"Headquarters urgent order!" a messenger suddenly shouted.
"Read it!" Yu Xiangyang's eyes widened.
"Jiang Ye Army reinforcements will arrive in approximately five minutes. All units to concentrate the wounded as quickly as possible. Jiang Ye Army medical ships will air-drop to each unit to receive casualties. Units with over 60% combat losses or wounded can switch positions with the Jiang Ye Army." the messenger read aloud, his voice filled with excitement.
"Good! Damn it! Good!" Yu Xiangyang roared. "The bastards are finally here! You will begin evacuation procedures in three minutes."
"Yes!" The messengers were also quite thrilled.
Yu Xiangyang stepped out and announced loudly, "All personnel prepare! We will switch positions in five minutes, the Jiang Ye Army is here to reinforce us!"
A deafening cheer erupted. The soldiers were unable to contain their excitement. Some junior officers, carrying their rifles, rushed out frantically to find soldiers in the nearby ruins. Others grabbed their walkie-talkies to inform their comrades, tears streaming down their faces from emotion.
"They're here!" a soldier suddenly shouted from the exit. "They're already here!"
Yu Xiangyang was startled and quickly ran out with his rifle on his back.
As soon as he stepped out, he froze, gazing up at the colossal object in the sky with a look of horror.
It was early morning, just as dawn was breaking, but rain clouds still loomed in the sky, with only a sliver of white light filtering through the gaps.
The dark behemoth slowly descended from high above, so large it resembled a floating city. Its shadow obscured the light in several nearby blocks, almost filling the entire field of vision. The object's surface was incredibly smooth, with orange lights flashing intermittently in certain areas, their frequency resembling breathing. It was a metal monster of unimaginable scale.
Even the rain had stopped. While it was still pouring elsewhere, not a single drop fell on the streets covered by the warship's presence.
Yu Xiangyang felt an intense pressure, leaving him completely stunned. This pressure wasn't from being in a bombing zone or from bullets flying in a firefight, but rather the fear of looking up at something incomprehensibly powerful, like a small fish in the sea gazing at a ten-thousand-ton vessel.
Some soldiers followed Yu Xiangyang out and were also struck dumb. Numerous soldiers stared blankly at the sky, as if they were cave dwellers seeing the sky for the first time in their lives.
"Should we clear a landing zone?" a soldier asked.
"How do we clear it? This thing could flatten two city blocks," Yu Xiangyang retorted.
"Is this even a Jiang Ye Army warship?"
"If it were a Gante warship, we wouldn't need to defend anymore; we could just wait to die," Yu Xiangyang snapped. "Stop gawking, everyone! Get the wounded out and prepare to evacuate! Do you think such a massive ship is just waiting for us?"
The soldiers scattered, rushing off to carry the wounded.
The warship descended to about ten meters above the ground and finally stopped.
The hull did not rest on anything; it simply hovered steadily in the air. There were no reverse thrusters, and no discernible noise, only a low, surging sound emanating from within the ship, as if thousands of tons of seawater were churning inside, or like the gastric juices and lung air of a colossal creature flowing within.
This scene was unforgettable for Yu Xiangyang. The Jiang Ye Army had demonstrated its absolute power on Wheeler Star with such a grand arrival. At the same time, Yu Xiangyang knew very well that while this sight was a tremendous shock to him, it was likely just a routine docking procedure for the Jiang Ye Army soldiers.
Several dark openings appeared on the underside of the warship, and a swarm of small, black spacecraft were rapidly released, streaking in all directions.
These small spacecraft seemed more understandable, as Yu Xiangyang could see their rear thruster ports, flashing brightly through the rain.
One spacecraft flew towards Yu Xiangyang's position and landed with a splash in a puddle a few meters in front of him.
Only then did Yu Xiangyang realize that these so-called small spacecraft were not small at all, being at least the size of a bus. They were entirely black and metallic, with dark, reflective windows on the sides and front.
As the hatch opened, Yu Xiangyang was stunned. Inside were not humans, but a group of mechanical soldiers, dark and slender, carrying various equipment, leaping out.
A mechanical soldier, empty-handed, walked over and raised a metallic hand in a salute.
"You're Yu Xiangyang, right? I'm responsible for your evacuation. My name is Tong Liu," the mechanical soldier said, his tone as natural as a living person's.
Yu Xiangyang returned the salute. "I am Yu Xiangyang. Greetings, Officer Tong Liu!"
"Not an officer. We're on the same level," Tong Liu chuckled. "Are there many wounded?"
"Twelve with amputations, forty with penetrating wounds, and about a hundred with abrasions, bruises, and falls."
Tong Liu turned and waved to the mechanical soldiers observing from the ship. Immediately, mechanical soldiers carrying stretchers jumped down in pairs and hurried towards the ground.
"Amputations are no problem. The mothership has a printer; a leg can be printed in five minutes," Tong Liu said, lowering his voice and putting a hand on Yu Xiangyang's shoulder as if sharing a secret. "Let me teach you a trick. Once you get on the mothership, say you were dazed by a bomb blast. The medical personnel will give you a full body check-up, a very thorough examination. Any hidden ailments you have will be screened, and they might even treat them for you."
"This... is this appropriate?" Yu Xiangyang was taken aback.
"What's not appropriate about it? The higher-ups cover the expenses; it doesn't cost you anything. Our mothership's equipment is the best, and the medical personnel are the best. A similar procedure at a major hospital would cost twenty to thirty thousand. Tong Liu said in a low voice. "You'll see when you get up there; everyone does it this way. You'll even have to queue for a check-up."
"Alright, thank you, thank you!" Yu Xiangyang nodded quickly.
He felt a warmth spread through him. Although Tong Liu was a mechanical soldier, he possessed an indescribable human touch. Yu Xiangyang felt that the Jiang Ye Army soldiers were good people. Despite their power, they treated him like one of their own, without any airs.
Wounded soldiers were continuously carried onto the spacecraft. Once a ship was full, it would ascend back to the mothership, and moments later, another would descend to pick up more.
Yu Xiangyang and Tong Liu stood waiting, discussing the battle situation in low tones.
"The entire Leileliu region was attacked?" Yu Xiangyang asked.
"Yes. Gante had built many Gante towers in the Leileliu direction beforehand, but we didn't expect him to attack so quickly. It was a slight strategic miscalculation," Tong Liu nodded.
"Is our Lengliu City the main attack direction?"
"No, Gante's main forces are attacking Gota, Chengtong, and Solleto. Lengliu City's main attacking force is only fifty thousand. Those three cities each have a hundred thousand Gante troops attacking them," Tong Liu said. "Our warships arrived last night and didn't come to your location; they were continuously reinforcing Gota, Chengtong, and Solleto."
"Since you've reinforced them, I presume those three cities have held off Gante's attack?" Yu Xiangyang asked with a smile.
"They almost didn't. The local garrisons and the attacking Gante forces suffered heavy casualties. We deployed only mechanical soldiers; over five thousand were damaged, and several small spacecraft were shot down," Tong Liu shook his head. "Last night's fighting was incredibly fierce. In my several years of service, I've never seen such intense combat."