61: What's going on? Where are they firing cannons?

"Heh heh, Suaso, that idiot, actually thought we were pushovers."

Fernando put down his binoculars, picked up the walkie-talkie, and spoke in a grim tone.

"Artillery Battalion! Have the coordinates been confirmed?"

The steady reply of the Artillery Battalion Commander came through the walkie-talkie.

"Reporting, Regimental Commander! The target has entered the pre-designated strike area A-3! Ready to fire immediately!"

"Very good." Fernando took a deep breath, then exhaled sharply.

"Fire every single shell you have!"

"I want this valley to become the collective graveyard of the 19th Brigade! Fire!"

"Yes! Fire!"

The order spread like an electric current across the entire Artillery Position.

The ground began to tremble violently.

Dozens of 122mm Self-Propelled Rocket Launchers, hidden on the Reverse Slope Position, simultaneously let out a deafening roar!

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—!"

Hundreds of rockets, trailing long white smoke plumes, tore through the dim yellow sky with an unstoppable momentum.

Forming a dense rain of steel, they plunged toward the unsuspecting 19th Brigade in the valley!

Brigade Commander Suaso, who was leading the column, was humming a tune, calculating how much merit he could gain from this counter-insurgency operation.

Suddenly, a soldier beside him pointed at the sky, the color instantly draining from his face, his mouth wide enough to fit an egg.

"What is that?"

Suaso looked up, his pupils contracting sharply.

In the sky, countless small black dots were rapidly growing larger, heading straight for them with a sharp whistling sound.

"Enemy attack! Rockets! Take cover!!"

Suaso's shouts were drowned out by the terrified screams of the soldiers.

Everything was too late.

For these infantrymen still relying on their two legs, trying to outrun supersonic rockets was pure fantasy.

Violent explosions erupted within the formation of the 19th Brigade!

Flames shot into the sky, and rolling black smoke instantly consumed the entire valley.

The shockwaves generated by the explosions, mixed with countless high-velocity shrapnel and rocks, formed lethal metal storms.

The first few 'cascavel' armored vehicles were hit directly by the rockets.

Their vulnerable top armor was easily ripped open, turning the vehicles into flaming metal cans.

Troop transport trucks were flipped over, and the soldiers inside, before they could even jump out, were incinerated in the flames.

Screams, wails, and explosions intertwined into a symphony of hell.

After just one volley, the 19th Brigade's vanguard was completely paralyzed and thrown into chaos, suffering heavy casualties and having its structure utterly disrupted.

The surviving soldiers completely broke down, dropping their weapons and scattering like headless flies, regretting only that their parents hadn't given them two more legs.

On the mountaintop, Fernando watched everything with indifference and issued a new order over the walkie-talkie.

"Tanks, armored vehicles, launch a full-scale attack!"

"Crush them for me!"

A few kilometers away in the city of San Carlos, at the Seventh Division Headquarters.

Division Commander Victor was discussing the next operational plan with the Chief of Staff while looking at a map.

Suddenly, dull, massive sounds came from the direction of Hector, making the windows of the headquarters buzz.

Victor's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous feeling surged through him.

"What's going on? Where is the artillery fire?"

Before he finished speaking, a communications soldier stumbled in, his face ghostly pale.

"Division Commander! This is bad! The... The 20th Brigade! The The 20th Brigade just sent an emergency communication—they've been hit by a massive saturation artillery strike!"

"What?!" Victor grabbed the communications soldier by the collar, his eyes wide as copper bells.

"Which brigade did you say? The The 20th Brigade? Aren't they providing flank cover? What about Suaso's 19th Brigade?!"

"The report says the The 20th Brigade was attacked! The scale... the scale is unprecedented!"

"The enemy used at least dozens of large-caliber rocket launchers! The vanguard... is almost completely wiped out!"

"Dozens of rocket launchers?!" The Chief of Staff gasped, completely losing his footing.

"That's impossible! Where did these rebels get so many heavy weapons? Didn't our intelligence say they only had some mortars and pickup trucks?!"

Victor released the communications soldier, slammed his fist onto the map, his eyes filled with shock and rage.

He finally understood why those rebels dared to launch an offensive.

This isn't fucking a rebel army; this level of firepower is stronger than the goddamn regular army!

"We've been played! We were all fooled by the intelligence!" Victor ground his teeth.

"Connect me to La Paz immediately! The Supreme Military Council! Hurry!"

He grabbed the phone and roared into the receiver.

"This is Division Commander Victor of the Seventh Division! My unit is under massive artillery attack from the rebels! Repeat!"

"It is an unprecedented, large-scale artillery attack! I request immediate air support! Immediately!"

"I want their Artillery Positions flattened! And conduct comprehensive aerial reconnaissance of the battle zone at the same time!"

"I need to know exactly how much more these bastards have in reserve!"

La Paz, Ministry of National Defense Operations Command Center.

Upon receiving Victor's urgent communication, everyone was greatly shocked by the news.

"The Free Army possesses established rocket artillery units?" A senior official asked, his face full of disbelief.

"What the hell is the Intelligence Department doing?!"

"Now is not the time to assign blame! The Seventh Division can't hold out! Approve air support immediately!"

The order was quickly issued.

Air Force units deployed at the military airport near La Paz were scrambled immediately.

Three A-37 'Dragonfly' Attack Aircraft, two OV-10 'Bronco' Reconnaissance Aircraft, and ten AH-6OL 'Little Bird' Attack Helicopters.

They formed a massive aerial strike package, roaring as they flew toward the San Carlos battle zone.

Hundreds of kilometers away in Santa Cruz, at the Free Army General Command.

A shrill alarm suddenly sounded on the massive electronic display screen.

The radar operator immediately reported: "Report! Command! Fifteen unidentified aerial targets have been detected in our western airspace!"

"Taking off from the direction of La Paz, they are approaching the Hector region at high speed!"

Inside the command center, everyone's eyes turned to deputy commander-in-chief Elijah.

Elijah looked at the moving light spots on the screen, the corner of his mouth curving slightly into a knowing smile.

"They couldn't sit still for long? It seems Victor was hit hard."

He turned to look at Oliver beside him.

"This must be the air support called in by the Seventh Division. The target is clear: Fernando's Artillery Position."

Oliver pushed up his glasses, his eyes sparkling with excitement behind the lenses.

"Perfect. It's time to take our new toys out for a spin. We can't let the Army brothers steal all the glory, can we?"

Elijah smiled.

"That's what I was thinking too."

He picked up the red telephone on the table.

"Connect me to the Anti-Aircraft Missile Unit."

"This is Elijah. Operation 'Skynet' begins now. I order you to shoot down every single one of those flies in the sky! Don't leave a single one!"

"Let our guests experience what the mysterious power from the East is all about!"

Behind Hector, on a perfectly camouflaged position.

As the order was given, five massive FK-3 Anti-Aircraft Missile Launch Vehicles slowly raised their launch racks.

Revealing the quadruple, sci-fi-looking missile launch tubes inside.

The radar spun rapidly, locking firmly onto the approaching aircraft formation from the horizon.

"Target has entered range—one hundred and twenty kilometers!"

"Lock confirmed!"