251: The Battle of Hongdu (2)

Wanhua Shopping Mall

"Mecha! Good Heavens! It's a mecha! It's actually a mecha! And it can fly!"

On the rooftop of Wanhua Shopping Mall, a gaunt survivor responsible for keeping watch felt his numb eyes instantly ignite. He pointed toward a distant street corner, his voice sharp and trembling with extreme excitement, nearly breaking.

Several massive mechas, painted in various colors with rugged lines and a futuristic tech aesthetic, were advancing steadily into the blocks below, accompanied by heavy footsteps and the slight hum of thrusters.

The massive firearms in their hands spat tongues of fire, wiping out swaths of zombies with fluid and efficient movements.

"My God! They're huge! Quick! Go call everyone! The army! The army has come to save us!" Another slightly older survivor jumped up, his eyes instantly turning red. Choking back tears, he ran toward the stairwell, his steps stumbling from weakness and agitation.

"Tanks! There are tanks and armored vehicles behind them!"

"Oh Lord! The army is finally here! Waaaah..." A woman curled in a corner could no longer hold it back and burst into loud sobs. Months of accumulated fear, despair, and hunger turned into scalding tears at this moment.

"I'm so hungry... so cold..." A frail little girl was held tightly in her mother's arms, murmuring to herself. On her dirty little face, a pair of large eyes stared intently at the iron giants below that represented hope. Before long, the rooftop platform of the mall was crowded with over three hundred survivors. Every one of them was sallow-faced, skin and bones, and dressed in rags. In the five months of torment during the apocalypse, the mall's food supplies had long been exhausted. In the later stages, two or three people only dared to share a small piece of moldy bread a day and drink a few sips of turbid stored water; everyone was on the verge of collapse.

Now, they crowded against the railings, looking down with all their might, the light known as hope reigniting in their eyes.

"Command Center, this is Mecha Squad 3. Survivors detected! Coordinates xxx, rooftop of Wanhua Shopping Mall. Visually estimated at over three hundred people!" The pilot of a Tier 2 destroyer mecha confirmed the situation through high-precision sensors and immediately reported to the command center.

"Command Center copies! Please ensure the safety of the survivors!"

"Copy! Dispatching two mechas immediately to the rooftop of Wanhua Shopping Mall to establish a temporary security zone, ensure the safety of the civilians, and await aerial rescue," the squad leader ordered quickly.

"thunderbolt 5 copies!"

"destroyer 7 copies!"

As soon as the words fell, the vector thrust nozzles on the backs and legs of a blue-purple thunderbolt and a gun-metal gray destroyer mecha lit up with a ghostly blue glow, emitting a low, powerful jetting sound.

Under the combined effect of anti-gravity devices and thrusters, the 3.5-meter-tall steel bodies rose into the air heavily but steadily. They traced a short arc and, with two heavy "thuds," landed precisely and lightly in the center of the mall's rooftop platform, the resulting breeze fluttering the survivors' ragged clothes.

"God! That's so cool! That metallic luster! Those lines!" The scrawny young survivor from before stared obsessively at the mecha right in front of him. He couldn't help but reach out to touch the cold armor, only to be stopped by a gentle warning from the mecha pilot via the external speaker.

"Our Huaguo... actually hid such powerful weapons! We're saved! We're really saved!" An elderly man wearing worn-out glasses was so excited his beard trembled.

"Calling Air Force Command Center, this is Mecha Squad 3. Repeating coordinates xxx, rooftop of Wanhua Shopping Mall. Over three hundred survivors discovered, generally in a weak state. Requesting immediate dispatch of transport helicopters for rescue." The mecha pilot called out again while scanning the environment through external cameras, alert for possible threats.

"Air Force Command Center copies, responding to Mecha Squad 3. Nearby 'Rescue 2' and 'Rescue 4' chinook flight crews have been dispatched, escorted by a 'hind escort group.' Estimated arrival in five minutes. Please ensure the landing area is secure. Prioritize the transfer of women, children, the elderly, and the sick."

Not long after, the roar of rotors like rolling thunderbolt approached from the skyline.

To the survivors, this sound was more beautiful than any musical movement in the world! Two massive CH-47 chinook armed transports bearing the Red Alert insignia, escorted by a murderous hind attack helicopter on each side, broke through the mist over the city like steel giant eagles and appeared in everyone's sight.

The massive rotors of the helicopters churned the air, bringing an intense wind pressure that made it nearly impossible for the people on the roof to keep their eyes open. Their clothes whipped loudly, but this wind gave them an unprecedented sense of security.

The rescue operation unfolded rapidly.

Under the command and assistance of the soldiers, the survivors formed a line. With women and children first, they began to board in an orderly fashion through the rear cargo ramps lowered by the chinooks.

The massive bodies of the mechas stood on either side of the landing site like the most reliable guardian deities. Their cold sensors constantly scanned the surrounding building windows and streets. Any zombie attempting to approach would be instantly and precisely eliminated by the onboard weaponry.

Meanwhile, rescue and clearing operations in other areas of the city were proceeding simultaneously... Several kilometers away, on a main road blocked by abandoned vehicles, an infantry company was engaged in a fierce firefight with a Zombie Tide pouring out from buildings on both sides, relying on a mobile position formed by three grizzly tanks and six armored personnel carriers.

"Grizzly, attention! Ten o'clock, second-floor window of the residential building, Licker cluster!"

"Copy! One high-explosive shell!"

Boom!

The 85mm cannon of the grizzly tank recoiled sharply. The shell precisely entered the window and exploded inside, the shockwave and shrapnel tearing apart several Lickers that were preparing to pounce.

The 30mm chain gun atop the infantry fighting vehicles acted like the Grim Reaper's scythe, continuously pouring fire into the Zombie Tide, mowing down the rushing ordinary zombies in swaths.

The infantry behind the vehicles used them as cover, using their rifles to pick off any that slipped through the net.

"Air support is in position!" a voice came through the comms channel. Two hind attack helicopters swept past at low altitude. The rocket pods mounted under their wings spat out a dense rain of fire, instantly covering the intersection where the Zombie Tide was thickest. Continuous explosions turned that area into a sea of fire.

"Advance! Clear the intersection and establish a temporary resupply point!" the company commander took the opportunity to order, and the steel torrent continued to push forward slowly... In an old residential area, a blaze mecha was using its signature "Phoenix" flamethrower to clear the entrance of a unit building occupied by zombies. High-temperature flames, like the breath of a dragon, turned the zombies crowded in the hallway into charcoal.

"Life signals detected on the second floor! Repeat, life signals detected on the second floor!" another thunderbolt mecha responsible for reconnaissance discovered an anomaly through its life-form detector.

"Copy! Mecha squad, cover the infantry as they head upstairs!" the mecha squad leader in charge ordered.

One destroyer mecha used its Metal Storm machine gun to clear the obstacles leading to the second floor, while another used its massive mechanical arm to violently tear down a deformed security door.

Behind the door was a family of three curled in a corner, trembling with fear. When they saw the tall, imposing, yet infinitely reassuring steel figure at the door, they immediately broke into tears.

"Don't be afraid, we are the Red Alert Legion, here to save you," a gentle voice came from the mecha's external speaker. "Follow us closely; the transport plane will be here soon."

...In the skies over Hongdu City

A Black Hawk heavy fighter circled at high altitude. Its Radar monitored the entire battlefield airspace, its powerful ground-attack capabilities ready at any time to deal with sudden large-scale Zombie Tides or high-tier variants.

"Warning, detected high-speed moving aerial targets, suspected flying variants, count: three, bearing: xxx."

"Doe Squad, please proceed to intercept."

"Doe Squad understands!"

Two hind attack helicopters patrolling nearby airspace immediately turned. The 30mm autocannons under their noses spat out tongues of fire, forming a crossfire net in the air that blew the Flying Zombies attempting to approach the rescue zone out of the sky... (It's Chapter 250 and the protagonist is still in the province. Xiao Feng feels the progress is a bit slow. If we don't hurry up, the survivors will all be dead. There isn't much more to depict in Hongdu's urban combat, so let's end the urban combat here! As for the data, it was precise in the beginning, but I've been too lazy to record it later. Except for some big items like kirov airships and aircraft carriers, I won't record specific numbers. The army will expand quite quickly later on. Xiao Feng plans to launch a national campaign within two years of the story's timeline.)

(If everyone wants to see China-US hegemony, Zerg crises, overseas powers, etc., be sure to leave a message in the comments. If everyone thinks writing about interstellar stuff is boring, then we'll end this book after the national campaign.)

...The entire Hongdu City seemed to have turned into a massive, efficiently operating rescue machine. The armored units of the Red Alert Legion were like an invincible Iron Fist, smashing all enemies who dared to stand in their way.

The Mecha Units were flexible and powerful vanguards, penetrating complex environments to precisely clear threats and rescue those trapped; meanwhile, the air force held absolute air superiority, acting like guardian eyes circling in the sky, providing all-around support and cover for the ground troops.

Steel, fire, electricity, and precision shooting together composed a rescue symphony of power and hope, bringing the hope of survival back to this city that had been dead for so long.

The roar of every tank, the howl of every helicopter, and the footstep of every mecha declared to this land: in this disaster, humanity shall ultimately prevail!