“Mechanic, Mechanic! Oh, Uncle Karl, is that you? Go, turn on all the Sentry Guns! What, only half are working? Then turn on all the ones that work, and place them all in front of the city wall! Sergeant Rul, you and your people help out!”
Karl, the aging 12th Garrison Station mechanic, and his assistant, Rul, left in a daze.
“Ina, Ina, why are you making them all climb to the very top? And standing so close together! Are you trying to get them shot in a line? Cross! Don't you understand cross-slopes? Sergeant Mark, take your people to the outer wall, bringing all your machine guns! And Sergeant Baka, leave the city! Yes, dig a trench for me outside the city! I don't want your opinion, I want my opinion! If you don't go, I will!”
Yu Lian was furious, almost speechless at this world where the tech tree had gone astray. He had complained many times in his previous life, but back then he was just a lone wanderer without much insight, and his active years were decades later. In that era, various tactics had been reformed and revised by the famous generals who emerged in the great era, making things much more normal.
But now it was still the 829th year, and there were still several years until that great era officially arrived.
The Bearman Sergeant, who was fierce to his enemies but good-tempered to his own people, had no objections and left with a few strong soldiers, carrying tools. Although their tactics were primitive, their various portable engineering machines had very sci-fi appearances and performances, making it quick to dig a temporary trench.
“Ina, go to the wide-angle Sentry Gun over there. You don't need to direct the ones on the city wall!”
“Where are the monitors? Where are the communicators? Still not working?”
“Uh, there’s been a small malfunction since yesterday, I…”
“Nine-Star Communications, right? That lousy company’s personal terminals explode, and they actually get military orders? Tsk, I wish you an early bankruptcy and for your whole family to go to the rooftop! What are you standing there for? Go fix it quickly! If you can't fix it, I'll hang you on the flagpole and generate electricity!”
“…Yes, yes, understood!” The communications soldier was instantly terrified and ran off, sweating profusely.
“Youyou, Youyou!”
“Ah, ah, yes, Warrant Officer, ah no, Commander, I'm here!”
“Where’s my steak?!”
The Sergeant, as if by magic, pulled out a frying pan from behind him and scurried over.
Yu Lian was startled to find that the other party was actually wearing an apron. He snatched the beef without minding the heat and cursed, “Get out! Go put on your armor, then get back here and help!”
Everyone felt Yu Lian's anxiety; everyone also knew that Yu Lian was a Moon People, an “elite among elites” with a promising future; everyone probably already knew that Yu Lian was a psionically sensitive person. So, no matter what they cursed in their hearts, no one dared to disobey orders. Didn’t Lieutenant Mondeson, the legitimate Commander of this Garrison Station, say nothing? Although he had a helpless, wry smile that clearly said, “See, see, he's indeed a Moon People. If a Moon People doesn't act arrogant and unscrupulous, seizing the authority of their nominal superior, then it would be strange,” but he was smiling after all.
In fact, the Lieutenant was about to say something. He saw Yu Lian tear the beef into his mouth in a few bites; the steak, at most five-tenths cooked, still had a lot of blood, looking like a savage cannibal drinking blood. He shivered, then approached and whispered, “I say, Warrant Officer, are you a bit… uh… that, this…”
Yu Lian swallowed the half-cooked steak in large gulps—he was really hungry—and said, “Overreacting? Overly sensitive? Delusional paranoia?”
“That, uh, actually, I didn’t mean that. Of course, it’s good to make everyone a bit nervous, just treat it as an emergency assembly and combat training.”
“Commander, I’ve already said it, all of this looks exactly like a test of bio-weapons! Even if it’s just my paranoia, we can’t afford to gamble!”
“But, this…”
“Just consider it me calling everyone up for an emergency combat drill! Oh, right, let’s drive out the armored vehicles from the garage!”
“Uh, the energy packs, this…”
“Drive them to the batteries near the city gate, there must be some, right? I need those two Vulcan Cannons on the roof! Sergeant Baka and his team, who are digging trenches outside the city gate, are in the most danger, and we need armored vehicles to cover them if necessary!”
The Lieutenant stammered for a moment, then finally nodded heavily. He didn't feel any crisis of being sidelined; after all, for a “Moon People,” this small Garrison Station was just a transition. Once Yu Lian left, he would still be in charge here.
In contrast, he was very curious about Yu Lian's defensive arrangements. Why deploy forces on two city walls? Why make people set up a trench at the city gate? Why not let everyone line up on the highest inner city wall, wouldn't that allow them to shoot farther?
Also, why were all the machine guns placed at both ends of the city walls and trenches? Wouldn't placing them in the center cause greater damage?
The 12th Garrison Station was built against a mountain, with a solid rock face behind it, and a gentle slope in front leading directly to the vast wilderness below the mountain. In front, there were two high walls, both reinforced concrete structures. The outer wall was five meters high, and the inner wall was eight meters high. Between the two walls were the garage, guardroom, and a training ground the size of a basketball court. Behind the inner wall were the main buildings of the Garrison Station, including barracks, warehouses, a medical room, a radar room, and a command room.
Each of the two city walls was equipped with a total of six quad-barreled anti-air and anti-ground Sentry Guns, though currently only half, or three, were operational.
It was said that a few years ago, there was also a missile launcher vehicle, but it was later removed by the Governor's Office due to cost issues. The reason given was quite sufficient— “Who are you going to hit with missiles? Sand People natives? Can they fly?”
Additionally, the Garrison Station also had a fire support squad equipped with two phase particle cannons, but these were later also removed by the Governor's Office, again due to cost issues. The reason given was even simpler— “Energy weapons, high-tech equipment that requires highly educated personnel to operate, would be a waste if given to you! Besides, who would you hit with them? Still the Sand People natives? Their houses are made of mud!”
Of course, even so, the terrain and defenses of this Garrison Station were truly a fortress as solid as a rock… by medieval standards.
If the attacking enemy had heavy firepower, no, even if they had the same level of firepower, there would be no escape. Yu Lian thought.
However, at least according to the “history” he knew, the Zerg (currently) did not have heavy firepower. Hopefully, the butterfly effect of his rebirth wouldn't sweep away such a big event.
“So, what is the purpose of this arrangement?” The Lieutenant finally couldn't hold back and asked curiously.
“This is the arrangement that can unleash maximum firepower. You just need to have studied middle school geometry, think about it, and you'll understand.”
The Lieutenant, a school slacker who slept through elementary and middle school and thus barely managed to get into a mediocre sports school, felt a million points of damage and was sullenly unwilling to speak. However, he soon felt that he should say something to a subordinate who was only half his age, so he stiffly nodded and said, “Hmm, that makes sense! I've thought about it, and this arrangement of firepower is indeed foolproof. Alright, Warrant Officer, let's treat this as new trench warfare training! I support you.”
I also wish it were just training! Yu Lian glanced at the other party helplessly.
The confrontation between the two major factions, fighting but not breaking, the discovery of the Star Gate, and the development of the New Galaxy, or Andromeda Galaxy, seemed to have ushered the Universe into the best era of advancement.
However, no one knew whether those new battleships and weapons, those vast armies, and those psionic warriors traversing the galaxy were truly suitable for total war. Even fleet battles in the galaxy had devolved into head-on engagements, surprise dogfights, and boarding actions, leading to a deviant path. What about ground combat?
Both sides, wearing powered exoskeletons, would approach each other in skirmish lines, firing as they went, centered around their heavy firepower units, then close in and charge with cleavers to brawl.
Yes, yes! Before his transmigration, whether it was Star Something Wars or Marvel Something, even powerful silicon-based intelligent mechanical lifeforms from beyond the galaxy fought like this. Perhaps in the Universe era, it had to be this way to conform to everyone's aesthetic!
And so, things like crossfire and sloped deployment, which were already outdated trench warfare tactics in the 20th century, were actually treated as something new in the space age…
Indeed, theoretically, the crossfire of two heavy machine guns can cover a 500-meter frontal battlefield. Moreover, I not only have heavy machine guns but also three autocannons that can blast armored vehicles, and I've arranged sloped firepower based on the terrain. Theoretically, if the enemy is still Zerglings, Hydralisks, or Warrior Zergs, Yu Lian is indeed confident in leading everyone to hold out, even until Tulon Port is finished.
However, this idea was actually already outdated.
Although the tech trees and war studies of all known civilizations in the Universe are currently skewed, they at least understand that the battlefield is never flat. Many civilizations, even as early as the cold weapon era on their home planets, knew how to utilize the sky.
The Zerg, of course, would too!
“Warrant Officer! Target approaching in the sky!” Ina's voice came from the highest Sentry Gun turret.
Yu Lian looked at the distant sky, but under the blazing sun, he couldn't see anything clearly. In the desolate wilderness, he could only vaguely make out dust on the horizon. However, he still firmly believed Ina's judgment. Compared to the radar and detectors produced by Twelve Star Communications Company, the eyesight of a future first-class intergalactic sniper was more trustworthy, even if she hadn't awakened or even realized she was a Sensitive.
“Prepare for battle!” Yu Lian naturally bypassed the Lieutenant and issued commands to everyone, then added, “Give me a suit of armor.”
The so-called “armor” was, of course, powered exoskeletons. Yu Lian remembered there were seven or eight spare sets in the armory. If the batteries for these were also sold off, Yu Lian decided he would shoot the Lieutenant’s dog head right now! Then report that he was carried off by a husky.
Fortunately, the Lieutenant stated that the spare powered exoskeletons were all intact, but then added, “But, Warrant Officer, your spine is broken. You can only move now because of that tube of nano-worms; you can’t operate an exoskeleton.”
“…Then take out all the exoskeletons and put them on everyone! As many as can wear them!”
“Uh, the power armor belongs directly to the Governor's Office. We technically don't have the authority to deploy them. And most people here don't even have licenses. If they're taken out and get scratched or dented, the report will be difficult to write later!”
Yu Lian casually snatched a rifle from a passing private and viciously slapped in a magazine.
Lieutenant Mondeson shivered and said with a forced smile, “I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go!” He then fled in a hurry.
Yu Lian strongly resisted the urge to shoot him in the butt, then grabbed the private who had been robbed of his gun and was looking bewildered, saying, “Follow me onto the wall, you’ll be my loader!”