Alien Arms Empire.

Chapter 1813 1814 At least you still have dignity and honor

Several Tang Army Invader attack planes appeared over Roslina, but these planes did not drop deadly bombs, but instead dropped many leaflets.

The content of the leaflet was very simple, that is, the Tang army was approaching Roslina, and the Tang Empire warned the Yangmu Empire to surrender as soon as possible to avoid loss of life.

Of course, the Tang Empire had no expectations on how effective these leaflets would be. This was just an attempt, the one with the lowest cost.

  Anyway, these leaflets were printed before, and if they are not used now, there will probably be no chance to use them in the future: you can't distribute the leaflets that persuade the Yangmu Empire to surrender to the Lions Empire, right?

Precisely because it was printed in advance, there was no substantial content on the leaflets: no latest news about the Tang army's occupation of Mats, nor any major victory achieved by the Tang army in the Osa direction.

But there is no need to elaborate on these. Those who know already know, and there is no need for those who don’t know to know such things: anyway, as long as you pay a little attention, you can feel how bad the current situation of the Yangmu Empire is.

Goods were in short supply on the streets, and many shops had closed down. The prices of food and other necessities of life were rising several times a day, and the people could clearly feel that the situation had begun to deteriorate.

Ever since the northern defense line became tight, the entire Yangmu Empire has been surrounded by a strange atmosphere, and more and more people have begun to find the truth from some clues.

Workers in some factories found that there was a problem with the supply of raw materials for production. The materials that should have been in stable supply were no longer available. Busy industrial production lines began to reduce production or even stop working. Many things waiting to be used on the front line could no longer be produced, not to mention those seemingly unrelated things.

In fact, it was not that the elves' high-ranking officials were intentionally concealing anything. Their situation was somewhat different from that of the dwarves. In fact, they had not yet had the chance to explain the collapse of the front line when the Tang army had already hit them in the face.

The Tang army's advance was so fast that even many people in the Elf Empire didn't know they had lost. They had already lost almost one-third of their territory.

The dragon flag of the Tang Empire was flying over the Osa naval port, and Matus had become the bridgehead for the Tang army to attack Roslaina.

The imperial capital has become a true front line, and the troops guarding this city have basically never seen a real battlefield.

In the barracks, the young elven soldiers were looking helplessly at the weapons in their hands. After so many years, the most common weapon in the Yangmu Empire was still the "perfect weapon" that once shocked them, the Mauser 98K rifle.

"What the hell, why are we here?" He was wearing an M35 helmet that had just been handed to him, and his tone was full of dissatisfaction.

This helmet has been simplified a lot compared to the regular M35 helmet. The ventilation holes on both sides have been removed, and the lining has also been completely changed from leather to canvas.

The edges weren't even curled properly, and the curve didn't look anywhere near as beautiful as the standard M35 steel helmets previously issued to the elven soldiers.

He cursed in a low voice, his voice seemed particularly weak in the empty barracks, as if it was sucked away by the dull air. He rubbed the Mauser 98K rifle in his hand nervously, the rough wooden buttstock had been polished smooth and glowed with a faint dark light. It was unknown where this old rifle came from, probably for training, and it was already in this patina state when it was distributed to him.

Now, it is his only comfort and his only support when facing the war machine of the Tang Empire. The cold metal gun body seems to bring him a false sense of security.

"Why else? Just waiting to die." Another soldier's voice came from the side, his tone full of bitterness and despair, like the autumn wind sweeping through dead leaves, carrying an inextricable sadness.

"Didn't you hear what those leaflets said? The Tang army is about to attack. We are rookies who haven't even shot a target properly a few times. What can we use to fight them?" As he spoke, he sat down opposite and drooped his shoulders weakly, as if he had lost all his strength.

"Don't talk nonsense!" The passing elven officer heard the two people's muttering and shouted. But he himself could not hide the fear in his eyes, which was an instinctive fear when facing an unknown fate, like a candlelight that was about to be swallowed by darkness, flickering with an uneasy light.

"We are soldiers of the Yangmu Empire and warriors of the elves! We will not give up easily!" He straightened his back and tried to cheer himself and his comrades around him, but his trembling voice exposed his inner fear.

There was no way. Although he had received complete military training, he had only received complete military training. Compared with those veterans who had actually fought in the battlefield, he was actually just a rookie.

Sadly, he no longer has time to continue training himself, as the Tang army seems to be approaching Roslina, and they are about to give everything for their motherland.

"Come on, sir, stop fooling yourself." The young soldier sneered, his face full of disdain for the equally young officer.

This kind of thing would never happen in a regular elven army, which shows that the prestige of these newly promoted officers in the army has not been established at all.

On the other hand, the reason for such dialogue is that the soldiers generally have not completed their training, lack discipline, and have no hope for this war.

"Look at what we have, they are all antiques from ten years ago! The entire regiment doesn't even have a cannon. What about the Tang army? I heard that when their planes came over, our planes didn't dare to take off to fight. They must have powerful artillery and tanks... What can we use to fight them?" He waved the rifle in his hand violently, as if mocking himself and the army's helplessness.

The young officer opened his mouth and wanted to refute, but found himself speechless. Yes, over the years, the army of the Yangmu Empire has made almost no progress. The "perfect weapon" Mauser 98K rifle that they are proud of is no different from a fire stick in front of the steel torrent of the Tang army.

They are like knights trapped in an ancient castle. If the enemy is holding swords, they may still be able to fight, but if they are facing a group of enemies driving tanks, they can do nothing but despair.

"Are we really going to die here?" A young voice asked in tears, breaking the brief silence. This voice was like a sharp blade, piercing through the oppressive atmosphere in the barracks, digging out everyone's fear and exposing it to the air.

The atmosphere of despair spread throughout the barracks. Similar conversations were heard in every barracks, not just this one. In the improvised army of 300,000, not many people believed that they could defend Roslina.

The barracks were filled with an atmosphere of despair and fear, and the young elf soldiers had no intention of fighting. They had never thought that the war would come so suddenly, and they were not prepared for the battle at all. They had just arrived at the barracks outside Roslaina with their bags a month ago, and they had just learned to maintain their weapons a few days ago.

Yesterday, just yesterday, they finally fired a few shots with live ammunition, and there were only a few geniuses in the entire company who could hit the target with every shot. Most people only scored a dozen rings after firing five shots.

It was a joke to expect them to fight against the armored forces of the Tang army. They didn't even have proper anti-tank weapons. These people were like a group of deer driven into a desperate situation by hunters, and could only helplessly wait for their fate to come.

Those officers who really knew the business were also in despair. They knew that with only three or five anti-tank rocket launchers temporarily distributed to a company, there was no way to threaten the Tang army. As soon as the battle started, it would immediately turn into a massacre.

So everyone was very pessimistic, and privately no one had the energy to think about resisting the Tang army's attack: in more than 20 days, Roslina had not even completed the construction of the circular fortifications, and the military only dug a few trenches on the north and west sides.

"Shut up!" The officer in the barracks could no longer tolerate it and raised his voice to yell, trying to control the situation. His voice echoed in the barracks like thunder, but it could not dispel the haze that shrouded everyone's hearts.

"We haven't lost yet! As long as we unite and fight to the death, we will be able to defend Roslaina and our home!" He tried his best to make his voice sound firm, hoping to encourage his men who had lost the courage to fight, but there was still a trace of barely perceptible fear in his eyes, because even he himself did not quite believe what he said.

In fact, he himself guessed that his words did not have any effect on boosting morale. The young officer's words were like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake, stirring up thousands of waves.

The soldiers' suppressed emotions were like a flood that could no longer be controlled. Anger, fear, despair, all kinds of emotions intertwined together, creating a storm in the barracks.

"Unite as one? Fight to the death?" A tall and thin elf soldier stood up suddenly. His voice was sharp and piercing because of anger, like a cat whose tail was stepped on. "That's easy to say! How can we resist? Just rely on our broken copper and iron? Just rely on us recruits who have never seen blood?"

He suddenly threw the Mauser 98K rifle in his hand to the ground. A loud bang echoed in the empty barracks, like a desperate wail.

"You have to let us fire a few more shots, right? I'm not even very skilled in aiming." The other soldier did not throw the gun on the ground, but his words made the young officer even more embarrassed.

The ammunition in stock was limited, so how could they waste all the new recruits on target practice? The top brass knew very well that once the battle started, half of these soldiers would be killed or wounded within a few days, or captured and surrendered... In short, there was not much difference between wasting ammunition on training and directly treating them as cannon fodder.

Since we're all going to die inexplicably anyway, then training a few more times won't actually change anything, right?

"I don't want to die!" Someone pointed at the young officer in despair and shouted at the top of his lungs, tears welling up in his eyes: "I want to go home! I want to find my family! Let's get out of here!"

His words were like a flash of lightning, instantly igniting the long-suppressed fear and despair in the barracks. The soldiers echoed him one after another, and their voices became louder and louder, and finally gathered into a deafening din.

"I don't want to die either! I want to go home!"

"There's no way we can win! The Tang army is so powerful that we can't even imagine!"

"We will all be killed by them!"

……

The barracks was in chaos. Some soldiers were crying and holding their heads in their hands, some were roaring hysterically, and some were looking around blankly, as if looking for a ray of hope.

At this moment, a majestic voice exploded in the barracks like thunder: "Enough!"

This sound was like an invisible barrier, instantly suppressing the chaos in the barracks. All the soldiers were stunned and turned to look in the direction of the sound, their eyes filled with awe and fear.

I saw a tall figure standing at the entrance of the barracks, with soldiers carrying submachine guns behind him. The soldiers in the barracks looked at this more senior officer who appeared here timidly, and they had completely lost their arrogance just now.

"Commander!" the young officer exclaimed, and quickly stood up straight, walked to the door of the barracks, stood at attention, and gave a standard military salute.

The other soldiers also reacted and saluted the newcomers. The soldier who dropped his rifle on the ground quietly picked up his rifle and tried to hide in the crowd. In just a moment, the originally chaotic barracks suddenly became silent.

As one of the senior commanders of the garrison, the elf captain walked into the barracks with steady steps, his sharp eyes sweeping across the faces of every soldier like a hawk, as if he could see through the fear and despair deep in their hearts.

"I know you are afraid, and I am afraid too." He said in a deep and powerful voice as he passed by the soldiers who bowed their heads in shame, "But...if you don't do something, and hand over the greatest city of the elves to humans...are you willing?"

His tone was full of disappointment and anger, which made all the soldiers feel guilty. They lowered their heads and dared not look him in the eye.

"Just now, the division commander has returned from the military headquarters. We will soon enter the position and occupy a defense line in the north. The emperor's order is very simple... those who retreat will die." The regiment commander went back to the door and raised his voice by eight octaves. His tone was filled with unquestionable majesty. "Promise me that you will not die at the hands of the supervision team. This way, at least you will still have dignity and honor."