The combat video was recorded from the perspective of the defending side, not the attacking side.
Numerous rhino-like pink alien creatures were charging, brandishing spears across the soggy swamp.
A whistling cannonball sound, followed by an ice projectile that instantly shattered the skull of an alien rhinoceros, sending ice shards flying and causing many of its companions to cry out in pain.
This might have been a test shot, as after a brief pause, the whistling became terrifyingly piercing, and volleys of ice cannonballs began to rain down.
The offensive formation instantly disintegrated, with sounds of cracking bones and tearing flesh rising one after another. Blood sprayed into the sky, and ice shards flew everywhere. Some ice cannonballs, upon hitting the ground, even bounced up, striking the alien rhinos from below and mangling them.
A few minutes later, only corpses littered the ground, surrounded by shattered white ice chunks, resembling a layer of ice spread to preserve food.
The video ended.
Jiang Ye was greatly satisfied.
With such a massive barrage of ice cannonballs against a beast tide, even the fiercest horde would collapse.
The third weapon was a high-speed train.
The train had been modified with thicker carriages, windows capable of withstanding direct rocket fire, and specialized firing ports on both sides. The front and rear of the train were powered by locomotives, each equipped with a maniacally designed long, sharp blade extending four meters forward. Its purpose was likely to slice through anything blocking the tracks in front of it.
Jiang Ye estimated that the material for these train-mounted blades was quite advanced, capable of cleaving through tanks without dulling.
The train could reach speeds of 400 kilometers per hour and had a nuclear power compartment, providing an astonishing twenty years of endurance.
Traveling at 400 kilometers per hour for twenty years, it could likely circle the asteroid countless times.
In addition, the train featured specialized carriages for food production, equipped with food printers and rows of refrigerators. There was also a communications carriage, capable of relaying messages to the command center on the planet's surface and sending and receiving signals to outer space.
The price was exorbitant, a total of three billion for the entire train.
The fourth weapon was the Saber-wielding Mechanical Soldier. These were similar to ordinary mechanical soldiers but equipped with high-intensity combat sabers, capable of delivering powerful swings five times per second, making decapitating ordinary animals faster than cutting grass. As they were not equipped with long-range weapons, these saber-wielding mechanical soldiers were also essentially pollution-free.
Jiang Ye was pleased; these weapons were sufficient.
Fighting wild beasts wouldn't be too difficult.
Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng first initiated troop movements.
This time, Jiang Ye decided not to appoint Che Zhen as the commander, opting instead for Huang Bingyan, the Minister of Military Affairs from the Exile Star.
Firstly, it was to prevent Che Zhen from accumulating too much merit, and secondly, it was an opportunity to train the personnel under Cen Yemeng.
After all, the intensity of the war on the asteroid would not be high, and any mistakes could be rectified. It was essentially large-scale combat training.
Two temporary expeditionary forces were formed.
The First Expeditionary Force consisted of 100,000 elite soldiers from Jiang Ye Star and Bi Rong Star.
The Second Expeditionary Force was tentatively set at 200,000, drawn from the armies of Exile Star.
A total of 300,000 troops.
Both Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng felt the number was sufficient. Fighting on the asteroid did not require overwhelming numbers but rather relied on technology and strategy. If it weren't for the desire to train the troops and maintain their combat effectiveness, perhaps 100,000 would have been enough.
Upon receiving the orders, Huang Bingyan immediately began her work.
Within 24 hours, she swiftly organized 50,000 air force personnel from Exile Star, who boarded a hundred spacecraft to travel to the asteroid. They were to air-drop into major towns to rescue trapped survivors.
While the rescue operations were busily underway, Huang Bingyan quickly convened several high-level military meetings.
The purpose of these meetings was to be concise and efficient, with a few individuals making crucial decisions within half an hour.
Many large-scale military operations shared similar characteristics: the strategists should be few, and decisions must be made quickly.
After the meetings concluded, the deployment of the 300,000 troops was finalized:
50,000 personnel would be responsible for air support and reconnaissance.
150,000 troops would occupy ground positions, construct fortifications, consolidate defenses, and provide fixed-point defense and logistical support.
The remaining 100,000 would engage in mobile warfare, conducting guerrilla operations against beast tides across the globe.
These 100,000 were the main combat forces, and their operational mode was simple: restore the asteroid's railway network.
Most planets had highly developed air transport, with numerous flying vehicles like aircraft, hovercars, and spacecraft.
However, the asteroid had a unique situation. To avoid pollution generated by air transport and to save costs, the entire planet had heavily invested in railways.
A dense railway network divided the asteroid into thousands of sectors, with crisscrossing tracks and high-speed electromagnetic trains zipping back and forth.
After the beast tide, all railways were paralyzed.
Some railway stations were attacked by beast tides, resulting in the death of all personnel.
Others had damaged supply depots, rendering them unable to provide power or replace worn-out parts for trains.
More critically, the lines themselves were damaged. The surging beast tides had trampled countless railways and overturned some trains. In short, the asteroid's railway network was either broken or blocked, with almost no lines intact.
The mission of the 100,000 attacking troops was to board armed trains, advance along the railways, and repair any breaks encountered until all railway lines were unobstructed.
During this process, they were bound to encounter beast tides, hence the need for powerful firepower to ensure the safety of the repair personnel and to keep the beast tides at bay from the railway lines.
Jiang Ye approved Huang Bingyan's overall combat deployment.
Next came the ordering of weapons and supplies.
A total of 200 armed trains were required, each costing three billion, for a total of six hundred billion, which was considered acceptable.
Each standard armed train had 10 combat carriages, with each carriage equipped with three ice machine guns and one ice train cannon, costing three million. Ten carriages would cost thirty million, and 200 trains would amount to 6 billion.
There were also wages for technical personnel, costs for troop deployment, expenses for construction engineering, activation fees for space communication equipment, and so on.
The total cost was 1.2 trillion.
Jiang Ye felt a surge of excitement, as it was much cheaper than anticipated.
This amount was a trifle to him, not even a tickle, perhaps a firm squeeze.
However, Jiang Ye soon remembered something else, and felt as if he had been doused with cold water.
After the war ended, the mountain of corpses on the asteroid would still need to be cleared, and the flora and fauna required by the crocodile people would need to be re-cultivated.
These were the areas that would incur astronomical expenses.
Jiang Ye made the payment and placed the order. His father-in-law was also prompt, quickly commencing mass production and shipment.
Within less than a week, all 200 armed trains were produced and transported to Exile Star.
The 300,000-strong army was already fully prepared. Once the equipment arrived, the entire army underwent a three-day military exercise, primarily to familiarize themselves with the equipment and to synchronize their operations. They then boarded spacecraft and departed for the asteroid in batches.
The first armed train landed at the main city station of the asteroid precisely at midnight, Exile Star time. Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng watched the live broadcast from their office.
The station was brightly lit, with many mechanical soldiers busily disassembling the outer packaging of the armed trains and transporting them, carriage by carriage, onto the railway tracks to be connected.