bookrandom Chapter 1361 Ambush
Chapter 1361 Ambush
Xiao Ce paused for a moment, then continued, "Therefore, I suspect their numbers aren't large..."
"We still need to go and beat the dog when it's down... As for the small group of robots and us, there's nothing to be afraid of..."
Han Da thought of Xiao Ce and his father's actions just now, and was still full of confidence.
As Han Da spoke, he said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, let's divide the force into three groups, leaving a small number of men here while we wait for reinforcements to arrive and take over the defense of this area..."
"The rest, select 10,000 elite troops to test the new weapons here, and the rest begin their journey..."
Xiao Ce nodded after listening to Han Da's words.
"Alright, let the infantry go first. I'll have Night Cat give you a few mechs to accompany you and provide covert protection..."
After hearing Xiao Ce's words, Han Da nodded excitedly...
Xiao Ce then said to Han Da, "Alright, Han Da, we'll do everything as you say..."
Han Da looked at Xiao Ce and said, "Your Highness, perhaps..."
Before Han Da could speak, Xiao Ce waved his hand and said to Han Da, "Unless there's something else... don't even think about letting me take command... you know, I'm only here because I need to stay for the time being..."
"I have a feeling that the world is about to descend into chaos... When that happens, I will definitely be heading to the very heart of the battlefield..."
Han Da looked at Xiao Ce and then said, "Your Highness, are our enemies... are they the people from the Creation Base?"
Upon hearing Han Da's words, Xiao Ce gave a bitter smile, then nodded before shaking his head: "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure either... but for now, it should be..."
To be honest, Xiao Ce felt a sense of sorrow, because he still didn't know who his enemy was.
However, Xiao Ce was certain that Xiao Dingshan counted, but he was definitely not the last one.
Moreover, it was already very clear to Xiao Ce that Xiao Dingshan was not alone...
Or is it a representative?
Xiao Ce didn't think too much about it, because in his mind, he would never understand how the Hidden Dragon Tomb could be found in the Slavic Empire.
...
Meanwhile, in another part of the prison, a figure could be seen fleeing desperately in the dim light. His tattered military uniform was covered with blood and ice shards. Every step he took sank deep into the mud that had thawed and then frozen again, making a heavy sound when he pulled himself out.
His eyes were bloodshot, his lips were cracked, and only rough breathing could be heard from his throat. He was the only messenger to escape from the mountain of corpses and sea of blood at Don Fortress.
He couldn't remember how many days and nights he had run, but he remembered the sight of the fortress behind him, which symbolized the last line of defense, collapsing amidst earth-shattering explosions and the sound of metal tearing apart. He also remembered the powerful beings that the Slavs revered as "messengers of the gods," turning into burning remains in the dazzling blue and white light, like dolls crushed by an invisible giant hand.
Fear coiled around his heart like a cold, venomous snake, but the instinct for survival and the mission he bore drove him to squeeze out his last bit of strength and rush toward the capital city protected by thick walls—the last fortress of Tsar Shahar.
When he finally staggered and collapsed in front of the heavily guarded steel gates of the capital, he used his last bit of strength to shout "Don River Fort...urgent report..." before completely losing consciousness.
...
The Slavic royal palace council chamber, resplendent in gold yet shrouded in a somber atmosphere.
Shahar sat on his throne, carved from a single piece of obsidian, while the golden crown that once symbolized supreme power now lay casually to the side.
His face was ashen, and his eyes were sunken, even though he had changed into a brand new mink cloak.
However, the body beneath the cloak seemed even more hunched than when he was fleeing Ust, but in his sunken eye sockets, one could see a madness in his eyes...
After the messenger was dragged in, he was woken up by the guards splashing him with ice water and then dragged to the Tsar.
He knelt on the cold marble floor, his body trembling violently, and reported the devastating news of the fall of Don Fortress in fits and starts: "Your Majesty... Don Fortress... is gone... completely gone..."
Ivan's voice was hoarse and his eyes were bloodshot.
"Han...Han Da's army...like an iron torrent...our men...were simply no match for them...those suicide squads...were cut down like wheat..."
Shahar's gaze was deep; the fall of Don River Fortress was within his expectations, as it had always been a pawn used to buy time.
What he really cares about is something else.
"Where are those divine messengers?"
Shahar asked the messenger, "How long did the three divine messengers I left behind fight? How many East Asian bastards did they tear apart?"
The messenger trembled violently upon hearing Shahar's words, his eyes widening in terror as if he were reliving that despairing scene: "God... Divine Envoy... they... just as the battle began... and... and..."
He swallowed a non-existent saliva, struggling to form words, his voice filled with more fear than anything else...
Or rather, it was a lingering fear...
"Too fast! Your Majesty! So fast we couldn't even see them! They rushed out of the cover...it seemed...they were going to shoot down the iron birds in the sky...and then...and then...from the sky and the ground...several streaks of blue and white light...strike down like lightning...Boom! Boom! Boom!...The three divine envoys...just...just exploded...and burst into flames...without even a struggle...just like that...gone..."
Their deaths seemed to happen in an instant...
After the messenger's voice faded, a deathly silence fell over the entire council chamber...
The generals standing on both sides and the few remaining cabinet ministers turned deathly pale instantly, a chill running from their feet to their heads.
These people had all witnessed the power of those divine messengers to varying degrees...
The divine messenger...was instantly killed?
Not even a sliver of room for resistance? How is that possible?
That's something that can easily shoot down iron birds and melt through armored vehicles!
When did Han Da's army acquire such terrifying power?
Shahar looked at the messenger: "Did you see what did it?"
The messenger shook his head awkwardly...
Shahar slowly rose to his feet, his gaze growing increasingly profound!
"Don River Fortress is lost, not unexpected. The Divine Envoy... lost three, which is a pity, but not unbearable."
Although Shahar's voice wasn't loud, it was clear that he was extremely angry.
He suddenly pointed to a strategic pass on the sand table, about 150 miles from the capital, known as Eagle's Sorrow Gorge.
"Han Da! Xiao Ce's vanguard, that arrogant East Asian marshal! Riding on the momentum of the newly captured Don River Fortress, he will surely advance at full speed, heading straight for our capital! Does he think he's guaranteed to win? Does he think those iron lumps are invincible?"
Shahar turned around abruptly, his gaze sweeping over the silent crowd in the hall before finally settling on the ten robots standing silently to the side, like statues.
They are slightly different from previous models, with a more compact size!
These robots were all brought together from various places...
Several small teams have arrived these past few days.
"Our legion of divine messengers has now assembled eighty members!"
Shahar's voice suddenly rose, filled with a morbid excitement: "A full eighty! Fully armed, enough to destroy any enemy that dares to invade! The East Asian Allied Forces' weaponry gap? In the face of absolute numbers and newer power, it's all a joke!"
As he spoke, Shahar stood up and walked to the sand table on the side, then pointed to a spot: "Right here! Handa's exhausted army will inevitably pass through this route! I, the Emperor, will strike him hard when he is most complacent and lax! Let him and his so-called elite troops taste what it's like to be hunted down!"
Some cabinet ministers nearby spoke up, "Your Majesty, that is indeed the case... However, shouldn't we find out who eliminated our Divine Envoy during the Battle of Don River Fortress?"
After hearing the cabinet minister's words, Shahar frowned slightly: "Not worth mentioning... They certainly have some weapons over there too... However, I think they only have a small number, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to repel one of their waves before, right?"
"They probably knew that we had withdrawn most of the divine envoys, which is why they dared to do that, right?"
After hearing Shahar's words, the cabinet ministers still felt that what he said made sense...
They stopped talking, and Shahar simply summoned the robots.
"Divine Envoy, dispatch ten of you immediately and proceed at full speed to Eagle's Sorrow Gorge! Utilize your speed and stealth to lie in ambush on the cliffs on both sides of the gorge! Target: Han Da's central command core!"
"Especially his command vehicle and himself! Once his vanguard enters the canyon and the main force is halfway across, launch a surprise attack! Primary objective: decapitate Handa! Second, destroy his command center and heavy weapons platforms! Use your energy weapons to turn the canyon into a melting pot for East Asians!"
Upon hearing Shahar's words, the robot squad nodded: "Yes, Your Majesty Shahar!"
Then, the ten figures turned around like ghosts, without the slightest hesitation, silently gliding out of the council hall, instantly bursting with astonishing speed, disappearing into the snowstorm outside the palace. They didn't even need horses or vehicles.
Just running at a fast pace already makes it much faster than ordinary horses...
Looking in the direction this small team left...
A sinister smile finally appeared on Shahar's gloomy face. He walked back to the throne, sat down slowly, and tapped his fingers on the armrest again.
"Xiao Ce... you want to use Han Da's sword to cut off my head? I'll break your sword first!"
"Xiao Ce, where did you go? To be honest, I really wanted to cut your head off, but then a mysterious person came along, and I handed him your heads... He'll definitely be very satisfied with this mysterious gift I gave him..."
He muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with a gambler's madness and anticipation.
At this moment, with eighty robots in his hands, this unprecedented power filled his nerves, which had been tormented to the brink of collapse by repeated failures and the pain of losing his son, with a twisted confidence once again.
And their Eagle's Sorrow Gorge will become the burial place of the East Asian Federation Marshal, and also the starting point for his Shakhanov Empire's desperate counterattack and regain of glory!
Meanwhile, about eighty miles away from Eagle's Sorrow Gorge, a massive force of the East Asian Federation Army was marching across the plains.
Han Da sat upright in an armored command vehicle that had been specially reinforced and had a multi-barreled rapid-fire machine gun and communication antenna mounted on its roof.
This command vehicle is actually quite different from the blueprints Xiao Ce gave us...
They are worlds apart.
He added many features that were not included in Xiao Ce's previous blueprints, and enhanced the armor.
Of course, they initially thought this armor would be incredibly effective against ordinary bullets.
However, the Tianji Academy probably never imagined that their semi-automatic and automatic weapons would not even be widely available.
Their enemy now possesses energy weapons...
This incident was actually a huge nightmare for Han Da and his team.
However, for the people of the Heavenly Secrets Academy, pressure is also a driving force.
Because what was placed before them was a completely new field, one they had never been in before.
They could study it for a very, very long time...
At this moment, Han Da was inside the armored vehicle.
The victory at Don River Fortress did not make him relax in the slightest; on the contrary, it made the burden on his shoulders even heavier.
Xiao Ce was leading that reassuring army of mechs in the rear.
But the final stretch of road leading to the Slavic capital is destined to be fraught with difficulties.
Of course, their team also included a fifty-person mech squad.
After much deliberation, Xiao Ce still felt that Shahar, that madman, would definitely launch a sneak attack.
He didn't know how many people the other side had deployed.
They've deployed fifty mechs; they should have a good chance of winning.
His task was to annihilate them completely and maintain the secrecy surrounding their mechs...
Just then, a messenger came to report to Han Da...
"Marshal, our scouts report that the terrain near Eagle's Sorrow Gorge is complex, with steep cliffs on both sides, making it an excellent ambush location."
The adjutant pointed to a map, then marked a canyon, and said to Han Da, "Although our aerial reconnaissance hasn't detected any signs of a large-scale enemy gathering, this is an excellent location for an ambush..."
"There's no large-scale mobilization right now, but we're worried that if some of the former Iron Men are hiding there—just a few would be enough to give us a headache..."
Han Da stared sharply at the topographic map of Yingchou Gorge, his fingers tracing the towering cliffs on both sides.
"Shahar is now a trapped beast. A trapped beast will fight back, and that is the most dangerous thing. His most powerful weapon is that number of unidentified humanoids and robots. The fact that the three from Don Fort were easily dealt with by the young prince and the prince does not mean that the others will be easy to deal with."