79: Chapter 79 Flanking Maneuver in the Buffer Zone! The First Wave of Crushing Attack Begins

Polaris advanced forty kilometers to the northeast in the grey morning light. Lu Chen did not take a straight path.

He took a wide arc, cutting into the buffer zone from the due east direction, avoiding the axis where iron wall was in a direct standoff with the Icebreaker Swarm.

A new frequency was connected to the communicator. It was the command frequency of iron wall.

"Battalion Commander Zhao, this is Lu Chen of Polaris."

A middle-aged man's voice came through the communicator, his throat rough and hoarse.

"City Lord Lu Chen, the City Lord has already spoken to me."

"What is the current position of the Icebreaker Swarm?"

"Five kilometers east of my front, twenty-three vehicles divided into five groups, scattered across a fifteen-kilometer fan-shaped area from my three o'clock to five o'clock position."

"How are the vehicles distributed among the five groups?"

"The largest group has seven vehicles in the front; it's likely the command group of the Icebreaker Swarm." Zhao Tiezhu paused. "The other four groups have three to four vehicles each, scattered on the periphery."

"What about the snowmobiles?"

"They are all scattered out, everywhere within a thirty-kilometer radius, at least fifteen of them."

"What are they doing?"

"Scouting. A few have already approached my patrol line."

"Did you engage them?"

"No, my orders are to defend the position."

Conservative. Just as Zhou Yuan said.

"Battalion Commander Zhao, I will cut in from the east side and clear the peripheral groups one by one."

"What do you need me to do?"

"For that command group of seven vehicles in the front, use your artillery to pin them down. Don't let them scatter to the periphery."

"Can you do it?"

"I can." Zhao Tiezhu's voice was crisp and decisive. "Five kilometers to the front, 105mm artillery for pinpoint suppression; that's my specialty."

"Good." Lu Chen tapped his finger on the steering wheel.

"Additionally, if the Grey Bee snowmobiles spot me, they will report to the command group."

"Before that happens, I need your patrol vehicles to help me clear the snowmobiles on the eastern sector."

"How many?"

"How many patrol vehicles do you have on your east side?"

"Three."

"That's enough. Have them clear the snowmobiles within five kilometers in front of me and pave the way."

"Understood."

The communication cut off.

Lu Chen increased the speed to forty kilometers per hour.

The searchlights were turned off, and the engine switched to low-noise mode.

Greyish-white light had already appeared on the horizon, and the rust-colored dust mist became thin in the morning light.

He scanned the terrain ahead through the periscope. The terrain of the eastern buffer zone of the Rustwind Wasteland was more open than the north side, with few scattered relics of the pre-civilization era and good visibility.

This was disadvantageous for the skirmish tactics of the Icebreaker Swarm due to the lack of cover.

But for the long-range firepower of Polaris, it was a perfect shooting range.

Twelve kilometers ahead, three small black dots appeared in the periscope.

They were moving at high speed—snowmobiles. Zhao Tiezhu's three patrol vehicles had already begun clearing the way ahead.

Short bursts of gunfire and the screeching of snowmobile engines came through the communicator.

Three minutes later, Zhao Tiezhu's voice came through.

"Two snowmobiles on the east side have been destroyed, the third is fleeing north."

"Should I pursue?"

"Pursue."

"Understood."

The communication cut off.

Lu Chen continued to advance.

Five kilometers later, the target appeared in his periscope.

The first peripheral group of the Icebreaker Swarm.

Four Lv.2 combat vehicles, arranged in a diamond formation, were moving slowly westward.

The straight-line distance to Polaris was two kilometers.

They had not discovered him. The City Lord slowed the vehicle to twenty kilometers per hour and circled behind the skeleton of a collapsed pre-civilization power transmission tower.

The distance shortened to 1.5 kilometers.

One kilometer.

Five hundred meters.

He stopped the vehicle.

"System, load the Fragmentation Grenade Launcher Array."

[Fragmentation Grenade Launcher Array: 50 Truth Points consumed, ammunition generating.]

Three seconds.

[Loading complete. Six tubes on each side, a total of 12 fragmentation grenades ready.]

First wave of strikes.

He pulled the trigger. Poof, poof, poof, poof, poof, poof!

Twelve orange-red exhaust flames drew arcs in the morning light. The fragmentation grenades detonated at a fixed height above the diamond formation five hundred meters away. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

A rain of metal fragments descended from the sky.

The roof armor of the four combat vehicles was covered by fragments, and the observation equipment and antennas were smashed to pieces.

Blinding complete.

Lu Chen pushed the speed to fifty, activated the supercharger, and Polaris lunged forward.

Three hundred meters.

The Heavy Machine Gun opened fire.

Chi, chi, chi, chi, chi, chi, chi, chi, chi, chi!

A twenty-round burst aimed at the track drive wheel of the nearest vehicle.

Sparks flew, the drive shaft snapped, and the track fell off.

The first one was paralyzed.

Two hundred meters.

The turret of the second vehicle was rotating in a panic. The direction was right, but it was too slow.

Lu Chen did not give it a chance to fire.

The Heavy Machine Gun switched targets, and a thirty-round burst hit the turret rotation mechanism of the second vehicle.

Three gears were shattered, and the turret jammed.

One hundred and fifty meters.

The third vehicle finally reacted and charged at full speed with its nose facing the direction of Polaris.

Lu Chen aimed the Homogeneous Manganese Steel Ramming Horn at it.

The two vehicles collided head-on at a distance of eighty meters.

A deafening crash rang out!

The Homogeneous Manganese Steel Ramming Horn smashed into the opponent's front armor, distorting the entire front left section.

The opponent's vehicle body was knocked sideways by three meters. Lu Chen released the steering wheel and switched his hands to the Steam Spray Gun.

The left nozzle opened with a hiss.

Two-hundred-degree steam poured into the breach of the opponent's smashed front.

Two seconds later, the noise inside the vehicle stopped.

The third one was destroyed.

The fourth vehicle tried to escape, but Lu Chen used the mechanical arm to tear off its exhaust pipe.

The engine stalled.

Four vehicles, three minutes and forty seconds.

Half as fast as the previous five vanguard vehicles.

Because the Icebreaker Swarm's vehicles were not in a circular defensive formation; they were in a march formation, so their reaction speed was slower.

Lu Chen extended the mechanical arm and began to degrade the wreckage.

"System, perform high-dimensional degradation on all four vehicles."

Blue light lit up.

The four combat vehicles disappeared one by one within thirty seconds.

[Lv.2 combat vehicle wreckage x 4, conversion obtained: 847 Truth Points.]

Ammunition consumption recouped. One round of fragmentation grenades is 50 points, fifty rounds of Heavy Machine Gun ammunition is equivalent to 5 points, and the harpoon was not consumed.

Net income calculated at 792 points.

Current balance rose from 3404 to 4196.

Lu Chen turned the vehicle's head toward the direction of the next target.

The communicator rang; it was Zhao Tiezhu's voice.

"City Lord Lu Chen, there is movement from the command group in the front."

"What kind of movement?"

"The seven-vehicle formation has shifted from defensive to alert, and the turrets of two vehicles are rotating and scanning."

"They have discovered movement on the east side."

"Should I open fire to suppress them now?"

"Fire."

"Understood."

Five seconds after the communication cut off, artillery fire came from afar.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The 105mm main gun of iron wall fired three shots in a volley, and the shells landed on the ice two hundred meters in front of the Icebreaker Swarm's command group.

Three craters were steaming in the morning light.

This move was not intended to hit the target.

It was a warning.

Telling Grey Bee: You have ten 105mm cannons staring at you from the front, don't move recklessly.

The seven-vehicle formation stopped. Lu Chen nodded.

Zhao Tiezhu could hold the front.

He could rest assured and go eat the periphery.

Polaris turned north-northeast and drove toward the second peripheral group of the Icebreaker Swarm.