Chapter 794: Chapter 567: A Twist of Fate, Stirring the Waters
Hearing the report through the crackling sound of static, everyone froze.
Daniel rubbed his eyes hard with his hand, then looked forward.
Except for the area ignited by the flamethrower that was still emanating residual heat, there was no sound of gunfire at all.
Gulping nervously, Daniel felt as if he had encountered a Star Beast.
How many minutes passed from when the new recruit spoke and disappeared to when he reported back again?
And then he just told them that everything was completely settled and they could come to take over.
“Where are you!?” Restraining his shock, Daniel asked.
Hearing the captain’s words, Mu Fan, standing in the crevice, spoke calmly:
“At the center of the explosion point.”
“Alright, stay concealed to prevent an ambush, we’re heading over.”
Communication ended.
Mu Fan looked up at the clear night sky, slowly took off the cold, white mask, and after cleaning the saber, sheathed it again.
Then, under the stunned gazes of his five teammates, he slowly walked out from the rock crevice.
Daniel and his team had just seen the tragic state of those who had died.
Besides some who died in their firefight, a large number died from the violent explosion, and the rest were lethally slashed with cold weapons.
Moreover, the strikes were extremely ruthless!
Mu Fan, upon meeting Daniel, threw back the pulse pistol that was strapped to his waist.
“Captain, it wasn’t needed, returning it to you.”
Seeing Mu Fan in his current state, Daniel forced a stiff smile, genuinely not knowing what to say.
Originally, Mu Fan just asked if defeating those mechanical experts would mean victory.
Yet this kid not only was a mechanical expert but managed to wipe out the opposite side completely.
They all were wrong about him—was this really a Private?
They’d be crazy to believe that.
“Let’s go, report the situation to Major Jerome.”
After speaking, Sergeant Daniel took a deep look at Mu Fan and gave a thumbs up, “New recruit, well done.”
…
After collecting materials from the fallen Empire soldiers, Mu Fan and the others returned.
They came as seven, but returned as six—Butter had been attacked by a Mechanical Spider and was obliterated in the massive explosion.
So even though they won, the atmosphere on the way back wasn’t at all light-hearted.
However, there was one thing Mu Fan truly valued—the soldiers weren’t emotionally affected by their comrade’s death.
During their retreat, they meticulously replaced mines, cleaned up traces, and even completed the remaining section of patrol. The so-called return followed an elliptical route back to the starting point.
Daniel quickly went into a concealed fortification to find Major Jerome, while Mu Fan wrapped himself in a sleeping bag in the assigned cave and slept without any pretense.
The harsher the conditions, the more one must minimize unnecessary actions and consumption.
The first day upon arriving here, Mu Fan felt the brutality of the battle; the following days wouldn’t likely be easy.
“Mu Fan, you said we’d definitely survive, right.”
When Mu Fan turned his head, he found Bench beside him wrapped in a sleeping bag, looking at him with bright eyes. This soldier, perhaps only a few years older than him, was filled with hope for life and beautiful dreams in his eyes.
“Definitely survive.”
Mu Fan’s eyes were equally bright, but he gazed at the stars in the sky.
He had many dreams unfulfilled, so he definitely had to survive.
This was said both for Bench and for himself.
Third day on Planet E75, ended.
…
When Mu Fan, having completed the night patrol, fell into a deep sleep, Major Jerome on their side was listening to Daniel’s report about Mu Fan’s prowess as if hearing a mythical story.
Far over ten kilometers away in the opposite camp, Lieutenant Colonel Nimaiya of the Frontier Army was deeply lost in thought, frowning.
The fully armed aide beside him didn’t dare to make a sound.
“The two mountain special operations platoons we just dispatched were… completely annihilated?”
“Yes, Lieutenant Colonel, no survivors.” The aide replied, head bowed.
Two mountain special ops platoons…
These were solidly elite units.
They had already understood the defense pattern of the Federation forces; this infiltration unit was capable of annihilating small patrol units. Yet, they were unexpectedly completely wiped out.
More than sixty elites, completely wiped out.
In several months of skirmishes, the Frontier Army hadn’t faced a complete annihilation during a night infiltration operation.
No wonder Lieutenant Colonel Nimaiya was furious.
“Did the other side develop a new weapon?”
One of the staff officers mentioned it, seemingly opening a new line of thought for everyone.
An officer from the Intelligence Department suddenly lit up, recalling a piece of news he had just received but hadn’t reported yet, and quickly said, “Lieutenant Colonel, we just received a message from the main command’s intel department. It seems they’ve decrypted an encrypted Federation message, regarding a location that’s coincidentally our stationed area.”
“What information?” Indeed, Lieutenant Colonel Nimaiya’s interest was piqued by the Intelligence Department officer’s words.
“The matter is like this…”
After hearing the report from the subordinate in the Intelligence Department, Lieutenant Colonel Nimaiya slammed a heavy fist onto the command table.
“Why wasn’t this reported earlier! No wonder our Frontier Army warriors died; it turns out the opposite quietly arranged elite support units. Connect me to the command center, I need to report this situation.”
“Yes!”
As Lieutenant Colonel Nimaiya hurried away, under the clear night sky, the fire in the Fire Hills’ combat zones gradually dimmed.
Hidden among the hill rocks, the Frontier Army returned to silence.
Yet no one knew, the Empire’s Frontier Army’s front line Intelligence Department had confirmed an important piece of information tonight.
That is—
The Federation’s 104th Division stationed in the Fire Hills area indeed received strong backing from the Military Department behind the scenes, and secret units had been discreetly deployed.
If it weren’t for the Frontier Army’s 33rd Battle Zone mountain camp sacrificing two special operations platoons, inadvertently attracting the opponent’s covert strike, they might not have thought it was real.
Tong at the Empire’s Front Command Center had already fully developed the strategy to counter the Federation’s sharp surprise attack.
[Under the premise of not affecting other frontlines’ pressure-bearing capabilities, swiftly gather forces in the 33rd battle zone, while launching deceptive attacks and harassment! Launch a surprise strike when the opponent is fatigued.]
This message exposed the fact that, due to a twist in fate, events were unfolding just as Colonel Quinton predicted.
Furthermore, they were happening sooner than expected.
When the Frontier Army’s covert maneuvers just began, far hundreds of kilometers away, Colonel Quinton at the temporarily established base of the 149th Division hadn’t even received a hint of the news.
Things were proceeding even faster than he imagined.
The next day, when Mu Fan woke up, the attitude of the 27th Infantry Company’s personnel towards him had completely reversed, due to his outstanding performance in the night patrol where the opposite side’s numerous mountain troops were completely annihilated.
That morning, intense artillery bombardments broke out again.
However, feeling the timing and intensity of this bombardment, Major Jerome, with his messy hair, found it slightly odd.
Because this time, the opponent’s bombardment duration and intensity seemed slightly shorter, lacking the usual oppressive, display of force style.
Instead, it more resembled a normal bombardment before an impending battle.