"That shouldn't be the case," Yu Xiangyang looked up at the spaceship obscuring the sky. "With your capabilities, you can still capsize in a ditch?"
"We arrived at the battlefield three hours after the war began, and then spent another four hours clearing out the enemies near those three cities," Tong Liu said. "Eighty percent of the local garrison's casualties occurred within the first three hours."
Yu Xiangyang suddenly understood. "The Gant military brought out a lot of tricks this time. We encountered thousands of self-detonating dog-like units, and not just one type. The big ones were as large as yaks, and the smallest were like long-legged grenades. We'd never seen anything like them before. They would lie in wait in the ruins, and when our people got close, they'd suddenly jump out and explode."
"Those three cities were almost submerged by the self-detonating dog-units. The ground was covered with a thick layer of shattered parts from their explosions, glinting in the light. Every step I took sank past my ankles. I just finished talking to a local company commander two hours ago; his company blew up at least ten thousand of these self-detonating units last night, their lights almost blinding us," Tong Liu said. "The Gant military only used this one trick in your Lengliu City, but they deployed many bizarre tactics and disgusting weapons in those three cities."
"Many? What other tricks did they have?"
"The Gant military dug very long tunnels beforehand, possibly four hundred kilometers in total length, leading directly to the vicinity of Gotha, Chengtong, and Solerto. They first sent a small contingent of troops in another direction. Once the local garrison was drawn away, the main force that had been waiting in the tunnels swarmed out, appearing suddenly to launch a fierce assault."
"Some suicide attackers also infiltrated the city in advance, firing weapons in residential areas, causing heavy civilian casualties to tie up our forces. Many underground signal lines were damaged, and water and power facilities were also targeted."
"We had that in Lengliu City too. Our subway lines were hit, and the hospital was also bombed."
"I heard about that. The Gant military's methods are quite despicable," Tong Liu scoffed. "Their armored vehicles were loaded with signal flares. A flare fired at a certain location wouldn't explode but would embed itself at the impact point, turning into a signal emitter. On your planet, such signal emitters would be considered quite advanced, capable of interfering with enemy signals while flooding surrounding facilities with a massive amount of junk data. Near Gotha City alone, eighty thousand signal flares were fired."
"The Gant military also deployed something they captured and called bio-locusts. They are hopping drones, about the size of walnuts, with small wings and a spring-loaded base. When they jump, the small wings retract to reduce drag. When falling, the wings open to glide on the wind, each jump covering over ten meters. They contain solid paralytic gas, which they release along the way," Tong Liu said. "After releasing the gas, these bio-locusts would change direction and hop back to the Gant military's assembly points."
"They're even reusable?" Yu Xiangyang was astonished.
"We killed many bio-locust operators. They carried large plastic containers and hid in the woods outside the battlefield. The openings of these plastic containers were like honeycomb. When a hopping bio-locust returned, they'd stuff it into the container. After about half a minute, the bio-locust would be refilled with gas and jump forward again. For every ten operators, there was a locust vehicle, resembling a truck, filled with locusts and solid poison. One captive confessed that they called this tactic 'Locust Tide'," Tong Liu said.
"Locust Tide…" Yu Xiangyang mused over the term.
"Because these bio-locusts were so numerous, the outer defenses of Solerto observed over a million of them. When they hopped over in swarms, both the sound and the sight were very similar to a locust plague, a feeling of being everywhere," Tong Liu said. "The locusts would come to release gas, then return to be refilled, coming and going like a tide."
"Why not just use gas bombs?" Yu Xiangyang asked. "If you have enough gas bombs, they can create a large, foggy toxic field. Wouldn't these back-and-forth locusts be very troublesome?"
"The benefits of the locusts are said to be numerous, such as extending the duration of the toxic field, releasing gas in a targeted manner, and repeatedly harvesting defenders hiding in underground shelters. I'm not entirely sure of the specifics, but the Gant military's gas bomb technology is quite mature. The fact that they also developed these bio-locusts must have been for specific reasons," Tong Liu said. "The Gant military used over ten new types of weapons in this offensive, catching the local garrison completely off guard. In many areas, it devolved into close-quarters combat with heavy weapons, with both sides' heavy weapon units fighting from across a street to avoid each other's devastating aerial bombardments. Consequently, there were very high casualties, and the battlefield will likely take a long time to clear."
"Damn it," Yu Xiangyang sighed. "We of Leiliu are a small force, and having a powerful neighbor puts immense pressure on us. My father lost a leg on the battlefield, and my cousins died in the siege war ten years ago. We've had peace for the past decade, but we soldiers have always been uneasy. If there were constant battles, we'd know the Gant military's capabilities. But after such a long period of peace, we don't know what killing tools the Gant military has secretly developed, or what form their next attack will take."
Tong Liu extended a hand and patted Yu Xiangyang's shoulder. "This fear can end soon. You will join a force hundreds of times larger than the Gant."
"You mean Jiang Ye's force?" Yu Xiangyang asked. "Forgive my presumption, but our planet has very little contact with the Galactic Empire, so we know very little about the situation outside. I only know that Jiang Ye is someone who owns a planet."
"You only know part of it. Chief Jiang doesn't just own one planet; he owns many. We privately call him the 'Three Unknowns Chief'."
"What do you mean by 'Three Unknowns Chief'?"
"He doesn't know how much money he has, he doesn't know how much territory he has, and he doesn't know how many soldiers he has," Tong Liu said. "The Chief himself certainly knows, but we, the common soldiers, don't know the extent of the Chief's resources. Our experience in the military is that our budget is almost inexhaustible, and advanced weapons are constantly being upgraded. Sometimes, before we've even familiarized ourselves with new equipment, it's all retired for even newer models. Everyday life is even more extravagant. You'll see when you get to our mothership later; the extravagance and waste are to an absurd degree."
Yu Xiangyang was stunned, feeling somewhat overwhelmed.
He and his soldiers were fighting desperately here, merely to protect a small city, and he hadn't even dared to dream of unifying the planet Wheeler.
The force controlled by Jiang Ye actually possessed many planets?
The 'Three Unknowns Chief'? Was it really that outrageous?
The wounded were quickly evacuated. Yu Xiangyang was the last to board the small spaceship, saluting Tong Liu in farewell.
"We're entrusting the local defense to you," Yu Xiangyang said.
"Rest assured," Tong Liu returned the salute.
The small spaceship's hatch closed, and it lifted off gently, its posture as soft as a fallen leaf caught by the wind.