From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 345 When the Regular Army Began to Disregard Humanity

The attack on Pella IV was not an important node in this round of strategic offensive launched by the Federation.

Among the nearly 30 planets serving as offensive nodes along the entire front, the importance of Pella IV is only at the second-tier level.

But even if we just focus on Pyra IV, as time goes on, the front-line soldiers of both sides who are engaged in the battle are in a different state than when the war just started because of the long-term mental tension.

You come to fight in an imperial galaxy far away. On the planet you land on, except for friendly forces, everyone, including civilians, is your enemy. They fear you and are afraid of you, but at the same time they deeply hate you.
Many people cannot imagine such pressure.

If the federal troops initially fought with the mentality of "revenge", "achievement", "eliminating imperial tyranny" and "making history", they no longer have that initial passion.

Instead, there was an increasingly strong feeling of brutality and irritability, and the desire to abuse the "Imperial Guys" began to dominate.

Although the commanders of the federal forces on Pella IV are still sober at the moment and know that they cannot do anything out of line, so they strictly control their troops, but such constraints have become weaker and weaker over time.

When the military police, who were responsible for supervising military discipline, began to collude with combat soldiers due to the long-term high-pressure environment, the situation gradually got out of control.

In comparison, the situation of the Star Dragon Empire's troops may be slightly better. But unfortunately, it is not much better.

Most of the current defenders on this planet are not actually the natives of this planet. Most of them are "mobilized soldiers" transported from other galaxies because of the "general mobilization order."

Although at the beginning they did fight for the purpose of "defending the country", "repelling invaders" and "maintaining the glory of the empire".

But faced with the fierce offensive of the Federal Army, the Imperial defenders began to have ideological problems after suffering increasingly serious casualties.

It is still the same problem that the Federation and the Star Dragon Empire share - the sense of national identity.

During the Blue Star period, the people of each country had the highest sense of national identity because they lived on the same land and were connected to each other.

But as humans entered deep space and began the era of interstellar navigation, civilians' sense of national identity can be said to have declined exponentially.

Many people cannot understand why they should pay a price to provide help to a planet that is tens of thousands of miles away from them and with whom they will never have any contact in their lifetime, and to the people living on it?

Many soldiers, including some grassroots officers, began to ask themselves why they should sacrifice their lives for this planet that they had never visited?

Once this idea fermented in the team, it spread rapidly at a terrifying speed.

The first impact was that the troops' willingness to fight began to drop significantly. Many troops would rather give up their positions than fight the federal army to the death.

Then, after many commanders realized that they were likely to be abandoned by the imperial high-level officials, a mood of self-abandonment began to gradually erupt from top to bottom.

Many front-line combat battalions, shouting the slogan "Let's drink today and not worry about tomorrow's destruction", began to let themselves go, and military discipline gradually became a decoration.

In this context, unarmed civilians have become the group that suffers the most on this planet.——
"This is 'Totoro'. The intersection is confirmed to be safe. The large group can pass quickly." "Received. Stay alert. Continue to scout after the large group passes."

This conversation took place in the small town of Portia, 5 kilometers away from Refugee Camp No. 11.

The two parties in the dialogue were a forward reconnaissance team and a mechanized platoon of Atlas "humanitarian aid" troops that followed.

At this moment, this small town, which once had a permanent population of nearly 5, has almost become a deserted town after being "visited" many times by the Federal Army and the Imperial garrison.

According to the survivors who fled to the refugee camp for shelter, the town of Portia was controlled by an offensive force of the Federation when they evacuated. After taking control of the town, they immediately began to hunt down the scattered remnants of the Empire and civilians.

The residents of the small town who fled to Refugee Camp No. 5 were able to escape because they lived on the outskirts of the town near Camp No. 5.

After hearing the refugees' descriptions, Monton, the commander of the 5nd Heavy Combined Battalion of the Atlas Ground Forces, who was responsible for the defense of Camp No. , immediately realized that there was a high possibility that some bad situations might occur in the town.

With an understanding of the mission of "humanitarian aid", Monton had the communications squad contact the nearby federal troops and report the situation, then sent a platoon of troops into the town of Portia to search for other survivors.

The other units of the 'Forward Control Company', to which this platoon belonged, were deployed in the rear and ready to provide support at any time.

Since the mission was to search for survivors rather than actually control the front line, Monton did not send out too many troops to avoid causing misjudgment by the federal forces.

But he was not stingy in supporting this forward control company.

The firepower company and drone platoon equipped with self-propelled artillery and cruise missiles under the combined battalion were reinforced to this company. At the same time, the HCP company and the armored company were also ready to attack at any time.

After confirming safety, the reconnaissance team with the call sign "Totoro" who was in charge of forward reconnaissance in an armored infantry fighting vehicle quickly passed through the intersection after entering the town of Portia.

Whether it is the armored infantry fighting vehicles used to carry troops or the three medium-sized multi-legged vehicles that have been reinforced to this platoon, they are all painted all white, just like Atlas's aerospace transport aircraft.

Although such a paint scheme completely loses its concealment, it can at least allow the warring parties to identify the identity of the unit at a glance and minimize the possibility of accidental attacks.

Just as the platoon leader and platoon sergeant of this mechanized infantry platoon were sitting in the command vehicle discussing where the survivors would choose as their hiding place, good news and bad news came back at the same time.

The good news is that a high-altitude reconnaissance drone flying overhead finally discovered the civilian survivors gathered together.

The bad news is that there is a circle of federal troops surrounding these survivors.

The infantry fighting vehicle that was currently out for reconnaissance was reporting its position through a tweeter and playing the contents of the "Talales Convention" in a loop. After rushing to the location reported by the drone, they quickly sent a communication to the command vehicle.

"Platoon leader, the federal army seems to be preparing to execute these civilians. What should we do?"

(End of this chapter)