161: Chapter 161 The Expedition Begins, A New Era Begins

Opening the Artificial Intelligence panel, a pile of data and various analytical predictions popped up.

The analysis included various Xenomorphs that might be encountered along the way and the current electricity and command points reserves.

It could be said that every factor, whether Su Yang had thought of it or not, had been taken into account.

After roughly reviewing the analysis from the Artificial Intelligence, Su Yang finalized the plan.

It must be said that having Artificial Intelligence assistance is great; it can save a lot of energy.

command points were invested, and the selected units returned to the barracks for upgrades.

Soon, the upgraded 4 Fire Dragon Guards, 2 Skyfire Guards, and 30 Great Qin Armored Crossbowmen walked out of the barracks.

Seeing the upgraded units, Su Yang's eyes lit up immediately.

Although the Imperial Armor still looked like steel, the electromagnetic upgrades made the soldiers' Imperial Armor look more sci-fi.

Many of the transmission drives from the steam and fuel era were replaced and changed to devices relying on electricity.

The Fire Dragon Guard's original, massive fuel-based flamethrowers were improved, with a cylindrical plasma generator installed in the middle of the barrel.

Inside that light blue device, a series of reactions would occur to create plasma particles capable of devastating strikes.

The Skyfire Guard's original power source, provided by gunpowder, was improved, and the entire barrel became an electromagnetic acceleration device.

The original explosive stones were also improved, wrapped in steel shells, making them look closer to modern missiles.

The metal shells would be fired at an astonishing initial velocity after being accelerated layer by layer through the electromagnetic cannon barrel.

After the upgrade, the Skyfire Guard's range had reached four times what it was before.

Finally, there was the upgrade for the Crossbowmen; compared to the double guards, the Crossbowmen's upgrade was more obvious.

The iconic bowstring on the crossbow was removed, replaced by a brand-new electromagnetic acceleration barrel.

After being accelerated in the barrel, the metal arrows would gain higher initial velocity and stronger kinetic energy.

And compared to the bowstrings that needed reloading, the electromagnetic crossbow's rate of fire was more terrifying, approaching that of semi-automatic firearms.

Seeing the improved forms of the various units, Su Yang felt great anticipation for their combat effectiveness.

With the soldiers upgraded, the next step was preparing supplies and energy for the expedition.

Su Yang still followed the ratio given by the Artificial Intelligence to load resources into the two wolf smokes.

Each wolf smoke had 5 compartments, each with a capacity of 200 units, and could store 1000 units of electricity.

Su Yang first stored a total of 1800 units of electricity in two compartments.

This was the maximum electricity the territory could provide after meeting its own needs.

1800 units could support the entire army for one resupply, which Su Yang felt was enough.

Moreover, the plan given by the Artificial Intelligence was that each resource could at least meet one resupply for the troops.

Next was the largest share, carbon ore resources, which were the resources consumed the most in combat.

Su Yang directly invested 600 units of carbon ore, filling up three entire compartments.

The remaining five compartments were used to store various combat consumption resources.

200 units of fuel, 100 units of steel, 100 units of iron ore, 100 units of copper, and 100 units of saltpeter.

With this, the expedition resource supply preparation was complete; the next step was mobilizing the troops.

General Meng Tian and the Scout squad were undoubtedly continuing to serve as the vanguard.

General Li Xin would form the main force with 100 Armored Elite Soldiers, 60 Armored Crossbowmen, as well as all 4 Fire Dragon Guards and 2 Skyfire Guards.

Regarding vehicles, to carry more Xenomorph corpses, all 3 black iron chariots were deployed.

Added to that were the 2 wolf smokes to form the steel chariot unit.

All selected units assembled in the eastern crusade preparation area.

Su Yang stood on the city wall to review the troops.

This was the current longest-distance crusade for the territory, and also a campaign to the edge of the crystal mining area.

And according to the System's introduction, the Wailing Mountains were likely the boundary between the Heart of the Hive and another arrival zone.

This was another reason for Su Yang to start this expedition, besides establishing wind power stations.

After entering the stage of competing for supremacy, besides exploring within one's own arrival zone, it was more important to explore outward to other regions.

Determining one's own position on the big map was very important.

This determined whether you could unite with allies or whether you would suffer encirclement by enemies.

Determining location information earlier than other countries meant being able to make subsequent strategic arrangements earlier.

And stepping outside the Xenomorph area might lead to some different encounters.

Su Yang thought while looking at the neatly arranged troops below.

Now, this Imperial Armor troop had begun to take shape.

In the future, they would be the ones to write history!

"Set off!!"

Su Yang shouted, waving his hand.

The thick mechanical iron gate slowly opened under hydraulic drive.

The sound of steam hissing and engines roaring exploded over the territory.

"Destroy the enemy and sweep away the bandits, it starts today!"

"In the name of Your Majesty, raise the prestige of our Great Qin!"

General Meng Tian shouted, charging out of the gate first, with the Scout troops following closely behind.

Then came the steel chariot unit led by General Li Xin.

Watching the troops drive out of the territory, Su Yang felt a surge of excitement in his heart.

A new era was unveiling!

...

Outside the Forbidden Ground, the entire population of the Dragon Kingdom watched the expedition ceremony via live stream.

The expanded troops, as well as the brand-new upgrades and vehicles, dazzled everyone.

And General Meng Tian's command before the expedition ignited the atmosphere in the live stream room.

"Wuwuwu, so cool, this is our Great Qin's army!"

"So strong, it feels like we've upgraded again compared to the Battle of Heroic Souls period."

"This full-scale attack, isn't it another expedition war? That's too strong!"

"Raise the prestige of our Great Qin, raise the prestige of our Great Qin!"

...

Dragon Kingdom high-level conference room.

Having not seen the territory's status for a few days, this sudden look made the Expert Group almost go crazy.

"It's only been a few days! How come it feels like the facilities in the territory are all powered by electricity!"

"That lightning tower in the center of the territory, could it be some kind of wireless power supply device? Can this be technology from just entering the electrical age?"

"What electrical age? Haven't we already entered the sci-fi age?"

"The troops seem to have new upgrades too, and two new vehicles. I really want to know what their functions are."

"Such a large-scale mobilization, it looks like Su Yang is launching an expedition again!"

"This is a correct judgment. At this stage, the more you explore outward, the more you can gain a first-mover advantage!"

Compared to the Expert Group being shocked by the powerful technology, the various officers were shocked by the Aura of the soldiers setting out.

At this moment, all the officers felt the urge to follow the Great Qin soldiers on the expedition.

The powerful strength and unrivaled courage of the Elite Soldier legion ignited their passion as soldiers!

Strong strength, strict military discipline; this was what the Dragon Kingdom's army looked like in their minds!

...

Shortly after the troops set off, Elizabeth sent a message to Su Yang.

[Lord of England: Unfortunate news, Malaysia was conquered by Japan and became a colony.]

[Many of our other allies have also received surrender ultimatums from the Three-Party Alliance; if they don't surrender, they will be destroyed.]

Looking at the message sent by Elizabeth, Su Yang fell into thought. This type of war mode of occupying territory indeed benefits from having more people.

Although Great Qin could be said to have an overwhelming combat advantage over other countries, relying on himself alone to extend outward from the Heart of the Hive was indeed still slow.

Although the Three-Party Alliance's strength was inferior to his, it was still easy for them to handle weak countries like the England Alliance.

If this continued, before long, all arrival zones except the Heart of the Hive might be occupied by the Three-Party Alliance.

He must determine the layout of the big map.

[Su Yang: Is the big map intelligence out? Which arrival zones are the lords in the Alliance located in?]

[Lord of England: It's too difficult. Most of our lords are likely scattered around the Three-Party Alliance countries. To protect themselves, most of them have chosen to join the Three-Party Alliance in the form of cooperation.]

[Moreover, the lords in our Alliance currently have poor strength and find it difficult to leave their own territory to complete exploration, which leads to us being unable to piece together the big map.]

[Su Yang: Understood. My troops are driving out of the Heart of the Hive, and I will be able to obtain information on the arrival zones northwest of the Heart of the Hive.]

[Lord of England: This is the most dangerous moment for the Alliance. I will call on all lords to try their best to hold on.]

Closing the panel, Su Yang sighed heavily.

The sigh was not because of these lords defecting.

Distant water cannot put out a nearby fire, and besides, he didn't even know how far away this "distant water" was.

He sighed because countries like Japan and the United States would definitely not easily let go of the countries that surrendered.

They might say it's cooperation, but in the end, they would definitely be conquered and become colonies.

After becoming a colony, all development in the territory would stagnate, and even if they were liberated in the future, they would suffer many persistent negative BUFFs.

The income from vassal states would be the bulk of future territory income, and Su Yang did not want to see his vassal states being trampled on.

But unwilling as he was, hindered by geographical factors, he had no way to help these countries.

And at this stage, Su Yang realized that the scale of his troops was still not large enough; currently, he could only launch one Expeditionary Force.

If he could launch three or four Expeditionary Forces at the same time, perhaps the speed of expansion could compare to the Three-Party Alliance.

Now all they could do was expand outward as quickly as possible, trying their best to keep up with the Three-Party Alliance's expansion speed.

The main force was on the way; crossing the Wailing Mountains might be the first time the Dragon Kingdom leaped out of the Heart of the Hive.

Su Yang hoped to see new opportunities there.

As his thoughts flickered, he summoned the Chancellor Artificial Intelligence.

"Report the current un-upgraded technologies and facilities in the territory in order of importance."

[Analyzing...]

[The following content is arranged according to its relevance to the territory's conquest strategy.]

[Conquest technology and facilities: Upgrade of Level 5 Great Qin Armored Elite Soldiers, upgrade of Level 2 dark iron heavy armored vehicle and Level 2 thousand-mile blazing horse.]

[Upgrade of Level 3 Generals Mansion, upgrade of Level 2 Foundry and Astrology Tower.]

[Note: After the Level 2 Foundry and Astrology Tower are upgraded, they will summon relevant hero units.]

[Logistics technology and facilities: Great Qin breeding base upgrade, vassal state Main Base and resource production facility improvement.]

[Shennong Creation Institute titanium mining, biological information identification device.]

[Defense technology and facilities: Level 4 steel city wall, Level 5 power grid city wall, reconnaissance radar, electromagnetic automated ballista tower, magnetic skyfire tower, storm tower.]

[The above are all currently unlocked technologies.]

"To quickly expand the troops, is there any operable path?"

[Analyzing...]

[It is recommended to prioritize upgrading the Level 3 Generals Mansion and Level 2 Foundry.]

[The Level 3 Generals Mansion can unlock the Great Qin Military System; in the future, soldiers can be summoned and upgraded by organizational unit, saving a large amount of command points.]

[The Level 2 Foundry can unlock standardized production, which can carry out large-scale modifications and weapon scale upgrades for troops.]

So the Great Qin Military System was hidden here! Su Yang's eyes flashed.

With the military System, future recruitment and upgrades wouldn't need to be done one by one.

For Great Qin, that was simply too small-scale!

And according to the System description, upgrading troops by organizational unit would also have command point reductions.

This had great significance for quickly forming the second Expeditionary Force!

Perhaps before General Li Xin and General Meng Tian returned, the second Great Qin Expeditionary Force could be formed.

Upgrading the Generals Mansion and Foundry both required 300 units of steel, and the Foundry also required electricity supply.

Because a lot of resources were loaded into the wolf smokes, the territory couldn't provide these resources now and must wait until tomorrow.

It just so happened that the command points were also exhausted; after General Li Xin and General Meng Tian fought back command points today, building upgrades and unit summoning could proceed simultaneously tomorrow.

Besides the army System, Su Yang also noticed the titanium mining and biological information identification device of the Shennong Creation Institute.

One of these two was titanium mining to further improve armor capability, and the other was biological identification to enhance reconnaissance capability.

After the second Expeditionary Force was established, Su Yang would consider unlocking these two technologies.

After the expedition and logistics modules, it was the base defense technology and facilities.

Electromagnetics, in addition to the huge improvement it brought to the expedition troops, also greatly improved the territory's defense.

After unlocking automation technology, all ballista towers above the city wall could be upgraded to automatic turrets.

No manpower would be needed; they could automatically identify and shoot at enemies throughout the process.

And the Level 5 city walls were also fully equipped with power grids; after the upgrade, whether it was Zerglings or Stinger Bugs, the electric grid would be enough for them to handle.

Besides these, the storm tower among the newly unlocked buildings aroused Su Yang's interest.

Not for anything else, but the name sounded too cool.

Unfortunately, the storm tower could only be unlocked after all the outer city walls of the territory were upgraded to Level 5.

This would consume a large amount of resources, which was definitely not cost-effective for the territory.

So even though Su Yang was curious about the storm tower, he could only wait until later.

Now the primary task was the expedition of General Li Xin and General Meng Tian.

As long as the expedition went smoothly, everything that followed would develop steadily.