Bei Hai Xian Yu, who had just joined, thought for a moment with his chin in his hand, then raised his hand in the crowd.

"If you have an idea, just say it."

Salty Fish: "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind; surround three sides, leave one side open, feigning a path to survival!"

You're a cultured person, can you speak plainly...

"Hmm..." Lu Yuan nodded, "That's similar to what I was thinking. You, I, plus Caoyuan and Black Smoke, will discuss it in detail later. Next... where is the Chief Investigator?"

Ye Xing: "Here, Team Leader!"

"You will be the scout for this battle. The mission is important, depart immediately."

"Understood!"

"Jubian, Xiao Xue, you two drive a heavy-duty truck, bring 4 Mechanical Soldiers, and transport 'that thing' to the top of the mine mountain. Depart as soon as possible."

"Yes!"

"Ma Lou, you drive a vehicle, form a four-person team, take down the relay communication tower in Oasis City, and report immediately after completing the mission."

"Received!"

"Other employees whose names weren't called, prepare yourselves as quickly as possible, load everything that needs to be loaded onto the vehicles, put on your exoskeletons, and warm up in advance!"

"Hooah!"

"Smash them!"

"WAAAAAAGH!!!!"

Orders were issued one after another, and the players' blood began to boil.

A moment later, the tactical discussion was complete.

"According to the information just received, the Stormwind Gang will attack Red Iron Town very soon! The time is likely to be sunrise in a few hours."

Caoyuan went down to the camp area, head held high, and shouted to the militiamen who had emergency assembled and were neatly lined up.

"The enemy is strong and well-equipped, thinking they are heading towards inevitable victory, but they don't know that their every move is under our surveillance. We always have the intelligence advantage and know how to strike them when they are unprepared at the right time!

"Therefore, this battle must not only be won, but also won beautifully and earth-shatteringly!

"I once promised that each of you would have the chance to beat the invaders soundly. Now, it's time to fulfill your courage! Everyone, bring your ammunition and equipment, and depart!"

"Yes!!"

The militiamen responded loudly, their eyes like two burning flames.

Caoyuan requested a truck, fully loaded with 31 militiamen, weapons, and equipment, and departed right behind Ma Lou's tower demolition squad.

Black Smoke and Salty Fish also formed "battlefield groups," each bringing 3 all-terrain vehicles, 1 truck, 4 players, 10 militia drone operators, and 5 Mechanical Soldiers.

The remaining 8 players wore "Barbarian" military exoskeletons and were personally led by Lu Yuan.

They were all high-ranking players in shooting games before, each with experiences of being suspected of cheating by opponents, each possessing unique skills, and their combat techniques were further honed in the instances after joining Cangyuan Future Technology.

Their firm yet slightly excited eyes, the corners of their mouths slightly turned up from the anticipation of battle, and the muscle lines still visible through the combat suits, showed at a glance that they were the elite among Soldiers.

Their personal armament was also quite formidable.

Because the exoskeletons increased their load capacity, each person carried four RPG rocket launchers, to be discarded after firing without reloading, showing no concern for cost. Their main weapon was the 17.8mm anti-tank rifle newly developed by Jubian, which uses ONC propellant to fire tungsten steel sabot rounds at Mach 5 speed.

They will be the main force in this battle.

At 2:09 AM, Ma Lou's team sent a message stating that they had successfully taken down the relay communication tower in Oasis City.

Caoyuan, who had already set up an ambush outside Red Iron Town, immediately led his troops into the town, woke up the Town Chief, who then woke up the people he trusted around him.

"The Stormwind Gang will be here soon. Tell all the townspeople to take refuge in the mine!

"Okay!"

"Also, we will be patrolling the outskirts of the town. Broadcast to the townspeople that anyone who leaves the town without authorization now will be treated as a spy and shot on sight!"

His tone was extremely firm.

"...U-understood."

A few minutes later, the drone surveillance network intercepted a communication from Red Iron Town.

"Something's wrong! The town knows it's about to be attacked. Our plan has been exposed. This is a trap!"

This warning was clearly sent by an informant in Oasis City.

However, at this moment, it would never reach its master's ears.

Lu Yuan's main force, as well as Black Smoke and Salty Fish's two battlefield support groups, had already departed the camp under the gentle moonlight.

Jubian and Nan Guo de Xue had arrived at the foot of the mine mountain behind Red Iron Town an hour earlier and were currently climbing the mountain with four Mechanical Desert Spiders.

They were carrying some unusual-looking equipment: the barrel of an infrared pulse laser cannon, the rotating tracking mechanism for the muzzle lens assembly, a capacitor array, and a metallic hydrogen power source, with a total weight exceeding one ton.

These components would be assembled at the summit to form a heavy firepower point with excellent visibility.

............

At 3:30 AM Li Star time, which was 8:30 AM Earth Eastern Eight District time, the official player community was extremely lively and bustling with activity.

In Ye Xing's live stream room, the number of viewers also increased rapidly, first breaking through 50,000, then quickly surpassing 100,000, 200,000...

Hundreds of thousands of players, including several game development companies at home and abroad, gathered in front of their mobile phones or computer screens, closely following the process and outcome of this battle.

Players hoped to see exciting war scenes, while the development companies were concerned with whether Xing Hai could truly create large-scale battles with full sensory simulation.

If it could, then the traditional online games they were currently developing would likely be sitting at the same table as marbles and playdough...

For this battle, most of the closed beta players feigned illness to take leave.

Those who couldn't get leave would nap in their cars, briefly go offline, and then log back in to play during their lunch break.

At 3:18 AM, Ye Xing, who was patrolling 50 kilometers northwest of Red Iron Town, suddenly sensed something unusual.

After his Perception attribute increased to 15, he couldn't even explain whether this strangeness came from sound, a peculiar smell in the wind, or a subtle vibration beneath his feet.

In short, something was wrong.

The enemy was very close!

He immediately turned 180 degrees and simultaneously released the reconnaissance drone from the back seat.

The drone quickly climbed to a thousand meters high. In the night, it was essentially invisible, but its thermal imager could detect ground targets several kilometers away.

Looking down, the drone quickly made a discovery.

In the vast Desert, the Stormwind Gang's troops were marching in the dark, their convoy stretching for nearly a kilometer, with a total number of vehicles almost exactly matching Caoyuan's prediction, close to 50, a mighty force.

They were very professional, also sending out scouts in all-terrain vehicles to explore ahead of the main force.

The images captured by Ye Xing were shared with the players and militiamen, clearly projected onto the visors of their tactical helmets.

At this time, Caoyuan had deployed defenses in Red Iron Town, Jubian had assembled the heavy weapons on top of the mine mountain south of the town, Black Smoke's team was 15 kilometers west of the town, and Salty Fish's team was 20 kilometers north of the town.

The "pocket" was set.