The destruction of the steam engine helicopters was a blow to the Demon Rats. They knew that their aerospace technology could be rivalled by the humans considering that a few had seen their aeroplanes but they did not expect to be this much of a difference even after their scientists had fervently researched and come out with a brand new engine for them.
Even the higher ups were so amazed by the performance that they ordered all the aircraft to be replaced with the new engine. And yet here they saw their helicopters were destroyed in an instant with little to no retaliation. The Royal Zodiac Snake Aircraft was more than ready to take on more and to their surprise, they were indeed given their wish.
General Gnawbones, who was the Air force commander of the Demon Rats, saw the capability of the two planes that the humans had used. Obviously, he was not entirely happy that the Demon Rats’ technology was inferior to the humans so the only thing he could do was to do what they always do best.
To overwhelm the enemy with numbers.
Gnawbones initially thought that using Steam Engine Helicopters could be the solution to defeating the ground troops that the humans were using. After all, it had superior firepower with missiles and steam powered machine guns. But since the humans had aircraft, then the Demon Rats would respond accordingly with their own.
Their Steam Engine Aeroplanes were a little bulky and they could be akin to the planes produced in the 1930s to the 1940s. Even though they were slow to take off, their speed supposedly rivalled those created in that generation as well, in fact maybe even faster if they were to remove the limiters but the test results were insufficient in that context since they did not want any casualties (if possible) during the test runs.
That was why General Gnawbones had decided to use that to his advantage. Even if they were slower than the humans’, removing the limiters might potentially be the advantage they need to get this over and done with. He ordered the operations centre to send out 10 of these SE Aeroplanes instantly, preventing the humans from having air superiority even for a second.
The general thought to himself what were the odds of the humans winning when they are outnumbered five against one? And he was proven right when he gave the direct command to remove the limiters to the engines fighting against the humans. While Chryso 1 and Chryso 2 had trouble fending off all ten planes in a massive dogfight, they were still able to compete evenly against them.
Even for veteran pilots, fighting five planes each was akin to suicide but they were holding them back for a reason. Chen Lai had promised them backup.
So in order to gain that backup, they not only needed to occupy the time for those ten planes but also bring them closer to the warship Nerodia II, which was temporarily named after the current warship they owned in the real world. Also, they named it the Nerodia II since they did not want to disrespect the crew which was still handling Nerodia. (Fun fact again! Nerodia is the scientific group name for water snakes.)
Once they were closer to sea, a few air to ground missiles were fired to support the surviving Chrysos, allowing them to down three demon rat planes in one go. This gave them some breathing space temporarily but Nerodia II had picked up additional bogeys which they assumed it was to the Airforce General’s discontent to learn that they had managed to destroy three planes.
“It seems like they are churning out planes the same way they churned out those Demon Rats.” Chryso 2’s pilot remarked through the intercoms and the rest felt the same too, feeling the pressure that they might have more incoming even if they defeated a few of those.
“Chryso 3 4 are coming to assist, just bear with us as we also need to get those cannons up else General Hou Fei will breathe down my neck endlessly!” Chen Lai said despite knowing the situation but if the Warthog Variants equipped with mana engines that were capable of high speed manoeuvring were able to last this long, the pilots could continue to do so.
“Nope, this is freaking madness.” Chryso 1 said and he defied the orders by suddenly swooping towards the sea once he performed a steep air dive. Chen Lai did not know what he was thinking but suddenly he saw an anti air machine gun outside, turned towards that direction where Chryso 1 was heading by his own crew members on deck. It was then he realised they were going for a bait and kill.
“I hope you know what you are doing.” Chen Lai thought to himself as he anxiously saw the entire scene unfold right in front of his eyes. Chryso 1 sped through right above the ocean and momentarily changed direction, allowing him to boost the warthog planes vertically upwards in just a split transaction.
That enabled the anti air machine gun to have zero friendly fire with targets on sight. “Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Brrrrrrrrrr.” The sound of the anti air minigun gluttonously eating ammunition as if it was free of charge destroyed three Demon Rat Planes targets in an instant.
“Sir! You are freaking awesome!” Chryso 2 shouted but Chryso 1’s pilot was giddy with success. (both physically and emotionally.) The G force was tremendous but somehow he managed not to pass out on it and used his chi to stabilise his balance before continuing to handle the incoming planes.
Meanwhile, the Pandamonium Team Chat had one very important person repeating the very same thing despite having the success of defeating three planes in one quick succession.
“Where is my support fire going to come? Do I need to go down there personally to get it?” Hou Fei said in a very nonchalant voice.
Chen Lai sighed loudly and placed his palm on his forehead, telling the rest to follow their general’s orders to the dot. Soon, the warship was firing its main battery guns and the General was happy to hear the sound of explosions for his latest morning exercise.