Tuojinisi's face, which had been ashen from procuring toy mechs from Great Xia as military robots, turned black as charcoal.
Major General Gudeyev and over a dozen accompanying procurement officers showed no intention of saving him any face.
A man.
An adult man.
Especially a military man from a warrior nation like Maoxiong.
One must bear the consequences of their own actions.
Face is earned, not given.
When Toniski decided to procure Great Xia's tin-plate mechs as military robots, he sealed his own fate.
On the principle of making the best use of everything.
Major General Gudeyev decided to use this tin-plate mech toy as a live target.
And to be fair.
Judging solely by its external appearance, the ten-meter-tall tin-plate mech toy was quite imposing.
Its matte metallic shell.
The pale green indicator lights in standby mode.
Against the backdrop of the vast, snow-covered plains.
It truly possessed a sense of futuristic mecha.
Major General Gudeyev, well-versed in Great Xia culture and having served as a defense exchange student at a military academy in Great Xia in his youth, recalled a fitting ancient Great Xia idiom—
"Golden on the outside, rotten on the inside!"
The first to be chosen to compete against this tin-plate mech toy was the all-terrain Alway anti-tank robot from Gaul, renowned as the Rooster of Europe, manufactured by the Schneider military industry... to be precise, the Alway anti-tank robot was first tasked with using the Great Xia tin-plate mech toy as a target.
The greatest advantage of this all-terrain intelligent anti-tank robot was its agility.
Its size was slightly smaller than a light tank.
But its multi-functional tracked and wheeled composite locomotion mode allowed this intelligent anti-tank robot to move freely and advance or retreat orderly on any terrain.
With the press of the activation button on the control panel.
The Alway anti-tank robot instantly transformed into an extremely slippery, cunning deep-sea predator.
It continuously weaved, climbed, and rolled.
In just over ten seconds, it had completely vanished from sight before everyone's eyes.
The evaluation was soon released.
Maximum speed: 217 km/h.
Maximum reaction time: 7.32 seconds.
In a mere seven-plus seconds, the Alway anti-tank robot had completed scanning the surrounding terrain, selecting a hiding spot, rapidly advancing, concealing itself, switching its camouflage paint, and arming its needle-type anti-tank cluster missiles, ready to intercept and ambush passing tanks, self-propelled artillery, armored personnel carriers, and other critical enemy targets.
Major General Gudeyev nodded approvingly at the performance of the Alway anti-tank robot.
This robot was not prohibitively expensive; Schneider Military Industry quoted a price of 3.5 million US dollars for bulk procurement.
While the main selling point of this anti-tank robot was its stealth and first-strike capability, it would be immediately detected and easily destroyed by enemy reconnaissance after firing its initial salvo.
However, at a price of 3.5 million US dollars, it would recoup its cost by destroying even a single enemy main battle tank worth millions of US dollars.
Destroying one enemy tank would break even, destroying two would be profitable, and destroying three or more enemy armored vehicles would be a significant profit.
"Deploy that tin-plate toy mech."
"Let's see what kind of surprise this Alway anti-tank robot from Gaul, under the established military giant Schneider Military Industry, can bring us!"
With Major General Gudeyev's command.
The control panel activated the tin-plate mech toy from Great Xia.
Most people didn't even bother to glance at this toy mech.
Instead, they curiously scanned the snowy plains, searching for the hidden Alway anti-tank robot.
In their eyes.
This was a completely one-sided confrontation.
A tin-plated toy versus the Alway anti-tank robot from the traditional military giant, Schneider Military Industry.
Describing it as a mantis trying to stop a chariot would be too generous to this tin-plate mech toy.
As expected.
It unfolded just as everyone predicted.
The tin-plate mech toy, with its harmless green indicator light on its head, lumbered forward.
"Hmm."
"Not bad."
"It can still move."
"It fell apart after only a couple of steps."
"It seems Tuojinisi's intelligence is at least a sliver higher than a donkey in Kash's countryside!"
The fact that this tin-plate mech toy could actually move.
This genuinely surprised Major General Gudeyev and all his colleagues present.
Therefore, the Major General did not hesitate to mock his pathetic and foolish subordinate, Tuojinisi, a few times.
For a tin-plate mech toy over ten meters tall, managing to walk twenty to thirty meters in half a meter of snow, like an old man on his last legs, could indeed be considered a miracle.
However.
Evidently.
This miracle was about to end.
Once the Alway anti-tank robot locked onto this tin-plate mech toy from Great Xia as its target, it would soon be reduced to scrap metal.
This was the outcome everyone considered irrefutable.
Of course, there was one exception.
It was Tuojinisi, whom Major General Gudeyev had berated as more foolish than a donkey from Kash's countryside for procuring this Great Xia tin-plate toy mech.
Tuojinisi slightly lifted his bruised and blackened face.
His hands clenched tightly, dripping with sweat.
In this extremely cold, snow-covered region of Maoxiong's Far East, fine beads of sweat still appeared on his forehead.
He was hoping, hoping for a miracle to happen.
Even with a one-in-ten-thousand chance.
He hoped that this industrial waste, which Major General Gudeyev called a junk toy and only fit to be a target, could withstand this round of attack.
Yes.
Even if it could only withstand one round of attack.
Even if it survived the concentrated firepower of the Alway anti-tank robot.
Even if only its tin-plate shell remained after being blown up, he, Tuojinisi, could save some face.
Perhaps, maybe, probably, possibly, he wouldn't be sent to the Black Sea to embrace torpedoes and hunt sharks by Major General Gudeyev, who was on the verge of exploding with anger and treated him as if he were air and rocks.
As for this tin-plate toy mech surviving this barrage?
Even Tuojinisi dared not fantasize about such a thing.
To remain intact under a hail of high-speed missiles would already be a miracle worthy of immense gratitude.
To expect it to survive?
That would be a fantasy, a fairy tale, a fantasy novel!
Yes.
Such an outlandish event last occurred in the Bible.
It was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified and reborn from the ashes after three days.
Indeed.
The next moment.
Over a dozen high-speed missiles, like a swarm of locusts, streaked towards the tin-plate toy mech.
Rumble.
The continuous, violent explosions even dislodged a significant amount of snow from the distant snow-capped mountains.
The air was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder.
Clearly, the Alway anti-tank robot's initial salvo, all its high-speed missiles, hit their target without exception!
A large volume of smoke, mixed with blasted snow, enveloped and sealed off the area where the tin-plate toy mech was located.