Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 209: Total Victory

Chapter 209: Total Victory

"Whose army is that?" asked Zhang Bao'er nervously upon seeing the black mass of people.

The newly arrived army was starting to enter the basin through the elevator at the edge of the basin.

After scanning with his laser probe, Baron Sisse excitedly said, "They are our reinforcements. They seem to be Gunda's army. Maley's barbarian army seems to be mixed within the group as well."

"It's Gunda and Maley? Great! With them, we won't suffer from our lack of numbers anymore!" said Old Du, who was similarly excited.

Gunda and Maley had come with around 40,000 soldiers, solving the numerical disadvantage that had been causing us to suffer. At the same time, these new arrivals were fresh elite soldiers. With their arrival, the situation on the battlefield changed abruptly.

First to arrive were the mechanical birds. They soared into the sky and dove down into the clone soldiers. Who would have thought that the Kenante Kingdom, which was still suffering from their lack of battleships just 30 minutes ago, was now holding superiority in the air?

The mechanical birds further boosted the original garrison's morale, and cries of bloodlust rang out from all over the city. The mechanical birds and mechanical dogs worked together to suppress the clone army. The enemy's morale dropped and dropped, and their army started to show signs of imminent collapse.

The heavy tanks had stopped attacking, and they were instead retreating with the remaining clone soldiers. Afanso led his soldiers and gave chase relentlessly, not giving the enemy any chance to rest.

At that point, the reinforcements had reached us as well. An army of about a thousand Wargods ran by us while roaring, chasing after the retreating clone soldiers. The enemy army's formation was starting to turn chaotic. They retreated while attacking, but many of them still fell after being struck by arrows. It was obvious that the prolonged battle had exhausted most of their energy supplies.

Suddenly, the sounds of battleships rang out in the sky. We saw that the enemy transport ships had gathered southeast of the city. About a dozen of their battleships remained as well, and those ships formed a defensive formation in the sky, seemingly prepared to cover the defeated clone soldiers as they withdrew from the battlefield.

"Everyone, let's follow the attackers. Do not let our enemies escape. They will only return at a later date. Try to wipe them out," said Baron Sisse.

We followed the baron's suggestion and joined the pursuing army's attempt in foiling the enemy's retreat. We ran by many of the areas where intense fights had erupted earlier. We could see how badly damaged the buildings and fortifications around us were. Numerous corpses and injured soldiers were sprawled all over the ground. Some medical soldiers were handling these casualties.

"War is truly disgusting. A beautiful city like this has been reduced into such a state by artillery bombardment," said Old Du as he looked at the damage done to the city.

"Stop being all emotional here. A destroyed home can be rebuilt. But if we don't eliminate all of the enemies, they will be able to continue to destroy your home. Go, let's crush them," said Baron Sisse.

Everyone increased the speed of the pursuit. There was a saying that troops in defeat were akin to a landslide. After the Sacred Wing race battleships were defeated by the divine bird, the morale of the clone army had dropped to the lowest level. And with the arrival of the Wargod reinforcements, the enemy forces were on the verge of complete collapse. As we pursued them, we kept encountering surrendering clone soldiers. It would seem like the command structure of their army had collapsed.

"About 50,000 soldiers of the defeated enemy have gathered at Gero City's Skycliff District and are in the middle of withdrawing. King Carter has ordered all forces to make haste and prevent their escape," said a military messenger as he rode over on a mechanical horse, delivering the king's latest order.

Right at that moment, I heard the sounds of the anti-aircraft cannons being fired once again. The anti-aircraft cannons had actually been hidden somewhere during the enemy bombardment. Now, they were taken out again to attack the enemy ships.

The artillery barrage grew more and more concentrated. It was as though all the anti-aircraft cannons in Gero City were firing in the direction of the Skycliff District. The Sacred Wing race's ships turned on their shields to withstand the anti-aircraft barrage. Some of the transport ships were unable to even pick up any of the withdrawing soldiers before their shields were pierced and they were destroyed.

They no longer had enough transport ships to carry their soldiers away, so even the dozens of battleships remaining were picking up the withdrawing soldiers. Because of that, they were too occupied to even hit back at us. That allowed the countless mechanical birds to bravely dive down on the withdrawing clone soldiers and kill as they wished.

That was a scenario where a retreat and a slaughter were happening at the same time. The spirited Wargod soldiers rushed the enemy soldiers like a wave while the defending clone soldiers were pushed back again and again.

Following the charging army, we arrived in front of the enemy soldiers' defensive formation. I could see countless mechanical birds charging the enemies from above. Surprisingly, the enemies before us were actually able to organize an effective counterfire to halt our charge.

"Flatten their formation with bombs!" Afanso roared. When I looked over, I saw him shouting a string of orders to about a dozen rangers.

The rangers stood in a row before nocking explosive arrows and pulling back the bowstring. A volley was then unleashed, and massive explosions erupted among the enemy. Some of the enemy soldiers who were prone on the ground and firing at us were instantly blasted into the sky.

"Well done! Continue firing! Do not stop! I don't want to see anyone standing among them!" shouted Afanso in excitement upon seeing the success of the rangers.

The rangers, who had just stopped attacking, started unleashing volley after volley of arrows in turns. The enemy formation instantly transformed into a sea of fire with numerous explosions erupting, turning the formation into a terrifying hell. Under the concentrated barrage, the enemy firepower was finally suppressed. Against the unending stream of Wargod soldiers, they were only able to fire a sparse few bullets.

"With me, everyone! Charge!" roared Afanso as he took the lead and charged into the enemy formation.

The spirited Wargod warriors brandished their melee weapons and followed closely behind Afanso. Following closely behind them were the rangers. The enemy's retreating zone kept shrinking. Up in the sky, the transport ships filled with soldiers were continuously struck and were constantly exploding and crashing into the ground. That was a sign that planted fear deep into the hearts of the clone soldiers.

At that moment, a uniquely shaped mechanical bird appeared in the sky. The bird appeared rather chubby, and it flew among the clone soldiers while shouting at them to surrender. The retreating soldiers were being pushed back again and again. Numerous anti-aircraft cannons had arrived as well, unleashing a concentrated barrage that made it impossible for any enemy ships to land without suffering more losses.

Then, we saw in the sky the few remaining transport ships and the roughly one dozen battleships that had survived with the protection of their shields. They were flying rapidly toward outer space. Clearly, the enemy ships had given up on saving the remaining soldiers on the ground. Carrying the soldiers that had been able to get on the ships in time, they fled the cruel battlefield.

After the fleet withdrew, the remaining clone soldiers only put up some symbolic fight before they laid down their arms and surrendered. And with that, the Sacred Wing race's massive sneak attack was over. Facing the counterattack of Planet Rumble's divine bird, the Sacred Wing race had suffered massive losses.

Apart from a small number of soldiers who had managed to escape, they had lost most of their attacking forces. The numerous clone soldiers surrendered and were led out by Wargod soldiers in charge of cleaning up the battlefield. There were so many captives that they filled an entire subdistrict.

"I wonder if that traitor, Hakan, is also among the captives. If yes, I reckon Maley will be looking for him," muttered Zhang Bao'er as he gazed at the captives from the side of the road.

"That fellow is too crafty. He probably escaped long ago," I replied.

"These soldiers have mostly been defeated due to the loss of morale and leadership. Otherwise, it would almost be unimaginable for a larger army to be defeated by a smaller army with cold weapons. What a pity that they fought so terribly with their numbers and weapons," said Baron Sisse.

The baron's words gave rise to a bizarre thought in my mind.

"If we can make use of these soldiers, they can perhaps become the foundation of the force we're going to use to defeat the Divine Empire," I voiced my thoughts to Zhang Bao'er and Old Du.

"Canyue, you're oversimplifying this. These clone soldiers were grown by the empire for decades. They have been thoroughly brainwashed by the enemy. How will they betray the empire and join you?" said Zhang Bao'er.

"Any sentient life form is capable of changing its mind. These soldiers are clones, not robots. I still think we should try. After our operation at the Horsehead Nebula, I'll look for King Carter for a talk," I insisted.

"Right, shouldn't we return immediately? We have wasted quite a lot of time here," said Old Du, who was reminded of our original mission upon hearing me talk about the Horsehead Nebula.

I looked down to check the time. We had less than 16 hours before the commencement of the operation. Unknowingly, we had spent over 20 hours battling in Gero City. We were running out of time and had to return promptly.

"Everyone, let's head to Gero City's flight zone. Let's see if our round flying vehicle is still there. Zhang Bao'er, since the enemy has been defeated, contact the base and update them on our status. If our flying vehicle was destroyed, tell Zhang Bao'er to send a flying vehicle to pick us up as soon as possible," I gave a string of orders in an orderly fashion.

We headed toward the flight zone. In less than 15 minutes, we were there. Surprisingly, amid the rubble and craters, our flying vehicle had miraculously evaded all damage. It was still perfectly fine, parked right where we had left it.

"Canyue, Zhang Bao'er is already aware of the situation here. She ordered us to return as soon as possible. They don't have any flying vehicles to spare, as all resources are being poured into preparing for the operation," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Let's not delay. Board the round flying vehicle. We will be returning," I ordered.