Chapter 71 The Center of the Vortex

When he saw the ‘mushroom cloud’, Amber admitted that he did panic for a moment.

He almost thought that the Imperial Army had gone so crazy that they launched a nuclear strike without caring about the friendly units in the forest.

But fortunately, he quickly recognized that these black mushroom clouds were not the ‘special effects’ of tactical hydrogen bomb explosions, but the attack effects of large-yield tactical missiles.

“This equivalent should not be produced by the airborne troops of the Empire.”

“Could it be David’s tactical missile? Doesn’t that mean there is an orbital attack ship on my head?”

Although he was sure that he had not suffered a tactical nuclear strike, Amber was still a little panicked when he thought that there might be an Imperial orbital attack ship on his head.

He immediately used a set of newly equipped communication equipment to contact the surviving communication relay vehicle in the convoy, and asked it to transfer the communication request to the brigade headquarters of the temporary 83rd Composite Brigade.

Amber was not sure whether these friendly forces noticed the orbital bombing here, but in any case, it would not be wrong for him to report it first.

The temporary 83rd Combined Brigade commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Dallas showed great attention to Amber and his remnant troops.

Even when the rocket reserves were not abundant, they emptied the launch bays of two "Stegosaurus" to cover Amber and his retreat.

So Amber's communication request was quickly received by the brigade's communications officer.

"BHQ, this is P13, please reply, over."

After contacting this friendly force before, Amber and his remnant troops obtained a temporary communication channel call sign - P13, which facilitated communication between the two sides.

"P13, this is BHQ, received the call, please explain the situation."

Amber quickly and briefly described the attack he observed that was suspected to be an orbital strike, so he gave a warning to the brigade and wanted to confirm whether the brigade had also discovered this round of attacks.

After hearing this description, the communications officer asked Amber to wait on the line for a while, and he went to find others to confirm the situation.

Soon, the communications officer was back on the line.

"P13, this is BHQ. Thank you for your warning. The reconnaissance unit has confirmed that an orbital strike has been observed. According to the attack trajectory, it is speculated that this is a raid attack. Affected by the debris in orbit, the attack window of the Imperial orbital attack ship is very short and will not pose a threat to our troops for the time being. Over."

After receiving the other party's reply, Amber once again expressed his gratitude to the friendly forces for their support and ended the communication.

The reconnaissance capabilities of the brigade-level units, especially the air and orbital reconnaissance capabilities, are definitely stronger than his. Since even they have confirmed that there is no major threat, Amber will no longer occupy the precious communication channel.

It may be that the salvo of two rocket launchers successfully blocked the attack of the Imperial pursuit force.

It may also be that the Imperial pursuit force slowed down the pursuit speed in order to avoid being accidentally injured by the orbital strike.

In short, in the first period after the orbital strike, Amber and his team did not detect the movements of the Imperial forces.

The convoy smoothly arrived at the agreed rendezvous point with the temporary 83rd Composite Brigade and successfully joined the troops responsible for the rendezvous.

This small force initially hid around the meeting point, forming a small encirclement.

After receiving the identification signal sent by Amber and his team, they emerged from their hiding place.

Three "Wolf Spider Modified" light multi-legged tanks and five "Mongoose 4" armored vehicles formed the team responsible for the meeting.

The staff of the temporary 83rd Combined Brigade also took into account the situation that Amber had insufficient vehicles and a large number of wounded. Among the five "Mongoose 4" that arrived, three were specially arranged without mobile infantry.

This approach did alleviate the problem of insufficient vehicles currently encountered by Amber.

At least everyone can have a seat, and they don't have to take off their exoskeletons and squeeze together.

After connecting with the temporary command of this small team, Amber realized that they would not go directly to the main force to join up, but would keep a distance of about 50 kilometers from the brigade headquarters for maneuvering.

Even the wounded had to wait until the next path point, and then be taken away by a special medical vehicle for centralized treatment.

The support team that has now joined will also be used as a reinforcement to Amber and reorganized into a mobile infantry reinforcement platoon under the temporary 83rd Composite Brigade.

Since Amber's current team cannot be "combined" with the main force in a short period of time, it can only be used as an independent force for the time being.

This is also the current situation of several other federal remnants that have been incorporated.

In the subsequent march, only Amber himself will go to the brigade headquarters in some cases where offline meetings can only be held.

And unless there is a corresponding combat order, Amber's team will not join the brigade headquarters.

After adopting and deeply revising the combat plan submitted by Amber, the brigade staff have allocated the marching routes of each team through the brigade-level command terminal.

Including Amber's current team, the entire temporary 83rd Composite Brigade is like a large net, advancing towards the direction of the space elevator.

Five days after the encounter in the nameless forest, Robert IV outer space.

In the rear passage of the Dawn Sword, the Marquis of Ascania was quietly standing in front of a porthole, looking at the endless starry sky outside the window.

Although he had seen the scene countless times, whenever he needed to think quietly, the Marquis would find a porthole to admire it silently.

"Raphael, do you know? We have become the center of the vortex."

After an unknown amount of time, the Marquis of Ascania spoke in a calm tone. His voice was a little dry as a result of not moisturizing his throat for a long time.

Combat staff officer Raphael, who had been standing quietly behind him, stepped forward and handed him a cup of black tea at a suitable temperature.

"Does the Marquis mean that our place has become the center of the empire in this great battle?"

Hearing Raphael's answer, Marquis Ascania burst into laughter:

"This is the art of speaking, Raphael."

The old Marquis turned around and looked at this leader of the young officers of the Imperial Royal Navy.

"Obviously among the four galaxies that launched attacks at the same time, the expeditionary strike groups of the other three galaxies have completed the campaign objectives. Only the Robert galaxy where we are located has fallen into a stalemate, and here you have become the 'center of the great battle' "

Marquis Ascania took a sip from the tea cup handed by Raphael, and then continued:

"If I have a choice, I don't want our galaxy to become the center of this whirlpool. Due to the current situation where the offensive is blocked - or 'stalemate', the Supreme Command is considering a plan to increase troops. I believe that the Federation is reacting After coming here, we will also invest more counterattack forces into this galaxy."

"What's more, because we insisted on carrying out an orbital strike despite the opposition of DRSD in the final stage of the operation three days ago, they actually prepared to impeach me, ha!"

"So our next battle - whether it's a confrontation with federal forces on the battlefield, or a fight with our own people outside the battlefield, it may become more and more difficult, Raphael."

"Sir, no matter how difficult the next battle is, I believe that under your wise command, our army will win the final victory."

Raphael stood up straight with his head held high. Although he was a chief combat officer who had reached this position through strength, it did not mean that he would not flatter his immediate boss.

"Hahaha, Raphael, do you know? Emily has always said that your serious and flattering manner is too awkward, and now it seems that it is true."

Hearing the Marquis mention his daughter, Raphael unconsciously thought of the beauty, and his face briefly blushed.

The Marquis noticed this and smiled, but didn't say anything.

He came over and patted Raphael on the shoulder, and said in a relaxed tone:

"Remember, children's fleet battles cannot be won by relying on wise command. The absolute strength of the enemy's and ours' fleets, the professionalism, status, and morale of the ship's personnel are all indispensable. Sometimes you even need a bit of luck."

"As for those battles where you can't see the smoke."

Not sure what he was thinking of, Marquis Ascania snorted coldly, "You often need to be more vigilant, because they can cause more damage to you and me than a real battlefield confrontation."

Just when the Marquis of Ascania was planning to impart some personal experience to the young people he liked.

Suddenly an alarm bell blared in the passage, and warnings were also issued on the personal terminals of the Marquis and Raphael.

[warn! Unreported signs of space collapse were detected in the air defense identification zone! ]

[warn! Abnormal mass growth detected in the air defense identification zone! ]