258: Chapter 258 One Shot Through! Lv.4 Core Module Pierced Through

Zhao Tiezhu pressed the trigger button with his thumb.

The lights of the entire Polaris flickered for a moment.

That tremor that pierced through the entire body traveled up from the soles of his feet once again, shorter and fiercer than during the test fire at dawn.

A dull, thunderous sound came from the rear of the vehicle roof.

The shrill whistle of air being torn apart rang out and vanished in an instant.

Two thousand four hundred meters per second.

Seven point three kilometers.

Three seconds.

One.

Two.

Three.

The four green characters "Hit Confirmed" popped up in the bottom right corner of the fire control panel.

"Cheng Zheng." Lu Chen pressed the communication button.

"Hit." Cheng Zheng's voice was laced with astonishment. "Two degrees west of due north, at the Lv.4 target 7.3 kilometers away, a penetrating hole has appeared in the frontal armor. My optical array captured the cloud of debris flying out from the back of the target after the projectile core penetrated it."

"It penetrated."

"Fully penetrated," Cheng Zheng reported the observation results. "The entrance hole diameter is about forty centimeters, the exit hole diameter exceeds one point two meters. The projectile core caused severe secondary fragmentation inside, and a large amount of black smoke is pouring out from the target's port side."

"Is it still moving?"

"Speed has dropped significantly," Cheng Zheng said at a very fast pace. "From fifteen kilometers per hour it dropped to six kilometers. The left track is suspected to be broken, and its path of travel is beginning to deviate."

"One shot, paralyzed," Zhao Tiezhu stared at the loading countdown on the Fire Control Console. "The second shot will be ready in fifty-two seconds."

"No rush," Lu Chen turned his gaze to the light spot of the second Lv.4. "Switch targets, three degrees east of due north, distance seven point one kilometers, the second Lv.4."

Zhao Tiezhu's fingers adjusted quickly on the Fire Control Console.

"Target switched, locking on."

Loading countdown: thirty-eight seconds.

On the panel, the movement speed of the first Lv.4 light spot that was hit continued to drop, from six km/h down to three, then to one, and finally it stopped.

"The first Lv.4 has stopped," Zhou Yuan confirmed. "Completely lost mobility."

One shot.

One Railway Gun shell, paralyzed one Lv.4 The City-State class Mobile City.

"City Lord," Cheng Zheng's communication cut in again. "The Iron Hoof Vanguard Formation is in chaos. Two of the six Lv.3 fortresses have started to slow down, while the other four are accelerating and spreading out; they are evading."

"Evading what?"

"Evading your gun," Cheng Zheng's speaking speed increased. "The first Lv.4 was stopped by one shot, and the Iron Hoof commander has reacted. They are increasing the distance between them, attempting to reduce the probability of being focused."

"Is increasing the distance useful?"

"It's useful against Phalanx CIWS, but useless against a Railway Gun," Cheng Zheng gave his judgment. "The Railway Gun is a single-shot precision strike, not an area-of-effect suppression. The targets spreading out will only let them be picked off one by one."

Loading countdown: twelve seconds.

Eleven.

Ten.

Nine.

"City Lord," Zhou Yuan spoke up. "The Iron Hoof Vanguard has opened fire."

At the positions of the six Lv.3 fortresses on the panel, dense small signal sources began to fly south.

"Incoming shells," Zhou Yuan reported the data. "The first wave, approximately forty to fifty rounds, caliber estimated at one hundred eighty millimeters or less, expected impact point covers a three-hundred-meter radius around the Polaris."

"Phalanx CIWS." Lu Chen looked at Zhao Tiezhu.

"Automatically activated," Zhao Tiezhu stared at the status panel of the close-in defense system. "All four Phalanx CIWS have switched to interception mode, target allocation complete."

Three seconds later.

The Phalanx CIWS turrets at the four corners of the Polaris opened fire simultaneously.

That sound was completely different from the Railway Gun.

It was a sharp hiss that tore through the air, four tongues of fire erupted from the four corners of the city wall, and a high-speed barrage of dozens of rounds per second wove an impenetrable net of fire above the Polaris.

The signal sources of the incoming shells on the panel disappeared one after another.

Interception successful. Interception successful. Interception successful.

Continuous prompts scrolled by like a screen refresh.

Within ten seconds, the first wave of forty-seven incoming shells were all intercepted by the Phalanx CIWS, with none slipping through.

Phalanx CIWS interception reserve: two thousand nine hundred and fifty-three times.

Forty-seven consumed.

"All intercepted." Zhao Tiezhu's voice carried a hint of ruthlessness.

Loading countdown reached zero.

"Loading complete."

"Fire."

The second dull thunderous sound rang out from the vehicle roof.

The projectile tore through the air at an initial velocity of two thousand four hundred meters per second, heading straight for the second Lv.4, seven point one kilometers away.

Three seconds.

Hit confirmed.

"Second Lv.4 hit," Cheng Zheng's voice carried an excited tremor. "Frontal armor penetrated, fire inside, target made an emergency stop, large-scale explosion and fire on the starboard side."

Two shots.

Two Lv.4s.

All paralyzed.

"City Lord," Zhou Yuan turned around from the panel. "Both Lv.4s of the Iron Hoof Vanguard are completely wrecked; it's been less than two minutes since we opened fire."

Lu Chen didn't reply.

He was looking at the remaining six Lv.3 light spots on the panel.

They were spreading out, slowing down, hesitating.

Having lost the firepower core of the two Lv.4s, the six Lv.3 fortresses were like scattered soldiers who had lost their backbone.

"Second wave of shells incoming," Zhou Yuan reported the numbers. "Thirty-two rounds, from the three Lv.3 fortresses in the direction of north-northeast."

"Phalanx CIWS interception."

The four turrets opened fire again.

Within ten seconds, all thirty-two rounds were intercepted.

Phalanx CIWS reserve: two thousand nine hundred and twenty-one.

"Cheng Zheng," Lu Chen pressed the communication button. "The coordinates have been fed for two rounds, your three Lv.3 fortresses can open fire."

"Received," Cheng Zheng replied crisply. "Iron Spear, Starbreaker, Lava, target allocation complete, fire."

Five kilometers to the south, the three Lv.3 fortresses of the Dawn Vanguard Formation opened fire simultaneously.

The trajectory of the shells could not be seen on the panel, but dense small explosion signals could be seen appearing around the six Lv.3 light spots to the north.

Cheng Zheng's three Lv.3 fortresses were using their one hundred eighty-millimeter main guns to conduct long-range suppression on the Iron Hoof Vanguard.

"The Iron Hoof Vanguard is being caught in a pincer attack," Zhou Yuan analyzed the situation. "To the north is our Railway Gun picking them off, and to the south is the suppression from Cheng Zheng's three Lv.3 fortresses; the six Lv.3 fortresses are caught in the middle."

"What will they do?" Lin Wan asked.

"Two choices," Lu Chen stared at the panel. "Continue charging, or retreat."

On the panel, the six Lv.3 light spots showed a clear divergence.

Three continued to push forward, accelerating to over twenty kilometers per hour.

The other three started to slow down, their paths deviating.

"Three charging, three retreating," Zhou Yuan interpreted.

"What is the distance of the three that are charging?"

"The closest is five point eight kilometers, accelerating and closing in."

Five point eight kilometers.

For a Railway Gun hitting a target at five point eight kilometers, the projectile flight time is less than two point five seconds.

"The leading one." Lu Chen ordered.

The loading countdown had reached zero.

"Target locked, fire." Zhao Tiezhu pressed the trigger button.

The third dull thunderous sound.

Two point four seconds later.

Hit confirmed.

"Target disintegrated," Cheng Zheng's voice couldn't suppress the excitement. "After the Lv.3 target was penetrated by one shot, its internal ammunition detonated, and the entire city broke into two pieces from the middle."

One shot.

One lv.3 fortress.

Directly broken into two pieces.

"Fourth shot loading," Zhao Tiezhu reported the status. "Fifty-two seconds."

"No need." Lu Chen stared at the panel.

The remaining two Lv.3 fortresses that were charging saw the one in front broken into two pieces, and their speed dropped significantly.

Then they started to turn around.

All turned around.

All six Lv.3 fortresses, regardless of whether they were charging or retreating before, were now all running north.

"The Iron Hoof Vanguard is retreating across the board." Zhou Yuan confirmed.

Lu Chen leaned back in his chair.

From the first Railway Gun shot until now, a total of three shots.

It took less than four minutes.

The result: two Lv.4s paralyzed, one lv.3 fortress destroyed, five Lv.3 fortresses routed.

The Iron Hoof Vanguard Formation, collapsed.