bookrandom Chapter 1388 A little disappointed
Chapter 1388 A little disappointed
Their faces also radiated the ecstatic joy of surviving a catastrophe and boundless awe of Xiao Dingshan's power. Recapturing the capital was an unimaginable victory for them, a symbol of restoring their kingdom!
They were indeed happy because Xiao Dingshan's army was too powerful; their overwhelming offensive was simply unstoppable...
They were also full of confidence!
Xiao Dingshan sat upright on his horse, the shadow under his hood casting a shadow over his cold face.
He ignored the sycophantic praises from Shahar and his men at his feet, his sharp gaze like the most sophisticated scanner, slowly sweeping over the city he had just conquered.
Something's definitely wrong with him, because it's too quiet...
It's so quiet.
Apart from the heavy footsteps of the robots and the howling of the wind and snow, there was almost no other sound.
There were no signs of large-scale street fighting, no expected fierce resistance, and even... very few cries of panic from civilians.
The houses lining both sides of the street were mostly closed, their doors and windows shut, a deathly stillness, like a giant tomb...
More importantly, there are traces of battle.
The damage to the city walls was caused by a powerful energy weapon bombardment!
The streets were littered with only scattered small explosion craters and traces of robots running over them. The corpses of enemy soldiers... were pitifully few.
This was by no means a brutal siege; it was more like a planned retreat and cleanup of the battlefield.
"Night Owl".
Xiao Dingshan's voice was devoid of any warmth!
"Battlefield analysis report. Assessment of enemy casualties and resistance intensity. Residual materials and energy within the city."
Data streams flashed rapidly in Night Owl's eyes, and after a moment, he coldly replied: "Reporting to Master: Based on battlefield remnants and scanning analysis, the city wall's defensive force consisted of approximately 1,000 to 1,500 soldiers equipped with basic exoskeletons and energy weapons. Resistance time: 37 minutes and 12 seconds. Confirmed destruction of approximately... 237 enemy personnel, including some unidentified fragments."
"The remaining garrison has evacuated in an orderly manner through pre-designated underground passages and the ruins in the southern part of the city, with traces pointing south toward Fort Don."
"The city's main warehouses and arms have been emptied or burned, with less than five percent remaining as expected."
No large-scale lurking troops or traps were detected.
The cold, hard data presented to Xiao Dingshan confirmed his intuition.
"Humph."
A disdainful snort came from under the hood, piercing the frenzied atmosphere created by Shahar and his men like an ice pick.
"Do you think such a victory is something to be happy about? Something to celebrate?"
Shahar's fawning smile froze on his face instantly, a chill running from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
"Master...no matter what, it was your divine power that intimidated them...you are still very powerful..."
Upon hearing Shahar's words, Xiao Dingshan's disdain deepened...
He cautiously raised his head, stealing a glance at Xiao Dingshan: "Master...Master? What...what are your instructions? Should...should a grand triumphant return ceremony be held for you immediately at the palace...?"
"Triumphant return?"
Xiao Dingshan interrupted him, his voice filled with undisguised sarcasm!
For the first time, his gaze truly fell upon Shahar's obsequious yet fearful face, and he rebuked him, "Shahar, are your eyes just decorations? Or has your mind been clouded by this victory? You think this is what you call smooth sailing?"
"You think that just because you're back, you've gotten away with it? What's going on in your head?"
Shahar trembled violently, nearly collapsing to the ground: "Master...this subordinate...this subordinate is foolish..."
"Look at this city!"
Xiao Dingshan suddenly raised his hand, pointing to the desolate street and the collapsed city wall, and roared, "Now I understand! How could you have suffered such a crushing defeat? You're all pig-brains from top to bottom!"
"Weak resistance, minor casualties, supplies emptied, and the garrison retreated in an orderly manner! Where are Han Da and Xiao Ce's main forces? Where are their 10,000-strong new army and thousands of mechs?! Not even a shadow of them! What kind of siege is this? This is nothing but an empty shell they willingly abandoned! The outer packaging of a trap!"
Xiao Dingshan's voice suddenly turned sharp, filled with the anger of being fooled, as he shouted, "Xiao Ce never intended to fight me here! He used these rabble soldiers and an empty city to delay me for another half a day!"
"His main force is rested and waiting in the south, ready to crash into his impenetrable wall! He's still playing a game of attrition and delay with me! Look at how pathetic we've been on this journey! You still want to fight them to the death? They have no intention of playing this game with you..."
Shahar and Kornev, among others, turned deathly pale, their thick fur coats instantly soaked with cold sweat.
Their earlier elation was completely extinguished by Xiao Dingshan's cold words, replaced by a deeper fear.
Yes... what about Handa's main force? What about that terrifying mech unit?
"Master, please calm down! Master is wise!"
Shahar kowtowed repeatedly and said, "Yes...it was my subordinate who was blinded by victory and was utterly foolish! Xiao Ce is a cunning and hateful brat! Please give the order, Master, and I will immediately organize my troops and march south to pursue them! I will tear them to pieces!"
"Reorganize the troops?"
Xiao Dingshan's gaze swept over Shahar and the exhausted, fear-stricken Slavic soldiers behind him as if they were already dead. "You bunch of useless trash? After all that marching, clearing mines, and attacking cities, how much strength and fighting spirit do your soldiers have left?"
Shahar was speechless. His Slavic army was already at its last gasp.
The days of forced marches, the horrific trekking through minefields with blood and flesh, the brief moment of mental relaxation after entering the old capital only to be immediately shattered by Xiao Dingshan's harsh rebuke of reality...
Both physical strength and morale have plummeted to rock bottom.
The soldiers, wrapped in tattered leather coats, shivered in the cold wind, their eyes numb and weary, many bearing wounds.
Should we send them into pursuit immediately? They'd probably collapse before they got very far.
"Master... Master..."
Shahar's voice was choked with sobs and desperate pleas, "Could...could you let the soldiers rest for a little while...even just...even just two hours...to have some hot soup and warm themselves up...they...they really..."
"Resting?"
Xiao Dingshan's voice suddenly rose as he yelled at him, "Xiao Ce's main force is right in front! Every minute he prepares, the cost of breaking through his lines will be ten times greater! And you're talking to me about resting now?!"
He abruptly waved his hand, pointing south, and said with an unquestionable tone, "There's no time! Set off immediately! Target: Don River Fortress! Ust! Xiao Ce's hiding place! Capture Xiao Ce alive!"
"Shahar, leave behind your most trusted... or rather, your most useless five hundred men to guard this empty city! Maintain minimum order, clear the main passages, and ensure our supply lines remain barely open!"
"Everyone else, all soldiers who can still move, immediately follow my legion and continue the pursuit south!"
His gaze swept over the ashen-faced Slavic generals, finally settling on Shahar, and he threatened, "This is an order! Not a discussion! Execute immediately! Those who delay... will be killed without mercy!"
"Yes...yes! Master!"
Shahar trembled violently, overwhelmed by immense fear.
He knew that any hesitation would lead to utter destruction.
He practically tumbled to his feet, roaring at the equally panicked Kornev and the others, "Did you hear the master's orders?! Quick! Leave Igor with five hundred... no, three hundred men to guard the city!"
"Everyone else, form ranks immediately! Follow our master's divine soldiers and head south in pursuit! Hurry! Anyone who dares to hold us back, I'll be the first to kill him!"
Kornev looked at Shahar's ferocious face, then at Xiao Dingshan's cold, godlike back, and at the black robots around him, their gun barrels faintly raised, and could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger.
He roared hoarsely at his men, "Form ranks! Form ranks! Everyone who can still breathe, get up! Keep up! Head south!"
Sobs, shouts, and desperate sighs rang out among the Slavic soldiers.
Exhausted and wounded, they barely managed to re-form their ranks under the threat of officers' whips and robots.
Many people could barely stand, their eyes vacant as they stared at the unknown darkness and snowstorm to the south.
When Igor was chosen to stay behind, a barely perceptible look of relief at surviving the ordeal and a deep sorrow crossed his face.
With three hundred soldiers who were also old, weak, or seriously wounded, he was like an abandoned burden, watching blankly as the main force set off again.
Xiao Dingshan stopped watching the chaotic and desperate scene. He pulled on the reins, and his equally tireless modified warhorse took the lead.
"Night Owl, maintain the highest scanning intensity. Find out the movements of the enemy's main force, especially the new army and the mech unit. Han Da's scattered squads are definitely still nearby. Have the combat units on high alert. Once spotted, without asking for permission, launch a direct assault and eliminate them completely!"
"Yes, Master!"
Night Owl obeys!
The massive black legion was activated once more. The torrent of steel swept up Shahar's demoralized and exhausted Slavic remnants, like a flock of sheep being driven, crushing over the ruins of the Slavic capital's south gate and plunging headlong into the deeper, snow-ravaged southern ice plains.
The target was Don River Fortress, the final battlefield that Xiao Ce had planned, where he would wait in ambush.
Behind them, the "recaptured" Slavic capital was left only with deathly silence, ruins, and the desperate, numb eyes of Igor and his three hundred garrison soldiers.
The restoration of the capital brought them a moment of joy, but after Xiao Dingshan exposed their lies, all that remained was deeper humiliation and a cold, empty shell.
...
At this moment, Xiao Dingshan's mood was at its lowest.
Because their southward advance was not smooth; along the way, they encountered countless traps, both overt and covert...
Although they used the same methods as before, the progress was still very slow.
After a series of explosions...
"Report!" A robot rushed up to Xiao Dingshan.
"The third scouting team has been wiped out. The valley three kilometers ahead has been confirmed to be completely collapsed. All bridge structures have been completely destroyed by pre-planted explosives, and there are dense mine detection signals under the ice on the river surface, making it impassable. The detour route... will take at least ten more hours."
After hearing this, Xiao Dingshan became somewhat irritated. "Useless! Ten hours?!"
He growled, "Shahar!"
Shahar, draped in a tattered cloak, scrambled over, his face, blue with cold, filled with terror: "My lord! I'll have the soldiers fill it in right away! Fill it in with men! Or with cannons, with cannons..."
"Fill it?" Xiao Dingshan said coldly, "Use your worthless lives to fill a bottomless pit? Or use my energy cannon to bombard a damned glacier?"
He abruptly raised his hand, pointing ahead into the swirling snow, "Look! Look at your incompetence! What have you left us?"
He pointed to the almost unrecognizable charred marks on both sides of the road!
That was a makeshift minefield that Slavic soldiers and wounded men had waded through with their own flesh and blood; the solidified dark red and charred black were a shocking sight against the white snow.
"These damn ground rats! These damn traps!"
Every minefield that was forced to be exposed, every bridge that was blown beyond recognition, and every huge pit that needed to be detoured around were relentlessly tearing at Xiao Dingshan's taut nerves.
Xiao Ce was like the most cunning mole, digging countless holes in the vast ice plains, each one precisely blocking the throat of his pursuit route.
The Night Owl Squad's high-intensity scanning array kept sending back alerts, and the map was covered with dense red dots marking newly discovered traps and obstacles, making Xiao Dingshan feel a surge of anger that he had nowhere to vent.
He felt that every time he swung his iron fist, it struck a ball of cotton soaked in ice water—futile and frustrating. Meanwhile, time was silently accumulating power for Xiao Ce.
"Every extra minute costs ten times more!" His roar before setting off still echoed in my ears, but now it felt like a great irony to me.
Shahar's face was contorted with pain and exhaustion, but he dared not utter a single word...
He could only grit his teeth and order the massive army to turn around and avoid the deadly valley trap.
The heavy footsteps of the machine legion rolled across the frozen ground with a dull rumble. The Slavic soldiers dragged their exhausted bodies, trudging through knee-deep snow, despair and fear clinging to them like a malignant tumor.
The owl's scanning beam, like invisible tentacles, swept across the vast snowfield ahead and the silent mountains on either side, trying to find any trace of the enemy. But apart from the howling snow and the red warnings constantly popping up on the map, it found nothing. The cunning opponent seemed to have melted into this boundless white expanse.
Compared to their stifling mood, Xiao Ce and his group on the other side were much more relaxed.
Behind a ridgeline outside the Slavic capital, Xiao Ce leaned against the cockpit of his mech, the new mech Longyuan, covered in a thick camouflage net, like a lurking beast.
On the tactical screen in front of him, the cumbersome and slow advance of Xiao Dingshan's army in the distance was clearly displayed!
Xiao Dingshan's offensive still left him somewhat disappointed.