77: Chapter 77: Back to the city late at night for four hours of sleep! The Ice Shards are on their way.

Polaris drove back to the Black Rock City-State parking area at two in the morning.

The moment the engine switched to idle, Lu Chen leaned his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes for a few seconds to organize his thoughts.

The Icebreaker Swarm, with over twenty combat vehicles and two thousand people, is expected to reach the forward position in six to eight hours.

That is to say, between eight and ten in the morning after daybreak, the Icebreaker Swarm will arrive near those two cooling towers.

But he had already completely digested the five forward vehicles; after the Icebreaker Swarm arrives, they will find that the vanguard has vanished.

What will Grey Bee's reaction be?

The file says that he acts extremely covertly.

When someone like that discovers the entire vanguard has been wiped out, their first reaction will only be to disperse, reconnoiter, and figure out what happened.

This means that the Icebreaker Swarm will not launch an attack immediately after daybreak.

They will spend time reconnoitering.

The window period for reconnaissance is half a day, or perhaps a full day.

But no matter how long it takes, the Ice-Rift Swarm's White Bone is coming up from behind.

The window period before the two swarms merge is the best opportunity for Lu Chen to sustain the fight through the fight itself.

"City-State Lord, the diesel has reached 3.2 liters."

Lin Wan's voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Mm."

He opened his eyes and glanced at the holographic panel.

[Current Truth Points balance: 3404 points.]

[Heavy Machine Gun ammunition: 500/500 rounds.]

[Harpoon Cannon reserve ammo: 4/4.]

[Ray Cannon power storage: 70%, can fire 2 shots. Expected to be full in 2 hours.]

Lu Chen put the panel away, stood up, and walked over to the planting area to take a look.

Lin Wan was squatting on the top layer of the hydroponic rack, gently poking the nutrient substrate next to a watermelon seed with a thin cotton swab.

"Has the sprout point come out?"

"It has!" Lin Wan turned her head, the tension on her face fading, replaced by excitement. "The second watermelon seed, the sprout point has just broken through the seed coat, revealing a small white tip."

"What about the strawberries?"

"There's no movement from the strawberries yet; they are slower than the watermelon."

"Mm."

"City-State Lord, the root system of the fourth crop of Chinese cabbage is growing very well; I expect to be able to pick the first batch of leaves tomorrow afternoon."

"Tomorrow afternoon."

Lu Chen repeated.

Tomorrow afternoon, the Icebreaker Swarm arrives at the front line, and the Chinese cabbage matures.

Two things have converged.

"Alright, you just take care of your vegetables, don't think about anything else."

"Okay."

He walked back to the driver's seat and sat down.

The communicator lit up; it was Zhou Yuan's frequency.

"City-State Lord Lu Chen, iron wall has arrived at the preset position."

"Received."

"Fifty kilometers to the northeast, iron wall has completed parking and deployed its artillery."

"Is there any update on the position of the Icebreaker Swarm?"

"Latest data: the thermal signal distance has shortened to one hundred kilometers, and their marching speed is stable."

"Estimated arrival time?"

"Between eight and nine in the morning."

"There are still six to seven hours left."

"Yes."

"Chief of Staff Zhou, there is one thing I need to confirm."

"Please go ahead."

"Who is The City-State Lord of iron wall?"

"iron wall does not have an independent City-State Lord; it is directly commanded by The City-State's Staff Department, and the field commander is a battalion commander."

"The battalion commander's name?"

"Zhao Tiezhu."

"Zhao Tiezhu." Lu Chen repeated the name. "Has he fought any tough battles?"

"He has." Zhou Yuan answered very firmly. "In a probing attack by the Snow Shard Gang a year ago, Zhao Tiezhu commanded iron wall and five patrol vehicles to fight independently in the buffer zone for four hours, repelling the charge of twelve enemy combat vehicles."

"What about casualties?"

"iron wall was hit twenty-three times with no structural damage; two patrol vehicles were destroyed, and seven infantrymen were killed in action."

"And the enemy?"

"The enemy lost four combat vehicles, and the rest retreated."

"Only destroyed four vehicles after four hours of firing with ten 105mm cannons?"

Zhou Yuan was silent for a second.

"Zhao Tiezhu's command style is conservative, focusing primarily on defense."

"Understood."

Lu Chen put down the communicator.

A conservative commander; he can hold the line, but he can't wipe them out.

If the Icebreaker Swarm arrives and faces off with iron wall in the buffer zone, the result will likely be both sides probing each other; the Icebreaker Swarm will disperse to harass, while iron wall stays hunkered down at its position firing artillery. They could fight for hours and neither would be able to wipe out the other.

Then White Bone's Ice-Rift Swarm will arrive.

Thirty combat vehicles plus 105mm howitzers, pressing forward with a frontal assault.

iron wall won't be able to stop them.

Therefore, before the Ice-Rift Swarm arrives, the Icebreaker Swarm must be heavily damaged.

It doesn't need to be completely annihilated; just destroy more than half of the combat vehicles, make Grey Bee lose the ability to attack, and force them to shrink back and wait for White Bone.

This way, after the Ice-Rift Swarm arrives, it will face a combined defensive line of an already weakened Icebreaker Swarm and iron wall, definitely not the crushing force of two full-strength swarms.

Lu Chen picked up his thermos and took a sip of water.

He needed to get some sleep.

Four hours; four hours later, the Ray Cannon will definitely be fully charged, and then he will set off.

"Lin Wan, I'm sleeping for four hours; wake me up at six."

"Okay."

"No matter what happens before six, as long as the vehicle hasn't been flipped over by someone, don't wake me up."

"...Okay."

Lu Chen reclined the driver's seat and closed his eyes.

Three seconds later, his breathing became even.

He was asleep.

In the planting area, Lin Wan sat in front of the hydroponic rack, staring at the watermelon seed that had just sprouted, lost in thought for quite a while.

She picked up the communicator and switched it to Lin Xiao's private frequency.

"Brother?"

"Xiao Wan, what's wrong?"

"The City-State Lord is asleep."

"It's good that he's asleep; let him get some good rest."

"Brother, City-State Lord Lu Chen just went out and fought five Snow Shard Gang vehicles."

"I know, eight minutes."

"The last vehicle was cut in half by him using a beam of red light."

There was silence on the other end of the communicator for several seconds.

"What kind of light?"

"Red, very bright, shot out from that turret behind the roof of the vehicle."

"How bright?"

"Even through the armor plating and the thermal insulation layer, I could see the red light reflecting on the walls of the cabin."

There was silence on Lin Xiao's side again.

"Xiao Wan."

"What is it, Brother?"

"With you following this person, Brother is relieved."

"Mm."

"Take good care of him, don't let him go hungry."

"I know."

The communicator disconnected.

The parking area was quiet.

The engine of Polaris was idling, and the flames of the boiler flickered with an orange light in the furnace window.

Outside the cabin, the steel dome of the Black Rock City-State silently enveloped everything.

From the distance came the sound of metal clashing at the artillery positions; that was the ammunition loaders for the one hundred and twenty cannons conducting their final loading checks.

The first half of the storm had ended.

The second half was still on the way.