From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 246 The mushroom cloud rising on the battlefield

Rubian 80, kilometers south of Ptolemaic City, coalition headquarters.

The coalition command headquarters, which had already retreated once, was now deployed at a previously selected backup location.

In the camouflaged shelter vehicle that was used as a large mobile command post, Major General Benjamin, the commander of the coalition forces, was sternly staring at the map of the enemy and enemy situation on the battlefield presented on the electronic sand table.

In one sentence, it can be summed up as "Alarm across the board, and the organization level of each department is steadily declining."

The coalition's first battle group is composed of troops from seven private military companies and defense contractors, with a total of seven brigades.

The determination of the battle is also to concentrate superior forces on the left wing of the battle line to break through while the right-wing troops are feigning an attack and the central troops are slowly advancing, and to intersperse and surround the enemy troops in the central part.
Not to mention anything else, just talking about the idea of ​​fighting determination is actually very beautiful.

However, from the beginning of the war to the present, all three brigade-level units on the left wing responsible for the attack have been blocked.

Not only failed to complete the task of breaking through the defense line, but also lost a lot of manpower in the counterattack of the remaining imperial soldiers and caused the battle line to continuously retreat.

Especially the two brigade-level combat units on the far left, which were composed of three companies, suffered casualties as soon as they contacted the enemy.

In addition, Atlas, who was originally deployed on the right wing and was responsible for containment and feint attacks, was mixed into a brigade - a team that was looked down upon by other companies because it was not optimistic about the attack in the pre-war meeting.

Major General Benjamin angrily threw the cigarette butt on the ground of the cabin vehicle. After the ventilation device above his head detected the smoke, it increased the power and started buzzing.

In addition to relatively solid basic skills and business capabilities, the support given by the family business is also considerable.

Major General Benjamin didn't know that the orderly beside him, who was recruited from the local area and was good at handling housekeeping, cooking, and preparing afternoon tea, was thinking about something else.

Its highly mobile HCP troops have begun to conduct interspersed attacks, trying to separate and encircle some battalion-level units of the two brigades on the left wing of the coalition.

Although according to daily management regulations, smoking is prohibited in the command cabin.

These two brigades are also the troops of Thunder Defense, which has the strongest comprehensive strength among the 15 companies.

Despite the existence of these objective reasons, the young major general still believes that his ability to climb to this position is 'inseparable' from his excellent performance in combat command.

"What are these things? Two combined brigades are being chased and beaten by a brigade-level unit from the Empire!"

The orderly next to him glanced down and saw that many cigarette butts had been crushed on the floor.

The same applies to the coalition forces he is commanding now. In his opinion, they are just some miscellaneous troops that are just fake.

Although the two brigades located in the middle of the front were also blocked in their attacks, they at least held their own and were not repulsed.

This 'top student' who graduated from the command post of the First Federation Army Command Academy was able to achieve the position of commander of the planetary defense force at the age of over 40 years old.

In other words, this major general has never stopped smoking from the beginning of the war to now.

Even though the expeditionary force dropped by the empire was swept away, Major General Benjamin attributed the reason to the poor combat capabilities of the planetary defense force.

Otherwise, why would he be beaten like this under his textbook-standard combat deployment?

However, there is not no good news on the entire front.

He looked at the electronic sand table in front of him, and inexplicably felt that the familiar feeling of being defeated like a mountain when he led the planetary defense force in the face of the invasion of the imperial army came back.

But who said that this person in front of him was the commander of the entire coalition forces? At this time, there was no one with greater military rank and command authority than him in the entire combat force.

According to the newly updated information, the Imperial Armored Brigade Combat Teams in front of these two brigades are currently pursuing them.

At least on Lubion 5, there are several large industrial parks invested by the family companies behind Benjamin.

Instead, it became the only combat unit on the entire front that could "attack".

"What are these things?"

Major General Benjamin had to admit at this time that he had indeed made a mistake before.

But at the same time, he still believed that his deployment was 'indispensable'.

If it hadn't been for his 'magic move', he would have placed Atlas's troops on the right wing to take charge of the feint attack.

This mixed brigade of more than 3000 people cannot achieve this effect.

Thinking of this, Major General Benjamin couldn't help but think of the beam of light falling from the sky in the night sky, and the huge fireball that rose afterward.

After confirmation from multiple sources, the coalition command, including other forces, also knew that this round of strikes was completed by Atlas warships in orbit.

"How many other good things does this Atlas hide?"

Not to mention Major General Benjamin who was at the rear command post, even the commanders at the front who were organizing the retreat of the brigade headquarters were wondering how this little-known company could complete this 'shattering blow'.

Many people even took advantage of their company's warships to communicate with the captains of these warships, asking them if they could learn from Atlas's warships and provide fire support for ground troops.

One of the captains laughed at these "Army idiots who don't know how to command the Navy" in his heart, and at the same time gave a rather darkly humorous answer.

"Support is possible, but there are two possibilities, each accounting for 50%."

"What two possibilities? Hit the target or miss? It doesn't matter! You can scare the Imperial Army on the opposite side."

"No." The captain interrupted the emotional commander and continued:

"There is a 50% chance that the supporting warship will fall into the atmosphere, and a 50% chance that this round of attacks will fall on top of our own people."

"."
-
Located about 35 kilometers behind the offensive line of the imperial forces, several armored command vehicles equipped with anti-detection camouflage nets were parked in a relatively dense forest.

Several soldiers from the brigade's communications support company were checking several optical fibers connected to the vehicle's external interface.

These optical fibers are connected to the command information network management vehicle and communication node vehicle 3 kilometers away. While ensuring smooth communication, the brigade headquarters will also be reimbursed without allowing the communication node to be discovered.

In the armored command vehicle, several imperial officers were crowded together, looking at the on-board command terminal. Since the mobile command shelter vehicle had to be destroyed and abandoned due to mechanical failure in previous battles, the combat command headquarters could only move to a few armored command vehicles.

The commander-in-chief of the 'Broken Blade' counterattack, Colonel Viscount Drake of the Royal Army of the Star Dragon Empire, also looked at the electronic sand table with some worry.

Judging from the current situation, the imperial forces' counterattacks are progressing at a rapid pace in most directions.

Most of the federal troops they faced were easier to fight than they imagined.

Especially on the west side of the battle line, the 58th Armored Brigade Combat Team was even chasing two federal brigade combat units on its own.

But that dazzling bulge on the Eastern Front stuck like a nail in Colonel Drake's heart.

According to the news sent back by the 49th Armored Brigade Combat Team that was contacting the enemy in that direction, the combat effectiveness of the enemy brigade-level unit in the salient was not at the same level as other enemies.

The extremely strong frontal attack capability, coupled with the terrifying orbital strike, has caused two battalion-level units of the 49th Brigade to withdraw from the battle.

The entire 49th Brigade was also forced to stop the offensive momentum under the opponent's rapid attack. Now it is relying on a small town to barely stabilize the front.

"Lord Viscount, the troops to the east have encountered this tough problem, which is not easy to deal with."

A combat staff officer said:
"The 49th Brigade was reinforced with personnel and combat vehicles before the attack was launched. It can be said to be the brigade with the strongest offensive capabilities on the front. But now it is like this. I suggest that the 54th Brigade on their flanks provide emergency support. Let them withdraw first.”

As the combat staff spoke, a dotted line representing the 'planned attack' was extended on the attack arrow of the Atlas mixed brigade.

"Obviously, this enemy force wants to cut off the 49th Brigade's retreat and try to completely annihilate them."

"I second the proposal, Lord Viscount." Another staff officer also said.

"We have now lost support and supplies, and we absolutely cannot afford the loss of our established troops. Pulling back the 49th Brigade is the best choice now. If we are dragged into urban warfare in the future, we will also have more mobility. troops to defend.”

After listening to what the staff said, Colonel Drake did not think for too long, and the fierce battle situation on the front line did not allow him to think carefully.

And he actually already made his own decision.

"Pass me an order to have the 54th Brigade speed up the attack and coordinate the 49th Brigade to withdraw before the enemy encirclement is formed."

While issuing this order, the imperial commander opened his personal terminal and transmitted an authorization command to the command terminal after identity verification.

"At 0230 hours, authorize the 58th Armored Brigade Combat Team to use tactical nuclear weapons and tell the commander of the 58th Brigade to annihilate the opponent's effective forces as much as possible before the headquarters orders a retreat! He knows what to do."

Drake's order was quickly issued, and at the same time, a combat staff officer in the command vehicle also asked cautiously:
"Sir, are you sure you want to use nuclear weapons?"

"What? Do I still have to think about protecting the environment of this planet at this time to facilitate subsequent colonization?"

Colonel Drake said disdainfully, his tone full of resentment towards the empire and navy:

"**** (imperial expletive), those sons of bitches in the Navy ran away and left us on this planet to die. Do I still have to think about these bullshit things?"
-
After receiving the order from the headquarters and seeing the authorization code for the tactical nuclear weapon, the commander of the 58th Armored Brigade Combat Team looked at the battlefield situation map and immediately understood what Colonel Drake meant.

Under his order, the troops, which were already attacking smoothly, accelerated their attack pace.

The HCP troops that have interspersed at the junction between the enemy units have also received new instructions - to focus on attacking the enemy's accompanying air defense units and draw the enemy's HCP troops away to weaken the enemy's strength as much as possible. Air defense capabilities.

After receiving the order, the Imperial HCP pilots immediately abandoned some armored and infantry units in front of them, and then relied on the HCP's mobility to crush other units on the ground to search and destroy all air defense units.

The two brigades being pursued by the coalition forces were also confused. Their commanders did not understand why the enemy in front of them was going crazy and frantically targeting their own air defense units.

But they didn't have time to think so much, so they could only let the HCP troops who could still fight go forward to intercept and protect their own air defense units, which were not cheap.

Just when the HCP and air defense units on both sides started to play the game of 'Eagle Catching the Chicken'.

On a hillside 5 kilometers away, an HCP carrying a huge launch box removed its optical camouflage and walked out of the forest.

After the walking unit popped out a few mechanical auxiliary tools for buffering and fixing, the "ordinary"-looking launch box on its back opened the front cover, revealing a stealth warhead inside.

"The 'Light Picker' has arrived at the designated launch location and is in the second phase of the 'Breaking Point' operation."

"Enter the authorization code and verification has been completed!"

"Launch program unlocked!"

"HQ, now for the final confirmation, are you going to carry out the final stage of the 'breaking point' operation?"

"This is HQ, confirming the execution of the final stage of the 'breaking point' operation."

"Received, start executing the launch program. The program enters the irreversible stage."

"3, 2, 1, launch!"

Amidst the smoke and dust that suddenly rose up on this hillside, a warhead with a tail flame quickly rushed towards the target airspace amidst the explosion that broke the sound barrier.

At this moment, all imperial units on the western front stopped attacking. The mobile infantry either hid in vehicles or used vehicles as bunkers. All units also turned on the 'anti-nuclear' mode.

The coalition HCPs on the front line looked at the enemy units that suddenly retreated, thinking that the other party had given up on continuing the attack due to their interference, and cheered.

The next second, an extremely dazzling light tore through the dark night sky, like a supernova exploding on the surface of Lubion 5.

The huge fireball expanded rapidly like the blazing sun in midsummer, lifting itself up with its majestic power and climbing toward the sky.

Its brightness is so bright that it is impossible to look directly at it. Even on the distant front, the reflection of this strong light can be seen on the armor of mobile infantry and vehicles.

As the fireball soared into the sky, the air at the center of the explosion was compressed and violently expanded in an instant, eventually forming an invisible but destructive supersonic shock wave that swept away in all directions.

Wherever it went, whether it was solid concrete fortifications or armored units such as main battle tanks and HCPs, they were easily torn apart and thrown like paper in front of this huge force, mixed with debris, soil, and countless unfortunates. wailing.

Finally, when the huge mushroom cloud slowly rose in the firelight, the units on both sides of the battlefield finally felt the sense of oppression that the former 'King of War' should have.

(End of this chapter)