Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 502 - 47: On the Verge of Defeat

Chapter 502: Chapter 47: On the Verge of Defeat

Looking at Li Meilian, who was silently crying in the middle of the room, Tang Zheng made no move to reproach her.

"If you feel angry, if you feel life has been unfair, then grit your teeth and survive. Compromise and surrendering will only delight those who look down on you." Tang Zheng knew that there was no point in lecturing such emotionally unstable women. All he needed to do was to ignite the resentment and desire to survive in their hearts.

Li Muqing, dressed in a fresh set of sportswear, emerged from the bathroom. She glanced nonchalantly at Li Meilian as if looking at a cast-off, greeted her indifferently, and then squeezed next to Tang Zheng and grabbed his hand, saying she was hungry.

Li Meilian hadn’t initially cared, but upon witnessing Li Muqing’s behavior, anger and resentment started to ignite in her, making her want to tear Li Muqing into pieces.

"Don’t start fighting amongst yourselves. Or I’ll be the first one to take her down." Tang Zheng glared at the two women, pulled out a few cans of beef and handed them over. He was initially planning to take a nap, but suddenly, the sky was filled with the thundering sound of cannon fire.

After spending the entire morning, the beastmen’s main forces had finally gathered outside of the base, and had begun their attack.

The beastmen understood that the base was the final fortress where humans had stockpiled a large quantity of supplies. So, they abandoned the wear-them-down tactics, charging ahead with their elite troops. Their goal was to quickly capture the base and take the humans by surprise.

When a thousand tanks appeared on the horizon, raining shells on the city walls of the base, the Cold Crow Armed Helicopters also swung into action. They surged forward, blotting out the sky, like a swarm of bumblebees. Within no time, rockets had razed various turrets on one part of the city wall upteen times.

Concerned about how the battle was unfolding, Tang Zheng summoned everyone to go find Lieutenant General.

"Now it’s wartime. You all have to stay in the room, you can’t leave for even a step." Two soldiers brandishing guns blocked Tang Zheng. Their fierce eyes seemed to be shooing them away.

Tang Zheng had no patience for idle talk. With a swift motion of his arms, he threw punches at their abdomen. The two of them grimaced in pain, doubling over and passing out. The spots where they were hit were life-threatening, and could result in permanent injuries.

"I know where the Lieutenant General is." Lu Fan and Qin Yan also arrived in time. Little Lolita kicked the unfortunate sentries who had fallen and picked up their Chainsaw Guns and spare ammo clips. They led Tang Zheng and the others to find the Lieutenant General.

Even the Lieutenant General hadn’t fared well and had been placed under house arrest.

"Who are you? Get away immediately, this place is off-limits to outsiders." The duty soldier clearly had instructions to kill on sight if needed. He loaded his gun and pointed the muzzle at Tang Zheng.

"These are my men, let them in." The Lieutenant General appeared in the corridor upon hearing the commotion, bellowing angrily. "What, do my orders mean nothing now?"

The soldier hesitated for a moment, then complied. After all, the Lieutenant General was still technically a superior officer, and rank carried weight. It was also true that their direct superior had said nothing about not letting him meet his subordinates. The people before them were obviously civilians, and all were injured, so they didn’t seem to pose much threat.

"By your command, your excellency." The soldier had no problem trying to get into the Lieutenant General’s good graces when it was within his authority.

"General, things seem to not be going well for you." Upon entering the general’s room, Gao Yu noticed the paperwork scattered everywhere, and three cups of cold coffee sitting on the desk.

The Lieutenant General didn’t answer. He looked even more beleaguered than before, with impatience written across his face. He paced about restlessly. Seeing Tang Zheng was by necessity and not by choice, for his self-preservation.

"What have you done so far?" Pang Meiqin was growing more skeptical about the Lieutenant General’s plan. She shared the same thoughts with Tang Zheng and was preparing to actively seek to serve the three Admirals instead.

"I’ve tried. I’ve been reaching out to my loyal subordinates, but those damned beastmen decided to attack now of all times, and all my men are on the front line." The Lieutenant General crumpled up a piece of paper in frustration.

Even if the Lieutenant General had left the base and housed some of his loyalist troops in the small town, the Admiral wasn’t a fool. He sent his loyal troops to the front line perhaps to make them resent following the Lieutenant General’s failing fortunes.

"You can monitor the battle situation here." Lu Fan pointed to the television in the room. It was currently broadcasting live footage of the beastmen’s siege of the city.

"The Beastmen are really fools after all. Aren’t they worried about the human artillery?" Having had battlefield experience, Pang Meiqin felt she had the credentials to make such a comment.

"The Beastmen’s style of fighting has always been all-out assault. Are they only now turning to tactics for the first time?" The Lieutenant General also sensed something was off. But with no command authority, all he could do was to pick up the phone and dial a few numbers.

"Get me Admiral Pang Tuoke..." The Lieutenant General spoke in haste, but unfortunately, the person on the other side dismissed him with a curt "The Admiral is not available," which infuriated him.

The artillery positions stationed inside the human base started to demonstrate their power. The humans began a barrage of bombardments which submerged the beastmen’s tanks in a sea of fire and smoke. After ten minutes of bombardment, all that was left were piles and piles of scrap metal. This resulted in the soldiers letting out cries of exultation.

Due to the advantage gained, the Admiral carefully deliberated and decided to broadcast the live battle situation to boost the civilians’ confidence.

In the enormous base, thousands of large screens were erected to publicize the government’s achievements. Currently, they were surrounded by a number of women and children, viewable even by the working men.

Some soldiers carrying anti-aircraft rockets emerged from the watchtower and shot down several Cold Crow Armed Helicopters, drawing large cheers. However, the celebratory shouts abruptly subsided after a moment.

From the screen, it was clearly visible that another 500 beastman tanks appeared on the horizon, furiously bombarding the wall defense line; torn limbs were flying around everywhere. Through loudspeakers, they could clearly hear the dying screams of the soldiers.

The artillerymen fought back again, the covering strike once more drowning the beastmen’s tanks completely. It seemed that out of retaliation, they even switched to incendiary bullets, attacking the scattered formation of beastmen. The civilians watched the beastmen burn into a lump of charcoal, running around with flames, and the satisfaction on their faces was palpable. They all raised their hands and cheered, shouting the name of Admiral Pang Tuoke.

"It doesn’t seem to be a problem?" As Gao Yu’s words fell, a deafening explosion sound filled his eardrums, causing a slight tremor in the whole building.

A full ten minutes of bombardment made the base seem like it was the end of the world; the beastmen’s artillery skills were terrible, but their relentless attacks were unending.

"Our artillery positions are finished," the Lieutenant General said, his face pale. He hadn’t expected that after so many years, not only had the beastmen’s intelligence evolved and grown, but the performance of their various weapons had also improved. Their previous siege of the small town was just a practice run, and now they were showing their real power.

Li Meilian didn’t share this feeling; she could see how the beastmen, with their poor aim, were hitting everywhere with their shells, the entire base filled with the whistling sound of shells falling. The civilians screamed in panic and no longer paid attention to the large screens, looking for shelter instead.

A few shells landed near the building where Tang Zheng was located, and the violent explosion shattered all the glass. If Tang Zheng didn’t push the Lieutenant General down in time, he would be pierced by shards of glass instantly.

"The beastmen have a poor air reconnaissance capability. They sent out tanks to expose our artillery positions," the Lieutenant General sighed in despair. "After so many years, humans have been fighting each other, while the beastmen have rushed to catch up with technology. It’s over, it’s all over."

Everyone was silent, the intense battle continued non-stop, and even at night, the beastmen did not stop, continuously deploying soldiers to attack the city walls. Seeing their fearless fighting spirit, humans were afraid, lost, and then became desperate because this was their last homeland, and they had no way to retreat.

Many injured soldiers and civilians were constantly passing by downstairs, which made Li Muqing quite satisfied with the current situation, at least she wouldn’t be thrown onto the battlefield as cannon fodder.

"The beastmen don’t need captives, so we only have one path in front of us: fight until death!" Admiral Pang Tuoke’s impassioned speech was being broadcasted on the large screens in the base, calling on everyone to face this difficult time together.

"No, it shouldn’t be this way. We still have a chance," the Lieutenant General murmured like a walking corpse before grabbing the phone to dial angrily at the secretary, "Let Pang Tuoke answer the phone, or I will divulge his plan."

"We’re laying our cards on the table," Dantai muttered and returned her weapon, moving to guard the door. The next moment, a special force could air-drop down to claim their lives.

Tang Zheng handed down his weapon too, but fortunately, Admiral Pang Tuoke gave the Lieutenant General a chance to speak.

With no trusted subordinates around, the Lieutenant General didn’t feel assured and planned to bring Tang Zheng along with the three other men, however, Chu Baichuan bluntly denied it.

"Dantai and Gao Yu will stay. Ruan Zhimin and I should be enough," Tang Zheng’s words caused the Lieutenant General’s dissatisfaction, but he said nothing.

"I’m going too," the curvaceous woman did not dare to stay alone; if these people took advantage of the situation and killed her, there would be no place for her to complain. Others, including Queen Yan, Pang Meiqin, and Lu Fan, also proposed to accompany them.

"Don’t worry; If something happens, fight back hard. Preserving yourself is the most important thing," Tang Zheng left behind all the weapons, there were boxes full of grenades, enough to fight a small-scale war.

After winding around with a group of soldiers, they finally reached the administrative center of the base, which was a Baroque-style building. Before entering the conference room, a captain ordered Tang Zheng and the three others to undergo a body check, only to be slapped back by the curvaceous woman.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ruan Zhiming was unhappy, Tang Zheng didn’t say anything but showed his Thunderstorm rifle, "Lieutenant General, don’t you believe they will assassinate you?"

"Pang Tuoke, what do you mean?" The Lieutenant General roared, slapped a few soldiers who were blocking the way, and walked directly into the conference room.

"Lieutenant General Allen, you’re still as impulsive as ever," Inside the massive conference room was a round conference table. Apart from the three Admirals seated at the head, there were also two Lieutenant Generals, four Major Generals, and three highest-ranking officials in charge of administrative management.

Seeing this situation, even if Lieutenant General Allen was foolish, he would understand that Pang Tuoke had laid his cards on the table, and these people clearly approved of that plan.

"I suppose there’s nothing left to say. This is the result," Pang Tuoke didn’t even look at Allen standing at the door; he didn’t invite him to sit, but continued reviewing the documents. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on qidian.com. Your support is my biggest motivation.)