Chapter 248 A Baptism of Firepower

Li Tianran's claim to blanket the Great Desert battlefield with artillery fire was not an empty one.

Although humanity's current firepower reserves were less than a tenth of what they were at their peak, that was only in regards to conventional weapons. Large-scale weapons of mass destruction like nuclear missiles had been rarely used since the wars against the ancient civilization and the sea beasts began; their stockpiles remained at their peak.

The reason was simple: the destructive power of such weapons was too great, and it was difficult to control their range.

In many defensive battles and city wars, nuclear weapons were difficult to use in battlefields where human forces were intermingled with ancient civilization creatures and sea beasts, because a single nuclear missile could kill more allies than enemies.

Since the descent of the First Doom Era, humanity had used perhaps fewer than thirty nuclear weapons in total.

For a human civilization with a global nuclear arsenal of over one hundred thousand warheads, the consumption of thirty nuclear weapons was a drop in the bucket. And in the Great Desert, the Allied Human Forces could deploy these large-scale weapons at will without worrying about harming their own people.

This would be a feast of artillery fire, a baptism of the strongest weapons of human civilization.

Countless missiles carrying nuclear warheads soared into the sky, arriving at speeds exceeding several times the speed of sound, accompanied by sharp, piercing whistles. Looking up, one could see the distant horizon filled with dense sparks. If this were the night sky, it would look like a sky full of stars coming towards you.

This scene might seem romantic and beautiful, but the Apostles of Night and Wind knew that hidden beneath this starry spectacle was the purest destructive force!

They needed to react immediately, or the entire Great Desert would become a purgatory after a few more breaths.

Within the Great Desert, centered around the Triangular Tower, at least several million beasts were gathered, including tens of thousands of secondary-sequence followers. In terms of sheer numbers, the ancient civilization seemed to have an advantage.

The Allied Human Forces consisted of seventeen teams, totaling about three million people, including over seven thousand bombers, fighters, and attack helicopters, and over one hundred thousand tanks and armored vehicles.

Coupled with the various mechanical warriors and mecha warriors from Kuangxi Island, the steel torrent assembled by human civilization this time was more powerful than anything in history.

"New World... Intercontinental nuclear missiles have been launched!"

"Doomsday... Intercontinental nuclear missiles have been launched!"

At this time, among the Allied Human Forces, not only were the various fighters carrying small nuclear weapons, but even the large intercontinental nuclear weapons within the human defense lines were launched in advance, flying towards their targets at Mach 25 after entering the atmosphere.

But it is worth mentioning that, as the targets of these strikes, whether intercontinental missiles or small nuclear weapons carried by fighters, were not aimed at the Triangular Tower located in the center of the desert, but at...

The vast sea of beasts and the two miracle buildings of the Apostles of Night and Wind!

"It seems the Triangular Tower... is really important." Li Tianran sat inside the Kunlun Giant Ship, watching the specific situation in the center of the Great Desert through surveillance satellites, a smile on his face.

From the beginning, he had no intention of destroying the Triangular Tower. The only reason he did this was to force the apostles hiding in the deep sea to show themselves and fight him head-on!

In fact, from the moment he started planning this operation against the Triangular Tower, Li Tianran was filled with trepidation, because he didn't know what the status of the Triangular Tower was in the ancient civilization, and whether the apostles would give up their hiding because of it.

But now it seemed that Li Tianran had made the right bet.

The apostles valued the Triangular Tower very much and would not allow Li Tianran to destroy it.

That is to say, as long as the Triangular Tower still existed, as long as Li Tianran showed a desire to attack the Triangular Tower, then these apostles would have to jump out of their hiding places and be led by the nose by Li Tianran. Even if they were unwilling, they would be forced to fight Li Tianran.

Li Tianran was not confident enough to completely destroy the ancient civilization with this one battle, this one day.

So he had to plan for the future.

But if Li Tianran completely destroyed the Triangular Tower in this battle, then the next time he wanted to make the apostles appear before the complete restoration of technological weapons, it would not be so easy.

No, it was not that it would not be so easy, but that it would be completely impossible.

Therefore, although this Triangular Tower was the main reason for the war today, it was in the safest state in this war.

Whether it was Li Tianran or the apostles, they would deliberately protect it!

Moreover, deep in Li Tianran's heart, there had always been an idea lurking, that perhaps one day in the future, he could help Hanhan's consciousness completely devour the Earth Apostle, allowing Hanhan to exist with his sister's consciousness, possessing the authority of the "Triangular Tower," and, as a human, possessing the apostle's powerful strength and terrifying technological level.

If successful, Li Tianran, who possessed Kuangxi Island, Sky City, and the Triangular Tower, would truly have nothing to fear from the ancient civilization!

Even if the technological weapons were completely restored, Li Tianran was confident that he could defeat the ancient civilization in a head-on battle!

The time of a few breaths passed in an instant, and the first nuclear missile entered the airspace of the attack range. Its warhead detached and quickly split into more than a dozen smaller warheads, falling towards the beast horde below.

Amidst the roaring, a terrifying mushroom cloud rose above the Great Desert!

...

After the war on the Great Desert began, the defending generals on the human defense line also tightened their nerves.

Everyone knew that the apostles would not put all their strength in the Great Desert, and according to the known information at this time, only two apostles had appeared in the Great Desert, so it was self-evident where the remaining two apostles would place their strength.

"If the apostles are no match for the Allied Forces on the frontal battlefield, then the other side will definitely take the opportunity to attack the human defense line, forcing the Allied Human Forces to retreat and defend!" Li Zhi stood in the defense line command post, high-spirited, looking at the calm sea with reconnaissance satellites: "Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao... the apostles still understand this simple military strategy!"

"The pressure we face will not be lower than on the frontal battlefield! All of you, buck up!" Li Zhi shouted loudly, and all the officers in the command room perked up.

Everyone knew that this was Li Zhi's first command operation since taking office. If anyone made a mistake, the consequences were foreseeable!

Seeing the attitude of his subordinates, Li Zhi nodded in satisfaction.

At this moment, the originally calm sea suddenly surged.

A behemoth slowly rose from the sea and continued to approach the coastline!

It was a giant ark!

Around the ark, countless sea beasts also climbed out ferociously.

"Come on, come on!" Li Zhi looked at the appearing giant ark, he didn't feel fear, but rather some excitement, with a fanatical light in his eyes: "One general succeeds at the cost of ten thousand bones, I will use your lives to forge my legendary achievements!"