Chapter 911: Yue Zhong arrives!
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
If it were in normal peace times, if the 6 generals were to tender their resignation, Han Qiong would definitely be overjoyed. It would allow Yue Zhong to put his trusted aides into the armies.
However, at this critical moment, the resignation of the 6 of them caused Han Qiong to be vexed. However, after clarifying with Yue Zhong, she relented.
If they were forced to stay, who knew what they might do during a crisis. It would be better to let those without the will to fight, leave.
Due to their departure, it caused a wave among their subordinates, and many commanders who were not willing to risk their lives immediately followed their example.
If it were Wei Ming Qing, these people would not have dared to be this audacious. However, since they had just recently pledged themselves to Yue Zhong, their loyalty was not set in stone yet. Yue Zhong was helpless, but he had to let them leave.
Due to the sudden departure of so many military commanders, many people within the forts were shaken.
It was at this moment that Han Qiong swiftly inserted the people she brought over from the Storm Battleship, into the armies.
These commanders from the Storm Battleship were all slaves in the past, in order to change their lives, they had fought with all their might, unafraid of death. They even had an intimidating aura.
With the appointment of these commanders, the soldiers slowly began to settle down.
When the troops were reorganized, Han Qiong followed Yue Zhong's orders and deployed them units by units to the frontline.
In this Xue Luo 20 Forts, only the 1st to 3rd Forts had experience battling against the other races. The rest of the forts would frequently send their soldiers out for experience as well, but compared to the 1st to 3rd Forts, they were truly lacking. Thus, they could not compare to the elites of the 1st three Forts. Even so, they were placed under training every day, familiarizing themselves with the various equipment and weapons.
When Zheng Yan He received the reinforcement troops from Han Qiong, he heaved a sigh of relief. He then sent his direct subordinates back to Han Qiong, firstly as a means of rest for them, second, it was to express his intentions for Han Qiong to hold them as hostages if she so wished.
He had been unwilling to take part in the conflict between men, thus he did not except Yue Zhong's offer to join him. He had always been about the big picture, and he knew that it was a time where they all had to cooperate. Without Yue Zhong's support, he and his soldiers would have died long ago. That was why he delivered his own troops over to Han Qiong, expressing his subservience.
In response, Yue Zhong threw even more into support, ordering Han Qiong to push even more logistics and reinforcements to the frontlines.
At the same time, the various production facilities were working overtime, repairing and building new automatic defense equipment, in preparation for the big battle.
The defense of the 1st Fort had been astonishing. According to the estimates of the upper echelons of Cloud Region, they had thought that it would take a million soldiers to break through it.
A million soldiers was a huge number to the Tyranno-Kingdom with the naturally small occurring population. After paying a huge price, they would then have no more energy or power to push through the 2nd Fort. Hence, although the rest of the Forts had their own self-defense systems, they were incomparable to the importance of the 1st to 3rd.
Zheng Yan He had now had ample forces, however, against the frenzied foreign races, the defenses of the other Forts were not as powerful as the 1st 3, hence, the subsequent Forts were being taken down in succession.
Each fort could only hold out for 3 days, there were some which could barely last a day before being breached.
After 25 days, the Xue Luo Forts, termed as infallible, had been largely destroyed, leaving behind the last and final, 20th Fort.
On the 25th day of battle, the foreign armies had lost 2 million soldiers, covering over 10 li, where numerous corpses could be seen along the way. The fresh blood had already dyed the entire plains a dark red.
As for the humans, Zheng Yan He had given his all to command the battle, yet, he had already lost 20,000 human soldiers. The destroyed Mech-Fighters had reached 30,000.
In front of the 20th Fort, a large number of Boar-Warriors were now surging towards the city wall. The Boar-Warriors and Pig-Warriors had a strong breeding ability, thus, they were the favorite cannon fodders of the Dino-Races.
In the skies, some hundreds of Cardinal-Warriors soared, attracting the firepower from the Fort.
The human soldiers on the city wall wielded their weapons and fired them alongside the automatic defenses at the enemy troops.
In the past battles, Zheng Yan He had tried to protect the human soldiers as much as he could. Thus, he would seldom deploy the soldiers to fight. However, the situation was different now. The 20th Fort was the final stand, they had no way of retreat. In order to defend the place, he had no choice but to activate the human troops.
The benefit of having human soldiers at the onset of battle was that they could help prevent the damage to their automated defenses. The disadvantage was that the casualty rate would then climb faster.
The humans and the vassal forces of the Dino-army clashed against each other. It was incredibly violent, with numerous soldiers losing their lives.
In a secret basement of the 20th Fort, the various commanders were in a meeting.
Ma Lei spoke, "What do we do? Seems like it's hard to defend the 20th Fort. I think we should prepare to retreat now and conserve some troops for Leader."
The 20th Fort had a tight defense as well as automated defenses. Even with 160,000 elites on standby, as well as the most advanced technologies, no one had the confidence to say that they could hold out.
This was because they had seen for themselves the terror of the Dino-army's vassal forces. Under the relentless counterattack by the soldiers in the past 19 Forts, there were already over 3 million of the enemy forces wiped out. And yet, they were still coming, as though there was no end to them. The ferocity of the siege caused a chill even in the sturdiest of hearts.
What was most demoralizing was that, other than some rare moments where the Dino-warriors would make a move, for the most part of this assault, the Dino-army had not yet made a move. They were watching the battle coldly, and that sort of pressure was extremely despairing.
Han Qiong's face turned cold, "This is already the last stand for the humans, how can we retreat? If we retreat, that would mean allowing those demons into Cloud Region. It would become a hunting ground for them here."
The 20th Fort was the final form of defense for the human population in Cloud Region. Once this was breached, all of Cloud Region would be exposed to the enemy.
In the hundreds of years, the human population had dumped a lot of resources into the 20 Forts and the construction of the palace. It was due to this investment that the 19 Forts could eradicate over 3 million enemies.
Inside Cloud Region, the defenses of the cities were considerably weaker. 2,000 ordinary Dino-Warriors could easily wipe out a city that had 200,000 humans.
If they allowed the Dino-warriors to enter Cloud Region, it would be a calamity.
Ma Lei continued stubbornly, "I feel that we should conserve our strength. Cloud Region is so vast if we retreat, the Dino-army definitely has to scatter. We can then make use of the advantage in terrain to wipe them out in skirmishes. If we stand guard here, once the fort is breached, there will not be any forces to stand against them,"
"Furthermore, our strength is almost spent here. Leader does not have our support at all, he must be having it tough." Ma Lei quickly added that sentence, before turning to Shao Yun, who had been silent, asking, "Shao Yun, what do you think?"
Ma Lei, Shao Yun, Han Qiong, Sun Lan Lan were the most important 4 subordinates under Yue Zhong.
Shao Yun frowned and spoke out, "I feel we should consult Leader. If he wants us to defend, we will defend. If he wants us to retreat, we will retreat!"
Ma Lei furrowed his brows and sighed inwardly. He had hoped to retreat then report to Yue Zhong. At that time, he had hoped that by conserving some troops for Yue Zhong, he would not blame him.
Han Qiong nodded, "Fine. I'll report to Leader Yue Zhong."
"There's no need. I'm here."
At this moment, the door opened, and Yue Zhong walked in.
"Leader!!"
Following surprised and excited cheers, all the commanders stood up in the room, looking at Yue Zhong with gazes of joy.
Yue Zhong declared firmly, "We shall stand our ground for 20 days! We need to guard here, and not retreat in these 20 days!"
All of them immediately replied in unison, "Yes sir!"
Ma Lei immediately asked after, "Leader, why 20 days before retreating?"
Yue Zhong responded, "Because it will take 20 days for all the humans in Cloud Region to escape from here. In these 20 days, we must guard here with all our lives, and not allow the fort to fall!"
When the 20 Forts had been besieged, Yue Zhong had not stopped working, immediately setting plans for the humans from Cloud Region to migrate over to the 2nd World.
Due to the vast size of Cloud Region, while Yue Zhong's orders were being carried out, it would still take some time to evacuate all the humans throughout the region. 20 days was the absolute limit.