95: Chapter 95 Two Lv.4 Cannons Clash Head-on! One Hundred and Twenty Cannons Fire Simultaneously

The firelight from the walls of the Black Rock City-State illuminated the entire southwestern sky in a dark orange hue.

One hundred and twenty fixed gun emplacements completed their first round of volley fire in the same second.

Twelve 180mm triple-barreled main guns fired first, as thirty-six heavy armor-piercing shells streaked across the twilight sky, trailing tails of fire.

Forty-eight medium-caliber rapid-fire guns followed closely behind, their dense shells forming a barrage in the air.

Sixty small-caliber anti-aircraft guns lowered their muzzles to the minimum elevation, aiming at the ice toward the horizon to conduct a barrage blockade.

The sounds of the one hundred and twenty cannons layered together, forming a deafening metallic thunder that made the steel-plated ground of the docking area vibrate.

The chassis of the Polaris trembled along with it, and ripples spread across the surface of the nutrient solution on the hydroponic racks inside the vehicle.

“City Lord, this noise is ten times louder than when we fought the Ice-Rift Swarm.”

Lin Wan squatted in a corner of the planting area, her hands gripping the load-bearing pillar of a hydroponic rack.

“That was a salvo of one hundred and twenty cannons.”

“Are we going out?”

“Wait a moment.”

Lu Chen stared at the radar screen.

The green scanning line completed a rotation, and the light dots on the screen updated.

Beyond the three-kilometer precision calibration range, giant heat sources of Lv.3 and Lv.4 rank hung on the edge of the screen as crude clusters of light; the signals were rough, but the bearings were readable.

The light cluster for the Ice Thorn Lv.4 Main City was twenty-five kilometers away from the Black Rock City-State and was accelerating.

The lv.3 fortress light cluster on the north side had shifted three kilometers further north and was circling around.

The lv.3 fortress light cluster on the south side had shifted two kilometers further south and was circling around.

A standard pincer maneuver.

The same tactic the White Bone Ice-Rift Swarm used.

Ice Thorn would push forward to draw fire, while the two Lv.3s circled from the flanks to the sides and rear of The City-State.

The communicator switched to Lin Xiao's frequency.

“City Lord Lin Xiao, the two Lv.3s are circling.”

“I see them.”

Lin Xiao's voice was half-drowned out by the sound of cannons in the background.

“The one to the north is moving fast, while the one to the south is a bit slower.”

“Your radar can see their precise locations?”

“Lv.3 heat sources are massive; I can catch a rough signal even beyond the calibration range. The northern one is fifteen degrees north-northwest of The City-State, twenty-two kilometers away, traveling at fifteen kilometers per hour. The southern one is twenty degrees south-southwest of The City-State, twenty-three kilometers away, traveling at twelve kilometers per hour.”

“These coordinates of yours are more accurate than my radar.”

His voice was raspy.

“My radar still can't see the signal of the Ice Thorn main city; I can only rely on visual positioning from the wall observation posts.”

“But you can see the coordinates I give you.”

“I'll report the coordinates, you mark the map, and let Zhou Yuan correct the firing parameters.”

“Good! Zhou Yuan!”

Lin Xiao shouted into the communicator, and Zhou Yuan's voice cut in from the background.

“City Lord Lu Chen, I've received the coordinates and am marking the map.”

“Ice Thorn main city is dead ahead, twenty-five kilometers away, speed increased to seventeen, azimuth five degrees south-southwest.”

“Received.”

Zhou Yuan's voice was very tense.

“Horton, correct the main gun azimuth: five degrees south-southwest, distance twenty-five thousand, lower elevation by two notches.”

The low mechanical sound of gun mounts rotating on the wall came from the distance. The second salvo.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!

The second salvo of the one hundred and twenty cannons rang out punctually after a fifteen-second reload interval; the light tubes in the docking area flickered for a moment in the vibration.

“Hit status?” Lu Chen asked.

“Wait a moment.”

Lin Xiao was waiting for the report from the observation posts.

Five seconds later, his voice came back.

“From the first salvo of thirty-six 180mm main gun shells, the observation post reports at least four open fires and two areas of deformation on the front wall of the Ice Thorn main city.”

“Did they penetrate?”

“Penetration unconfirmed. The four fires were extinguished within ten seconds.”

“Firefighting speed is very fast.”

“Yes, his walls are no thinner than mine.”

Lv.4 against Lv.4, two Mobile Cities of comparable scale were in a head-on duel.

One hundred and twenty cannons against one hundred and eighty; Ice Thorn had the advantage in fire density, but the Black Rock City-State had the defensive bonus of its walls.

In a head-on war of attrition, the Black Rock City-State wouldn't lose out; the problem was the flanks.

“Has the Ice Thorn main city returned fire?”

“Yes.”

Lin Xiao's voice dropped.

“His first round of shelling hit back just three seconds after our salvo—a volley of one hundred and eighty cannons.”

“Hit status?”

“Over a dozen craters were blasted into the outer armor of the southwestern wall; two of the 180mm shells penetrated the outer armor and are lodged in the second layer of reinforcement ribs.”

“Two penetrations?”

“They pierced the outer layer but not the second, though three reinforcement ribs on the second layer are deformed.”

Lu Chen ran the numbers in his head.

A salvo of one hundred and eighty cannons with two penetrations of the outer layer meant a penetration rate of less than two percent.

The Lv.4 wall defense was sufficient at this distance, but if Ice Thorn continued to advance to within ten kilometers, the penetration rate would increase exponentially.

“I'll keep reporting the positions of the two Lv.3s to you.”

“Good, I'll have Zhou Yuan open a dedicated frequency to receive your coordinates.”

“There's one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“I'm going out.”

There was a beat of silence on the other end of the communicator.

“Brother Lu Chen, you just got back.”

“I know.”

“Your Ray Cannon is out of power, isn't it?”

“Out of power.”

“What about ammunition?”

“The Heavy Machine Guns need replenishing, the harpoons need recasting, and the fragmentation grenades need loading.”

“Then what are you going out to fight with?”

“Ammunition isn't the main force.”

Lu Chen placed his hands on the ram control panel and the mechanical arm joystick.

“It's all down to the ram and the mechanical arms.”

“Using a ram and mechanical arms against Lv.3 walls?”

“lv.3 fortress-class walls aren't as thick as Lv.4. If its armor plates are the same grade as the iron wall's, my ram can pry open the weld seams at the joints.”

“Are you crazy?”

“City Lord Lin Xiao, all one hundred and twenty of your cannons are currently suppressed in a head-on duel with the Ice Thorn main city. If those two Lv.3 fortresses press in from the flanks, you'll have to split your fire.”

“If I split the fire, the frontal firepower won't be enough.”

“If Ice Thorn advances to within ten kilometers, with a fire density of one hundred and eighty cannons, your walls won't last half an hour.”

The other end of the communicator was silent.

“So someone must go and block the two Lv.3s.”

“The iron wall is still on its way.”

“The iron wall travels at twenty-five kilometers per hour; it'll take two hours to arrive.”

Lu Chen's speaking pace was steady, devoid of any urgency regarding the war.

“Whether the walls of the Black Rock City-State are still standing in two hours depends on whether those two Lv.3s can be held back during that time.”

“You, in a single Lv.2, are going to block two Lv.3s?”

“I'll block one.”

“What about the other one?”

“Your Patrol Cars will block it.”

“Patrol Cars fighting a Lv.3?”

“It's harassment. Seventeen Patrol Cars scattered along the Lv.3's path of advance, taking turns to hit and run to delay its progress.”

“Delay it for how long?”

“Until the iron wall arrives.”

The sound of Lin Xiao clenching his fist tightly came through the communicator.

“Brother Lu Chen, that Lv.3 you mentioned—is it the one to the north or the one to the south?”

“The northern one. It's moving fast; if left unchecked, it can circle to The City-State's northern wall within thirty minutes.”

“The density of gun emplacements on the northern wall is only half that of the southwestern side.”

“So it must be stopped before it reaches the northern wall.”

Lu Chen pushed the engine throttle from idle to low gear, and the diesel engine and boiler woke up simultaneously.

“Lin Wan, sit tight.”

“Going out again?”

“Yes.”

“You haven't even been back for ten minutes.”

“The Cabbage and stewed meat will have to wait.”

Lin Wan was silent for two seconds.

“Okay, I'll wait for your return.”

The Polaris's heavy tracks ground over the steel-plated floor of the docking area, heading toward the armored gates.

Overhead, the Black Rock City-State's third salvo roared above the steel dome, the howl of one hundred and twenty cannons turning every steel plate in the entire City-State into a vibrating body.

The moment the Polaris burst out of the armored gates, he saw the scene on the southwestern horizon.

Two Lv.4 Mobile Cities were in a duel; the walls of the Black Rock City-State were a continuous line of fire, and the muzzle flashes of one hundred and twenty cannons lined up like a river of stars in the twilight.

Over twenty kilometers away, the silhouette of the Ice Thorn Lv.4 main city was dimly discernible under the illumination of the gunfire—a cold white band of light of equal width to the Black Rock City-State, from which a row of fireballs erupted every second.

The return fire from the one hundred and eighty cannons formed a dense barrage in the air, the airspace between the two giant steel cities filled with the intersecting flares of flying shells.

Lu Chen turned the steering wheel due north; he wasn't going to the front, but to the northern flank.

On the radar screen, the light cluster of the northern lv.3 fortress was moving toward the north side of The City-State at fifteen kilometers per hour; it was eighteen kilometers from the Polaris, which at a cruising speed of sixty, meant eighteen minutes.

“System, replenish Heavy Machine Gun ammunition to full.”

[Consumed 50 Truth Points. Heavy Machine Gun ammunition: 500/500. Current balance: 990 points.]

“System, recast four armor-piercing explosive harpoons.”

[Consumed 40 Truth Points. Harpoon Cannon: 4/4. Current balance: 950 points.]

“System, load two rounds of fragmentation grenades.”

[Consumed 100 Truth Points. fragmentation grenades: 24 pre-loaded in two rounds. Current balance: 850 points.]

Eight hundred and fifty points.

If he could decompose the wreckage of a Lv.3 after this battle, the income would be at least two thousand or more.

Spending eight hundred and fifty to earn two thousand—the math checked out.

The Polaris crushed onto the ice fields on the north side of the Black Rock City-State at a speed of sixty kilometers per hour.

The light dot on the radar screen pulsed steadily; sixteen kilometers ahead, the heat signal of that lv.3 fortress was a level brighter than even the iron wall's.

It was coming.