From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 360: Encirclement and Showdown

Norris, the commander of the 72nd Heavy Combined Battalion under the 162nd Heavy Combined Brigade of the Federal Army Expeditionary Force, has been in excellent condition since landing on Pella IV, killing everyone in his way.

The original duty of the 72nd Heavy Combined Brigade in the federal landing force was to be a "deep attack brigade", and Norris's 162nd Heavy Combined Battalion was the "forward attack battalion" of the brigade.

It can be said to be the tip of the spear at the attack.

Therefore, their battalion is one of the few "regular soldiers" in the entire landing force that were directly transferred from the military planet. Both their equipment and personnel quality are much higher than other friendly units.

Compared with the Star Dragon Empire's filling-in troops on the other side of the front line, their overall combat effectiveness is naturally several levels higher.

Therefore, during this period, Norris and his troops basically did not encounter any difficulties or challenges when performing their tasks.

until today
When Norris first received the mission to "go to the Atlas Group's refugee camp to negotiate and search", he actually guessed that the higher-ups were probably trying to cause trouble for Atlas.

In other words, the Federation no longer intends to continue the stalemate and is preparing for a showdown with Atlas.

Their front-line troops had more or less heard about the conflict between the Federation and Atlas during this period.

As a professional federal soldier, Norris naturally stood on the federal side unconditionally in this matter.

However, he did not have much hostility towards the Atlas Group in his heart, because the team of this company had not interfered with the normal operations of the Federation before, but had "different opinions" with the Federation on the handling of refugees and imperial prisoners.

Regarding this point, Norris felt that it was indeed difficult for him to judge.

He could understand that the federal troops had psychological tendencies to commit violence against the civilians and soldiers of the Empire because of "national hatred and family feuds" and long-term fighting.

After all, even his soldiers who had been training on military planets all year round had more or less similar emotions.

Not to mention those "mobilized soldiers" who were just civilians a few months ago. Their psychological quality and psychological endurance will only be worse.

On the other hand, the Atlas Group does indeed adhere to neutrality and provides free humanitarian assistance.

They are not just helping the Star Dragon Empire. Sometimes when they encounter federal troops on the road, the company's combat personnel will use their more expensive and advanced medical equipment to treat the seriously injured.

So in the eyes of regular force officers like Norris, the armed men of this company could not be called enemies.

But no matter what Norris thinks in his heart, he will resolutely carry out the orders from his superiors.

Moreover, he did not take the Atlas troops lightly, but placed them at a higher position than the imperial troops.

So at this time he led his combined battalion to the vicinity of the Atlas Camp V refugee camp. After deploying the formation according to the conventional front-line contact regulations, Norris sent people to negotiate with the people from this company.

Who knew that we would encounter a situation that was not considered in the plan right from the start.

There were no soldiers on Atlas' outer cordon, but instead a large group of autonomous armed machines were on guard.

After discovering the federal forces, a part of the autonomous machines gathered together and used some small holographic projection device they were equipped with to project a line of words in the air using a conspicuous color combination.

"Humanitarian refugee reception area, armed forces of both warring parties please be careful to identify and prevent accidental attacks, refugees and soldiers who need to surrender please follow the instructions and enter after completely disarming.

The autonomous machinery will monitor the cordon 24 hours a day and record images in real time. If any abnormal situation occurs, it will take reasonable and legal countermeasures in accordance with the "Terrares Convention" and the "Memorandum of Understanding on Theater Operations" without assuming any responsibility.

"Humph, you have done a flawless job in this regard."

After watching the images sent back by the troops sent to negotiate, Norris complained unhappily. The other party was obviously treating the situation coldly or trying to delay the time. The troops sent to negotiate had been wandering around the cordon for half an hour, and the other party had no intention of sending out negotiators.

Only the few autonomous machines responsible for holographic projection were tirelessly issuing warnings with words and sounds.

Of course, there are also a large number of autonomous machines equipped with weapons standing guard in the distance, and the weapons mounted on their mechanical arms are also pointing straight at this side.

"Battalion Commander, what should we do now?" After wandering around like headless flies for a long time, the troops sent out to negotiate turned to Norris helplessly for help.

"If we launch an attack, these autonomous machines will cause some trouble to the infantry units, but if the mechanical units come up to suppress them, they probably won't be able to hold out for long."

"Who said I was going to attack?"

Norris shook his head when he heard his men planning to launch an attack right away.

"Friendly forces have already surrounded us from several directions. This camp is now like a duck in a pot. There is no way to escape."

"So we're just going to wait like this?"

"Let's wait. I think the situation will change soon. I just received news from the reconnaissance unit in the rear that a large group of refugees and surrendered imperial soldiers are approaching this camp."

Having said that, Norris also opened the satellite image on the command vehicle terminal.

The satellite that was passing overhead had captured a picture of a huge crowd of people moving towards this side.

But at the same time, Atlas' camp is no longer as 'casual' as before.

Since the conflicts began to escalate some time ago, some kind of jamming equipment has been turned on in their various camps, causing the images of the camps captured by the synthetic aperture radar to appear as if covered with a thick layer of mosaic, with nothing visible.

Norris turned off the satellite image, controlled the perimeter mirror of the command vehicle, and looked in the direction of the refugee tide.

Although these refugees and surrendered soldiers also discovered the presence of federal troops, after finding that the latter did not behave abnormally, they quickly continued to move towards the camp.

It is obvious that these people's desire for drinking water and food has surpassed their fragile lives like mayflies at this moment.

Just like that, the crowd gradually began to approach the cordon of Atlas Camp V, and this scale of refugees also caused several armored vehicles and main battle tanks to drive in from inside the camp.

The negotiators sent by Norris also took this opportunity to negotiate with the Atlas soldiers wearing pure white combat exoskeletons.

"We suspect that the terrorists who carried out the bomb attack some time ago have sneaked into your camp along with the refugees. Out of a sense of responsibility for both parties, please allow our people to go in and search."

"I have stressed that everyone entering the camp has been searched and identified. There are no terrorists here, only refugees and surrendered soldiers."

Faced with the request made by the federal army, the soldiers on the Atlas side refused without hesitation and once again warned the other side not to cross the border.

"Brother, let your commander take a good look around. Your camp has been surrounded by troops far outnumbering your own. If you continue to be in a stalemate like this, nothing good will come of it."

"Oh, surrounded? Then what?"

"How can you be so stubborn, you guy?"

The soldiers of the Federation and Atlas were arguing across the cordon, and no one noticed that behind a dirt slope in the distance, the air was unnaturally distorted for a moment and then returned to normal.

(End of this chapter)