, when he had Kim Geun-seok declare war on Lin Ye, it was only aimed at Lin Ye personally and did not involve the Settlement level.

As a result, this time, Great Xia showed no courtesy at all, directly launching an attack on his Settlement.

On Azure Star, there was no true war. This method of weakening other Settlements' power by conquering instances was, in fact, equivalent to war.

However, this direct confrontation between two Settlements caused significant harm to the Settlements, often allowing other Settlements to reap the benefits.

In fact, the current situation was caused by South Korea's initial proactive provocation.

Lin Ye's reputation was soaring, and being in the current TOP50 brought considerable benefits to the Great Xia Settlement. Various organizations in Great Xia naturally wouldn't allow South Korea to premeditatedly attack Lin Ye's instances.

Park Chengwan actually had no choice. The reason he took such a risk was merely to salvage South Korea's reputation.

Because throughout history, the South Goryeo Settlement had always been a relatively weak entity. Its rapid progress in recent years relied on this 'mad dog' fighting style, gambling that other Settlements, after weighing the pros and cons, would be unwilling to contend with these 'mad dogs.'

Lin Ye's instance directly exposed South Korea's Strong Clan Plan. If they didn't conquer Winter is Coming in one fell swoop to salvage their reputation, South Korea would find it very difficult to establish itself on Azure Star.

“…”

“Damn Lin Ye… One instance has trapped all the top elites of the four major families inside!”

“Until the Winter is Coming instance closes and those elites return to the real world, South Korea simply cannot actively contend with Great Xia!”

Park Chengwan sighed deeply, thinking long and hard, realizing there was no good solution at the moment.

But Great Xia's continuous attacks on his Settlement's instances were something he couldn't tolerate.

“Someone! Arrange it!”

“Have all Koreans above LV2 who are not in instances actively sign up for Great Xia's instances.”

“Remember to choose simple instances. This counterattack is to salvage our reputation, but it is absolutely not a desperate struggle.”

With the situation having developed to this point, Park Chengwan knew the only way to break the deadlock was for Kim Geun-seok and others to directly conquer Lin Ye's instance.

-------------------------------------

Another hour passed unnoticed in the instance.

Kim Geun-seok picked up his binoculars and observed the border of the Mao Xiong Country.

On the horizon, the distant outline of the sky gradually became clear.

Suddenly, an unusual black silhouette appeared on the horizon!

It was a massive moving object, like a rolling black cloud surging towards Lake Ubsu-Nur. Its scale was so immense that its edges met the skyline, almost covering the entire field of vision.

The distance was too great for Kim Geun-seok to see clearly, but just by the extent to which it covered the skyline, he knew the scale must be enormous.

“They’re here!”

At this moment, what else could be rushing towards Lake Ubsu-Nur besides the Mao Xiong Country's Army?

“Chief Cui! To the northwest, suspected enemy movement has appeared!”

“Please lead the armored motorcycle corps and quickly investigate!”

“If possible, launch the first wave of attack on the enemy.”

Kim Geun-seok directly issued instructions to Choi Tae-won, who was on patrol, via radio.

“Don’t worry, Kim Da Shao.”

“I've already sent people to bury a massive amount of landmines at several essential points from Lake Ubsu-Nur to the border. Even if the Mao Xiong Country comes with tanks, they will be directly blown over!”

“Just wait for a good show!”

…

After hanging up the phone, Choi Tae-won directly straddled his armored motorcycle.

“Everyone from the Cui Family listen up, the Mao Xiong Country people are here.”

“All of you, brace yourselves. This mission is led by our Cui Family, and no one is allowed to mess up.”

“We must dampen Lin Ye’s luck!”

The Cui Family's Cui 3B armored motorcycles could be said to be the most advanced light cavalry system on Azure Star at present.

Their main characteristic was flexibility and versatility.

Their extremely fast driving speed allowed them to easily outmaneuver some cumbersome military units, like walking a dog.

Originally, this type of troop had limited combat power, but they could eliminate enemies invisibly through various traps.

Eight thousand armored motorcycles suddenly started, rushing like wild wolves across the grassland towards the advancing position of the Mao Xiong Country.

Soon, Choi Tae-won led his subordinates to the vicinity of a vital passage. He commanded his subordinates to conceal themselves behind the oak forests on both sides.

All prepared anti-tank guns were set up.

Then, they quietly waited for the arrival of the Mao Xiong Country Army.

“Don’t move without my command!”

“First, let the landmines explode a wave, then we will bombard them with anti-tank guns, and after that, lure the enemy to the next landmine point.”

After speaking, Choi Tae-won lay on the ground and also took out his binoculars to observe.

Soon… the first tank belonging to the Mao Xiong Country appeared in his field of vision.

Upon seeing the Armata T-14's design, Choi Tae-won's legs unconsciously trembled twice.

“What a dominant tank!”

He couldn't help but exclaim.

The Mao Xiong tank that appeared in his field of vision looked incredibly sturdy and reliable. Its armor thickness was far beyond what Goryeo's land combat vehicles could compare to.

In terms of sheer size, it was an entire size larger than the Cui Family's Kim 7V!

Its lines were smooth, and its hull was low, making its design appear much more reasonable than the Kim 7V at first glance.

Above the Armata T-14's main gun, there was an additional turret, which was its most distinctive feature compared to other tanks.

Choi Tae-won might not understand other things, but he knew that two attack methods were definitely much more powerful than one.

Choi Tae-won composed himself and counted the number of Mao Xiong Country tanks.

“One…”

“Two…”

“Five.”

This first batch of tanks consisted of five, and there might be more Mao Xiong troops behind, but fortunately, there were only these five at the forefront.

“To send only five tanks to lead the charge, this Mao Xiong Country really underestimates us!”

“I've buried hundreds of landmines under every essential point. Aren't you going to be blown sky-high, haha!”

Although intimidated by the appearance of the Armata T-14, Choi Tae-won remained very confident.

What good was a strong tank?! As long as it triggered a landmine explosion, even the sturdiest tank would be directly flipped over.

Once a tank was flipped, it was like a turtle shell landing on its back; no matter how strong its attack power, it would be useless!

Therefore, Choi Tae-won was completely confident in directly eliminating these five Armata T-14s.

Watching the tanks slowly approach the landmine placement point, Choi Tae-won's mouth curved into a slight smile.

“Hmph… the prey has arrived!”

“3!”

“2!”

“1!”

“Boom!”

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!

The countdown ended, and the landmine point was directly detonated by the passing Armata T-14s, triggering a series of explosions.

In an instant, fire erupted everywhere, and the world turned upside down!

The five Armata T-14 tanks were instantly engulfed by fire and splashing dust.

The tremor of the ground caused by the tanks' movement slowly subsided, and the engine sounds also seemed to slowly die out amidst the explosions!