The Ultimate War Of The Apocalypse-Chapter 406 - 399 Unmanned Sentinel System

The Unmanned Sentinel System is not a specific system name but rather a general term for a large category of battlefield surveillance systems that use an array of technologies such as sound, light, shadow, electromagnetic, thermal imaging, and more to replace human sentinels.

Spotting an Unmanned Sentinel System generally means only that you have been exposed and discovered by the enemy who set up this system. So the best course of action would be to leave this place as quickly as possible. Why then, did Ralph call for everyone to get down?

Gao Yuan couldn’t figure it out, but his moment of confusion was brief, as his body reacted faster than his brain.

It didn’t matter if he couldn’t understand; the first reaction should be to get down.

Moreover, as Gao Yuan hit the ground, he pressed Xinghe beneath him, then lay on top of her.

The sudden turn of events left everyone startled, but everyone did as Ralph had commanded, which was to get down immediately, not to run away or stand still in shock.

"Landmines! No, electromagnetic grenades, quick!"

Ralph yelled again, but Gao Yuan still didn’t understand why he needed to throw an electromagnetic grenade. By the time he realized that it was to disable the enemy’s Unmanned Sentinel System, he already had an electromagnetic grenade in his hand.

Just then, as Gao Yuan pulled the pin of the grenade, about to throw it, he was struck by a thought.

All of their electronic devices, everyone’s, would be ruined once he threw the grenade: night vision goggles, thermal imaging, walkie-talkies, drones, a whole bunch of stuff, all broken.

So Gao Yuan didn’t throw the grenade. He was supposed to be lying low, then suddenly he noticed a reed beside his feet as if a lid had been lifted, "pfft," a round object suddenly popped out from the reeds.

Without a second thought, Gao Yuan jumped up and kicked out.

Smack.

"Ah!"

Gao Yuan couldn’t help but let out a cry of pain because his toes hurt so much, he thought they might be broken.

But Gao Yuan’s prolonged scream was quickly drowned out by an explosion. The round object he kicked away exploded about fifty meters from them, first a not-too-violent explosion, followed by several more in quick succession.

No one, Gao Yuan included, could comprehend what had just happened.

Consequently, there was a brief silence on the battlefield after the explosion.

Until Ralph bellowed again, "Retreat! Fast!"

Ralph tried to stand up, using his hands on the muddy, watery ground, but first he had to get on his knees, then rise, as no one burdened with tens of kilograms could get up that quickly.

Gao Yuan was the exception; fully armed, he still managed to do things normal humans couldn’t.

The Egg Bomb Squad soldier who had detected the anomaly first ran into the midst of the reeds and then fired his gun at the ground. After a few shots, Sirte, who had managed to stand up, looking rather disheveled, yelled out loud, "Fuck!"

Renato, trembling, asked, "What happened?"

Ralph pointed at Gao Yuan, shouting, "You... kicked away a bounding mine!"

Gao Yuan replied irritably, "Just retreat! Stop talking nonsense!"

Ralph said urgently, "We can’t leave just yet. There must be an Unmanned Sentinel System nearby. Use electronic warfare to disrupt the signals of the sentinel system immediately. If a large bounding mine goes off again, we’re all done for!"

Gao Yuan urged, "Then collect the electronic equipment, quickly! Hurry up!"

Gao Yuan and his team had portable Faraday cages, or rather, foldable Faraday cages, which made it convenient to pack away all electronic devices at any moment.

A bag, except its exterior was made entirely of soft copper wire mesh, lined with plastic inside. Throwing electronic equipment into it and securing the opening could withstand the onslaught of an electromagnetic pulse.

At Gao Yuan’s command, everyone scrambled to pack up their electronic devices, and at this moment, one of the most critical yet inconspicuous pieces of equipment they brought from Shenzhou came into play.

In less than ten seconds, head-mounted night vision devices and walkie-talkies were thrown into the bag, and in under thirty seconds, all electronic equipment of Spark Squad was secure. However, aside from Gao Yuan and his team, whether it was Angel or Egg Bomb Squad, they were still in the midst of packing up urgently.

This was the difference between experience and lack thereof, between long-term training and no training at all.

Gun-mounted night vision scopes or thermal imagers were also dumped into the metal storage bags, and as Scarecrow was the last to dismount his night vision device and put it into the storage bag provided by Gao Yuan before they set off, he shouted loudly, "Done!"

Gao Yuan immediately tossed the electromagnetic grenade he was holding into the air, then without much noise or flash, just a faint indicating sound, Gao Yuan shouted, "Done, the electronic devices within a radius of one kilometer are destroyed; at least within a radius of five hundred meters, no electronic device can work. Someone explain to me, what happened?"

Ralph gestured with his hand, saying, "Quick, retreat!"

As Ralph started to jog, he said urgently, "The Unmanned Sentinel System, which my country has developed and used extensively, uses infrared to detect enemies. Upon detecting an enemy, it will launch a bounding mine into the air, which explodes at a height of fifty meters."

Scarecrow was extremely annoyed, "There were no mines exploding at a height of fifty meters, none!"

Ralph continued, "To be precise, it’s a rocket that scatters autonomously seeking fuze-sensitive submunitions in the air!"

That made it clear, this bounding mine was indeed a mine, but not a regular anti-infantry bounding mine. It resembled Russia’s Vz-20 anti-helicopter landmine, but there were differences.

Regular anti-infantry landmines are triggered by tripwires or pressure, causing the mine to jump into the air and explode at a height of slightly over a meter, up to three at most. Generally, anyone nearby wouldn’t escape injury when a bounding mine exploded. But the bounding mine of the Unmanned Sentinel System was part of a system.

Sensory equipment would detect human movement and perform friend-or-foe identification before a dedicated launcher tube fired a large cylindrical object into the air. At a height of fifty meters, this cylinder would open and disperse a dozen or so fuze-sensitive submunitions that would then autonomously seek and lock onto targets before exploding three to five meters above the ground.

Why not use the simplest bounding mines but instead employ this much more complicated ’alphabet mine’ system? It’s because this method could counter not only infantry but also tanks and armored vehicles.

This Weapons System was expensive to produce, and using it against infantry was overkill. However, if such a weapons system was placed by the roadside and a column of tanks or vehicles approached, what would be the effect? Therefore, targeting tanks and armored vehicles was the greatest intended use of the Unmanned Sentinel System and where its value truly lay.