Valen Zu’an’s 9th Platoon needed to cross a 35-kilometer stretch of barren desert within two hours, three at most, to reach the designated battle location.
While there was a relatively ample amount of time, it was still impossible to cover the distance on foot, loaded down with heavy equipment; they had to drive.
He sat in the passenger seat, holding two maps in his hands. One was large, the other small.
The large one had been drawn before departure, with a large scale, roughly plotting out the route for his platoon only. It was copied from the corps staff during a meeting at the brigade headquarters. The small map, on the other hand, was just created following the large map and scaled down according to the mission briefing given by the corps chief of staff during their recent communication.
He examined the maps while directing the driver beside him to adjust their course.
Marching in the desert, even with vehicles, was difficult.
In the West Desert Region, except for the main road that runs east-west which can be considered paved, there were no other roads—what existed were only tracks pressed into the earth by the feet of caravans, hooves of cattle, and the wheels of carts.
This made it very difficult to traverse.
Although the terrain here could be described as flat and endless, in reality, when driving, all the loose stones, sandy areas, and small pits and slopes posed obstacles, severely testing the vehicles’ off-road capabilities.
Fortunately, the newly equipped Iron Bull-200 military edition of the Alliance represented a significant upgrade over the previous model. Not only was the rear cargo compartment now fully enclosed in metal, but also the vehicle’s tires, suspension, and various other aspects had been enhanced, especially highlighting its off-road capabilities.
Bouncing around was unavoidable, and they couldn’t drive too fast, or who knew which pebble under the tires might lead to a puncture at this critical juncture of the mission? That would be disastrous. Even though they had spare tires, changing a tire was still a waste of time and trouble, not to mention the possibility that the spares might not be sufficient.
The convoy moved across the desert at a speed of around 25 kilometers per hour, leaving some excess time.
Valen Zu’an felt that at this pace, they should be able to reach the destination within the scheduled time.
The earlier they arrived, the better. Arriving early and having extra time allowed them to dig a few more foxholes, make them deeper, and hence, make the upcoming battle a bit easier.
Being eager for battle did not mean recklessly sacrificing the lives of his brothers when the combat began.
During their march, they weren’t simply moving blindly.
Valen Zu’an had long sent out a reconnaissance squad, driving several tricycles from the platoon to scout to the west.
The Alliance’s army had already equipped communication devices down to the squad level.
The reconnaissance team transmitted a piece of intelligence back every so often.
They also encountered scouts from other brother platoons, and based on these reports, as well as the battles scouted ahead, Valen Zu’an roughly pieced together the current situation.
The number was unknown, but a significant Mechanical Legion was under fierce attack by a Composite Camp of the Wind-Extinguishing Brigade. That must be the Brigade’s 2nd Camp, which, after being bombed, was counterattacking amidst the artillery fire.
It was definitely not enough just to have their forces, even though they had Lion Tanks, armored vehicles, and elite infantry, the problem of numbers remained.
However, while the frontline assault forces were significantly outnumbered by the enemy, the firepower they wielded was exceedingly fierce!
The main source of firepower was the Alliance artillery troops, which were already on the move.
It wasn’t just the Wind-Extinguishing Brigade’s Composite Camp’s artillery units participating in the combat. The brigade’s own artillery battalion, any support artillery companies that could reach, even the neighboring 3rd Brigade’s artillery—all capable of firing were pouring their firepower into that area.
The intensity of the artillery support far exceeded the expected scale of the participating troops.
Under such artillery cover, the progress made by the neighboring 2nd Camp was formidable.
Valen Zu’an actually felt a sense of urgency.
After calculating the remaining distance and time, he knew they could definitely reach the designated location in two hours, but they still needed to get there as early as possible.
Rushing, whether in haste or leisurely, they arrived at the predetermined battle location about an hour and a half after departure.
The enemy had not arrived yet.
They hurried to set up their positions.
In theory, they had about an hour to establish fortifications.
His platoon, with just over one hundred people and some engineering equipment, had everything needed including shovels and hammers. Each squad and platoon found suitable locations and began to work.
With so few people and only an hour, it was impossible to dig an intricate and fully functional complex of trenches.
Bomb shelters, tunnels, bunkers, command posts, rest areas…
All these amenities were absent. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire
But it also wasn’t possible to stand on the barren ground and exchange fire directly.
They would temporarily dig some foxholes, pile up any loose stones that could be found at the front of the holes as cover and firing points; if conditions allowed, they would also dig another hole next to the foxhole—a covered hole to act as a bomb shelter.
But this was not easy.
The soil of the Western Desert was not sandy desert, so it wasn’t all loose sand. However, the soil structure was still not solid, and digging holes without artificial supports could easily lead to cave-ins.
The platoon only had some basic engineering tools at the moment. They didn’t have a proper engineer platoon or battalion, which had even recently been equipped with military-grade engineering machinery, making digging such holes challenging.
Valen Zu’an and the platoon instructor walked around to inspect the defenses set up by each team, evaluating the progress of the engineering work.