"A-choo!"
Looking at the endless sand dunes covered with rosy clouds outside the car window, the battlefield atmosphere group sitting in the jeep sneezed without warning.
Korwe, who was sitting next to him, spoke up.
"This is already the northwest corner of Luoxia Province. It will be a bit cold at night. Do you need a blanket, my friend?"
"No, I'm fine."
The battlefield guy forced a smile from his face and continued to look at the sand dunes in the distance. In the distance, he could see the long team and the exhausted soldiers.
At this moment, they were marching behind the 2000-man team under the 50,000-man team, and their target was Oasis No. 2 where the Falcon Kingdom was located.
Before reporting to the officer team directly under the 50,000-man team, he had to follow Korwe's troops for a while.
The disastrous defeat of the 40,000-man team had made them lose the ability to continue to maintain the No. 3 Oasis front. Now the entire legion's troop deployment in Luoxia Province is shrinking its defense to the westernmost part of the desert.
Fortunately, Korway's direct superior was a smart man, and he made a decisive decision to move as soon as he received the order.
That's why they almost didn't see the shadow of the alliance and had already fled to the edge of Oasis No. 2.
In contrast, the 70,000th and 80,000th teams were not so lucky.
It is said that just yesterday, the 80,000th team encountered the skeleton corps of the alliance in the Gobi Desert 100 kilometers away. Without the protection of armored forces and bunkers, the entire battle turned into a one-sided massacre, and it didn't even last half a day.
Patting the pangolin's shoulder, Korway picked up the telescope and looked ahead at the rolling yellow sand. In the blur, he could see the cactus and swaying sea buckthorn grass that were two people tall.
Vegetation began to appear in large numbers.
They were not far away.
"The front is Oasis No. 2..."
Although they were about to reach their destination, there was no joy on his face, and his frowning brows were even covered with a faint solemnity.
They successfully escaped the Alliance's pursuit.
But they also lost everything they had won in the past few months...
He was sure that the Legion's strategic deployment and tactical application were better than the Alliance, but the Alliance Army's offensive intensity was still beyond their imagination.
Those people seemed to be immortal.
If those people hadn't been so smart and could bleed, he couldn't help but wonder if they were clones or bionic people...
What was even more frustrating was that he was good at summarizing his experience, but this time he was confused about where he lost.
Even if supply was a big problem, they had an army of 100,000. How could they be chased by more than 10,000 people? !
"What are your plans after arriving at Oasis No. 2?" The battlefield guy looked at Korway, who looked worried, and asked.
"There is no plan," Kelway put down the telescope in his hand and said in silence for a long time, "I heard that the headquarters is in chaos... We expected to hold on to Oasis No. 3 until at least next month, but now we have abandoned the position of Oasis No. 3 at least half a month earlier than expected, which means we have to rely on the backward infrastructure and limited industrial capacity of our allies to fight for another month."
"It's very difficult." The battlefield man gave a conservative evaluation against his conscience.
"It's more than difficult..." Kelway narrowed his eyes, trying to let his vision pass through the rolling sand, "Let's not talk about this, the town of Bist is in front."
Bist Town is not in the oasis, but like Petra Fortress in the Hump Kingdom, it is located outside the oasis.
However, unlike Petra, which has commercial attributes, this border town is a complete fortress city.
This town was built by the Willant people with the assistance of the Falcon Kingdom. Rows of concrete triangular piles surround the town like a river, and there are concrete bunkers behind it.
In the center of the town, there are also air defense positions, logistics centers and airports.
There are no civilian facilities here, let alone civilians and families living here. Except for a small number of garrisons, most of the population is made up of conscripted laborers.
If the terrain level of the outer defense line of Oasis No. 3 is 3 and the fortification level is 1, then the situation here is completely opposite, probably "1 terrain, 3 fortifications".
After passing the outermost checkpoint, the crowd soon saw potholes in the mud and a fairly straight dirt road.
On both sides of the dirt road stood local laborers with shovels and tanned skin. Most of them were residents of nearby small villages.
The warlord noticed that they were looking at him.
Those malnourished faces were lifeless, and the pupils were like a layer of dust, and no color could be seen. Although their bodies were covered with whip marks, there was no resentment or anger in their eyes.
More numbness.
The warlord unexpectedly saw the gloating relief in the eyes of a laborer... although he hid the expression on his face very carefully.
It seems that there are smart people among these servants who are not much better than slaves.
They have already sensed that the war is about to end.
The warlord couldn't help but think of the nobles in the Falcon Kingdom.
They have been squeezed dry and of course they can't resist the rule of the Willant people, but at this critical moment when anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Willant people are about to lose the war, what will they think at this moment?
He suddenly looked forward to the expressions on those people's faces.
At the end of the dirt road is a checkpoint.
The soldiers on duty saw them a long time ago, and after confirming their numbers, they raised the railing to let them pass.
Just as the warlord was looking at the concrete building in the distance and lost in reverie, a man in luxurious clothes walked by the roadside.
His nose was straight and his hair was slightly curly. He looked like a resident of the desert, but his status was obviously much more noble than the laborers they had met before.
Kolwe waved his hand, signaling the driver to pull the jeep to the side of the road, and ordered the rest of the troop transport and supply carts to continue moving forward.
The noble took the initiative to walk to the side of the car and said respectfully.
"… Dear Lord Kolwe, I am Wedler, the mayor of Bicester Town. Please allow me to express my most sincere greetings to you on behalf of the 300 soldiers of Bicester Town."
However, in the face of Wedler's respectfulness, Kolwe did not talk nonsense with him, but just threw a list in his hand.
"I need the supplies on the list, especially the fuel needed by the truck. I hope to see them before the sun sets."
There is a signature from the logistics department at the end of the list.
However, when hearing the second half of the sentence, Wedler's face showed difficulty.
"But... the sun has already set."
"Then within two hours." Kolwe said impatiently.
He didn't want to waste time here.
"Okay, okay, sir!"
Wedelier nodded nervously, and immediately urged his men to do it, and then looked at him with a flattering smile,
"By the way, sir, how long do you plan to stay here? I will prepare the right--"
Kolwe saw through his thoughts at a glance and interrupted him unceremoniously.
"I will stay in the barracks until tomorrow morning."
He was not afraid of a decisive battle with the Alliance.
But it must be after his soldiers get enough ammunition and weapons.
Otherwise, it is no different from sending himself to death.
Hearing this, a trace of disappointment flashed in Wedelier's eyes. It seems that these people will not stay to help him.
Relying on more than 300 defenders, it is impossible to be the opponent of the Alliance.
But he dared not say anything, let alone complain, and could only lower his head and say timidly.
"Yes, sir."
...
Under the leadership of Kolwe, the 3000th team was stationed in the military camp in the northeast corner of Bicester Town.
The morale in the camp was a little low. After the soldiers finished their meal, they gathered in groups of three or five and whispered quietly.
"Have you heard? General Griffin disappeared..."
"Disappeared?! How is it possible?!"
"Spreading such rumors, are you going to die?"
"Disappearance is impossible... But the recent things are indeed a bit weird. We didn't see anyone from the Alliance or other troops along the way."
"What is the headquarters doing?"
"I don't know... Maybe General Griffin is planning something big. I believe that as long as he gets serious, the Alliance will definitely not be his opponent!"
"Shh... Stop talking."
A soldier pointed to the pangolin passing by, and the other soldiers stopped talking at the same time.
Everyone knew that this was Kolwe's confidant.
Although there were rumors that he had been transferred to the direct officer team of the 10,000-man army as an advisor, he was still nominally a direct subordinate of Korwe.
No one likes to be reported.
But the battlefield guy didn't bother to pay attention to them.
Although he was curious about Griffin's situation, he didn't think that a few soldiers could grasp the movements of the highest command of the legion in Luoxia Province.
That was too outrageous!
He found a toilet with no one in line and squatted there. The battlefield guy who had just finished dinner went offline and hurriedly ate breakfast. By the way, he went to the forum to see where his good brothers had gone.
According to the information provided by my most black, his original position G53-7 had been taken by the Storm Corps.
Perhaps because the centurion himself was transferred away, the centurions promoted from the Falcon Kingdom did not resist for too long and decisively chose to surrender.
Perhaps fearing retaliation from the alliance, those people racked their brains to put all the previous achievements on the head of "Pangolin".
The troops that took over G53-7 Highland and the prisoners were the Lion Kingdom Army under Prince Winter.
Now the name of Pangolin has been spread to the Lion Kingdom by word of mouth, and it has been described as a demon that eats children in the middle of the night.
Looking at my most vivid description on the forum, the battlefield guy was powerless to complain.
He was sure that this rumor was definitely exaggerated.
And what made him speechless was that these bastards didn't even draft when they bragged for him.
How could he do everything!
"Fuck, my legs are numb from squatting..."
The battlefield guy pulled up his pants and cursed. He had been in the toilet for a while. As soon as he opened the door of the toilet and came out, he ran into a beautiful woman with big breasts and a high nose.
"Hi." Seeing that Pangolin finally came out of the toilet, Penny hadn't figured out how to start a conversation yet, so she could only say something to make conversation, "You've been squatting for a long time."
It would be fine if he mentioned other things, but when he mentioned this, Battlefield Man got nervous, but he still coughed and said calmly.
"I'm afraid of rupturing the wound... I dare not use too much force."
This is the truth.
The shell that almost killed him last time still has several shrapnel stuck in his body and has not been removed.
Penny couldn't help but twitch her cheeks, but soon realized that the joke seemed a bit inappropriate, so she forced herself to hold it back.
"Sorry... I don't want to laugh, but..."
Seeing that she was having a hard time holding it back, Battlefield Man sighed and said.
"It's okay, laugh if you want to."
The two chatted a lot during the escape. Although they didn't talk about everything, they had at least become friends who could chat for a few words.
Of course.
In order to maintain his image as a "cold-faced expert", most of the time, the Battlefield guy kept his mouth shut and listened to her, only occasionally interjecting a few words.
As for whether he liked her or not, that was all his bragging on the forum.
Anyway, no one would confirm it. As long as the dog planner couldn't expose it, he would have to rely on his mouth to brag.
"No, I won't laugh," Penny coughed a few times and looked at him seriously, took a deep breath and said, "My father asked me to go back."
"Your father?" The Battlefield guy looked at her in surprise.
Although they had talked several times along the way, it was the first time he heard her talk about her family.
Penny nodded seriously.
"Well, he said I have to leave here."
"Congratulations, you can leave this place of trouble."
The Battlefield guy smiled faintly, but what he didn't expect was that Penny suddenly made an unexpected proposal.
"Can you come with me?"
The moment he heard this, the warlord was stunned. Seeing that she didn't look like she was joking, he frowned and asked.
"What do you mean..."
Penny said with a dodging look.
"Nothing... It's just that I can't go back so far alone. Although the command promised to send a hundred-man team to escort me, those people don't make me feel safer than you, so I want you to take me back."
What's the reason? !
The warlord was in tears and laughed.
He could clearly feel that she was not telling the truth, so he looked into her eyes seriously and said.
"I swore that I would fight for His Majesty the Marshal until the last moment. In order to realize the ideals of that adult, I will not go anywhere."
A trace of anxiety flashed across Penny's face, and she finally couldn't help but say.
"Your loyalty is touching, but this is not a war instructed by His Majesty the Marshal... And do you think there is still hope of winning this war?"
The warlord looked at her seriously.
"We haven't lost yet! As long as the weapons are delivered to the front line, we can launch a counterattack immediately!"
"I know you are brave, but... one person can't change the outcome of the war, not to mention you are already injured, wake up!"
Seeing that the man in front of her was still stubborn and unmoved, Penny gritted her teeth, looked around, walked to his side and said in a low voice.
"I'll tell you something, don't tell anyone... including your superiors."
The battlefield guy was happy in his heart, but his face remained calm.
"You say."
Penny stared at him intently.
"You swear to me first."
"I swear by the name of Pangolin, the faith of the Great Horned Deer God, and my loyalty to His Majesty the Marshal... I will never tell anyone else about today's conversation." Raising a finger to his temple, the Warlord looked into her eyes solemnly.
A trace of red cloud appeared on Penny's cheeks. She shyly avoided the "hot" sight and looked to the side.
That touch of shyness was particularly dazzling in the moonlight, making the Warlord, who was talking nonsense seriously, feel a little reluctant to continue lying to her.
After sorting out her thoughts for a moment, Penny whispered.
"Triumphant City sent a governor here."
The Warlord was slightly stunned.
"Governor?"
Penny nodded gently.
"Yes, the governor who supervises the Falcon Kingdom brought the order from the Marshal's Mansion... This is an order directly issued by the commander of the Eastern Legion."
Warrior swallowed unconsciously.
"... What order?"
Penny smiled bitterly and shook her head.
"I don't know... I just know that it may be related to the armistice negotiations."
Hearing the word armistice, Warrior was stunned.
"Armistice... Can His Majesty the Marshal accept such a loss?"
Penny sighed softly.
"That's not something I can guess, and it has nothing to do with whether it can be accepted. The core interests of the Legion are not in the East. The war was completely arbitrary by the front-line troops and the connivance of the Eastward Expansionists... The commander of the Eastern Legion, Saren, could not accept the failure of the expedition to the Great Rift Valley, so he instigated the plunderer tribes of the River Valley Province and the vassals of the Sunset Province to plan a second expedition."
Warrior looked at her in disbelief.
If this is true, it would be a big news, and it might affect the alliance's next strategic plan.
To confirm, he asked cautiously.
"This... did you come up with it yourself?"
Penny shook her head.
"My father is a civil servant in Triumph City, although he is not a high-ranking official... It was thanks to his help that I was able to come here. But after I came here, I found that the news sent from the front to the rear was processed, and it was processed once before it was sent to the Triumph Newspaper. The progress here is not as smooth as Griffin claimed."
"Triumph City can accept Griffin and McLen maintaining the status quo in Luoxia Province, and the core interests of the Legion itself are not in the distant east, but no one, whether they are eastward expansionists or not, can accept that the enterprise snatched the vassal belonging to the Legion from the hands of the Legion."
"In fact, it is not only Triumph City that cannot accept it, the Academy also cannot accept that Luoxia Province completely falls into the hands of the enterprise... If it really develops to that point, the Alliance occupies the Falcon Kingdom with the support of the enterprise. Do you know what this place will become in the end?"
Looking at Penny with a serious face, the battlefield man's Adam's apple moved and asked cautiously.
"...What will it become?"
Penny continued seriously.
"Triumph City will declare war on the enterprise. This will be a full-scale war across the entire Middle Continent, a reckoning for the history of 150 years ago... Although the Academy doesn't like us, they will allow us to pass because they also hate those people on the East Coast."
A sudden realization came to the mind of the Battlefield Man.
"Wait... So Griffin has retracted his defense line here?"
Speaking of which...
He had been thinking about this before.
Although retreating to Oasis No. 2 was a wise move, Griffin gave up too decisively - or too quickly.
This was a bit abnormal.
Penny shook her head.
"I don't know... maybe he didn't think so at first, but he has obviously been forced to this point. From his perspective, even the best outcome is the worst outcome for him."
"Only by using the most extreme way, sacrificing these ten thousand-man teams and the Falcon Kingdom together, and letting those Weilant officers be captured or even executed by the coalition forces of the Alliance and the Enterprise, can he unite their families and the factions behind them, and reach a consensus on the controversial proposal of the second expedition."
When she said this, a hint of panic and uneasiness appeared in her eyes.
"I don't want to think so, but this is the fact..."
"That man is crazy."
...
At the same time.
On the Iron Heart.
Chu Guang, who was handling official business, suddenly received a communication request from the direction of the Golden Lizard Kingdom.
In the holographic screen.
A middle-aged man wearing a silver-gray gown with blue stripes on the seams nodded slightly to him and introduced himself in a gentle tone.
"Hello, dear manager, I am Li Ke, a B-level researcher from the Special Project Group of the Academy's External Affairs Department."
Looking at the B-level researcher in front of him, Chu Guang couldn't help but have some surprise in his eyes.
Just a few days ago, he let them suffer a loss, but there was no expression on his face.
It was as if nothing had happened.
Seeing that the other party did not intend to take the initiative to mention the Beacon Team, Chu Guang would not take the initiative to talk about it, and smiled as if nothing had happened.
"What's the matter?"
"Of course, if it's not an important matter, I'm embarrassed to disturb you so abruptly," Li Ke smiled slightly, but the next sentence was beyond Chu Guang's expectation.
"We are here to save you."
Chu Guang was stunned for a moment, and then laughed.
"Save us?"
"Yes," Li Ke nodded gently, "Not only you, but the entire Luoxia Province, and even the survivors in the southern part of the Valley Province, are facing a crisis of life and death. If this regional conflict eventually turns into the second expedition of the Legion, your years of operation will be reduced to ashes."
Chu Guang narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Is this a threat?"
The man in the holographic image shook his head and said softly.
"No, this is for the peace of those innocent people. I hope you can sit down and talk."
Chu Guang smiled and said in a joking tone.
"Interesting statement, I would like to ask you, where were you when a big nose sent a nuclear bomb to the Lost Valley?"
As if he expected that he would lead the topic to the nuclear bomb, Li Ke standing on the holographic screen sighed softly and said.
"We were also surprised that they would use nuclear bombs, but now that things have come to this, we can only avoid the second and third nuclear bombs being sent here."
"The oasis in Luoxia Province is one of the few legacies left to us by the prosperous era. This declining civilization can no longer afford more losses."
"We did not instigate this war. We are just standing on the position of a third party. We hope that you can stop while you are ahead for the sake of the overall situation."
"Of course, we will not let you give up the benefits you have already obtained for no reason."
Chu Guang did not speak, but quietly waited for him to continue.
Li Ke paused and continued.
"I heard that you have a nuclear fusion reactor, but the power generation has been maintained at the minimum standard... From this, we infer that your helium-3 reserves should not be much, right?"
Chu Guang wanted to say that it was actually because he could not use up so much electricity, but he certainly would not do such an act of exposing his own past.
Seeing that Chu Guang still did not speak, Li Ke assumed that he had guessed it right, and then a faint smile appeared on his face and continued.
"1000 cubic meters of liquid helium."
Chu Guang said disapprovingly.
"What do I need that for?"
"I'm talking about helium-3."
The moment he heard this, Chu Guang's pupils shrank slightly.
He didn't know how heavy one thousand cubic meters of liquid helium-3 was, but he knew very well that one thousand cubic meters of liquid helium weighed at least 127 tons!
What does 127 tons of helium-3 mean?
If nuclear fusion is used to generate electricity, even considering the energy conversion efficiency, this huge amount of energy is enough for a city of one million people like Singapore to consume for 127 years!
And if it is the world, it is enough for seven billion people to waste a whole year!
Such a terrifying energy, let alone him, I'm afraid even Ideal City would be tempted!
After the interruption of the Earth-Moon flight, fusion fuel has almost become a non-renewable resource.
Although the Alliance does not need such a huge amount of energy for the time being, he happens to have a black box in his hand that can produce nuclear fusion batteries!
Whether it is a large aircraft or a power armor, as long as they can get enough nuclear fuel, the Alliance will have a way to make it.
However, what Chu Guang doesn't understand is why the academy is willing to give this almost non-renewable strategic resource to the Alliance.
Aren't these guys most taboo about "waste"?
As if seeing the confusion in his eyes, the researcher named Li Ke continued.
"... Of course, we won't pay you these energies directly, but we will give you a coordinate to find this batch of "goods." "
Good guy.
It turned out to be a blind box.
When Chu Guang heard that he had to fish it out himself, his interest instantly waned a bit, and he leaned back in his chair.
"It's been two hundred years, how do I know if it's still there."
Li Ke said in a firm tone.
"It must still be there. We have a way to confirm that the security system of that facility is still working, but it is difficult for the academy to recover it... After all, it's still a little far from the swamp."
A little far...
In other words, it's in the south of the Valley Province?
Although Chu Guang had guessed that there would be some nuclear reserves left in the wasteland, he didn't expect there would be so many!
Chu Guang looked at him calmly.
"Is Luoxia Province worth 127 tons of helium-3 to you?"
Li Ke said in a very light voice.
"Whether it is worth it or not is our business."
Chu Guang tapped his index finger on the desk and did not give a direct answer.
This is related to the future strategic direction of the alliance and the situation in Luoxia Province.
He needs to discuss with others before making a decision.
"I'll think about it."
Seeing that the young leader did not directly reject him, Li Ke breathed a sigh of relief and showed a relaxed smile on his face.
"Please do it."