Chapter 384: Only I Am Unique Chapter 384: Resource Era (7)

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

Dayang requisitioned two Native Squads and searched Shenqi Mountain for a day, but failed to find the "Divine Box." In She Lei's view, a group of people scurrying around the mountain like ants moving house—finding it would be the abnormal thing, so he applied to end the search to avoid wasting precious military strength.

But Sun Ruihe firmly believed in his interrogation results and considered the "Divine Box" very important; Dayang agreed with him, so after discussion in the Rhombus Conference Hall, Yu Weichao split the two Native Squads. One was led by Dayang, along with 100 Hunter Villagers, to continue the search, while the other Native Squad was responsible for protecting 100 Shi Cun people and began searching for ore on Shenqi Mountain.

Ma La naturally knew of the West River Water Fortress's new actions, but the Temple War had already begun, and Ma La's Temple Forces had all been deployed to the front line, so they naturally dared not provoke a war.

The West River Water Fortress did not dare to relax for a moment because of this; Sun Ruihe led the Tank Company to station at the temporary barracks near the west entrance of the Ring City Highway, blocking the road into the mountain. To establish firepower superiority, both Student Tanks no longer continued training but were added as formal members, thus forming a suppression firepower of over 25 rounds per minute from six tanks.

For medieval armored soldiers and armored cavalry, an armored formation with three machine guns and six main guns was an infantry nightmare; even a duel-level expert could not dream of breaking through the Tank Company's line head-on.

Two Light Armored Reconnaissance Squads led by Li Feng carried out a new round of city-ring suppression operations. Ma La's soldiers and residents were used to it. They only entered and exited the city gate in the morning, and only sentries remained on the city wall while everyone else withdrew, leaving them to be ravaged by heavy machine guns and machine cannons. The Knights were mobilized instead. There was no choice but to mobilize them, since now the Heavy Cavalry and Heavy Infantry had all been transferred—would they use Light Infantry to block gun barrels?

Li Yizhuang's Native Squad remained at the West River Water Fortress, in a period of rest and preparation for battle.

Just as the Native soldiers had expected, "for outstandingly completing a major mission," the entire Native Squad received the "Army Collective Merit Medal," a medal ranking higher than the "Infantry Collective Merit Medal" or the "Armored Corps Collective Merit Medal," but lower than the "Xijiang Collective Merit Medal." But for the soldiers, the bonus paid directly into their hands was equivalent to two months' salary, which was still very impressive.

Besides collective merit, many soldiers also received the "Bronze Assault Commemorative Medal," a new medal awarded by the Rhombus Conference Hall, granted to motorized infantry who participated in three assault, support, counterattack, or reconnaissance operations, as well as non-infantry personnel who were wounded or commended during operations.

This medal was modeled on German WWII medals but suited the current situation very well.

Neither the students nor the Native soldiers of the West River Water Fortress had the ability or psychological preparation to endure heavy casualties and dangerous operations, and even veteran retirees were no exception.

Under the protection of armored vehicles, tanks, heavy machine guns, and laser-guided missiles, the soldiers being able to complete missions smoothly was the excellent performance Chen Yi expected. One could not forcibly demand that personnel who had only undergone short-term unconventional training reach the level of veteran soldiers who had seen countless battles, especially students from Earth, who needed longer cultivation and tempering. On the other hand, officers commanding operations rarely had the excellent level of formal military academy training; being able to complete missions by the book was already a brave act that made one break out in a cold sweat.

Precisely for this reason, small units independently completing missions, both currently and possibly in the future, would be a tremendous test for the soldiers, destined to be full of danger. For now, the gentlemen of Ma La-State were too busy to care; but if the Temple War ended, generals strong in men and horses and unafraid of sacrifice would absolutely have the ability to swallow any company or squad they wanted that lacked Dark Fortress protection.

The "Bronze Assault Commemorative Medal" was born under this ideological guidance, currently awarded to combat units that had left the protection of the highway. Mu Tianhua, because he had chased in vehicles during several city-ring suppression operations and thus accumulated three assaults, directly received the medal. Seven or eight men from several other squads were the same. They thus received another two months' salary as a bonus, and for a time became the richest men in the entire regiment.

Young soldiers had simple minds; once they saw the benefits, they all wanted to join in. For a time, assault operations became a popular choice, and during the lull before the Temple War ended, a batch of well-trained, brave soldiers would likely appear.

However, although the Rhombus Conference Hall solved the problem of small units fighting independently, it could not stop the wave of marriages appearing within the army. Whether clerks within the West River Water Fortress or Native soldiers who had joined the army, they had long reached marriageable age. Previously troubled by realities like having no money and unable to complete the great undertaking of marriage, now that they had money—especially soldiers who had received medals or been promoted—each and every one began to consider marriage. The people of the West Continent had no notion that the army could not marry; which knight did not have wives and lovers running all over the place? Even officers who had participated in the Temple War brought their wives into battle together, living in the same tent, and by the time the war ended they even had sons.

The Rhombus Conference Hall had to convene an emergency meeting over this. However, before they could discuss any result, news came from the front line: a hired foreign bodyguard had begun attacking the ore-searching unit.

Under these circumstances, Yu Weichao simply delegated power to the Policy Research Office, asking them to produce an assessment plan. He himself held a microphone and asked: "Did you find the ore?"

From the walkie-talkie could be heard the "tat-tat-tat" of heavy machine gun three-round bursts; the students who were the first to come to the West Continent could also be considered veterans, and their performance under low pressure was quite good.

Platoon Leader Hong Bi, with a hoarse voice, said: "Found a lot of stones; there might be ore inside."

"Good. Have there been casualties?"

"Not yet for now; we're on the mountain ridge. If these monsters charge up, we're done for." Hong Bi was also a veteran and an old special forces soldier introduced by Hu Yang, so he could still chat and laugh.

If it were his first battle, he would definitely be shouting now.

Yu Weichao, on the contrary, felt increased pressure, and said in an extremely formal tone: "Report your current position; hold fast and await reinforcements."

"Yes, we're on the ridge at the Second Gate of Shenqi Mountain..." Hong Bi was much relieved at once. What he feared most was a retreat order; the Native Squad's physical condition was not bad, but their military discipline was worse than the student soldiers of the Reconnaissance Squad, and they currently lacked a true sense of military honor. If they left their position without the protection of heavy machine guns, they would most likely truly turn into a rout.

She Lei took over Yu Weichao's walkie-talkie and said: "This is She Lei. Report the enemy situation; how long do you judge you can hold out?"

"All foreigners, probably around 2000 people. Their bodies are strong; even hit at long range by automatic rifles they can still fight, and the effect of heavy machine guns is passable. We're on the mountain; the peaks are steep and dangerous; holding for another two hours is no problem."

The figure of 2000 startled everyone, and She Lei hurriedly asked: "Request confirmation—are there really two thousand people?"

"I saw four 200-man units; just now two 200-man units charged; behind the ridge it's pitch black, at least that many more." Hong Bi's tone was not very urgent, also thanks to his equipment and the terrain. The so-called Shenqi Mountain had an absolute height of over 600 meters, quite impressive, and they were at the Second Gate—the so-called Gate being a West Continent term and description, meaning there were gentle slopes and high ground; an infantry platoon with a few heavy machine guns placed there, the only worry being insufficient ammunition.

She Lei hesitated for a moment, then said: "I'm handing on-site command authority to Sun Ruihe; you immediately contact the Tank Company now, and let them carry out the main rescue work."

Before ending, Yu Weichao asked: "Have the Shi Cun people suffered casualties?"

"Two Shi Cun people suffered light injuries, all from stray arrows; it's fine." Hong Bi paused, his hoarse voice coming through the distorted current: "The ammunition we transported is insufficient; I hope to stop a harassment operation as soon as possible so we can go down the mountain to replenish ammunition."

"Understood; avoid dangerous operations as much as possible, fully utilize the role of the Shi Cun people, definitely build fortifications, and keep in contact at all times." She Lei did not give too specific an opinion, because he also didn't know how such a battle should be fought.

For the soldiers on the scene, the battle situation was much simpler.

Opening fire was the main theme.

The reason Hong Bi contacted the fortress during the battle was precisely because there was no lull in the fighting.

The foreigners did not appear suddenly, but the warning time they gave Hong Bi was only 10 minutes. In such a short time, besides gathering his troops, especially the Shi Cun people scattered out searching for ore, and ordering Squad 3 at the First Gate to guard the armored vehicle and armored truck, he could only desperately carry back three heavy machine guns and three basic loads of ammunition. An M2 with tripod weighed nearly 60 kilograms in total, and one basic load of ammunition was 140 kilograms, 4500 bullets. Adding the three heavy machine guns and ammunition previously brought up the mountain, Hong Bi could breathe a little easier.

The "tat-tat-tat" of heavy machine guns, once it started, never stopped.

Instead, the crisp "crack-crack" of automatic rifles was heard less and less. The foreigners were all tall, sturdy men, with beards and eyebrows as long as hair, often bare-chested and holding shields. Some good leather shields could block automatic rifle bullets from two or three hundred meters away, and even when occasionally shattered, they could deflect bullets, thus saving their lives.

Under these circumstances, a 200-man unit began to slowly crawl up.

Hong Bi stared fixedly downward.

When transporting ammunition up to the ridge, it always felt so far, so far, but now looking at the gentle slope below, it felt so short and low. But there was no longer enough time for him to adjust his position.

The Native Squad currently had six heavy machine guns carried up the mountain, placed not directly above or to the side of the gentle slope, hoping to form crossfire with the armored vehicles below the mountain.

According to infantry tactics, a heavy machine gun position should at least have a stone-built bunker, but even with 100 Shi Cun people helping, before the first 200-man unit of the foreign vanguard arrived, the bunkers were still unfinished.

Fortunately, the foreigners wanted to show off their martial valor and did not immediately use bows and arrows and javelins.

"300 meters left!" The Village Chief of Shi Cun shouted.

The foreigners did not know what a skirmish line was, but they had experience dodging javelins and would still find cover.

Hong Bi gripped the walkie-talkie and shouted softly: "Shang Village Ten, Shang Village Ten."

"Platoon Leader!" Shang Fei was precisely the Squad 3 leader guarding the armored vehicle at the foot of the mountain.

"When the enemy reaches 200 meters, the machine cannon will provide support." Hong Bi didn't want to play any secret weapon tricks; he brought all new recruits, and if they couldn't show their side's strength, the soldiers would collapse first—that would be a joke. There were over a thousand people below.

Shang Fei's voice was deep, slightly excited as he shouted: "Yes, Big Poison Snake is ready."

……(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian. com) to cast recommendation votes and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)