"To put it bluntly, we're short on everything right now," Belvushka said, counting on his fingers. "First, we lack military rations. The granary north of the city was hit the day before yesterday, and all the grain stored inside burned to ashes. The food our troops are eating now was confiscated from supermarkets, and we'll run out tomorrow."
"Didn't you receive a lot of military rations?" Jiang Ye frowned.
"A lot was sent, but most of it was burned. Forty wagonloads of airborne grain were destroyed at Dniev Square. The canned goods airlifted this morning landed directly in the fire and exploded, with syrup flowing everywhere, attracting a swarm of flies. Most crucially, the battle situation is now a tangled mess, with positions changing hands repeatedly. Many frontline troops are not receiving supplies, and several batches of our supply soldiers have gone missing. Several small units on the front lines have reported being without food for more than two days," Belvushka said. "I request that you think of a way to airdrop supplies precisely, directly onto the heads of our strongholds."
"It's not that we don't deliver supplies to your strongholds, it's that your corps commander ordered us not to. The Royalist army is constantly observing. If the food is dropped on your heads, you'll be covered by artillery fire before you can even get it," Jiang Ye frowned. "The locations where we deliver food now are either in the rear or in the gaps between battlefields calculated to be outside the enemy's firing range. Only then can you receive it."
"Sir, it's merely a choice between starving to death or being bombed. At least let us be well-fed ghosts before we die."
"I know you're anxious, and I am too," Jiang Ye said. "Three hundred thousand mechanical soldiers are en route to Space City and will soon transfer ships to airdrop. These mechanical soldiers will replace you. Then, there will be no shortage of food."
"Replace us?" Belvushka was taken aback.
"One mechanical soldier for one human soldier. You can all withdraw for rest," Jiang Ye explained. "Our mechanical soldiers are in ample supply, and they are more resilient than you."
"Then, before the mechanical soldiers complete the rotation, we still have to continue defending, rescuing the wounded and civilians," Belvushka said. "We are also short on medicine and transportation. Artificial blood is almost depleted. In the past two days, we transported four hundred wounded to the rear, but we encountered snipers and landmines. Only fifty wounded made it back, and it cost us many transport soldiers."
"Commander, I know war is expensive, but you've seen how pitiful these people are. On the first day of the war, the girls' middle school north of the city was hit by Royalist poison gas shells. Many teachers and students were brought here, and they almost all suffocated on the way. Their bodies are now piled up on the second floor of the parking lot, starting to smell. It was truly tragic. They were all girls around ten years old, and our nurses cried themselves sleepless all night. In the past few days, many boys around ten years old have gone to war, not understanding anything, and were shot as soon as they went up. After being brought back, they didn't cry or shout, and even told us they were fine and to save their comrades first. Later, they died quietly."
Belvushka became more agitated as he spoke, tears streaming down his face. Jiang Ye also felt distressed, wiping away his tears. "I understand. Don't worry, the Galactic Empire will not let you suffer additional casualties just to save money. We will immediately increase aid. This war started too hastily. You should have contacted us earlier, and many lives could have been saved."
"We lower-ranking officers don't know why the war started so suddenly," Belvushka showed confusion. "There were no prior signs. We suddenly received orders to fight, and we didn't even prepare for battle. The losses were quite heavy at the beginning of the war."
"We are also investigating," Jiang Ye said. "This matter is very strange. It started suddenly, and you don't have a unified command. From satellite observations, it appears that one area started fighting first, and it quickly spread to the entire region."
Jiang Ye inspected for a full day, visiting four field hospitals and two missile troop positions consecutively.
Finally, his consciousness detached from the exile planet and returned to his physical body in Space City.
He immediately plunged into his busy work.
Soon, more supplies were ordered from alien merchants. After a simple inspection by Space City, they were quickly transferred to the exile planet battlefield.
The new supplies were adjusted in type, with a greater emphasis on frontline practicality.
Large quantities of rapid medications, including healing drugs, chemical warfare antidotes, painkillers, and Heaven Needles.
The so-called Heaven Needles were actually a form of injectable euthanasia. For patients who could not be rescued or transported, it was more humane to inject them and let them die peacefully rather than shoot them. This was not only more humane to the wounded but also reduced the psychological burden on their comrades.
Concurrently, there were large quantities of anti-fatigue and mental illness prevention drugs. During his frontline inspection, Jiang Ye found that many people had fallen into a state of near collapse due to fatigue, anger, and fear. Their eyes were almost those of madmen, and they needed drug assistance. Otherwise, a large number of mental patients would appear in this region after the war.
Large quantities of military rations, especially those with fire-resistant packaging, and some fire-resistant foods that could still be consumed even after being burned. These rations would be evenly distributed in areas controlled by the surrender faction. The vast majority would be wasted, but it would be enough if a small minority reached the mouths of the soldiers.
Large quantities of jamming weapons, including physical and electronic jamming.
The main physical jamming weapons were individual smoke grenades, which were the size of a thermos cup. They could be hand-thrown to continuously emit smoke for half an hour in the streets, or they could be fired from a rocket launcher into the air, exploding into a huge smoke screen.
There were even more electronic jamming weapons, including fist-sized intelligent drones, jamming rifle grenades, and jamming landmines.
These jamming weapons were primarily used to obscure the vision and equipment of the Royalist faction, making it difficult for them to observe supply drop points and contact friendly forces for attacks, thereby ensuring the probability of the surrender faction's army receiving the airdrops.
This was all Jiang Ye could provide to the front lines. After making arrangements, he threw himself into the work of refugee resettlement in the rear.
Meanwhile, the army mobilized by Cen Yemeng arrived in full force, launching a new round of offensive.
Dozens of mechanical soldier legions arrived at the front line one after another. After brief maintenance and repairs, they quickly launched their assault.
These mechanical soldiers were under strict orders: to attack with the fastest speed, disregarding casualties. Every eight mechanical soldiers formed a small squad. Upon encountering enemy forces, they were to concentrate their firepower to eliminate them and could call for airstrikes at any time. If casualties occurred during combat, the remaining squads could form new teams with other encountered squads.
The air forces of Birong Star and Jiang Ye Star were all deployed, concentrating three thousand military spacecraft and fifteen hundred aerospace fighters, as well as tens of thousands of drones of various models. They patrolled the battlefield overhead around the clock, ready to conduct airstrikes at any time according to the coordinates uploaded by the mechanical soldiers, while continuously and fiercely attacking air defense artillery.
At midnight local time, the general offensive began!
Looking up at the sky above the battlefield, it was filled with bright flying vehicles, their numbers as numerous as stars. Some moved very slowly, while more flashed by. The explosions and gunfire shook the entire ground, smoke rose from various cities, and firelight illuminated the dark clouds.