Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 419 A Chaotic Battle Is Imminent
Oh, oh, oh, they've started fighting! They've started fighting!

Seeing the white and red auras intertwined on the ground through his soul vision, Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief.

In this way, the army of the Kingdom of Krant was effectively blocked. In fact, if they had attacked directly from the front using ordinary combat methods, then Li Wei would probably have had to find another way.

Fortunately, the Krant also had path dependencies. Just as Levi was used to gaining air superiority and then bombing from the air before advancing with armored ground forces, the Krant was now used to digging tunnels underground to try and launch surprise attacks. Levi seized on this and launched a counter-attack.

Another reason that relieved Li Wei was that, at least this way, the soldiers' deaths could be reported as deaths in battle.

Whether or not they turned into monsters, they did contribute to resisting the invasion of the Kingdom of Krant, so of course, they deserve compensation... As for where it will come from... naturally, it will come from the sheep themselves.

Thinking of this, Li Wei gritted his teeth silently. This time when I go back, I won't be done until I've ransacked Rothschild's house and wiped out his entire clan!

To be honest, if this were done by the Holy Lord's Church or the Kingdom of Crant, Li Wei wouldn't be so angry. War is about using any means necessary to eliminate the enemy and preserve oneself. If you can't win, you can only blame your lack of skill and go back to practice.

But the situation within Nima's own territory is a different story.

In particular, Rothfeld's approach of letting others die while he himself always profits is especially infuriating.

These idiots have to be killed!

But for now, let's see how this battle ends.

Li Wei continued to stare at the battlefield before him. In his eyes, red auras were gradually gathering, rushing towards the white ones. The latter were equally relentless, repelling the red attacks time and again. It must be said that the Kingdom of Krant was quite well-prepared, and these monster soldiers, unlike zombies, could not turn those they killed into zombies. Therefore, although their lethality was strong against a well-trained military group, every one that died was one less to lose.

If the Krant army commits enough troops, they will be able to completely annihilate these monsters.

However... we still need to put some pressure on them.

"Commander French, issue the alarm and summon the rest of the soldiers back to the fortress."

"Ok."

Commander French nodded upon hearing the order, and a few moments later, a loud alarm rang out. Upon hearing the alarm, the soldiers who were digging trenches quickly stood up and ran towards the fortress.

All of this was naturally observed by the Krant army scouts.

"The Empire has begun its operation."

Lieutenant General von Lane was not surprised to receive the news from the front; after all, if the Empire remained indifferent at this point, then there would truly be a problem. However, the fact that Port Dreyfus had even recalled the soldiers digging trenches indicated that the situation there must be extremely critical.

"Intensify the offensive; we must take control of Port Der Lai as quickly as possible!"

Vice Admiral von Lehn did not choose to launch a ground offensive. While he should logically have deployed ground troops to coordinate with his underground forces in a pincer attack on Port Dreyfus, he refrained from doing so for a simple reason: he knew the Fifth Fleet was still stationed in the outer harbor, and their naval guns were pointed directly at him.

Originally, the Fifth Fleet's guns couldn't have reached this area because of the cliffs and steep walls of Dreyer Harbor. However, after capturing Dreyer Harbor, the Empire learned its lesson and found a way to solve this problem.

They blasted down the cliffs on both sides of Port Der Lai to create openings for the naval guns to fire.

In this way, even if the Krant army launches a ground attack, they will face relentless bombardment and suppression from naval guns.

The battle between the Krant army and the monster soldiers underground continues, while the Imperial soldiers on the surface are not idle either.

A group of soldiers quickly planted the explosives and then turned on the radio to report the incident.

"Commander, the explosives have been installed."

Soon, Li Wei's voice came from the other end.

"Very good, detonate!"

With Li Wei's order, the leading soldier pressed the detonator. The next moment, with a loud "boom," the houses in front of them collapsed suddenly, turning into large chunks of rubble that poured down, completely blocking the tunnel located beneath the houses.

"Next stop, Block B3!"

"understand!"

Without hesitation, the soldiers who received the order packed their things and continued running towards the designated location.

This is what they are doing. Li Wei is currently monitoring the underground battle through the puppet bird. At the same time, he orders his soldiers to plant bombs at various nodes above the tunnels. When the time is right, these bombs will be detonated, which will directly cut off the tunnels and disperse the Krant army and those monster soldiers as much as possible, cutting them off and surrounding them.

In this way, both sides lost all room for maneuver and could only fight to the death like thugs trapped in a gladiatorial cage.

As for who will win, that's not something Li Wei needs to worry about; anyway, the survivors will be finished off anyway.

"Lieutenant Horn, what's the situation at the rear? When will reinforcements arrive?"

Li Wei contacted Lieutenant Horn again via radio. The transmitting facilities at Drei Harbor had been destroyed, and the only thing capable of long-distance wireless power generation was the Sky Eye, which was specially designed for signal transmission.

"Reinforcements have set off, and the first batch will arrive in six hours!"

"I don't even know if we can hold out for six hours."

Upon hearing Lieutenant Horn's reply, Levi rolled his eyes, then looked back at the battlefield before him and picked up the radio.

"Captain Barnes, I request that you immediately send all surplus soldiers of the Fifth Fleet to Port Dreyfus. We need reinforcements!" "They are sailors! Sir Levy!"

"They're Imperial soldiers too! Quick! Choose those with mech piloting experience!"

Through the scouts of the puppet bird, Levi discovered that the ground forces of the Krant army were beginning to stir—modern warfare is not like ancient warfare, and Port de la Riviera has no city walls. If the enemy wanted to rush into Port de la Riviera, they wouldn't even need to fight a siege; it would turn into street fighting.

Fortunately, unlike when the Empire attacked Port Drei before, this time the Empire's armored battalion was not destroyed. The soldiers who had turned into monsters clearly did not have the consciousness to destroy the mechs. This means that there are still nearly a hundred mechs that can be controlled, and as long as there are enough people, they can still hold out... probably.

"Then I'll leave this to you, Commander French."

After giving the order, Levi looked at Commander French.

"I'm going to the front lines to lead the mech battalion in organizing the defense."

To be honest, Li Wei would rather go straight back to the Sky Eye right now. Unfortunately, there's nowhere in Port Derlai for the Sky Eye to land, and with both sides going back and forth, if the Sky Eye is accidentally destroyed, Li Wei will have nowhere to turn.

Unlike an offensive, Li Wei and his men are currently defending Port Derley from being captured by the Krant army. Unlike an offensive where you can simply retreat and fight back if the enemy's firepower is too overwhelming, here, if you retreat, you might not be able to take it back.

Not to mention that the ground forces are currently insufficient in number and their morale is low. If they are defeated, then no matter how hard Li Wei tries in the air, there will be no way to stop them, since airships do not have the ability to capture strongholds.

So after thinking it over, he decided to leave it on the ground.

"Be careful, Sir Levi."

Commander French knew the situation was urgent, so he didn't say much, just nodded to Levi, who quickly turned and left.

When Li Wei arrived at the armored battalion, it was already in chaos. Soldiers were jogging around, filling the mechs with fuel and ammunition, and preparing them for preheating. The whirring of the steam engines mingled together, creating a huge and complex symphony.

What is the current situation?

Li Wei grabbed an officer and loudly questioned him. The officer turned around, saw Li Wei, and quickly saluted.

"Sir! There are currently eighty-six mechs available for combat!"

"What about it?"

"Forty Hound-class aircraft, forty-five Knight-class aircraft, and one General-class aircraft!"

The Hound and Knight classes are relatively familiar to Li Wei, but the Warrior class is different. It belongs to the large mechs of the Empire, with a height of about 15 meters.

Unlike the Hound-class, which is geared towards reconnaissance, and the Knight-class, which is versatile, the Warrior-class is a clearly offensive mech. The Hound-class only has a small steam cannon on its head, while the Knight-class can each carry two weapons on its left and right arms. The Warrior-class goes a step further, not only carrying two weapons on each arm, but also carrying a cannon on its head and two anti-aircraft machine guns on its shoulders.

If the Knight class is a well-rounded all-rounder with average overall attributes, then the Warrior class is more focused on firepower and defense, with speed—barely better than a tortoise.

It's only so-so, I suppose.

"Give me a Knight-class ship!"

Li Wei had no interest in passively taking hits. Although the firepower of the Warrior-class mechs was extremely strong, they also had many problems. After all, mechs needed to be operated by humans. The Hound-class and Knight-class mechs only needed one pilot and one gunner, but the Warrior-class mechs required at least three gunners, as well as a commanding officer and a pilot.

"Yes, sir. Do you need a driver or a gunner?"

"I don't need any of them. I can handle it all myself. We're short-handed right now, so go and distribute the people to the other mechs."

"Hey?"

Upon hearing Li Wei's order, the officer paused for a moment.

"But……………"

"I have a plan. Just follow my orders!"

"Yes, sir."

The officer didn't ask any more questions. He quickly waved to a ground crew member nearby, who immediately opened the hatch of a Knight-class mech, and a rope ladder descended from it. Without hesitation, Li Wei stepped onto the ladder and entered the Knight-class mech. He then sat in the pilot's seat and fastened his seatbelt.

There were all sorts of control equipment and instruments in front of him. Li Wei had practiced how to operate mechs and had a general idea of ​​how to do it, but now... he had a better way.

Looking at the mecha in front of him, Li Wei reached out and grasped the control stick.

Next, activate the [Puppeteer] ability.

The next moment, his gaze suddenly shifted, and in the blink of an eye, Li Wei's vision changed from the original first-person perspective to a third-person perspective located behind and to the side of the mecha.

WASD forward, backward, left, right; left mouse button to fire, right mouse button to aim; F for melee, Q for artillery, SHIFT for sprinting, C for crouching... Hmm, all done!

Li Wei cracked his knuckles, stared ahead, and grinned maliciously.

The show has begun!

(End of this chapter)