A total of sixty 120mm mortar shells in three rounds adjusted their posture using the airflow ejected from the shells in mid-air, falling precisely on the abandoned village according to the marked coordinates...

The firelight from the explosion was very restrained, but the circular impact caused by the shockwave was extraordinarily conspicuous in the night.

Along with an orange flame flashing through the explosion, a mass of shrapnel and earth mixed with the heavy rain to form a spherical curtain visible to the naked eye...

The curtain seemed to carry its own destructive effect, scraping a layer of soil off the ground as it passed.

An old wooden house was hit, the shell pierced through the roof into the interior, and then the explosion blew out the windows and door of the wooden house...

A few knock-kneed Island Nation soldiers chose to seek cover during the mortar attack, but the confined space amplified the explosion's effects.

After the mortar strike ended, two Island Nation soldiers rushed into the wooden house. Seeing a few comrades lying on the ground with blood flowing from seven orifices and twisted faces, they let out a roar...

"Deploy the suicide drones; find those mortars for me..."

With the Island Nation officer Sakata's roar, several soldiers emerged from a cellar in an abandoned barn beside the water tower at the back of the village...

They placed the American-made Springblade 300 launch boxes on the ground, and then somewhat frantically took almost two minutes to complete the launch...

At this time, the second wave of attack had arrived...

"Boom boom boom boom..."

More than twenty mortar shells exploded in the air about ten meters above the trenches outside the village...

The terrifying power of the airburst shells turned a few soldiers huddling in not-so-deep trenches into bloody gourds.

There wasn't a horrifying scene of flesh flying; a large amount of fragment splinters hit the bodies, forming numerous wounds, and then those soldiers collapsed to the ground like tattered rag dolls with multiple holes.

In just two waves of artillery bombardment, dozens of people stationed in the village were killed...

With the heavy rain still pouring down, after the bombardment ended, the village surroundings fell silent once again.

The pressure from darkness and death made the Island Nation officer Sakata feel as if an invisible big hand was gripping his heart. He looked into the distant darkness, trying to maintain his composure as he pressed the radio...

"Have the drones arrived yet..."

Four Springblade 300s, operated by soldiers, started searching westward along the road, but when those soldiers discovered and attacked the mortar vehicles moving west of the road, several small missiles shot into the sky...

The Springblade 300, worth over ten thousand dollars each, exploded in the sky like firecrackers, and then there was nothing...

The Guard Camp soldiers collaborating with Long Arrow Camp pressed the communicator, saying, "Radar identified the drone model, it's Springblade...

Activate all Spearhead missiles, and all radar vehicles on standby..."

A Long Arrow Camp captain, while relocating, pressed a button on the command vehicle's screen, shouting, "Prepare after advancing 400 meters, use a mix of high-explosive and airburst shells..."

As Long Arrow Camp relocated, the surroundings of the village fell silent again. When Sakata shouted for his people to continue deploying drones, Jorgensen rushed to his side, grabbing him and dragging him into a trench...

Feeling his chest and above exposed outside the trench, Jorgensen cursed in frustration, pulling Sakata down, and loudly said, "Inform the chemical plant's mortars to keep an eye on the road, prepare anti-tank missiles, have all machine gunners ready, the enemy is already here..."

Sakata was stunned for a moment, he scanned the coastal area around the village, hesitantly saying, "They're here, where?"

Jorgensen couldn't believe the previously high-spirited Island Nation officer turned out to be so clueless. Grabbing Sakata's clothes, he made him squat down, pointing towards the woods, and shouted, "The direction of the woods, they're definitely there, have people prepare the Broad Sword..."

As he spoke, Jorgensen pressed the communicator and shouted, "Calu, fire illumination rounds towards the woods..."

With Jorgensen's call, two muffled sounds rang out in the village, and two bright illumination rounds were fired towards the woods...

The illumination rounds cut through the sky, lighting up the passing area...

The previously deserted edge of the woods suddenly revealed a dozen strangely shaped small armored vehicles...

The lack of advanced night vision equipment made Jorgensen and his team miss the chance to discover the enemy early...

Seeing the weapons on those small armored vehicles, Jorgensen suddenly realized that the information he had received earlier wasn't complete. These Island Nation people were merely cannon fodder sent to delay them...

Because the Lake Belga Foundation didn't even provide them with night vision equipment, yet expected them to withstand the enemy armed with near-sci-fi advanced technology...

Heavy machine guns and automatic grenade launchers were mounted atop these vehicles, and the armor meant to act as side shields stretched forward like powerful arms, protecting the four soldiers advancing alongside...

The upgraded Talus transport vehicles were noticeably larger...

To adapt to the soft Nordic summer mud, the transport vehicles were fitted with tracks used by snow vehicles.

The hybrid power system gave them stronger endurance and load capacity while providing better protection for the soldiers...

Faced with such a situation, Jorgensen was startled, and then he forcefully pushed the completely dumbfounded Sakata, shouting, "Fire, fire, release all suicide drones, have the mortars open fire..."