First Battlefield Commander! - Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Kill Shot

Liu Hao had just finished speaking when one of the company commanders said with a dark expression, "Are you... out of your mind? Is this the time for jokes?"

Another company commander added, "Unless it's a personal grudge involving getting screwed over, I won't accept it. Even if it is... I can understand but still can't accept it."

"Trust me, attack them! We'll talk after fighting!" Liu Hao wiped his face and said, "Those two on the other side are really strong. They must be marked as high priority targets!"

A company commander asked, "Isn't Zhao Zhuoluo's team the ones who should be marked as high priority?"

Liu Hao: "Then mark them as ultra-high priority!"

The company commanders: "..."

Hundred Meter Flying Dagger said, "Those are my friends. One Fengyi mech and one Pojun mech. If you see them, I suggest being careful."

Someone reported over the comms: "Enemy forces approaching from the opposite side!"

They had deployed troops on both paths. Occupying the slightly wider sections of road at turns while leaving the narrower sections ahead for the enemy.

The first report of enemy contact came from the side path.

The scout exclaimed in surprise: "Why are they sending high-spec mechs? I see two. Couldn't make out the ones behind clearly, but caught glimpses of what seemed like mid-spec mechs."

Liu Hao frowned: "No way? Are they really trying to break through from the side path for a pincer attack?"

He had only stationed troops on the side path as a precaution—in most situations, enemy forces wouldn't choose to break through from such a narrow path. The road was so tight that two mechs side by side would feel cramped. If intercepted, both sides would likely end up deadlocked. Moreover, even for regular troop movement, their current speed seemed unbearably slow.

So what was the enemy's objective with this maneuver?

"Block them. Take cover behind the turn and fire at full power—we must stop their advance." Liu Hao then asked, "What about the central path?"

The scout on the central path was peeking out from behind a wall and reported: "I see movement. The ones in front... are also high-spec mechs! The vanguard has a mix of mid and low-spec mechs—not sure what's going on."

Liu Hao: "Who exactly?"

"Too far to see clearly!" The scout ducked back slightly. "Prepare for combat!"

"Huh?" Liu Hao looked at Hundred Meter Flying Dagger. "What's their play here?"

"Judging by the situation, it seems so." Hundred Meter Flying Dagger said, "On the battlefield, nothing is impossible. Just analyze the data properly."

Liu Hao said, "Are they trying to use high-spec mechs to reverse their earlier disadvantage?"

Hundred Meter Flying Dagger: "In terms of basic soldier quality, they're indeed no match for us. Fighting at the mountain cliffs would be like feeding us kills."

Liu Hao: "Deploying high-spec mechs now would also be like prepaying for deaths, no?"

Hundred Meter Flying Dagger said, "It shows she's truly a bold one."

Liu Hao's lips twitched. This wasn't exactly something to be happy about.

Zhao Zhuoluo led his team to the turn. The area behind was a blind spot—it was unclear if enemies were lying in wait. He halted the team temporarily to probe the situation.

Suddenly, a cannon barrel extended from behind the wall. Super Bright Bulb didn't blink, immediately swinging his arm to strike the wall surface. The impact knocked the barrel askew, sending its firepower harmlessly into the air.

"Prepare to attack!" Zhao Zhuoluo pointed ahead. "Front line watch for ambush, rear line fire at the spot I hit!"

The mechs behind him quickly adjusted formation. The front line crouched to give those behind a clear line of sight, then began attacking as instructed.

Zhao Zhuoluo raised his cannon and fired a heavy shot at a section of cliff face before the turn. Instantly, rocks came showering down.

The sound of artillery fire erupted around him as shots flew past both sides toward the front. Above, chunks of shattered cliff face and dirt rained down on his mech's body.

Super Bright Bulb moved to the flank, extending his arm at an angle to fire compressed air blasts forward. The falling debris was all blown toward the enemy by the shockwaves.

Rear-line mechs adjusted their cannons to aim at the depression he'd created and began concentrated fire.

Liu Team's outer mechs saw the yellow sand rushing toward them and instinctively raised arms to block. Then came a series of deafening booms as the entire cliff face—along with the ground beneath their feet—began shaking violently.

They shouted: "Holy shit! Hey! You psychos on the other side, what the hell are you trying to do at this range?!"

"Stop messing around—there's no way you're blasting through here! At least half this thickness is solid rock—it won't break!" someone from the opposite side yelled. "Don't you even know basics like this?"

"Why are you telling them that?"

"Does it matter if I do? Tighten formation! Everyone move inward—don't fall off!"

Zhao Zhuoluo ignored them completely, continuing to raise his weapon and attack relentlessly.

The spot gradually transformed from a small dent into a noticeable depression. Zhao Zhuoluo raised his arm, signaling everyone to cease fire. Then he drew the longsword from his back.

He took a slight step back, focused ahead, and crouched slightly to gather momentum before pushing off hard with his heels. Using his thrusters, he launched forward.

With a swing of his right arm, he drove the longsword fiercely into a crack in the blasted cliff face. His entire body slammed against it—the tremendous impact bounced him back slightly, but he grabbed hold of the wall with one hand, remaining firmly anchored to the cliff face.

His soldiers let out a collective: "Whoa—!"

Without pause, Zhao Zhuoluo adjusted his posture roughly, raised his left arm, and fired blindly around the cliff face.

Liu Team's soldiers were still focused on defending against frontal attacks. The dense artillery fire drowned out other sounds, leaving them unable to detect the threat. When attacks suddenly rained from above, they were caught off guard—the front line was wiped out instantly.

With their limited sightlines, the rear troops couldn't see what was happening either. They retreated in panic.

"What's going on?"

"You've seen a ghost!"

"Front line, stop retreating! This area's too narrow!"

"Don't block the view—identify where the attacks are coming from first!"

Hearing the chaotic shouting over comms, Liu Hao sensed trouble: "What's happening? Everyone steady! Stay calm!"

"Above!" a soldier finally spotted it. "On the cliff face! There's a mech clinging up there—aim and fire! Front line, stay composed—don't lose formation. Focus on defense!"

But it was too late. Amid the confusion, Super Bright Bulb had already led troops around the turn.

A barrage of artillery fire came at them directly. Having missed their best chance to counterattack, all they saw through the dust kicked up by Bulb's compressed air blasts were the wreckage of their comrades' mechs—their vision completely obstructed.

Two heavy mechs advanced side by side with thrusters engaged.

The narrow path left no room to dodge. In an instant, a whole line of mechs were pushed together and sent tumbling off the cliff.

The rear of the formation realized something was wrong: "Reporting issues! People upfront are retreating too fast—disrupting formation. Should we just self-destruct them?"

The soldier at the front said aggrievedly, "Someone's pushing us!"

Their side was in complete chaos. The fragmented reports made it impossible to reconstruct the battlefield situation.

Liu Hao ordered: "Team leaders decide whether to adjust or retreat—make it quick!"

The company commander there said, "Preserve our strength—recommend retreat."

"All units, fall back in order! I repeat, fall back in order!" Liu Hao commanded. "Withdraw past the intersection and set up ambush positions on both sides of the desert map—prepare to counterattack!"

Just as their side path forces were retreating in disarray, still reorganizing, comms from the main path came through.

"Commander!" a frontline soldier reported urgently. "Situation not looking good—there's a freak on the other side. One of your personal grudges."

Liu Hao rubbed his temples: "What kind of freak? No jokes now—just give me the key points!"

"Nothing special! Just freakishly skilled!" the soldier said. "We're in direct confrontation—he's going for straight-up slaughter!"

Bright Bulb was piloting a high-spec Pojun mech—fast and aggressive. With a longsword in one hand and an energy cannon in the other, he charged forward for the kill.

His positioning was impeccable—using enemy mechs as cover while occasionally extending an arm to fire a shot.

Though seemingly engaged in close combat, he didn't finish off the frontline soldier immediately. Instead, he kept maneuvering and firing.

His movements were agile and adaptable. The snipers in the rear couldn't predict his patterns and, fearing they might hit their own, hesitated to pull their triggers.

The company members watched his solo performance with collective gasps, barely needing to lift a finger. They worried their own artillery might disrupt his rhythm.

Bright Bulb's mastery of mech operation had surpassed ordinary description.

Using thrusters for turns, jumps, and sudden stops—for beginners, even activating thrusters once was risky because high-speed changes meant instability. Yet Bulb matched almost every minor movement with precisely timed thruster bursts to maintain speed while keeping his center of gravity stable.

This made his movements appear exceptionally fluid, as if his mech's performance specs were a tier above theirs.

The skill on display was downright dazzling.

Liu Team's rear forces didn't dare advance recklessly to assist because the moment they stepped forward, snipers like Fang Jianchen would provide covering fire.

"Didn't they say the other side had no snipers left?"

"Clearly an exaggeration."

"Doesn't seem exaggerated now."

"Focus fire on him!" Liu Hao slapped the ground. "Even if there's friendly fire, taking him out is worth it. Artillery barrage—kill him!"

The soldiers were shocked: "Commander, are you serious?"

"Now! Frontline, retreat if you can—concentrate fire to wipe him out!" Liu Hao ordered. "Leaving him alive is a disaster!"

The frontline soldiers quickly fell back to create distance while the rear ranks raised their cannons for a concentrated strike.

Seeing their formation change, Bright Bulb sensed danger and prepared to retreat, shouting: "Attack!"

The soldier he'd been toying with suddenly found purpose in life, deciding to sacrifice himself for the team. He lunged forward in a bear hug, grabbing Bulb's leg.

Bulb immediately engaged forward thrusters, but the tug on his leg threw him off balance, sending him sprawling forward.

Bulb ejected from the cockpit, rolled upon landing, and scrambled toward cover at the edge.

Fang Jianchen waved urgently: "Heavy mechs—protect your company commander!"

Frontline mechs rushed forward, using their bodies as shields.

Instantly, flames erupted skyward as Liu Team's soldiers unleashed indiscriminate bombardment at the center.

Bulb covered his head and dashed through the gaps, safely reaching the main forces' rear.

Fang Jianchen seized the moment to advance with his team, initiating direct confrontation.

Since Lian Sheng had positioned mid-spec mechs in the vanguard, their firepower perfectly suppressed the enemy. After the clash, casualty rates began diverging noticeably.

Fang Jianchen hugged his rifle and reported: "Bright Bulb's mech is done for. I tried, but the other side chose mutual destruction."

Lian Sheng: "The pilot?"

Fang Jianchen: "Still alive."

"Get him a mid-spec mech—switch immediately." Lian Sheng ordered. "Advance toward the desert area—watch for ambushes on both flanks. Comrades! Maintain this momentum—victory is ours! Keep the initiative—don't give the enemy a chance to recover and reverse the situation!"

She issued rapid commands: "Side path troops prepare to regroup! Shift to the main path—keep distance from the vanguard and advance toward the desert together. Main path rear forces fall back—prepare to rendezvous with Zhao Zhuoluo's team!"

A company commander asked in confusion: "Liu Team's forces have already retreated from the side path—this is the perfect chance to take it. A pincer attack would net us plenty of kills—isn't that the whole point?"

Lian Sheng: "Fall back first! On my command! Return to the central path immediately!"

Zhao Zhuoluo covered the rear, directing frontline troops to turn and retreat, abandoning the side path.

Lian Sheng glanced at the numbers.

No surprise—mech battles progressed much faster than ancient battlefield simulations. With dense formations and high-damage artillery, casualties were doubling rapidly.

By the time they'd advanced two-thirds of the way, the numbers stood at:

Lian Team (4112) : Liu Team (4098)

This likely included some who'd already lost their mechs and were now fighting as infantry.

Zhou Shirui compared the map distance with current casualty rates: "By the time we reach the desert area, our numbers should stabilize around 3500:3000."

But they'd lost one high-spec mech and, according to reports, no fewer than ten mid-spec mechs.

Was it worth it?

Lian Sheng nodded in acknowledgment.

Meanwhile, Hundred Meter Flying Dagger analyzed the data: "Currently, we're not at a disadvantage. Once we enter the desert map, low-spec mechs will lose mobility, but we still need to be careful. Right now, we're being suppressed—our rhythm's disrupted. We absolutely can't carry this state into the next phase."

Liu Hao scratched his head, baffled at being overpowered on both paths: "How are their individual soldiers so strong?!"

Hundred Meter Flying Dagger said, "The strong are exceptionally strong, the weak exceptionally weak—the overall gap is huge. But this actually makes them easier to handle."

"When Zhao Zhuoluo's team exits the side path, we'll ambush them from both sides. Main path forces will retreat and set up another ambush on the desert map's flanks. If the enemy dares enter, we'll seize back control." Liu Hao instructed his frontline troops: "Feign retreat! Withdraw faster to minimize losses! Take out as many of their mid-spec mechs as you can—don't hold back!"

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