Chapter 149.1: Army

?The wasteland northwest of Clearspring City.

Snow-covered pine trees and elm trees emerged from the damaged country houses. Withered and yellow sea buckthorn swayed under the toppled buildings. The only road was no longer visible, and the sky was covered with snow.

This was the junction of ?Clearspring City and Heavenly Water City, and was also the frontier of the southern city group of River Valley Province.

Although the primitive urban area was geographically closer to Heavenly Water City, it belonged to Clearspring City, which had a larger population and denser industries, in terms of jurisdiction.

It had an original and flavorful name, the Elm District.

There used to be a lot of elms and cypresses, now, only evergreen trees like whatever was left survived.

In that distant utopian era, this area used to be a famous summer resort. Linghu Lake in the south, the low mountains and gentle hills in the west, and the occasional breeze and sunset in the forest made the place seem very peaceful. The residents of cities who were tired of urban life often came here to live a life of seclusion for a few days.

Because there were no high-rise buildings around and every household had a lawn the size of a basketball court, some people would grow some primitive crops in their backyard. As a result, the survivors in this area became self-sufficient for a period of time at the beginning of the Wasteland Era, forming a family-based agricultural community.

Of course, it was deserted at the current point in time.

The wild green plants have replaced the traces of civilization. In just a few decades, the forestation rate of this idyllic small village had soared from 60% to 100%, and it was impossible to distinguish the edge of the forest from the ruins.

Facts had proved that once human beings were adapted to industrialization, it was difficult to survive without technology for too long.

Even if many people were tired of the hustle and bustle of the city, 99% of them wouldn't be able to stand it if they went back to the agricultural era.

Those primitive crops grown as hobbies were not even enough for the locals to eat, let alone to feed the refugees that were pouring in. With the onset of harsh winters, farming communities, both of the larger and smaller scale, soon disappeared into the snow.

Due to the lack of recyclable garbage and dangerous mutants lingering, few survivors had visited; only some merchants who were not afraid of death chose to settle down there.

However, the abandoned city that no one cared about turned lively once again.

A group of uninvited guests came from the north and stepped into this place in a mighty manner.

They were armed with uniform bolt-action iron-barreled rifles; the rifles had cheap wooden stocks and heavy cast barrels. They had no protective gear, no uniform clothing, just a tattered fur coat and frayed short boots that barely covered their body.

The only uniform equipment on their bodies was probably the electric shock collars on their necks.

Clearly, they were humans!

It was just that in those beast-like pupils of their eyes, the brilliance and rationality of civilization couldn't be seen in the slightest.

Holding rifles and wearing collars, they were more like a group of tamed monkeys. And those junior officers who held the remote control behind them and urged them to move forward were more like living people.

A knowledgeable person could tell at a glance the identity of those who were wearing collars.

Human clones! Human clones of the cheapest type!

In the Central Continent, there was probably only one organization that could domesticate clones on a large scale and efficiently, and put them into the battlefield.

They were from the Army!

Standing next to a dilapidated house, the man in the dark blue coat looked at the troops marching forward, his vulture-like gaze as sharp as a dagger.

His name was Vanus.

Whether it was in the headquarters of the Army, or the Eastern Army which he was a part of, it was an unremarkable name.

However, contrary to his unremarkable name, he had ambitions to become a general.

The desire for honor and power led him to join the Eastern Expeditionary Force, following in the footsteps of General Klaas, and marching eastward toward the Great Rift Valley in the northern River Valley Province.

Legend has it that the Enterprise in the Far East also sent an expedition force, but unfortunately lost.

Vanus didn't want to make any comments about Enterprise's failure, but he scoffed at it.

In his view, those people were weak. They were greedy for enjoyment and huddled in a province, and they would not understand what war represented. He felt that it was only natural that they would lose.

The Army was different.

They were warriors born to fight. Their flesh and blood were driven by an iron will.

The iron law of the Army had been ingrained into everyone of the Army, from clones to citizens.

Even without advanced equipment, they could still rely on their desire for victory and glory. Their will to win was inscribed in their marrow. They marched out in all four directions at the same time, laying a vast expanse of territory on the wasteland of ruins, making countless large and small tribes bow down and offer them slaves and tribute.

Sooner or later, the fertile Great Rift Valley would surrender to the iron hoofs of the Army. There were no exceptions under the mighty force. They would massacre for seven days to punish those who were stubborn and pay homage to the dead heroes.

Although the battle had been in a stalemate for a year, Vanus had no doubts about it.

They were about to win!

Originally, he and his subordinates would participate in the winter offensive, but at that moment, a piece of news that could not be ignored came from afar.

A moving fortress was heading west!

According to the information gathered, that fortress was from the far eastern coast, and was dominated by a group of nobles from Enterprise. Of course, in terms of the Enterprise, nobles were called high-level employees. From the route, it seemed that they intended to head west to find the whereabouts of Shelter 0.

Coincidentally, the Army was also very interested in Shelter 0.

However, logically speaking, that was not something that the expeditionary army should intervene in, and it was not a wise choice to split up to provoke the people of Enterprise at that juncture.

Vanus raised an objection to General Klaas, but the objection was dismissed.

In the words of General Klaas, in order to break through the unbreakable Divine Shield System of the Great Rift Valley, the expeditionary force needed the mobile fortress to process nuclear materials for them and produce cheap and easy-to-use nuclear warheads.

Although he didn't want to admit it, their tactical nuclear bombs were almost exhausted...

"How far are we from that fortress?"

Hearing the voice of the commander, the adjutant behind Vanus reported in a deep voice, "There are still 10 kilometers, sir."

Vanus nodded and said, "Just stop here. As long as they are not blind, they must have discovered us already."

The Army didn't have incredible technology, but it didn't mean that they had never seen one before.

Vanus's thinking was clear.

Build fortifications, set up positions that make use of the jungle terrain, and hit their rear with artillery to force them to surrender.

He believed that as long as the cannon sounded, those cowards who had never fought hard battles would definitely fall into chaos.

"Lay tinfoil and thermal insulation foam. We will build the headquarters here!"

Stepping on the concrete bricks under his feet, Vanus squinted his eyes and gazed toward south.

"Those tin cans are hard to deal with, but they can't stay there forever.

"We'll wait for them right here!"

...

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Meanwhile, a light fixed-wing drone took off from Pioneer and circled along the edge of the Elm District.

At the same time, in the operational command center...

Lu Yang stared at the snow-like bright spots on the screen, gradually frowning.

"The Army?"

The drone operator in front of the console replied, "It should be them."

There were more than 2,000 flickering spots, scattered on a front 2 kilometers wide and 2 kilometers long, like beans sprinkled on the ground.

Apart from the Army, he couldn't think of any other possibilities...