117: Battle of Old Street (2)

At five in the afternoon, the sky was somewhat gloomy. On a tree-lined path, rows of military trucks were speeding along, filled with fully armed soldiers.

Within the dense forest, warriors also armed to the teeth followed this unit, occasionally sending information about it using their mobile phones.

At the end of the simple road leading to Kangba Town, inside a temporary headquarters.

Xin Yang looked at the information sent back by the Death Warriors monitoring the Four Great Families, a smile appearing on his face.

He then asked, "How is the preparation of the artillery positions?"

A Death Warrior beside him quickly replied, "Minister, the artillery positions are ready and can provide fire suppression at any time."

"Hmm, what about the Self-destruct Robot and Self-destruct Drone units?"

"They are also prepared to launch an attack."

"As long as they're ready. This is all new equipment; don't let me down at the critical moment," Xin Yang replied seriously.

"Yes!"

It was about sixty to seventy kilometers from Old Street to Kangba Town. Therefore, the private forces of the Four Great Families moved extremely fast in their military trucks. In about twenty minutes, they had reached the territory of Kangba Town. Moving forward another three or four kilometers would lead them into the encirclement Xin Yang had meticulously prepared.

At this moment, the temporary commander of this Coalition was still relatively calm. He was a Battalion Commander of the Bai Family's private armed forces and a member of the Bai Family itself. He had fought a few battles when the Bai Family clashed with other forces and was very familiar with the fighting style in Northern Myanmar. It was basically about crushing the enemy with absolute strength. Winning with fewer numbers? That simply didn't exist. On the front lines, with one gun against four or five, winning? Did they think they were Rambo?

According to intelligence, the opponent only had about two to three hundred people and no heavy firepower. His side had over a thousand soldiers and decent heavy firepower, including heavy machine guns and rocket launchers. The strength of the two sides was disproportionate on paper. In his view, there was no possibility of losing this battle.

Northern Myanmar had countless large and small warlords, but a large portion of them were amateur troupes. Their thinking was still immersed in the combat concepts of the last century—human wave tactics. As long as I have more people and more guns, I am stronger. They didn't realize that the world outside had long since changed. Weapons were evolving, and combat concepts had shifted from manned to unmanned. Of course, it might not be that these warlords didn't want to adapt, but simply that they lacked the resources.

The Coalition commander also believed in the old-fashioned way of fighting. He believed that with several times the enemy's manpower and firepower, his side would definitely have the strength to crush them once the fighting started. Therefore, even when an adjutant reminded him to send scouts to investigate first, he refused.

This fool's exact words were: "With several times the enemy's troops, why should I fear an ambush? If they do ambush us, it'll just be the perfect place for their burial."

Soon, the troops marched into the encirclement Xin Yang had set up. Seeing that this unit didn't even send scouts and just kept marching blindly, even the Death Warriors monitoring them were stunned. Just how confident did one have to be to march like this?

Subsequently, the monitoring Death Warriors transmitted the news that the enemy had entered the encirclement to Xin Yang.

Xin Yang smiled at the message and said, "The rats have entered the net. Start catching them immediately!"

"Yes!"

As Xin Yang's order was issued, the artillery positions further away from the headquarters received the command instantly.

A total of twenty US-made M120 Mortars, under the commander's order, were simultaneously loaded with mortar shells and began to open fire fiercely on the pre-positioned target locations.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

A series of cannon blasts rang out, and immediately after, dozens of shells flew toward the marching position of the Four Great Families' Coalition.

On the military trucks of the Four Great Families, a soldier with sharp ears heard strange noises and asked, "Did you guys hear a series of whistling sounds?"

Just as he finished asking, a shell accurately hit the truck. In an instant, the truck turned into a ball of fire, and no one was left to answer the soldier's question.

The Death Warriors' artillery positions were set up to fire in a creeping barrage style. Thus, there was no situation where several cannons hit a single point. The effective killing radius of an M120 Mortar is 35 meters, so once hit directly by a shell, there was basically no chance for the enemy to survive.

In less than a minute, the artillery positions fired a hundred shells, blowing the entire Coalition into chaos and splitting the unit into several small pieces. The surviving Coalition soldiers began to hide everywhere to escape the bombardment.

The Coalition commander, positioned in the middle, was completely stunned when the shelling began. He murmured, "Impossible! How can they have artillery? Didn't the intel say they had no heavy weapons?"

Seeing him in such a pathetic state, the adjutant, though frustrated, grabbed him and pulled him off the truck to hide.

After reaching a slightly safer spot, the Coalition commander regained some clarity and said with a pale face, "Retreat! Have everyone retreat immediately! Our intelligence was wrong; the enemy has heavy firepower."

The adjutant looked at the battlefield after the shelling and realized that such firepower was definitely not something a force of only two or three hundred people could possess. He immediately used his walkie-talkie to contact the commanders of each company and platoon to issue the retreat order.

However, just as the adjutant took out the walkie-talkie and before he could speak, a series of buzzing sounds came from the distant sky, and there were rustling noises on the ground.

The adjutant and the Coalition commander quickly picked up their binoculars to observe. With one look, all color drained from their faces.

"A drone swarm! It's a damn drone swarm! Quickly notify the troops to hide in the forest!" the Coalition commander shouted the next second.

The adjutant hurried to relay the commander's order.

But how could two legs outrun something flying in the sky?

The drones Qin Gang brought were dual-purpose; they could not only self-destruct but also carry munitions for attacks. Self-destruction was just their most basic function.

The next scene of the battlefield was once again covered by the smoke of explosions. About a hundred drones, under the precise control of their operators, began to drop bombs on the hiding Coalition soldiers. The deafening sounds of explosions were constant. The Coalition soldiers naturally fought back, occasionally shooting down a drone or two, but before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the drones exploded the moment they hit the ground. This feeling of helplessness made every Coalition soldier feel despair.

However, Xin Yang's methods didn't stop there.

Some Coalition soldiers were close to the dense forest below the road and scrambled into it, using the bushes and trees to escape the pursuit of the drones. This method was somewhat effective, but just as they were about to catch their breath, thumb-sized Metal Spiders appeared beside them.

The moment these spiders crawled onto the Coalition soldiers, they activated their self-destruct devices. Thus, the scene from the battlefield earlier played out again. The thunderous sounds of explosions rang out once more. The Coalition soldiers had nowhere to run; before they had even seen the enemy, they had already been bombed to the point of collapse.