Chapter 248 Black Hole

As battle engagements go, the casualty rate of that first wave of three thousand mechas was horrendous.

It was well within the category of a massacre.

Except for the most well trained special forces, most military units would break as soon as they suffered such a mind blowing casualty rate.

It would be logical for students to break and run at casualty rates far below that of the standard in adult soldiers.

However, it wasn't the case for students entering that particular set up.

Instead of breaking and running at fifty percent casualty, these students actually continued to charge into the battlefield until they were over 90 percent committed!

To an extent, one could probably lay the blame of why these glorious National Mecha Pilot Academy students continued to charge in blindly into Sheera's killing zone and to their deaths, on the terrain.

Beyond the plateau where the three hundred heavies were located, there was a small ridge that blocked the vision of any incoming army. They would have to charge up the ridge first before they were able to see the plateau.

And even then, all they could see would be the steep slopes and the three hundred armored mechas atop it.

They would not be able to see the two thousand five hundred mechas beyond, and also the thousand five hundred mechas hidden within the trees on the two slopes of the mountains.

Their orders would probably be something like this: First battalion, engage and destroy the heavies on that hill! The rest of you, charge ahead, locate their main army and destroy them!!"

And then as the trap was sprung all around them, the orders would probably be something like this: Ambush by the mountain sides! We have more soldiers than them, don't worry! Second battalion, to the right! Third battalion, to the left! Take them down! The rest of you, charge!!

And that would probably be the final order given. Knowing Sheera, she would have sharpshooters aiming for any mecha that were hanging back and pointing this way and that way.

All their field commanders would be sniped within minutes.

Without field commanders, complete chaos would reign. The final order given would be in effect.

Their overconfidence, bad communication and extremely limited vision made the rest of the invading army completely clueless to the butchery of their comrades that was happening just over the ridge.

In unbroken streams, they would continue to charge into the battlefield.

As soon as they crested the ridge, their bloodlust was completely ignited by the downward sloping charge their comrades were making.

Screaming and roaring their battlecries, they thundered down the tiny ridge and… died.

That first wave was annihilated.

Three thousand died under the withering fire of merely a thousand eight hundred.

It was a missile-based victory that would have made King Henry V himself proud.

As you know, King Henry V of England defeated the vastly superior French Army at Agincourt in the year 1415.

He had 5000 Longbowmen who rained death upon the 15,000 strong French army for long minutes until they ran out of arrows, after which King Henry V himself led his army down from his highground to butcher the confused and demoralized French Army.

It was a stunning victory that made its way into the annals of the most powerful military victories ever won in the recorded history of mankind.

Compared to Sheera Lin's victory that day, well I guess King Henry V did okay.

Sheera Lin's army did not suffer from a lack of arrows that day, and combined with the perfect killing ground, she easily took care of her enemies in that first phase.

The second wave arrived within an hour of the first, and once again, like a video replay, the same thing happened to them.

Another three thousand screaming and yelling students charged in blindly into valley, and quickly surrendered their lives to the rain of death.

However, after the second massacre ended, the once beautiful kill zone was completely blockaded by blackened mechas with completely disgruntled kids still stuck within them.

Sheera Lin gave the order for the main army to move forward and drag the "corpses" back to the entrance of the valley and dumped them out of the mountain range where the students were able to get out of their mechas and watch the rest of the show in the safety and comfort of the school's facilities.

It was not kindness, and definitely not mercy from Sheera.

She needed to do that to upgrade her kill zone and make it more effective.

The third wave came around an hour after the kill zone was restored.

But unlike the previous two waves who had so rashly charged in, the third wave of just two thousand mechas gathered atop the ridge and stared coldly at the three hundred heavies on the plateau.

They were the combined armies of the third and fourth grade gifted program students, and they were no fools.

A recording of their pre-fight conversation revealed that they were able to very accurately deduce Sheera Lin's plan for the first phase and react appropriately.

"A kill zone." Announced Avery Broodly, the leader of the third grade gifted program students.

"A very good one." Grunted Dike Matambo, the leader of the fourth grade gifted program students.

"Look at the ground and the countless grooves on them. Thousands had already fallen in this kill zone, and partially cleared out. Hooo… These first years truly are like the rising sun huh?" Kitiara Kang, one of the best fighters in the fourth grade, commented.

"The rising sun, no matter how bright, will still disappear within the depths of a black hole." Rumbled Hardy Tam, the top sniper in the academy.

"And? Why the hell are you talking about black holes and that science shit? Are you autistic?" Kitiara said teasingly.

"I meant that we are the black holes that would swallow the brightness of the rising sun." Hardy tried to explain awkwardly.

"Huh? Why would we do that? Wouldn't that make the battlefield too dark? And how the hell do we swallow the brightness of the sun?" Kitiara asked in mock confusion.

"I mean, we are LIKE the black hole. We will defeat the first graders, who are being called the rising sun, and in so doing, it would be like swallowing their brightness." Hardy dutifully explained his parable in detail.