Please pull the trigger for this world one more time.

"Emergency assembly!"

"Emergency assembly!"

"Emergency assembly!"

Before Mo Zian even opened his eyes, his body had already sprung up from the bed like a spring.

After shouting into the room, Mo Zian rolled off the bed, quickly put on his clothes, opened the door, and ran out while buttoning his shirt—

There is an unwritten rule in the Guangwu Empire's troops: if an emergency assembly is called out once but all that's done is whistle-blowing, then the instructor is up to no good.

They shout twice; that means there's a drill going on.

If someone shouts three times, it usually means something is really wrong.

Mo Zian was not surprised that there were combat missions, because the Capital Military Academy was indeed a rather special unit—as a military academy, they actually had a combat readiness level.

Mo Zian had inquired and found that no other military academies in the empire had such a program.

That makes sense. After all, it would be a waste of combat power for a team of all awakened beings not to participate in battles, and the troops ultimately need to be honed in actual combat.

The team quickly lined up in front of the building. This time, Shen Yi didn't check the time with his pocket watch. Instead, he glanced at the team and said in a serious tone, "You should all know what I meant by calling you three times. There's no need to line up anymore. Just take us to the train station to board the train. Your equipment is already on its way."

"yes!"

......

When the group arrived at the station by truck, an empty special train was waiting for them.

On the train, everyone entered the carriage in small teams. The atmosphere inside the carriage was somewhat tense, but mostly excited.

It must be said that Shen Yi's training and teaching were very successful. The carriage was very disciplined, and very few people whispered among themselves.

"Waaah—"

The train sounded its horn and then slowly started moving. After a while, Du Chi entered the carriage where a small team was located.

All eyes instantly turned to him. Du Chi glanced at the people in the car and said in an unusually serious tone, "Destination: Anse Desert in the southwest of Mojiang Province. We will take a train to Yangcheng first, and then a [Kun-type] airship will pick us up."

As for the mission, all we know for now is that it's to assist the Northwest Army Group in suppressing bandits. You're lucky; this is a rare opportunity for you to gain experience. The specifics are still unclear. Alright, get some rest!

"yes!"

By the time the train arrived in Guangzhou, it was already afternoon.

However, they were still less than halfway to Guangzhou when they boarded three Kun-type airships that had landed at a military airport.

Upon entering the airship's cabin, Mo Zian immediately saw his [Judge] and greatsword.

Clearly, the airship carried everyone's equipment.

The equipment was complete, including even the individual soldier equipment used in the previous Bailing exercise—the [Ganqi-Modified] armor, the [Xuanwu] armor, and the [Jue-style] heavy helmet were all included.

The [Kun-style] airship slowly ascended into the air, and Shen Yi, as usual, rode with a small team.

"Signal specialist!"

"arrive!"

"Prepare to contact the Northwest Army; this can be done openly."

"yes!"

Wei Ru sat down in front of the communication station inside the airship. The communication station here has a relatively high power, and with the help of a signal tower, it can contact a very distant place.

Not long after, the communications station received the call.

"Hello! This is the Capital Training Squadron. Communication identification: 99, Dongdong, Dongyao, Dongyao..."

"Okay, I confirm, ready to receive."

Wei Ru began to write furiously. There was a lot of information she had received this time, and Wei Ru filled almost an entire page with notes.

"Okay, accepted. Please confirm..."

After briefly verifying the information with the other party, Wei Ru first transmitted the received information to the other two airships via the communication station, and then tore off the record paper and handed it to Shen Yi.

"The situation is roughly clear now."

Shen Yi quickly finished reading, then picked up the megaphone in the cabin and said, "Our destination is a barren mountain in the Ansai Desert, where a gang of bandits is entrenched."

The bandits were in a stronghold equipped with heavy weapons such as machine guns, and also had professional mercenaries.

Among them, a squad of elven mercenaries is particularly strong. They are suspected of holding hostages, including women and children, inside the fortress. We will travel by airship to the military airfield in Desert City, and then troop transport vehicles will take us to the designated location. That's all I have to say. Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Mo Zian was the first to raise his hand.

"speak."

Mo Zian asked, "Sir, why does the Northwest Army need to be mobilized from so far away to deal with a group of bandits?"

"The Northwest Army excels at defense, and is even more adept at fighting by relying on permanent fortifications. The number and proportion of heavy firepower in their troops are the highest in the entire empire. Therefore, the Northwest Army has almost no elite mobile forces and is not good at attacking fortified positions or rescuing enemy troops."

If there are indeed hostages, a forced assault would result in their deaths. We are the closest unit and the fastest to deploy. Okay, any other questions?

"Report, may I ask about the combat characteristics and fighting strength of the elven mercenaries?" Luo Chong took over the conversation.

"We don't know the exact composition of the elven mercenary army there, so I can't answer you. That question will need to be explained by the Northwest Army once we get there. Okay, anything else?"

Shen Yi glanced at the others and, seeing no sign of raising his hand, nodded: "Alright, everyone, take a break."

I don't know how much time passed.

"Clang..."

With a sudden jolt, the drowsy Mo Zian was instantly jolted awake. Shen Yi stood up and shouted into the cabin, "Everyone disembark! We've arrived."

Mo Zian leaped to the ground, setting foot for the first time on the distant northwestern frontier of the empire—

Contrary to the sweltering heat I had imagined, the nights here were cold, so cold that everyone shivered involuntarily. But the night sky was clear, with clusters of stars, like shimmering star flowers embroidered on a black curtain.

A few people approached from a distance. After exchanging greetings with Shen Yi, they said without any hesitation, "You've worked hard. The troop transport vehicles have arrived. The forward camp isn't far from here, and there's hot food there. Please bear with us for a little longer."

"No, Imperial soldiers prioritize completing their missions; there's no such thing as feeling aggrieved," Shen Yi replied, then turned to everyone and shouted, "Everyone, get on the vehicles quickly!"

Then he continued, "Old... Mo Zian, Luo Chong, you two will ride with me. The three squad leaders will also come after they have finished assembling their squads."

"Yes."

A total of six armored personnel carriers, fully loaded with personnel, sped across the vast and desolate Gobi Desert under the watchful eyes of the stars.

Excluding the driver and co-driver, the Guangwu Empire's armored troop transport ether vehicle can carry up to 15 people at a time—like the Iron Tiger, this thing relies on an ether engine.

However, this type of troop transport vehicle is only equipped by the Northwest Group Army, the Central Group Army, and some troops stationed on the Spring Hope Grassland.

Why? Because it's ridiculously expensive.

Mo Zian looked out through the firing port twice, but couldn't see anything, or rather, there was nothing to see. He took out his pocket watch and glanced at it: it was exactly 2:45 AM.

"Your Northwest Army is quite good, you even have troop transport vehicles. Don't laugh at me, this is the first time I've ever ridden in one of these troop transport vehicles." Shen Yi looked around at the interior of the troop transport vehicle.

"It's nothing much. The ether pots are too expensive to afford, and besides, we're not really useful just sitting in the pillbox all day," said the Northwest Army major in charge of leading the way. "Recently, they issued us a few gasoline-powered vehicles. They're good, cheap, and we can drive them as much as we want."

"Oh? Gasoline-powered vehicles? You've already equipped them?" Shen Yi asked with interest.

"right."

The Northwest Army major nodded. "It's not officially equipped yet, just a few vehicles were issued in advance for the troops to try out... This will make things much better. You might not see a single person for three days in the Gobi Desert. When we usually ride horses, we have to prepare fodder."

If something unexpected happens, it wouldn't be unusual for someone to be trapped and die in this Gobi Desert.

Shen Yi nodded knowingly, "I can certainly imagine... Speaking of the Gobi Desert, Major Ma, how did this gang of bandits we're trying to wipe out establish themselves in this Gobi, and how did we find them?"

"Oh, that's exactly what I was going to tell you all."

Major Ma took a map from the sergeant next to him and spread it out on the ammunition box in the middle of the troop carrier. "We suspect that there should be a well in their base. Major Shen, look, their base is right here."

Shen Yi glanced at it briefly and said in a knowing tone, "I understand. This location is indeed disgusting. This stronghold is hidden behind these mountains, with a cliff face on the other side that looks like there is only one rugged mountain path leading up to it."

"yes."

Major Ma nodded with a wry smile. "The location of this stronghold is undeniably well-hidden. Actually, we weren't initially heading for the stronghold; we were initially heading for that group of elven mercenaries."

"Oh? This mercenary group didn't cross the border illegally, did they?" Shen Yi asked, stroking his chin.

"That's right, this mercenary group is quite capable. We didn't even notice them crossing the border illegally at first. It's thanks to the good popular support of our Northwest Army that they stopped to rest in a border village and were reported by the village chief."

So we sent out our best scouts to follow them at a distance, and the mercenary group led us to the outpost.

"How did you determine there were hostages?"

"Actually, the hostage situation is uncertain, but the border guards have personnel stationed in the garrison command, so this matter alarmed the garrison command."

The Security Command seems to have established connections with several missing persons cases, so based on the speculation of several experienced inspectors within the Security Command, it's highly likely that there are hostages inside the base.

Shen nodded and asked, "Didn't we alert the people at the stronghold?"

"Don't worry, absolutely not," Major Ma affirmed. "We've simply cooperated with the garrison command to establish a perimeter, and we're just waiting for you."

"Alright, we're experts at infiltration and raids," Shen Yi said confidently, then looked at the people behind him. "Now, let's discuss the operation plan."

"Yes."