Alien Relic Hunter.

Chapter 622 Attack!

Eighty kilometers north of the White Ridge Mountains, where the Field Corps is assembled.

The forces of the fourteen divisions have all been assembled in just a few hours-in order to transport these troops, the airships and transport planes of the first, second and third cruise fleets are almost fully mobilized, and even the zero fleet Some of the long-distance transport aircraft have been temporarily recruited in the past.

Even so, there is still a big gap in the air force's transport capacity... Even if every empty ship and every transport plane is filled with people, it can only meet less than one-third of the transport capacity.

Soldiers are extremely fast, if the rest of the troops are sent to the assembly point by land, it will take at least a week for all the troops to assemble... 180 six hours, there are too many variables that can happen during this time.

The longer the delay, the more fully prepared the heretical sects in the ancient bronze city ruins will be, and the greater the casualties of the siege will be.

From the very beginning, this was not a battle of equal strength. Only by being caught by surprise can Ark have a slight chance of winning.

After discovering that air transport alone could not complete the mission on time, the command of the Field Corps even came up with a somewhat crazy solution: they directly stuffed soldiers into large containers, and then hung the containers under the transport plane , to send people to the assembly point like a cargo.

The price of doing so is that during the transportation process, two seriously overloaded transport planes collided out of control, and a total of more than 600 people in the containers on the two planes were killed.

In addition, when a transport aircraft formation was passing through a dangerous airspace, it was attacked by the indigenous creature "Snake-headed vultures". When he was on the verge of death, he broke the sling under a transport plane-the container without any protection measures and buffer devices fell directly from a height of several thousand meters, and one can imagine the ending of the people in it.

Before the battle officially started, the Field Corps had already lost nearly a thousand soldiers.

"This is something that can't be helped..."

In the temporary command post in the air, an old man with the rank of lieutenant general on his shoulder sighed and said to his colleagues.

"After the offensive starts, there will be hundreds of casualties every minute. Compared with that, this loss is nothing." Another man who is also a lieutenant general, but looks less than 40 years old The man answered.

"As the saying goes, kindness does not lead soldiers. It is indeed a good thing for young people to have vigor... But when you reach my age, you will know..." The lieutenant general who started talking said again.

His sideburns are completely gray, deep crow's feet are stacked at the corners of his eyes, and dark brown age spots can be seen everywhere on his face that has been honed over the years. The cloak-style windbreaker of a general is draped over his somewhat crooked torso. It looked a little empty.

"Know what?" The young lieutenant general turned his head, with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"When you lie on the bed late at night and close your eyes to fall asleep, the souls of those soldiers who were sent to the battlefield by your own hands will appear in front of your eyes... Once they are successful, their bones will die. As the ones who decide their fate, Naturally, you also need to bear their obsession and resentment." The old lieutenant general sighed, "These dead souls will haunt you for the rest of your life, until your corpse is turned into ashes in the incinerator."

"Revenant or something is just a superstition." The young lieutenant general said with some disdain, "What's more, I rarely dream, and almost never have nightmares."

"That's why I envy you young people... To be honest, I voted against this combat operation... Not only me, but most of the 'decision makers' in the United Parliament Group are against this operation Yes. Less than half of the young officers and the most radical minority of the hawks voted for it. If it weren't for the people above who insisted on fighting, this resolution would not have been passed at all... In fact, we all You know, our vote is just a formality, to express our opinions, without any practical significance."

The old lieutenant general was silent for a moment, and then continued, "In our opinion, this battle is no different from the 'gambling on national luck' in the old era...We bet almost all the chips, so we simply can't afford to lose."

"But if heretical sects are allowed to occupy the ruins of Alpha civilization one after another, that's just a slow death!" The young lieutenant general immediately retorted, "In my opinion, heretical sects are like a gangrene. If you can't find it Get rid of it as soon as possible, and when the disease is terminal, there is really no cure!"

"Then do you know why the heresy sect has existed for decades, but the Ark has never taken large-scale military action against it? The so-called heresy sect was only a small organization with less than a hundred members in the beginning. Even their prophet Inheriting some of the legacy of Alpha civilization, even if the Seed of Corrosion has a combat power far superior to that of ordinary creatures, in front of the absolute power of the Ark, they are just a group of small bugs that can be crushed to death at any time." The old lieutenant general said, "You Have you ever wondered why the people above didn't choose to 'squeeze them to death' at that time?"

"Is it because they are too good at hiding like bugs?" The doubt in the eyes of the young lieutenant general became more and more serious.

"No, it's just because the people above deliberately let them go." The old lieutenant general shook his head, "You just described the heresy as a gangrene, then you should also know that the malignant tumors in cancer patients are actually not It's not a foreign invader, but its own cells that have lost control due to mutation?"

The young lieutenant general couldn't help holding his breath, his eyes opened slightly, and he stared at this colleague who was almost twice his age in surprise.

"In the early years, the research institute once proposed a subject, I don't know if you have heard of it." The old lieutenant general continued, "Some researchers believe that if the proliferation speed of cancer cells can be successfully controlled, this will make immortality become Possibly—the lifespan of human beings is limited to the number of divisions of their own cells, while the number of divisions of cancer cells is almost unlimited, and they can transform and transfer at will... The researcher believes that cancer cells may be the direction of human evolution in the future, but this direction Something has gone awry, and the changes that were supposed to bring immortality to humanity instead resulted in their death."

Although what the old lieutenant general said seemed to have nothing to do with what the two discussed earlier, the expression on the young lieutenant general's face changed from doubt to surprise, and then changed from surprise to astonishment as he approached.

He froze in place for a while, and then asked with some difficulty: "So, the exile policy in the early years was also because of..."

"That's enough." The old lieutenant general interrupted his question, "For some things, it's enough to have a rough idea in your heart, and you don't need to say it clearly."

"Okay, okay." The young lieutenant general took a few steps back in a daze, and stretched out his hand to support the back of the chair.

When he looked down at the dozens of phalanxes that were undergoing the last preparations before the war, there was already a slight change in his eyes...

At this moment, a staff officer opened the hatch and walked in, quickly reporting to the two of them: "Report to the commander! The infiltration combat team has arrived at the mine base!"

The old lieutenant general raised his head and glanced at the countdown on the screen. There were still 6 minutes left before the attack.

"Understood." He nodded to the staff officer, "Let the troops below get ready, we will attack the target on time."

The staff officer saluted and retreated quickly.

Only the two of them were left in the command room.

"Next, it's your stage." The old lieutenant general glanced at the young lieutenant general with extremely complicated expressions, "Lieutenant General Trenz."

Terence Lind, the youngest graduate of the Ark First Military Academy since its establishment, was only 19 years old when he obtained the graduation certificate of the First Military Academy with full marks in the written examination and [-] consecutive victories in the simulated sand table. At that time, it was hailed as "a rising star of the future".

After graduation, Trenz also lived up to expectations. As soon as he joined the Field Corps, he commanded several beautiful small-scale battles as a regimental commander. Military ranks and positions are climbing at a rocket-like speed. At the age of 29, he was awarded the rank of brigadier general—except for those school-level officers who were posthumously awarded the rank of general because of their sacrifices. , the only person 30 years old who was awarded the title of general officer before.

He has a terrifying battlefield sense of smell and ability to analyze and judge. He is known for his bold and decisive command style, but he has "surgical" precision in handling some details.Someone reviewed the battles he had commanded, and found that in the critical stages of those battles, his calculations of the battle situation could even be accurate to squad-level units... This is almost like playing chess—"One soldier, one soldier Operations are critical."

And the most astonishing thing is that Trenz never needs a staff team when he is in command... He is like a chess player who thinks independently, analyzing tens of millions of instant messages, one-handed Manipulate the entire battle situation.

"The staff group will interfere with my thinking." These are the original words Trenz said when faced with other people's doubts.

Of course, this command method is also very terribly expensive for the commander himself. It is almost commonplace to command the battlefield while inhaling oxygen. Doping syringe.

But it is undeniable that Trenz has innate talents and abilities. Even in a battle commanded by him, he can control the losses of his side to a minimum even if he is bound to lose.

……

"There are still 9 minutes." Trenz glanced at the countdown, "Let the gunboats of the first, second, and third cruise fleets press forward to the preset coordinate A6, and the firepower covers the area from A19 to C2."

The area from A19 to C2 that Trenz said is the wasteland between the ruins of the Bronze City and the assembly point of the Field Army. Although this area seems to be flat and there are no traps hidden, out of caution, he still decided to deal with it. A carpet bombing of the area.

He does not have the arrogance that most geniuses are born with. On the contrary, he is a very cautious person-cautiousness has never been a trait that conflicts with boldness and determination.

When they coexist on the same person, the effect they exert is far greater than one plus one equals two.

"After the bombing, the mechas and tanks of the 15th and 115th Armored Divisions moved to position B20, and the infantry stood by. The 20th Squadron of the Second Cruise Fleet tried to airdrop the UAV target aircraft above the ruins of the Bronze City to test the opponent's reaction The No.[-] and No.[-] Seventh Infantry Divisions followed the preset route to outflank the left and right sides of the target, and began to build temporary fortifications after arriving at the predetermined location."

One order after another was issued by Trenz, and the assembled phalanx below began to move. Hundreds of tanks and mechs broke away from the phalanx, forming an arrow-shaped advancing formation right in front of the large army.

As soon as the armored units were integrated, a dark shadow covered them. It was the gunboat unit ordered to press forward. Not long after, the deafening shelling sounded above the ground troops, and the plain area directly in front was instantly It was covered by dense explosions.

"Reporting to the commander, the first round of fire coverage strikes has ended. According to computer analysis, the enemy has planted about [-] old-fashioned anti-personnel mines in the plains, and they have been completely destroyed." The staff officer said on the other side of the screen—as The old subordinates who have worked under Trenz for several years, these staff officers also know that their duties only need to report the battle situation and computer analysis results to the general.As for how to judge the battle situation, what measures need to be taken, and what orders to issue, it is entirely up to Trenz to complete it alone.

The staff group doesn't even need to give advice... Even they often complain about themselves in private, "Thirty stinky generals are no match for one Zhuge Liang."

It can be said that the staff group under Trenz's command is probably the staff group with the smallest workload in the entire Ark.

"Are there only two thousand old-fashioned anti-personnel mines..."

Two thousand landmines sounds like a lot, but they are actually very sparsely distributed in such a large area. If they are evenly distributed, each mine can even be separated by thousands of meters.

Even if this round of strikes were not taken, it would be difficult for these landmines to cause any substantial damage to the armored troops that entered the battlefield later. As for the infantry——by the time they entered this area, the landmines had already been triggered by the armored troops. Eighty-eight.

It's really not a good deal to exchange two thousand old-fashioned anti-personnel landmines for a round of carpet bombing. The cost of one round of 200mm heavy howitzer shells alone is equivalent to hundreds of such landmines. At least thousands of such shells were fired in the first round of bombing.

However, Trenz did not show a relaxed expression on his face, but issued another order: "Add two more rounds of fire coverage, and use ground-penetrating bombs. After the third round of bombing, the armored forces will Approaching. The first, second and third formations of fighter jets are in charge of air support."

"What's the matter, do you think there is something wrong with this plain?" The old lieutenant general turned his head and glanced at Trenz.

"Since heretic sects can plant two thousand mines without us noticing, then I have every reason to believe that there are more things hidden under the ground of this plain." Trenz said firmly, "These Landmines are not used to reduce our effective forces, but to make us let our guard down."

(End of this chapter)