14: Ambush the steel mill

Seeing the tactical equipment and vehicles, Li Xiao knew that the sooner this military factory was built, the more advantageous it would be for him. He still had a little over two thousand rare ores, so he didn't hesitate and clicked directly.

“I wonder what this tactical equipment and vehicle is, I’m really looking forward to it!”

What bothered Li Xiao the most before was communication, command, and travel. He didn't do much in a day, just spent all his time on the road, especially Ye Ming and his team, who wasted a lot of effort collecting resources.

If he could get an off-road vehicle or even an armored vehicle, that would be amazing.

In the evening, Yang Chao, who was on outer perimeter guard, returned to the base. A little later, Zhao Feipeng also came back.

“How is it? What’s the situation?”

Li Xiao handed Zhao Feipeng a bottle of water on the first floor of the command center.

“Reporting, Boss, the Transit Yard has been cleared and rebuilt overnight by the Black Hawk Empire. They searched up and down along the highway, and a patrol unit checked two kilometers in our base’s direction before proceeding no further.”

“So, what’s the troop strength at the Transit Yard now?”

Having gotten a taste of success once, Li Xiao was eager for more, wishing he could do it again.

“They directly deployed a reinforced company, totaling about four hundred people, to garrison it. Four new guard towers have been added, equipped with snipers, and there’s also an infantry fighting vehicle and three heavy machine gun outposts!”

“My goodness! That’s excessive!”

When Li Xiao heard the troop deployment reported by Zhao Feipeng, his jaw almost dropped. It seemed he had gotten a huge bargain.

Putting aside everything else, those three heavy machine gun outposts alone could shred Li Xiao.

“Can’t afford to provoke them, can’t afford to provoke them, let’s get out of here…”

Sure enough, even in another world, even if all NPCs were replaced by real people, system forces were still not to be trifled with.

After assessing the current situation in the surrounding area, expanding south was no longer an option. The Black Hawk Empire was fighting in Xi City, and he might encounter their main force if he wasn't careful.

Heading north, however, seemed like a good idea. Wu Feng Town was on a branch of the transportation network, and he wondered if there would be better resource points further north.

While Li Xiao was contemplating his next development step, Liu Nian approached him.

“Lao Xiao, I have good news for you. I found a steel mill that produces five hundred points of steel daily. How about it, interested in considering it?”

“A daily output of five hundred points?”

Although Li Xiao still had nearly five thousand resource points in hand, upgrading a Level 5 base now required six thousand points for a single item, and future consumption would be even greater. Who would ever complain about having too many resources?

“There are defenders, right? How many people?”

Li Xiao asked directly. If there were no defenders, Liu Nian wouldn't be generous enough to want to split it with him.

“Hehe, actually, the number of defenders isn’t that many, just two squads. But the problem is that the enemy has deployed heavy machine gun bunkers in key positions. With too few people, there’s no chance of breaking through.”

Two squads, huh?

Li Xiao's mind raced. His current combat power should be sufficient to directly engage two squads, fewer than twenty people. However, since they were on the defensive and had heavy machine gun fire, he needed to carefully plan the operation.

“Alright! I’ll come over and take a look tonight.”

By dinner time, Du Ziteng announced that the first meal of his tenure was officially served.

As Li Xiao entered the spacious and brightly lit dining hall and saw a row of stainless steel basins, he was instantly stunned.

The people who came in afterward were all teary-eyed.

Di Yun: “Scallion oil noodles!”

Zhao Feipeng: “Venison flatbread!”

Ye Ming: “Canned beef and stewed potatoes!”

Zhang Shuang: “Egg… egg fried rice!”

“Oh my god, is it New Year’s?!!!”

Everyone couldn’t help but cheer. This was the life with a cook; the days of gnawing on field rations were finally over.

Li Xiao couldn’t help but say to Du Ziteng, “Brother Teng, awesome!”

Du Ziteng was a bit embarrassed by everyone’s praise and awkwardly said, “Due to limited conditions and ingredients, let’s just make do with the first meal at the base’s restaurant. Everyone, dig in!”

The dining hall came with its own trays and cutlery. Everyone took their plates and began to serve themselves in an orderly fashion. Although Du Ziteng made many types of food, he controlled the quantity very well; the meals for ten people generally wouldn't result in much waste.

Chewing on a flatbread filled with venison, Li Xiao began to consider the evening’s operation. As he ate, an idea suddenly came to him.

After dinner, Li Xiao arranged for Jiang Lang, Yang Chao, and the cook Du Ziteng to stay behind at the base, awaiting his orders at any time. The rest of them, fully armed and carrying ample ammunition and two meals of field rations, immediately set off.

Three hours later, they rendezvoused with Liu Nian’s troops in Wu Feng Town.

“Hey, your troop strength isn’t right, why are there two fewer people?”

Liu Nian knew that Li Xiao had not lost any troops in four days of crossing over. Logically, he should have eight people now, but Li Xiao only had six behind him.

“I have to leave some people to guard the base, right? What if someone accidentally stumbles upon my base and it all goes south?”

“You’re quite cautious, but I came with a full complement. My base is very remote anyway, completely uninhabited in the surroundings, so there’s no need to worry for now.”

Li Xiao nodded and said, “It’s always better to be careful. It’s getting late, lead the way.”

“No problem!”

Liu Nian waved his hand, and his subordinates turned and headed onto the highway.

According to Liu Nian’s description, this steel mill was relatively small, with a total area of about ten thousand square meters, and had two main gates, east and west.

The East Gate was the main entrance, with a machine gun outpost right at the door, while the West Gate was the ore transportation channel, where ore extracted from the back mountain was smelted on site.

Besides the Imperial troops, there were also over a hundred technicians inside the factory. These technicians were neutral, originally citizens of the Tianyu Republic, so they wouldn’t affect their actions.

However, the current problem was that the large gate originally used for transporting ore had been closed because the Imperial troops had limited manpower and couldn't manage it, so all vehicles now entered through the main gate.

“Is there no way to sneak in from the back?”

“No, there’s a sniper on the central high tower on alert, and searchlights provide full surveillance at night. The factory walls are electrified.”

Along the way, Li Xiao meticulously inquired about the steel mill’s situation, and the information he received was far more complex than he had imagined. He began to doubt whether risking a battle for half of the two hundred and fifty points of steel production was worth it.

At three in the morning, the group finally arrived at the steel mill after a fifteen-kilometer trek on foot.

Everyone lay prone behind the stone pile on the east side, using the waist-high weeds to observe the situation at the gate.

Zhao Feipeng quickly confirmed the situation at the steel mill with his low-light night vision device.

“Four machine gun outposts, one observer and one sniper on the central high tower, one five-person patrol team. The rest cannot be observed for now.”

Li Xiao pondered for a moment and then said to Liu Nian, “Buddy, this battle won’t be easy. The sniper on the steel mill’s observation tower can effectively observe the area near the gate. Do you have any ideas?”

Liu Nian shrugged: “If I had an idea, I’d probably be waiting to collect resources by now.”

“Then it seems we can only launch a frontal assault!” Li Xiao rubbed his hands.

“Frontal assault? Lao Xiao, they have 12.7mm heavy machine guns! One hit deals over a hundred damage!”

Li Xiao’s lips curled into a smile: “I have my ways!”