Thunder Warrior Saves the World

Page 31

Aside from personnel fatigue, the biggest problem was the wear and tear on machinery and equipment. During this 312-kilometer march, even though the 7th Brigade had conducted an inspection before departure, a number of heavy equipment pieces still broke down along the way—four T-72AVs, six Berezoks, three SU-122Ms, and two 2S24 Podnos self-propelled mortars. This disabled equipment exceeded the 7th Brigade's support unit's carrying capacity, so Lu Wu had to leave some personnel to guard the equipment until the support battalion arrived at Alpha Base to unload it before returning to transport it.

Theoretically speaking, equipment that breaks down is within one's own control area. With appropriate security personnel and patrols by army helicopters, there is no need to worry about the embarrassing situation that occurred on the Ukrainian battlefield, where Russia abandoned heavy equipment and then dragged it out and desecrated by Russia.

However, regardless of the circumstances, the 7th Brigade's combat effectiveness has declined after completing the 300-kilometer rapid maneuver, and it is currently unsuitable for launching a large-scale offensive against the enemy. However, this "weakness" is only temporary; given some time, they will be able to maintain their equipment with astonishing efficiency and regain their combat effectiveness.

The Belken Empire army, which was assembling troops outside Alpha Base in preparation for an attack, could never have imagined that in just one night, the enemy they faced would transform from a heavily damaged light infantry regiment into a brigade-sized force with overwhelming firepower and primarily composed of mechanized units.

At sunrise on the 23rd, the unsuspecting Belken forces launched an attack on the reinforced Alpha base, as planned.

Hmm, there are some bugs with the marching speed and time settings, please try to ignore them (runs away)

Volume 1: Chapter 172 (Chapter 157) Gently Awakening the Sleeping Soul (Part 3)

At sunrise, Belken's artillery gently awakened the slumbering Alpha base.

As the artillerymen merely loaded shells into their breech and prepared to fire, and the infantry assembled at their positions, Princess Rosa of the Kingdom of Elgia was awakened by her guards. Observers had discovered the unusual mobilization of the Belken forces, and the intelligence was quickly relayed to command. All signs pointed to an imminent new attack by the Belken. Lu Wu ordered all troops to their battle positions, and Princess Rosa, as a VIP, was naturally invited to the command post, which offered the best battlefield situational awareness and was also the safest location.

Although he had only been at Alpha Base for two hours, Lu Wu had effectively become its supreme commander—a position determined by a combination of factors, including rank and troop composition. Of course, Lu Wu hadn't simply dismissed the original command structure of the Elgia Kingdom's army. On one hand, as locals, they understood this land far better than these outsiders; history had long proven that ignoring the assistance of local forces in away battles often came at a heavy price. On the other hand, they still commanded nearly four hundred combat-ready light infantry, three anti-tank guns, and dozens of shells—still a considerable fighting force.

"It's estimated to be a 150mm heavy artillery piece."

Belken's shells followed the coordinates provided by the reconnaissance team, striking Alpha Base. Although Alpha Base had constructed numerous anti-artillery fortifications, these were not permanent reinforced concrete structures and were struggling against the bombardment of heavy artillery with calibers of 150mm and above. While machine gun emplacements and anti-tank gun positions were repositioned after driving away Belken's scouts, immovable surface structures like the airstrip inevitably took some hits.

Fortunately, helicopters don't necessarily need a runway for takeoff and landing. The Mi-4 helicopter quickly taxied out of the hangar and took off. Ground troops didn't spot the muzzle flashes from the Belken artillery, but just because they couldn't see them on the ground didn't mean they couldn't see them from the air. Thanks to the Belkens for timing their attack before sunrise, when the muzzle flashes were particularly conspicuous and clearly visible from the air, even without night vision goggles.

Ultimately, the paratroopers were unable to completely eliminate the threat before the enemy artillery opened fire. At the time, Alpha Base was under immense defensive pressure, and a single battalion of Kingdom Army light infantry could hardly withstand Belken's relentless offensive. The paratroopers simply couldn't spare any manpower to proactively search for enemy artillery positions.

"These bastards are really enthusiastic. They brought us gifts as soon as we moved into our new home." The Belken's artillery fire dispelled the darkness of the night. To avoid revealing their position by setting off fires behind them, many people rushed to extinguish the fire with sand and water even before the artillery fire had stopped.

"As the saying goes, courtesy should be reciprocated. Now that the guests have arrived, we should also show our appreciation."

Through the telescope, the Belken troops, under artillery cover, had begun their advance. At least two regiments were deployed in front of the Alpha base. Lu Wu signaled the artillery battalion to open fire and suppress the enemy infantry's advance.

Although some equipment was lost during the march, the artillery battalion still maintains a formidable firepower of 7 self-propelled mortars, 15 self-propelled howitzers, and 9 self-propelled rocket launchers. While its caliber is not as large as the Belken's 150mm heavy artillery, thanks to its superior design and industrial capabilities, the artillery battalion's destructive power is comparable to that of a Belken 150mm heavy artillery group!

With data support from the paratroopers, the artillery battalion quickly completed its test firing, obtaining specific firing parameters. And so, a breathtaking scene unfolded—a thousand trees bursting with blossoms in the night, and stars falling like rain!

Succumbing to gravity, the meteor trailed graceful arcs across the sky with a piercing shriek. Upon impact with the earth, the sensitive fuse, deactivated, triggered a violent chemical reaction within the projectile, turning the outer casing into scorching fragments that flew in all directions, reaping nearby lives along with the shockwave from the explosion.

Light infantrymen, dressed only in cloth uniforms, were naturally unable to withstand the high-speed shrapnel. Blood spurted from their fragile bodies, and some were even cut into pieces by large pieces of shrapnel. The ensuing high temperature ignited the soldiers' clothing and even their ammunition. After the first volley ended, nearly a third of the Belken infantry line was engulfed in flames.

But it's not over yet.

While loading rockets takes considerable time, the rate of fire for artillery pieces like the 2S24 "Podnos" and SU-122M, which are entirely manually loaded, depends entirely on how fast the loader can operate. Now is precisely the time when the artillery battalion is at its most energetic. One 122mm high-explosive shell after another is fed into the breech of the M-30 howitzer, then the propellant charge is inserted, the breech is closed, and it's fired—the entire process is completed in a mere ten seconds. As for the 2S24 "Podnos" self-propelled mortar, it hardly stops. As soon as one 82mm mortar leaves the muzzle, another shell immediately falls, its firing pin striking the propellant cartridge at the base under gravity. With a soft thud, these mortar shells are launched into the air, hurtling towards the distance.

In just one minute, the artillery battalion unleashed over ten tons of ammunition on the Belken infantry, turning the front lines into a landscape of flames and corpses. The excessive firepower stunned the Belken soldiers—"Damn it, are you Ergia bastards? How can you hold your temper like this? We've never seen this level of firepower in our previous attacks!" If the Belken had known this earlier, they wouldn't have resorted to this brute force tactic.

"Commander, the reconnaissance plane has spotted the artillery position, in the jungle at C2." Damage reports from the shelling were submitted to the command post one by one. After Yelena summarized and categorized them, she reported them according to their importance: "The runway was hit by two shells. Ground crew is working on repairs and it is estimated to be operational in ten minutes. The Witch Squadron and the Golden Eagle Squadron have completed their sortie preparations and are on standby."

Yelena marked the corresponding locations on the map with artillery symbols. Without even using a ruler or compass, they could immediately determine that C2 was within the effective range of their self-propelled howitzers and rocket launchers.

Although the Belken's artillery wasn't as fast as the 7th Brigade's, it never stopped firing. Lu Wu decided to focus on these major threats: "Prioritize destroying the enemy's artillery. First, let the helicopters plow through it, then the artillery bombard it, and finally, the attack aircraft clear the area. I want to make sure this artillery unit is completely wiped out."

Volume 1: Chapter 173 (Chapter 158) - Vanished into Ashes

Anyone with a modicum of common sense knows that the power of a 150mm howitzer far surpasses that of 75mm or even smaller caliber mountain guns or infantry guns. However, as a trade-off for this increased power, the weight and size of these lethal weapons are also far greater than those of mortars or small mountain guns. These heavy artillery pieces often weigh five or six tons, and some cannot even be transported directly; they must be disassembled for transport and then reassembled upon arrival at their destination. Such immobile and heavy equipment, once exposed, often leads to a dangerous and passive situation.

The Belken people had learned this lesson long ago during the long war, but even so, they were still dragged into a remedial training session by the 7th Brigade.

The roar of artillery fire masked the hum of the helicopter rotors. By the time the Mi-4 helicopters were close enough for the Belken soldiers to finally notice the uninvited guests overhead, flashes of light were already emerging from the rocket pods beneath the pylons. Although these aging helicopters were unsuitable for low-visibility night combat, although the accuracy of these rockets was less than satisfactory, and although the Mi-4's payload was a paltry X kilograms per second, the Belken artillerymen below were only protected by cloth uniforms and helmets. But as everyone knows, firing artillery is physically demanding; even just pulling the tether quickly leaves them drenched in sweat in the scorching air. Furthermore, since artillery positions were often located behind relatively safe lines, many artillerymen opted to remove their helmets and shirts for greater comfort, moving about in a more exposed position. Such bare flesh and blood were clearly insufficient to withstand the impact of air-launched rockets with only X grams of propellant.

Although each rocket only carried a small amount of explosive, the sheer number of them created a sufficiently large kill zone, encompassing the entire artillery position. After a volley of rockets, the position was littered with severed limbs and a scene of utter devastation. Lacking any anti-aircraft weapons and even a few machine guns, the artillerymen were utterly helpless in the darkness, like victims bound to a chair, forced to endure the brutal assault by the blond-haired man.

It wasn't that the Belken people were afraid of sacrifice; it was just that the problems they faced were beyond their ability to solve on their own. Under such circumstances, a collapse in morale and a rout were inevitable.

The Belken had a stroke of luck; perhaps because they weren't as keen on methods to increase artillery rate of fire as John Bull, the rockets didn't cause a widespread detonation of ammunition across the entire position; the explosions only occurred within the positions of individual artillery pieces. Now, the Mi-4 squadron had run out of rockets, and the machine guns under the nose of the aircraft were insufficient to destroy the remaining dozen or so heavy artillery pieces. Therefore, they had to shift their targets to the fleeing artillerymen.

Unlike many films and television shows that readily execute deserters and fleeing soldiers, most of these soldiers, after leaving the battlefield, would be reinstated by the Belken Army in the rear. After a short period of reorganization, they would regain their fighting spirit and once again become a troublesome artillery unit. The army's high command wasn't foolish; training a qualified soldier required resources, especially for technical branches, where costs were even higher. Executing fleeing soldiers would also deepen their resentment towards command. Once a battle was lost and a rout occurred, these fleeing soldiers would never think of returning to their units; instead, they would run as far away as possible. A sensible high command would not so easily cripple themselves.

So, even though the artillerymen below had lost their will to fight, the helicopters did not give them a break, but instead tried to expand their gains as much as possible—if they couldn't handle those lumps of iron, they could handle you.

The only good news for the Belken was that the Mi-4 crews were using conventional low-light night vision devices instead of the advanced thermal imaging system. These devices had a short range, and combined with the aerial position, they weren't very effective at spotting humanoid targets on the ground. Therefore, the gunners' firing results were less than ideal… Qi

However, as the artillery battalion completed its firing data adjustments, the Mi-4 helicopters began withdrawing from the Belken artillery positions. The Belken's joy was short-lived; the spectacular sight of a thousand trees bursting with color on the battlefield was once again revealed. 4

This time, it wasn't small toys like rockets raining down, but 122mm heavy artillery pieces and 132mm rockets. The Belken's good luck finally ran out; the stored artillery ammunition was ignited and exploded one after another, and even the thick cannon barrels began to melt in the intense heat. Even if the Belken had the resources to clean up the battlefield after the war, they could only send the twisted steel back to the blast furnace for melting and recycling.

The orange flashes of the exploding ammunition couldn't even be concealed by the jungle. The soldiers at Alpha Base squatted at their battle stations, watching the spectacle. Meanwhile, the Belken infantry on the front lines, seeing their artillery destroyed, had even less desire to advance. The Belken commander, his face ashen, knew, however hard he was to accept, that his plan had completely failed. He could disregard the infantry casualties, but the loss of nearly thirty heavy artillery pieces was enough to land him in police custody for investigation. Even with his deepest reluctance, he had no choice but to order a halt to operations and a retreat to regroup.

"The Belken have retreated?" Princess Rosa, observing the front lines through her binoculars, was quite surprised. She felt somewhat bewildered. All the information she had received had led her to believe that the Belken Empire's army was a formidable and extremely difficult force to defeat. Rosa had never been on the battlefield, and in her mind, even the well-equipped 7th Brigade would have to fight a fierce battle to repel an enemy force of this size.

However, the Belken's attack and subsequent rout lasted less than half an hour. They didn't even get close enough for a rifle exchange; in other words, the Belken were repelled before they could even see their enemy.

All of this stemmed from a few seemingly casual words spoken by the remarkably young-looking man beside him. (Qi)

"Commander, the helicopters have relayed information that they have confirmed that Belken's artillery positions have been destroyed." After the shelling ended, the Mi-4 flew back to the artillery position, which had been reduced to ruins, to confirm the results.

"They have no choice but to retreat. Unless they can take out our artillery, their infantry will suffer heavy casualties for every meter they advance," Lu Wu explained. "Belken's artillery group has been destroyed, and they have lost the only weapon they could possibly use to wipe out our artillery."

"The missions of the 588th and 46th Regiments are suspended. A reassessment of the strike effectiveness will be conducted after daybreak before deciding whether to continue." Since the mission targets have already been destroyed, there is no need to continue the high-risk night flight mission. *Whoosh*

Volume 1: Chapter 174 (Chapter 159) A Dilemma

Before dawn, the Belken, along with their wounded, disappeared from the sight of the Alpha base defenders. The artillery fired a final salvo in the direction the Belken had vanished before falling silent. The battle, lasting less than an hour, had finally come to an end.

Disturbed from their sleep and without even getting a meal, the light infantrymen, having been shelled, were naturally seething with anger. Moreover, the 7th Brigade had suffered casualties in this shelling. Two soldiers were tragically hit by direct artillery fire before entering their anti-tank positions, marking the 7th Brigade's first deaths on this land. In addition to personnel casualties, one of the 7th Brigade's ammunition transport vehicles was also destroyed. Fortunately, the ammunition on board had already been unloaded and stored in a less vulnerable underground ammunition depot, preventing a secondary explosion.

Compared to the 7th Brigade, the Kingdom Army suffered much greater losses. After all, the Kingdom Army could not enter the anti-artillery fortifications as quickly as the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, and the extended exposure time resulted in their casualties being several times that of the 7th Brigade.

The only saving grace during the entire battle was that the Belken artillery clusters were quickly neutralized by even fiercer counter-fire; otherwise, the losses at Alpha Base would have been far more severe.

With improved visibility, the Baba Yaja Squadron of the 588th Regiment took off first, conducting reconnaissance in the direction the Belken had retreated. Even if the armored units were in poor condition and unsuitable for continued combat, forcing the use of air force, the ground forces would still give them a good beating.

But the Belken people weren't stupid. After being licked by the Baba Yaja squadron once, they learned their lesson and abandoned their plan to use the wide roads to quickly escape the battlefield. Instead, they hid in the forest and lay low.

Lu Wu had no intention of sending men into the forest to pursue them. He originally planned to end the battle here in a more decisive way—throwing incendiary bombs to search would be a good method that would save time and effort.

However, after assessment, it was already September, and the forest was full of dry branches and fallen leaves, making it very easy for the fire to spread out of control, directly turning the situation from a fire in Belken to a fire in Fabandi. If Fabandi really turned into the same mess as Presidia, the capital of Cascadia, the Elgins would probably fight them to the death.

No matter what, Ireland is still an ally, and Lu Wu doesn't want to become a despicable bastard like Li Mei, who has no one to carry on his legacy. Back in his hometown, everyone only knows Li Mei as the Tokyo barbecue master; when they talk about his burning of Tokyo, they even seem somewhat fond of him, wishing they could personally award him a medal and give him a proper commendation. After all, for these people, there's a deep-seated blood feud between China and Japan, and the death of a Japanese person is a good thing.

But these people probably don't know that LeMay's achievement of burning Tokyo was built on the blood and tears of 40,000 people in Wuhan.

Before bombing Tokyo, the US deliberately chose Wuhan, a city with a similar architectural style and predominantly wooden houses, to test the power of incendiary bombs. Initially, the bombing area was cautiously limited to strategic targets, but later, even slums were included in the US bombing range. On December 18, 1944, B-29 bombers dropped 500 tons of M69 napalm bombs over Wuhan. According to the "Wuhan City Annals," "A large number of bombs were dropped between Yiyuan Road and Wuma Road in Hankou, bombing from the riverbank all the way to the railway. The bombed area of ​​about 15 square kilometers was engulfed in flames, and buildings along the way were reduced to rubble." The fire burned for three days and three nights, and most of the city center of Hankou was reduced to ruins. More than 40,000 civilians were injured or killed in the bombing, including more than 25000 deaths.

It should be noted that during the entire War of Resistance against Japan, approximately 15 residents of Wuhan were killed or wounded, and nearly one-third of these casualties were caused by so-called "allies"! Not to mention the damaged buildings, 92% of which were caused by the rice trade! Even Japanese militarists would be amazed by this.

Lu Wu used to quite like the "Barbecue Master" meme, but ever since he learned that Li Mei's tragic death was built on the blood and flesh of the Chinese people, he stopped using the meme. When others used it, he would explain this little-known historical fact. Similarly, he didn't want to become that kind of person. His ancestors had fought against the Japanese and Vietnamese invaders, and he would never allow himself to one day become such an inhuman villain.

But the Belken people hiding in the woods are still a problem to be solved. It's like a perpetrator who fails in his attempt to commit a crime and then hides in the park next to your girlfriend's (or boyfriend's?) house. You can't burn the park down with a cocktail, but you at least have to find a way to get rid of him, right?

However, before the command center could determine the most suitable plan, news came from the north—a pervert from the north had broken into a house and raped someone; no, I mean, the Belken people from the north had invaded the northern district.

The Belken offensive against Alpha Base was not actually a standalone military operation, but rather part of a larger offensive plan. At 4:50 AM on September 23, Belken forces launched a simultaneous attack on Fabandi from both the north and south. The southern offensive was thwarted at Alpha Base, but the northern operation achieved a major victory.

Supported by intelligence from scouts, the massive artillery massacre quickly wiped out all command points along the front line, followed by the concealed cannon positions. Only some howitzer and mortar positions on the reverse slope escaped unscathed. The Belken's artillery bombardment from the north was remarkably successful; the Kingdom's army failed to pinpoint the Belken artillery's location, and the surviving howitzers had no chance to fire in retaliation. The entire front line was thoroughly bombarded by the enemy's artillery.

The Elgeans, whose entire position was covered by artillery fire, failed to notice that the enemy artillery was actually divided into two groups. One group was continuously suppressing them, while the other was clearing the minefield in front of the position. When the shelling stopped, they crawled out of their anti-artillery fortifications and almost had their heart and lungs stop when they looked out—the Belken, who had cleared most of the minefield, had closed to within 9 meters, and there were at least 30 Belken tanks on the battlefield!

What does 500 meters mean? According to our military's training standards, the passing time for the 400-meter obstacle course is 130 seconds! That means the Belkens could pounce on them in less than three minutes!

Having lost a large number of front-line officers and lacking heavy firepower support, the 20th Infantry Division held out for only an hour under the fierce attack of the Belkens. The casualty rate of the front-line troops exceeded two-thirds. Major Bryken, who took over command, organized two counterattacks in an attempt to recapture the outer perimeter positions and ordered the artillery to provide fire support regardless of dangerous distances, but both failed. Major Bryken had no choice but to lead the remaining troops to abandon the outer perimeter of the northern city and retreat into the buildings in the northern city.

Volume 1: Chapter 175 (160) - Advice from Research Experts (1)

Although the name "Northern District" includes the word "district," it's not actually a district, just like there's no wife in "wife cake" or no husband and wife in "husband and wife lung slices." It's merely an administrative designation. The Northern District is actually a suburb. It's mainly comprised of large private farms, estates, and factories. Most of these factories are concentrated closer to the inner part of the actual urban area.

The Kingdom's army had prepared a large number of barricades, secret passages, supplies, and weapons in these factories. Therefore, when the 20th Division, which had suffered heavy casualties, confirmed that the outermost defensive line, which relied on farms and manors, could not be recaptured by itself, it withdrew to the second defensive line, which was mainly composed of factories.

During this period, the 20th Division constructed numerous underground tunnels connecting these densely packed factory buildings, creating an underground network through the factory basements. This network allowed the defending troops rapid maneuverability. Belken soldiers attempting to enter the factories would be easily ambushed and beheaded by unpredictable mountain goblins. If they foolishly ventured underground, the unguided enemy, lacking a map, would inevitably become lost in this complex network of branching passages, eventually being divided, surrounded, and defeated one by one. Perhaps in the end, Belken would annihilate the 20th Division and capture the northern part of the city, but the Belken people would inevitably shed countless blood on this land.

Having achieved some success, the Belkens intended to press their advantage and break through the 20th Division's defenses, but they were met with a head-on attack in the factory area. Although the 20th Division left only a regiment in reserve in the factory area, it still left the Belkens with hundreds of corpses, halting their rampage.

While the Belken were conducting reconnaissance and deploying their troops, the remnants of the 20th Division, who had retreated from the outskirts, also filled the factory area. Before this, if the Belken had disregarded casualties, they would have had a chance to take over the area in a short time, since the Kingdom's army only numbered a thousand, and if only combat personnel were counted, the number would be even smaller; but after the thousands of remnants of the 20th Division entered the underground fortifications, the Belken completely lost the opportunity for a quick victory and rapid advance to expand their gains.

From this perspective, the forward command post seems to have made a mistake in issuing the order to halt the attack before ascertaining the enemy's situation. However, if they were in the situation of the Belken forward command post, they would not have known that although the 20th Division in the northern city suffered heavy losses, it had not lost its fighting capacity like the Kingdom's army they had previously fought. They also did not know that the remnants of the 20th Division were moving here. At this time, it was understandable that they wanted to achieve greater results at a lower cost. After all, the compensation money they had distributed was real money, and they had not yet reached the point of being greedy for money.

It was at this critical juncture that the 7th Brigade received news of the setbacks in the north. The Kingdom's radio communications were still being suppressed and jammed, so these messages were still being relayed by messengers.

Lu Wu was somewhat speechless. The battle in the south was progressing from victory to victory, so why was the situation in the north so dire? This made Lu Wu vaguely uneasy, especially considering the precedent of the Battle of Henan-Hunan-Guangxi, where the superior side suffered a major defeat despite an overall favorable situation. Not to mention that the overall situation of the current Ergia-Fabanti War was not even as good as the anti-fascist war in 1944.

“The situation isn’t good,” Lu Wu frowned. On the map before him, nearly half of the northern district was marked as enemy-occupied territory. “We simply can’t get a timely understanding of the battlefield situation with just messengers.”

Throughout history, intelligence has been the most crucial element in warfare. Whoever possesses more comprehensive and accurate intelligence gains more initiative on the battlefield. Even the side with weaker troop strength and equipment can exploit intelligence asymmetry to divide a powerful enemy, thereby creating local advantages and tactical victories. By continuously accumulating these tactical victories, they can gain a strategic advantage.

The 7th Brigade couldn't possibly plant its own eyes and ears on the front lines like it did with communications personnel in the Fabandi command post—it simply didn't have that many men. Therefore, the only solution was to address the communication problems at their source—the hard-fiber coil jamming stations the Belken Empire had deployed on the battlefield. However, these hard-fiber coil jamming stations were numerous and their locations were unclear, making it a laborious and time-consuming task to destroy them one by one. By the time the Allied forces had destroyed all these jamming stations, the northern city would have already said goodbye to the Kingdom's army.

"I'll go and call Dr. Hal. He might be able to offer us some advice." Yelena understood immediately. They had brought Dr. Hal, who had defected, with them on this trip north. After all, they would inevitably have to deal with the technological creations of Gilahani, and they would naturally need an expert by their side.

In just three minutes, Yelena returned to the command post, followed by Dr. Hal and a little green man.

"I heard you want to access the Belken Empire's radio jamming?" Perhaps driven by the researchers' pursuit of efficiency, Hal asked bluntly upon arriving at the command room, indicating that he had already gathered some information on the way.

"Yes, do you have any suggestions?"

“If you’ve read the technical manual for jamming stations, you should know that they rely entirely on the high-energy crystal inside—the hard optical coil—to carry out radio jamming. This crystal is amazing; it can be used in energy, communications, and other fields, and has extremely high value. Jamming communications is just one of our initial applications of it,” Hal explained, spreading his hands. “Therefore, although the Empire possesses a large number of hard optical coils, the secrecy level of these devices is still very high. To prevent these things from falling into enemy hands, we designed a remote-controlled self-destruction method for these jamming stations.”

“You never told us this thing would self-destruct,” Davis said in a deep voice. “You previously said you were willing to cooperate with us, but you withheld such important information.”

“Remember when I reminded you to take out one of the devices inside?” Hal shrugged. “That’s the key component for self-destruction.”

“Continue explaining your method,” Lu Wu said.

"Among these hard optical coils, there is a rare type of twin, which we call a twin. When we injected current into one of a pair of twins and conducted radio interference tests, we found that the other twin, which did not have current injected, also emitted light and heat and produced interference. This correlation does not seem to be affected by spatial distance. We once placed one on the border and the other in the capital for testing. At the agreed time, we energized one of them, and the other showed energizing symptoms within one second. Considering experimental error, we believe that this correlation is instantaneous."

Volume 1: Chapter 176.4 Chapter 1061: Advice from Research Experts (26)

"This sounds a bit like quantum entanglement."

Lu Wu was a long-time science fiction fan, so he was familiar with, and even had some understanding of, the physical concepts that frequently appeared in science fiction works. Therefore, based on Hal's description, he immediately thought of the theory of quantum entanglement.

"Quantum entanglement?"

Hal knew the word "quantum," a conceptual unit of energy. Last year, someone introduced the quantum concept into the propagation of light, proposing the hypothesis that light possesses "wave-particle duality." This was the second practical application of quantum mechanics after the blackbody radiation problem. Although he wasn't a specialist in quantum mechanics, studying the artifacts of the Gilahani civilization, which far surpassed our current era, always required the use of various cutting-edge theories. Therefore, he was quite familiar with quantum mechanics, and he could assure him that the term "quantum entanglement" had never appeared in any related papers on quantum mechanics.

Although Belken's research team discovered this peculiar phenomenon in twins and even applied it in practice, they hadn't even officially named it, using the provisional term "Special Phenomenon 4" in various reports and papers. Don't underestimate the power of a name; if this phenomenon is called "quantum entanglement," then at the very least, the Amelia people must have discovered that its principle is related to quantum mechanics. This single discovery already puts them ahead of Belken's research team.

"General, could you explain what quantum entanglement is?" It was unexpected that this lieutenant general knew about this. Hal was certain that if he had said that to the commander of Swarthburg, the latter would have impatiently interrupted him. Belken's officers generally didn't care about the specific technical principles; after all, understanding the underlying technology was quite difficult. They only cared about the results. The ability to quickly grasp what he was saying and connect it to their own system required knowledge that those without higher education simply didn't possess. Incidentally, Hal consistently believed that senior officers graduating from officer cadet schools didn't necessarily receive higher education.

"Let's get back to the main topic. We can discuss this later." This wasn't a research center, so Lu Wu quickly steered the conversation back on track before it strayed too far.

“Alright.” Hal’s regret was written all over his face. “When the hard optical coil is energized, it can generate pulses that interfere with radio communications, and it also generates heat. Depending on the suppression frequency, the required input current varies, and the heat generation also varies. We discovered that a few specific current values ​​can cause the hard optical coil to overload like a short circuit, and the heat generated can instantly melt the entire crystal. So we made these twins into a safety mechanism…”

Liu Luwu and Yelena understood.

"...As long as these special current values ​​are input into the corresponding twin individuals, the coil inside the safety mechanism begins to melt, burning off the fixing pin. The molten crystal will then fall directly onto the hard light coil below, thereby burning out the core components of the machine. The entire process is efficient and stable. Unless someone tells you that this is a self-destruct device, an average engineer would still think that this structure and its location is one of the core components."

Lin said, "I guess these twins are kept in Swarthburg."

“Correct answer.” Hal snapped his fingers. “Although theoretically these hard optical coils can be remotely controlled to self-destruct from the capital, out of caution and to avoid communication delays that could lead to unforeseen circumstances, the Empire has decided to bring these safety mechanisms to the front lines. If you want to resolve the communication interference problem as soon as possible, this is an opportunity.”

“How much do you know about the inside of Swarth Castle?” Davis asked. “Not just the unit numbers of the troops stationed there, but also the location of the safety devices, the castle’s terrain, the access codes, the specific areas each unit is stationed in and responsible for, and so on…”

“If you want detailed information about the garrison, you’d better find someone else.” Hal said helplessly, feeling that this person was being a bit delusional. “I’m not being modest, but as a researcher, how could I possibly know such classified information as the garrison situation? But I do know some things about the regional distribution of research departments, personnel composition, and the location of insurance mechanisms.”

“But I have to warn you: they probably changed some of the passwords after losing contact with me. You’ve left that outpost in such a mess, the jamming tower is gone, and the Gilahani warriors have vanished without a trace… They might already suspect I’ve been captured or even betrayed.” To avoid any mishaps that could lead to disastrous developments, Hal decided to give these people a heads-up.

“It’s alright, we’ll verify it through other means.” Lu Wu and Davis both understood this, but while passwords could be changed, the personnel composition and internal environment were not so easily altered. Just the difference between having a map and not having one made a world of difference in the difficulty of the Spetznaz team’s operation. Furthermore, obtaining information about important personnel in advance could prevent them from using disguises to escape or hide.

The intelligence from Hal was quickly put into writing, forming an incomplete map. Lu Wu, Yelena, and Davis frowned. Although the Imperial Army inside Swarburg was not numerous, they had deployed personnel at every possible point of infiltration. Some positions were even guarded by Gilahani warriors. It was almost impossible to bypass these people and enter the interior perfectly.

“Perhaps we need to create some noise outside first to attract the attention of those inside before we have a chance,” Davis suggested.

"It's hard to strike the right balance. If we make too little noise, it won't work; if we make too much noise, it will scare people away, which would be even worse." Yelena didn't really want to do it this way.

However, Spetznaz's commander, Sergeyev, had a new idea: "Perhaps we can use Dr. Hal's identity to infiltrate this base openly and legitimately."

"Infiltrating in disguise?"

“No, we’ll take Dr. Hal directly back.” Sergeyev’s true idea was clearly more radical than Lu Wu’s. “After the soldiers outside the castle find Dr. Hal, they will definitely consult their superiors, and then they will inevitably send people to interrogate us. The interrogation will take place either inside the castle or in the camp outside. Unless they are idiots, they will separate us for individual interrogation, but this will also scatter their manpower. We can use this to get rid of the people in charge of the interrogation. In this way, we can move freely in Swarth Castle for a period of time before the castle commander discovers that the interrogators have gone missing.”

Volume 1: Chapter 177 (Chapter 162) - The Choice

“There are too many uncertainties. We have no way of knowing when the people who are interrogating you will contact their superiors. If you are being interrogated inside the castle, that's fine, but if you are outside, you might trigger an alarm before you even enter the castle.” Lu Wu was not optimistic about Sergeyev’s plan. “Don’t forget that a group of Gilakani warriors left the castle with Dr. Hal. They are much taller than us, so it will be difficult for you to disguise yourself as one of them.”

"Therefore, we need the comrades from the reconnaissance company to cooperate with us and prolong the Belken's reaction time." Sergeyev had obviously considered this situation and made corresponding preparations.

"How do we coordinate?" Qi

“We can fake our escape from the attack of the Elgarian army. Those Gilakani warriors bravely took on the task of luring the enemy and covering their retreat to prevent Dr. Khar from falling into enemy hands. Unfortunately, although the Elgars failed to capture us, we also failed to shake them off. Unfortunately, these Elgars have followed us all the way to this place.” Sergeyev seemed to have fully immersed himself in the role.

"Won't this arouse the Belken's suspicion? This is too much of a coincidence." Davis felt the story was poorly crafted; could it really fool the Belken?

“As the saying goes, ‘Warfare is based on deception,’ and this kind of suspicion can precisely help us clear ourselves of suspicion.” Sergeyev, a typical Russian big man, suddenly switched to Chinese. “Logically speaking, if we're going to disguise ourselves and infiltrate an enemy base, we should naturally make sure our disguises are perfect. But what’s the purpose of doing that? It’s to blend in with the enemy and prevent them from focusing their attention on us.”

“But as individuals who have been out of contact for some time and are at risk of falling into enemy hands and defecting, we are already a highly scrutinized group. Not to mention Dr. Hal is an important figure; our return to Swarthburg will inevitably attract the attention of the Imperial Army's high command.” (Jiu)

"Therefore, we must divert the Imperial Army's attention from us. A reconnaissance company of the Kingdom of Elgia that is tracking us is clearly a more pressing and urgent threat." Ling