Li Qianfan knew very well that the general offensive team outside the east line had already reached their designated locations, anxiously awaiting his signal to attack.
He also knew.
Li Wujiang, in charge of the west line's siege and reinforcement operations, was also gazing this way at this moment, waiting for a certain moment.
And Su Nanyin, back in China, was likely sitting by the phone, restless.
While others waited anxiously, Li Qianfan could not afford to rush.
He had already paid too much for this moment.
He absolutely could not afford to make an unforgivable mistake at the last hurdle!
Even the slightest mistake could cause Dark Blade to suffer sacrifices it shouldn't have to bear.
If that happened, Li Qianfan would be guilt-ridden for life.
"Step one, neutralize the sentries within the inner defense zone."
"Step two, destroy the enemy's drone defense system."
"Step three, blow up the ammunition depot of the Rhodes team."
"Step four, find Murong Yuannuan and provide her with weapons to protect the hostages."
"Step five, intercept the experts from the War Demon Hall."
As Li Qianfan recited these five steps in his mind again, he slowly placed the firearms hanging on his body on the ground.
The drone defense control command center was located to the left of the Rhodes command post, in a separate container.
To ensure the absolute security of the drones, the container was kept tightly shut all night (only able to be opened from the inside), and there were two guards at the entrance assisting with security.
In the dead of night, quietly eliminating the two guards posed no difficulty for Li Qianfan.
The difficulty lay in preventing the drone operator inside the container from seeing the guards being neutralized through the surveillance cameras, and getting them to unlock the door from the inside.
For this, Li Qianfan had racked his brains.
He finally decided to use smoke.
Yesterday noon.
Li Qianfan, under the guise of going to the camp's mess hall for a meal, gathered some dried chilies and other similar items (effective for warding off the cold) and made a special "incense."
Using the shadow of the container for cover, Li Qianfan avoided the surveillance camera, approached the ventilation duct, and then lit the incense.
Soon.
He heard violent coughing coming from inside the container.
And curses asking where the smell was coming from.
Li Qianfan estimated that the time was ripe and immediately moved swiftly along the container, taking out his slingshot.
Upon reaching the corner, Li Qianfan slowly peeked out, raised his hand!
*Thwack*—
With a short, powerful snap, a multi-sided steel ball shot out like lightning. Before it could even make a "whoosh" sound in the air, it had pierced the head of the guard in the distance.
The guard, with his back to Li Qianfan, suddenly saw his comrade's head burst with blood and instinctively froze.
In that moment of stunned silence!
Li Qianfan had already pounced behind him, cupped his head in his hands, and twisted sharply.
With a *crack*.
Looking at the guard whose neck had been twisted and then at the other guard who had collapsed silently to the ground, Li Qianfan thought, "This is too easy."
However, it was clear.
Now was not the time for showing off—
Because the door to the drone command center had been opened.
"Cough, cough."
Before Li Si, covering his mouth with his hand, walked out, he had already checked the guards outside through the monitor and confirmed they were at their posts before daring to open the door for some fresh air.
If Li Qianfan had neutralized the two guards first and then gone to the ventilation duct to light the incense, Li Si and the others would not have been able to walk out on their own.
"Why is it suddenly so—"
Li Si, standing at the doorway, coughed and had just said this when he saw the corpse at his feet.
He froze.
Countless times, reality had proven that the instinctive freeze response when encountering sudden accidents was never a good thing.
The fate of many people had changed drastically in that moment of stunned silence!
It was the same for the guard whose neck Li Qianfan had twisted.
Now, Li Si's fate was also completely altered in that instinctive moment of freezing!!
From life to death.
With a precise horizontal slash that severed Li Si's carotid artery, Li Qianfan raised his hand and covered his mouth.
He let the thick blood splatter all over his face.
Besides Li Si, there were three other drone operators inside the container.
They were also coughing, cursing, and getting up from their chairs, preparing to check what was happening at the door.
But then, a man covered in blood walked in.
"Who are you?"
Expressions of disbelief appeared on the faces of these three operators, as if they had seen the Grim Reaper.
Yes.
Li Qianfan was their Grim Reaper!!
Including Li Si, all four drone operators were taken away by the Grim Reaper without ever understanding how they had died.
"Hoo."
After Li Qianfan severed the last enemy's neck with a single blade, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.
As long as the Rhodes team's drone base could be destroyed, it meant that the counter-attack plan was more than 90% successful!
The inner and outer defense zones, once considered a forbidden zone of death by countless experts, had now become an open territory for Dark Blade members to roam freely!!
What Li Qianfan needed to do next was to destroy those remote controls.
This task—
Was utterly devoid of difficulty.
Li Qianfan destroyed all the remote control systems in the most brutal and crude way. The entire Rhodes team's camp remained silent, enveloped in a peaceful atmosphere.
He walked out of the container, thoughtfully closed the door, and looked up at the sky.
Under the deep blue firmament, more than ten drones floated by like ghosts from time to time.
To the east.
*Whirr*—
A drone that had just flown over a warning sign suddenly deviated from its patrol route, flew directly out of the defense zone, and descended with a buzzing sound towards the ambush site of Du Junlin and the others.
"Not good!"
Yuan Ting exclaimed in alarm, "We've been discovered! The enemy has sent drones to strafe us from above."
Not only him.
Most of the Dark Blade members participating in the general offensive also thought so when they saw that death-representing drone rapidly descending.
However, no one jumped up in panic due to their cover being exposed.
These well-trained elite soldiers of the Storm Front knew very well that standing up rashly in the face of aerial bombardment was no different from seeking death.
Du Junlin, however, raised his hand and said softly, "Everyone, don't panic, and don't move! Don't forget, we are currently outside the enemy's defense zone."
As long as they were outside the defense zone, the Rhodes team wouldn't dare to attack them rashly.
Moreover, Du Junlin and the others' ambush point was a full five hundred meters away from the defense zone?
What puzzled Yuan Ting even more was—
The drone that was diving from a distance suddenly nose-dived from the sky and crashed about a hundred meters in front of them, ceasing to move.
Huh?
As some people instinctively thought this, Du Junlin sprang up from the ground.
She turned back and shouted sternly, "The enemy's drone defense system has been disarmed! We charge!"
The enemy's drone defense system has been disarmed!!
At this moment, besides this reason, there was no other possible explanation for the drone's sudden crash.
Yuan Ting suddenly understood.
Overjoyed, he roared, "Li Qianfan, he did it! Ha, he really did it! Brothers, follow me!"
Dozens of white figures erupted from the snow within seconds, following the leading Du Junlin, and charged at full speed towards the outer defense zone of the east line.
Everyone bent low, eyes fixed forward.
As their speed increased, the total of 61 individuals automatically formed 20 small teams during the charge.
Three men per team.
With approximately three meters between each person, forming an irregular triangle.
Three groups then combined to form a slightly larger triangle.
Finally, six slightly larger triangles combined to form a triangular formation with Du Junlin at the tip, charging into the outer defense zone against the biting cold wind.
The three-man formation—
It was the most mature and sharpest offensive formation in the history of human light infantry.
Once the offensive formation gained speed, no position could withstand their assault.
Charge!
Charge!!
At this moment, Yuan Ting and the others' blood was boiling.
They didn't even feel the fatigue of sprinting two kilometers in the shortest possible time before they had already charged into the enemy's inner defense zone!
Suddenly—
Du Junlin, who was charging at the forefront, felt her vision suddenly brighten.
She instinctively stopped, raised her hand to shield her eyes, and felt the ground beneath her feet tremble rapidly.
Then came—
*BOOM*!!!
With a deafening roar, the Rhodes team's ammunition depot was blown up.
Flames shot into the sky.
The immense shockwave from the explosion roared and lunged from hundreds of meters away.
It whipped Du Junlin's hair—
She turned back and shouted, "Charge!"
Immediately.
The bugler Yuan Ting had specifically brought raised his bugle and blew a fierce charge signal towards the sky.
*Toot-toot*—
The charge signal!
A bright, clear, sharp, and piercing horn of the East, filled with a strong aura of killing and bloodshed!!
Tonight, on this foreign snowfield, it was proudly sounded.
"Kill!"
Yuan Ting and the others shouted in unison, straightening their bodies and charging forward with their rifles.