Chapter 486 General Griffin cornered

   "Ah Choo!"

  Looking at the endless sand dunes covered with sunlight outside the car window, the battlefield atmosphere team sitting in the jeep sneezed without warning.

   Kerway, who was sitting next to him, spoke.

   "This is already the northwest corner of Luoxia Province. It will be a little cold at night. Do you need a blanket? My friend."

   "No, I'm fine."

  The Zhandi guy squeezed a forced smile from his face, and continued to cast his gaze on the sand dunes in the distance. In the distance, he could see a long queue and exhausted soldiers.

  At this moment, they are marching behind the 2,000th team under the 50,000th team, and their goal is the No. 2 oasis where the Falcon Kingdom is located.

  He had to follow Colway's unit for a while before reporting to the officers' unit directly under the 50,000th unit.

  The disastrous defeat of the 40,000th team made them lose their ability to continue to maintain the No. 3 Oasis Front. Now the deployment of the entire army in Luoxia Province is shrinking to the westernmost edge of the desert for defense.

  Fortunately, Kerway's immediate superior was a smart person, and he decisively made the transfer decision as soon as he received the order.

   It is precisely because of this that they have fled to the edge of the No. 2 oasis without seeing the shadow of the alliance.

   In contrast, the 70,000 and 80,000 teams were not so lucky.

I heard that just yesterday, the 80,000th Squad encountered the Alliance’s Skeleton Corps on the Gobi Desert, a hundred kilometers away. Without the protection of armored forces and bunkers, the entire battle turned into a one-sided massacre, even half a day. Didn't stick to it.

  Patting the pangolin's shoulder, Kerway picked up the binoculars and glanced at the front of the rolling yellow sand. In the blur, he saw two-person cactus and swaying seabuckthorn grass.

  Vegetation began to appear in large numbers.

   They are not far away.

   "The No. 2 oasis is ahead..."

  Although he was about to arrive at his destination, there was no joy on his face, and his frown was even covered with a layer of solemnity.

  They successfully escaped the alliance's siege and interception.

   But also lost all the wins of the past few months...

  He can be sure that the strategic deployment and tactical use of the legion are above the alliance, but the offensive intensity of the alliance army is still beyond their imagination.

  Those people are like unkillable.

  If it wasn’t for those people being too smart and bleeding, he couldn’t even help wondering if they were clones or bionics…

   What is even more frustrating is that he is good at summarizing experience, but this time he is at a loss as to where he lost.

  Even if supply is a big problem, they still have a 100,000 army in their hands, how could they not be chased and beaten by more than 10,000 people? !

   "Do you have any plans after arriving at the No. 2 oasis?" The field guy looked at the worried Kerway and asked.

"The plan is that there is no plan," Coleway put down the binoculars in his hand, and said after a long silence, "I heard that the general headquarters is in chaos... We expected to be able to persist in the No. 3 oasis at least until next month, but now Abandoning the No. 3 oasis position at least half a month earlier than expected means that we must rely on our allies' backward infrastructure and limited industrial capabilities to fight for another month."

   "Very difficult." The Zhandi guy gave a conservative evaluation out of conscience.

   "It's more than difficult..." Coleway squinted his eyes, trying to see through the tumbling wind and sand, "Not to mention this, the town of Bicester is ahead."

  The town of Bicester is not located in the oasis, but is located outside the oasis just like the Petra Fortress is to the Hump Kingdom.

  However, unlike Petra, which has commercial attributes, this border town is a complete fortress city.

  This town was built by the Willant people with the help of the Falcon Kingdom. Rows of concrete triangular piles surround the town like a river, and there are concrete bunkers behind it.

   There are also air defense positions, logistics centers and airports in the center of the town.

   There are no civilian facilities here, let alone civilians and families living here. Except for a small number of garrisons, most of the population consists of conscripted labor.

  If the terrain level of the outer defense line of No. 3 oasis is 3, and the fortification level is 1, then the situation here is completely opposite, probably like "1 terrain, 3 fortifications".

  After passing through the outermost checkpoint, muddy potholes and a fairly straight dirt road soon appeared in front of everyone's eyes.

  On both sides of the dirt road stood local laborers with tanned wax red skin and carrying shovels. Most of them were residents living in nearby small villages.

  The Battlefield noticed they were looking at him.

  The malnourished faces were lifeless, and the pupils seemed to be covered with a layer of dust, and no color could be seen. Although their bodies were covered with welts, there was no resentment or anger in their eyes.

   More numbness.

  The field guy accidentally saw a gloating relief in the eyes of a worker... although he was very careful to hide the expression on his face.

   It seems that there are smart people among these slaves who are not much better than slaves.

  They already had a premonition that the war was coming to an end.

  The warlord couldn't help but think of the nobles in the Falcon Kingdom.

  Of course they have already been squeezed dry, they can't resist the rule of the Willante, but what will they think at this moment when anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Willante is about to be defeated.

  He suddenly looked forward to the expressions on those people's faces.

   At the end of the dirt road is a checkpoint.

  The soldiers on duty had seen them a long time ago, and after confirming their numbers, they raised the railing to let them pass.

   Just as the warrior looked at the concrete building in the distance and fell into a reverie, a man in luxurious clothes walked by the side of the road.

  His nose is straight, his hair is slightly curly, and he looks like a resident of the desert, but his status is obviously much more noble than the laborers they met before.

  Colway beckoned, motioned the driver to pull the jeep to the side of the road, and ordered the rest of the troop transport and supply cards to move on.

  The nobleman took the initiative to walk to the side of the car and said respectfully.

   "...Respected Lord Colway, I am the mayor of Bicester Town, Widler, please allow me to extend my most sincere greetings to you on behalf of the 300 soldiers in Bicester Town."

  However, in the face of Wedlier's respect, Kerway didn't talk nonsense with him, but just threw a list in his hand.

   "I need the supplies on the list, especially fuel for the truck, and I hope to see them before the sun goes down."

  The checklist has the signature of the logistics department.

  However, when he heard the second half of the sentence, Wedley's face showed embarrassment.

   "But... the sun has set."

   "Then within two hours." Coleway said impatiently.

  He doesn't want to waste time here.

   "Yes, yes, my lord!"

  Videllier nodded nervously, immediately urged the subordinates next to him to do so, and then looked at him with a flattering smile,

   "By the way, honorable adults, how long do you plan to stay here? I will prepare a suitable one for you—"

   Seeing through his thoughts at a glance, Kerway interrupted him unceremoniously.

   "Stay until tomorrow morning, I'll just live in the barracks."

  He is not afraid to fight the Alliance.

   But only after his soldiers got enough ammunition and weapons.

  Otherwise it is no different from death.

  Hearing these words, a trace of disappointment flashed in Wedlier's eyes. It seemed that these people would not stay to help him.

   Relying on more than 300 defenders, it is impossible to be an opponent of the alliance.

  But he didn't dare to say anything, let alone complain, so he could only lower his head and whisper.

"Yes, sir."

  …

   Under the leadership of Coleway, the 3,000th team was stationed at the barracks in the northeast corner of Bicester Town.

  The morale in the camp was a bit low. After the soldiers finished their meal, they gathered together in groups of three or four, whispering in low voices.

   "Have you heard? General Griffin disappeared..."

   "Disappeared?! How is that possible?!"

   "Spreading such rumors, are you desperate?"

   "It's impossible to disappear... But the recent things are really weird. We didn't see people from the Alliance or other troops along the way."

   "What is Command doing for food?"

   "I don't know...Maybe General Griffin is planning some big move. I believe that as long as he is serious, the Alliance will definitely not be his opponent!"

   "Shh...stop talking."

  A soldier pointed to the pangolin passing by, and the other soldiers stopped talking in unison.

  Everyone knows that this is Kerway's confidant.

  Although there are rumors that he has been transferred to the 10,000-man team as a consultant, he is still a direct subordinate of Kerway in name.

   No one likes to be snitched.

   But the field guys don't bother to pay attention to them.

  Although he was curious about Griffin's situation, he didn't think that a few top soldiers could grasp the movement of the highest command of the Legion in Luoxia Province.

   That's outrageous!

   Find a latrine where no one is queuing to squat, and the warrior who just had dinner went offline to have a quick breakfast, and went to the forum to see where the good brothers have been.

  According to the information I provided, his original position at G53-7 has been captured by the Stormtroopers.

  Perhaps because the centurion himself was transferred away, the centurions who were promoted from the Falcon Kingdom did not resist for too long, and decisively chose to surrender.

   Probably worried about being retaliated by the alliance, those people racked their brains to put all the previous achievements on the head of "Pangolin".

  The army that took over G53-7 Highland and the prisoners is the Lion Kingdom Army under the command of Prince Winter.

  Now the name of the pangolin has been spread by word of mouth to the Lion Kingdom, where it has been described as an evil spirit that eats children in the middle of the night.

  Looking at my darkest and most vivid description on the forum, the Zhandi guy was also unable to complain for a while.

  He can be sure that this rumor is absolutely exaggerated.

   And what made him speechless the most was that these **** didn't draft drafts at all when they were bragging for him.

  Why did he do everything!

   "Damn it, my legs are numb from squatting..."

   He lifted up his trousers cursingly, and the warrior, who had been in the latrine for a while, just pushed open the toilet door and came out, when he bumped into a beautiful woman with **** and a high nose bridge.

   "Hi." Seeing the pangolin finally came out of the toilet, Penny hadn't figured out how to start a conversation, so she could only say out of words, "You've been squatting for a long time."

  It’s okay to mention other things, but when this matter is mentioned, the Zhandi guy is nervous, but he still coughed and said calmly.

   "I'm afraid of bursting the wound... I dare not use too much force."

   This is the truth.

   The cannonball that almost sent him away last time has several shrapnel stuck in his body and has not been removed.

  Penny couldn't help but twitched her cheeks, but soon realized that the joke seemed a little bad, so she forcibly held back.

   "Sorry...I don't want to laugh, but..."

  Seeing how hard she was holding back, the warfield guy sighed and said.

   "It's okay, just laugh if you want to."

  The two chatted a lot during the escape. Although they didn't talk about everything, they had at least become friends who could talk a little.

certainly.

  In order to maintain the "cold-faced master" personality, most of the time the battlefield guy keeps his mouth shut and listens to her, only occasionally interjecting a few words.

   As for whether he likes it or not, that's all he brags on the forum.

  No one will confirm it anyway, as long as the dog can't plan to expose it, it will depend on his mouth to brag about it.

   "No, I won't laugh," Coughing a few times, Penny looked at him seriously, took a deep breath and said, "My father told me to go back."

   "Your father?" The field guy looked at her in surprise.

  Although he talked several times along the way, it was the first time he heard her talk about his family.

  Penny nodded seriously.

   "Well, he said I had to get out of here."

   "Congratulations, you can leave this place of right and wrong."

  The Battlefield guy smiled lightly, but what he didn't expect was that Penny suddenly made a proposal that was beyond his expectations.

   "Can you come with me?"

  The moment he heard this sentence, the Zhandi guy was stunned for a moment. Seeing that she didn't seem to be joking, he frowned slightly and asked.

"What's the meaning…"

   Penny said with dodge eyes.

"It's not interesting... It's just that I can't go back that far alone. Although the command promised to send a centurion to **** me, none of those people make me feel safer than you, so I want you to take me back. "

   What is the reason for this? !

  The Zhandi guy couldn't laugh or cry in his heart.

  He could clearly feel that she wasn't telling the truth, so he looked into her eyes seriously and said.

   "I swore that I will fight for His Majesty the Marshal to the last moment. In order to realize the ideal of that lord, I will not go anywhere."

  A trace of anxiety flashed across Penny's face, and she finally couldn't help but said.

   "Your loyalty is touching, but this is not a war ordered by His Majesty the Marshal... And do you think there is any hope of winning this war?"

  The field guy looked at her seriously.

   "We haven't lost yet! As long as the weapons are sent to the front line, we can launch a counterattack immediately!"

   "I know you are brave, but... one person cannot change the outcome of the war, let alone you are already injured, wake up!"

  Seeing that the man in front of him was still stubbornly unmoved, Penny gritted her teeth, glanced left and right, walked to his side and said in a low voice.

   "I'll tell you one thing, don't tell others... including your chief."

  The Zhandi guy was overjoyed, but his face remained calm.

"you say."

  Penny stared at him intently.

   "You swear to me first."

"I swear by the name of the pangolin, the belief in the Great Horned Deer God, and my loyalty to His Majesty the Marshal... I will never tell anyone else about today's conversation." He raised a finger and stuck it to his temple. His face looked solemnly into her eyes.

  Penny's cheeks were a little red, and she shyly avoided the "hot" gaze and looked to the side.

   That touch of shame was extraordinarily dazzling under the moonlight, which made the serious and nonsense field guy feel a little reluctant to continue lying to her.

   After sorting out her thoughts for a moment, Penny whispered.

   "Triumph City sent a governor over."

  The battlefield guy was slightly taken aback.

   "Governor?"

  Penny nodded slightly.

   "Yes, the Governor in charge of the Falcon Kingdom, he brought an order from the Marshal's Mansion... This is an order directly issued by the head of the Eastern Legion."

  The field guy swallowed unconsciously.

   "...what command?"

  Penny shook her head with a wry smile.

   "Don't know... All I know is that it might have something to do with the armistice negotiations."

  Hearing the word truce, the Zhandi guy was stunned.

   "A truce... Can His Majesty the Marshal accept such a loss?"

  Penny sighed lightly and said.

"That's not something I can guess, and it has nothing to do with whether I can accept it. The core interests of the legion are not in the east. The war is completely arbitrary by the frontline troops and the connivance of the eastward expansion faction...Saren, the head of the Eastern Legion, cannot accept the expedition. After seeing the failure of the Valley, they incited the raider tribes of the River Valley Province and the vassals of the Sunset Province to plan a second expedition."

  The Battlefield looked at her in disbelief.

  If this is true, it would be a big news, and it might affect the alliance's next strategic plan.

   In order to confirm, he asked cautiously.

   "This...you came up with it yourself?"

  Penny shook her head.

"My father is a civil servant in Triumph City, although he is not a high-ranking official... It was thanks to his help that I was able to come here. But after I came here, I discovered that the news sent from the front to the rear was processed Yes, and it was edited once before it was sent to the Triumph, and things are not going as smoothly as Griffin claims."

"Triumph City can accept that Griffin and McLennan maintain the status quo in Luoxia Province, and the core interests of the legion itself are not in the far east, but no matter whether they are eastward expansionists or not, it is unacceptable. A vassal of the Legion."

"Actually, it's not just Triumph City that can't accept it, the academy can't accept Luoxia Province completely falling into the hands of the company... If it really develops to that point, the alliance occupies the Falcon Kingdom with the support of the company, you know it will eventually become What's it like?"

  Looking at Penny with a serious face, the warfield guy's Adam's apple twitched, and he asked cautiously.

   "What will become of...?"

   Penny continued seriously.

"Triumph City will declare war on the enterprise. This will be an all-out war across the entire Middle Continent. It will liquidate the history of 150 years ago...Although the academy doesn't like us, they will allow us to pass because they Also hate those people on the east coast."

  A sense of enlightenment suddenly appeared in the heart of the Zhandi guy.

   "Wait...that's why Griffin shrank the defense here?"

  Speaking of...

  He had been thinking about it before.

  While retreating to the No. 2 oasis is a wise move, Griffin gave up too decisively—or too quickly.

  This is somewhat abnormal.

  Penny shook her head.

   "I don't know... Maybe he didn't think so in the first place, but he's clearly been driven to this point. From his point of view, even the best outcome is the worst possible outcome for him."

"Only by sacrificing the 100,000-man team together with the Falcon Kingdom in the most extreme way, and letting those Willant officers be captured or even executed by the coalition forces of the Alliance and the Enterprise, can he unite their families. Unite the factions behind them and agree on the controversial proposal of the Second Crusade."

   When she said this, there was a hint of fear and anxiety in her eyes.

   "I hate to think about it, but it's what it is..."

   "That man has gone mad."

  …

at the same time.

  Enter the Heart of Iron.

   Chu Guang, who was dealing with official business, suddenly received a communication request from the direction of the Golden Lizard Kingdom.

  In the holographic screen.

  A middle-aged man wearing a silver-gray gown with blue stripes on the seam nodded slightly to him, and introduced himself in a gentle tone.

   "Hello, dear manager, I am Li Ke, a B-level researcher from the special project team of the Foreign Affairs Department of the college."

  Looking at the B-level researcher in front of him, Chu Guang couldn't help but look a little surprised.

  Just a few days ago, he made them suffer a secret loss on his side, but as a result, he couldn't see any ups and downs on his face.

   It's as if nothing happened.

   Seeing that the other party did not intend to take the initiative to bring up the matter of the beacon team, Chu Guang would not take the initiative to talk about it, and smiled as if nothing happened.

"Is there a problem?"

   "Of course, if it's not something important, I'm embarrassed to interrupt you so abruptly," Li Ke smiled slightly, but the next sentence was beyond Chu Guang's expectation.

   "We are here to save you."

  Chu Guang froze for a moment, then laughed.

   "Save us?"

"That's right," Li Ke nodded lightly, "Not only you, but the survivors in Luoxia Province and even the southern part of River Valley Province are facing a crisis of life and death. If this regional conflict eventually turns into a legion your second expedition, and your years of business will be reduced to ashes."

   Chu Guang narrowed his eyes slightly.

   "Is this a threat?"

  The man in the holographic image shook his head and said softly.

   "No, this is for the peace of those innocent people. I hope you can sit down and talk."

   Chu Guang smiled and said in a joking tone.

   "Interesting statement, I would like to ask you, where were you when some big nose sent the nuclear bomb to Lost Valley?"

  As if he expected that he would lead the topic to the nuclear bomb, Li Ke, who was standing on the holographic screen, sighed softly and said.

   “We were also surprised that they would use a nuclear bomb, but at this point, we can only avoid the second and third nuclear bombs being sent here.”

   "The oasis in Luoxia Province is one of the few legacy left to us from the era of prosperity. This declining civilization can no longer afford more losses."

   "We did not provoke this war. We are just standing on the side of a third party. I hope you can accept it for the sake of the overall situation."

   "Of course, we will not make you give up the benefits you have already obtained for no reason."

  Chu Guang did not speak, but quietly waited for him to continue.

   Li Ke paused and continued.

   "I heard that you have a nuclear fusion reactor, but the power generation has been maintained at the minimum standard... From this we can infer that your helium-III reserve should not be much, right?"

  Chu Guang wanted to say that it was actually because he couldn’t use up so much electricity, but of course he would not do this kind of behavior of exposing himself.

   Seeing that Chu Guang still didn't speak, Li Ke acquiesced that he had guessed right, and then a faint smile appeared on his face, and he continued.

   "1000 cubic meters of liquid helium."

  Chu Guang disagreed.

   "What do I want that thing for?"

   "I'm talking about Helium III."

  The moment Chu Guang heard this sentence, Chu Guang's pupils shrank slightly.

   He doesn’t know how much a thousand cubic meters of liquid helium weighs, but he knows that a thousand cubic meters of liquid helium weighs at least 127 tons!

  What is the concept of 127 tons of helium III?

  If nuclear fusion is used to generate electricity, even considering the energy conversion efficiency, this huge amount of energy is enough to consume a city with a population of one million like Singapore for 127 years!

   And if it is the whole world, it is enough for seven billion people to waste a whole year!

   Such terrifying energy let alone him, I am afraid that even Ideal City will be moved!

  After the interruption of the Earth-Moon flight, fusion fuel has almost become a non-renewable resource.

  Although the alliance does not need such a huge amount of energy for the time being, he happens to be holding a black box capable of producing nuclear fusion batteries in his hand!

  Whether it is a large aircraft or power armor, as long as enough nuclear fuel can be obtained, the alliance has a way to get it out.

  However, what Chu Guang didn't understand was why the academy was willing to give this almost non-renewable strategic resource to the alliance.

   Aren’t these guys the most taboo about “wasting”?

   Seems to see the confusion in his eyes, the researcher named Li Ke continued.

  “…Of course, we will not pay you directly for these energy sources, but we will give you a coordinate where you can find this batch of ‘cargo’.”

   Good guy.

   It turned out to be a blind box.

  As soon as he heard that he had to go fishing by himself, Chu Guang's interest instantly weakened a little, and he leaned back on the chair.

   "It's been two hundred years, how do I know if it's still there?"

   Li Ke said in a firm tone.

   "It must still be there. We have a way to confirm that the security system of that facility is still working, but it is difficult for the college to recover it... After all, it is still a little far away from the swamp."

   a little distance...

   That is to say, in the south of the River Valley Province?

  Although Chu Guang guessed before that there might be some nuclear reserves left in the wasteland, he didn't expect there to be so many!

   Chu Guang looked at him calmly.

   "Is Luoxia Province worth 127 tons of Helium III to you?"

   Li Ke said in a very soft voice.

   "Whether it's worth it or not is up to us."

  The index finger tapped on the desk, but Chu Guang did not give a direct answer.

  This is related to the future strategic direction of the alliance, as well as the situation in Luoxia Province.

  He needs to discuss with other people before making a decision.

"I will think about it."

   Seeing that the young leader did not directly reject him, Li Ke was relieved, with a gentle smile on his face.

   "Please do this."

  —

   (Thanks to the leader of "leize110" for the reward!!)

  (end of this chapter)