From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 386 John and Clark
"Private John, what are you doing?"

A slightly tired and hoarse voice sounded in the communication channel. John, who was called, subconsciously stood up and looked behind him.

When he saw that it was his squad leader, he immediately raised his hand and saluted:
"Sergeant! I am cleaning up the battlefield as ordered."

"Take a break."

John's squad leader glanced at him. He could even feel the other's eyes hidden behind the tactical mask scanning him up and down, and finally lingered on his left hand for a moment.

However, the squad leader did not say anything in the end. After confirming that there was nothing unusual, he turned and left.

"There may be hidden enemies in this area. Don't let your guard down. After cleaning this room, go downstairs and return to the team immediately. We are going to follow the main force to attack the core area of ​​the city."

"Yes, Sergeant, I'll be right down!"

Watching the sergeant disappear at the stairs, this "country boy" from the empire's border planet breathed a sigh of relief.

During this period, "countryside" did not only refer to rural areas, but in certain contexts also referred to remote colonies that were not in the core galaxy circle.

John thought that it might be because of his identity that his squad leader, Sergeant Banner, always kept an eye on him, perhaps because he was afraid that a "country boy" like him would cause trouble for the team.

After all, their current location is still the center of the battlefield where the enemy is fighting, and they may encounter the federal troops entrenched here at any time.

As a mobile infantryman in a newly formed medium-sized combined brigade of the Imperial Army, John joined the Royal Army due to the general mobilization order and soon followed the troops to the planet that the Empire had just recaptured in the great counterattack.

According to his comrades, this is an important industrial planet, which is far superior to the remote agricultural colony planet where John grew up.

It is also for this reason that the Federation deployed a large number of troops after taking over the planet. Not only did it send a large number of ground troops, it also arranged three main fleets in the planet's orbit for defense.

Before the Empire launched its counterattack, this was actually one of the most intense points on the battle line, with fleets from both sides fighting each other in orbit near the planet almost every day.

This is to cover orbital attack ships and near-air assault ships to provide fire support to the ground, or to deploy ground combat troops.

However, after the Empire launched a large-scale counterattack, the Federation Navy began to retreat without any warning, and even only had time to take away some ground forces.

John's mission after following the troops to the ground was to wipe out the remaining federal troops on the ground with superior forces.

At this time, he and his medium-sized combined brigade were cooperating with other troops to attack a large industrial city. According to the fragmentary information revealed by his superiors and the enemies and friendly forces that John and his team had encountered in the past few days, this large industrial city may have gathered more than 10 brigades of troops from both sides.
And John is also very lucky to have survived this fierce urban battle.

And in the process, he developed a habit - that is, every time after defeating the enemy, if there is a chance, he would take a closer look to see what kind of Federal he had killed.

The reason why Sergeant Banner's gaze lingered on his left hand was very simple. In his hand was a photo that he had just taken out from the body of a federal soldier behind him.

At this moment, after the usually serious Sergeant Banner walked down the corridor full of bullet holes and charred bodies, John also picked up the photo in his hand that he had just found from the federal soldier.

This is a photo that has been partially stained with blood, and it is also a physical photo paper that is relatively rare in the Empire.

In John's impression, this kind of photo paper is not cheap, so most families will choose the digital version after taking photos. Even if they want to display them, they will use cheaper digital photo frames or small holographic projection devices.

John, who is just a "country boy", doesn't know why such a thin piece of photo paper is so expensive. At least in terms of cost performance, it is completely inferior to those digital photo frames that have more vivid colors and can store a large number of photos at one time.

But he knew that this photo must be very important to the federal soldier, otherwise he would not carry it with him.

This is a photo of a little boy and a woman. The little boy is not very old and looks sunny and cute, while the woman's face is stained with blood, but it can be seen that she should be the boy's mother.

Although the federal soldier who was lying on the ground at this time had his tactical visor shattered by the piercing rod of the electromagnetic rifle during the indoor firefight, his face could not be distinguished at all.

However, John guessed that the people in the photo should be the wife and children of the federal soldier.

He turned the photo over and looked at the back, only to see a line of words in rough and somewhat blurred handwriting - 'Martha, Little Dior, my love' "So why did you come here? Is it also because of the general mobilization order?"

John shook his head and sighed.

Every time he defeated an enemy and observed them closely while cleaning up the battlefield, he would have a deeper understanding that the enemies he was fighting were also living people.

They have families, friends and their own lives, but for various reasons they came here voluntarily or were forced to do so, and ultimately left their lives on this planet.

During this process, John did not show mercy to the enemy. He knew that the enemy was the enemy, and he would only show mercy to the enemy on the battlefield unless he did not want to live.

But he began to think, what is the meaning of this war?
Why did we suddenly go to war with the Federation?

Why did the federal government come to attack us while we were fighting?
Why was I just farming well in my hometown when I was suddenly dragged to fight on this planet I had never heard of?
Of course, such a question cannot be thought out in a short period of time, it is just like a seed planted in the heart.

John squatted down again and stuffed the photo back into the pocket of the federal soldier, while wiping the blood stains from the 'dog tag' on his neck with his hand.

"Clark?"

John muttered the name, then put down the 'dog tag' and pulled off the remaining plasma grenades and high-energy batteries on Clark's combat exoskeleton - these were the only things on the corpse that could be used.

The rod model of the Federation standard electromagnetic rifle is different from that of the Empire, so it cannot be used directly.

The tactical bag containing food and medical supplies had been pierced through the pole and smashed to pieces in the previous firefight, so there was nothing useful to be found now.

"Have a good rest. This war has nothing to do with you anymore."

After picking up the usable items, John walked to the door, took a last look at the federal soldier who seemed a little pitiful to him, and then went downstairs.

Compared to the relatively intact second floor, the first floor of the building was in a much more miserable condition. Half of the wall where the gate was located was blown down, and John could even see a Pacificator heavy multi-legged chariot passing by outside, as well as the infantry near it.

"Come down, John. Did you find anything good?"

The comrades who were resting on the first floor greeted John when they saw him. They still trusted this comrade who was not good at speaking but was serious and meticulous on the battlefield.

"Just a few plasma grenades and high-energy batteries. Take them. I still have enough."

"What happened to the baggage train? They were ambushed by the federal army."

"Who knows? But why don't the higher-ups try to find another way to get supplies? Even an emergency airdrop?"

"I heard that there is a joint fleet of nobles above us. Maybe these nobles are reluctant to let us go. After all, whether it is orbital attacks or airdrops, they are the ones who spend the money."

"These damn nobles, we work hard on earth, while they are in heaven worrying about their own golden dragon of the empire"

The comrades started chatting with each other, and it was not difficult to hear a hint of complaint in their words. John said a few words casually, handed the plasma grenade he had just picked up to his comrades, and then walked out of the building.

At this time, the large force that followed took over the tasks of these "frontline attack battalions" and began to advance towards the federal army's defense line in the center of the city.

Looking at this scene, John always felt that the war before him seemed to have no end in sight.

He couldn't help but think of his good friend Will. When they were gathering at the military station in his hometown, this guy said he wanted to carry a sack of military medals back.

"I don't know what happened to this guy. I hope he won't be missing any limbs when we meet after the war."

(End of this chapter)