From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 735 It's Like Coming Home

"Today is the most important day in my life." VanVleet raised his head slightly, his eyes flashing with excitement and anticipation, and his voice unconsciously rose a few decibels, as if announcing his current mood to the whole world.

"Alright, alright, stop giving your speech here," Hogg said as he unbuckled his seat belt and stood up.

In the raised command tower of Airdrop Fortress No. 1, his furry figure was particularly eye-catching. He took a few steps to Van Fleet, who had already impatiently stuck to the porthole, and stretched out his furry paws to gently pat the latter's shoulder.

"Brother, it's time to get down to business. This is not an exercise, but an actual combat." Hogg's tone was serious, and his eyes were fixed on Van Vliet, trying to calm him down from his excitement.

Van Vleet nodded, his eyes flashing with determination: "Of course I know this is an actual battle, but I believe more in these soldiers who have undergone a lot of training. They have always regarded every exercise as an actual battle, so today may not be any different for them."

Hogg followed Van Fleet's gaze and looked down, only to see that after Airdrop Fortress No. 1 was completely fixed to the ground, several huge hatches in front of it were slowly lowered, forming a gentle slope connecting to the ground.

As part of the First Heavy Combined Brigade, the First Army's fist force, it has now stepped onto the land of Saint-Saunière along this gentle slope.

These Roma soldiers were actually more or less nervous during the airborne process. After all, this was real combat and life and death were just a matter of thought.

But when the huge hatch opened, a familiar feeling quickly made them feel at ease.

Nothing unexpected happened, and there was no confusion among the landing team. All the procedures went as smoothly as in previous training sessions.

The various reconnaissance teams consisting of light multi-legged combat vehicles, wheeled reconnaissance vehicles and several "reconnaissance-type Holy Shields" left first and drove at full speed towards several reconnaissance areas marked on the map.

Although the role of light multi-legged tanks in the combat forces of the Atlas Group has become increasingly smaller, in line with the idea of ​​saving as much as possible and not wasting existing equipment, these light multi-legged tanks, which were modeled after the Federation's "Wolf Spider Modified" as the prototype, have been reincorporated into the reconnaissance squads of various combat units after extensive modifications.

The armor was further lightened, and the 120 straight/curved dual-purpose electrothermal chemical guns were replaced with plasma guns with translucent barrels, making these light multi-legged tanks even lighter.

After the 120mm ammunition storage compartment is no longer needed, the freed-up space allows this light multi-legged combat vehicle named "Jumping Spider" to be equipped with a more powerful power pack, and then more reconnaissance equipment can be installed. And the most important optical camouflage.

This modification transformed the light multi-legged tank, which was originally used to support infantry combat, into a reconnaissance unit that dances on the front line and takes advantage of every opportunity.

The bionic multi-legged + training wheel maneuvering mode makes their mobility on roads and complex terrain second only to HCP.

Just like now, when the reconnaissance team was sent out, those "jumping spiders" quickly infiltrated towards the direction of the Grand Palace like wild horses with their reins released.

After long-term cooperation and drills, the "jumping spiders" of each reconnaissance team also know how to control the distance, so that each other's reconnaissance range is infinitely close but not too much overlapping area.
The frontline attack teams, which were composed of a large number of suspended main battle tanks, heavy multi-legged vehicles, armored infantry fighting vehicles and "standard Holy Shields", also quickly deployed their attack formations and moved quickly towards the positions marked for occupation.

Above the heads of these attack teams, the Atlas warships that are about to leave this airspace will drop a batch of 'Beehive Cores' over the heads of the frontline attack teams at the last moment before completely leaving.

These "hive cores" carrying a large number of worker bees will also quickly start building forward bases and help mechanized infantry build defense lines after landing.
Everyone was acting in an orderly manner, and many Roma soldiers even had the illusion that they were still in a drill.

Because the landing area in front of us, whether it is the topography or the hills in the distance that serve as "landmarks", or the vague outline of the Saint-Saunière Palace slightly exposed on the horizon, is exactly the same as during the exercise.
It was at this time that these Roma soldiers finally understood the true meaning of what Boss, Hogg and others had said to them.

"Although none of you have ever been to Saint-Saunière, the capital of the Star Dragon Empire, the director team and I will conduct exercises and training during this period of time so that when you truly set foot on the land of Saint-Saunière, it will be like returning home."
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"It really feels like coming home, Terak."

Inside the brigade headquarters' box command vehicle of the 1st Heavy Combined Brigade, Monton, who had been promoted to brigade commander, couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the combat map that was constantly updating various situation information.

"Even so, we can't underestimate the enemy. If Boss and the others offer us an 'open book exam' and we still can't hand in a perfect answer sheet, then we will really let Boss and the others down."

Telak, who always kept calm and was considered by Hogg and others to be used to "tie" Monton and prevent him from "running away", stared at the battle situation map and said without raising his head. His fingers gently slid across the map, carefully analyzing every detail and not letting go of any possible risks. At this moment, the reconnaissance team and the front-line attack team of the 1st Heavy Combined Brigade were advancing rapidly. Their mission was to use the airdrop fortress as a starting point to quickly occupy an area with a certain depth to facilitate the subsequent second echelon and the assembly of the supporting explosive force.

From the moment they left the airdrop fortress, all their actions and encounters were almost exactly the same as those they had experienced in previous exercises.

Since the landing points of the eighteen airdrop fortresses were planned by Hogg, Van Fleet and others based on the "reference materials" such as the terrain of Saint-Saunière and the approximate deployment of troops provided by Amber, these locations also avoided the possible troop assembly areas of the Imperial Guards and the Martyrs' Legion.

This also meant that the 1st Heavy Combined Brigade did not officially engage the enemy at this time, just like during the exercise. There were only some reports from the reconnaissance team about contact with small enemy units. These small enemy units that came into contact with the reconnaissance team had no desire to fight. After several rounds of symbolic exchange of fire, the other side immediately withdrew to the rear.

After quickly confirming these reports and discovering the enemy's coordinates, Monton gestured on the map and said to Terak, "It seems that the enemy just wants to figure out our size and troop composition. Judging from the contact position and the direction of their retreat, the enemy in front of us should be shrinking its forces and preparing to defend in a more rearward position."

"That should be it," Terak nodded. "The reconnaissance team's report mentioned that the enemy's armored units had decorations that looked like prayers and scriptures. According to the intelligence sent by the headquarters before the war, it should be the 'Martyr Legion'."

"As for the Skitarii, I believe their fighting spirit should not be too low. If that is the case, we must lay a good foundation for the subsequent attack."

Monton tapped on the battle situation map and quickly issued a new order:

"Let the troops advance quickly. We are still within the firepower support range of the fortress, so we can act boldly. Besides, the Saint Saunière Guards, the Martyrs' Legion and other troops probably haven't fully reacted yet. We must take advantage of this moment when they haven't reacted!"

"Hmm~ I have no objection to your order."

Terrak nodded, agreeing with Monton's idea. On the combat situation map in front of them, there were several blue circles with Airdrop Fortress No. 1 as the center.

The areas encircled by these blue circles of different radii also represent the support distances of various weapon units on Fortress No. 1.

The largest blue circle represents the support range of hypersonic tactical missiles, the slightly smaller one is the support range of long-range rockets and electromagnetic guns, and the smaller one is the support distance of direct-fire weapons such as heavy particle cannons and charged particle cannons - for a fortress, it is basically considered to be in the "close defense range".

As for the huge circle with a radius of about 180 kilometers and its center constantly moving forward, it represents the support range of the super-heavy vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic guns and self-propelled long-range rockets of the First Artillery Combined Brigade under the First Army.

In addition, there are several green circles, which are relatively larger in radius.

These green circles represent the air defense zone of Fortress No. 1. That is to say, when the troops are active within this range, they will receive air defense cover from the fortress. Combined with each unit’s own accompanying air defense units, basically, within the green circle, Monton and his men don’t need to worry too much about attacks from the air.

As for possible orbital strikes, according to the information synchronized by the Dawn, the fleets of Duke Hastings and Duke Artesia have already started the first wave of exchanges of fire with the Regent's fleet under the cover of the Celestial Fortress.

As the three unmanned fleets of the Atlas Group and the battle group of Duke Soren join the battle, the intensity of this fleet battle in orbit will rise rapidly. It will be good enough for the opponent to drop orbital paratroopers in this situation, and there will be no conditions for Atlas' ground forces to attack.

Therefore, the first half hour after the airdrop fortress lands is also called the "golden half hour" by Hogg, Van Fleet and others - this half hour is the best time for ground troops to advance and expand.

The core content of the First Army's previous exercise on Pella IV was to advance as far as possible within the "golden half hour".
By the way, after landing, the 18 airdrop fortresses formed a huge circular area with a diameter of 20 kilometers. The airdrop fortresses located in the upper half of this "circle", whether in terms of long-range fire support range or air defense range, have actually covered most of the imperial capital and the Grand Palace in the center.

Because the landing point finally determined by Amber and others was less than 100 kilometers away from the Grand Palace of Saint-Saunière in a straight line, these 18 airdrop fortresses were actually like nails driven into the heart of the entire empire.

In other words, as long as Amber and the others are willing, these airdrop fortresses and long-range fire strike teams can immediately provide fire coverage in the direction of the Grand Palace.

(End of this chapter)