Chapter 291: The Breached Defense Line
Chapter 291: The Breached Defense Line
"Amethyst crystals detected approaching the second line of defense."
"The automatic sentry tower has begun to enter the activation state."
On both sides of the exit above the lava canyon.
17 sentry towers built with quick-acting cement lined up in a row entered the self-inspection state before being opened.
The Thunder-class photoelectric cannon above slowly rotated.
The terrifying multi-barreled gun was pointed towards the lava canyon.
Ten seconds later.
Flying purple crystals in the shape of insects began to emerge from the canyon in large numbers.
The spider robots guarding the watchtower opened fire first.
Then, when more and more flying purple crystals appeared, the spider robots alone seemed to be insufficient in firepower.
The photoelectric cannon on the sentry tower finally started to work.
Accompanied by a slight humming sound.
The 32mm diameter shells are fired from the sentry tower cannon at a rate of 200 rounds per second.
It turned into a desperate metal storm.
Use super high speed to tear apart all obstacles blocking the way.
Most of the canyon exit was cleared out in an instant.
Five seconds later.
The machine guns stopped firing.
Only the spider robot was left to continue dealing with the remaining flying amethyst crystals.
The Thunder-class optoelectronic cannon on the sentry tower is powerful.
The speed at which ammunition is consumed when operating at full capacity is terrifying.
Even the ammunition used was solid shells made of cheap metal.
The overall cost is still not negligible.
Therefore, it is out of consideration to maintain long-term combat capability and reduce logistical pressure.
It will only happen when the number of purple crystals gathers to a certain level and has enough striking value.
Only then will the suppression be initiated.
In general.
It is still the more economical spider robot that uses an electromagnetic rifle for precise point shooting.
Under this powerful fire blockade.
The flying purple crystals launched several rounds of attacks in succession, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of corpses.
They have never been able to truly escape from the range of the lava canyon.
Until the 7th minute after the battle.
A violent explosion suddenly occurred beneath the foundation of a watchtower.
After the entire sentry tower was blown up and started shaking.
This is a one-sided massacre.
Only then did some changes begin to take place.
Su Wu was far away in the control center.
By retrieving battle logs and analyzing the battle scene.
It was discovered that the explosion came from a variant of amethyst.
It can briefly block the scanning of crystal detectors and sprint a distance underground at an extremely fast speed.
Then it self-destructs upon reaching its destination.
The explosive power is approximately equal to that of a 122mm howitzer with a warhead filled with military gunpowder.
"It's troublesome."
Su Wu had a headache.
The sentry tower is not far from the crack exit of the magma canyon. It is not a land battleship that can be moved at will.
Add these two situations together.
It became impossible to scan the traces of the self-destructing amethyst crystals, nor to change the position of the sentry tower to keep a safe distance from the dangerous self-destructing amethyst crystals.
Can only passively take the beating.
boom!
Just as Su Wu was tracing the source of the explosion under the foundation of the watchtower.
More self-destructive purple crystals began to appear around the watchtower.
Just a moment.
A small part of the foundation of one of the watchtowers was destroyed, causing the top to tilt.
Su Wu pondered for a moment.
Decided to take the initiative.
Dispatch spider robots and combat drone swarms to approach the rift location.
Suppress the flying amethyst crystals near the surface of the magma canyon so that the self-destructive amethyst crystals hidden among them cannot easily pass through the rock walls of the upper canyon and approach the sentry tower from underground in the shortest distance.
This is not a good method.
It actually amounts to rebuilding the first line of defense.
But spider robots and combat drones are not professional automatic firepower platforms embedded in the rock walls on both sides of the canyon.
Their firing angles and ammunition reserves are quite limited.
And its own defense is also weaker.
Reflected on the battlefield.
This was done with the assistance of a cluster of heavy artillery located at the foot of the Qinling Mountains.
It was difficult to drive the flying purple crystal back to the surface of the lava canyon.
next moment.
Wait until the heavy artillery stops and enters the cooling period.
The flying purple crystal will come back again and fight fiercely with the spider robots near the crack.
In this intense entanglement.
The self-destructing purple crystal disguised as an insect can still occasionally find an opportunity to drill into the rock wall again.
Continue to cause damage to the sentry tower from time to time.
"It seems that the sentry tower cannot be saved."
Watching the developments on the battlefield,
Su Wu realized that the second line of defense had been breached and the outcome was basically a foregone conclusion.
The difference is just a matter of time.
But not before the watchtower was completely destroyed.
Su Wu still needs them to complete a task.
That is to act as bait and capture a complete or at least half-remaining self-destructive purple crystal.
Use them as samples to study how they evade detection by crystal detectors.
"Deploy a high-precision geological vibration detector."
“Build a model for extrapolation.”
"Dispatch 10 sixth-generation Kongming-class fighters, carrying ground-penetrating missiles, to the Qinling Mountains for support."
Transmit the latest command on the console.
The super factory located on the 8th underground floor of the shelter immediately began to vacate a production line.
More than 10 geological vibration detectors were produced and assembled on site.
This thing is a special equipment specially customized by Su Wu based on the situation of the self-destructive purple crystal.
It can detect various tiny changes underground within a radius of tens of meters.
This can be used to indirectly infer the activity trajectory of the self-destructive purple crystal.
Of course, since there are no samples yet.
This detection is the most basic type of indiscriminate observation.
Regardless of whether it is useful or not, any abnormality detected will be fed back.
The consequence is bound to be a large number of false alarms.
But it's okay.
As long as it can guess correctly once, its mission is accomplished.
And at the same time.
A corner of the metal platform holographic projection.
A map of the structure around the watchtower began to appear independently, outlined by silver-white lines.
Wait until the customized equipment and 10 Kongming-class sixth-generation fighter jets arrive.
Artificial intelligence will devote a lot of computing power to it.
Based on the detection results, guide the sixth-generation fighter jets to launch ground attacks.
Try to kill the self-destructive purple crystal in advance.
This is currently the only possible way to obtain samples of self-destructive amethyst crystals.
Otherwise, when it explodes, Su Wu will get nothing.
Ten minutes later.
A small farmyard with one floor above ground.
Four vertical take-off and landing platforms.
Two biplane helicopters equipped with newly produced geological seismic detectors took off first.
Then came ten sixth-generation fighter jets equipped with more than ten ground-penetrating missiles.
Follow a sequence.
Accompanied by flashing green indicator lights, we slowly emerged from the hangar into the extremely cold outside world.
Then it floated into the air, ignited the engine, and roared towards the Qinling Mountains.
Everything is going on in an orderly manner.
Qinling Mountains, above the lava canyon, and around the cracks.
Here at this time.
Compared with a dozen minutes ago, it is completely different.
Five or six sentry towers were destroyed one after another by the self-destructing purple crystals.
The second line of defense was torn apart, leaving a large area with weak firepower.
New third and fourth amethyst forms.
With the assistance of Flying Amethyst.
It began to spread from the ground one after another.
One species is a scorpion the size of a calf, covered with a grayish-white rock-like shell.
A special electromagnetic rifle originally mounted on the spider robot to target the Amethyst prototype.
Hitting its body will only leave a shallow mark.
Only rockets or electromagnetic sniper rifles can slightly hinder its progress.
But I want to kill it.
Multiple fire attacks are necessary.
It will be truly complete only after penetrating its rocky shell and shattering its inner brain located in the very center of its body.
In terms of difficulty.
It is even more difficult to deal with than the light tanks currently in service in the Federation.
The other type is an evolved form that flashes red all over and looks a bit like a lobster, but is at least as big as a family car.
This amethyst is named Magma Roarer.
Most of the body is filled with high-temperature gas and lava.
It can use its tail to compress the molten lava in its body into a cannonball and launch it far away.
The destructive power is equivalent to that of a 32mm artillery shell.
It doesn't seem too exaggerated.
In reality, it is already the most advanced heavy weapon that can be equipped by light infantry units in modern armies.
And when the destructive power reaches the standard, their numbers will accumulate.
The power that erupted.
It seems extremely scary.
They tore a huge gap in the line of spider robots.
Any ordinary spider robot that gets in the way.
Either they were violently smashed to pieces by the Rock Scorpion, or they were killed by the concentrated fire of several Lava Howlers.
None of them survived for more than 10 seconds.
The situation is slightly better for the heavy-duty main battle spider robot.
Faster movement speed, thicker body and equipped with arc defense array, as well as more powerful main guns.
Making it easier to keep distance from the Amethyst horde.
And while moving, use the main gun on your body to efficiently kill the Lava Roarers that pose the greatest threat.
But the outstanding performance of an individual cannot reverse the overall situation.
The heavy-duty main battle spider robots are too expensive and too few in number.
They can cruise on the edge and continuously eat some of the purple crystals, but they cannot stop the main force of the purple crystals from crossing the defense line and rushing to the outer periphery.
When the biplane helicopter carrying equipment arrived at the battlefield.
The few rock scorpion purple crystals at the front have begun to sporadically test the firepower of the third line of defense.
"The robot army retreats."
"The heavy artillery cluster begins ten rounds of long-range bombardment."
"Covering the following areas——"
Artificial intelligence does not have negative emotions such as tension and panic.
It seemed that the second line of defense was about to be completely broken.
Start calling for heavy fire support immediately.
Ultimate firepower.
It still doesn't fail here.
Accompanied by more than 100 heavy artillery shells carrying destructive power, falling heavily on the battlefield.
The attack of the purple crystals suddenly slowed down.
Whether it's the Lava Howler whose majority of its body is covered in lava, or the Rock Scorpion that's as thick as a tank.
They were all unable to withstand the huge shock waves brought by the heavy artillery.
One by one they were blown to pieces or knocked over.
And take advantage of this opportunity.
Two biplane helicopters hovering in the sky.
Surrounded and protected by a swarm of combat drones.
Landed on the ground near the two sentry towers that had not been destroyed.
Several spider robots that had been waiting on the ground were responsible for transporting a high-precision geological vibration detector they brought into the sentry tower.
Then it continued to take off and headed for other watchtowers.
After repeating this several times.
When a biplane helicopter was about to land near the last watchtower.
A series of violent explosions suddenly occurred inside the watchtower.
Powerful shock wave.
In an instant, the main body of the sentry tower, which was cast with quick cement, was torn into pieces.
Then bursts of blazing flames shot out from the cracks.
Transformed into rolling heat waves.
Pressing towards the approaching biplane helicopter.
The huge machine, which had not yet completely landed on the ground, was forcibly pushed back several meters.
"Only nine watchtowers remain."
Su Wu stood next to the metal platform and looked at the projected Qinling Mountain battlefield.
It seems as if I can feel the intelligent existence behind the scenes that is manipulating this group of purple crystals.
The resolute will to break free from the cage once and for all.
I thought about it.
He intervened in the command of the artificial intelligence.
Let the spider robots, including those stationed on the third line of defense, continue to retreat.
Only large-scale combat drone clusters and a land force composed mainly of heavily-armored main battle spider robots remain.
Since the facts have been proven.
The electromagnetic weapons carried by ordinary spider robots can no longer effectively kill the amethyst variants on land.
There is no need to let them continue to stay on the battlefield and die in vain.
And leaving behind a complete cluster of combat drones.
This is to deal with the flying purple crystal that is currently flying higher and higher in the air.
Although a single flying purple crystal has little lethality, once they are gathered to a certain size, they can cause great damage.
With their more agile modes of movement than combat drones.
It is completely enough to become a force that could change the entire situation on the battlefield.
Therefore, even if combat drones and flying purple crystals are used for frontal close-range combat.
The casualty rate was alarmingly high.
Nor can they be allowed to retreat.
on the ground.
With the large-scale withdrawal of ordinary spider robots.
A cluster of heavy artillery without any scruples.
A full-speed bombardment mode lasting a full 15 minutes began.
The artillery shells that blocked out the sun and baptized the entire lava canyon and most of the second line of defense.
Just avoided the area around 9 watchtowers.
And in the meantime.
Large quantities of amethyst variants continue to pour out of the magma lakes in the magma canyon.
Continue to use the flying purple crystal, or climb up the rock wall thousands of meters high by yourself.
Trying to rush to the third line of defense.
However, this attack was completely futile.
Even if they did not fall under the heavy artillery shells that fell along the way, they would when they approached the third line of defense.
It was easily torn to pieces by the Thunder-class photoelectric cannon standing there.
Just as they are large in scale, they are enough to crush ordinary spider robots.
Facing the photoelectric cannon.
They also became the objects to be crushed.
Once you appear within the firing range of the machine gun, there is almost no chance of survival.
(End of this chapter)