Chapter 83: Guards Brigade

Chapter83: The Guard Brigade

Chen Jian and his two companions ultimately could not hold out for five minutes.

The reason was simple: the enemy's counterattack came far faster than they had anticipated.

Just three minutes later, the Holy Blooded summoned from all quarters flung themselves at their position like men with nothing to lose, while simultaneously the intensity of the Machine God Cult's assault surged.

A barrage of shells rained down on Huangshi City, the vast majority landing near Li Shi's position.

For them, suppressing the whole city was difficult, but pinning down a single strongpoint was comparatively easy.

When a hollow-point shell exploded less than ten meters from Li Shi, he could no longer sustain continuous fire and was forced to lug the portable 301 heavy machine gun to a new position.

The gap in suppressing fire left Chen Jian and his pair bereft of control over the open ground, and when a bullet from a Holy Blooded scout struck Chen Jian's chest plate squarely, he realized it was time to withdraw.

At that moment, the two civilian defense squads led by Huang Shi had already rowed to the shore, and Chen Jian bellowed the order:

“Alternate covering fire and retreat! CP!”

“Received!”

He Shuo and Shen Yue sprang into action; as the machine gunner, Shen Yue sprinted to the lakeside, set up his gun on the spot, and laid down suppressing fire to cover Chen Jian's withdrawal from the front.

Chen Jian tossed two thermobaric grenades over his shoulder, grabbed his rifle, turned, and ran.

He Shuo, after passing Shen Yue, continued another hundred meters before turning to provide cover.

The three moved in alternating bounds, executing the textbook central peel‑back maneuver.

The Holy Blooded, lacking any professional training, could not withstand the sustained fire put out by these three; they tried to flank the line with high mobility, but the militia aboard the boats were not there for spectacle.

A dense hail of shells blanketed the area, and the first thing to break was not the Holy Blooded's bodies but their morale.

Some of them had fought the Machine God Cult before, but in their view the cult's fire lanes were full of holes; a slight increase in speed could send their barrels spinning wildly.

But now?

The heretics of Huangshi City do not chase after flesh with their barrels; they fire one shot after another, steady and efficient, straight into the gaps!

Move at random, and you might well run straight into a bullet!

The encircling Holy Blooded were instantly slowed, and when they finally regained a sliver of advantage under the cover of the Machine God Cult's advancing vanguard, Chen Jian and his comrades had already plunged into the water.

They were not foolish enough to sit in the boats and return.

They simply dove beneath the surface, using the lake as cover and the boats' buoyancy to power their swim toward the island.

The distance between the sides had opened, and the 301 heavy machine gun's fire no longer needed restraint.

Li Shi kept the trigger locked down; his ferocious suppressing fire turned the barrel red, glowing in the night with a light that seemed to steal the very soul.

Incendiary rounds mixed with tracer rounds stitched a tight web of fire through the air, causing every Holy Blooded who tried to charge into the water to hesitate for a heartbeat.

They did not know what they were about to face.

Yes, the Holy Blooded are formidable in close combat.

Yet many of them had also seen, from afar, that iron‑clad warrior bare‑handed parry blades and shatter an enemy's skull!

Could such a man truly be challenged?

Once their fighting spirit wavered, the hope of pursuit was already shattered.

Under the cover of overwhelming fire, Chen Jian and his two withdrew unscathed into Huangshi City, but their taunting of the Holy Blooded provoked a frenzied reprisal.

Shells hammered Huangshi City in dense concentrations, reducing almost every building to rubble.

Amid the wreckage, only the Machine God Cult's chapel remained standing.

The sight struck Chen Jian as somewhat ironic, yet more ironic still was that the chapel had become the last refuge for the civilians.

The squad that had withdrawn from the lakeside sprinted back to cover; shells exploded nearby, yet the fear had vanished from their faces.

Another head‑on clash.

Another victory won.

The militia tasked with support trembled uncontrollably, but as the adrenaline ebbed they felt as though they had been reborn.

At that moment the baptism of fire was complete; they instinctively turned their gaze to Chen Jian, who stood with his back to them watching the Holy Blooded's movements, and then to the rifles in their own hands.

And those rifles seemed to have acquired a new meaning.

“Those Machine God Cult dogs are going mad, and the Holy Blooded are going mad too.”

“We really gave them a run for their money.”

Huang Yu's lips trembled slightly, and he went on:

“Maybe we can break out! We can beat them!”

“Breaking out my ass.” Chen Jian shook his head at once, then said:

“We merely had the advantage of surprise; they are already beginning to close in.”

“The Machine God Cult's vanguard from Xianning is approaching, hidden in the woods.”

“If we hadn't run fast, we would likely have been dragged down and killed on the shore.”

“They are smart; their pre‑offensive disposition is almost entirely complete.”

“Damn, good thing we decided to go out and test them today, otherwise we wouldn't have figured out their deployment at all!”

“These woods provide excellent cover; if we had enough fuel, I'd love to torch the whole lot!”

Chen Jian gritted his teeth, finished speaking, then keyed the radio and called Lei Jie:

“Lei Jie! Report your position!”

“Have you completed the infiltration?”

A moment later, Lei Jie's voice came through the earpiece.

“Seven hours to reach the designated spot.”

“I'm heading to Fengbo Harbor; the enemy is pulling south, there's an opportunity.”

“Understood, stay concealed!”

Chen Jian let out a breath of relief.

The tactical objective of this raid was still achieved.

Although we expended a great deal of ammunition, we succeeded in getting Lei Jie to the planned drop point.

Now, all Huangshi City has to do is wait.

He glanced at He Shuo, leaning against the bunkered wall, panting, and slapped his shoulder, saying:

“Hang in there.”

“Get the drone airborne and scout downstream along the river.”

“If they still have reinforcements, this point should be reached soon.”

“At the very least we need to find out who’s coming!”

“Understood.”

He Xiaoshuo forced himself to sit up; it was obvious that the relentless high‑intensity combat had left him utterly exhausted.

The drone shot up swiftly, then darted forward at a speed of 140 kilometers per hour.

The video feed returned instantly; after flying out to the maximum reconnaissance radius of twenty‑five kilometers, Chen Jian indeed spotted a flotilla on the river emitting a strong heat signature.

The size of the central vessel far surpassed any steamship Chen Jian had ever seen in this world.

There was no doubt—this was the flagship of the Machine God Sect.

Chen Jian gestured for He Xiaoshuo to lower the drone’s altitude, then switched the feed to the PDA screen, pointing at the flagship shimmering in the low‑light image as he asked Huang Yu:

“What kind of ship is this? Where does it come from?”

Huang Yu lowered his gaze to the screen, then exclaimed in shock:

“This is the Holy Sanctum Guard of the Machine God Sect!”

“How did they get here?!”

The words hung in the air, and a wave of fear instantly spread through the shelter.

Chen Jian furrowed his brow slightly and asked:

“Are they strong?”

“They’re the strongest; they’re tasked with guarding the Tri‑One Holy Sanctum, they should be in Jinling.”

“Stay calm!”

The more panicked Huang Yu became, the calmer Chen Jian remained.

Even the corners of his mouth twitched into a faint smile.

Shen Yue and He Xiaoshuo both turned to him; the three exchanged a knowing nod, and then Chen Jian opened the radio again and said:

“Lei Jie, we’ve got a big job coming up.”

“Buy one, get one free.”

“This time, we’re going to make a killing!”

(End of chapter)