Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 397 Sleepless Night
It was also a sleepless night for the troops on the Krant front.

This wasn't because they had a premonition of anything, but rather...

"Where did the codebook go?!"

General Aug slammed his fist on the table in anger, glaring fiercely at his adjutant. The sudden loss of the codebook was a major problem. Upon learning of it, General Aug immediately ordered the entire camp sealed off and dispatched men to search every section, but they couldn't find it no matter what they did.

The way the codebook was lost was even more unbelievable. According to the communications soldier, he only turned around for a moment, and the codebook disappeared.

How could this be? There were two soldiers on guard outside the communications room, and three more on guard inside. It's impossible for it to just disappear like that. Unless there's a mole among them!

spy!

Thinking this through, General Aug felt a sudden clarity dawn on him. That's it! It must be it! Why were his frontline positions attacked without warning? There must be a spy within his army! Only this could explain why the enemy was able to pinpoint the location of his air defense positions so precisely! Add to that the loss of the codebook… it's certain, it must be a spy!

Therefore, General Aug immediately ordered a search of the entire military camp to find the spy!

Of course, the guards and communications personnel in the communications room were the first to suffer, and were immediately locked up and subjected to severe interrogation. However, no matter how they were tortured, they all claimed not to know where the codebook was.

But General Auger naturally didn't believe their story. After all, even the transceiver had been destroyed, which was definitely not a coincidence. That guy even said that he saw a cockroach in his coffee and accidentally sprayed it out... How could anyone believe such a ridiculous lie?

Let me see that cockroach!

There are definitely spies, and maybe even accomplices. Search! Search them thoroughly!

That's why, when Levi returned after destroying the Leviathan and saw the brightly lit and chaotic battlefield below, he was completely dumbfounded.

"what's the situation?"

Looking down at the brightly lit military camp, completely oblivious to any blackout regulations, Li Wei frowned in confusion. This place wasn't like this last night! What's going on today? Is it New Year's? Seeing people coming and going, it's so lively even so late…

Are you guys planning to stay up all night?

"Ah, sir..."

At this moment, Mariana hesitated before speaking.

"I think they must have discovered the codebook is missing and are looking for it..."

"so serious?"

"Yes, if we lose our codebook, it will be just as serious; everyone on the airship will be quarantined and interrogated..."

"That's a real problem."

Hearing this, Li Wei understood. But they still had the lights on at night... Oh well, it has nothing to do with me anyway, and wouldn't it make it easier for General Hao to make his move?

This is true.

When General Hao looked at the brightly lit area on the ground, he also began to doubt his life and even couldn't figure out the other party's tactics—could this be some kind of trap?

General Hao, filled with doubt, sent a message to Li Wei to inquire about the situation, and Sky Eye quickly replied.

It's okay, they just lost something and are looking for it.

【how do you know? 】

I took it.

【what? 】

I'll tell you later.

What exactly did Sir Levi do?
Looking at the reply in his hand, General Hao was speechless. He had no idea when Li Wei had sneaked into the enemy's camp and stolen something... Surely he couldn't have captured the enemy's commander-in-chief all by himself?
Well, if Li Wei knew what General Hao was thinking, he would definitely tell him he was overthinking it. He didn't have the ability to kidnap the commander-in-chief from the heavily surrounded military camp, and even if he did, it wouldn't be of much use...

However, now that it has been confirmed that this is neither a conspiracy nor a trap, things have become much simpler for General Hao.

"Target locked, prepare to attack!"

Seeing the message coming from the Eye of the Sky again, General Hao composed himself. According to the Eye of the Sky's reconnaissance, it seemed most of the Krant Kingdom's soldiers were in their tents. While he would have preferred a surprise attack while they were asleep, for now, this was sufficient.

"It's time to return the generous gift you sent last night!"

General Hao stared fiercely at the distant camp, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Fire!"

"Boom!"

A thunderous sound rang out, causing General Aug, who was already furious, to stand up immediately. After all, he had heard a similar sound at the front lines before, so much so that it had almost become a conditioned reflex.

"Shelling?"

Why was there shelling? Could it be...?

Before General Aug could figure it out, a huge roar and explosion engulfed him completely like a raging sea.

"boom-----!"

For a fleeting moment, General Aug felt as if he were dreaming, as if he were reliving that very day. The sudden roar of artillery, the explosions, everything was destroyed. After that day, he could barely sleep, because every time he tried to fall asleep, he was transported back to that battlefield, that terrifying, sudden…

"Sir! Sir!"

A piercing scream rang in his ears. General Aug opened his eyes, feeling the icy wind and burning pain. He opened his eyes to a pitch-black night sky, surrounded by raging flames. Beside him was his adjutant, who was pulling him up and roaring angrily. Perhaps due to the explosion, his ears were ringing, and he could barely hear what the adjutant was saying. General Aug stared blankly at him, while the adjutant anxiously pointed around. Only then did General Aug realize that the surrounding camp was in complete chaos, littered with flames and explosion marks, and soldiers running back and forth.

attack?

The camp was attacked?
Wait... this isn't...

General Aug suddenly widened his eyes and looked up at the sky.

All that met his eyes was a pitch-black sky… and something falling towards him…

"boom-----!"

Nighttime belongs to the airships.

Unlike during the day, air defense positions are essentially blind at night without searchlights. Not to mention, the enemy didn't even enforce blackouts, or perhaps General Aug, in his rage, hadn't even considered it. He ordered the entire camp illuminated to prevent spies from sneaking out under cover of darkness, never anticipating a nighttime air raid.

After all, the soldiers sent out earlier said that the enemy's airships hadn't moved and were probably under maintenance. In addition, the rear camp was far from the front line, so they never thought that the enemy would come knocking on their door.

"Alright, all done, time to wrap up, time to sleep."

Looking down at the camp that had once again turned into a sea of ​​fire, Li Wei yawned. His tactics, to put it bluntly, were always the same: aerial reconnaissance, target lock, coordinate determination, notify air strike cover, bomb the enemy to the ground, and then proceed with the ground advance.

Simple, direct, straightforward, without any beating around the bush.

In short, controlling and seizing air superiority is extremely important, in addition to information communication and cooperation.

That leaves F2A.

Although Li Wei really wanted to go to sleep, unfortunately, the battlefield was not such a leisurely place.

Soon, he received a communication from the Cyclops.

"Hey, Li Wei, how are you? Still feeling energetic?"

"I'm going to sleep now."

Hearing the spirited voice of General Hao on the other end, Li Wei yawned. Communication via radio was avoided during battle, as the lack of encryption made it easy to eavesdrop. But now the battle was over, and Li Wei saw that almost all of the Krant Kingdom's army had perished, with only a few escaping under the cover of night. However, he couldn't be bothered to pursue them.

A few deserters, they just ran away.

Or even if there were commanders inside, they could just run away.

"Seriously, we completely defeated the vanguard of the Kingdom of Krant's army, can't you be a little happy?"

"Of course I'm happy, but you can't stop me from sleeping... As for the report, can we do it after I wake up?"

Li Wei really wanted to sleep. Staying up late was bad for his health, and frankly, from his angle, the battlefield wasn't much to see. At most, he could watch fireworks, a completely different experience from the carnage of a battlefield in a game. In fact, in Li Wei's eyes, it wasn't as exciting as a game, and he wasn't really that interested in wars between humans anyway.

"If it were me, of course I'd let you go to sleep."

Upon hearing this, Li Wei immediately had a bad feeling.

"Aren't you about to say 'but' next?"

“That’s right, but… I’ve already contacted headquarters and reported our current progress…”

"…………………"

Li Wei didn't even have the strength to sigh.

"Orders have been issued from the rear: speed is of the essence. We must advance tonight. They will immediately dispatch the First Expeditionary Army to join us. The order is clear: we must capture Delai!"

"We're just the Air Force..."

Li Wei sighed again.

"What good is urban warfare? Are we supposed to blow the whole city to smithereens?"

"The Imperial Fleet has blockaded the port of Drei, but it is unable to launch a landing operation due to the threat of the port's fortifications. What we need to do is help the Imperial Fleet destroy the port's fortifications and fortress defenses so that the First Expeditionary Army can land."

"All right…………"

Li Wei had no choice but to surrender. It wasn't that he didn't understand what the other side meant. It was still late at night, and if they could take advantage of this moment to destroy the fortified batteries of Delai Port, then the expeditionary force could land directly while the enemy was half asleep, making it much easier to control the entire port city.

Furthermore, if the Empire could control Dre, it would mean they had a forward base within the Kingdom of Krant. The Imperial Navy could then transport supplies and troops through the port of Dre, eliminating the need to go through the Duchy of Tiris. After all, the number of troops transported by air force could never compare to that of warships.

But I'm still so sleepy...

Li Wei yawned silently.

"I understand, I'll set off immediately."

Li Wei understood why General Hao insisted on including him, since only Li Wei could use [Soul Vision] to see the exact location and situation of the port fortress stronghold, thus providing precise coordinates for bombing.

Sigh, it seems being a human satellite isn't easy at all.

Okay, let's finish this game quickly and go to sleep.

(End of this chapter)