Chapter 29: 29
"Commander, this isn't going to work! In a few minutes at most, those monsters will be able to advance to the point that they reach us. When they do, they'll rip our soldiers apart!" A staff officer in a military uniform pleaded.
Commander Yuan Jianzhe scrunched his brow. This was the most difficult battle he had ever experienced. There were just too many monsters, and their guns couldn't effectively stop their charge.
"Just keep shooting." the Commander said calmly, "Don't try and save bullets, just shoot. We need to enter that safe zone. I have a feeling that humanity's salvation is right inside that curtain." Lit by explosions and gun flares, the forty-year-old man's face showed a profound dignity that didn't fit in such a brutal battle.
"This… in that case…" The staff officer hesitated to pass down the command.
"Why are you hesitating? From the start of the earthquake until now, our supplies have been cut in half, if we don't win this battle now I'm afraid we will never live with dignity again. Without weapons, do you think we have the qualifications to fight those monsters?" The Commander turned away from his subordinate to face the monster hoard.
"I understand." The staff officer sighed. "I'll pass down the command."
A few moments after the staff officer left the command center, the already loud gunfire became more intense.
The advantage of the mounted machine guns was obvious in this fight. Where they aimed, not a single monster survived.
After half an hour the majority of the monsters were dead, their corpses outlining their slow progress towards the army. If Cheng Yang were to see this, he would be filled with dismay. Monsters killed by normal people didn't drop Experience Fragments. All of these resources were totally wasted!
However, at this time, Commander Yuan Jianzhe and the other high ranking officers didn't seem very cheerful, rather they had a more somber look. They could see a group of lanky monsters with elongated arms tipped with sharp blades standing near the back of the horde. Although their numbers were only two hundred or so, they were crafty and didn't mindlessly charge at the soldiers.
Yuan Jianzhe had been observing those monsters carefully throughout the battle. Those monsters, the Adze, were more powerful than ordinary monsters and were too fast for the soldiers to properly aim at. What was most troublesome was their ability to dart through gaps in their defensive line and kill soldiers before escaping.
"Gather a few groups of snipers to deal with the fast ones. Each group of ten snipers will focus on a single one of those monsters. They won't be able to dodge every bullet." Yuan Jianzhe issued an order.
The army quickly organized thirty of their best snipers into three teams. Situated on some of the taller ruins, these teams would even be capable of killing Standard Grade monsters.
After years of training, these snipers were completely in sync. They all fired at nearly the same time and used armor-piercing bullets capable of causing significant damage. Ten people firing at once created a cage that the Adze were unable to escape from.
After thirty seconds, there were seven or eight Adze as they tried to run past the defensive line. Seeing this, the other Adze entered a rage. After a burst of shrill howling the remaining Adze all charged at once.
To the Adze, a distance of two hundred meters only took ten seconds to cover, which gave the army a lot of pressure.
"Block them off with a wall of bullets!" Yuan Jianzhe roared pulling out his own rifle to add to the barrage.
The army found that their attacks were trivial, even if they managed to hit one of the Adze, they wouldn't slow down for even an instant.
The Adze at the very front were killed by the snipers, but there were just too few of them so they couldn't play a big role.
Watching the Adze draw closer, the mounted machine gun teams switched targets. Even though it was nearly impossible for a single mounted machine gun to hit an Adze, the interwoven streams of bullets made it impossible for them to avoid getting hit. The majority of the Adze that were killed during their charge fell to a mounted machine gun.
When the Adze reached the armies defensive line, they started a slaughter in their frenzied state.
Blood flowed like water and severed limbs flew through the air like leaves.
The soldiers had never felt so weak as they did now. Their resistance against the Adze was negligible.
In a short amount of time, the rampaging Adze had killed hundreds of soldiers, including some military officials. Soon after the remainder of the monster horde broke through the defensive line as well.
Commander Yuan Jianzhe, under the guard of several soldiers, quickly evacuated the area. Watching the scene of the soldiers being massacred, he wore a cold frown. "Destroy those monsters at all costs. Do whatever it takes."
The other executives could hear Yuan Jianzhe's voice trembling. They could guess how reluctant he was to give that order. It was inevitable they would kill hundreds of their own soldiers in fulfilling it, something no general would want to see.
They didn't have any other options. If the commander had hesitated to make that decision, then the only outcome would be the total destruction of the army and the residents of Cloud City dying with them.
Grenades exploded at the feet of monsters, killing the humans next to them. Soldiers fired into the mass of bodies with tears in their eyes, unable to know if their bullets hit a monster or a comrade they had trained with for years.
The snipers were able to play a crucial role now. With the Adze entangled with the army and the monster horde, it only took three of them to land a lethal hit. If any other monster entered their sights, they would quickly fire a shot, killing them instantly.
When the last monster fell to the ground, the battlefield was too horrible to look at.
Of the original twenty thousand soldiers, less than ten thousand remained. They had paid a heavy price in this battle. Not only that but they were left with only a third of their supplied left, a sixth of what they had on the first day. If there was another large battle, the army would be totally annihilated.
Yuan Jianzhe stoically stared at the bodies for half a minute. He then raised his right hand into a sharp military salute. "Comrades, you can rest in peace now. We will protect Cloud City in your stead."
Having said that, Yuan Jianzhe walked towards the curtain of light.
The rest of the soldiers began to clean up the battlefield. They didn't want to leave their comrades' corpses to rot among the ruins. After all, they had no way of knowing when they would meet a similar fate.
When Yuan Jianzhe entered the curtain of light, a surge of information entered his mind. In an instant, he understood the use of everything within the safe zone.
He nearly fell over from the shock, such a drastic change was difficult for a person who was almost fifty to accept.
"What kind of world is this?" He muttered, looking up into the sky with dazed eyes.
"Commander, it seems like this is going to be our world now." A staff officer that had entered at the same time said. "This catastrophe is probably happening all around the world. In the face of this disaster, mankind will either be reborn or be turned to ash."
"You're right, Xiao Chen." Yuan Jianzhe said, his previous calm and dignified aura returning. "As long as this disaster doesn't destroy us, we will be reborn even greater than before."
"I will gladly follow you, Commander, as you help the entirety of Cloud City be reborn."
"Good. We did all we could in such a fucked up world. Right now we can't worry about the rest of the country, we can only try our best to save the rest of Cloud City. I only hope we aren't too late."
Saying this, Yuan Jianzhe walked over to the Warrior class change statue and placed his palm on the foot. His body was then enveloped in a ray of light.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone