Chapter 31: Rout
In perfect unison, 100 Clones emptied the 100 magazines of their firearms.
Under the torrent of 8,000 bullets, in just twenty seconds, more than twenty of the hundred-plus monstrous birds charging at them fell.
Another forty-odd monstrous birds suffered heavy damage to their bodies or wings. A boiling liquid began to flow from their wounds, then quickly froze.
’The power of these firearms is incredible!’
Li Qingsong’s spirits lifted, and he immediately issued a command. The 100 Clones moved as one, their motions perfectly synchronized. They detached their empty magazines, stowed them at their waists, smoothly drew full ones, slapped them into their firearms, and once again pulled the triggers.
Tongues of fire erupted from the barrels again.
But this time, the Clones’ movements were no longer synchronized.
The immediate defensive crisis had been resolved, so the Clones had to split up and act as a mobile response team, reinforcing any position that was in danger.
For a time, the cold glint of melee weapons on the battlefield was punctuated by the intermittent flashes of firearms spitting fire.
Previously, whenever the melee Clones could no longer hold a position, Li Qingsong had no choice but to sacrifice lives to hold the line while urgently pulling reinforcements from the reserves.
But now, things were different.
Wherever danger arose, a dozen or so firearm-equipped Clones would immediately rush over. A hail of dozens, even hundreds, of bullets would cut down several monstrous birds, instantly relieving the pressure.
Before, if a section of the front line was about to be breached, Li Qingsong not only had to plug the gap with bodies but also had to pull Clones from less-pressured sectors. This, however, would trigger a chain reaction, leaving the entire front stretched thin and struggling to cope.
But things were different now!
With the firearm Clones, he could send a few dozen guns over and forcibly halt even the most ferocious charge.
With the addition of these 100 guns, the situation on the main base’s front line was almost completely transformed.
Li Qingsong was filled with a sense of profound relief.
But alongside his relief, Li Qingsong also felt a sense of urgency.
’The firearms are effective, no doubt, but there are too few of them! And far too few bullets!’
There were only 80,000 rounds in total. If they fired at maximum rate, they would burn through it all in a matter of minutes.
Li Qingsong’s attention returned to the firearms factory.
A total of 1,500 Clones worked in this factory.
Li Qingsong knew he couldn’t pull any more Clones to supplement the workforce here.
The reason was simple: besides the 16,000 Clones on the front lines, he only had 5,000 others available.
These remaining Clones were already tasked with essential duties like food production, power generation, steel manufacturing, railway transport, and mineral extraction. He couldn’t spare a single one.
But it didn’t matter.
Under Li Qingsong’s hyper-efficient management, the firearms factory had now completed its initial assembly, debugging, and trial production phases.
After more than 10,000 micro-adjustments to the production line, the entire assembly was now capable of operating at peak efficiency!
As a result, its output skyrocketed at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Before, the components coming down the conveyor belts were sparse, like a creek that often ran dry.
But now, every conveyor belt, for every type of component, was packed densely. The parts flowed in an unbroken stream that filled the entire belt, as if the creek had flooded and evolved into a river!
Not only had the production efficiency of the components greatly increased, but the Clones’ manual assembly speed had also improved dramatically.
This was because they had grown increasingly proficient during the trial production phase.
When they gained experience, it was as if Li Qingsong himself gained it, which in turn meant all Clones gained it.
Thus, every operational skill was instantly synchronized across all Clones, and every piece of operational experience was immediately known by all.
Under these conditions, the Clones’ work grew faster and their coordination more seamless. It was as if the Clones had merged with the production line, becoming one and the same.
It seemed the machines had become a part of them, or perhaps, they had become a part of the machines!
Moreover, even when a group had worked for eight straight hours and needed a temporary break, the replacement Clones could integrate into the system instantly, with no delay or friction whatsoever!
As a result, while it had taken all of yesterday to produce 100 firearms, by just eight o’clock this morning, 200 had already been manufactured!
Today’s total output was on track to exceed 700 units!
And this was with Li Qingsong deliberately suppressing the firearm production speed.
He suppressed it because he had diverted more resources to the bullet and magazine production lines.
Consequently, the surge in bullet production was even more staggering than that of the firearms.
Yesterday, they made only 80,000 bullets in the entire day. Today, in just eight hours, they had produced one million!
And with further micro-adjustments, bullet production was still increasing. The projected total for the day was expected to reach 3.5 million rounds!
With the explosive growth in firearm and ammunition production, the transport trucks finally got busy.
Crate after crate of guns and ammunition were loaded onto their beds. The trucks sped to the front lines at breakneck speed, where scores of Clones lined up in orderly queues to retrieve the weapons and ammo.
Large numbers of melee Clones were pulled back from the front. But before the monstrous birds could charge forward, a virtually endless hail of bullets rained down on them.
The Clones no longer had to worry about running out of ammunition.
If there was an enemy in front of them, they would just pull the trigger and empty an entire 80-round magazine, no questions asked.
After emptying a magazine, they immediately slapped in a fresh one. If they ran out of magazines, they would pull out a stripper clip, reload, and resume firing.
In addition to three magazines, each Clone also carried 20 stripper clips, meaning a single Clone could carry a total of 1,520 rounds!
Including their armor, their total loadout was around 60 kilograms. But it didn’t matter. With Ceres’ low gravity, the total weight felt like only 4.8 kilograms.
The torrent of bullets at the front was relentless, while at the rear, truckload after truckload of ammunition arrived every moment.
They didn’t have to worry about accuracy. All they had to do was open up and fire with everything they had!
With a total of 1,000 firearms and a virtually unlimited supply of ammunition, the battle at the main base’s front line was turned completely on its head.
The once-precarious front line not only stabilized but actually began to push forward.
The monstrous birds threw themselves forward in wave after wave, but no matter how many came, they were all cut down by the torrent of bullets.
And so, in just one day, the tens of thousands of monstrous birds besieging the main base were all killed. Not a single one was left.
Li Qingsong finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After leaving 2,000 firearm-equipped Clones to continue defending the main base, another 2,000 immediately boarded a train.
’It was time for the monstrous birds besieging the other bases and railway lines to get a taste of firearms too!’