Humanity, of course, devised corresponding solutions to the various types of bugs that the Bug Race had unleashed, while simultaneously developing equipment.
However, capturing the sandworms that move as freely underground as they do in the air amidst the chaos of the battlefield was no easy task.
Only half of the attacks that could be precisely located and anticipated in advance; the other half of the sandworms always appeared where humans least wanted them to.
Dispersing elite infantry, main battle tanks, and tanks evenly among the rear ranks aimed to counter these underground assailants; during the confusion, the melee between humans and the Bug Race wasn't limited to the frontline clashes—both sides' rear bases also fell into the same strife.
These stealthy underground attackers truly represented a deadly blade the Bug Race wielded against the rear.
"Mecha, deploy. Eliminate the sandworms and stabilize the formation," came the stern command, resonating among the Mech Armored Corps and the related mech servitor voice systems.
This was not a general assault, the time for that had not yet come; the objective was only to deal with the sandworms within the ranks.
For individual soldiers, sandworms were certainly a difficult adversary, and even for tanks, dealing with one sandworm posed a struggle.
However, for Mechas, the titanic warriors of war, the sandworms were as laughable as slightly slippery worms.
Thus dozens of Mechas, each over ten meters tall, mobilized in unison, striding towards the marauding sandworms causing havoc within the ranks.
Alloy blades swung, the Chitin Bone Armor of sandworms providing little resistance; their bodily fluids spattered in all directions.
The lowly worker bugs, bee bugs, mantis bugs, and cannon bugs were just the usual vanguard; with enough biomass, these low-level bugs intended to consume human ammunition and energy could be had in any number.
Combat in the Bug Race's territory meant death on one hand and recycling on the other; their legions of low-level bugs seemed almost infinite.
If humanity's advance could not outpace their rate of recycling and regeneration, then just relying on a swarm of low-level bugs, the Bug Nests would have no concerns about their rear.
However, the low-level bug swarm clearly could not withstand the advance of the greatly mechanized army of Blackwater City; an hour into the battle, the human line had advanced to a perilously close distance from the heart of the Bug Nest.
It was then that the Bug Race's newly encountered behemoths—the Thunder Beasts and the Nest Guardians—almost simultaneously emerged from within the Bug Nest.
"Seven Thunder Beasts! Seven Thunder Beasts!" The scouting reports from the frontline echoed instantly; the devastating power of the Thunder Beasts had been fully demonstrated in the previous battle in which Bai E took part.
A force of impressive size had been humbled by a single Thunder Beast before; now the appearance of seven at once had all the senior officers inside the command vehicle tensed to the breaking point.
They knew Thunder Beasts were not some irreplaceable behemoth of the Bug Race, but having seven appear at once was still beyond their prior expectations.
"Mech Armored Corps, full force assault!" The order from Hamilton came without delay.
The destructive power of the Thunder Beasts was far too great for human forces to allow them to bombard at will.
"Roger that!"
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Enor, the current captain of the Mech Armored Corps and a Mech Pilot in coordination with Rose, responded promptly.
Thus, the Mechas originally deployed to clear out the sandworms charged from various locations simultaneously.
As the acting commander shouldering the temporary command of the Mech Armored Corps, Enor swiftly allocated combat tasks to every Mecha in the unit.
With a total of thirty-two Mechas in the corps, they could nearly coordinate five Mechas to decapitate one Thunder Beast at a time.
However, the Guardians of the Nest, serving as protectors to the Thunder Beasts, remained the same three as before.
As Bai E had said, the seemingly less threatening Nest Guardians, in fact, represented a rarer special behemoth for the Bug Race.
Compared to Bai E's last rush to decapitate, the widespread assault on the Thunder Beasts on the battlefield this time was much easier.
The sight of over thirty Mechas charging together was breathtaking.
The first volley prepared by the seven Thunder Beasts also showcased their horrifying killing power.
"Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom!"
The combination of special seed bullets and bloated tick bullets made the artillery strike terrifyingly powerful, with a much wider damage range than that of the Bug Race's Bio-Plasma Cannon.
It was like a series of oversized fragmentation grenades, with the ejected seed shells instantly clearing everything artificial and living within the blast radius.
Two less agile Mechas were also affected by this wide-area strike.
One had its right leg instantly shattered, while the other was damaged to a degree that its self-check system immediately reported damage.
As the Mechas charged, the Mech servant vehicle fleet, serving as logistical support, quickly followed.
Perhaps they would never be of real use until the end of the battle, but when needed, the servants had to appear at their designated positions without delay.
The two damaged Mechas remained stationary for a while, with the Mecha whose right leg was shattered likely beyond salvage in this battle, while the other Mecha, which had only been hit by "fragments," might still be recoverable.
Several Mech servant armored vehicles responsible for emergency repairs ignored every chaotic element of the battlefield between them and their targets, braving the risks of rampant Sandworms and the constant danger of artillery strikes, as they headed straight for their objectives.
Bai E's gaze swept coldly through the side window, emotionless.
To prevent system disruption, each Mech servant armored vehicle had its own Mecha to prioritize, and only when their designated Mechas were fully withdrawn from combat could they attend to others in need.
Of course, to prevent rigidity, the battle command system could make temporary adjustments and flexibly redistribute resources as necessary.
Having received no command messages, it would be impossible to act against his original responsibilities.
And the target his Mech servant armored vehicle was responsible for was... W0721.
The Mechas drove deep into the fray, easily crossing the swarm of enemies.
The Mech servant vehicles roamed the edge of the battlefront, unable to penetrate deep into the danger zone.
The low-level Bug Race at the frontline, though unable to stop the advance of the human forces, still posed a threat to the weaponless Mech servants.
If Mechas embedded in enemy lines suffered damage, the responsible Mech servant vehicles would face the pressure and quickly push forward, while the surrounding main battle units would provide immediate support.
Or if the injured Mecha pilot had enough strength to withdraw, the Mech servants' repair actions could be a bit safer.
Human artillery and the Bug Race's Bio-Plasma blasts streaked past the transparent side windows, the thunder of guns mixing with the screeches of the creatures. Bai E, gripping his machine gun, felt his blood starting to boil.
The battlefield ignited his veteran's combat spirit, but under his current identity, he had to keep that impulse deeply repressed.
Bai E hadn't forgotten that he was still in an "observation period."
Any action he took could not exceed the expectations of the Observers, nor could he let them sense even the slightest threat of "loss of control."
Thirty Mechas collectively surged forward, creating carnage behind enemy lines.
The multitude of heat weaponry modules carried by the Mechas decimated the low-level Bug Race with terrifying efficiency, indirectly easing the pressure on the main battlefront units.
As the leader of the Mech Armored Corps, Enor fixed his gaze on one of the thunder beasts charging its cannon.
The third mechanical eye implanted in his forehead by the Mechanical Court allowed him to see more information than the naked eye could – predictions of the target's destructive capability, the limits of his own mech's abilities, and other data streaming before his eyes.
"Keep up with my pace," he said.
"Understood," came Rose's cool response.
As his partner, he could sense that this artificial Mech Pilot named Rose was not entirely satisfied with his performance.
But the fact that Rose could achieve such a perfect coordination with him, after undergoing Mechanical Court modifications, was undeniably impressive.
"Leave this one to me; you guys handle the others!" he declared.
Having marked his chosen target on the shared Mecha tactical system, Enor began to forcefully control his burst into a surge.