92: Shadow Special Forces

Fortunately, the thunder serpent anti-tank missile is also very powerful; it uses a thermal imaging focal plane array guidance head, so once the target is locked and fired, it can be left alone, as the missile automatically continues to track and lock on, attacking from the vulnerable top.

Furthermore, because it is equipped with a formidable automatic fire control system, the gunner basically only needs to operate the fire control system to lock onto the target to achieve automatic fire.

However, what Li Xiao likes even more is that its tracked chassis has better off-road capability than a wheeled one, offering a significant advantage when operating in many types of terrain.

Of course, such a powerful light armored vehicle also has high durability, reaching 150,000 points; it is truly worthy of being a unique version.

It is just that its fuel consumption and ammunition supply are a bit overwhelming for Li Xiao; with a top speed of 75 km/h, it consumes 1,600 points of fuel per 100 kilometers, so even the nickname 'oil tiger' doesn't do it justice.

The shells used by the autocannon cost 100 Steel and 100 Rare Ore per shot, taking ten minutes to produce one, meaning only six per hour.

What is even more terrifying is the thunder serpent anti-tank missile: one shot costs 10,000 Steel, 5,000 Rare Ore, and 500 Star Coins. This cost makes Li Xiao want to cry.

Compared to the 24-hour production time per anti-tank missile, the production time for a blade ifv is a staggering half a month per unit. This completely dashed Li Xiao's idea of having a dual-vehicle production line and creating an armored Scout company within a month.

But Li Xiao is also thankful that the blueprints for these ammunition types were unlocked together with the vehicle blueprint. Being able to manufacture them himself is good enough; he would be in real trouble if he had to find supplies elsewhere.

With so many gains, it will take at least ten to fifteen days to fully digest everything. However, Li Xiao is not in a hurry; the days ahead are long, and he has plenty of time to plan slowly.

After using the Shadow Special Forces training manual, Li Xiao immediately used today's eight recruitment orders and fifty F-rank recruitment orders.

In an instant, Li Xiao's total troop strength exceeded 200, reaching nearly 230 people.

Among these 58 people, over 30 are infantry, there are six Engineers, and then one or two individuals each for roles like Scout, signalman, machine gunner, sniper, and Medic.

And among them, Li Xiao was lucky enough to see two Shadow Special Operations Soldiers!

Li Xiao called them out separately. They were wearing dark gray combat uniforms, black bulletproof vests, and tactical helmets, with most of their other equipment also being black or gray.

Their appearance certainly fits the 'Shadow' color scheme; both soldiers were wearing fire-resistant hoods and goggles, making it impossible to see their faces.

But judging by the solid, well-developed biceps on their arms, their combat capability is unquestionable.

Their tactical backpacks are also black, with various tactical accessories attached. Satellite phones are standard issue, and they even have special communication equipment like throat microphones.

The armor uses ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, a material one level higher than the Kevlar armor equipped by Di Yun and his men, providing a damage reduction effect of 35%. If combined with the effect of Li Xiao's King of War title, the damage reduction reaches an astonishing 65%.

However, the soldiers mentioned that while this material has good damage reduction, its durability decreases quickly, lasting about 70% as long as Kevlar material.

Li Xiao thought that was fine; if it were like the bulletproof vests in the last round of the King of War airdrop crates that broke after being hit by a machine gun, that would be truly frustrating.

However, Kevlar bulletproof vests are standard issue for the Black Hawk Empire, making them easy to resupply, whereas this polymer stuff might be hard to find.

In terms of weapons, the Shadow Special Forces use the QBZ-20 special edition assault rifle, standard-equipped with 40-round extended magazines and two muzzle attachments: a flash hider and a suppressor.

This rifle uses 5.8mm rifle rounds, has a faster rate of fire, and more stable ballistics. Each soldier has their own set of tactical accessories and scopes that can be swapped based on combat missions.

The sidearm is still the Type 05 automatic pistol with accessories. As for thrown weapons, except for the fragmentation grenades being replaced with more lethal high-explosive grenades, everything else remains the same.

Additionally, their headgear is equipped with binocular low-light night vision goggles, which greatly enhances the Shadow Special Forces' combat capabilities in nighttime conditions.

Compared to regular infantry, besides having a much higher overall combat strength rating, their greatest feature is that every Shadow Special Operations Soldier has their own specialized ability.

For example, the two Shadow Special Operations Soldiers Li Xiao just recruited: one has machine gun specialization, meaning he can switch from being an assault trooper to a machine gunner to provide fire support at any time.

The other has battlefield medical specialization, possessing stronger combat capability and better battlefield medical recovery abilities than a standard Medic.

Because the Shadow Special Forces is a unique special unit, the soldiers start with the rank of Sergeant and have 600 health points.

Since the system has set up an independent organization for the Shadow Special Forces, Li Xiao does not need to set it up separately; he only needs to appoint a Commander for the special forces.

"Ling Chao, then the Shadow Special Forces will be under your command as captain for the time being!"

Following custom, Li Xiao looked at the special operations soldier who possessed the machine gun specialization and was the first to be summoned.

"Yes! I will resolutely complete the mission!"

Ling Chao's voice and sharp gaze conveyed his attitude; there were no unnecessary words or extra movements.

Next, Li Xiao began to reorganize the structure. First Platoon and Second Platoon were expanded into companies, with 100 men per company, equipped with ten meng hu off-road vehicles and several all-terrain vehicles.

The company Commanders remained Di Yun and Yang Chao. At the same time, Yan Yizhou's sniper team was disbanded, and the four snipers under his command, along with the two who arrived today, were distributed to the First and Second Companies.

Leng He's machine gun squad was also split up into each platoon of the companies, forming a complete fire support configuration.

Zhao Feipeng's Scout squad was expanded into a Scout platoon. Currently, there are nine Scouts in total including him, all of whom hold the rank of Sergeant or higher.

Before the Shadow Special Forces, this counted as Li Xiao's special forces unit.

Regarding the military factory, he definitely arranged for the production of the blade ifv and its corresponding ammunition first; this was a significant investment.

He emptied his pockets, scraping together 100,000 Steel, 50,000 Fuel, 50,000 Rare Ore, and 3,000 Star Coins, which finally allowed one blade ifv to enter the production line.

"The next task is to acquire resources to upgrade the military factory."

In order to use the military factory upgrade blueprint as soon as possible and accelerate the military factory's production capacity, upgrading the military factory is imminent.

However, this requires a large supply of resources, and the resources collected by his few Engineers are currently barely enough to supply equipment manufacturing.

Therefore, Li Xiao thought he still had to continue cooperating with the Dark Soul Mercenary Group; after all, they are the only ones who can make money quickly.

At night, lying in bed, Li Xiao opened all five equipment crates he had forgotten to open today in one go.

He ended up obtaining 200 anti-personnel mines, one anti-materiel sniper rifle, and two sets of carbon-ceramic composite bulletproof vests.

Fortunately, in the last crate, Li Xiao once again obtained a Hummingbird quadcopter reconnaissance drone.