Chapter 1400 - 22: Little Assistant

Chapter 1400: Chapter 22: Little Assistant

Five hours later, the convoy drove off the gravel road and into the plains.

With a splattering sound, the muddy water splashed as the truck wheels covered in mud rolled over a puddle. This was a small path in the wilderness, with weeds along the road. Long treads from trucks and tanks had carved deep ruts into the muddy path, filled with thick mud.

Sitting in the jostling truck, Su Xiao’s body swayed with the movement of the truck, and he had entered a light sleep.

Bam!

The sudden gunshot made Su Xiao open his eyes. All the soldiers around him stood up and leapt to the back of the truck, jumping off.

The vehicle hadn’t stopped, yet all ten members of the Slaughter Troop, including Su Xiao, had already jumped off the truck and were standing on the mud-filled path.

The convoy quickly stopped. After the gunfire, all Slaughter Troop soldiers had jumped off before the truck halted and set up a temporary defense line. Some engineers even started digging trenches. The most efficient squad had already jumped into the trenches and were reinforcing them with single-soldier-style patterned steel plates.

In just 10 seconds, there wasn’t a soldier in sight on the muddy road, only 17 trenches, with heavy machine guns mounted outside the trenches. Three squads of engineers had already connected their trenches.

"It’s deserters."

A shout came from the truck at the front of the convoy. Upon hearing this, the Slaughter Troop soldiers knew what it meant.

Skardine jumped from the copilot seat of the leading truck. Looking at the connected trenches on the ground and the soldiers covered in mud, he clenched his fists. If such a force couldn’t win a battle, he might as well swallow a bullet and apologize with his death.

"Level it out in 10 seconds, and there’ll be an extra meal tonight."

After leveling the road, the convoy continued forward, with Su Xiao reclining inside the truck cabin, continuing to nap.

After 10 hours of travel, Su Xiao could hear explosions in the distance. Crater holes frequently appeared by the roadside, and even corpses were seen hanging from the trees.

Around six in the evening, the convoy stopped at a military camp, the base of the Second Corps·Fourth Division·Second Regiment.

As the convoy drove into the camp, the sounds of wailing entered Su Xiao’s ears. A nurse dressed in red was holding a white porcelain basin to pour water, and the pale red blood water splashed onto the lawn. Her clothes were originally white, but had been stained red with blood.

There is no formal hospital on the battlefield; tents and abandoned armored vehicles serve as hospitals. Some soldiers with severed limbs are even treated in open-air conditions.

Doctors handle the wounded in a crude manner, amputating legs that have been blown off, sawing arms that are mangled, sawing wherever there’s no chance of treatment, save for the head and torso.

A soldier, fully wrapped in bandages, lying on an open-air bed and missing his lower limbs, smoked despite his condition. Though he had lost his legs, he wasn’t in despair. All of his squadmates had died on the battlefield, but compared to those blown to pieces, surviving was already a gain.

After unloading a truck, the convoy moved on. Skardine planned to disperse the Slaughter Troop across the battlefield, roughly assigning a troop to each squad, meaning 10 men. Every commander they passed asked Skardine to leave more squads behind, as the Slaughter Troop functioned too well on the battlefield. Without needing orders, it wouldn’t take long for the enemy commanders to possibly die in battle.

The truck convoy continued deeper into the battlefield, and by late night, there was only one truck left in the convoy, the one with Su Xiao.

Skardine was also in the rear truck cabin; he could have been in the copilot seat.

"Brothers, I’m sending you to the frontline. If you have complaints, speak now, as there will be no time for complaints once we arrive."

Skardine pulled out cigarettes from the pocket on his chest. Of the 10-man squad, 9 had the habit of smoking. The Geya Alliance strictly controlled smoking during peacetime but provided free cigarettes during war, though wine was not supplied, and drinking was strictly forbidden.

"There’s nothing to complain about."

The Saint lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

"Leader, from the day I enlisted, I knew the battlefield wasn’t a nice detail; it was a duty."

Da Di, as the only non-smoker, sat at the back of the truck cabin, where ventilation was best but also risked taking a bullet. Twenty minutes ago, a bullet made a fist-sized hole in the green canvas at the back of his head, so he stuffed a water bottle in it to stop the draft.

"That’s good. Hey~ I have a beautiful princess wife, so why must I be on the front lines with you single men? Damnit."

After a round of laughter, the truck reached its destination.

Boom, boom...

The rumble of artillery shells hitting the ground echoed from a kilometer away. Several planes flew overhead, and one, about half a kilometer out, encountered ground anti-aircraft fire and descended with thick black smoke trailing behind it.

"Here, here, and here, we must take these before midnight to allow the tank division from behind to advance quickly."

A middle-aged man, in a tattered military uniform and mud-splattered face, stood at a wooden table. He was the leader of the Second Corps·Fourth Division·Twelfth Regiment. Unlike cinematic wars, this leader had no command post; his command post was a wooden table with six soldiers carrying radios.

"Gana, how’s the battle going?"

Skardine stepped forward with no pleasantries.

"You’re here, not too well. Those blue-eyed bastards ambushed the Seventeenth Regiment last night. We must capture these positions before midnight, or we’ll be surrounded."

Skardine looked at the map; the situation was indeed grim. The Seventeenth Regiment and the Twelfth Regiment’s positions were adjacent, and now that the Seventeenth had pulled back five kilometers, the Twelfth could find themselves enveloped in a ladle-shape if the Sun Kingdom’s forces push back the Eight Regiment behind them.

It should be noted, the Seventeenth was pushed back by a tank corps. If half-enclosed by a tank corps, even if the Twelfth Regiment doesn’t face annihilation, it’ll be severely beaten.

"Understood."

Skardine turned and went to the copilot position of the truck, retrieving a sniper rifle approximately 1.3 meters long.

"Your gun."

Skardine tossed the sniper rifle to Su Xiao, who caught it one-handed, surprised to find it was a Golden Quality sniper rifle.

[Mr·24 Sniper Rifle.]

Origin: Geya Alliance·Third Military Factory

Quality: Gold

Category: Medium Sniper Gun

Caliber: 7.62mm

Ammo Capacity: 5 (Single-shooting)

Durability: 120/120 (patterned steel firearm)

Attack Power: 134～198 (Attack power using white gunpowder bullets)

Equipment Requirements: Power 50, Agility 40, Stamina 40, Basic Gun Skills Level 35 or above.

Equipment Effect 1: Fifteen times optical scope (Passive), aim correction +10%, trajectory adjustment +12.

Equipment Effect 2: Patterned steel bullet trajectory (Passive), Bullet penetration +19, stability greatly improved.

Rating: 400+ (Golden equipment rating is 310～400)

Introduction: The perfect combination of patterned steel and white gunpowder, enabling it to hit targets 3000 meters away, provided you can spot the enemy.

Price: Usage rights only, not for sale, transfer.

...

Su Xiao cycled the bolt of the Mr·24 Sniper Rifle, finding that although it was not a new gun, it was well-maintained.

"Bai Ye, bad news: your spotter died in battle half a month ago. The Slaughter Troop can’t find a suitable spotter for now, so you can choose a spotter from the Twelfth Regiment."

Skardine’s gaze turned to the Twelfth Regiment’s leader, Gana, who considered for a moment before agreeing.

"I don’t need a spotter for now."

Since using sniper rifles until now, Su Xiao had never coordinated with a spotter or, rather, he was the sniper and spotter all in one.

"If that’s the case, I’ll choose for you."

Skardine seemed unfamiliar with refusal.

Early morning, at 2 AM, in the frontline trenches.

This trench was about two meters wide, and on the front side, there were patterned steel plates everywhere. Dirt couldn’t stop bullets; patterned steel plates were essential for constructing trenches.

"Due south, 180 degrees, 680 meters, wind speed 3..."

A female voice came from the pitch-black trench.

"Shut up."

Bang!

The bullet fired, and the enemy 680 meters away was shot in the head.

"Next enemy, southward direction, 173 degrees, 570 meters, wind..."

"Shut up."

Su Xiao pulled the trigger, and the enemy in the night vision scope was shot in the head.

"Next enemy, southward direction, 171 degrees, 620 meters..."

"You, shut up."

"Pff..."

"Hahaha, let me laugh for a bit."

Bam.

The bullet pierced through the dark night and went straight into the enemy’s skull.

"Next, another enemy, southward direction..."

"..."

Su Xiao pulled the trigger. The fact that the Geya Alliance had female soldiers didn’t surprise him. Gender equality had long been established here, and women on the battlefield were normal. However, what he couldn’t understand was why Skardine assigned him a female reconnaissance officer? The worst part was that this female recon officer wouldn’t stop talking.