The battle plan was simple, set up defensive fortifications and lure the rat monsters over, to exterminate them on a large scale.
According to Yan Tiejun's thinking, if only there was air support, they could simply provide firepower coverage. It wouldn't matter if there were three thousand or five thousand, even ten thousand would turn into "roasted duck necks".
Of course, the military's armament department couldn't possibly have air power, and even if they did, it wouldn't be possible to use it in such foggy conditions, not to mention that the fog not only obstructed visibility but also interfered with signals to some extent.
But none of these were problems, as long as they had enough personnel. A simple accumulation of fortifications was completely sufficient to deal with these monsters.
Although they had lost heavy firepower, the physical condition of the Contractors had also become much stronger.
After finalizing the plan, all of South City's military personnel were quickly assembling, picking up weapons and supplies, and promptly returning to the designated transport vehicles. The assembly was completed in less than 10 minutes.
Su Han's group, already resting near the vehicle, immediately entered combat mode.
Guo Wutao did not interfere with Su Han's command, so he simply had to cooperate in sniping the rat monsters. Once they reached the grain warehouse's underground cave battlefield, that's where Su Han would truly take action.
One by one the vehicles left South City No.2 Middle School and then headed towards the northern suburbs.
South City's camp dispatched over five hundred people, using military vehicles and trucks as transport vehicles, totaling nearly thirty. On them were not only people but also weapons and ammunition.
It was evident that they were indeed making a significant investment in this mission. Without any supplementary ammunition, this battle would undoubtedly consume most of their bullets.
The convoy advanced swiftly through the fog, with any monsters that approached being sniped from afar by the sharpshooters positioned at the windows.
Soon the entire convoy had moved from South City into the suburbs, where fog enveloped both sides of the highway, eerily silent except for the muffled noise of the cars.
The number of humanoid monsters decreased in the suburbs, contributing to an unusual quietness, but no one let their guard down.
Although there weren't many people in the suburbs, there were significantly more animals there than in the city.
Not every animal turned into a monster, but once they mutated, they usually possessed considerable combat power.
Along the way, they encountered several attacks from mutated monsters, mostly serpentine creatures, as well as Giant Macrophage Dogs and double-headed dogs.
Bai Qiuwen was not in the same vehicle as Guo Wutao but was with Su Han, seemingly for the purpose of communicating with Bai Qilan.
"Corrupt Head Snake, Double-headed Split-Mouth Snake, Giant Macrophage Dog, double-headed dog, and the Human-Faced Toad Monster... these are all animals that mutated after the fog descended. According to your theory, they should all be considered mutated kinds.
After returning, Old Tian and I pondered over it and realized that this kind of mutation probably originates from the disorderly evolution caused by the distortion of Spiritual Energy."
Bai Qiuwen pointed to the outside at the slain monsters and spoke slowly to Bai Qilan. His voice was calm and gentle, as if he was guiding his own student.
Bai Qilan listened intently and showed the same respect to the scholar, asking, "Disorderly evolution? Unstable structure, unstable Spiritual Energy, does that also count as evolution?"
"How do you define evolution?"
"The change in the frequency of a species' genes, when traits that adapt to the environment become common within a species, it implies that the species has adapted to the environment, completing evolution."
"Right, that's one biological perspective."
Bai Qiuwen spoke meaningfully, "However, that's just the normal scenario. Even though these mutated kinds have unstable structures and might not even be able to reproduce when inherited, I think the definition should be revised, for example, to the ascent of life ranks."
"Are you suggesting that both Evolved Kinds and Mutated Kinds can be considered evolution?"
"There's nothing wrong with that from the perspective of life ranks."
"Boom!"
A scout leaned out of a car window, then tossed out a chemical bomb. The click of the glass was heard as it fell among the rat horde, and instantly, flames erupted, sending more than a dozen rats flying with a powerful blast.
This caused a brief pause in the tide of rats, creating a small gap.
At that moment, the vehicle's driver slammed on the accelerator and surged to the side of the mountain hollow, reaching the designated point of egress.
They swiftly disembarked, without any hesitation, and hurriedly escaped up the side of the hollow.
The swarm of rat monsters soon arrived at the bottom of the slope, a mere three to four hundred meters away from the people. Looking down from above, there seemed to be thousands of rats.
"Fire!"
Yan Tiejun issued the cold command, and then gunshots rang out. Rifles spat out flames as the bullets rapidly swept downward towards the mountain base.
Blood splattered from the rat monsters as they toppled to the ground, and the ones behind them surged forward even more viciously.
The sound of gunfire was incessant. Rows of rat monsters fell to the bullets, and crossbow arrows joined the battle with their powerful penetrative force, killing the creatures.
One hundred, two hundred, three hundred... hundreds of rat monsters lay dead, and before long, there were already over a thousand corpses.
However, the short distance of a little more than three hundred meters had already been breached by them, with only a few dozen meters separating the two sides.
"Light the fire, the second line of defense, Summon Apostle."
Yan Tiejun issued orders with composure, but his face didn't look good. He cursed under his breath, "Damn it, what are the scouts doing? Is this 4,000?"
The swarm of rats was still a dense black mass, pouring in through the fog. The more than a thousand rats they had previously killed seemed to be less than a tenth of their number.
"The fog is thick, and we can't go in there. Should I give up my life to scout for you?"
Guo Wutao, however, spoke the blunt truth. He said solemnly, "Don't worry, we can still deal with this."
Exceeding their numbers was part of the plan. Following Yan Tiejun's orders, everyone pulled out chemical bombs and tossed them into the rat horde even more frantically.
Boom...
Explosions thundered one after another, and the firelight almost brightened the entire area. A multitude of rat monsters became minced meat amidst the bomb blasts, leaving the front line momentarily cleared.
This bombing killed at least a thousand or two thousand rat monsters.
Taking advantage of the lull, everyone rapidly moved back to the second ridge, two hundred meters away, and the Angel Envoy was summoned, taking position behind the first ridge.
The trench in front of the ridge, now poured with gasoline, was set ablaze, igniting a fierce fire, forming a barrier like a wall, cutting off the rat monsters and momentarily preventing their advance.
Meanwhile, bullets continued to pour down on them.
"Roar!"
But just then, a terrifying roar sounded, and a towering figure burst out from the fog.
The advanced monsters among the rat horde had arrived.