Along the way, there will be some allied supply stations, patrol stations, and the like. In the future, some militias or patrol squads will be stationed there to help those who might still have survived.
Gu Hang hoped that by doing this, a greater number of people could be saved and brought back to the North.
During this period, the Central Group Army, aside from its own duties, also dispatched a team that kept advancing southward.
This team was the distinguished First Cease Wind Brigade.
Their goal pointed towards the southern tip of the continent, advancing towards the direction of the Spiritualized Gas Field as calculated by Hu Ke.
Of course, their speed was not especially rapid, as Gu Hang did not wish to startle the enemy prematurely.
Currently, the First Brigade’s position was still over a hundred kilometers from the southern tip of the continent.
This could be considered as treading on a rather sensitive boundary.
Meanwhile, more than 40 Wind Falcon Rapid Attack Vessels had also departed from the airstrip in Revival City.
They were over four thousand kilometers away from their target location. But with the speed of the Wind Falcons, it would take them less than four hours to arrive.
At the same time, Gu Hang had already established contact with the Claw Fierce Tiger up in the sky.
After discussing with Colonel Yelisia for a while, they confirmed that the Escort Ship stationed in orbit above Anger Extinguishing Star could provide orbital strike support.
The Claw Fierce Tiger would soon be ready for support; as long as Gu Xing provided the coordinates, the corresponding strike would fall.
Find adventures on empire
Although the firepower of the Claw Fierce Tiger was no match for that of the Quintet, when it came to the instantaneous delivery of firepower, Gu Hang’s land forces were still incomparable to a proper starship.
As long as the coordinates were precise, a single round of fire from the Claw Fierce Tiger could destroy all ground targets.
In fact, the forty-some Windfalcon Fighters that had set out earlier were meant to verify the coordinates calculated by Hu Ke to ensure their accuracy and to check for any special movement the enemy may have conducted in the meantime.
Gu Hang, waiting in the command center at Revival City, finally received a report from the frontline pilots after around three or four hours.
Indeed, they had found a sizable offshore structure near the coordinates calculated by Hu Ke.
Actually, they had arrived above the target location half an hour earlier but had taken some time to search the surrounding waters to find it.
After all, Hu Ke’s calculated position would not be completely accurate, and a manual on-site correction was necessary.
Gu Hang thought for a moment and decided not to request an orbital strike directly.
Orbital strikes were incredibly expensive, and though Gu Hang would not be the one paying for it, if the results of the requested orbital strike were lackluster, it would be quite difficult for him to justify to Colonel Yelisia. Subsequent requests for orbital support might face a lot of red tape.
Gu Hang did not particularly want that to happen, so despite knowing the risks, he still ordered the Windfalcon Fighters to lower their altitude to scout and confirm whether the suspected Spiritualized Gas Field offshore extraction facility was indeed the target they intended to hit.
If it turned out to be a blunder and the location was merely a relic from before the war, that would be problematic.
…
The Wind Falcon Rapid Attack Vessels thousands of meters in the high skies, of course, could not all descend.
In a previous action, the Windfalcon Fighters’ central systems were seized by the enemy, a lesson that made the Allied Air Force wiser. When the pilots’ skills were not sufficient to independently control the Wind Falcons, they had to diligently avoid such situations from recurring.
Under this premise, maintaining distance was the best approach.
Actually, only three Wind Falcons decreased their altitude. The rest of the fighters continued to circle high in the sky, closely monitoring below, ready to immediately open fire and carry out a strike to save their comrades at the first sign of trouble.
However, during the descent of those three fighters, they encountered no danger; the off-shore structure that looked rusted and battered was calm and tranquil.
It was as if it were indeed a relic from before the war.
But they still did not relax their vigilance.
Following quickly, three fighters landed on the sea structure, in a relatively flat area. The hatch opened, and half the special warfare team walked out.
The three fighters carried a total of 45 special forces elites, each wearing exoskeleton armor, complete with tactical helmets, and all at least T3, many of them T2 level elite soldiers.
On a battlefield with equal weapon levels, facing a regular army, each of them was confident of scoring dozens of kills in a single combat.
According to orders, they were to conduct a detailed search of the structures and maintain constant contact with headquarters.
Their individual communication equipment, of course, was not enough to contact headquarters 4,000 kilometers away, but it was enough if they could reach the Windfalcon Fighters in the sky.
The supreme commander of this operation was at this moment on one of the fighters high above.
That was Matins.
Commander Matins was out on a mission again, and his four battle brothers were also here. However, they did not have to directly engage in combat on the frontlines this time, or rather, they did not need to go up immediately; whether they would go up at all was up to him.
The forty-some Windfalcon Fighters from the Allied Air Force’s First Air Squadron and the more than two hundred soldiers from the 10th Special Brigade were all under his direct command.
Currently, it looked indeed like just an ordinary pre-war sea structure ruin, perhaps a former offshore mining platform?
Whatever its former function, it was likely now obsolete.
At least so far, they had not found any signs of abnormalities.
However, just as he was thinking this, something unexpected happened below!
Fierce gunfire suddenly erupted from all around, and various biotech monsters sprang forth, launching a fierce attack on the three fighters that had not yet finished unloading soldiers, which had no time to ascend, and the special forces soldiers who were disembarking!
Matins’ expression was grave.
The enemy obviously had some kind of biological hiding technology; their recent low-altitude scan had also failed to detect any trace of the enemy’s concealment.
Clearly, the enemy had initially intended to hide and create the illusion that no one was present; but once the ground troops landed, they knew they could no longer stay hidden, so they simply bared their fangs.
For the soldiers who landed and those three Windfalcon Fighters, it was a perilous situation.
But in the grand scheme of things, it was not a major problem. Even if all three aircraft were lost and all forty-five soldiers died, it would not hinder their correct determination that this was indeed an important enemy base.
If he considered the situation with cold-blooded thinking and based on past battle experiences, he might abandon those soldiers and aircraft below, simply transmit the information back, and call for an orbital strike to finish it.
However, now she might need to change her way of thinking.
He could not treat the mortal troops below as just ‘allies,’ as mere cannon fodder for the Star Realm Army as in past battles. Now, they were all part of the same alliance under the Rage Owl Star.
Besides, those soldiers were elites, and many were close to joining the Phoenix and becoming new blood. He could not be too wasteful of these soldiers’ lives.
Not to mention there were three Windfalcon Fighters.
He knew that the Lord Governor, despite the rapid expansion of power, overall still did not have a substantial foundation. Losing three fighters would indeed be painful for the Lord Governor.
Thus, he issued the order for support.
The Wind Falcon Rapid Attack Vessels still in the sky, following orders, launched a volley of missiles, appropriately lowered their altitude, and fired rapid bursts with their cannons toward the besieged allies.
However, their support did not have much of an effect.
When the firepower rained down, a huge light screen enveloped the entire sea structure platform.
A Void Shield?!