Chapter 427.2: The Storm That Sweeps Through The Desert

Intermittent voices came through the communication channel.

"... Transport plane about to return... New Alliance soldiers, good luck!"

"Received. Wishing you a safe return trip."

The 12 transport planes arrived quickly and left just as fast, not staying a moment longer after completing their deployment. They started their engines and flew back the way they came.

Timing was crucial.

Sideline Slacking did not delay either, immediately signaling his brothers to unload the equipment and supplies from the boxes.

Due to limited transport capacity, the 12 Orca transport planes could only send half a 1,000-man army’s worth of troops to the target area. In the end, he only brought 500 elites of the Death Corps with him.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Although they could not leverage a numerical advantage, these brothers were enough!

Looking at the equipment deployed around and the exoskeleton he was wearing, Sideline Slacking felt full of confidence.

"I thought we would directly parachute onto their heads," said Construction Boy, as he pushed a tricycle over. “Wait a second, are we riding this thing?!"

The tricycle's tires had been widened to better suit the desert terrain, and a mortar was placed in the rear carrier.

Not far away, another tricycle had an even more exaggerated design, with a bracket welded to the front of the vehicle, which held a light machine gun. A total of 120 modified folding tricycles, along with four-rotor drones used by intelligence type players, were all equipment produced by the New Alliance.

Meanwhile, the newly created Hellhound quadruped robot and the Seagull fixed-wing drone being assembled nearby were imported at great expense from the Enterprise.

"Sure, you can parachute. Do you wish to be shot down by their machine guns, though?” After his joke, Sideline Slacking looked behind at the dense crowd of people before turning serious. "Attention all 100-man team captains, take your brothers and equipment to the target assembly point, and wait for the signal to attack!"

"Move out!"

Everyone responded in a low, unified voice. "Received!"

Except for Eye Owe Money, responsible for operating the Seagull fixed-wing drone, who stayed in place with his squad.

The rest of the players climbed onto the tricycles who were driven vigorously by a strength type beast. They went straight to the predetermined battle positions. Sitting on the tricycle, Sideline Slacking took a deep breath, pulled out his map again, and confirmed the battle plan.

So far, everything had proceeded as smoothly as planned, but for some reason, he felt uneasy.

Is it an illusion?

But he was a perception type player.

Just then, a loud explosion suddenly broke through the noisy night sky in the distance.

Everyone looked up towards the direction from which the explosion had come, their eyes filled with surprise.

"That’s the military base that's our mission target..." Construction Boy, who was vigorously pedaling his tricycle, muttered in confusion, "Weren't we supposed to start at dawn? Why did it start early?"

They hadn't even reached their positions yet.

Without mutual radio communication, they couldn't communicate with their allies to find out what exactly was going on.

Sideline Slacking furrowed his brow, suddenly thought of something, and his expression changed slightly. "What time did the mission briefing say we start at dawn?"

"What time? Of course, it's the time of the Sunset Province..." Construction Boy suddenly snapped back to reality, stunned for a moment, "Shit! They didn't use New Alliance time, did they?"

It was impossible for the New Alliance's command to make such a basic mistake. The time zone would definitely be marked with symbols on the battle plan, and appropriate conversions made to ensure the execution time was precise.

The only explanation for such a discrepancy was either a miscommunication when passing instructions down through the ranks, being mistakenly interpreted as New Alliance time...

Or there was a mole in their Lion Kingdom which made it unable for them to send the information down to the Honey Badger Kingdom in time, resorting to tampering with orders to disrupt the plan's execution.

Regardless of the scenario, the battle started an hour earlier!

AH SHIT!

This is a setup!

Without time to care about anything else, Sideline Slacking made a quick decision, pressing the communicator button and shouting loudly, "Attention all squads!"

"Ally forces have opened fire early! Our ally positions might be prematurely exposed... Initiate Plan C and continue execution."

"Move out!"

...

Several dozen minutes ago... Over the desert cloaked in night.

A man in a khaki cloak crawled at the edge of a sand dune. He held a pair of binoculars, gazing at the faintly visible campfires nearby.

He was called Yard, the eldest son of the Honey Badger Kingdom’s royal family and also the marshal of the Honey Badger Kingdom's resistance army.

The thick beard hanging from his chin was dense like a broom, and whether it was his sharply defined face or his robust physique, he resembled his father to a great extent.

He was precisely the opposite of his brother, Somer.

Glancing at the time on his watch, Yard patiently enjoyed the last moments of tranquility, his thoughts drifting away with the evening breeze.

About two months ago, the Falcon Kingdom, backed by the Army, launched a sudden attack on the Honey Badger Kingdom, occupying the entire kingdom in just a week.

His father died in battle defending the capital, while he followed the remnants of his troops, retreating with his brother and sister to the Lion Kingdom, reorganizing under the support of the Lion Kingdom’s royal family and recruiting refugees from Oasis No.3 to form the resistance army.

Originally, according to his plan, he intended to launch a counteroffensive at the end of the year, to reclaim the royal territories from the hands of the Falcon Kingdom. However... That kind-hearted vulture did not give them the time they had prepared for.

Just as the kingdom's letters of condemnation were delivered to the Falcon Kingdom, the Falcon Kingdom immediately launched a further advance eastward, turning their offensive towards the Lion Kingdom, which had sheltered them.

The situation turned dire quickly.

As the desert overlord, the Lion Kingdom's strength was far above that of the Falcon Kingdom, but the latter, having tightened their belts for war preparation over a decade and supported by the Army, actually had a larger standing army than the Lion Kingdom.

Moreover, since the Honey Badger Kingdom had previously shielded them from threats from the west, the Lion Kingdom was utterly unprepared.

Now... The arrogant kings were finally paying the price for their foolishness and compromise.

They hoped that sacrificing a lamb would satisfy the beast, forgetting that it was a wolf that could never be satiated.

In less than a month, the war had spread from Oasis No.3 to Oasis No.9, with the frontlines advancing so rapidly that the Falcon Kingdom’s guns were less than 100 kilometers from the Lion Kingdom’s royal capital.

The Camel Kingdom and the Golden Lizard Kingdom were also terrified after seeing the fall of the Honey Badger Kingdom and the weakness of the Lion Kingdom. They already sent out declarations of war but were hesitating to deploy troops.

Facing the joint forces of the Falcon Kingdom and the Army alone, the Lion Kingdom's situation was perilously critical.

In order to gather all forces to defend the royal capital, the guerrilla troops active in the north had already headed south, rallying under the banner of Prince Wint, attempting to rely on solid offenses and defensive fortifications to wear down the Falcon Kingdom.

In Yard's view, their idea was naive.

Never initiating attacks meant never controlling the initiative. Once the northern guerrilla troops retreated within their lines, it meant that the Falcon Kingdom and the Army's forces on the northern front could advance freely without worrying about their supply lines.

Hoping to wear down those wolves was laughable.

Not to mention that the Falcon Kingdom had been preparing for the day for over a decade, just relying on the treasures plundered from Oasis No.3 was enough for them to obtain sufficient supplies from the east, until the Lion Kingdom ran out of blood...

However, the situation took a turn.

Perhaps Somer's diplomatic efforts had some effect, and the southern overlord of the River Valley Province finally realized the threat from the west, sending troops into the desert with the Enterprise’s support.

The target was a military base in the northern part of Oasis No.9, said to be an important supply hub for the Falcon Kingdom's northern front.

If they could capture the military base, not only could they thwart the Falcon Kingdom's northern forces' offensive plans, but there was also a chance to cut off the supply lines from the northern part of River Valley Province.

Regrettably, the Lion Kingdom had no troops left in the north, and after some arguments, the ball was kicked to him.