Chapter 980: Chapter 529: The Zhongbei River Conflict

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The successive explosions echoed in Xiong Lei’s ears.

But it didn’t move him anymore.

As long as it didn’t explode directly at his command post and kill him, there was nothing to be shaken about.

Physiologically, his perception of explosive vibrations wasn’t as acute anymore. Partially due to habit, and also because his right ear had been half-deafened in previous battles.

He was a member of the 5th Group Army of the Alliance Army, which was also known as the ‘Korolya Corps,’ a unit with deep roots, having fought and gained honors in the Korolya Plague War.

Xiong Lei also participated in that war. That was twenty-three years ago, and back then, he was only nineteen.

He still vividly remembers the decisive battle outside Mingyan City.

He rose through the ranks rapidly.

Initially, he was just a regular soldier, but after joining the battle, he became a squad leader within half an hour, and three hours later, he was promoted to company commander–the previous officers were all dead, and just surviving meant rapid promotion.

After surviving the hellish battlefield, it all still felt surreal to him.

Too many people died, and eventually, he lost hope of survival, only wishing to take some plague zombies down with him.

He muddled through and survived, officially becoming a company commander and earning a second lieutenant rank; then he got the chance to attend military school, and upon graduation, he was promoted to battalion commander with the rank of captain.

Later on, he participated in several wars with his unit, achieved some military merits, and during peacetime, led his troops in training and stationed for defense…

All things considered, he has had a military career in the Alliance for twenty-four years, now holding the position of division commander, with the rank of senior colonel on his shoulders.

Then, he followed his Group Army to the northern Meng River Star Domain.

Initially, they were on the offensive, and he led his team in several assault campaigns on different planets. Over approximately a year, they traversed three planets. Although the Alliance as a whole was in an offensive posture, it was decidedly steady and slow-paced.

In Xiong Lei’s view, those rebel forces were hardly worth fighting. The so-called ‘Princess Legion,’ rumored to be reformed from the Iron Armor Battle Group’s Mortal Auxiliary Army to rival the Star Realm Army, was considered a decent opponent. However, the Princess Legion’s numbers were simply too few, primarily composed of officers from the Princess Legion as the backbone, conscripted from the locals, with much of the equipment also locally produced by the traitor forces.

These local units may have been slightly better than the conventional Planetary Defense Force, but they definitely could not reach the standard level of the Star Realm Army.

His division often faced three to five times the number of enemies, yet still managed to maintain the offensive, rout the enemy, and even achieve encirclement victories.

Reaching their farthest point, they had already arrived at the ‘Former Beihe Star Sector.’

From Former Beihe, heading further north, they could enter the southernmost Proudclaw Cosmos of the Spiderweb Domain.

During a time when the war was going well, he even felt that the higher-ups’ strategy was too conservative.

They clearly could have advanced much further.

But now, after every victorious battle, just when they hadn’t fully indulged in the fight, the enemy would already be routed and gone; then, they had to start mopping up stragglers, suppress local uprisings, and the like tasks.

The most crucial task was to assist the navy’s transport fleet in evacuating the local population.

Yet what had felt monotonously smooth in the first year had turned into a chaotic cry for aid in the next two years.

He believed this was due to strategic errors from above.

The strategy was contracting, with many planets beginning to evacuate when the enemy’s main forces approached. He had retreated a couple of times, often without even seeing the enemy’s face.

Where there were successful evacuations, there were naturally also failed ones.

Though failing evacuation didn’t necessarily mean doom, not evacuating meant facing endless enemy attacks on an isolated planet with scarce food and medicine and no reinforcements or supplies. The outcome would be far from pleasant.

Although such misfortune hadn’t befallen him personally, Xiong Lei couldn’t help feeling saddened by the loss of comrades.

He felt they should stand firm on each planet and fight the invading enemies head-on!

What is there to fear?

Couldn’t we defeat them?!

And then, he understood that it wasn’t about being unable to win, but at least it was truly hard to fight.

He retreated with the troops back to the Zhongbei River Star Sector, to a planet named Yuehe VII. This was the southernmost star of the Zhongbei River Star Sector and a fortified world, built into a fortress over several years from before the Alliance launched its offensive into the rebellious territories.

A strong defense meant that, when the enemy arrived at the doorstep, the defenders would have a greater home-court advantage.

Especially when naval forces were weaker than the opposition.

Well-constructed hostile anti-air orbital gun fortresses and space stations could provide cover for the ground forces when naval power was inadequate.

Xiong Lei knew that their naval strength was indeed lacking. When the enemy forces entered the region, their fragile fleet was forced to withdraw, otherwise, they faced annihilation.

But thanks to the ground and orbital defenses, the ground forces at least did not suffer, or at least significantly reduced the threat of orbital bombardments.

Xiong Lei himself was a beneficiary of this.

Otherwise, the fortress his division was stationed at would likely have been destroyed under orbital bombardment without the enemy needing to launch an attack.