The electromagnetic barriers of the four camps grew brighter.
The six hundred and forty thousand Jiang Ye Star troops on the periphery watched the massive blue-purple light shield in silence.
Some robots and cybernetic humans from the four camps stood within the barrier, their gazes cold as they watched the silent army outside.
They believed the electromagnetic barrier could protect them; as long as there was sufficient power, nothing could enter except air.
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
Jiang Ye noticed a new development.
Satellites detected that the main bases of Cyber Star, Machine Star, and Night Banquet Star had all dispatched thousands of troops.
According to intelligence provided by Solaris Star, such numbers of troops were almost all they had.
This meant their main bases had become ghost towns, easily breached.
Jiang Ye realized they had mobilized their entire forces and made two judgments.
First, they were adhering to the principle of "lose territory but save people, and you lose both; save people and lose territory, and you save both," believing they couldn't hold this wave and were fleeing in panic to preserve their troops, abandoning their main bases.
Second, they intended to engage in a battle of attrition with the Jiang Ye Star forces and then reinforce the four camps on the front lines, engaging in a head-on confrontation with fierce determination.
After a few minutes, Jiang Ye found his judgments to be entirely wrong.
The enemy was neither fleeing nor reinforcing the front lines; they were heading for the power plants.
The power plants supplied electricity to the electromagnetic barriers on the front lines. As long as the power plants were secured, the four camps on the front lines would not be breached.
Jiang Ye found these people to be endearingly naive.
"Cyber Star camp assault team has arrived!"
"Night Banquet Star camp assault team has arrived!"
"Machine Star camp assault team has arrived!"
Within a minute, the three forces were in position.
"Solaris Star assault team has entered the target camp and begun network takeover."
"Network nodes have been fully controlled, enemy facilities can be shut down at any time."
The hackers were also in place.
Jiang Ye's face, which had been serious for hours, finally showed a hint of a smile.
All attack forces were ready.
"Everyone, begin the assault!" Jiang Ye ordered. "Don't rush, and avoid casualties."
The moment the order was given, the blue-purple light screen outside the four camps suddenly vanished, like an extinguished lamp.
Through the network, the hackers forcibly cut off the electromagnetic barrier.
Simultaneously, many remote controllers of Night Banquet Star were also cut off. Thousands of Night Banquet Star robots immediately became paralyzed, shutting down one after another. The lights of their machine eyes extinguished in large swathes as if blown out by the wind.
Many drones flying in the night sky suddenly plummeted, as if their batteries had detached. Hundreds, even thousands, of drones crashed into the dense forest, snapping branches in their path, and then igniting fires. The batteries within the drones warped under the scorching flames, then exploded, scattering countless sparks.
Machine Star soldiers cried out in alarm. Solaris Star's network frequencies began to launch fierce attacks against them. Firewalls were as fragile as paper. Why would their allies suddenly betray them?
Cybernetic humans were also caught off guard. Many of their network-controlled devices were also attacked by Solaris Star's network viruses, causing widespread paralysis. The hard-won electromagnetic barrier disappeared, and the tide of enemy mechanical soldiers' lights surged forward. The entire world rumbled.
Jiang Ye watched the various screens for a while, even having the leisure to stand up and pour himself a cup of hot cocoa.
Hundreds of thousands of troops launched a fierce assault with roars, illuminating the night with the lights of their robots. From the satellite's perspective, the battlefield was clearly visible as a bright spot in the darkness.
The scene was almost surreal: high-tech soldiers of the high-tech era engaged in primitive hand-to-hand combat like savages, without even a knife, everyone fighting bare-handed.
The enemy was valiant. The robots and cybernetic humans that could still move resisted desperately, using their bodies to block the gates, throwing Jiang Ye Star's mechanical soldiers back out, and operating water cannons to bombard them. However, the network-controlled water cannons sputtered and died after only two bursts, with the control screen scrolling with the words [Surrender Quickly].
In less than five minutes, Jiang Ye Star's forces had broken through all the outer walls of the target camps and surged in with a rumble, squeezing the enemy's living space.
Several black military vehicles shaped like fire trucks arrived one after another. Mechanical soldiers stood on the raised fire ladders, operating water hoses and spraying downwards.
What sprayed from the hoses was not white water, but a pale green jelly-like liquid. Large blobs of it smeared onto the enemy robots, and soon the liquid became incredibly viscous in the air. Many robots were stuck to the ground, unable to move, like small insects preserved in amber.
This was a new weapon developed by the Jiang Ye Star Military Officer University, using high-strength adhesive spray to deal with robots. It also eliminated concerns about suffocation and allowed for rapid capture. So far, its combat effectiveness was quite good and could be promoted.
Jiang Ye constantly switched perspectives, but all perspectives were chaotic.
The shaking camera made one feel nauseous, water and green goo flew everywhere, and the shouts formed a continuous stream. It was impossible to make sense of it.
Jiang Ye was patient and waited slowly.
His phone suddenly lit up.
A message from the [Bi Rong Star] app.
[Your faction has annexed the Cyber Star faction, and your level has risen to City Level 20%.]
Jiang Ye couldn't help but ask the frontline commander, "Has the Cyber Star main camp been taken?"
"Reporting, Commander! Not yet! They are using the buildings to fight us in indoor combat. We are advancing floor by floor up the stairs. They destroyed the elevators and built numerous defensive walls in the corridors! They also welded shut all the iron doors of the rooms!"
Jiang Ye shrugged.
The enemy was still putting up a desperate resistance.
They didn't even know that the military had already written them off.
Suddenly, he felt like a wicked invader.
[Your faction has annexed the Night Banquet Star faction, and your level has risen to City Level 35%.]
[Your faction has annexed the Solaris Star faction, and your level has risen to City Level 45%.]
Two more messages arrived in succession.
Solaris Star had been taken earlier. The Solaris people had adopted an attitude of "opening the gates to welcome the rebels." The troops didn't even need to attack; they just walked in through the main gate.
Jiang Ye glanced at the situation of the troops inside the Night Banquet Star camp. Intense fighting was still ongoing, but they had also entered indoor combat.
Night Banquet Star had even stationed several network-enhanced ships in the orbit of Bi Rong Star, which were now fully engaged in seizing network control, engaged in a tug-of-war with Shi Zhi Zhizi's team. After all, their soldiers on Bi Rong Star were commanded remotely. Good network meant more soldiers; a bad network meant immediate elimination.
Jiang Ye thought for a moment and contacted Shi Zhi Zhizi, "I'll give you control of all the signal stations. Can you attack their outer space network ships?"
Shi Zhi Zhizi: "Yes!!!"
With three exclamation marks, she was clearly excited by the proposal.
Jiang Ye did not hesitate and immediately transferred all the signal station permissions on Bi Rong Star to Shi Zhi Zhizi.
At the same time, he issued orders to the soldiers at each signal station: complete the mission regardless of cost, using as much material as needed.
Shi Zhi Zhizi immediately disengaged from the battle at the network nodes on the front lines, commanded the signal stations, and shot massive data streams into space.
Jiang Ye was very much looking forward to it. If they could control Night Banquet Star's outer space ships, this battle would definitely establish their authority!