Chapter 378: The Military’s Defeat
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The formation of the Fourteenth Brigade was a few kilometers in length, yet Chen Fan had plowed through the columns, killing everyone in his way. The arrangement of footsoldiers in a formation hadn’t changed much from during ancient times: the stronger soldiers and better-equipped soldiers were placed at the front of the column. Therefore, by the time Chen Fan broke through the front line, he annihilated the squishier units in the middle and the rear. Most soldiers that brought up the rear were defenseless Engineers and Signallers.
“Oh my god!”
One of the pilots in the AH-1 Cobra was stunned by the bloody aftermath. He didn’t even notice that his grip on the center stick had loosened.
Unlike the footsoldiers, these pilots had a bird-eye’s view over the battleground and could see the situation clearly. They watched as thousands of Japanese soldiers swarmed toward Chen Fan like a horde of ants, Chen Fan charged at them with incredible speed, turning into a wash of azure light that streaked across the land. The azure light melted through the footsoldiers as if it was melting butter.
The scene had reminded the pilots of those legendary warrior generals who could face ten thousand soldiers by himself.
“Incredible, he is a paragon of strength and might!”
Kobayashi Sawano exclaimed.
As the Lieutenant colonel of the fourteenth brigade, he was in charge of the helicopter squad. He was lucky enough to be on one of the helicopters that escaped Chen Fan’s attack.
“Sir, what should we do?”
The pilot asked urgently.
The three remaining helicopters had risen to over a thousand meters above the ground. Despite being safe, they lacked any means of striking Chen Fan at such a great distance. The helicopter’s arsenal mainly came in two forms: Gatling-type cannon and missiles. It was impossible to even get a visual on Chen Fan at such a distance, much less landing a shot. Missiles were also out of the question since it was more likely to kill their own comrades than Chen Fan.
“Call in air support. We are fighting with an enemy of unrepresented prowess. We are losing our grip on the situation.” Kobayashi Sawano ordered with a solemn face. “The army alone wouldn’t be able to contain this freak.”
The pilots and other soldiers nodded in agreement.
They had reckoned that the battle had already turned into a slaughterhouse with air support. The soldiers on the ground had little to no chance of fighting back. Such was the conundrum facing most modern armies; despite bringing the boots on the ground, taking the brunt of the enemy attack, they rank far below air force and navy on the priority list.
So important was the air superiority that without it, it was almost impossible to achieve victory.
That was also the reason that the American Government could push her weight around on the world stage.
Meanwhile, Ai Jinqi and the other tourists cheered for Chen Fan’s victory while standing at the top of a train cart. Chen Fan was their hero, the lone-star that had answered their distress call and fell upon earth to save them. Not even a thousand-strong army could have stopped him.
Red Sparrow allowed herself to cheer with the crowd very briefly before she pondered on the danger that was still lurking.
As a super-soldier from the Special Case Departments, she knew the real strength of the modern military was not in its army, but the air force. Most of the time, it was up to the airforce to dish out as much damage as possible while the army brought up the rear.
“Chen Beixuan had defeated the fourteenth brigade, I bet the Japan Self-Defense Forces will send in their air force now.” Red Sparrow thought to herself as she still tried to come to terms with Chen Beixuan’s astonishing power. Whichever way she put it, Chen Beixuan’s achievement was unbelievable.
Japan’s Self-Defense Forces were weak in combat effectiveness due to its smaller size. Its overall power was a far cry from that of China, Rusia, France, and England, much less that of the USA. However, Japanese forces were one of the best equipped in east Asian if not the entire world. Red Sparrow found it unthinkable that Chen Fan was able to utterly defeat the fourteenth brigade.
A nagging thought appeared in Red Sparrow’s mind.
She found that Chen Fan was single-handedly rewriting the power dynamic between martial artists and the nations of the world.
If the news about this battle got out, it would shake the entire world including the Dark World. Chen Beixuan’s name would instill fear and respect for leaders of all nations around the world.
“However, if he could handle the Japanese air force still remained to be seen”
Red Sparrow thought in her mind.
Having reached the end of the fourteenth brigade’s formation, Chen Fan turned around and came after the shattered formation once again.
His attacks had devastated the fourteenth brigade. With the Azure Thearch Longevity Body, Chen Fan waded through the flood of bullets and gracefully evaded shells from Tanks or high caliber armor-piercing rounds.
Once, twice, thrice…
After Chen Fan went in and out of the army formation the seventh time, he had already killed over a thousand soldiers. The heavy casualties took a toll on the fourteenth brigade’s morale as their defense line finally collapsed.
Countless Japanese soldiers dropped their guns and turned on their heels. They drove away with the Humvees that they brought here, and soon even the armored vehicles also turned around to catch up with the deserters.
Tanaka Masakazu stood in a movable commander’s platform and reflected on the humiliating defeat. He knew that regardless of what would happen to Chen Fan, he and this battle would be remembered as the most humiliating defeat by a foreign force in Japanese history. He would also become the first Lieutenant colonel in Japanese history to desert the battlefield.
“Did we win? Did we?”
Seeing the soldiers of the Fourteenth Brigade running away from the battle, Chinese and Korean tourists cheered at the top of their lungs. Ren Hao stood sulkily by himself in a dark corner, staring stupidly at Chen Fan.
Chen Fan had pulled the rug from under him once again.
The first time he met Chen Fan was on the plane. Chen Fan had only taken him as a flirty rich heir of above-average look trying to strike a spark with Ai Jinqi.
While he met Chen Fan again at the foot of the Tokyo Tower, Ren Hao was stunned when he saw the tycoons of Japan bowed to Chen Fan. He had wondered if Chen Fan was the heir of one of the most powerful families in China. Even then, Ren Hao had already felt a sense of regret. However, it was evident that he didn’t learn his lesson.
After he met Chen Fan again on the train, when the Demon Gods named their target, Ren Hao had thrown Chen Fan under the bus readily fearing for his own safety. Little did he know that Chen Fan was as powerful as an immortal in legend and was able to banish the evil spirit. After the battle was over Ren Hao regretted even more than he had ever been.
However, after seeing Chen Fan’s ability to crush an entire army, Ren Hao felt much less stressed about Chen Fan.
Chen Fan had proven to be a legendary hero whose deeds were worthy of a song to be sung for generations. A hero like Chen Fan would never bother with someone as insignificant as himself. Therefore, Ren Hao realized that there was no need to be worried about Chen Fan’s retribution.
“How could anyone be so strong in real life? This should only happen in superhero movies. Are we in a real-world even?”
Ren Hao couldn’t help but question him the reality.
What Chen Fan had done had completely shattered his world view which he held over the last three decades. The thirty years of life which he had tried so hard to build up seemed nothing but a joke.
“Modern army is overrated. ”
Chen Fan didn’t chase after the deserters. He had finished his test and didn’t want to waste any more time on these losers.
“But I wager that this one battle wouldn’t paint the whole picture either. After all, the Japan Self-Defense Forces were not even a real military. Their defeat in WW2 had resulted in many international treaties that restricted their military capability. Their military might was peanuts compared to that of China, Rusia, the United States of America and France.”
Chen Fan shook his head.
The overall strength of a military laid not only in their advanced weapons but also in the soldier’s mettle and spirit. If the Japanese soldiers were battle-hardened veterans, they wouldn’t route so easily as they did. The soldiers serviced in Japan Self-Defense Forces were similar to a government worker. They viewed their service the same as an 8 to 4 office job, in other words, military service was their livelihood and therefore, no one was going to risk their lives on the battlefield. In addition, Japan was under American’s protection so there wasn’t much need for fearless and brave soldiers.
“Huu! Huu!”
Chen Fan breathed heavily.
He had charged into the formation seven times and despite the powerful Azure Thearch Longevity Body that he possessed, he was feeling slightly exhausted. He had to keep on moving while he was within the effective range of armored vehicles and tanks to dodge the shelling.
His body was able to take a few hits from heavy machine guns but as yet no match against a direct hit from field cannons.
Plus, Chen Fan had also spent a lot of energy on his Dharma Spells. Azure Thearch Longevity Body was a Connate Body, therefore, it’s power was not limitless. Already, Chen Fan felt that he had already consumed half of his powerful True Essence. Underneath his unscathed appearance, the bullets had made small cracks in his defense aura under his skin.
He had been hit by bullets countless times and his body had to absorb so much trauma that it could have rendered an iron robot into a pile of scrap metal. Azure Thearch Longevity Body had done a really outstanding job protecting Chen Fan, making him last for so long. If Chen Fan reached a higher level of attainment, the Azure Thearch Longevity Body could have protected Chen Fan even during the blast of an atomic bomb.
“Fortunately for me, the fourteenth brigade was the only troup I have to deal with on Shikoku island. Japan Self-Defense Forces really needed more men. If it was the Chinese or American government I had to deal with, there are probably another few brigades that I had to deal with.”
Chen Fan heaved a sigh of relief, opening up the pores on his body to absorb Essence Qi from his surroundings in order to recharge his depleted system.
Under everyone’s surprised eyes, countless green dot glowed on the trees. They then drifted into the air, floating and converging toward Chen Fan. They surrounded Chen Fan’s body in a shimmering green shell.
The Azure Thearch Longevity Body had an excellent recuperation ability. Chen Fan would be ready for action again after a very brief respite.
Suddenly, a jarring shriek came up from a distance.
“Watch out!”
Red Sparrow’s face turned pale as she shouted out a warning.
She watched a hypersonic cruise missile fly toward Chen Fan, trailing a white misty tail behind it. It covered half a dozen kilometers in less than a heartbeat and was going to plummet into Chen Fan. Japan Self-Defense Forces had finally given the F-15 the order to strike.
Those fighter jets had locked their targeting radar on Chen Fan while they were a few kilometers away and then fired those hypersonic missiles.
These missiles had enough explosive and kinetic energy to reduce a hundred-meter tall skyscraper into a mountain of rubble. Anyone who got caught within the blast radius would be dead before they knew it.
Red Sparrow’s heart caught in her throat. She watched in terror as the missile was about to reach Chen Fan. Chen Fan suddenly opened his eyes when the tip of the warhead was only a hair’s breadth away. An azure light surged in his eyes as he backed away, breaking the hypersonic barrier in the process. In a blink, he was already a few dozen meters away from where he had been standing.