86: Chapter 86 Forty Vehicles on the Horizon! Skeletons Charge at Full Speed

The black squares on the horizon were rapidly growing larger.

Lu Chen counted them one by one through the periscope sight.

Left column: sixteen vehicles.

Right column: fifteen vehicles.

Three heavy transport trucks at the rear, twice the size of an ordinary Lv.2 tank, with heavy gun mounts welded onto their wide, flat bodies.

Behind them were seven or eight armed snowmobiles, darting around at the tail of the columns.

A total of forty tanks plus three transport trucks and the snowmobiles.

If all that metal were degraded, it would yield eight thousand Truth Points.

Zhao Tiezhu's voice came through the communicator.

"Visual confirmation, twelve kilometers northeast, the main column of the Ice-Rift Swarm."

"Has the formation changed?"

"The columns are starting to spread out, changing from three rows into two sectors."

Lu Chen's gaze tightened.

Two sectors.

A pincer movement.

Twenty to twenty-five vehicles in the frontal pincer, fifteen to twenty in the flank.

"The heading of the frontal sector?"

"Pointing straight at the iron wall."

"And the flank?"

"Veering north, circling around the iron wall's right flank."

A standard pincer tactic. White Bone was playing it exactly by the book.

"Battalion Commander Zhao, don't worry about the flank sector. Aim all your guns at the front."

"You're taking the flank?"

"I'll take the flank. But first, I'm circling around to the back to hit the transport trucks."

"How far are the transport trucks from the battlefield?"

"Based on the current formation, the transport trucks are two kilometers behind the main force."

Zhao Tiezhu's gravelly voice dropped lower.

"How long will it take you to get behind them?"

Lu Chen did the math in his head. Circling east in a wide arc from his current position, then cutting northeast to the rear of the Ice-Rift Swarm's tail was a distance of fifteen kilometers. The Polaris's current cruising speed was sixty kilometers per hour.

"Fifteen minutes."

"How long until the Ice-Rift Swarm is within range of the iron wall?"

"At twenty-five kilometers per hour over twelve kilometers, twenty-eight minutes."

"There's time."

"City Lord Lu Chen, there's one problem."

"What is it?"

"While you're circling back to hit the transports, those twenty-plus vehicles in front will be charging. My ten 105s can fire, but they can't stop them all."

"You don't need to stop them all." Lu Chen's fingers rested on the edge of the Ray Cannon's control panel, his speaking pace steady.

"Your 105s hit the front row, one vehicle per shot. A volley from ten guns can disable ten vehicles simultaneously. How many seconds does it take to reload after the first volley?"

"The reload cycle for the 105mm cannon is fifteen seconds."

"A second volley fifteen seconds later takes out another ten."

"Twenty vehicles in two volleys?" Zhao Tiezhu's tone was strained. "City Lord Lu Chen, the hit rate of a 105 against a moving Lv.2 tank isn't a hundred percent. Sixty percent would be lucky."

"With a sixty percent hit rate, twenty rounds in two volleys means twelve hits, taking out eight to ten vehicles."

"Correct."

"The remaining dozen or so will charge right up to you. Have your patrol cars pin them down on the flanks. You don't need to destroy them, just hold them for three to five minutes."

"You can finish off the transport trucks in three to five minutes?"

"Three shots from the Ray Cannon, two seconds per vehicle. Including repositioning time, three minutes."

Zhao Tiezhu paused for several seconds.

"I've never seen this kind of tactic in my life."

"There weren't Ray Cannons before."

"Fine." Zhao Tiezhu spat out the word. "I'll hold the front. You go for the transport trucks."

"Are those three patrol cars on the east wing ready?"

"Ready and waiting for your signal."

"The signal is when I start my engine and move out."

" clear."

The communicator switched to Lin Xiao's frequency.

"City Lord Lin Xiao, visual confirmation on the Ice-Rift Swarm. Forty vehicles plus three transport trucks, deploying in a pincer formation."

"I see Zhou Yuan's real-time data." Lin Xiao had dropped his usual boisterous laughter. "White Bone has come in person."

"I'll hit the transports first, then cut into the flank."

"With the Ray Cannon?"

"Three shots will be enough."

"After those transport trucks are gone, those six guns will be useless."

"Correct."

"And after that?"

"After that, I'll tear into the charging formation from the rear."

"Into the middle of forty vehicles?"

"A sweep with fragmentation grenades, a cleanup with the Heavy Machine Gun, and a crush with the ram."

Lin Xiao's heavy breathing could be heard on the other end of the communicator.

"Brother Lu Chen, I believe in you."

Lin Xiao paused for a beat.

"Black Rock City-State's hundred and twenty guns are on standby in the core zone. If things go wrong, retreat within the thirty-kilometer line. My 180mm main gun can reach that far."

"Understood."

"Take care."

The communication cut off.

Lu Chen placed both hands on the steering wheel.

In the periscope sight, the Ice-Rift Swarm's two sector formations had fully deployed and were grinding forward at twenty-five kilometers per hour.

The engine exhaust from the front-row tanks trailed white steam against the grayish-white horizon.

Those blood-red skull insignias were visible in the dim evening light.

Ten kilometers to go.

"Lin Wan, are you buckled in?"

"I am."

"It's going to be bumpier than this morning."

"I'm holding onto the support rod."

"Good."

Lu Chen pushed the engine control lever to the low gear.

The diesel engine and boiler powered up simultaneously, and the Polaris surged forward.

He turned the steering wheel due east.

He wasn't going head-on.

He was circling around.

The Polaris carved a wide arc eastward at sixty kilometers per hour, creating an angle with the Ice-Rift Swarm's axis of advance.

Three Lv.2 patrol cars detached from the iron wall's eastern flank, following a kilometer behind the Polaris.

Zhao Tiezhu's voice crackled over the communicator.

"Countdown to frontal engagement: six minutes."

Lu Chen didn't reply.

His attention was entirely focused on the periscope sight. His gaze pierced through the Ice-Rift Swarm's frontal charging formation, locking onto the three cumbersome transport trucks at the very rear.

Atop the three heavy transport trucks, the barrels of six 105mm howitzers were rising.

They were preparing to open fire.

The first sound of gunfire came from the direction of the iron wall.

Bang!

That was Zhao Tiezhu's 105mm main gun.

The first shell exploded on the ice two hundred meters in front of the Ice-Rift Swarm's frontal charging column, kicking up a cloud of ice shards and dust.

A warning shot.

Then came the second shot, and the third.

Bang! Bang!

The iron wall's ten guns didn't fire in unison; Zhao Tiezhu was using a single gun to range the targets.

At the apex of the arc, Lu Chen forcefully turned the steering wheel northeast.

The Polaris's new tread suction array demonstrated formidable stability during the sharp turn.

Even during a fifteen-degree sharp turn at sixty kilometers per hour, the vehicle remained perfectly steady without any side-slipping.

The tracks bit firmly into the ice.

He drove straight toward the rear of the Ice-Rift Swarm's column.

Distance to the transport trucks: three kilometers.

The Ray Cannon's effective lethality range was within two hundred meters.

He needed to get closer.

In the distance, the Ice-Rift Swarm's frontal charging formation showed no sign of slowing down after the iron wall's warning shots.

White Bone's response was to have all thirty-seven tanks rev their engines to full power simultaneously.

The white steam billowing from the exhaust pipes doubled in density.

The charging speed surged from twenty-five kilometers per hour to forty.

Full speed.

No slowing down.

Zhao Tiezhu's voice came through the communicator.

"White Bone has accelerated. All tanks are charging at full speed."

"Stick to the plan."

"Frontal volley in preparation."

Lu Chen focused his attention back on the targets in front of him.

The transport truck group was still two kilometers from the Polaris.

The three transport trucks noticed a vehicle approaching from the east.

The 105mm howitzer on the nearest transport truck began to rotate.

The barrel pivoted, swinging toward the Polaris.

Lu Chen's right hand moved from the steering wheel to the Ray Cannon's control panel.

Charge indicator: 100%.

Shots available: 3.

Distance to transport trucks: 1.5 kilometers.

Still not enough.

He slapped down the supercharger switch.

Diesel engine, boiler, and supercharger—triple power combined.

The Polaris let out a roar, its speed soaring from sixty straight to eighty-five kilometers per hour.

The ice fragments and rusty debris in its path were ground to pulp by the heavy tracks, splashing over two meters high.

One kilometer.

Five hundred meters.

The 105mm gun on the transport truck to the front-right completed its rotation.

The barrel was aimed right at the Polaris.

Bang!