Chapter 672: Private Legion (Part Two) (Patreon)

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This unique tactical and combat strategy belonged solely to Sun Cheng, and he gave it a rather mundane name – the Private Legion.

The concept of a Private Legion could be explained quite simply. Sun Cheng utilized the Spherical Space in conjunction with the Space Bridge technology he would inevitably master in the future, allowing him to carry a personal legion wherever he went.

In battles against adversaries, he could summon a massive force unexpectedly, swiftly overwhelming opponents of similar rank. He even managed to draw stronger foes into protracted engagements, ultimately leveraging his own numerical superiority to crush them.

About a month ago, during the battle against Lord Fallen in Cairo, Sun Cheng attempted to deploy hundreds of different robots and even stationed several improved Heavy Artillery units in the area. The outcome of that battle was far from satisfactory; in fact, it could be deemed quite disastrous.

The sheer number of robots Sun Cheng committed to the battlefield resulted in production costs exceeding a billion dollars. Unfortunately, he faced Lord Fallen, a formidable presence within the Cybertron civilization, even surpassing the status of a leader.

In that battle, Sun Cheng not only validated certain tactical concepts but also realized a critical limitation – his computational capabilities were insufficient to simultaneously control hundreds of combat units. To effectively control them without compromising his combat abilities, he needed to reduce their numbers to a manageable level.

Since the battle against Lord Fallen, Sun Cheng had been continually assessing the successes and failures, gradually refining his Private Legion operational framework.

During this period, especially after forming an alliance with Starscream for a targeted assassination plan against Soundwave, all Decepticon engineers and laborers at Base Two temporarily set aside their usual tasks. Instead, they focused on addressing the various deficiencies and issues Sun Cheng had identified, methodically strengthening and enhancing the Private Legion.

The weaponry of the Private Legion was inadequate to pose a threat to Decepticons and Autobots of Leader-class or higher power levels – a significant challenge. For instance, controlling too many combat units consumed an enormous amount of computational power. Sun Cheng needed to concentrate fully on manipulating these units, temporarily sacrificing his mobility and combat capabilities.

Moreover, the performance of Heavy Melee Robots fell far short of his initial expectations. While their quantity was sufficient, their quality was lacking. Dozens of Heavy Melee Robots were required to engage and eliminate a Decepticon's Vehicons, resulting in an unacceptably high casualty ratio. The exorbitant cost of producing these combat robots highlighted their failure.

In response to these shortcomings, Decepticon engineers had spent a precious amount of time enhancing and perfecting these units. Heavy Artillery had been temporarily removed from Sun Cheng's Private Legion roster. While they possessed tremendous destructive power against Decepticons and Autobots, they were cumbersome and required advanced deployment. Moreover, Sun Cheng's computational resources were severely taxed when controlling them over extended distances. He wouldn't consider reequipping artillery until he acquired a new mechanical body.

Heavy Melee Robots had also been temporarily excluded from Sun Cheng's Private Legion roster. In previous battles, they had suffered heavy losses when confronting Vehicons mass-produced by Starscream. The production cost of these Heavy Melee Robots was approaching one-third of a heavy self-propelled artillery unit.

This unacceptable casualty ratio drove Sun Cheng to demand more comprehensive improvements and enhancements from his Decepticon engineers, with a focus on enhancing their survivability when facing other Decepticons.

Someday, if his engineers could reduce the Casualty Ratio of Heavy Melee Robots and Starscream's Vehicons to less than 4/1, Sun Cheng could finally accept it.

Of course, in the previous experiments, Sun Cheng had made some gains.

Long-Range Sniper Robots unexpectedly performed remarkably well in several battles. Despite being equipped with only a custom-made Anti-material sniper rifle, they had no resistance when approached by Decepticons at close quarters. However, Sun Cheng's computational prowess allowed him to deploy them strategically at optimal shooting positions three to four kilometers away. Under his control, they required only a few bullets to take down a Decepticon's Vehicon.

What pleased him even more was the cost-effectiveness of these robots. Including their expensive custom rifles and ammunition, the total cost of a Long-Range Sniper Robot was just over two hundred thousand dollars.

Sun Cheng's modifications to them were mainly focused on increasing the weapon's maximum range, improving accuracy and rate of fire, and developing more powerful sniper bullets.

Another type of robot that had performed well in previous battles and remained on his Private Legion roster was the Aerial Combat Robots.

These spherical aerial gun platforms provided Sun Cheng with ample firepower support in combat. The drawback of the First Generation was their insufficient firepower; they could only inflict light damage but not heavy blows.

Moreover, they were quite expensive. Each of these large, roughly three-meter-diameter spheres cost about eight million dollars, nearly twice the price of a heavy self-propelled artillery unit.

Recently, Sun Cheng's Decepticon engineers had urgently upgraded them. The upgraded Second Generation Aerial Combat Robots had approximately 30% more firepower than before. However, their diameter had increased from three meters to four meters, their weight had gone up by nearly a ton, and their endurance had decreased by almost 40% compared to the First Generation.

Overall, they were still not mature or perfect and required further improvements. Because no one knew when Soundwave might strike, Base Two had hastily reconfigured around thirty Long-Range Sniper Robots and twenty-four upgraded Second Generation Aerial Combat Robots for Sun Cheng.

For the past few days, Sun Cheng had been getting acquainted with them. He was reasonably satisfied with their overall performance and found that controlling up to fifty robots did not hinder his combat participation. However, once Sun Cheng engaged in battle, the massive data feedback still affected his ability to provide precise shooting corrections for the Long-Range Sniper Robots.

So, to adapt to high-intensity battles while controlling a large number of robots for Legion operations, he would need to upgrade his Core unless he could wait until his new mechanical body was completed and be completely unaffected.

As he controlled dozens of robots in coordination with himself, he and Astrotrain exchanged blows. Even with Soundwave rejoining the battle, Sun Cheng was only slightly disadvantaged.

But with a sudden cry, a radiant smile appeared on Sun Cheng's face.

His reinforcements had arrived – the Autobots.

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 673: A Decisive Victory (Third Update)