Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 196 Synthetic Aperture Radar
The mages who had been following the hundred-man squad scattered to the sides the moment they saw the bone train rushing towards them, like a swarm of flies disturbed by a bomb. Su Ming switched the fire extinguishing projectiles to anti-air mode, raising the muzzles of both projectiles and sending cone-shaped projectiles after the mages.

The shells pounded behind the mages, exploding in mid-air. The mages' shields barely flickered before they lost their strength and plummeted from the sky.

Some exceptionally agile ones managed to dodge the barrage, while others reacted quickly enough to detonate incoming shells mid-air. Aside from these, most mages fell, their wings clipped, and collapsed in pools of frozen blood.

Ignoring any stragglers, the Youth Civilization train continued its journey, its tracks never stopping, and it rolled straight towards the convoy further away, relentlessly harvesting enemy resources along the way with shaped-charge armor-piercing projectiles.

A warning popped up on the tablet. Su Ming glanced at the numbers that had just turned yellow and were decreasing, and told Zi Jin, "There's still half of the energy bomb's ammunition belt left."

"You're still lacking in skill!"

"I've maximized the capacity as much as I can!" Su Ming complained. "Who would load a 70mm ammunition belt with 1000 rounds?!"

The scholar smiled slightly.

"See you later?"

"See you soon."

****
As ammunition dwindled, Hanst reduced the train's speed until it came to a complete stop. They had only reached about a third of the column, and large sections of enemy territory remained unconquered. The vanguard soldiers, terrified by the sudden and rapid slaughter, abandoned their armor and fled in panic.

Further out, however, a small number of people remained in formation and assembled under the command of officers. As the train fell silent, some of them began to have their own thoughts.

"The Bone Train is out of ammunition!" an officer judged. "Charge and attack!" he ordered, even calling to his colleagues who had just fled nearby.

The commander of the vanguard regiment was a prime target, having been overwhelmed by the barrage of attacks from the very beginning and rendered inactive. If he could turn the tide at this crucial moment, his future prospects would be limitless! The officer thought to himself, deciding to seek fortune in the face of danger.

Such highly destructive munitions could not be deployed in large quantities, and the energy to power such a massive train could not be inexhaustible. The officer remained steadfast in his judgment.

But his passing colleagues looked at him as if he were an idiot, and continued to run away without stopping.

"Stupid donkey, don't they even consider their combat rank!" This thought to himself, but he didn't say it aloud. Someone going to hold off the enemy and buy him time to escape—that's a good thing!

A carriage in the middle of the Youth Civilization Train suddenly exploded. Purple protective bricks splattered in all directions, and amidst the swirling snow dust, a tall figure stood up repeatedly, stretching out and growing larger and larger until the robust body of a bone dragon was revealed.

Bone Mark, Fully Connected!

Power surged in like a tidal wave, and dark flames burst forth from the bone dragon's eye sockets, spreading an unprecedented sense of fullness to every bone.

For the first time, Violet synchronized the Bone Mark without reservation. Elisa's form did indeed need time to recover, as the upgrade of the Bone Mark placed immense pressure on the human body.

But for the Bone Dragon form, it's just right!

A dark, eerie light swept across the surface of the bones, leaving behind a more solid, jade-like luster. Violet spread her wings and slowly rose over the battlefield. Looking down at the fleeing people below, she suddenly flapped her wings.

A ripple spread rapidly, sweeping across the entire arena!

"Bone Dragon!" The officer suddenly realized what he had forgotten, dropped his weapon, and turned to run. But his movements became increasingly sluggish, as if he were sinking into a quagmire.

Extremely wide-range slowing effect!
The officer's heart sank to the bottom; the fear of death pierced his spine like an ice pick. The hunt for the bone dragon was about to begin, but there were still over three thousand people present. He tried to think of the bright side: if he had a bit of luck, perhaps… he could escape?
After all, there's only one Bone Dragon!
But Violet simply hovered quietly in the air, watching the fleeing ants below, showing no intention of taking action herself.

The officer dared not think too much; he simply struggled to move forward, trudging through the deep snow. He was far stronger than the ordinary soldiers; if he could be one step faster than the others, he would have a chance to survive!

He heard terrified screams beside him, but at first he ignored them, focusing on moving forward. Until the sounds gradually became more frequent, more numerous, and closer.

The officer finally couldn't resist glancing back. The bone dragon was still hovering in place, idly trimming its bone claws. Behind him were a large number of his colleagues, trudging through the snow just like him.

The officer turned back and continued running, but suddenly realized something was wrong: why were his colleagues all holding weapons?

He looked behind him again and saw that flesh and blood were peeling away from the gaps in the armor of these people, and some of their faces had exposed bare bones, with ghostly flames flickering in their empty eye sockets.

As they ran, several empty shells could no longer support the armor and collapsed with a "crash," revealing the pale bones beneath.

Those weren't colleagues at all, but an army of undead awakened by the enemy using the corpses of their colleagues!

The officer tripped and fell to the ground. His former colleague caught up with him and swung his sword down without hesitation.

****
Ten minutes later, hundreds of soldiers were slaughtered by the skeletons, and any sporadic resistance was quickly quelled. More and more corpses were spawned, joining the ranks of the undead.

But the enemy continued to spread out across the icy plains, and the battlefield expanded. Controlling large numbers of undead was extremely taxing, and with the increasing distance, Violet was beginning to struggle. She could only let the soldiers who had already fled far away go.

She ended the pursuit and began to gather the skeleton warriors. Those who were severely wounded but not yet dead along the way were summoned as skeletons to join her army.

After a final count, they found over a thousand skeleton warriors; about half of the enemies had escaped.

Violet lowered the bone dragon back into the carriage and folded it up again. When she switched back to Elisa form, she found herself draped in Su Ming's cloak. The other was sitting beside her, offering her his shoulder to lean on.

Zi Jin straightened up. "Su Ming, I'm a little hungry."

Su Ming took a bag of cakes from his pocket and handed it to the girl, then continued manipulating the Bone Mark. He altered the carriage's structure to house the newly-baked skeleton warriors. Large quantities of tattered clothing and armor were discarded and left on the snow.

A group of skeletons randomly grabbed a few prisoners and pushed them back onto the train.

Su Ming also noticed that, this time, no one surrendered. Many gave up resistance in despair, simply facing death in fear. Those prisoners were all knocked unconscious and imprisoned by the skeletons.

"Do you not have a culture of voluntary surrender here?" Su Ming asked, voicing his doubts.

“That’s how it is in the North,” Violet replied. “Laying down your weapons is just seen as offering your neck for slaughter.”

"There must be some hope, right?" Su Ming said. "You've already lost the battle, why not surrender and beg for survival?"

"If they surrender, they won't be killed?" Zi Jin asked, puzzled. "It's bitterly cold here. No one will give prisoners food or warmth to spend the night. Ordinary soldiers are always killed outright."

Su Ming's eyes widened; he finally understood the reason. There was no Geneva Convention here, nor was there any concept of human rights for prisoners of war. No one cared about surrender, so naturally no one surrendered.

"I understand." He shook his head.

Just when he thought he had learned a great deal, the cruelty of the other world always reminded him that he was still far from sufficient. Accustomed to civilized daily life, he would always forget the true nature of war—

Destruction with all its might!
****
Gospel and Hanster led the zombies off the vehicle and began repairing the damaged front sections of the locomotive, while others started loading ammunition for the fire extinguisher launchers. The isolation bricks in the carriage carrying the bone dragon were also being rebuilt.

Yuni led the child back into the carriage; the scene had frightened the little girl.

The skeleton minions were burning the supplies abandoned by the vanguard, mostly food and winter gear. Destroying these would eliminate the fleeing soldiers from any threat.

In the frigid snowfield, it was uncertain whether the enemy, having lost their supplies, could survive the night, let alone regroup. This was a decision Su Ming made himself; he abandoned judgments of right and wrong, and the entanglement of morality.

Individual compassion should not interfere with tactical objectives.

The remaining items were various combat equipment. Su Ming did not want to increase the carrying capacity of the Youth Civilization Ship, so he destroyed most of them and only took some materials to replenish the material warehouse.

The scholar, chewing on his cake, looked at the devastated battlefield ahead and was suddenly struck by a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of mixed emotions, often including regret or reflection).

“Slaughtering a thousand people, it’s that easy. I’m starting to get scared of this feeling,” she said to Su Ming.

Su Ming glanced at the girl in surprise, "I thought I was the only one who was being dramatic."

“No matter how willful I was before, I knew there was a ceiling above my head.” The scholar suddenly stretched his hands above his head and lay sprawled on the snow. “Now I find myself becoming that ceiling—power is really tempting, no wonder some strong people are lost because of it.”

"Come on, my confidence in your character is stronger than my confidence in returning to Earth," Su Ming said.

Zijin lay in the snow, looking at the sky, and continued to munch on her cake. "Su Ming, this cake is so soft and crumbly, it's really delicious."

“Honey cake,” Su Ming replied. He had made the most of the jar of honey he bought in Tuku Town. “I only dared to take it out because Qi Luo isn’t here.”

"Could you make me some more later?"

"it is good."

Half an hour later, the Youth Civilization Unit completed maintenance and ammunition replenishment and returned to combat readiness.

Su Ming put away his tablet, stood up, and reached out to pull Zi Jin up from the snow. "Let's go, next stop."

"Ah."

****
Far behind the Youth Civilization Team, Qi Luo drove a snowmobile with Kaisa Lin on the back, quickly chasing after the train along the tracks left by the train.

To accommodate the unicorn's weight, Su Ming further reinforced the front sled structure and increased the area of ​​the sled boards.

Suddenly she sensed something, immediately turned her head, and saw that Catherine had just swallowed something. "What are you eating?" the unicorn questioned.

Catherine raised the glass in her hand. "I took a sip of water. What's wrong?"

Qi Luo glanced at her suspiciously, then turned back to continue driving. A few seconds later, she suddenly turned around.

This time, Qiluo finally caught her, and Catherine was actually eating a steamed bun?
"Is something the matter?" Catherine asked, holding up the steamed bun in her hand. "Are you hungry too? I'll get you one."

Qiluo shook her head, then suddenly sniffed, "Why does it smell sweet like honey?"

Catherine held up her water bottle. "I put some honey in the water."

Qiluo became uncertain; she wasn't very good with her sense of smell.

Catherine breathed a sigh of relief, took another small bite of the honey cake sandwiched between the steamed buns, and quietly swallowed it.

****
Three hours later, the Youth Civilization Team arrived at Peacock Valley, a place 70 kilometers west of the battle point of the Vanguard Regiment.

According to the prisoners' confessions, the approximate location of the second echelon should be further ahead.

After crossing the Zhongling Mountains and entering the second step of the ice field, the train's route becomes quite narrow. This is a significant disadvantage for the Youth Civilization Train, making it vulnerable to various ambushes.

Fortunately, Catherine's tactics completely deceived the enemy. In the recent skirmish, the vanguard was caught off guard and had no time to get into position, so they were basically wiped out.

Now that we've arrived at Peacock Valley, the terrain unfolds like a spreading tail feather, and the passable area suddenly widens.

This is why Su Ming rushed through the area; once inside, the train's mobility would increase, making combat less restrictive.

"Strange, where are they?" Violet looked around with her binoculars, but the path ahead was empty. She was actually quite hopeful, especially after hearing from the prisoners that Dimitri might be in the second echelon.

The drone quickly took off and, after circling and reconnaissance, indeed spotted enemy forces on both sides. They were scattered in groups of several dozen, dispersed within a radius of seven or eight kilometers. They were piled up here and there, not at all like they intended to engage in battle.

Great, let's just lie down and give up!

"They're taking advantage of our inconvenient pursuit," Su Ming said. Aside from the road area a few kilometers wide in the middle, the terrain becomes increasingly undulating and rugged further out. The Youth Civilization vessel could pass through, but its speed would be significantly reduced, losing its impact force.

With over three thousand people so widely dispersed, mopping them up would be extremely inefficient. Moreover, in areas with poor terrain, the cumbersome trains might not be able to keep up with the running soldiers.

"Shall we go straight for their supply train?" Violet suggested.

The third echelon of the noble army, composed of a mix of supply trains, artillery, and a small number of guards, was about 100 kilometers ahead.

"This is a bit tricky. Catherine is still behind us, rushing here," Su Ming said, frowning.

The camouflage mission at Red Slope has achieved its tactical objective, and Catherine and Unicorn are on their way to rendezvous. If the Youth Civilization advances, the second echelon of the noble army can easily regroup on the spot and intercept them.

If this group were to form a battle formation and meet the attack head-on, Su Ming and the scholar would actually be more than happy to accept it. The Youth Civilization Ship was currently carrying a truckload of skeleton warriors—more than enough!
This response was quite clever. It was a good method that the enemy devised and executed in such a short time after clearly analyzing the situation.

But these clever tricks were no longer relevant, and Su Ming ordered them to continue advancing. The battle had reached its current stalemate, and the outcome was no longer in their hands.

Fuyin piloted the white train, bypassing the enemy without a moment's hesitation, heading straight for the third echelon of the noble army. This spirit driver was becoming increasingly adept; having merged with the thought entity, its driving skills surpassed everyone else's, and it had learned to choose the optimal route based on feedback from the terrain radar.

Su Ming was a little reluctant to part with it and decided that when the superconducting material was dismantled, he would definitely keep the Gospel intact.

****
After about four more hours, the Youth Civilization Train arrived at its designated location.

The train did not move forward rashly. According to the pre-existing analysis, Dimitri's response to the third echelon, besides dispersing the personnel and slacking off like the second echelon, was more likely to be a do-or-die battle.

On the one hand, the men could disperse, but the supplies and artillery could not be taken away. The noble army had lost its heavy weapons and supplies, so it didn't matter whether they won or lose the battle.

In the hundreds of war games conducted by Su Ming and Catherine, the scenario included the current situation where the noble army organized its baggage train and artillery into a third echelon for rapid marching.

The second-tier strategy of avoiding battle is also one branch of the simulation.

Therefore, there is no such thing as a foolproof plan; there is only full data coverage and an exhaustive search of all possibilities in the battlefield situation. Su Ming witnessed this technology for the first time with Catherine.

Through interrogation of the prisoners, the third echelon consisted of a 3000-strong supply transport unit, a 1500-strong artillery unit, a 500-strong support unit, and a 1000-strong guard unit. The total strength reached 6000 men, equipped with 140 artillery pieces.

Eight hours have passed since the engagement with the vanguard regiment began, and night has fallen. With such ample time, and with ample supplies and equipment, the third echelon has a wide range of tactics at its disposal.

For example, the most basic method is to lay landmines on roads.

Violet released over a hundred skeleton soldiers, who advanced in a horizontal line—actually, they were clearing mines. In the cold night wind, the densely packed skeleton army advanced, quickly reaching a kilometer away, but found nothing unusual.

The drone searched the vicinity twice, but found no target in the infrared field of view.

[Su Ming, if the skeleton goes any further, my control will drop significantly, and I won't be able to sustain it any longer.] Zi Jin transmitted to Su Ming.

She had already switched to her bone dragon form and was crouching on the top of the motorcycle, not daring to venture forward rashly.

"I can sense something's wrong around here, but I can't pinpoint the exact location," Violet continued.

This means the enemy used a technology that confuses perception.

Su Ming nodded. The enemy had long-range attack capabilities, including artillery. The Youth Civilization's movement was restricted, so the enemy chose to use stealth tactics to lie in wait.

They might be three kilometers ahead, or five kilometers ahead, or even further. Or on the left, or on the right.

The camera's optical and infrared detection systems failed, and the drone was unable to locate the target.

During the wargaming simulation, Catherine foresaw the possibility of this scenario—using stealthy forces to block Su Ming's advance route while waiting for the second echelon to encircle him from the opposite direction.

She hadn't prepared any countermeasures because Su Ming had told her that if this situation arose, she should just leave it to him to handle.

Su Ming arrived at the mechanical carriage and first deployed the ground positioning base station. The following operations would rely on digital signal positioning.

This system was also completed by Jisu Studio, including all the hardware, software, and corresponding interfaces. Faced with Su Ming's endless and extremely specific demands, Jisu Studio was overwhelmed and had to seek out a large number of external helpers and subcontractors.

But everything went smoothly because Su Ming paid out nearly a million yuan in compensation. As long as you have real money, there are plenty of people willing to work, even during the Spring Festival.

Shortly after, a large drone completed its self-check and took off. It traveled only about one kilometer before activating its onboard equipment.

SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) for terrain scanning!
This time it wasn't the miniature radar from the small drone in Turkmenistan, but a much more professional radar pod.

The drone moves at a constant speed along a long trajectory, releasing coherent signals and receiving and storing the echoes. Although its actual antenna size is small, through technical synthesis, it can simulate a huge antenna aperture effect equivalent to the flight path length, measured in kilometers, providing powerful resolution that overcomes the limitations of the device's physical size.

This scanning method has high resolution, is not limited by lighting or weather conditions, and can penetrate the ground surface and vegetation.

Therefore, Su Ming never worried about the camouflage of these noble armies from beginning to end. As a modern battlefield reconnaissance method from the technological side, SAR is precisely what counters camouflage!

The precision and speed of the pod system are two completely different concepts. In just about 15 minutes, Su Ming completed the initial scan of a ten-kilometer radius around the target.

However, the battery power was also rapidly depleted, even after Su Ming had inscribed a heat-preserving array on the battery pack to maintain the battery's operating temperature.

After the drone returned to base, Su Ming retrieved the memory card. He imported the data from the card into the processing terminal and began the complex processing procedure.

After filtering, motion compensation, coherent combination, and various corrections, the final imaging result is displayed on the screen. The terrain within the range was sampled in great detail and presented as a high-precision 3D model.

This time, the anomalies in the area were immediately apparent. The locations of three suspected artillery positions were marked, along with numerous foxholes and auxiliary positions scattered throughout. The enemy had cunningly positioned themselves not directly in front of the Youth Civilization's route, but three kilometers to the left of the road.

Violet saw this scene through her omniscient vision and couldn't help but exclaim, "That's impressive! She saw the entire other side!"

"Let me double-check it," Su Ming said.

He dispatched drones again to conduct high-resolution scans of the suspicious areas based on the data from the first scan.

The insulation array wasn't working properly during the flight. Su Ming adjusted the array engraved on the drone's bone-like body and replaced it with a slightly more powerful magic crystal.

After restarting, the low-temperature battery alarm disappeared, resolving the issue. Since the energy density of the magic crystal is far higher than that of the battery, Su Ming is considering researching the possibility of its direct conversion into electrical energy, which could significantly improve the performance of weight-sensitive devices.

However, it can only be used in special circumstances.

Ordinary magic crystals are disposable, while rechargeable magic crystals are expensive and require a mage to provide magic power. In comparison, the cost of regenerating batteries is virtually negligible.

Even scholars would have to admit defeat when faced with a 1000KW generator that can run non-stop 24/7.

(End of this chapter)