87: The reinforcements were blocked?

"Understood!" Elijah grinned and picked up the communicator.

"Order! Air Assault Cluster, the mixed group of apache and WZ-10, immediately turn towards coordinates XXX, XXX!"

"Repeat, turn immediately! Your primary targets are enemy armored units. Pry open all those metal cans for me!"

Chief of Staff Mateo pushed up his glasses and added.

"Oliver, although our Special Operations Regiment has control of the airport, our forces are insufficient. We must send the main force up as soon as possible."

"I was just about to say that." Oliver turned to another communications officer.

"Order! Air Force Transport Group, First Echelon, ten C-17s, take off immediately! The brothers of the 6th Brigade can't wait any longer!"

He paused, then added another line.

"Have the 1st Xiaolong Squadron dispatch five JF-17 Thunder Block 3s for full escort! I don't want to see our transport planes run into any trouble in the sky!"

"Yes, sir!"

As command after command was issued, the offensive and defensive battle centered around La Paz International Airport.

instantly entered its second, and far more bloody, phase.

"Faster! A little faster!"

The Brigade Commander of the Quick Reaction Brigade was standing in the bumpy command vehicle, roaring hysterically into the all-channel communication.

"The President's order is at all costs! Are you soft-shelled shrimps starving? Floor the accelerator!"

His unit was the closest mobile force to the airport.

They were currently speeding along the city's main thoroughfare, the piercing sirens and engine roars echoing throughout the night sky.

The Special Operations Brigade beside them was in a similar situation; two steel torrents rushed toward the airport, one on the left and one on the right.

However, the shadow of death had already fallen over them.

"What is that noise?"

A soldier poked his head out, looking up at the sky in confusion.

In the night sky, a muffled and oppressive roar could be heard, growing louder as it approached, carrying a heart-stopping sense of pressure.

The next second.

Dozens of small pinpricks of light suddenly appeared in the sky.

The Brigade Commander of the Quick Reaction Brigade's pupils suddenly contracted.

Those were... attack helicopters! A massive, dark swarm!

"Air defense! Anti-air fire!!"

His warning came too late.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several anti-tank missiles trailed long plumes of exhaust.

Like avenging vipers, they accurately struck the 'cascavel' wheeled armored vehicles at the front of the convoy.

Boom! Rumble!

The violent explosions instantly engulfed the armored vehicles.

Scorching fireballs shot into the sky, and shredded metal fragments mixed with human remains sprayed outwards.

The entire convoy was instantly thrown into chaos, as if struck hard by a massive punch.

But this was only the beginning.

"You small fry, feel the pain."

The WZ-10 pilot watched the chaotic convoy below and coldly pressed the rocket launcher button.

A dense barrage of rockets, as if fired without cost, formed a destructive rain of fire that covered the entire street.

Boom boom boom boom!

Explosions erupted one after another, and military trucks were blown to shreds.

The soldiers inside the vehicles didn't even have time to scream before being incinerated into charcoal in the flames.

The apache helicopter was even more lethal; its 30mm chain gun beneath the nose began to spin, spitting out destructive belts of ammunition.

Rat-a-tat-a-tat!

The scorching storm of cannon shells swept across, easily tearing open the thin top armor of the armored vehicles.

Deep furrows were plowed into the concrete street, and any exposed soldier was instantly turned into a mist of blood.

"We are under air attack! Repeat! We have been ambushed by enemy attack helicopters!"

"We can't hold them off! Their firepower is too fierce!"

"My vehicle has been destroyed! Help! Help!"

The communication channel was filled with desperate screams and heartbreaking calls for help.

The Brigade Commanders of the Quick Reaction Brigade and the Special Operations Brigade watched helplessly as their troops fell under the enemy's air strike.

dropping in swaths like wheat harvested by a scythe, their hearts bleeding.

This wasn't a battle; it was a unilateral massacre!

"What?!"

At the Presidential Palace of Bolivia, President Celes was completely stunned upon hearing the front-line report relayed by the communications soldier.

"The reinforcements were intercepted? Heavy losses?!" He grabbed Behar's collar, his eyes bloodshot. "How could this happen! Where are our air defense units?! Where is our air force?!"

Behar's expression was even worse than his. He forcefully pried the President's hand off and yelled back.

"Our air defense positions and air force bases were wiped out in the first round of bombing! Did you forget?!"

Celes looked thunderstruck, stumbled back two steps, and collapsed onto his chair, muttering, "It's all over."

"It's not over yet!" Behar's eyes were bloodshot. He rushed to the map, pointed at a spot, and shouted at Deputy Commander-in-Chief Lorenzo.

"The 14th Brigade of the 5th Division! Their Artillery Regiment! Their cannons are still there! Order them, immediately! Right now!"

"Blow up the airport runway for me!"

"I don't care what method you use, even if you have to plow the runway with artillery shells, you absolutely cannot let their transport planes land!"

This was a desperate decision.

Destroying the runway was tantamount to admitting they were powerless to retake the airport.

But this was the only option left.

Lorenzo, however, wore an expression uglier than crying, and he spoke with a trembling voice.

"Commander-in-Chief... the news we just received... the position of the 14th Brigade's Artillery Regiment... is also unreachable."

"All our heavy artillery units deployed outside the city were precisely eliminated in the first wave of airstrikes..."

Pulling the rug out from under them!

The enemy had thought of every step from the very beginning!

Just as they descended into despair.

3:27 AM.

La Paz International Airport.

A massive C-17 'Globemaster' transport plane, guided by the signals of Special Operations Regiment soldiers.

ignored the burning wreckage on the ground and landed smoothly on the main runway with a near-perfect approach.

While the massive fuselage was still taxiing, the rear ramp door slammed open.

"Charge! Charge! Charge!"

"6th Brigade! Advance!!"

Fully armed Free Army soldiers poured out of the cabin like a tide.

They moved quickly, with clear assignments, and immediately began taking over the airport's perimeter defenses.

In less than thirty minutes, ten C-17 transport planes, like a rotating lantern show, landed, unloaded, and took off again in succession.

A fully staffed, well-equipped Mechanized Infantry Brigade thus appeared like a heavenly army descending right in the heart of La Paz!

The soldiers of the 6th Brigade quickly established solid defensive lines at every intersection leading into the city.

Dark muzzles and anti-tank missile launchers were aimed toward the city.

"Phase one objective achieved."

Inside the Free Army Command Post, Elijah excitedly slapped the table.

"The 6th Brigade has successfully deployed, and the airport is impregnable!"

Oliver, however, still maintained a serious expression. He pointed at the attack helicopter group on the screen that was still engaging the remnants of the Government Army.

"Don't celebrate too early. Our 'Air Reapers' are running low on ammunition."

"Especially the anti-tank missiles, which are basically exhausted. Relying only on rockets and cannon fire won't effectively stop the enemy's armored units."

Mateo nodded in agreement: "Once dawn breaks and the Government Army's tanks react, the pressure on the 6th Brigade's infantry alone will be immense."

"Therefore, we need to send them some 'big toys'."