Chapter 700: Chapter 447: Strong Self-Confidence

The intense explosions caused the ground and mountain walls to tremble, as countless rocks and dust rained down from the sky, creating a crackling sound.

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”

“Watch out above!”

“Take cover immediately!”

“Initiate Plan B-4, deploy the ‘Folding Barrier’ now!”

The officers of the Imperial Army responded swiftly, blowing sharp whistles and shouting loudly.

The pattern of the whistle–three long and one short, then two short and one long–seemed to contain some sort of code.

The troops didn’t panic under the sudden bombardment, thanks to their regular training and strong obedience. They quickly sprang into action upon the orders and whistles from their commanders.

Except for a few extremely unlucky soldiers who were directly hit by the bombs falling from the sky, pulverized into fragments, the remaining soldiers worked in groups, pulling out palm-sized metal cubes from their backpacks, activating them and tossing them onto the ground.

With several loud clangs, the metal cubes hit the ground and unfolded into cross-shaped metal plates, which then continued to flip over multiple times, spreading out into a large iron mat on the ground. Finally, like inflating balloons, they arched up to form a tent-sized hemispherical shelter.

The soldiers orderly crawled into the “Ironskin Sphere,” seeking refuge from the bombing. Although it didn’t provide complete protection, it significantly reduced the amount of shrapnel and burn injuries… Meanwhile, the exterior of the “Ironskin Sphere” opened several slots through which the barrels of Flintlock Guns extended, aiming at the enemy forces on both sides of the mountain above them.

“Counterattack!!”

The Imperial Army officers didn’t even seek shelter; they stood boldly outside, erect and facing the blast wave and strong winds, blowing their whistles.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh–

The whistling pierced through the canyon. Several officers were blown to bits on the spot, with limbs and body parts flying everywhere, but the rest remained indifferent as if death held no fear for them.

Thud thud thud…!!

Bullets rained upwards from the bottom of the canyon like reverse rainfall, and for a moment, the Suicide Squad of the Anlong United Kingdom fell rapidly and plummeted from the cliffs.

Their bodies spun fast, like damaged rag dolls hitting the ground with dull thuds. A few bodies landed on the Ironskin hemispheres, denting deep craters into them and staining them dark red with blood.

By this time, General Vance had already alighted from his carriage, closely followed by four towering Military Guards over two meters tall, each holding a door-sized shield to protect him.

The General, hands clasped behind his back and standing tall, walked calmly through the gunfire, his face adorned with a pair of sunglasses as he looked up to assess the situation of the enemy forces.

Those Anlong enemy forces on the mountain wall had suffered heavy casualties. Despite their prior ambush positioning, they were disadvantaged in numbers and, once exposed without cover and protection, were immediately decimated by the counterattack of the Imperial Army.

Moments later, General Vance said indifferently,

“Order the ‘Mechanical Falcon’ to carry out pursuit. Do not let a single enemy escape.”

“Yes, General,”

The messenger following behind immediately responded and relayed the order to the officers through the walkie-talkie:

“Send out the Mechanical Falcon! Pursue the enemy!”

Beep–

Another strange whistle sounded.

Hundreds of Mechanical Falcons, spewing steam and with gears turning beneath their bellies, flapped their wings and soared into the sky, circling above the canyon.

They quickly located those naked figures fleeing on the mountainside, their eyes glowing red as they opened their beaks to reveal black steel barrels.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh–

The steel barrels fired flashes and shells with precision.

Boom boom boom!!

The shells rained down on the mountainside, shattering the retreating Suicide Squad of Anlong into pieces. Along with smoke and debris, flesh even carbonized into fine particles, blooming like fireworks.

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A moment later.

Chen Lun walked through the temporary camp with his subordinates crowding around him.

“Leader, it seems General Vance anticipated this attack and did not need our help at all. Those ‘Military Guards’ cultivated with Mysterious Substance have already surrounded him with layers of protection…”

Frey and other council members reported the situation in low voices.

Chen Lun hummed in acknowledgment and nodded slightly.

He watched as medical soldiers methodically carried the injured on stretchers into tents, while treated soldiers casually walked out, dressing in their uniforms and chatting about returning to their units.

‘The Imperial Army’s fidelity to the Sun Royal Family is unwavering, with extreme obedience and discipline, along with extraordinary technology developed by the advanced workshops, plus medical standards surpassing other nations, directly endowing the Imperial Army with overwhelming military capabilities… I underestimated them.’

Chen Lun couldn’t help shaking his head with this realization.

In his last life, although he participated in the Western War, it had always been a runaway victory. In every battle, the Imperial Army almost always overran the Anlong forces, so much so that he had not been aware of some of the countermeasures that the Imperial Army had kept in reserve.

Now, having personally experienced this ambush and counter-attack, he reassessed the strength of the Imperial Army in his mind, but it was accompanied by even deeper doubts.

‘If the Imperial Army is so powerful, why then did they suffer a Waterloo at Hercules Bridgehead Fortress? Was it because they were overconfident? Considering General Vance’s character, that might indeed be possible.’

Chen Lun thought to himself.

After a short while, he arrived at the command tent, where General Vance was located. Under the watchful eyes of a few Guardians, Chen Lun asked his subordinates to wait outside and entered the tent alone.