Perbov gazed at the city before him, his expression serene.
Leroy approached his side.
Perbov turned to look at his old partner, whose one ear was wrapped in bandages that were still seeping blood.
The ear of his political commissar, Colonel Leroy, would be deaf forever.
Yet, Leroy himself didn’t seem to mind it, his face still wearing a smile.
He turned to Perbov and asked, “What’s wrong with you? You’ve just been promoted, yet you look so grim?”
He was referring to Perbov being confirmed once again as the Commander of the Alliance Expeditionary Force. Although the governor had come in person, he had not interfered with military command, which was still entrusted to Perbov.
Moreover, although his military rank hadn’t changed yet, the governor had made it clear that once they returned, he would be promoted to the formal rank of Major General.
Logically, this was a joyous event; Perbov had long coveted the title of general.
But when it was finally within his grasp, he felt as if he wasn’t that happy.
Faced with his old friend’s question, he sighed deeply, “I have never lost so many men under my command.”
That single statement silenced Leroy as well.
Together, they remembered the scene when they set off from Rage Owl Star with the Expeditionary Force.
Those young and spirited faces, full of pride and valor as they boarded the spacecraft.
And now?
The 34th, 37th, and 38th Divisions were now crippled. The loss of personnel exceeded fifty percent and losses of armored vehicles and artillery surpassed seventy percent. Among the survivors, most were wounded.
Even if they resupplied ammunition, these three divisions had little fighting strength left.
In the eight days of desperate, bloody defending that preceded, they had made enormous sacrifices. Toward the end, it didn’t matter if they were front-line combat units or not—engineer battalions, logistics camps, guard companies, they were all pulled into the fight.
To restore these three divisions to fighting strength would be almost equivalent to rebuilding them.
Since the establishment of the Alliance, the two largest operations had been the pacification of the Green Valley Region and the Eastern Provinces. Leroy and Perbov had participated in both.
In those wars, the Alliance had always been the advantaged side. They had never encountered a battle that crippled three divisions.
The brutal sacrifices were etched deeply into the hearts of these two military leaders.
But what could Leroy say?
In war, aren’t there always casualties?
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“The merciful cannot lead an army.” He simply reminded Perbov with this saying.
That saying was an ancient Guttara sentiment he had heard from the governor.
Perbov nodded, “I understand. I’m just wondering, in those days, could we have done better? Could we have saved more lives?”
Leroy patted his good friend’s shoulder and comforted him, “What’s past is beyond changing. What we can do is perform better in the future. Now, the newly-arrived 1st Extinguishing Wind Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, 13th Combined Brigade, and 36th Combined Brigade are all under your command. You’re still the Commander of the Expeditionary Force.
We cannot let down the soldiers’ sacrifices, nor can we fail the governor’s trust.”
“Yeah.” Perbov nodded again, and asked, “What about that thing we discussed earlier? How is that coming along?”
“The governor has agreed.” Leroy said, “The 34th, 37th, and 38th Divisions will certainly be rebuilt upon their return and won’t be disbanded or merged into other units. Moreover, they will be awarded commendations and honorary designations as meritorious units.”
“That puts my mind at ease.”
“You needn’t have worried about that anyway,” Leroy asserted, “Such things are part of a unit’s historical heritage, a part of its essence.
Even leaving aside these symbolic aspects, practically speaking, they can serve as internal propaganda, part of the military legacy, so that new warriors joining these meritorious units will quickly develop a sense of pride after learning their history, and this will greatly boost morale and esprit de corps. It’s better to rebuild these units than dismantle them.”
Perbov showed an embarrassed smile, “I was just worried, just in case.”
“You’d better focus on the matter at hand,” Leroy advised, “We have to take this city with finesse.”
“I already have some ideas,” Perbov said, “You can take a look with me.”
He began to explain the battle plan in detail to his political commissar.
The wounded soldiers from the 34th, 37th, and 38th Divisions were left in the suburban towns, and the remaining few thousand troops were integrated into a force barely enough for two infantry regiments.
They were positioned directly in front of the north gate of Pincer City, twenty kilometers away, where they established a position and began shelling the city with artillery.
Of course, the main assault operation did not require the already heavily sacrificed troops. They were mainly a diversion, while the main effort was to be shouldered by the four newly arrived divisions.
The Extinguishing Wind Brigade on the east, the 13th and 36th Brigades on the west—these three combined brigades would be the primary attacking force. They would use armor and heavy artillery to break open the gates of Pincer City,
The 2nd Infantry Division was positioned directly south of Pincer City. In addition to blocking the city’s southern part, they had another task, which was to watch over the two great marquises of the Luman Kingdom to the south of the royal city.
“The movements of those so-called marquises are a significant unknown,” Leroy expressed his concerns, “If they’re determined to assemble their forces to interfere with our operations, they’ll have two Knight Titans, over two hundred Mecha Sentinels, and up to two hundred thousand infantry that they could potentially muster.
Although those Luman infantry are mostly ragtag cannon fodder, their numbers are substantial, and we cannot completely ignore them.”