Counterfeit Hero

The hills and flatlands surrounding the small hill are already boiling in the fire of war. Countless shells fell to the ground, and the damp soil mixed with shattered branches rose skyward amid explosions, tumbling down like a rain of mud. The muddy water on the ground, mixed with foamy blood, flowed into the large craters created by the explosions, swirling and gathering at the bottom of the pits.

From the small hill, one could see countless mechas firing at each other, red and black, and the rolling steel torrent galloping back and forth on the battlefield, engaging in mutual slaughter. The interwoven Energy Cannons were as dense as a fishing net, and screaming Mechanical Missiles darted chaotically across the battleground, with burning mecha wreckage scattered everywhere. Even in this torrential rain, the blazing flames still crackled and rolled, emitting thick black smoke.

”Third Platoon Seventh Squad has reached the designated position.”

In the mud-covered mecha, the young Mechanical Warrior with bloodshot eyes reported the situation via communicator. Behind him, over forty similar black mechas were crossing the wreckage-strewn flatland, dodging the barrage of raindrop-like shells, and consecutively diving down beneath the 45-meter-high small hill.

Each black mecha, covered in mud and scars, and each weary yet excited face, wrapped in a blue uniform bearing the military insignia of the bandits. This was the Bandit Army SM 3rd Group led by Markovich.

At five a.m., Markovich led the Bandit Army SM 3rd Group at Breslau Farm, 87 kilometers southwest of Puluo Town and 125 kilometers east of the Lorenzo River, launching an attack against the Northern Alliance Blood Shadow Mecha Group’s Sixth Armored Battalion and Seventh Armored Battalion that were advancing along the district road.

The first to attack was the 3rd Battalion commanded by Baz, who struck from the flank, quickly engaging an advance armor company of the Northern Alliance.

The battle on both sides almost entered a fever pitch state within the first second of engagement.

The Northern Alliance Armored Forces, spread at the company level across the district road and plains on both wings, suffered heavy losses in the bandit’s first wave of attack. Two armor battalions were separated, with an advance company and the convoy in the middle of the formation suffering devastating blows. The entire Northern Alliance Armored Forces were trapped in a 15-kilometer long, 5-kilometer wide hill region.

However, after withstanding the first wave of attack from the bandits, the two Northern Alliance armored battalions, apparently mentally prepared for the assault, began to gradually close ranks, regrouping to occupy the surrounding commanding heights.

The battle between the two sides was fiercely intense, and the offense and defense switched rapidly. Often, just as the bandits achieved a breakthrough and had no time to insert and divide, the Northern Alliance desperately sealed the torn formation. And just as the Northern Alliance attempted to occupy several commanding heights in retreat, the bandits took them down first.

When the two companies led by Cosmo from the First Armored Battalion completed a large-scale flanking encirclement along a tributary of the Lorenzo River on the left wing and the hills east of Breslau Farm on the right wing, losing nearly two hundred mechas, the Northern Alliance Armored Battalion finally seized several small hilltops east of the fruit district in Breslau Farm as they retreated, before the bandit’s flanking encirclement could close in. They established a circular defensive line, trying to hold out for reinforcements.

Then came the siege battle. This battle lasted for two full hours!

Beneath the small hill, rows of mechas were by now so filthy that their color was indiscernible, lying prone in the mud.

Across the ten-plus square kilometers of hill flatland, there were fleeting explosion flashes everywhere, and as night passed, in the morning glow, this land contained not a breath of fresh air. The warriors’ gradually widened vision was filled with burning mecha wreckage and swirling black smoke.

After rushing overnight and fighting continuously for two more hours, these Bandit Army Mecha Soldiers were almost exhausted to the brink of collapse.

If they could close their eyes now, no one would want to rise again.

No one dared to close their eyes. The warriors knew that the battle had reached the most critical moment.

The two encircled Northern Alliance armored battalions were already at the end of their strength. Now, at most only about a third of them were still fighting to the death, holding out fiercely. The rest had already become wreckage scattered across the land. With just a little more effort, they could be completely annihilated.

The cannon fire in the northeast direction was growing more intense. That was the other two Northern Alliance armored battalions that arrived forty minutes ago. They were attacking the Second Battalion line commanded by Weiseler, trying to rescue the encircled Northern Alliance troops. If even the slightest relaxation occurred right now, the enemy’s continual breakout attempts might lead them to escape the encirclement.

With bloodshot eyes wide open, the warriors awaited orders. By now, the battle wasn’t related to victory or defeat but to the result of the bandit’s counter-siege operation, involving the lives of over two million Puluo Town civilians and the blood debt of twenty-one thousand three hundred sixty-eight massacred refugees!

At the beginning, when hearing the base announce this statistic, few dared to believe it. As members of this world, the Mech Knights never imagined people born and raised like them would be able to lay such cruel hands on innocent civilians. On the base’s statistical map sent over, it was a large area covered in red dots.

But now, those red dots had vanished, replaced with the blood soaking the land.

That was over twenty thousand lives! From birth to adulthood... each one of them owned a world! They were merely hidden on the sidelines, posing no threat to anyone! How could those Northern Alliance scum bear to do this?

Could the Free World only always be a dark place where the weak are prey to the strong, isolated by the mainstream human society?

The young Mechanical Warriors listened to the explosions shaking the earth, looking back at the vast land behind them... They traveled across it, fighting all the way.

The Armored Group sent by the Suss Empire fell before the SM 3rd Group on its first expedition. Now, it was the turn of the Blood Shadow Mecha Group, known as the soul of the Northern Alliance!

The enemy was the most formidable force of the Northern Alliance, having undergone years of secret training. Before the Sect War erupted, no one even knew about this army’s existence! Yet, in just a month, they built their reputation through dozens of battles, large and small, as the Northern Alliance swept over the Free World!

Without an energy weapon system, their red [Gust], arrogantly challenged the finest forces of the Three Major Schools, and with an energy weapon system, they even disregarded the elite regular forces of Suss!

Puluo Town faced a six-way encirclement by the Northern Alliance. Removing the Suss Armored Group defeated last night still left five routes. For the cradle-stage Sect Mutual Aid Alliance, this was practically a dead-end!

The Fatty officer pointed out a path that was anything but conventional. To survive, they must maneuver through the enemy’s siege, traversing Puluo Town’s Three-Ring Road for 226 kilometers! Endure for 36 hours!

Looking westward, the sky over Puluo Town was already flashing white light. The enemy had begun their attack on the Puluo Town defenses. Time was running out for the 3rd Group!

Every gaze, every hope, rested on this team!

”Charge!” The platoon leader ended the call and waved his hand, and the Mechanical Warriors leaped up, dispersing, and forty-plus mechas rushed down the hill, crossed the flatlands, charging toward the enemy’s defenses.

Shell after shell exploded beside them, and on the opposing ridge, the enemy’s cannon fire intensified once again.

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.(To be continued. For more updates, please visit www.qidian.com, support the author, support original reading!)