The two feint attack teams stopped first. The enemy never showed itself, and after half a day of lonely engagement, they were all a little uneasy.
Xie Yu said nothing, only ordering these two teams to reinforce their vigilance.
But it wasn't long before the others had to stop as well.
There was no other reason than the superior quality of the enemy ships. After busy work for half a day, the laser cutters had only managed to carve a few shallow notches into the hull of the severed ship. At this rate, it would take three to five hours to cut through the enemy ship's outer armor.
However, not to mention whether the aliens would give the assault team that much time, even if the aliens remained motionless, in at most an hour or two, the portable cutters would run out of power.
The powered armor could last a little longer, at most two hours.
After a long while, Ou Zhanpeng managed to blurt out, "It's hard to imagine what kind of power could instantly cut through an alien warship."
Looking at the dark, severed opening, Xie Yu fell silent. After a while, he said, "Comrades, the situation is clear to everyone, so I won't waste time. We have two choices: one is to give up this hard-won opportunity and withdraw from the battle immediately, but it's hard to say if we can suppress the enemy again next time. The second is to continue the mission, but the original plan is completely unworkable. The only way is to charge directly into the enemy ship and create a diversion from the center!"
A resolute light flickered in his eyes. "My idea is to charge in and create a diversion from the center!"
The soldiers started discussing animatedly, and everyone unanimously supported Xie Yu's suggestion.
Xie Yu immediately contacted the bridge. "Staff Officer Luo, I, on behalf of all the assault team members, request to engage the enemy and charge into the enemy ship!"
Luo Jintang was immediately stunned. "Captain Xie, are you serious?"
"Yes, this is the common decision of all our assault team members. We hope the command will approve our suggestion."
Luo Jintang was completely overwhelmed. What was going on?
Xie Yu quickly persuaded him, "Staff Officer Luo, you don't need to be troubled. We cannot give up this hard-won victory. This is the best choice."
"Alright... fine!" Luo Jintang agreed with difficulty. "Be careful!"
"Don't worry, I will be!" Xie Yu's face lit up with joy. "Attention all personnel, the time has come for our motherland and people to test us!"
The soldiers were filled with excitement, eagerly volunteering, as if transported back to that passionate era.
Ordinary people witnessing this scene would surely be very puzzled and find it abnormal. But for the soldiers, it was as normal as it could be.
To begin with, due to various objective reasons, starting from the 1920s of this century, the fertility intentions of the childbearing population continued to decline. Xia Country entered an aging society at an extremely rapid pace, and the population entered a period of rapid negative growth.
Despite the official introduction of a series of stimulus policies, their effect was very limited.
To completely solve this problem, in the 1940s of this century, the government proposed the famous artificial breeding plan. Simply put, it was to directly cultivate newborns using cells donated by volunteers, who would then be raised by the government to supplement the missing population.
This plan had many drawbacks and greatly impacted traditional family relationships, but from a national perspective, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.
Ou Zhanpeng, Ling Xiao, and the vast majority of the assault team members were "artificial humans." They had received education and training from the state since childhood, and many things were ingrained in their bones. Things that were considered outdated by ordinary people were the principles they had always adhered to.
Even if a minority had other thoughts, they would never hold back the team at this critical juncture.
In a word, they couldn't afford to lose face, nor did they want to be pointed at by others for a lifetime!
Xie Yu struck while the iron was hot. "Everyone, get ready, bring enough ammunition, and prepare to attack!"
Ling Xiao immediately objected, "Why?"
"You two are pilots and everyone's retreat. I must ensure your safety," Xie Yu said. "Also, I need you to guard everyone's backs... Execute the order!"
Ling Xiao was unwilling, but had no choice but to agree.
After a brief preparation, Xie Yu was the first to charge into the alien warship, followed by five full combat teams.
In the blink of an eye, the team of over twenty people disappeared into the darkness, leaving only Ou Zhanpeng and Ling Xiao behind.
Ling Xiao was a little nervous. "Fatty Ou, won't they be alright?"
"Jinx!" Ou Zhanpeng immediately retorted. "If you have that much free time, you should worry about yourself instead."
Ling Xiao heartily agreed. "We should indeed be careful."
Ou Zhanpeng couldn't rest easy and contacted the front. "Captain Xie, what's the situation?"
"No situation, not even a shadow in sight!"
"Be careful!"
"Don't worry..."
Before he could finish speaking, fierce gunfire suddenly erupted over the radio. Before Ou Zhanpeng could ask, the blown-open passage within the severed ship was suddenly sealed by a hatch, cutting off the communication signal.
Ou Zhanpeng's gaze froze.
Ling Xiao was furious. "Why couldn't they just stay outside? They had to go into the alien warship. Now look! Now look! What alien weapons do they want? Is it that easy to pick up alien scraps?"
Ou Zhanpeng was agitated. "Just say less. What's the use of all this hindsight?"
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
Ou Zhanpeng immediately contacted the bridge to report the situation.
Upon receiving the news, Luo Jintang was silent for a long time, unsure of what to do.
He had known from the beginning that the mission was fraught with peril, but Xie Yu was right. The current situation was unprecedented. If they gave up now, it might mean all their previous efforts would be in vain.
Therefore, even though he knew the mission was arduous, he still agreed to Xie Yu's request.
There were only seven combat teams on the moon. Now five were trapped in the severed ship, leaving only two guarding the Guanghan Base. It was easy to launch artillery strikes again, but there were no reinforcements to be found anywhere.
"You two... wait a little longer. If it's really impossible, then retreat first. They might... not be in such danger," Luo Jintang said intermittently.
It was evident that he was in a bad mood.
Ou Zhanpeng fell silent.
Luo Jintang's meaning was simple: Xie Yu and the others were trapped in the enemy ship, which meant the aliens now held hostages. The fleet, concerned about the safety of Xie Yu and others, could no longer bomb indiscriminately as before.
"Understood," Ou Zhanpeng replied.
He said so, but did he truly understand?
Looking at the dark, severed opening, Ou Zhanpeng's heart inexplicably pounded, and a raging fire seemed to burn deep within him.
He suddenly stood up, grabbed his rifle, and walked out. Damn it, he would go out and fight the damn aliens!
"Ling Xiao, you stay here and guard the rear. I'm going to save them!" Ou Zhanpeng said.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Ling Xiao was completely flustered. "What do you mean by leaving me here by myself... Hey, hey, wait for meβ"