Book 5 Chapter 10.1 - Want and Obtained
If one looked down from the sky, they would find many mottled black pieces a hundred or so kilometers from Midnight City, just like scars on snow-white skin. These were the wounds left behind after the war, not even the unending great snowfall able to cover these new injuries. Due to the limitations of production, new era battles rarely used large-scale bombardment, the damage left on the surrounding environment far less than olden era battles, but traces that were hard to erase were still left on the great earth.
From high up above, one could see two armies confronting each other from several kilometers away. Both sides constructed simple fortifications based on their respective terrain, and behind the fortifications stood temporary camps. Both camps were extremely orderly, using nearly identical military tents. These tents all possessed basic radiation resistance functions, able to effectively shelter ordinary soldiers, especially those who only had a single level of ability or no abilities at all. However, those who grew up in the wilderness all more or less had some mutated tissues, so their resistance towards radiation far surpassed that of ordinary pure-blooded humans. Even though the amount of radiation was greatly increased within this snowy environment, as long as there was some protection, their survival wouldn't be an issue. At the very least, within a short period of time, they would still be alive.
The sky already brightened, and the snow had just stopped falling. The ground was covered in a layer of snow that wasn't that thick, and a thick smell of smoke still remained in the air. From both sides' position, some of the more robust soldiers already crawled out from their bunkers, vigilantly watching the other side's situation.
Snowflakes began to flutter about in the skies once again, the thick low-hanging lead clothes looking as if they were going to crush down on the surface of the earth. The vigilant soldiers on both sides looked up into the sky, cursed, and then they tightened their anti-snow mantles around them to prevent snowflakes from entering their clothes.
On the southern side, the military uniforms and tents all had mobile suits that released fire. At the corner of the emblem was a shining piece of metal. This was a great power that illegally occupied the area south of Midnight City, the Alloy Brotherhood's army. Inside the camp's command division, several officers who were almost completely covered in alloy armor were currently standing around a sand plate, discussing things intensely. One of the officers had a tall and big build, his face covered in a stiff beard, hawk-like eyes staring rigidly at the enemy's position on the other side of the sand plate.
"Damn weather!" A staff officer heavily smashed a fist down on the sand plate.
"Seriously… it snowed again! If this continues, it might take a whole week before a large scale offensive action can be carried out." Another staff officer said.
The commander who had remained silent this entire time suddenly said, "Measure the radiation intensity for me!"
Several minutes later, the technology supervisor reported the surrounding radiation intensity data. When he saw this curve on the screen that shot straight up, the commander's face immediately became as gloomy as the dark clouds outside. If they launched an attack under this type of environment, it would bring irreversible harm to the bodies of his ordinary soldiers, with the weakest of the soldiers possibly only having a single year of life left. The commander had at least one and a half times the number of men the enemy had, yet because of the vile environment's restriction, he couldn't launch an attack. His mood was naturally not that great.
He currently commanded more than half of the Alloy Brotherhood's army, the temporary hangar behind the camp holding five mobile suits. However, this didn't bring him the slightest bit of happiness. Even though the other side's enemies weren't many, they had an extremely outstanding commander, as well as elite soldiers and powerful ability users. As the highest commander of the army, what left him even more worried was the enemy's advanced and complete equipment, signifying that the other side had powerful equipment and replenishing ability. This was the most terrifying enemy. The wilderness had all the armed mobs one wanted; as long as they were given a gun, regardless of whether they were male or female, they all became qualified and dangerous soldiers.
This army that came from up north not only suppressed them in terms of ability users, their technological and industrial strength seemed to be slightly above that of the Alloy Brotherhood's as well. The commander originally brought out seven mobile suits, but as soon as the battle started, two of the mobile armors that charged at the front were destroyed under the bombardment of more than ten infantry guided missiles, forcing him to withdraw these mobile armors, protecting these new era heavy armored tanks inside the infantry line of battle and using them like mobile forts. In the end, the only area where the Alloy Brotherhood seemed to have an advantage in were their numbers.
Even this advantage was temporary, this was something the commander understood clearly.
He released two thick streaks of white air from his nose, and with a heavy voice, asked, "How much radiation resistance medicine do we have left?"
The military supplies manager looked over the inventory, and then said, "A total of 269 vials, sir!"
"269? That's not enough!" The commander's eyebrows seemed to have wrung together, but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure out how he was going to rely on a mere two or three hundred soldiers to force back the enemy. The enemy had over a thousand soldiers, and their high level ability users, regardless of whether it be their numbers or individual strength, were greater than his!
Only after thinking for ten whole minutes did the commander angrily wave his large hand, ordering for close attention on the weather condition before ending this meeting.