Castle of Black Iron

Wing demons were very flexible in the sky. They could fly and slide rapidly like birds. When in need, they would hover in the sky while flapping their wings like dragonflies. They could even turn around and fly backward. Actually, they could fly in any direction at any time. Such great flexibility could barely be matched by any bird in the sky. Although Zhang Tie’s thunder hawk could easily fly faster than wing demons and could also hover in the sky for a short period, it couldn’t fly backward like wing demons.

As air cavalry I airplane had a pair of fixed wings and relied on mechanical strength, its flexibility couldn’t match that of wing demons. Even so, air cavalry I airplane still had an advantage——speed. Air cavalry I airplane could even fly faster than battle spirit wing demons, not to mention LV 9 wing demons. If speed was regarded as the only reference, air cavalry I airplane was much more powerful than wing demons.

An air cavalry I airplane was matched with a steam crossbow and many incendiary bolts. Incendiary bolt’s effective range was over 100 m. However, LV 9 wing demons could only realize melee attack. Even though wing demons above LV 10 could realize battle qi strike, the effective range of their battle qi strike was limited to 100 m.

Given the effective range of the strike, air cavalry I airplane had an advantage. With this advantage, bolts shot from an airplane could reach wing demons while wing demon’s battle qi strike couldn’t reach the plane. However, whenever an airplane set off, it could only carry a limited number of incendiary bolts due to objective reasons such as take-off weight, capacity, spatial layout and pneumatic efficiency. Take air cavalry I airplane on the battlefield as an instance, each air cavalry I airplane could only have 35 incendiary bolts at most. That was to say, after shooting out 35 incendiary bolts, the steam crossbow would be useless. Unless the airplane could return to the base for replenishment, it would lose its battle strength in the sky.

By contrast, wing demons’ melee attack times was not limited. As long as a wing demon was alive, it would almost exercise limitless strikes.

Although airplane could exert its role in a long distance, its crossbow’s effect was limited when in close combat; especially on its wings and under its belly where were dead angles. As long as wing demon approached these dead angles, the steam crossbow would be ineffective. Whereas, wing demons didn’t have striking dead angles. The closer wing demon was to the airplane, the better it would exert its battle strength in the air.

Additionally, wing demons were more sensitive than air cavalry I airplanes in the sky. An air cavalry I airplane was matched with 2 fighters, one for driving, the other for shooting. Two people should coordinate with each other. A wing demon versus an air cavalry I airplane was actually equal to 1 wing demon versus 2 human fighters plus a battle machine.

Wing demons could fly longer than air cavalry I airplanes. Whenever and wherever in need, wing demons would set off. Additionally, wing demons could land almost anywhere on land, wilderness, mountains or deep woods. Only by taking something casually or having a short nap would they recover their battle strength. It was nothing serious even if they were slightly injured. By contrast, as long as airplanes ran out of its Fiery Oil, it had to land at an airport or a plain, open land. Without being filled with Fiery Oil, it could not set off once again. Additionally, the components of the airplane had to be repaired and maintained routinely.

In some sense, the wrestle between air cavalry I airplane and wing demon was about speed and flexibility, striking range and striking ability, individual and teamwork. It was actually a holistic confrontation on the feathers and strengths of races between demons and humans.

In such a confrontation, airplanes and wing demons both had their own advantages and shortcomings. Neither of them was overwhelming in the sky. They were on even. Therefore, from the beginning, the battle between wing demons and air cavalries had entered a chaotic and extremely fierce state.

In each second, fireballs would fall off while wuthering planes emitting black smoke would crash onto the ground and explode. Some planes were directly shattered by the battle qi strike of high-level wing demons as they flipped over and fell off.

At the critical moment, pilots would jump off the planes by a rotachute. It’s a necessary skill for air cavalries to use rotachutes. However, not all the air cavalries could have a chance to escape by rotachute; neither would all the air cavalries survive themselves by rotachute.

Some air cavalries were killed in the seats by wing demons using their weapons when the latter approached. After that, the airplane would lose its control and crash onto the ground, arousing a huge fireball while the components of the plane flew in all directions. Some air cavalries were brutally killed by wing demons in the air before they landed.

After shooting off all the incendiary bolts in the airplane, some airplanes didn’t leave as they saw how wing demons killed their brothers who had jumped off their airplanes by rotachute. They were looking for a chance to perish together with the wing demons…

Given the great speed of airplanes, the number of wing demons and the chaotic state, as long as there was a chance, an airplane could absolutely crash against a wing demon; especially the propeller in the front of the airplane, which was like sharp blades when in high-speed rotation. As long as it crashed against a wing demon’s body or wing, it would badly mutilate the latter or ruin the latter’s flight ability. However, the airplane would also be damaged. Additionally, wing demon might escape away while giving a fatal blow to the plane or the air cavalries in the plane by hand. In such an air fight, the most perilous movement for an air cavalry was to approach a wing demon.

“Do you fear about the crash?” “Are you afraid of death?” “Will we do it?” “Will we risk doing it?”

Many pilots would ask the shooter in the back seat the similar questions before their last struggle.

“F*ck them off!”

“Why would I be here if I were afraid of death?”

“Cut the motherf*cking crap, I’m not a b*stard…”

“Even if you don’t fear what this father is afraid of…”

“As our brothers came here together, we have to return together or die together here…”

“Whatever, we’ve killed one and won’t live in vain. If we kill one more, we will win…”

None of the shooters in the back seats were timid at this moment.

Thus, many air cavalry I airplanes and wing demons flipped over and fell off…

…

An air cavalry I airplane’s tail unit was broken by a wing demon as it flipped over and fell off. The two air cavalries almost popped out of the cockpit and the shooting module at the same time. However, the moment they opened their rotachute, the wing demon which had just broken the tail unit of the airplane had flown towards them once again. Only by one strike, it had shattered the skull of the shooter using the spine in its hand.

“Old Gao…” The former pilot widely opened its eyes out of fury as he whined and saw his comrade-in-arms loosen his grip and fall off.

Old Gao’s blood and brain sprayed over the LV 9 wing demon’s head, making the wing demon pretty grim. Closely after that, the wing demon sped up towards the former pilot. When its spine approached the former pilot’s body, the air cavalry roared as he suddenly loosened his rotachute and charged at the spine. Undoubtedly, the spine penetrated through the air cavalry’s chest; however, the air cavalry put his arms around the wing demon.

“F*ck you…” The air cavalry swore while gritting his teeth, blood filling his mouth. Under the dumbfounded look of the wing demon, he instantly triggered the fuse of his portable incendiary grenade.

In the flame, this air cavalry and that wing demon flipped over and fell off at the same time…

The first combat between the air cavalries and the wing demons in this holy war opened the brilliant historical chapter in such a fierce way.

When in Selnes Theater of Operations, Zhang Tie became the first human air cavalry.

As of now, the human air cavalry troop which was almost founded by Zhang Tie alone appeared on the stage of Black Iron Age for the first time on the bank of Weishui River of Taixia Country.

So many hot-blooded human fighters were spraying their blood over the sky like how Zhang Tie did in Selnes Theater of Operations. However, being different than that in Selnes Theater of Operations, the air cavalry troop of Taixia Country was not waiting to be slaughtered by wing demons anymore; instead, they formed an iron great wall in the sky and uttered the loudest sound under the heavens…

The air fight continued. On the ground, the first batch of iron-armored demons finally tided over Weishui River and reached the east bank of Weishui River.