mchenry-crisis.org Chapter 182 Taking the Initiative
Chapter 182 Taking the Initiative
The spacecraft sped northward at an altitude of 30,000 meters.
Song Chen sat in front of the tactical screen in the command cabin, where data on the distribution of northern alien beasts was displayed.
Suddenly, his gaze stopped on the screen.
The above shows that half a month ago, the North Plains Base City Psionic Monitoring Station detected a signal of a large-scale gathering of alien beasts.
The beast tide level is tentatively set at 3.7. The assessment report from the Great Xia military states that the beast tide is expected to take shape within ten to fifteen days.
"A beast tide?"
Song Chen was overjoyed; the beast-hunting tide was much faster than indiscriminate slaughter.
Thinking about it, he opened the information on Kitahara Base City.
This is the northernmost base city of the Great Xia Dynasty, built on the northern foothills of the Yinshan Mountains, and is the core stronghold of the Great Xia's northern border defense line.
With a permanent population of four million and a garrison of fifty thousand, the garrison commander, He Beiting, was a fifth-rank official who had been stationed in Beiyuan for twenty years.
The documents were turned page by page.
The geographical location of Beiyuan Base City determines its strategic value. The Yinshan Mountains are the most important natural barrier in the north of Daxia, and Beiyuan is located at the only huge gap in the mountains.
By holding the northern plains, the strange beasts of the Mongolian Plateau would be unable to migrate south.
If the Northern Plains are lost, the entire northern defense line will be shaken.
He closed the document, stood up, and walked to the front of the command module.
Han Duo was standing next to the navigation station, staring at the route map.
"Captain Han."
Han Duo turned around and bowed: "Councilor."
"How much do you know about the beast tide in Kitahara?"
Han Duo was silent for a moment. "There are quite a few. I spent three years in the Northern Territory and participated in four battles to defend against beast tides."
"The terrain of the Northern Plains is a gap, and the Northern Plains is the only way for strange beasts to come south from the Mongolian Plateau."
"The larger the beast tide, the more concentrated its impact. Other places fight beast tides with dispersed defenses, but Kitahara fights head-on. Kitahara can hold off this beast tide, but the casualties will be high."
Song Chen looked at him: "What if we don't wait for it to take shape?"
Han Duo's eyes flickered: "What does the councilor mean?"
"Take the initiative and strike before they can fully assemble."
Han Duo was taken aback. He had spent three years in the Northern Territory, always waiting.
Wait for the beast tide to form, wait for the strange beasts to move south, wait for them to crash into the city walls, and then use your lives to fill the gap.
He had heard the phrase "take the initiative" for twenty years, but no one had ever truly done it.
He lowered his voice and said, "There is an unwritten rule between Grandmasters and Beast Kings that sixth-rank warriors will not make a move against each other. The battlefield is for fifth-rank and below martial artists and beasts."
"If the Grandmaster doesn't intervene, then I'm afraid..."
He didn't finish speaking, but his meaning was clear.
"Send a communication," Song Chen said.
"To whom should it be sent?"
"Send this message to Beiyuan Base City first, saying that Honorary Councilor Song Chen, along with the Council's Third Guard Team, has come to take over the mission of clearing out the beast tide. Tell them to prepare all the tactical intelligence."
"Send the message to the higher-ups again. This time, there's no need to send reinforcements. I'll go and provide support."
Han Duo was startled, but he immediately obeyed the order.
"Yes."
On the other side, in Kitahara Base City, at the Garrison Commander's Office.
He Beiting stood in front of the tactical sand table in the command hall, his hands resting on the edge of the table as he looked at the data on the beast tide.
He had been sitting in Beiyuan for twenty years, his hair had turned mostly white, and he was missing a piece of his left ear, which was bitten off by an ice wolf ten years ago.
On the sand table, on the plateau north of Kitahara Base City, red dots are densely packed.
The distribution of red dots is still changing, with new ones joining and old ones gathering together every day.
At that moment, the communications officer strode in, holding an encrypted mobile phone in his hands.
"Governor, the communication from the council's private spaceship is from Honorary Councilor Song Chen."
He Beiting took the phone; a brief notification appeared on the screen.
After he finished reading it, he returned the terminal to the communications officer.
"Order the entire army to assemble."
The communications officer hesitated for a moment: "Governor, now?"
"Yes, now."
The assembly call for Kitahara Base City sounded within two minutes.
Thirty thousand troops poured out from the barracks, city walls, and training grounds, and lined up in formation on the main square outside the north gate.
A formation of 30,000 people stretched from the square all the way to the foot of the city wall.
Infantry, cavalry, psionic artillery arrays, and a large contingent of superhumans were all present.
The armor gleamed like steel under the midday sun, and the flags fluttered in the wind.
Thirty thousand people are waiting for one person.
An hour later, the silver spaceship appeared on the horizon.
The ship descended from the clouds, and the Great Xia Council emblem on its bow was clearly visible in the sunlight.
The spaceship landed on the temporary helipad directly in front of the plaza, and the airflow from the psionic engines blew the dust on the plaza to both sides.
The hatch opened, and Song Chen stepped out.
He walked down the gangway, and the eyes of 30,000 people followed him.
He Beiting stepped forward and bowed.
"He Beiting, the garrison commander of Beiyuan Base City, led the entire Beiyuan garrison to be inspected by Honorary Councilor Song Chen."
Thirty thousand people raised their arms in salute at the same time.
The movements were synchronized, and the sound of their armor clashing together formed a deep, thunderous roar.
Song Chen walked past the infantry formation, the cavalry formation, the psionic artillery array, and the superhuman squad.
His gaze swept across every face.
The armor bore old knife marks, the shields had dents from the claws of strange beasts, the faces bore scars of frostbite, and some people were missing a finger.
These people have been guarding the northern plains for ten or twenty years. They have stayed here, so people south of the Yin Mountains do not have to face the beast tides on the Mongolian Plateau.
He walked to the command platform at the front of the square, turned around, and faced the 30,000-strong army.
The wind blew from the north, from the Mongolian Plateau, carrying the stench of exotic beasts and the scent of withered grass from the grasslands.
He spoke.
"Fifty years ago, a meteorite fell, alien beasts rose up, and humans retreated to base cities."
"Since that day, we've been doing the same thing: waiting."
"Wait for the strange beasts to gather, wait for the beast tide to form, wait for them to cross the wilderness, wait for them to crash into the city walls."
"Then we picked up our knives and fought them desperately on the city walls."
"If we win, the survivors go back to heal their wounds and wait for the next beast tide; if we lose, the city falls and everyone dies."
"For the past fifty years, every base city, every city wall, and every generation has lived this way."
"Every base city in the Great Xia Dynasty was built in this way: wait, and then fill in the gaps with their lives. It took fifty years to fill in the gaps."
Song Chen paused for a moment, and the breaths of 30,000 people condensed into white mist in the north wind.
"Is this effective? Yes, it is. Fifty years have passed, and the human base city is still standing."
"But what is the price? The price is the bones buried beneath the city walls, the last person to jump off the walls and use their body to block the beast tide, buying a few minutes for those behind them."
"Everyone here has paid this price, you paid it, your comrades paid it."
"What your parents paid for, the next generation may have to continue paying for."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed north, toward the Mongolian Plateau, toward the direction where red dots of light were densely packed.
"But has anyone ever thought about why? Why should we always be the ones waiting?"
"Why should the battlefield always be beneath our city walls?"
"Why can these strange beasts gather in the wilderness at their leisure, choose the time to attack at their leisure, and decide from which direction to charge?"
"And all we can do is stand on the city walls and wait for them to come?"