Chapter 489.1: YOU LENGHTENED THE PLANE AND REMOVED THE WHAT?!

Most survivor settlements within the oasis were arranged in a circular layout.

This phenomenon was primarily due to the divine miracle bestowed by the Spirit of the Desert, the Levees, which were also mostly circular in shape.

Under such circumstances, the closer to the center, the more humid the climate was.

As a result, nobles and royals typically resided at the very center, and most important administrative institutions were also located there.

Their layout made things easier for the New Alliance. When setting bombing zones, they didn’t need to aim too precisely. All they had to do was to estimate the distance and altitude, then drop the bombs as close to the center as possible.

The moment the New Alliance dropped their warning leaflets, Falcon City's Defense Force Commander, Boff, ordered an evacuation of the central areas.

The problem he was facing was that King Morgott refused to leave, claiming he would remain seated on his throne until the war was won.

Anyone who wasn’t blind could tell that the war was lost... But the king refused to.

Even during Midal’s final audience, His Majesty stubbornly believed that once Triumphant City declared war on Ideal City, everything would turn around.

“His Majesty refuses to leave the palace. He says he’s waiting there for Prince William’s victorious return... We must do everything we can to protect the royal palace. Not a single bomb must be allowed to fall there.” the captain of the royal guard sighed with frustration.

Hearing the captain of the royal guard’s plea, Boff frowned. “The palace is too large a target... It’s not like we can bargain with the enemy and ask them to exclude the palace from the bombing zone.”

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

What’s more, he didn’t believe the enemy would strictly follow the zones marked on the leaflets. For all they knew, it could be a trap to herd people together for slaughter.

In the end, he sent people to evacuate civilians hiding in the so-called safe zones, instructing them to either take cover in designated shelters or return home and stay inside.

At the very least, they shouldn’t be caught on the streets.

Midal knew his request was difficult, but had no better option. He sighed, “Let’s deploy more anti-aircraft guns near the palace.”

Those guns might be able to fend off dive-bombing tactical aircraft. As for high-altitude strategic bombers, stopping their bombs would come down to luck.

No one could say for sure where the bombs would fall.

Boff nodded grimly. “That’s the best we can do.”

The New Alliance had built an airfield near Bist Town and reportedly stationed a large number of propeller planes. Most likely, that was where their bombers would take off from.

To intercept them, their ace pilot, Baron Akant, had led the 1st Air Squadron out. If things went well, they should intercept the bombers shortly after takeoff.

However, they couldn’t remain optimistic all the time.

After all, even the Wislander Cutlass jet fighters had been shot down by the New Alliance... Expecting a few dozen Eagle planes to seize air superiority back was a pipe dream.

While Midal and Boff were still discussing which sector to pull anti-aircraft guns from for redeployment around the royal palace, a guard who was carrying a rifle came running over. “Report! We received a telegram from the front!”

Midal stepped forward, took the sheet from the guard, and scanned it. The more he read, the deeper his frown became.

Seeing the change in his expression, Boff approached and asked, “What is it?”

Midal handed over the telegram. “News from central command. Griffin suspects the New Alliance may deploy airborne forces to raid Falcon City and urges us to remain alert. He’s already ordered the Second Division to return. If all goes well... They’ll arrive tomorrow.”

“The Second Division...” Boff’s face twitched. “Who are they again?”

“They are made up of our guys. The ones who pulled back from Oasis No.9.”

Boff’s expression twitched harder, and he couldn’t help but snap, “What good are those guys?! Are they coming back to show us how badly the New Alliance beat them?”

They were the ragged remnants pulled from attack on the City of Abundance. Out of more than 10,000 soldiers, only 2,000 remained. Even after mixing 10 battered battalions together, they still couldn’t fill two proper divisions.

As for reinforcements... There was simply no one left to send.

When Midal remained silent, Boff continued, “If you ask me, we’d be better off expanding the militia recruitment.”

Midal shook his head. “There’s no one left to draft... Even if we had every woman in the city give birth right now, it’d be too late.”

All able-bodied men were either on the frontlines or in labor camps. Civil production had nearly collapsed.

Even if the war stopped immediately, the economy was already dead. The only reason it barely clung to life was because the war hadn't officially ended.

Thinking of the kingdom’s current state, the two men fell into silence.

Seeing Boff quiet, Midal gave him a shoulder pat and tried to offer encouragement. “Try not to worry too much... Even if the New Alliance targets the capital, there’s no way they would bypass tens of thousands of troops along the border.”

“At the very least, we need to survive the night.”

Though Griffin suspected a paratrooper raid, neither Midal nor Boff took the telegram too literally. Airborne operations and bombings were very different things.

Even with air supremacy, Falcon City was garrisoned by 5,000 to 6,000 troops and housed over 200,000 to 300,000 civilians.

Even if paratroopers were coming, they wouldn’t drop that night. Surely there would be several days of bombing first...

Just then, the air raid sirens wailed from the east side of the city. The shrill alarm cut off Midal’s thoughts. He turned toward the pitch-black night sky in the east with a frown on his face. “The New Alliance planes are here already?!”

Boff didn’t reply, but his heart sank. If New Alliance aircraft had reached the capital, then Baron Akant and his squadron must have lost.

But still...

Wasn’t that too fast?

They hadn’t even received reports of any air combat between both sides.

If the New Alliance aircraft really came from near Bist Town, surely someone on the frontline would’ve sounded the alarm?

Then, a panicked messenger came running up. Before he could report, Boff grabbed him. “What’s going on in the east?”

The messenger gulped and stammered, “T-the Heart of Steel! It’s the airship! It’s been sighted directly east of us!”

Boff froze, and so did Midal beside him.

Looking at the terrified messenger, Midal quickly pressed, “The Heart of Steel?! Are you sure?!”

“I’m sure!” the messenger nodded vigorously. “Multiple outposts have spotted it.”

With multiple confirmed sightings, there could be no mistake. That airship had likely crossed the border of Oasis No.2, and was within 200 kilometers of the capital.

It was possibly even closer.

Boff’s brow furrowed, a grave expression forming.

“Looks like they’re planning to bomb us with the airship.”

He had heard of the Heart of Steel. Apparently, standard anti-air guns were practically useless against it.

Still, it wasn’t invincible. If they could restrict its mobility, they might not bring it down, but they could at least neutralize its threat.

Like deploying dense nets of balloons and steel cables in its flight path...

Long ago, Griffin had ordered the formation of two special ‘balloon units’ specifically to counter that airship.

Unfortunately, the New Alliance had always been cautious, never letting the airship fly too far ahead, always keeping it close to their ground forces.

So why the sudden deviation now?

“Sending the airship ahead by itself... Have they gone mad?” Midal murmured, his face filled with disbelief.

Rather than a blunder... He suspected it was a risk they were taking to achieve their goals.

Well... his guess was spot on.

The New Alliance’s decision to push the Heart of Steel deep into Oasis No.2 was indeed a deliberate strategic gamble.

However, to Chu Guang’s surprise, Griffin’s response was slightly faster than expected. The Heart of Steel had barely traveled 100 kilometers into the oasis before it encountered Griffin’s balloon net.

Dozens of balloons tethered with steel cables rose into the night sky, illuminated by tracer fire slicing down from above.

These balloons were internally partitioned and reinforced with thin metal plating. Even if struck by bullets or explosives, only parts would be damaged. They would still fly high into the skies.

Each balloon was connected by heavier steel cables, interlinked further with finer wires to form a skirt-like net of steel.

Though the Heart of Steel’s crew immediately noticed the hazard, it was too late to brake. They had no choice but to shut off the propellers to prevent entanglement.

Hundreds of balloons, like enormous soap bubbles, surrounded the much larger airship.

Without power, the Heart of Steel drifted forward under inertia, its speed much slower. The propellers, snagged by cables, trembled softly in the cold wind.

Staring at the balloons floating outside the bridge’s panoramic window, a surprised look appeared on Chu Guang’s face. However, it quickly turned into a smile of approval. “... Not bad. You managed to learn this trick from our cute little fellas...”

During the Battle of Lucky Valley Municipality, using balloon nets to trap the Heart of Steel had actually been a proposed backup plan by the New Alliance.

The low-speed balloons could bypass the ship’s deflection shields, and the hanging wires could snag its rotors.

And with enough balloons, the ship’s maneuverability would be too limited to dodge or speed away. However, due to time constraints and other reasons, that plan was never implemented.

Well... As for the real reason... They didn’t have time to prepare enough balloons before the airship retreated.

As for other factors... The balloons could only disable the mobility of the airship, not destroy the airship or neutralize its weapons. The cost-to-benefit ratio just wasn’t worth it.