Chapter 37: The Cage
By the time Li Qingsong finished deploying his forces and the encirclement was complete, the strange birds in the small plain were still engaged in fervent courtship rituals.
Over a million strange birds in total were chasing, playing, and mating—a picture of springtime vitality, teeming with life.
Watching this scene, a cruel smile touched Li Qingsong’s lips.
’Alright then... Open fire!’
At Li Qingsong’s command, a total of 1,000 Cannons, spread across the more than 50-kilometer front surrounding the small plain, fired in unison.
Amidst a silent roar, the ground shuddered violently.
Blinding flashes erupted from the muzzles. The next moment, massive shells hurtled toward the small plain below at twice the speed of sound.
A few seconds later, a thousand fireballs erupted across the small plain. The ground bucked violently, as if struck by an earthquake.
As the fireballs detonated, tens of thousands of strange birds were instantly blown to smithereens.
Amid a shower of blood and gore, the strange birds, which moments before had been reveling in the joys of their mating season, were stunned into confusion.
Before they could recover, a second artillery barrage arrived, accompanied by a torrent of bullets from high-speed machine guns.
Massive ammunition belts fed into the heavy machine guns like assembly lines. Spent casings ejected and piled up beside the weapons as bullets streamed from the muzzles at high speed, joining the Cannon shells in bombarding the flock of strange birds.
Meanwhile, the Clones serving as infantry were not to be outdone.
Wielding large submachine guns, they had already spread out among the mountains surrounding the plain, occupying advantageous firing positions on the high ground.
For a moment, guns and Cannons roared in unison.
An endless deluge of bullets and shells poured onto the small plain.
Li Qingsong noted that in just over ten minutes, he had bombarded the small plain with at least 100,000 artillery shells, over 100 million heavy machine gun rounds, and tens of millions of submachine gun rounds!
Assuming a single heavy-duty logistics truck could carry 100 tons, the entire payload of 50 such trucks had been expended in just over ten minutes!
And that didn’t even account for the additional fuel, food, oxygen, and other supplies expended just to get the payloads of those 50 trucks to the front lines.
A thought surfaced in Li Qingsong’s mind.
’I’ve always heard that wars are won by logistics. I never fully grasped it before, but I certainly do now.’
’At this rate of consumption, even if my base and population were ten times larger, I couldn’t sustain this for very long.’
’Thankfully, this battle won’t take too much longer.’
Under the bombardment of thousands of tons of shells and bullets, the small plain was a scene of utter devastation.
In just those ten-odd minutes, at least 500,000 strange birds had been killed!
By now, the birds’ earlier joy and excitement had vanished. Facing this assault, which was like a Celestial Calamity, they began to flee in a desperate panic.
They scattered in every direction—some flying upward, some outward, others running on the ground—plunging into total chaos.
At this point, it was no longer effective to rely on artillery bombardment.
The reason was simple: they were now scattered, which would greatly reduce the effectiveness of the Cannons.
But it didn’t matter.
The armored vehicles and tanks, already in position, roared to life and charged down the slopes like tigers descending a mountain.
Behind them, waves of infantry Clones charged forward. They wore custom-made Space Suits, carried submachine guns, and were laden with heavy magazines and grenades.
When they spotted a cluster of strange birds, a tank would fire a round. Lone birds were met with a spray of bullets from the infantry.
If they encountered a larger flock, the infantry would use the tanks for cover, their backs against the steel hulls as they unleashed a furious volley. They only needed to hold out for a few minutes before nearby reinforcements would arrive and help annihilate the birds.
The one thousand tanks and armored vehicles tore across the battlefield like unstoppable beasts, carving a bloody path wherever they went.
On the periphery of the battlefield, the Cannons and heavy machine guns could no longer fire indiscriminately for fear of hitting friendly units. However, they continued to pick out areas clear of allies and deliver intermittent volleys, providing powerful support for the engagement.
A significant number of the other heavy machine guns were aimed at the sky.
They could fire with impunity; since none of their own forces had flight capabilities, anything in the air was a strange bird and a valid target.
In the sky, numerous strange birds flew about frantically, trailing long, fiery wakes like jet fighters. Some tried to fly in and attack, while others were simply desperate to escape.
But regardless of their intent, they were all met with a hail of machine gun fire.
Li Qingsong couldn’t care less how many bullets were fired. After all, he had brought more than enough.
All he wanted was one thing.
If you see a strange bird, you shoot. The Clones’ fingers might as well be welded to the triggers. Keep firing, and don’t stop!
The curtain of fire from the numerous heavy machine guns formed an unbreakable cage, trapping all the strange birds within.
The tanks, armored vehicles, and infantry Clones acted as hunters inside the cage, slaughtering with impunity and swiftly reaping the lives of the strange birds.
And so, amidst the thunder of artillery, the number of strange birds still able to move on the plain or fly in the sky dwindled.
The battle lasted just over an hour before drawing to a close.
After one final assault, Li Qingsong finally breathed a sigh of relief.
All strange birds still capable of fighting had been eliminated.
He didn’t know if there were more in space, but for now, at least, there shouldn’t be any combat-capable strange birds left on Ceres.
’Well then... time to clean up the battlefield.’
Li Qingsong felt a genuine sense of joy.
’So many strange birds, just think of all the bodily fluids... If I collect all these fluids to use as an additive, how many high-quality Clones could I cultivate...?’
’The battle was fierce, and countless birds were blown to bits, but that’s fine.’
’The temperature on Ceres is so low that any fluids that spilled would have frozen solid almost instantly.’
’I just need to "scrape" the top layer of the ground here to collect all the fluids.’
’After that, it’s just a matter of filtering and purifying it to remove the impurities.’
The now-empty heavy-duty trucks began to enter the area. The infantry Clones, in turn, became a cleanup crew and started clearing the battlefield.
During this process, Li Qingsong’s forces also rounded up numerous strange birds that were injured but not yet dead.
Li Qingsong didn’t kill these ones. Instead, he had them all collected, intending to transport them back to the base to be raised as livestock.
It took three full days of work to complete the initial cleanup of the battlefield.
The once-empty heavy trucks were now fully loaded again.
A large amount of valuable material still remained on the battlefield, but that was fine; it could be collected slowly over time.
The convoy of over 3,000 vehicles was fully assembled.
’Time to head home.’