Chapter 79: Behind Us Is Home

Chapter 79: Home Behind

The plan formulated, Chen Jian instantly felt his thoughts clear.

Whether it was positional warfare, breakout, or tactical crushing, nothing was as solid as a single atomic bomb.

Just as the residents of Huangshi City could not withstand several rounds of bombardment, he did not believe the Machine God Sect could endure the power of a nuclear bomb.

This weapon, the greatest destructive force ever created in human history, would always be an excellent deterrent at any time.

And even more wonderfully, those who are bombed never know how many such weapons their opponent still possesses.

What if they pull another handful out of their trousers?

Why must nuclear arsenals be kept secret?

Because deterrence is built exactly this way.

Even Xu Lie, who had personally seen several men carry away lead boxes, would never dare to pat his chest and guarantee 'this shot will be the last.'

Because as long as there is another round, it will surely fall on the heads of the high-ranking officials of Han Shui City, the Machine God Sect, and the Holy Blood Hall!

There is no better method than this.

Chen Jian issued a series of orders; taking advantage of the lull in the bombardment, all residents of Huangshi City lay down on the ground to rest, seizing every second to prepare for the next round of fighting.

They had indeed never received any professional military training, but obviously, certain instincts—innate qualities—had already seeped into their blood.

Combat, combat.

Only through battle could they guard what they had just wrested from the Machine God Sect.

Chen Jian gulped down a bowl of fish porridge that had gone completely cold, and as his body regained a little warmth, he immediately took over Lei Jie's position, deploying the artillery emplacement to cover Lei Jie's departure by boat from the island.

Just as he had moved Drone No. 2 onto the planned breakout route, Drone No. 1 sounded an alarm.

"Abnormal heat source! Abnormal heat source!"

Chen Jian hurriedly looked at the drone's feed and then discovered that on the highway leading from the southwest, Xianning direction toward Huangshi City, a massive column had already appeared.

Belching black smoke, steam‑clad iron chariots, neatly ranked protectors of the faith, priests holding censers and banners, and artillery priests guarding the guns.

Rough estimate: at least a thousand strong.

"Damn! Who said Xianning only had a few hundred?!"

Chen Jian glared at the impulsive signal officer, Huang Yu, who replied somewhat anxiously,

"It's not just Xianning City! They must have gathered fighting forces from all the surrounding towns!"

"They're really giving us face."

Chen Jian let out a long breath.

So the legendary mimetic heretics—are they really that terrifying?

What have they brought to this land?

If they could inflict such a psychological shadow on the Machine God Sect and the Holy Blood Hall, how were they finally defeated??

Questions swirled in Chen Jian's mind, but he had no leisure to dwell on them now.

Three steam‑powered warcars from the southwest had already advanced within five kilometers; they did not press forward, but halted in place, forming a net to encircle to the end.

"He Shuo, establish electromagnetic shielding."

"Even if we can't cover them completely, at least cut off the forward blood‑bearers from their rear!"

"Understood!"

He Shuo immediately activated the electromagnetic interference, and at the same moment, on the drone's screen the iron plates of the steam warcars slowly unfolded, revealing six massive smoothbore cannons each at least three meters long.

"Damn, you're not afraid of collapsing the overpass! Everyone prepare to meet the enemy! Their numbers are almost ready; they will surely take advantage of this bombardment to launch a probing attack!"

"Understood!"

As the words fell, Huang Yu turned and walked away.

He intended to go into the shelter and wake everyone, but in fact his action was superfluous.

Because the second round of bombardment for today had already arrived!

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

A hail of hollow shells fell on the island; this time, the machine spirit seemed to favor the Machine God Sect's believers, and the accuracy of the fire increased considerably.

Fortunately, Chen Jian had organized people to dig shelters in advance; otherwise this barrage alone might have cost many lives.

Meanwhile, just as Chen Jian had anticipated, the vanguard of the Holy Blood Bearers, together with a small detachment of faith protectors, launched an attack from the lakeshore.

The unpowered wooden boats were rowed forward by the strong Holy Blood Bearers, while the faith protectors stood aboard and fired suppressing shots toward Huangshi City.

Bullets flew across the water; Chen Jian did not recklessly unleash the machine gun, but instead set up He Shuo's 26‑mm sniper rifle, attempting to pick off targets one by one at 1500 meters.

"Bang! Bang!"

Shot after shot struck the small boats and sampans on the lake; taking advantage of the enemy's focus on landing, Chen Jian shouted loudly:

"Lei Jie! Go!"

"Understood!" The order given, Chen Jian tossed aside his 26‑mm rifle.

Then two Type 201 squad machine guns, one Type 301 heavy machine gun, and one large‑caliber anti‑aircraft gun opened fire simultaneously!

The sampans on the lake were instantly shattered to splinters; before the 14.5 mm ammunition, the wooden craft were as fragile as paper!

The enemy toppled into the water, but to Chen Jian's surprise they did not immediately cease their advance.

On the contrary, under the continuous cover of the rear large‑caliber smoothbore guns, nearly a hundred faith protectors and Holy Blood Bearers slipped into the water, trying to dodge the bullets and land by swimming.

What a joke!

A lake nearly a kilometer wide—do they really think they can swim across?

Chen Jian had thought the enemy was indulging in fantasy, but in a flash of inspiration a word crossed his mind.

"Xia Ma Town!"

"Miners!"

Chen Jian's scalp tingled; he shouted urgently:

"Don't look at the lake's center—look at the shore!"

"Watch for interceptions! Don't let them get close!"

"Lei Jie! Beware underwater!"

At that moment Chen Jian no longer bothered to conserve ammunition; he sprinted to the ready‑positioned automatic howitzer and opened fire on the waters near Lei Jie's boat.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The dull explosions kept ringing; moments later a few stunned faith protectors surfaced from the depths.

"Shen Yue, cover Lei Jie's landing!"

"Everyone else, keep your guns ready—they're coming!"

Understood!

As the words fell, dozens of heads suddenly popped up from the lakeshore.

Like tentacles, the airways retracted into the mouths of those "miners"; immediately, they raised their weapons and began firing incessantly toward Huangshi City!

Under the cannon's suppression, Huangshi City's counterattack seemed feeble.

Occasionally a few bold city-defense troops poked their heads out to return fire, but were quickly pinned down by the concentrated fire of the Machine God Sect.

Meanwhile, the slower Holy Blooded, having taken several breaths, also surfaced from the water.

They were only three hundred meters from Huangshi City's first line of defense.

Yet their number amounted to ten.

Chen Jian fired with all his might, but he knew they probably couldn't keep them beyond melee range.

Fire density was too low, fire points too few, and the enemy's positions were too dispersed; the resulting crossfire net couldn't possibly envelop them all!

Casualties were now unavoidable.

This was destined to be a bloody battle!

Chen Jian drew a deep breath and bellowed his order:

"Shen Yue Huoshuo, open fire with all automatic weapons!"

"Everyone, tighten formation and hold the position!"

"Before us lies the enemy; behind us lies our family!"

"Fire at them, you damned lot!"

I originally thought of posting a separate chapter, but after thinking it over, I decided to explain it here instead.

Why does this segment feature so little of the monsters, almost as if they were mere background props?

Damn it, I really had no choice; according to the outline, this human‑vs‑human conflict was necessary to give the protagonist his own turf and a relatively stable logistics line—originally the outline called for about thirty thousand words, after which we’d resume fighting monsters.

But I overlooked one thing:

Damn it, before the release I could only update four thousand words a day.

So a plot that could have been finished in three days was dragged out to over a week.

Fortunately, the release is imminent; once it launches, the update volume will increase and this disjointed feeling will disappear.

According to my design, the monsters and antagonists in this book are actually metaphors.

What the monsters represent, what the Machine God Sect and the Holy Blooded represent—all can be found in history.

It's merely that, in the course of the plot, I gave slightly more emphasis to one side or another.

After all, it's still a matter of update volume.

Everyone, just hold on for two more days; at midnight on the twelfth it will go live, and from that day on there will be a surge of updates.

(End of chapter)