Six o'clock in the morning.
Dawn broke.
The little orange mining machines hadn't moved.
The soldiers of Dan Star were exhausted, their curses silenced, but they still glared outside with defiance.
They were all anxious.
How long would this siege last?
Meanwhile, the soldiers of Jiang Ye Star surrounding the little orange machines had just completed a shift change.
The replenished reserves from the base, well-fed and rested, calmly replaced the comrades who had stood guard all night, much like a sentry changing posts.
The new Jiang Ye Star soldiers, armed with spray cans and banners, approached the cockpit glass of the little orange machines.
Without preamble, they sprayed the glass.
The pilots inside flinched back, fearing some corrosive chemical that would melt the glass.
After spraying, several banners were slapped onto the glass, fixed in place by the adhesive spray.
[Dan Star Soldiers, Attention!]
[You are trapped in your mining machines, just like your comrades.]
[Your superiors attempted negotiations, which we refused.]
[Your only path to survival is to open your mining machines, come out, and become prisoners of Jiang Ye Star.]
[We treat our prisoners well.]
[If you do not surrender, you will die trapped in your mining machines. Refusing a path to survival will be deemed suicide. Not only will we not bear responsibility, but your army will also face scrutiny from the Galactic Empire for a mass suicide incident.]
[Whether for yourselves or for your homeworld, please surrender immediately, suffer less, and endure less hardship.]
The faces of the Dan Star soldiers turned green.
They were unsure if the banners spoke the truth, but the enemy was right; they were trapped.
"Sir! The enemy has posted banners. I'll read you the content..." someone opened the communication channel.
"Don't listen to them, maintain your position. No one is to surrender. Our reinforcements are arriving soon," the Dan Star base immediately replied.
"What good will reinforcements do? Will they just surround them again?"
"Tear gas rain, a continuous downpour for an hour, and they will break without a fight. Seize the opportunity to return to the base immediately."
The pilots' spirits lifted.
There was hope!
What did they call it? When the righteous have one foot of height, the devil has ten feet!
They all gave the Jiang Ye Star soldiers outside the middle finger, sneering.
However, the Dan Star soldiers' triumph did not last long.
A group of mechs, carrying large bags, emerged from the Jiang Ye Star base and quickly distributed new equipment to the Jiang Ye Star soldiers.
Gas masks.
The soldiers outside did not wear their gas masks, merely tucking them into their jacket pockets.
In less than half a minute, the Dan Star aircraft arrived and began dropping tear gas canisters.
To avoid injuring anyone, all tear gas canisters were made of soft plastic. They fell lightly, bursting with a "poof" and spraying a large amount of tear gas.
Mount Coal seemed to ignite, enveloped in a vast white mist.
The Jiang Ye Star soldiers calmly put on their gas masks, emerging unscathed, and continued to surround each little orange mining machine.
Some even gave the little orange mining machines the middle finger.
One mech, looking at the tear gas canisters scattered on the ground and then at the enemy soldiers in the little orange cockpits, suddenly had an idea.
It raised a mechanical arm, revealing the small drill bit on its tip.
After a moment's hesitation, the drill bit spun wildly and directly pierced the front window of a cockpit.
With a grating sound, the drill bit punched a small hole.
The Dan Star soldier inside looked terrified, hastily taking off his sock, soaking it with a bottle of mineral water, and covering his mouth and nose.
But it was useless. Within half a minute, the tear gas concentration inside reached a certain level, and violent coughing erupted incessantly.
"Clang!" The cockpit suddenly sprang open.
The Dan Star soldier tumbled out, his face smeared with tears and snot.
"Surrender! Surrender!"
Before he could even raise his hands, the nearby Jiang Ye Star soldiers grabbed his arms and legs, quickly bound him, and carried him back to the base.
The other mechs nearby learned from this.
They all raised their drill bits and began drilling holes in the little orange cockpits in front of them.
The entire Mount Coal instantly became lively.
In less than twenty minutes, all the little orange pilots surrendered and were captured and taken back to the Jiang Ye Star base.
The little orange mining machines were also driven back by the mechs.
Mount Coal was empty once more.
...
Jiang Ye Star.
In his study, Jiang Ye scrolled through the screen, reading the latest briefing.
"Are the Dan Star soldiers really a bunch of eggs? That stupid?" Jiang Ye scoffed.
The encirclement operation had gone unexpectedly smoothly.
Currently, 460 Dan Star prisoners had been captured and were held at Camp Zero.
The unmanned mining robot "Little Yellow" and the manned mining robot "Little Orange" had captured 540 and 460 units respectively.
Most of the captured mining machines had sustained some degree of damage and were undergoing repairs, but Xu Yansheng claimed they would all be operational within three days.
Xu Yansheng had also checked the market price of these mining machines, which was approximately five hundred million, not including the transportation costs from off-world.
Jiang Ye had expected a back-and-forth struggle with both sides showcasing their unique abilities, but he never imagined that the other side would be helpless after only a couple of exchanges.
"They really folded," Jiang Ye picked up his teacup, blew on it, and took a sip.
The commander of the Dan Star base was constantly sending messages, requesting a face-to-face negotiation with Che Zhen.
Che Zhen had not yet responded, awaiting Jiang Ye's instructions.
After a moment of thought, Jiang Ye typed and sent a message:
[Have the commander of the Dan Star base come to our base for a discussion.]
[Ask him the following questions:]
[1. Why did you invade our territory?]
[2. For this hostile invasion, does Dan Star offer an apology and compensation?]
[3. Will you continue to resist, or will you engage in cooperation?]
[Judging by their attitude, if they continue to resist, you may deploy two thousand soldiers and ten thousand mechs into their base, forcing their submission through sheer numbers, capturing them all. During the operation, ensure no casualties occur. Tear gas and stun batons are arriving and can be used freely.]
[If Dan Star chooses to apologize and cooperate, demand the complete handover of all facilities within our territory, a compensation of one billion, and you may release prisoners at your discretion.]
[Ye]
After editing the message, he clicked to send it automatically.
When the troops first entered Bi Rong Star, sending a short message required hundreds of repeated transmissions to succeed.
Now that Bi Rong Star had over twenty signal stations, Jiang Ye's new order only needed ten retransmissions to pop up "Sent successfully."
Half an hour later.
[The other party has agreed to the request for negotiations at our base. They should arrive within five minutes.]
Jiang Ye smiled.
This was promising.
He estimated that during the first negotiation, the other side would still be stubborn, either refusing to apologize or haggling over the compensation amount.
However, the situation developed far beyond his expectations.
[The commander of the other party wishes to surrender completely and lead all his subordinates to join the Jiang Ye Star forces. Please instruct, Commander.]
Jiang Ye was dumbfounded.
What was this?
If you can't beat them, join them? Betraying the mother planet directly?
[Please provide a detailed explanation of the situation,] Jiang Ye replied.
After waiting for ten minutes, a reply arrived.
[This base is the Fourth Base established by Dan Star after invading our territory. There are three other bases in the low-latitude periphery.]
[Base Four has a total of 1200 personnel of various types. Currently, 460 have been lost. More than half of the remaining personnel are non-combatants. Their commander believes that delaying further is meaningless and is willing to lead the remaining subordinates to join our forces, and is willing to become a citizen of Jiang Ye Star, severing all ties with Dan Star.]
[The other party's attitude is sincere, and they are willing to obey all arrangements.]
Jiang Ye was bewildered.
His first reaction was... a trap?