Qin Hao came in front of the office of the division headquarters and gave it a couple of knocks on the door.
“Come in!” the voice of a combat staff answered.
Qin Hao pushed open the door and went in.
“Corporal Qin Hao is reporting back to the division, Sir!” Qin Hao said aloud.
James who was studying a battle report as the desk looked up.
“You’re back, you rascal! I knew you were going to be okay!” James was apparently thrilled to see him.
“Commander, I’m back,” Qin Hao said with a smile.
“Come sit down. Wang, get Qin Hao a glass of water!” James said as he sat Qin Hao down beside him.
That combat staff was more than happy to fetch Qin Hao a glass of water despite Qin Hao was lower-ranked than he was. Not forgetting that Qin Hao had saved the lives of almost everyone in the 106th Division. Had it not been for Qin Hao holding back the Hollowborer, no one from the 106th Division could have fled High Ground Z3.
“Tell me, Qin Hao, how did you get out from High Ground Z3?” James held Qin Hao’s hand and asked.
Qin Hao told him what had happened that day.
“My god! You are badass!” It astonished James and those staff in the office to hear Qin Hao’s story. Qin Hao single-handedly killed his way out of High Ground Z3 and breached through the encirclement of thousands of insectoids, and was also lucky enough to miss the nuclear blast. He passed through several hundred kilometers of the forest to come to the Coales Valley and save Professor Palmer. No ordinary human could pull none of these off single-handedly and at one go. This showed not only his extraordinary ability but also luck was on his side.
Qin Hao simpered. He was still a bundle of nerves when thinking back on all that had happened. If not for the unusual luck, he would have died on planet Alpha.
“Since you are back, you are still my Platoon Commander!” James smiled.
“Sir, Commander!” Qin Hao rose to his feet and saluted.
Qin Hao immediately got on the job and stayed in the division headquarters.
A dozen hours had passed since Major General Rice issued his orders. Three cruisers were conducting carpet bombing at the Kola region. This bombardment from space was even more powerful than the aerial bombing carried out by carrier-based aircraft. Heavy-weight neutron bombs shot out from the battleships and set off mushroom clouds in Kola.
Compared with a nuclear bomb, neutron bomb had lesser TNT equivalent and was less pollutive. This made the subsequent deployment of ground forces possible. Not only that, the high penetrability of the neutron bomb could effectively kill the insectoids underground. But even before that, the Federal Army knew that such orbital bombardment could not wipe out the insectoids completely.
As time was running out, and the Federation was giving too much pressure, Rice could no longer wait. He needed to win a campaign so badly to prove his worth. Or else, his future would be ruined once the Federation made him a scapegoat. He was forced to take the risk; if he failed, his fate would not get any worse other than sacrificing the soldiers in the trenches.
Few hours had passed, and the battlefield recorder on James’s shoulder beeped; mission had been updated.
“Li, send my word to gather all the division forces. We are rolling out!” James instructed the combat staff beside him.
“Yes, Sir!” Li spun around and carried out the order.
“Go to the material officer to get your equipment, Qin Hao. We are going, too!”
“Yes, Sir!” Qin Hao got to his feet and left the division headquarters office to go to the material officer to get his equipment.
Very quickly, Qin Hao returned, fully armed with a new powered-exoskeleton, new-type combat helmet, electromagnetic rifle, pistol, energy grenades, and his private alloy sword.
“Let’s roll!” James brought him to board a transport ship.
All soldiers of the 106th Division had gathered and boarded their transport ships, respectively. After the first airdrop experience, they were no longer as nervous. But they were now more aware of the risk of airdropping.
Transport ships left the battleship heading toward Alpha at the hiss of the steam catapults.
The transport ships were shaking violently as they entered the atmosphere. But the soldiers were not as panic as the first time.
The orbital bombardment had stopped, but the aerial bombing was still ongoing.
The transport ship which Qin Hao was in successfully landed. The hatch opened.
The heavy bombing from the orbital bombardment had cleared Kola of insectoids together with underground tunnels. That was why there were no plasmaworms threatening their landing. This had reduced human casualty to the minimum during landing.
“Regroup! Regroup!” James shouted. There was no attack from the insectoids, but he needed to gather his forces to set up a perimeter. The carrier-based aircraft could not carry out bombing indefinitely. Once they left for the battleship, the insectoids would launch their offensive.
The 106th Mechanized Infantry Division had quickly regrouped. They were only a second-line force, but after the terrible experience at High Ground Z3, these soldiers were more mature. The 106th Division appeared to have fewer soldiers now, but their combined combat strength surpassed that of the first airdrop.
“We will move at speed. Target is Azland Uplands!” James gave his order. Azland Uplands was the 106th Division’s garrison where they were going to defend the east side of the entire human forces here.
“Yes, Sir!” All soldiers replied in unison, then quickly moved toward Azland Uplands.
Not long ago, these soldiers of the 106th Division were still demoralized. But they were now in high spirits after landing on the battlefield. A wounded tiger is a dangerous beast. After the prior hard battle and everyone expected to die at the beginning of the war and, these soldiers became fearless. If they had to die, they would bring more insectoids along with them.
So the 106th Division soldiers were coming to Azland Uplands with the mindset of killing or getting killed.
“Combat units, get into defensive position! Engineering units, built the base!” James ordered.
The 106th Division soldiers quickly swung into action. The combat units cleared out the surroundings for potential dangers, while the engineering units quickly dug trenches and built a fortification to prepare for the insectoids’ counterattack.