143: Chapter 143 The Centipede King Sweeps the Battlefield, the Multinational Allied Forces Draw Their Swords

An hour later, the Myanmar Army launched its first large-scale counterattack.

Over three hundred "suicide squad members" swarmed toward the city blocks occupied by Zhang Cheng's troops from all directions. Some drove trucks loaded with explosives, some had grenades strapped to their bodies, and even more carried Molotov cocktails, charging like madmen.

"For Myanmar! For our families!"

"Let's fight these goddamn robots to the death!"

Wang Meng's reconnaissance company bore the brunt of the attack.

"Rocket launchers! Hit those trucks!" he shouted into the radio.

The iron centipede robots opened fire, their machine gun bullets mowing down a swath of the Myanmar Army. But there were too many of them, and they completely disregarded casualties.

A truck rushed through the wall of fire and was hit and set ablaze thirty meters from the reconnaissance company's position. But the driver swerved violently before dying, and the truck rolled into a building—

"BOOM!!!"

The massive explosion brought the whole building down, and the rubble buried two iron centipede units.

"Unit 3 is buried! Unit 4 is damaged!"

"Infantry, fall back! Open up some distance!"

The reconnaissance company was forced to retreat fifty meters. Meanwhile, the Myanmar Army suicide squads seized the opportunity to occupy several buildings and began constructing a new defensive line.

The battle turned into a brutal tug-of-war.

...

Command vehicle outside the city.

Zhang Cheng looked at the battle report, his expression calm.

"Commander, the Myanmar Army is using human wave tactics. Although our robots can inflict heavy casualties on the enemy, their numbers are too few to completely block them," Zhao Yuxun reported. "The reconnaissance company has already retreated and is requesting artillery support."

"Approved," Zhang Cheng said. "But do not use heavy artillery; it will cause collateral damage to civilians. Use the 'Thor' brigade's 120mm mortar company for precision strikes on the Myanmar Army's assembly points."

He paused: "Also, it is time to deploy the 'Centipede King'."

The 'Centipede King'—that was the ultimate form of the iron centipede system. Twenty base units combined into a giant robotic platform five meters long, two meters wide, and 1.5 meters high, equipped with two 12.7mm heavy machine guns, one 40mm automatic grenade launcher, a quadruple anti-tank missile launcher, and thick composite armor.

Simply put, this was a small, unmanned tank.

Five minutes later, three 'Centipede King' units were transported to the front line.

When these steel behemoths appeared on the street, the Myanmar Army suicide squads were stunned.

"What... what is that?"

"Fire! Hit it!"

Bullets hitting the 'Centipede King's' armor were like tickling it. The counterattack from the heavy machine guns, however, was lethal; 12.7mm bullets could easily pierce brick walls, cutting the Myanmar Army soldiers behind them in two.

"Boom! Boom!"

40mm grenades cleared the windows of the buildings the Myanmar Army was holding one by one.

The most terrifying thing was the anti-tank missiles—although it was a waste to use them against infantry, they were extremely effective against those reinforced machine-gun bunkers.

"Whoosh—Boom!"

A small three-story building was blasted down directly, and all thirty-plus Myanmar Army soldiers inside were buried.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

The suicide squad's morale collapsed. No matter how much money they were paid, they had to be alive to spend it. Facing these steel monsters that simply could not be damaged, even the bravest men couldn't hold on.

The Myanmar Army's counterattack was completely shattered.

But Zhang Cheng knew this was just the beginning.

Min Aung Hlaing still had over a hundred thousand troops in Naypyidaw, and the international coalition was assembling; the real hard battle was still to come.

He looked at the 3D map of the Mandalay urban area, where large areas were still red—those were the areas controlled by the Myanmar Army.

"Order the troops to advance steadily, do not rush," Zhang Cheng said. "Every time we occupy a city block, immediately establish fortifications, mop up the remaining enemies, and pacify the civilians."

"What we want is not just the city of Mandalay, but the hearts of the three hundred thousand people in the city."

"This war must be won both militarily and politically."

Night fell once again.

The gunfire in Mandalay temporarily ceased, but everyone knew tomorrow would be even more brutal.

And on the distant Andaman Sea, on the flight deck of the USA aircraft carrier carl vinson, the first batch of F-35C fighters was undergoing final pre-flight checks.

The international coalition's sword had been unsheathed.

Zhang Cheng's trial had only just begun.

Andaman Sea, operations command center of the USA aircraft carrier carl vinson.

Rear Admiral Harris stared at the map of Myanmar on the big screen, where real-time satellite imagery of the Mandalay urban area was constantly updating. The blue area representing Zhang Cheng's troops was slowly but firmly devouring the red area, like a virus consuming healthy cells.

"They have advanced three blocks in twenty-four hours," the Chief of Staff pointed at the data. "At this rate, in two to three days at most, all of Mandalay will fall into Zhang Cheng's hands."

"What about our allies?" Harris asked.

"The UK's 'Queen Elizabeth' carrier strike group has arrived in the designated sea area, three hundred nautical miles from the Myanmar coastline. France's 'Charles de Gaulle' is expected to arrive in six hours. Japan's 'Izumo' is on standby four hundred nautical miles to the southeast."

Harris nodded. This multinational joint task force was codenamed 'Freedom Shield,' with a total force including: three carrier strike groups, two amphibious ready groups, over one hundred and twenty vessels of various types; over six hundred aircraft of various types; and an initial wave of fifty thousand ground troops, including the USA Marine Corps 1st Expeditionary Force, the British Royal Marines 3rd Commando Brigade, and the French Foreign Legion 2nd Parachute Regiment, among other elite units.

This was the largest overseas military buildup by the Western world since the 1991 Gulf War.

"United Nations authorization is in place," the Chief of Staff continued reporting. "Our operation is defined as a 'humanitarian intervention,' with the goal of establishing a no-fly zone and safe zones, protecting civilians, and forcing the warring parties back to the negotiating table."

"The negotiating table?" Harris sneered. "Once we destroy most of Zhang Cheng's military capabilities, he will naturally sit down at the negotiating table obediently."

He walked to the electronic nautical chart and pointed his finger at the location of Mandalay:

"Order the carrier air wing: first wave attack targets are Zhang Cheng's artillery positions, command centers, and logistics nodes outside Mandalay. Deploy two F-35C squadrons for air superiority and two F/A-18E squadrons for ground strikes."

"Is prior warning required?"

"Warning?" Harris shook his head. "We are here to enforce the United Nations resolution, not to negotiate. Let Zhang Cheng and his troops wake up in the explosions."

The order was issued.

At exactly ten in the morning, the flight deck of the carl vinson entered its busiest state. Amid the screeching of steam catapults, fighter jets were launched into the sky one after another. The first to take off were four EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, which would establish an electronic barrier around the battlefield to jam the radar and communications of Zhang Cheng's troops.

Following closely were twelve F-35C Lightning IIs—these stealth fighters would be the first to enter Myanmar's airspace to clear any potential aerial threats. Although intelligence indicated that Zhang Cheng did not have an organized air force, caution was always the right choice.

Finally, there were twenty-four F/A-18E Super Hornets, armed with precision-guided bombs and anti-radiation missiles, swooping murderously toward Mandalay.