Traveling through the infinite wasteland

In the continuous victories, the imperial commanders had the illusion that the federal army rarely counterattacked. Therefore, in order to more easily supply the attacking troops, the bold imperial commanders reversed the previous base layout and placed it on the third line of defense. A series of bases similar to the supply transfer bases located on the third line of defense were previously added to the defense base. In this way, the attacking troops attacking from the defensive base do not need to start with full supplies in the defensive base, but can use the supplies at the transit base halfway through the march. This undoubtedly reduces the logistics workload in the defense base, reduces the inconvenience of using a large amount of base facility space for supplies, and greatly increases the combat radius of the mecha. However, this layout also has the biggest shortcoming, that is, once the enemy breaks through the outpost of the first line of defense, it will be difficult for the transit base as the third line of defense to withstand the opponent's attack by relying solely on its own garrison. This can easily cause a lot of material losses and disperse a lot of defensive forces. But the imperial commander laughed off this kind of violence. He believed that even if the Federation counterattacked, the strength of the counterattack would be limited.

However, the Federation's offensive stopped after a fierce day. During the implementation of the third plan, too many mechas were injured and needed repairs, especially the troops from Emma. After the simple implementation of Plan No. 1, these troops who achieved victory in the Emma Theater inevitably came up with the idea of ​​underestimating the enemy, resulting in heavy losses when they attacked the prepared transit base. Twenty of them were destroyed. Nineteen of the eight mechas were reinforcements from Amarr. This number was almost one-third of the Amarr mechas participating in the attack.

In addition to the higher-than-expected loss of mechas, the Federation Army also needs to restore some defenses at transit bases and outposts, so as to gain some time for the arrival of reinforcements during the Empire's possible counterattack.

Only eight troops who were less damaged in yesterday's attack were ordered to attack this time, but fortunately the empire's defense bases only had eight. Each group is responsible for exactly one. But Ye felt that there was little hope of being able to capture that base, because this morning the fighter force brought bad news, that is, the empire's airborne reinforcements had arrived at the Red Cloud front line. Most of them have been gathered in Terrance. The original Terrance garrison set out to reinforce the defense base in front of Terrance. On the photo this morning. The number of mechas in Defense Base 67 has reached the size of one commando team, while other bases have also increased in varying degrees from one to three commando teams. The average attack force that the federal forces can invest is only about one squadron, and the largest 177 attack force only has fifteen mechas, which is only half of the imperial force.

Fortunately, Lieutenant General Guderian did not ask the troops to attack desperately. Instead, he characterized the attack as a tentative attack and a diversionary attack, which meant that once the situation was found to be unfavorable. The pilot has the right to retreat on his own.

"Sir, why don't we bring the Mammoth Squadron with us, that would be better." Qiao knew that the target of this attack had already assembled a defense force of nearly a commando team, so he couldn't help but ask Ye to bring the Mammoth Squadron with him. . Relying on fifteen mechas and one battle tank of Ye to attack his opponent Qiao felt a bit unrealistic. The privates of the squadron following their own troops are not as skilled as the aces. Even if they can kill their opponents one-on-one, in that case, the Snow Night Duke Commando and Ye will have to face eighteen mechas. This difficulty seems to be extraordinary. It's big.

"No, Joe. That's what Lieutenant General Guderian meant." Ye shook his head and dismissed Joe's opinion. What Ye has to face now is a commando mecha. Once these imperial troops escape their own reconnaissance. It would be difficult to defend base 209 with just three turrets and a squadron of mechas, so Ye Zai left behind 40% of the empire's mecha troops. Mammoth Squadron remained. This was the minimum defensive strength required by Lieutenant General Guderian, and this was done on the entire federal front.

"Wasn't that guy very bold in the Battle of Tris? Why is he so careful in making plans now?" Hearing what the lieutenant general meant, Joe couldn't help complaining again. Guderian's plans in previous battles were quite bold. He abandoned the defense of Tris, lured the main force of the empire in, and then gathered all federal forces for a siege. At that time, Guderian did not consider the defense of other surrounding areas at all, and it was a completely desperate operation.

"Don't say that to Lieutenant General, Joe. We were in a defensive position in the Battle of Tris, and the Empire's offensive route has been controlled by the Lieutenant General. That's why the Lieutenant General dared to do that." Richard persuaded Joe.

Smith took over Richard's words and continued: "At this moment we are in an offensive position, and the empire distributes troops evenly to all defense bases. This makes it difficult for us to judge the thoughts of the imperial commanders. We must also strictly guard against some imperial commanders. The officers took advantage of our unsteady footing to sneak attack on the base we had finally captured. Last night was the best lesson."

"Well, without the support of Mammoth, we may not be able to defeat these imperial mechas. Isn't there just a little more in number." Qiao said nonchalantly, but this guy's tone was a little unconfident, because he also knew, In this mission, it was really difficult to defeat a commando mecha from the Empire.

"Then now, we just have to wait for some mechas coming from Tris. When they take over the defense of the 209 base, we can set off." Ye said, getting up and pouring a drink at the water dispenser. water. Then he sat on the commander-in-chief's chair and looked at the desert in the east through the large display screen in the command room.

Richard and others also poured a glass of water each, found a seat and sat down to wait. Smith also specifically contacted the operator of the geophone and asked to notify the command room immediately once the mecha's footsteps were heard in the east.

Waiting is always the most uncomfortable thing. As time ticks by, the most impatient Joe has begun to look at his watch impatiently.

"Why hasn't the reinforcement squadron arrived yet?" said Qiao, who was sitting on the sofa on the side of the command room. According to the departure time in yesterday's news, the squadron should have arrived, but in the desert to the east of the base, not even a sound could be heard. , which made the logistics staff responsible for the ground listening equipment of the monitoring base think there was something wrong with the equipment, and specially arranged for someone to check it. But the result was that the instrument was in good condition and there were no problems.

"Maybe it's because of something delayed." Richard said, this situation is the most likely to happen.

"Perhaps Lieutenant General Guderian supported one of our squadrons of rangers. That's why the ground detector couldn't hear it." The optimistic Joe always thinks on the bright side.

"If the Rangers were floating forward, dust would have been floating in the east. At this moment, the sky there is blue." Smith retorted, pointing to the endless blue sky on the display screen.

"What's going on? How about we contact Tris and see." Joe suggested. Something is wrong at the moment.

"You really need to ask what's going on. Even if there are changes, you should notify us." Ye turned on the base's remote communicator, but there was silence in the communicator, not even the hiss of the call.

"It seems that there is something wrong with our remote communication device." Ye knocked on the communicator panel embedded on the table, as if that could fix the instrument.

"It's really broken. How about we try it with the one on the mecha." Richard reached out and was about to open the door, but the door was opened from the outside.

A maintenance staff member ran in in a panic. He didn't even care about the courtesy and said to Ye: "Sir. Emergency communication."

"Don't panic, what happened? Speak slowly." Ye stood up, patted the second lieutenant on the shoulder, and motioned to Richard, who was standing at the door, to pour a glass of water.

"Thank you, sir." The second lieutenant took the water that Richard handed him. After thanking him, he turned to the night and said, "When I was sorting out the cockpit of the major's mecha earlier, I suddenly discovered that the major's mecha had communication records. , it came from Tris Base, and they called several times in succession. They left messages saying that they could not contact our base, and could only send a fighter force to contact us. Then I contacted Tris on my own initiative Base. After they connected, they told me a message, saying that the mecha of the reinforcement squadron did not attack, and that our attack operation today was also cancelled. We were all required to be on standby. We were not allowed to attack the imperial troops outside our defense line. Actively attack.”

The second lieutenant's words were a bit confusing, but the meaning was still clear. The reinforcements they hoped for at night did not set off from Tris Base for unknown reasons, and the superiors also did not know why the federal army was prohibited from actively attacking the imperial forces. These orders made Ye feel extremely confused. The current situation was that if the Federation attacked an hour later, the Empire would have an extra hour to assemble defense forces. The longer it was delayed, the more detrimental it would be for the Federation to complete the preparatory campaign. After all, the Empire was on Tyrande. The region's military strength is superior to that of the federation.

"Second Lieutenant. You call in personnel immediately to repair the remote communication system of the base." Ye knew that this second lieutenant could not possibly know anything more. The only way to understand what was going on was to directly communicate with Tris Base. So Ye found something to send the second lieutenant away. Then he called to Richard and the other three and ran out of the command room. Run towards the hangar where the mecha is parked.

After the four people got on their respective mechas, Smith quickly established a shared communication system for the four mechas, and then contacted the Tris base at night, "This is the 177 attack force contacting the Tris base at the 209 base. Tris listened. Do you get it?"

"This is Tris Base, 177th Attack Force, 209th Base. Thank God I can finally contact you, Major Ye. I will transfer you to Lieutenant General Guderian immediately." The correspondent's relieved voice came through the communication. The correspondent then transferred Ye's communication to Lieutenant General Guderian's office.

"Hello, general, hello, lieutenant general." In Guderian's office, General Qiao Jia was also there. The men of Duke Ye and Xue Ye's commando team immediately saluted the three commanders.

"Relax, you don't have to be so formal." General Qiao Jia said with a smile, and after returning a salute, he said to Ye: "Ye, I knew you would contact us in a hurry, so I also came to Guderian Center This will make it easier for you to find us."

Ye nodded and said: "General Qiao Jia, I want to know why today's operation was canceled?" Ye would not call Qiao Jia uncle when there are others. After all, this would hinder the general's dignity in front of others. If the three Richards and the admiral were also familiar with each other, there would be no need to pay more attention to the names.

The corner of Qiao Jia's mouth curled up slightly, and he motioned to Guderian who was standing aside to explain the reason for Ye.

Guderian smiled bitterly and picked up a notice from the table. This notice was clearly stamped with the seal of the Federal Supreme Command. It seemed that this order was the highest directive of the command, otherwise it would not be stamped with the authorization of the Supreme Marshal. A handsome seal that can only be used.

"From now on, all federal troops will cease any offensive operations and shift to a defensive state. All troops will be on standby at their current locations, waiting for review by the military police." Guderian still said the content of the order in very concise language, and then This order was put into the scanner and he said: "The copy will be uploaded to your mecha immediately. You can see it yourself."

Beep beep, there was a clear beep, and the map display in the mecha's cockpit suddenly switched to the order stamped with the commander's seal. The four of them quickly browsed and found that the content of the order was the same as what Guderian said.

"How could this happen? Don't the higher-ups know that we are at war with the empire?" Ye said with a frown.

"They know, but they still decided to let us temporarily stop the war." Qiao Jia sighed. This armistice order equals to giving the empire a chance to breathe, allowing the empire's commanders to reorganize their forces and counterattack the Federation. strength.

"Then what are the military police here for?" Joe asked curiously. The military police, which serve as the law enforcement team in the army, do not have a good reputation. No soldier wants to be targeted by these guys.

"The sequelae of the Eleventh Fleet's mutiny, please find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com. The mutiny of an established fleet has never appeared in the history of the Federation. This incident has always made the old guys in the House of Representatives... Fearing that there would be another organized rebellion in his own army, so under the strong pressure of this group of fools, the military boss made up his mind to suspend the army's operations and conduct a thorough purge. Of course, Marshal Apduyi was indispensable. The factor of non-cooperation with the other four marshals is that a highly cohesive Supreme Command will not be manipulated by the House of Representatives." General Qiaojia said with a wry smile, this large-scale purge is definitely a shame for the army, then It is a manifestation of high-level doubts about the loyalty of the military.

"The damn Eleventh Fleet, it's all destroyed and it's still causing harm to people." At the mention of the Eleventh Fleet, Ye couldn't help but feel angry.

"Calm down, Ye." Qiao Jia raised his hand and pressed down, asking Ye to calm down. "This is not the time to find out who is responsible for this order. The order from the military has been issued, and we cannot violate it, so Now we can only switch to defense across the board. If there is a large-scale mobilization of troops here, it seems that the military police inside will be nervous, haha."

"Then wouldn't it be impossible to mobilize our troops now?" Ye frowned again. Failure to mobilize troops means that the federal army at this moment may be defeated by the imperial troops one by one. (To be continued)