Chapter 1637: Battle Fire
Groups of flames fell from the sky, falling like stars.
When the murderous landing crafts appeared over Tiangong City, leaving behind a faint blue arc, everyone who looked up at the dome opened their eyes as they were attracted by the splendid firelight.
The same question echoed in everyone’s heart.
What is that light?
At the observation deck of the central tower.
On this landmark building closest to the center of the dome, the tourists pointed at the s.h.i.+mmering lights in the sky.
“What is it then?”
“Probably a meteor…”
“There is more than one! They are flying toward us!”
“d.a.m.n! What about our city’s defense system? What are those soldiers doing?! They’re letting the meteorite pa.s.s the s.p.a.ce station!”
“Something’s wrong, those things don’t look like meteorites…”
“What is it then?”
“It seems to be an orbital airborne brigade… Remember the ALPHA virus incident? When I traveled to Guanghan City last year, I happened to run into a robot rebellion, and I was fortunate to have seen it once…”
Just as people’s attention was gradually captured by the light spots appearing in the air, the militia organization loyal to the city hall responded immediately.
The urban defense system on the edge of Tiangong City was activated. The alloy doors buried under the sand dunes moved sideways, and electromagnetic guns were slowly pushed onto the surface.
However, before the thick, solid plasma filled the barrels, the electromagnetic guns pointed to the sky were torn into pieces by bullets falling from the sky.
The firepower of the three-wheeled naval guns fell like raindrops, destroying all the urban defense systems deployed outside Tiangong City.
In fact, this couldn’t be blamed on the incompetence of the militia in Tiangong City, mainly because this urban defense system itself was prepared for destroying large meteorites. In the face of cruiser-cla.s.s firepower like the Qinling, their range couldn’t reach them at all. They could only stand like dead ducks.
Without any effective resistance, the landing craft of the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade quickly deployed behind the sand dunes on the east side of Tiangong City.
Under the leaders.h.i.+p of Li Gaoliang, a group of soldiers armed with exoskeleton armor walked out of the landing craft and launched an attack toward Tiangong City under the cover of small drones.
The war was about to start!
The militia organization that arrived in a hurry tried to counterattack with the advantage of terrain and fortifications. However, in the face of the fierce firepower of the Third Orbit Airborne Brigade, they were unable to fight back.
Even though they had the support of heavy weapons like electromagnetic tanks, they were unable to regain the slightest advantage in hand-to-hand combat.
The gap between the two sides was too big.
Whether it was in training or soldier morale!
At the same time, the streets of Tiangong City were completely in chaos. Although the flames of war had not yet burned here, everyone knew that this would happen sooner or later.
A second ago, there were still people naively thinking that the rays of light were meteors or other natural phenomena, but now, almost everyone had changed their mind.
Whether it was the sporadic flames, the rain of bullets flying through the traffic pipes, or the roadblocks that had been overthrown on the road, they all told the same story—this was war!
To be honest, most people were at a loss for this sudden war.
Even those supporters of independence never thought that this day would come so quickly and so suddenly. They didn’t even have time to prepare.
According to the normal procedure, they should first see the “criminal evidence” of the Pan-Asian Cooperation on TV, then film a few doc.u.mentaries about the Pan-Asian Cooperation, and finally, they would mobilize citizens to join the army on the grounds of the Pan-Asian Cooperation trying to ban colonial independence…
However, all these steps seemed to have been omitted. Five minutes ago, their mayor drafted a “Declaration of Independence” and announced the fact that Tiangong City had entered a wartime state, formally declaring war on the sovereign state.
It was almost like…
He came up with this idea on a whim.
In the underground air-raid shelter in the residential area of Tiangong City…
This was originally used as a bunker for avoiding natural disasters such as meteorites. It was now opened to accommodate nearby citizens. No one thought that one day, it would be used as a bunker for avoiding war.
Ten minutes before the orbital airborne brigade landed, a long line had already formed at the entrance of the air-raid shelter.
When the sound of guns exploded in the distance, everyone’s face was filled with panic and fear. They looked around nervously, afraid that the stray bullets would fly here.
“We are… independent now?”
“It seems like so… So what do we call it? Mars Alliance?”
“d.a.m.n… What happened? Wasn’t it all okay yesterday? Why did this suddenly start! I have two days to return to Jinling, why should I be involved in this stupid fight!”
“It’s crazy, it’s asinine!”
The chaos was not only in the streets of Tiangong City but also in the town hall located in the central area of Tiangong City.
In less than 30 seconds, the urban defense system around Tiangong City was instantly destroyed. Not even a single artillery sh.e.l.l was fired before the defense system was torn to pieces by the naval guns.
Before they even had time to open a bottle of champagne and celebrate their departure from the Pan-Asian Cooperation, they had to face a cruel reality.
They were facing the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade!
The trump card of the Pan-Asian Aeros.p.a.ce Marine Corps!
“d.a.m.n… Where did these guys come from!” He slammed his hands on the table fiercely. Looking at the holographic map, his face was full of tension.
The continuous casualties caused the morale of the militia to drop. More and more soldiers fled. They threw away their weapons and equipment, pretended to be civilians, and fled into the safe area.
They had ten times as many soldiers as their opponents, and they even had the support of armored troops. However, the result was a one-sided bloodbath. Xiao Hong didn’t know whether he should scold the militia commander or scold his mother.
“The Qinling… It is the Qinling!” Gao Ruiming said with a solemn expression as he walked into the office quickly, “There was news from the observatory just now that the Qinling has hijacked our s.p.a.ce station in orbit and destroyed our city’s defenses just now by using their naval gun!”
Xiao Hong: “What about our fleet?!”
Gao Ruiming said, “The First Fleet of the Alliance Army has already set off from the port in the asteroid belt and is expected to arrive in Mars...o...b..t tomorrow!”
“Tomorrow?!” Xiao Hong suddenly couldn’t help but furiously speak in anger, “You mean, we have to let them point their guns at us all day?!”
“What can I do?! Don’t get angry at me!” Gao Ruiming became furious and snapped, “I told you to put Lu Zhou directly under house arrest and force him to hand over the technology of the warp drive, but you didn’t listen to me! Now look at what has happened! Look at the consequences of your own actions!”
Xiao Hong stared at his staff in amazement, and an expression of astonishment appeared on his face.
He couldn’t believe that this person dared to speak to him in such a tone.
Knowing that his emotions were a little out of control, Gao Ruiming took a deep breath, adjusted his emotions, and said immediately, “The top priority now is to ask our allies for help.”
Xiao Hong immediately opened his mouth and said, “You mean other colonial cities? It’s impossible for those guys to help us!”
“They must help us, and they will definitely help us! Otherwise, if the Alliance Army’s affairs are exposed, what do you think is waiting for them? This is not to save us but to save themselves!” Staring at Xiao Hong, Gao Ruiming stubbornly put his hands on the desk as he said with unprecedented momentum, “Not just allies, but also those mercenary organizations that can be contacted! No matter how much they charge, as long as we can afford it, we have to hire them!
“Of course, don’t forget to ask them to think carefully of who took care of them all this time and who turned a blind eye to their businesses!”