Chapter 118: You’re Not Even Pretending, Right?
Translator: End less Fantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Tang Rui conducted an inspection of the RV.
He did a good job.
Feng Yuanxing watched over it daily and found no flaws.
“Old Feng, work a little harder and get the system installed.”
“No problem, General Tang, it’s not hard at all.”
After the inspection, he directed the RV.
Tang Rui made a phone call to arrange transportation.
He wasn’t sure if it would be shipped by sea and if it would reach Prince Salim’s place in a week.
He mentioned this to Prince Salim, emphasizing that the command RV and mechanical dogs were meant to be used together for better results.
Sure enough, upon hearing this news, Prince Salim immediately offered to arrange transportation.
That’s good.
They saved on shipping costs again.
In the blink of an eye, a week had passed, and 200 mechanical dogs, along with their accompanying attachments like drum magazines and Gatling machine guns, were all manufactured.
After having Xiao Yi upload the programs, Tang Rui sealed the exteriors completely.
Once opened, they would self-destruct.
After completing these tasks, he sent this batch of mechanical dogs to the airport.
Prince Salim had arranged a special plane to transport these weapons.
It seemed quite urgent.
After delivering the goods, Tang Rui returned to his company.
Next, he had to make large purchases.
He needed a supercomputer, not necessarily the best one, but one that could be easily assembled and disassembled.
He also needed a server cluster specifically for big data processing.
He planned to purchase various types of construction vehicles because he had some construction projects in mind.
The equipment in the laboratory also needed to be purchased. The military-provided equipment was for manufacturing, not for laboratory use. Many laboratory devices had to be sourced from abroad, and there was no guarantee they would sell to him. But Tang Rui didn’t mind. If they didn’t sell to him, he would manufacture them himself and license the technology to others, competing for market share.
In addition to various equipment, he also needed to buy materials in bulk, including but not limited to metal and chemical materials. The base’s warehouse was large enough to store these materials. He would buy them now and purchase the rest when needed. He also planned to stockpile some precious metals and rare earth resources.
Tang Rui continued to jot down notes and sketches. He filled five sheets of paper.
“Organize a tender, we need to purchase a large quantity of experimental equipment and various mechanical devices. Invite manufacturers to bid.”
This kind of bulk purchase couldn’t be done by visiting stores. Manufacturers needed to come and bid.
“All right, boss, I’ll arrange it.”
The employees got to work.
Tang Rui checked the time and saw that he had an hour left before quitting time. He decided to leave early.
Over the next two days, he was busy with the procurement process. For civilian goods, he followed regular commercial channels. For sensitive and controlled materials, he had Lin Chao help with internal procurement.
One day at noon, Tang Rui was about to meet with a representative from a manufacturer when he received a message from Xiao Yi.
There was movement on the Middle East’s side.
Tang Rui’s eyes lit up; it was time to start.
“Just tell them 1 have some last-minute business, and 1 won’t be able to join them for lunch. The procurement will be awarded to their company. By the way, order a few dishes for me at the hotel; I’ll eat in the office, and please don’t disturb me unless it’s urgent.”
After giving some instructions to the employees, Tang Rui lay down on the sofa and checked the situation on the Middle East’s side through his smart glasses.
Why was he keeping an eye on the Middle East?
It wasn’t just for entertainment; the Middle East’s combat capabilities were questionable. He didn’t want the Middle East to tarnish the reputation of his mechanical dogs. If the Middle East’s reckless actions damaged the mechanical dogs, who would buy them?
On the Middle East’s side, preparations were underway. It was early in the morning, just before 8 o’clock. The military had finished their breakfast and was assembling.
Prince Salim was stationed at the command post in the rear, overseeing the operation from a distance. He commanded the troops remotely.
The Houthis had known about the Middle East’s movements for a while now. To resist their attack, they had been preparing for a week. Their wealthy backers had supplied them with a considerable amount of equipment, including a dedicated anti-drone weapon system designed to counter the Middle East’s cruise missiles.
With this system in place, they no longer had to worry about the Middle East’s cruise missiles. Therefore, the higher-ups in the Houthis had decided to launch a fierce counterattack this time.
Not only did they plan to repel the Middle East’s assault, but they also intended to counterattack.
To achieve this, they had spent a week preparing. In short, they had an advantage.
At 9 in the morning, the Middle East’s forces were finally assembled and ready to launch their attack.
Unmanned drones scouted the area, pinpointing the enemy’s location. Artillery and rocket fire commenced, striking the ground.
Boom!
After the first barrage of artillery and rockets, the Middle East’s artillery fell silent.
The reason was that the artillery had left their positions.
As for the artillery pieces themselves? They remained on the battlefield. According to the Middle East’s artillerymen, this could confuse the enemy.
After the first two rounds of bombardment, the Middle East’s attacks came to a halt. Normally, artillery and air strikes would coordinate with the ground forces to advance. However, the Middle East’s ground forces were not advancing. Tanks were positioned in the rear, and some even used natural cover as snipers, sticking their barrels out as if they were sharpshooters.
In the past, this would have marked the end of the Middle East’s offensive. However, things were different now. The Middle East had spent money to acquire new equipment. The platforms at the rear began launching fire-fighting drones.
Zoom, zoom, zoom…
Twenty vehicle-mounted platforms simultaneously launched firefighting drones.
720 firefighting drones took to the air, forming formations and flying towards the front. However, the distance was quite far, approximately 30 kilometers. This meant that the drones were only utilizing half of their range, as the Middle East had no intention of recovering them.
Tang Rui watched the battlefield through the view of a reconnaissance drone in the sky, monitoring the situation.
At this point, the Houthi forces had begun a counterattack. Based on their understanding of the Middle East, two rounds of bombardment would usually mark the end. Now, it was time to see their performance.
However, Tang Rui noticed some new weapons among the Houthi forces.
“Xiao Yi, take control of an automatic cruise reconnaissance drone, remove performance restrictions, and scan the weapons and equipment of the Houthi forces.”
“Understood.”
As the reconnaissance drone scanned, Tang Rui identified the Houthi’s new equipment: a vehicle-mounted laser weapon. It looked somewhat similar to the Hunter laser anti-drone system sold to the Middle East, but the configurations were completely different.
It looked familiar to him.
Zooming in on the pictures taken by the drone, he saw the text on the vehicle and remembered.
This was not from the Middle East; it was from their neighbor, the laser wall project. They had brought their vehicle-mounted anti-drone laser system to the battlefield.
They even brought their new research equipment.
They didn’t intend to hide it anymore.
In addition to the laser anti-drone system, there were also five close-in weapon systems, a simplified version of the dense arrays used on naval vessels.
Such systems were common in various countries, but their performance varied.
Surprisingly, these weapons posed a significant threat to drones..
