Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour/China Mission 5

The United States exits Europe to defend its homefront from the GLA. China fills the power vacuum – moving in to destroy the last GLA stronghold near Hamburg, Germany.

The GLA has captured the American base and will utilize its weapons against you. It is critical to locate and destroy the Particle Cannon in the northwestern portion of the map. While building up your nuclear arsenal, you must fend off intense land and air assaults from the west. A conventional force of Gattling Cannons, Helixes and ground units must be created and utilized before building your Nuclear Missiles.

After your Nuclear Missiles are built and the Particle Cannon is destroyed, the GLA will build a Scud Storm. After this is destroyed, the tides of battle will turn in your favor, but the mop-up operations will be extensive.

Key Strategies

• After capturing the two oil derricks by your base, immediately have two Red Guard units board one of your Helixes. Fly all three Helixes south to destroy the Artillery Platforms and capture two of the oil derricks. Leave one Helix behind to guard the derricks and fly the other two immediately back to your base. They are sorely needed for the upcoming battle.
• Important: Build an airfield immediately and build at least four more Helixes. Use one group of three Helixes to the northwest of your base and another on the southwest edge and keep them on Guard mode. One upgrade in each group should be the Propaganda Tower to keep the Helixes healed. Upgrade the other two with either the Gattling Guns or Bunkers. At least one Helix filled with Tank Hunters will greatly aid in the destruction of incoming armor.
• Important: Build a strong network of Gattling Cannons along the western portion of your base. This is essential to fight off both air and land assaults. The captured American jets will decimate your armored units if they are not protected.
• Build up a fleet of Battlemasters to protect your Nuclear Missile while it is building to protect it from Sneak Attack tunnels. Groups of five will receive the Hoard upgrade, signified by the red stars that will appear beneath them.
• Important: After the Sneak Attack tunnel, build up to ten Gattling Tanks to add to your Gattling Cannons. Even after the Particle Cannon and Scud Storm have been destroyed, a fierce air assault can still cause you to lose the mission.
• The Helixes work great at the beginning of the offensive, but a bit later on, be wary of Avengers and Humvees filled with RPG soldiers. They can decimate an entire group of Helixes if you are not careful. Have your Helixes placed on Guard mode slightly behind your Gattling Cannons to help protect them.
• As soon as possible, build an Internet Center and immediately upgrade with Satellite Hack. Immediately afterwards, use your Cluster Mines upgrade and Artillery Barrage upgrade to the north edge of the northwestern base to expose the Particle Cannon. This way, your Nuclear Missiles will have a viable target as soon as their countdown is complete.
• If you are short on resources, the Particle Cannon can be destroyed by a single Nuclear Missile, coupled with an Artillery Barrage upgraded to the second level.
• Sneak a single Helix along the far southern border of the map to destroy the Scud Storm in the southwestern corner.

Walkthrough

Rapid construction of your base is critical in this mission. The initial GLA offensive is intense and you must have healthy defenses to deal with it.

Immediately click on the Capture upgrade at the barracks. While doing this, send two of the Red Guard at the south of your base toward the two oil derricks on your base. Build two additional Supply Trucks. As soon as the Capture upgrade is complete, capture the oil derricks.

Build an Airfield and Nuclear Reactor. Upgrade your Overlords with a Propaganda Tower and Gattling Cannon.

Click on one of the Helixes then press  E  to select all three of the Helixes. Have them group together near the oil derricks and quickly upgrade them – one with a Propaganda Tower and the other two with either Gattling Cannons or Bunkers.

Have two of the Red Guard units hop in one of the Helixes and send all three south.

While they are flying south, build two Gattling Cannons on the western front.

Have the Helixes destroy the two Artillery Platforms. Immediately fly two of the Helixes back to your base, while the third one unloads the two Red Guard to capture the two oil derricks. Keep the Helix there to guard the derricks or they will be destroyed.

The GLA structures in the area are façade structures. They will not produce any units to attack your derricks. You can also capture the fake command structure, and upgrade it into a real one. To the west are more abandoned USA vehicles; one of them is a US construction dozer. If you do build a base here, watch out for the tunnel network. If you get too close, it will un-garrison several vehicles.

While the above is being carried out, be building and upgrading four more Helixes as outlined above, so you can have two groups of three Helixes. When opportunity arises, build backup Helixes to replace and add to them. Having a few Helixes upgraded with Bunkers and filled with Tank Hunters will greatly speed up the destruction of GLA armor.

When time permits, add a third and fourth Gattling Cannon to the western front.

Have the Nuke Cannons force fire in a region west of your base. They may not hit anything, but they may make a target for the Particle Cannon and save some of your other units.

Add five Battlemasters to your western front to aid in base defense. When the Nuclear Missile starts building, move them over to protect it from Sneak Attack tunnels.

By now, the Particle Cannon will be firing. Repair whatever damage is inflicted.

Right after the Particle Cannon fires, a vicious assault by the GLA begins. Have your Helixes handle the brunt of this attack. Always keep your Helixes on Guard mode when not actively targeting a unit.

At the first opportunity, build a Propaganda Center and Internet Center. Obtain the Satellite Hack upgrade at the Internet Center. Immediately upon obtaining the Satellite Hack, utilize the General’s Powers of Cluster Mines and Artillery Barrage to the north of the northwestern base to expose the Particle Cannon.

You will be attacked for the second time by the Particle Cannon. Recover your losses as best as possible.

Start building one or two Nuclear Missiles, depending on funds available. Build extra Nuclear Plants while they are building so your Gattling Cannons don’t go offline. While the Nuclear Missile is building, crank out additional Battlemasters to protect this installation from the Sneak Attack tunnel. Move your other Battlemasters toward this area also.

Now is the time, if you haven’t already, to start cranking out massive Gattling Tanks. Build at least two groups of five each to protect from air attacks. If the jets survive too many bombing runs, they will be promoted and it will be much more difficult to defend against them. Keep replacing as necessary.

If you are losing too many Helixes, set the Guard command further east behind the Gattling Cannons. Your other units will work in conjunction with them to destroy Avengers and Humvees filled with RPG troopers.

Use the Battlemasters that survive the Sneak Attack tunnel to guard your southern flank. Add a few Gattling Tanks to round out the mix.

If you only are building one Nuclear Missile, be sure the Particle Cannon is already exposed, and that the Artillery Barrage is recharging and ready to go when the Nuclear Missile is.

Destroy the Particle Cannon. Keep your defenses strong as the assault will not end. Be sure to have plenty of Helixes and Gattling Tanks on your western front.

By now your Supply Depot may be empty so start collecting supplies from the west. Move up your Helixes to guard your Supply Trucks. Lay down Cluster Mines to help safeguard the area.

Build extra Nuclear Missiles and continue to destroy American airfields and War Factories until the assault ends.

Be moving one Helix to the far south. When the Scud Storm countdown begins, sneak him onto the far south-western edge of the base. Destroy the worker next to it and then destroy the actual Scud Storm itself. It may take a while with your Gattling Cannon, but the job will get done.

From here on out, the tide has turned in your favor and you can dismantle the GLA at your leisure.

Overlords will come in quite handy, as they can detect the numerous mines on the GLA bases. Purchase both upgrades for the Overlords at the Nuclear Missile site.

Mission accomplished!

Note- To add to the previous walkthrough you can actually send in 2-3 helixes into the US base by going through the blind spot below the lower garrisoned tower (there are two). They will take some hits from the patriots but they will survive. Head over to the command centre and enjoy taking it apart from inside out. The AI is dumb - they won't try to destroy those Helixes save for a missile defender or two since it's near the barracks

Quick walkthrough

At the start of the mission, send your Helixes to the first wave entrance. Capture the Oil Derrick with your red guard. Buy the bomb upgrade, then take your Troop Crawler and go to the other side of the map. As you see Oil Derricks or Platforms, capture them. At the same time start dropping it right at the entrance of first wave. Then buy as many Helixes as you can with the money you have, while still saving money for the bomb upgrade. Send those down to the first wave entrance also. Put them a little behind the first group, and start dropping. You should upgrade the Helixes with only bombs – no other upgrade is necessary.

At this time, put your rally point for your Helixes at the center of the map and start building more Helixes. Every time you get the money, build a Helix and upgrade it with the napalm bomb. You should also send your troops that you start with and go to the other side of the map, northeast. Leave the two Overlords, upgrade one with propoganda and one with gatling cannon. Put your nuke cannons on guard behind them. Send your other troops on guard as they get to the other side of the map. You should have a considerable amount of Helixes, but continue to build them throughout the game. Then send groups of six to the right bottom corner to wait for an attack there. They give you enough time to set up your Helixes before the enemy comes out.

You won't even see the enemy, because they burn before they get out. Watch out for the bikes, because they are fast and don't get burned. Put cluster mines for defensive measures where the escape route bottlenecks, then as the waves come, build more Helixes to bomb each wave from the entrance. By the last wave you should be bombing every entrance so there will be no trouble dealing with the random entrances. By the last wave you should have enough Helixes so build at your discretion, but keep in mind if any of there quad cannons make it out alive, it could wipe out many of your Helixes. The key is to bomb where you think they will be coming out, which they tell you beforehand with dots.