At this time, it was already 16:00 on February 19th, seventeen hours had passed since the Alpha Squadron arrived at the Ma Sa** Land.
Augustus was standing in the center of the Martin Fortress Command Center, paying close attention to the communication networks of the revolutionary army headquarters at all levels. In front of him was a holographic projection screen composed of blue-green lines, with a constantly changing
War map.
Behind Augustus are rows of consoles close to the walls and glass observation windows. Massive amounts of information are being imported into the command center through wireless communications. This information comes from the battlefield in the capital area, the Reno Division in motion, and Tychus.
There are dozens of different regions and departments such as the Ministry of War, Mira Han Ministry, Revolutionary Army outposts, and mining areas. They will eventually be reclassified, filtered, summarized, and passed to the main console where Augustus is located.
Standing in front of the console were Revolutionary Army operator operators and command staff officers in dark gray stand-up collar military uniforms of the Revolutionary Army. They all wore flat caps with Revolutionary Army cap badges, and their uniforms had golden wheat ears, a golden wolf head and the Pan-Talon Party emblem.
Panda Badge. Revolutionary army officers who can enter the staff must first have good conduct and be able to perform their duties impeccably. Secondly, they must be members of the Pan-Talonian Party and be able to pass the assessment of psychics.
The holographic projection combat map in front of Augustus is constantly changing along the timeline. The marks representing the positions of his own troops and enemy troops sometimes change and sometimes remain motionless. These data all come from the last report two hours ago, both
There were many inaccuracies and delays, and it is possible that the main force of Alpha Squadron had moved hundreds of miles overnight by vehicle without the Augustus command center knowing anything about it.
But even so, for Augustus, this battle map could still clearly and intuitively reflect the battlefield situation.
Before landing, Alpha Squadron's fleet launched an attack on the Revolutionary Army's First Fleet, which was staying in the Mar Sara synchronous orbit. After a brief but fierce exchange of fire, the Revolutionary Army's six battlecruisers made a short jump to the nearest fleet.
Three star systems.
After repeated weighings, Duke ordered the fleet to pursue based on the detected jump signal. The fleet was divided into four. The only battleships staying on Mar Sara were the flagship of Alpha Squadron and three other Behemoth-class battleships.
Cruisers. Two hours later, these four battleships encountered eight battlecruisers from the Second Fleet of the Revolutionary Army that had jumped from other galaxies. The two sides immediately fought in synchronous orbit.
On the surface of the planet, the first force between the two sides was the air force. The revolutionary army was located in the Capital District, Fort Martin and the three airports in the Hilo Autonomous Prefecture. They dispatched more than 2,000 sorties of Avengers fighters and four air wings of Alpha Squadron in multiple locations.
Battlefield confrontation. Since the Revolutionary Army Air Force had the advantage in the confrontation with the Alpha Squadron Air Force, the federal army could not use transport aircraft to deliver troops to various places in Mar Sara without scruples, and could only use railway and road hubs to deploy ground troops.
.
Two divisions of Alpha Squadron, an armored brigade and an artillery brigade landed on the Plain of Bones and the Red Mesa in the north of the capital area. This force of more than 20,000 people, each of whom was armed with power armor and Gauss rifles, advanced south.
Forty miles later they encountered Tychus Finley's four mobile battalions.
Just as the enemy commander Colonel Duke expected, the "rabble" with poor equipment and weak combat effectiveness collapsed at the first sight. Tychus fired a few shots and ran away, leaving a pile of supply boxes to the vanguard of Alpha Squadron and riding on his own.
The armored personnel carriers obtained from the Mar Sara Planetary Defense Force retreated around the capital area toward the desolate canyon in the south.
The complacent Colonel Duke immediately ordered two Marine brigades from Alpha Squadron to pursue Tychus' troops, while he led the remaining six brigades to support the capital area and arrived two hours later.
But at that time, Augustus had ordered Rundstein's First Division to the west of the capital area to launch a general offensive. It only took Rundstein half an hour to defeat Governor Mar Sara and nearly 30,000 soldiers.
The disarmed Planetary Defense Forces drove out of the capital area and forced them to flee north.
As a result, the two leading Marine battalions of Alpha Squadron, which came to relieve the siege of the capital area, collided head-on with the defeated Planetary Defense Force and militia at night.
This led to disastrous consequences. This army, which was composed of planetary defense forces, civil defense forces and a small number of marines from all over Mar Sara, came from dozens of different regions. They had dozens of positions with equal and different powers.
Commanders who belong to the same system.
Because the supreme commander, Governor Mar Sala, did not fulfill his duty to restrain the army during the retreat, the fleeing army, which lacked unified command and panicked, plunged into the marching convoy of marines and armored vehicles.
middle.
Chaos began. Tens of thousands of panicked Mar Sara soldiers mixed with Alpha Squadron soldiers. There were shouts and scattered lights from power armor searchlights. When the first militiaman who lacked training accidentally fired his gun,
, the soldiers started shooting at each other.
So Colonel Duke, the commander of Alpha Squadron, had to order his soldiers to clean up the deserters of Governor Mar Sara. After leaving more than a thousand corpses and several times more wounded soldiers, the Governor's troops ran back and scattered.
flee.
This chaos that was unspeakable for the military lasted all night, and it was already daylight when Alpha Squadron arrived at the ruins of the Capital Region Governor's Palace. The revolutionary army obviously had enough time and energy to move away when they retreated.
The heavy artillery and baggage did not leave behind even a single seriously injured or sacrificed soldier.
This morning, the surveillance department of Augustus listened to Duke's report announcing that he had defeated the rebels after retaking the capital area. This report will take at least two weeks to be translated and then sent through a large number of interstellar communication base stations to enhance the signal.
To the Terran Confederation Naval Headquarters on Tarsonis.
In the report, Duke proudly called the battle the Duke Offensive and bluntly stated that the rebels were vulnerable.
At this point, Augustus was finally able to confirm that it was indeed Edmund Duke who personally led the Alpha Squadron to land on Mar Sara. This was consistent with his own fighting style, and he was indeed angered by Augustus.
I am eager to avenge my shame.
The slogan of Alpha Squadron is to be the first to attack and the first to leave the battlefield. They always charge before friendly forces, tearing apart the enemy's defense line like a heavy hammer and retreating with success.
After retaking the Capital District, Duke's Alpha Squadron continued to advance south without rest, chasing the fleeing Tychus Finlay's troops through the Capital District, Lorenzana, and...
The sandworm desert spans nearly 10 million square miles of land. On Augustus' battle map, Alpha Squadron's marching route is an almost straight line.
At the same time, more than 60,000 soldiers from Augustus' Reno, Harnac, Mira and retreating Rundstein troops were approaching this straight line from different directions - an encirclement.
It's taking shape rapidly.
If Augustus and his staff and military advisors are not mistaken, then Duke’s target should be the command center of Fort Martin where he is located. The Alpha Squadron fleet in the synchronous orbit of Mar Sara can easily discover this
A huge military base, this is an obvious primary target and the heart of the revolutionary army's command system.
At this time, the Revolutionary Army transport plane in the Fort Martin Airport was taking off. Augustus received the report that Tychus's troops had fled into the desolate canyon. At first, Duke ordered the two federal marine brigades to pursue Tychus.
Subsequently, the main force led by Duke from the direction of the capital area was also rapidly approaching.
At the marching speed of Duke's troops, it only took them less than an hour to reach the last barrier in front of Fort Martin - the desolate canyon with complex terrain.
In Augustus' eyes, Duke was like a flying insect about to fall into a spider's web.