As 120 heavy cannon bugs emerged one after another and moved into the bodies of nearby nydus worms, they began their journey toward the front lines.
The Dawn Empire's forces at the salient were still on the offensive. Defending this area were 26,000 main Zerg units and 220,000 locusts. Facing them was the Empire's main force of over 50,000 men, along with a 40,000 man legion from the Gexilu United Kingdom.
Their combat power was not weak. Much of the equipment used by Gexilu consisted of models from within the last 20 years of the Empire. Although not the latest generation, they could still inflict massive damage when going head to head with the Swarm.
For the Zerg, this was undoubtedly a key defensive sector.
Although the number of troops deployed here was not vast, many units aside from the locusts were extremely powerful. For instance, there were as many as 1,000 lurkers.
This staggering number of lurkers formed a dense net of spines, forcing the Empire's assault to rely heavily on their mage legions.
When well hidden, just twenty or thirty lurkers could cripple an enemy army of 2,000 men. Consequently, both nations were extremely tense during the fighting.
The Empire used a type of highly penetrative armor piercing round that, when fired at the ground, could burrow into the earth and produce a terrifying magical explosion.
This was undoubtedly the best killer specifically designed for lurkers.
Occasionally, the Swarm would hide infestors inside houses. During urban combat, they would suddenly appear to control an enemy soldier, making the warrior act as if nothing had happened while returning to their unit.
This tactic had ambushed the enemy several times and caused significant psychological shock.
But ultimately, the infestors' parasitic camouflage was not perfect and could be easily seen through. Therefore, they mainly relied on their binding spores to interfere with the enemy and support the main force's advance.
...
At that moment, within the city.
Boom!
A building crumbled as a nydus worm revealed its terrifying head. It opened its massive maw and spat out one fearsome heavy cannon bug after another.
On the streets on both sides, large groups of soldiers from the Kingdom of Clear and the city states were operating unicycle artillery or using firearms captured from the enemy to engage in fierce urban combat.
The sudden appearance of reinforcements brought immense joy to the warriors.
To cover this area, over 1,000 scourges took flight in a short span of time, filling the sky overhead. The buzzing sound of their jet propulsion acceleration made the entire battlefield exceptionally noisy.
Within just two minutes, 20 heavy cannon bugs appeared one after another. They headed in different directions, crossing the front lines hundreds of meters away to launch a charge toward the enemy.
“All forces, follow the Swarm!”
Seeing the Zerg launch their charge, the legion commander of the Kingdom of Clear immediately roared his command.
The crowds began to leap out of their trenches, following the heavy cannon bugs ahead.
Those massive bodies crawled forward continuously. Suddenly, one lowered its head and fired a shot into the distance.
Bang!
Amidst billowing smoke, a 120 millimeter shell instantly crossed over 600 meters and scored a direct hit on an enemy light tank.
The powerful impact instantly pierced the target. The entire turret flew off, and a raging fire began to burn.
“Damn it!”
Soldiers firing their rifles near the combat vehicles immediately spotted the behemoth far down the street.
Crucially, after firing its shot, the heavy cannon bug turned around and ran toward another direction, disappearing from sight.
“What kind of freak creature is that? It can grow a cannon on its body!”
The commander also witnessed this scene and could not help but curse out loud.
It was truly too absurd.
The Zerg race was entirely composed of strange things. They were clearly made of flesh and blood, yet they had grown into the shapes of weapons.
Rumble!
Just then, a medium fortress vehicle and a heavy one drove out from the rear.
The former weighed 28 tons, while the latter reached a weight of 48 tons.
The appearance of these two heavy vehicles immediately gave the soldiers courage.
“Advance with the tanks!”
During several ground assaults, the soldiers of the Dawn Empire had relied on these fortress vehicles to advance rapidly.
The vehicles soon drove out of the street and onto a flat stretch of land.
In the distance, several Armored Heavy Cannon Bugs were visible.
“Curse it.”
To see so many at once, and each one being in the same class as a medium fortress vehicle.
The Zerg's strength truly made these soldiers feel an unprecedented level of difficulty.
Many soldiers had thought not long ago that this battle would be much easier than the war against the demons. Now, the situation on the battlefield left them at a loss.
Clack clack clack!
The cannon muzzles turned as the vehicles drove down a slope, subsequently aiming at a heavy cannon bug in the distance.
Bang!
The shell was fired. Since the distance was not too great, it was a precision hit.
With a loud boom, the chitinous shell on the bug's back was dented and cracked, and its cover nearly popped open.
But the bug could still fight. It simultaneously fired a shot toward the other side in the distance.
Turning to look, a friendly vehicle not far away was struck.
Before the soldiers behind the tank could say anything, a thunderous roar erupted right in front of them.
The massive vehicle body clanged, shuddering backward twice.
A shell slammed hard into the heavy fortress vehicle. Following the metallic clang, a closer look revealed a chitinous shell projectile stuck inside it.
“Return fire! Return fire!”
The observer sitting inside the vehicle spat out a mouthful of blood and immediately gave the order.
Rate on N.U.
