Chapter Ninety-One: The Battle of the Gekur Base
How could that be difficult?
With that, Zhang Desen immediately brought up the live broadcast from the lizard-people side.
At that moment, in the command chamber aboard the lizard-people flagship Coastal Haven near the Gegur Base, Yuri Gotne was studying the digital march map, watching the situation closely. According to plan, once the space fleet drew near the base, the lizard-people war correspondents began their live coverage.
It had to be said that the two armies were now locked in a tense standoff. Ground-to-air weapons stood ready on one side, while a large formation of space warships lined up in perfect order on the other. Neither side had yet fired the first shot. And now, in the gloomy sky, rain had begun to fall, deepening everyone’s sense of oppression.
Because the population of the entire Ormei Empire was not large, both sides still hoped there might be some way to reach a temporary settlement. If war truly broke out, no matter who won or lost, the population would surely suffer another devastating loss. Thus neither side had abandoned the final effort at reconciliation.
At that moment, a guard suddenly entered the command chamber of the Coastal Haven and said to Yuri Gotne:
“Report to my Sovereign, an anonymous message has just appeared online saying that they were unable to evacuate from the Mountain Range Base. The ancient creatures inside are rampaging everywhere, and they are terrified.”
Yuri Gotne froze upon hearing this, then immediately ordered:
“Pass the command down. Tell the destroyer Yuri in the reserve force to change mission at once and head to the former Mountain Range Base to assess the situation and conduct rescue operations. Under no circumstances can our compatriots be left trapped.”
“Yes!”
Soon, the space destroyer Yuri set out under orders for the site of the former Mountain Range Base.
Then another guard entered the command chamber of the Coastal Haven and said:
“Report to my Sovereign, Frontline First Echelon Commander Ced Ouli reports...”
Yuri Gotne replied at once:
“Has the enemy surrendered?”
The guard said:
“No. They do not seem to have responded much. General Ouli requests that we launch the attack directly.”
Yuri Gotne said:
“Attack!”
“Yes!”
After receiving the order, First Echelon Commander Ced Ouli launched the assault directly.
At that moment, when Goba Xiaofu learned that the commander attacking him in the First Echelon was actually Ced Ouli, he organized his defenses while lifting the communicator beside him to contact Ced Ouli, now on the enemy side, and said:
“Ced Ouli, you traitor. You were one of my men. I never treated you badly, did I?”
Ced Ouli, hearing this, also picked up the communicator microphone beside him and said:
“Officer Goba Xiaofu, you are right. You never treated me badly. But you betrayed the country. I treasure your kindness, yet I love my nation more. So I must do this.”
Goba Xiaofu said angrily:
“What betrayal? Yuri Gotne cannot even provide the nation’s basic overall resource supply. As for me, you should have seen the comprehensive resource support at the Mountain Base. You should at least admit that much, shouldn’t you?”
Ced Ouli immediately answered in sharp retort:
“Then you had even less reason to build doomsday weapons. Building doomsday weapons will only lead us to destruction in the end. That can never be allowed.”
Goba Xiaofu said:
“I did it for self-preservation...”
Ced Ouli immediately replied:
“If you have nothing to hide, why the need for such excuses?”
“Very well then...”
Goba Xiaofu then ordered:
“All weapons, fire. Bring that damned traitor down for me.”
At his command, all the defensive firepower of the Gegur garrison opened up fiercely on Ced Ouli’s First Echelon. In an instant, cannon fire roared, and torrents of blazing ordnance poured down like a storm.
Ced Ouli had originally intended to rely on his old ties with Goba Xiaofu to persuade him to surrender, believing that under overwhelming military pressure he would choose to yield. So although Ced Ouli had obeyed orders and prepared to attack, he had still held back somewhat, speaking while fighting.
He had not expected Goba Xiaofu to fly into such fury and order a ferocious counterattack. This caught Ced Ouli somewhat off guard.
Seeing the reality before him, Ced Ouli immediately ordered:
“The destroyer Kurl on the left wing and the cruiser Color attack the two gun emplacements on the right flank and destroy them.”
“Yes!”
Then Ced Ouli gave orders to two other space destroyers:
“The destroyers Invincible and Ku on the right wing are to attack the two gun emplacements on the enemy’s left flank and eliminate them.”
“Yes!”
Then Ced Ouli ordered again:
“The mothership Ben, that is to say, this ship, will immediately dispatch Air Wing One and Air Wing Two to destroy the opposing air force, and keep Air Wing Three in reserve.”
“Yes!”
Finally, Ced Ouli ordered:
“The destroyers Fu and Gong at the rear will cooperate with this ship to carry out a central breakthrough, and landing craft are to be sent out to transport ground forces for a forced landing.”
“Yes!”
The battle raged back and forth in fierce exchange. Watching the live broadcast in the Tycho Crater base on the Moon, Zhang Desen and Li Longfang both deeply admired Ced Ouli’s deployment of forces.
But as they watched, Li Longfang kept sensing that something was off. He could not quite say what was wrong, only that something simply felt not right. Zhang Desen saw his confusion and said:
“Feeling that something’s not quite right, are you?”
Li Longfang was startled.
“Yes!”
Zhang Desen smiled.
“It’s simple. This battle is extremely intense, but the scale is very small, isn’t it?”
Li Longfang blinked, then suddenly understood.
“Yes, the size really doesn’t look that large.”
Zhang Desen said:
“Have you forgotten that their total population is less than one million?”
Li Longfang exclaimed in realization:
“Right. That means their total military strength is never enough, because their population is so small to begin with.”
“Yes...”
Then Zhang Desen suddenly stiffened, looking at the screen again.
“Huh? What’s going on with the Wen Mountain Prefecture and Hanjia Prefecture of the Shu Chuan Kingdom?”
Li Longfang also froze, then asked, “What is it?” and turned his eyes to the digital map screen as well.
Zhang Desen said:
“I’ll enlarge the image and take a look.”
Soon, Zhang Desen enlarged the live image of Wen Mountain Prefecture in the Shu Chuan Kingdom. What appeared on the screen shocked both Zhang Desen and Li Longfang: a lizard-people army was assaulting a city, and of course, those lizard-people were using cold weapons.
Looking at it, Li Longfang was momentarily baffled again. Zhang Desen said:
“No need to wonder. Those are lizard-people.”
Li Longfang said:
“They’re using...”
Zhang Desen said:
“Do you remember the intelligence we obtained from the lizard-people satellite? Have you forgotten what we went through in Dali?”
Li Longfang nodded in sudden understanding.
“I remember. I get it now. They’re the degraded branch of the lizard-people.”
Zhang Desen said:
“Yes. You’ve probably also remembered that when I first arrived in this universe, the lizard-people I encountered were exactly this group. When I suddenly ran into lizard-people using advanced technology again, I was as shocked as you are now.”
Li Longfang said:
“The situation is getting even more chaotic.”
Zhang Desen said:
“Don’t rush. The lizard-people with cold weapons are easier to deal with. Even if they cooperate with those companions in the Southern Dian Kingdom, they can form an encirclement against the Shu Chuan Kingdom. But our situation is already fairly good now.”
Li Longfang paused, then asked in confusion:
“Good?”
Zhang Desen said:
“Yes. Look: the lizard-people with advanced technology are harder to deal with, but their total population is pitifully small. As for the lizard-people with cold weapons, their numbers are larger, but their fighting strength is relatively weaker. Isn’t that a good thing?”
Li Longfang said:
“Yes, but Shu Chuan Kingdom is in crisis now. If Shu Chuan Kingdom falls, those lizard-people with cold weapons will surely turn their spearhead straight toward the Great Prosperity Kingdom.”
Zhang Desen said:
“Best to send Zhao Chengming a message first, and tell him to hurry back to the Great Prosperity Kingdom before Shu Chuan Kingdom is destroyed. We should stop wasting time here too. After we send the message, you and I will go to the armory together to select and carry some weapons. I want to assemble as soon as possible a special unit from the same era as Earth in my own universe. The number should ideally reach about ninety men, to make future operations easier.”
Li Longfang said with some excitement:
“Excellent!”
“Move out.”
“Yes!”
At the same time, Dadu Ku entered to see Yuri Gotne and said:
“Report to my Sovereign, I am ready.”
Yuri Gotne answered with an appreciative tone:
“Good. Very good. If we win this time, my Chief of Staff, you will have earned the first merit in suppressing this rebellion. But before success is achieved, we absolutely must not let those live-broadcast media learn of it. Are you confident of success?”
Dadu Ku said:
“Absolute success. This time, leading the assault team through that secret ventilation shaft, I will enter without a sound. That secret vent was designed by me, and I never even had time to tell Goba Xiaofu about it. There will be no problem at all.”
Yuri Gotne said:
“Good. Very good. You also know that our total population is not large, so persuading as many people as possible to surrender is very important. I hope you will complete the mission perfectly. The Ormei Empire awaits your triumphant return with great merit.”
Dadu Ku said excitedly:
“Yes, my Sovereign!”
“Set out!”
“Yes!”
Very soon, Dadu Ku led the assault team quietly away from the formation and began advancing toward the secret ventilation shaft he had personally designed long ago.
At the same time, as Dadu Ku and his assault team stealthily infiltrated that secret vent he had once designed, Zhao Chengming, who was on his way back to Xidu City in the human Great Prosperity Kingdom, received another message from Zhang Desen at the Tycho Crater base on the Moon. He then began to act according to its instructions.
Of course, while sending the message to Zhao Chengming, Zhang Desen also sent a copy to Xidu. Since preparations had to be made in any case, Zhang Desen sent messages to both of them.