Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 421 Steel VS Flesh and Blood

Artillery fire roared.

A barrage of cannonballs shot out, hurtling towards the giant before them. The giant concealed itself behind its shield, advancing with its head covered. The cannonballs struck their shields and armor, exploding into clouds of smoke, but they quickly emerged from the smoke and continued their advance.

It turned out to be the case.

With just one round of attacks, Li Wei immediately saw through the opponent's intentions and also understood the logic behind the Kingdom of Krant's use of giants to fight against the Imperial mechs.

Although the Imperial Mechs are mechs, they are completely different from the mechs Levi played with in modern games. For example, the current Imperial Mechs do not have jet engines; they simply walk on two legs. Therefore, their speed and agility are naturally greatly reduced.

To be honest, it wouldn't be wrong to say that the current Imperial mechs are just walking turrets.

In contrast, the giant opposite—at least as a living being—is fast and agile (relatively speaking). Once it gets close, it can easily turn into the mech's blind spot and then defeat it.

As for ranged attacks? The smoke trails cast by those enhanced beasts are probably for defense against that.

So that's how it is. This is the Kingdom of Krant's tactic: using the smoke from the enhanced beasts to block the mechs' ranged attacks, dragging the battlefield into close combat, which is most advantageous to the giants.

It seems that every country has its own set of tactics for fighting mechs.

Li Wei sighed inwardly. As a pioneer in steam technology, the Empire's weakness was that it was easily targeted by later entrants. The Empire built airships and mechs, and the Kingdom of Krant responded by producing firebirds and giants.

However, this is probably why Her Majesty insisted on taking the initiative to fight despite opposition. After all, knowing how the enemy would deal with them sooner would allow them to devise corresponding countermeasures. Krant's current tactics are something they would never see unless they were on a truly desperate battlefield.

So, what should we do?

Li Wei didn't know either; he could only rely on his years of experience playing games to deal with it.

"Hounds, spread out! Ignore these giants. Your target is the Krant soldiers behind you. Knights, listen up—wait for me to call on them and focus fire!"

It's better to break one finger than to injure all ten. Li Wei wanted to see if these flesh and blood bodies could withstand the concentrated fire from the steel.

"Roll call? Sir? How are we supposed to...?"

"Watch me! I'll attack whichever one, and you all attack it together! Remember, keep your distance and don't get close!"

Mechs don't have melee weapons. After all, no one would have thought that mechs would fight giants in close combat. Their poor arms can't even be raised to smash an enemy's head.

Only mechs equipped with flamethrowers might be able to fight the enemy in close combat.

But now is not the time to talk about this.

Li Wei began to take action.

His mech began to race forward, heading towards the giants. Many of the pilots of these mech knights were newbies and rookies; they didn't even know how to fight with a mech. Actually, Li Wei didn't know either, but at least he had played games—so he had some experience.

The knight mech strode forward, charging towards the giant before it. Levi stared at the giant, not needing to worry about it attacking, as the giant had no means of ranged attacks.

This is the gap between theory and reality. The creation of mechs and giants each has a set of combat theories suitable for them, but whether the theory is useful ultimately depends on the results of practice.

So, is Livy's theory useful?

He was unsure, after all, practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.

Well then, give it a try and you'll see.

Livi aimed at the giant before him, most of his body protected by his shield, which was quite sturdy, enough to hold out until the giant charged at him.

But Li Wei didn't need to fight him one-on-one, because he had a better way.

He lowered the cannon and aimed at the giant's knee.

Time began to slow down, and then Li Wei pulled the trigger.

"Bang bang—!"

The cannonball spun as it was fired, striking the giant's knee and exploding. The giant let out a painful groan before abruptly stopping.

At the same time, Li Wei issued the order.

"Fire!"

The next instant, the giant was engulfed by the explosion and flames. A moment later, accompanied by a painful howl, the mangled giant collapsed to the ground and remained motionless.

A cheer erupted over the communication channel; clearly, the knights' morale was boosted by the victory over a giant.

it works!

Li Wei also perked up and aimed at another giant. At the same time, he contacted Commander French in the rear.

"Commander French!"

"Sir Levy, what are your orders?"

"Immediately send men to lay mines and explosives on all the main roads in front of the second line of defense! Disperse them as much as possible!"

"Roger that!"

"All knights immediately retreat to the second line of defense, and the hounds disperse and conceal themselves, their target being the Krant Legion behind the giant."

Li Wei fired another shot, hitting the knee of another giant beside him, forcing it to stop. Then, a series of saturation attacks engulfed it. At this moment, the giants also realized the danger and tried to speed up their pace and advance forward, attempting to close the distance with the mechs.

But this is not easy.

Because the hunting dogs have already begun.

These small mechs look like little dogs compared to the giants, but they are deadly enough for ordinary Krant soldiers. They would suddenly appear in a corner of an alley and unleash a barrage of fire on the Krant soldiers in front of them, sending them to their deaths with explosions and destruction.

The soldiers had no good way to deal with these hound mechs. Although they were fragile, they were light and agile. The dilapidated houses became cover for these mechs, which could easily hide in their shadows and launch deadly attacks on the infantry.

Logically, this should be the time for the giants to display their might, but... "Damn it!"

The man stomped down, turning a nearby Hound mech into wreckage beneath his feet. He could feel the tiny mouse's fragile shell flattening like paper under his foot. But that wasn't enough. The giant legion was now in a dilemma. On one hand, the mechs in front were launching a fierce attack on them; on the other hand, the mechs behind were harassing and attacking the soldiers behind them.

The man had seen the distress flare more than once, but he had no way to turn back now.

If he went back to rescue the soldiers behind him, it would mean creating distance between him and the mech legion ahead, who would then launch an even more ferocious attack. The adamantine shields had their limits, and they had clearly found a way to kill the giants; several of his comrades had already been destroyed by these mechs. He couldn't afford to create distance again at this point.

What needs to be done now is... to finish this quickly.

The mechs were firing at them while retreating.

What he had to do was prevent them from succeeding!
"Drop your shield!"

The man yelled and threw away his shield, then he manipulated the giant—no, he was the giant.

The giant strode forward, charging through the hail of bullets. The other giants seemed to realize this as well; they threw away their heavy, sturdy shields and charged forward as well. They crouched low, hands raised in front of their heads, advancing along the wide main road. Their goal was to reach the mechs as quickly as possible, and then… crush them.

The mech force was already close at hand, and some of the giants accelerated, causing their formation to become inconsistent. However, the man had no time to criticize the formation issue. He stared at the mechs that were retreating and firing in the distance, and gripped his weapon tightly.

Just then, another giant charged forward, passing the man and speeding towards the mech directly in front of him…

Then, several streaks of fire suddenly appeared beneath his feet.

"BOOM ...

A series of explosions erupted at the giant's feet, causing him to lose his balance instantly. He stumbled forward like a sprinter tripping over a stone, crashing headfirst to the ground. At the same time, the mech turned its cannon and aimed it at his head.

"boom-----!"

"Damn it, this is a trap!"

At this moment, the man finally realized something was wrong. The mechs had indeed launched a fierce attack, but they hadn't been using steam cannons; they'd been using heavy machine guns. However, at that time, the giants were completely focused on their forward charge, and they hadn't realized there was a trap beneath their feet!

Those damned, cunning Imperials!

The man had no time to hesitate. He knew what had happened: ahead lay a trap of landmines and explosives, and all they could do was keep going!
He roared and rolled into the adjacent buildings. Clearly, the main road was already mined; continuing forward would only lead to certain death. But at least the Imperials probably wouldn't have planted bombs in these houses!

The giant smashed through the dilapidated huts, rolled around in them, and then stood up. The man leaped up and jumped forward, simultaneously raising his hands to his chest to block another wave of attacks from the mechs.

Then, the man fell heavily, crashing into the mech in front of him and knocking it to the ground.

The latter raised his weapon, and the man saw the dark muzzle of the cannon aimed at him. But he quickly turned his head and heard a loud bang. The cannonball, carrying a scorching heat, flew into the sky, grazing the giant's head. Then the man roared, raised the battle axe in his hand, and slammed it into the mecha.

The latter suddenly emitted a cloud of black smoke and then stopped operating. The man glanced at the mech, now nothing but scrap metal, stood up, and looked around.

There were other mechs not far away, and they were his targets, but for now, he had a most obvious prey.

The man gazed at the mech, a giant even taller than himself—it was unleashing a torrent of fire, obliterating one of his comrades after another; its power far surpassed that of the other mechs. Clearly, this was the commander of the mechs; destroying it would break their command structure!
And it is its prey.

So the man gripped his battle axe tightly and charged forward with great strides.

Li Wei certainly noticed his presence. The figure striding forward was so fast and agile, like a nimble ape, using the ruins of the building to conceal itself as it rushed forward. And its goal was, of course, obvious.

A mech spotted it and quickly turned to fire, while the giant nimbly rolled on the ground to dodge the attack. It then hurled its battle axe, which flew past and struck the mech squarely in the body. Before the mech could fall, the giant had already swept past it, simultaneously pulling out the battle axe again.

Li Wei was already too late to catch up; the knight mech's speed was average, and he was still some distance from the giant. However, this did not mean he had nothing to do.

Li Wei raised the cannon, aimed at the figure, and gave the order.

"Attention, General-level troops! A giant is charging towards you, bearing 084. Turn immediately, set it as your primary target, and fire on my command."

The warrior-class giant began to slowly and steadily rotate its upper body, and seeing this, the giant accelerated even further. Levi quietly concealed himself to the side, aiming at the giant. He didn't aim at its body, because the armor these giants wore earlier had already proven that they were not afraid of single cannonball attacks.

However, they are, after all, just living beings, and therefore have the weaknesses of living beings.

For example...

Li Wei silently crouched down, maneuvering his mech, and aimed at the giant's swaying rear end.

Then, he pulled the trigger.

The shell was fired.

The spinning cone-shaped shell whistled across the battlefield, hurtling straight toward its target. The man, of course, heard the whistling sound behind him, but he paid it no mind, for the target was already close at hand, and all he needed to do was… wait, why does that sound seem a little low?

This was the last thought that flashed through the man's mind.

The cannonball pierced straight into the giant's swaying rear end, then exploded violently. The next moment, Levi saw the giant suddenly straighten up, his hands instinctively covering his rear end.

At the same time, the main gun of the Warrior-class battleship, having finished its turn, was already aimed at the giant's chest.

Indeed, the weaknesses of living things are always the same.

Li Wei silently complained to himself before issuing the order.

"fire."

"boom-----!"

With a thunderous roar, the giant cannon pierced straight through the giant's chest, creating a gaping hole in its body. The giant, still clutching its buttocks, fell backward to the ground.

How pitiful.

Li Wei withdrew his gaze and looked back at the battlefield before him.

After all, the battle is still ongoing.

(End of this chapter)