Mecha and Knife

It was dark, and it was light, and it was dark again, and it was light again.

The artillery fire on Vulture Mountain finally stopped, and all the federal mecha fighters who participated in the battle and survived, together with their mechs, gathered at the federal position under Vulture Mountain.

"Reporting to the regiment commander, the Xinghe Mecha Independent Corps, the First Mecha Battalion, should have 155 people, but there are actually 57 people."

"Reporting to the regiment commander, the Xinghe Mecha Independent Corps, the Second Mecha Battalion, should have 161 people, but there are actually 51 people."

"Report to the regiment commander, the Xinghe Mecha Independent Corps, the 3rd Mecha Battalion, should have twenty-three people, but actually seventeen."

"Reporting Corps Commander, Galaxy Mecha Independent Corps, Orbital Airborne Tactical Mecha Squad, three people should be there, and there are actually three people."

"Reporting to the regiment commander, there should be ninety-six members of the ship-borne mecha battalion of the Shenshuiyuan, but there are actually sixty-one people."

Hearing the report sounding in his ears, and looking at the mechs in front of him that were too late to be fully repaired, Ji Xinghe was in a bad mood.

Even if they succeeded in annihilating nearly 150,000 troops of the empire, 832 imperial mechas, and captured two imperial space battleships, in the defensive battle of the No. Big wins to cheer for.

But those two hundred and forty-nine heroic federal mech fighters never had the chance to return to the Azure Star. They didn't even see the final victory of this battle, nor did they hear the full-blown chants that sounded for them. Army bulletin.

They are all young.

It wasn't just the sacrifice of the mecha fighters. In the middle of the battle, the Galaxy Mecha Independent Corps successfully destroyed a large number of the empire's anti-missile weapon systems, and the Federation's firepower was able to effectively kill Vulture Mountain.

The 7,000 regular troops from Base No. 5 finally arrived at the battlefield, brought logistical support to the mecha fighters participating in the battle, and began to cooperate with the mecha fighters to launch a final attack on Vulture Mountain under the cover of federal firepower. Clean up the battle.

They were still clearing the battlefield at this time, and did not report the number of casualties to Ji Xinghe, the regiment commander.

From the perspective of command sequence, they don't need to report to Ji Xinghe.

But Ji Xinghe has seen their casualty statistics, 1,394 people died and 42 were injured.

On the battlefield on alien planets, injury basically equals death.

These are the reasons why Ji Xinghe was depressed after the big victory. After all, he was not a professional soldier.

When Base No. 5 sent regular troops to join the battle, Ji Xinghe, who was resting at the time, had an argument with Tu Yuan, who was in command of the battle.

Ji Xinghe believes that the conventional force should be the main logistics force, as long as enough time is given to the Xinghe Mecha Independent Corps, they can complete the annihilation.

Tu Yuan believes that conventional troops can reduce the damage rate of the Federation mechs, especially in relatively low-significant suppression battles, some damage is not worth it.

Tu Yuan, who has been led by the nose by Ji Xinghe these days, finally lost his temper because Ji Xinghe argued with him on this point.

"Ji Xinghe, do you think that we have 300,000 mecha fighters and only 50,000 active mechas, so mecha fighters are worthless?"

"The investment in training a hundred soldiers is not as large as the investment in training a mecha warrior. We don't have so many mechas now, but it doesn't mean we won't have so many mechas in the future."

"This battle is up to you. After the battle is over, how many mechas do we have left?"

"You are a mechanic, you can repair mechas, we are all mechanics, can we repair mechas?"

"Without mechas, if the Empire sends a large-scale force to attack Base No. 5, what will we do to stop it?"

"You want to launch another Ji Xinghe challenge?"

"Ji Xinghe, be sober. Your Ji Xinghe challenge can't decide the real outcome. When they are guarding Vulture Mountain, you can't finish killing them by rushing up alone. We still have to die."

"Your mecha corps has lost one hundred and thirty-six mechas, and all the shipboard mechas of Shenshuiyuan have participated in the battle. If you don't let them go, you really want to destroy all our mechas. ?"

"Once you are successful, your bones will dry up. Once you say this, you will look like the world is drunk and you are alone. You, Ji Xinghe, don't want anyone to sacrifice. All of us want to exchange the lives of thousands of soldiers for our own generals." achievement?"

"Sixty-six years old, Ji Xinghe, can you stop thinking of yourself as an innocent boy?"

Facing Tu Yuan's outburst, Ji Xinghe was rarely silent.

Perhaps it is because Ji Xinghe understands one truth from the beginning to the end: In war, there is no one who is immortal.

Tu Yuan, who felt that he had slipped his words, softened his tone perhaps because he sensed the strange gazes from the people around him.

"Many, many years ago, there was a war. A general with 7,000 troops blocked hundreds of thousands of troops for nearly nine months and saved hundreds of thousands of troops. The peace of the people, and the struggle for the country."

"Therefore, after he died in battle, he was posthumously named Duke of the State. Ji Xinghe, do you know how he fought?"

Ji Xinghe didn't answer because he knew.

Tu Yuan also knew that Ji Xinghe knew that the first time he saw Ji Xinghe, Ji Xinghe used the words in the Analects to get him stuck. If it wasn't for the reminder from the staff officer Liu Mian beside him, he, a civilian general at the time, would probably be said failed.

In fact, civilian generals' civil positions are not all cultural-related functions, similar to professional technical military ranks, and those who can get general ranks in professional technical categories are of course not professional skills such as art troupes.

Tu Yuan was able to get the rank of general because his main research was related to war.

From this point of view, Ji Xinghe, who likes to read and has read books for more than 50 years, may have a higher level of education than Tu Yuan.

But Tu Yuan was not convinced. What he was not convinced was that Ji Xinghe knew these things and knew these reasons, but he always looked at the federal soldiers in this war with a compassionate attitude.

So he asked when Ji Xinghe was silent.

"I'll tell you how he fought. He killed his concubines and servants, and forced his officers and soldiers to eat meat. After the commander's servants finished eating, he ate the old, weak, women and children in the city. The city he guarded had a household registration of 40,000 before the war. At that time, there were only four hundred living people left."

"Ji Xinghe, tell me, is he meritorious or guilty?"

Tu Yuan continued without waiting for Ji Xinghe's answer.

"Some people say that his merits are in the present, but his crimes are in the future, and some people say that his crimes are in the present, and his merits are in the future."

"Why are there arguments? Because he protects people, beats people, eats people, and they are all people."

"What about us?"

"Ji Xinghe, you are actually doing very well. You treat the empire as cruel and ruthless as a severe winter, and treat our people as warm as spring, but you are not good enough."

"Compassion does not command soldiers. You can have compassion for everyone, but in this war, your command cannot be kind."

"If you are kind, you are not worthy to be the commander of the regiment."

"If you want to be the same as before, when you lead the team to fight, you always come back with a complete victory, and no one around you can die..."

"Ji Xinghe, I will turn your Xinghe Mecha Independent Corps into the former Xinghe Squad."

"Now, I want to order regular troops to join the battle, Ji Xinghe, do you have any objections?"

Ji Xinghe didn't say anything, and after a little rest, he ran towards Vulture Mountain again.

Until the battle was really over, he never questioned any of Tu Yuan's orders.

At this time, he looked at the 189 federal mecha fighters who were able to be preserved because of Tu Yuan's order and the sacrifice of more than a thousand people, and the mechas that had been fighting with them for nearly two days.

He knew very well that without the sacrifices of those people, there might be less than a hundred mech fighters standing in front of him.

This battle of annihilation with few enemies and many enemies is impossible to finish now.

So, is the sacrifice of those people worth it?

Ji Xinghe couldn't count, and he didn't want to count.

Because this is war, a ruthless war, a war that cannot be settled.

"salute."

When Ji Xinghe made some unruly noises in the communication channel, he was already driving his mech towards Vulture Mountain.

salute.

One hundred and eighty-nine federal mech fighters then neatly made the same movements as him, with one voice.

"salute!"

Ji Xinghe kept this action for three minutes. What no one saw was that he, who was in the cockpit of the mech, also made a salute gesture.

What no one can see is that there are many, many mecha fighters in the cockpit, saluting towards Vulture Mountain with their mechas.

Because there is the burial ground of their comrades-in-arms.

"Let's go home."

When Ji Xinghe uttered his voice, he drove the mecha towards the direction of base No. 5. He didn't take a space battleship, nor did he have any soldiers.

Even though they are extremely exhausted, they cannot waste limited transportation resources.

A large number of imperial mechs and other weapons were seized in this battle, and they all needed to be transported to Base No. 5 as soon as possible.

It is impossible to build a temporary base or machine repair area in Vulture Mountain, and the shortage of various equipment, tools and personnel is one reason.

On the other hand, the reason is that the coordinates of Vulture Mountain are very accurate for the empire. When the battle of Vulture Mountain is over, they are very likely to carry out long-range strikes with fire coverage.

The Federation can prevent it, but it doesn't have to.

The Federation, which has won a big victory in this battle, still does not have the ability to compete with the Empire in firepower.

The only ones currently equipped with anti-missile weapon systems on Vulture Mountain are the two mostly intact Imperial spaceships.

Their restoration work will be carried out when it is determined that the Imperial bombardment has ceased.

Whether you can keep it or not depends on luck.

...

It's not going home, but most of the federal mech fighters who are going home are already asleep.

When the communication is good and there is no enemy situation, their mechs can control the running with the autopilot program.

But some people cannot sleep, and they cannot sleep because they have to shoulder the task of vigilance.

"Old Ji."

Ji Xinghe heard Jackson's voice, and he was pulled into a temporary communication channel.

This communication channel is full of members of the Galaxy Squad.

Counting Ji Xinghe's Xinghe team, which had twenty-six people before, after adding Jackson, Yu Ren, and Han Li, there were only twenty-three people left.

During the Battle of Vulture Mountain, six members of Xinghe Squad died.

Their sacrifices, as well as the sacrifices of a large number of mecha fighters from the Galaxy Mecha Independent Corps, were all because of the two Imperial Dukes who failed to leave through the leap gate.

In other words, it was all because of Aida Kang.

It exchanged the lives of the two dukes for the lives of at least thirty federal mecha fighters.

Without the support of the three of Han Li, the number of sacrificed mech fighters would have been even greater.

Ji Xinghe is very strong, but there are too many imperial troops and mechas on Vulture Mountain. They want to survive the desperate situation, turning the battlefield of Vulture Mountain into a quagmire.

Even for Ji Xinghe, it was difficult to deal with the two imperial dukes who were fighting separately in the first place.

"The words that General Tu Yuan said..." Jackson hesitated for a moment, thinking about Han Li's explanation, he still gritted his teeth and said, "Actually, it was an explanation for you, for his order to kill you earlier."

"I know."

Ji Xinghe responded calmly.

This made Jackson even more courageous, and continued: "Actually, I think what he said is quite reasonable."

Ji Xinghe did not respond.

Su Chuanyun jumped out: "Old Ji, you really let me down, really."

The blind man followed up and said, "We'll talk about this battle after we have fully reviewed it, but what I want to say now is, Lao Ji, why don't you let us help you?"

The lame man: "I know you think we can't do it, we can't beat the Duke of the Empire and the Marquis of the Empire, but you won't let us fight, how do you know we can't do it?"

Qin Tong: "I read Xingyue's battle recorder data, Lao Ji, you almost died, do you know that?"

Harris: "Xingyue, which has replaced nuclear fuel cells, can no longer fight. If the two duke orangutans were not scared away by you, we would all rush to Vulture Mountain again...Old Ji, this time, you did it wrong, wrong It's very powerful."

Left hand: "Old Ji, we..."

"okay."

Ji Xinghe interrupted what his left hand said, and also interrupted what the rest of the Xinghe team was about to say.

This made the left hand very wronged, and recalled the words Ji Xinghe said to him when he fought side by side with Ji Xinghe for the first time in the Sanliu Grand Canyon: With me here, don’t use your brain in the future up.

"I know you guys want to divert my attention from making me sad, upset, and blame myself..."

Ji Xinghe continued in a calm tone: "But it really doesn't matter, I'm fine, I'm really fine. Don't forget, I have crossed more bridges than you have traveled."

With so many sacrifices, how could the rest of the Xinghe team be in a good mood?

They actually didn't intend to chat, but for Ji Xinghe, they wanted to say something.

In their view, this is the first time that Ji Xinghe has faced the sacrifices of his comrades-in-arms, and after he has won an incredible battle, he has to face the sacrifices of so many comrades-in-arms.

In contrast, they who have fought in alien stars for many years are more accustomed to facing the sacrifices of their comrades than Ji Xinghe.

The lame man's leg was not lame when he was fighting alone. The blind man's eyes were not blinded when he was fighting alone. Su Chuanyun, Andre and the others went to the No. 6 base after being beaten down by the empire, and Han Li...

Before today, Ji Xinghe seemed to have only experienced the sacrifice of a comrade-in-arms in the battle he participated in once.

So they were very worried about Ji Xinghe.

Listening to Ji Xinghe's calm tone at this moment, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Chuanyun was still a little unwilling and said: "We are telling the truth, Lao Ji, if you don't trust us, if you continue, it will lead to a big mistake sooner or later."

Ji Xinghe asked back: "Then do you trust me?"

"Of course we trust you." Su Chuanyun didn't know what happened to Xingyue before, and said confidently: "But what General Li Yuanba said is that everyone under the Duke is an ant, and you were facing the Duke of the Empire at that time. It's not the time for Ji Xinghe to challenge, in that case, the duke is not an ant, as long as they..."

"You are already an ace mecha fighter, you can communicate with General Li Yuanba directly."

Ji Xinghe interrupted Su Chuanyun's words, and said: "You contact him now and ask him what the Duke means to me."

"Okay, I'll ask."

The bold Su Chuanyun sent Li Yuanba a message without hesitation. He wanted to contact Li Yuanba a long time ago, but there was no suitable opportunity.

The communication channel fell silent, and everyone was waiting.

Li Yuanba didn't know what he was doing, but he replied the message very quickly. After seeing the reply, Su Chuanyun cried out excitedly.

"He replied to me, and General Li Yuanba replied to me. He asked me why I asked like that."

Others urged: "Then you go back to him quickly."

"Oh."

After a while, Su Chuanyun's voice sounded again.

"General Li Yuanba replied to me again, and he only replied with four words... Tujiwagou."

The blind man connected the two sentences immediately, and added his exaggerated embellishments.

"Below the duke, they are all ants. Above the duke, they are chickens and dogs."

The communication channel of the Galaxy Squad was quiet again.

It turned out that their trust in Ji Xinghe was not as good as Li Yuanba who had never really met Ji Xinghe.

Ji Xinghe said calmly: "Su Chuanyun, you stopped talking because you believed in Li Yuanba. So, you don't actually believe me?"

Su Chuanyun, who finally felt the crisis, chose to play dead.

But Ji Xinghe didn't let him go, and asked, "Qin Tong, didn't you have time for the thing I asked you to arrange?"

"Yes." Qin Tong only answered one word, but everyone could hear his gloating tone.

"After going back, continue to execute."

"yes."

Everyone in the Xinghe team was really relieved. Such a Ji Xinghe was obviously not affected, but gave people a feeling of growing up again.

The sixty-six-year-old Ji Xinghe is unscientifically strong, yet he is still growing.

so good.