Chapter 149: Orbital Bombardment
After receiving the news, Gu Hang couldn’t even enjoy his meal.
Ten thousand Greenskins, including over three thousand genuine Orks, and the numbers were still increasing.
There was already a difference in individual combat abilities, and the biggest gap lay in their resilience against attacks.
Now, the enemy had amassed various types of crude, laughable but undeniably powerful heavy weaponry and equipment.
This was already a significant threat.
Originally, Gu Hang had planned to call for orbital bombardment in two days before launching a full-scale counterattack. But now, it looked like those Greenskins were gearing up for an all-out assault first?
Luckily, this intelligence came in time. Had such an assault hit them completely unprepared, it would have caused major problems.
Gu Hang was considering solutions.
First, the redeployment of his troops had to be accelerated.
The units that were still rotating for rest at the joint military camp had to be urgently mobilized.
Currently, the frontline force had actually decreased to around fifty thousand soldiers. Another fifty thousand or so were in the rear, resting and reorganizing.
Although the front line now had half the manpower, it was undoubtedly more stable than when the adventurers from Garbage Town used to defend it. The soldiers, now re-equipped and retrained, possessed far superior military skills and equipment than the adventurers ever did.
But now, they had to brace for impact, perhaps even launch a full-on counterattack, right?
The follow-up troops certainly needed to be moved forward, held in reserve and ready to jump into action as needed.
Of course, it would be best if they weren’t needed.
The orbital firepower Gu Hang had requested from Alicia earlier was specifically for this kind of problem.
If the Greenskins were scattered and hiding in the city ruins, taking them down would be quite a challenge.
While orbital strikes had immense destructive power, the city was already a ruin, so it couldn’t be reduced to dust any further, could it?
The Greenskins, with their naturally tenacious life force, would certainly be obliterated in the central blast zone. However, those in the peripheral areas might actually survive in significant numbers.
But now, they had gathered together and cleared out an open area as a launch base. Wasn’t that practically begging to be bombarded?
Gu Hang was tempted to ask Alicia to initiate a small, focused bombardment.
With a few shots from the “Heat Hammer” macro cannon and ten “Scalpel” ship missiles, a barrage aimed right at their base could take out nearly ninety percent of the Greenskins gathered there.
But after some consideration, Gu Hang resisted this enticing thought.
Patience would bring greater rewards; bombing now wouldn’t maximize the benefits.
Alicia could only secure him one opportunity for bombardment, so he had to make it count.
Patience, more patience.
Now, his task was to prepare his troops to face any challenge or launch a preemptive strike and wait for frontline intelligence before making a final decision.
…
Deep within the High Tower Ruins, while marching, Martins suddenly posed a question to Schneider, who was walking beside him.
“These Greenskins seem unusual. Have you noticed?”
Schneider thought for a moment and responded, “There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re no different from the Greenskins we’ve fought before.”
“That’s exactly the problem,” Martins said. “They shouldn’t be this formidable. Their numbers alone aren’t enough to sustain a disaster. If Greenskin spores landed on this planet for some reason, sprouted, and this clan grew from scratch, they should be stuck at a primitive technological level given their current numbers. Even if some brains were donated by those Garbage Town natives in combat, accelerating their development, they shouldn’t have reached this level of technology so quickly.”
“You’re suggesting these Greenskins didn’t evolve locally?” Schneider’s attitude grew cautious.
If that was the case and they belonged to a powerful, interstellar clan, then the situation would be extremely troublesome.
However, Schneider quickly dismissed the idea. “It’s unlikely. Fury Owl Planet has never reported an alien invasion. If a spacefaring Greenskin clan had targeted this planet, they wouldn’t have sent only a small team. A few warships carrying hundreds of thousands or even millions of Greenskins would descend, multiply rapidly, and flood the planet. That’s their typical approach.”
Martins agreed with Schneider. “That’s exactly the contradiction here. We need to remind our comrades not to underestimate these Greenskins, thinking of them as merely savage or primitive Orks. They need to stay vigilant. I don’t want to lose another battle brother outside Revival City’s power plant.”
Upon hearing the commander’s words, the other four members fell silent.
They stopped speaking further.
Following the route the Greenskins used to transport supplies and reinforcements, tracking down the enemy’s main base wasn’t difficult.
By the evening of the second day, they had already found their target.
The Greenskins, too, were preparing for war. Their base was brightly lit, and their factories were bustling with activity.
The soldiers of the Star Warriors’ Storm Unit didn’t have the means to infiltrate the base. Lacking proper disguise for cross-species infiltration, their efforts could only go so far.
But it was enough.
They marked the Greenskin’s main base, their armory, and even identified three large breeding farms around the area.
Those enormous plant-like structures had sprung up resiliently among the city ruins.
As Martins had previously explained to Gu Hang, this was far from an ideal habitat for the Orks.
Even though the Greenskins had worked hard to create a relatively flat area, exposing the soil, and managed to channel in some water, the soil wasn’t suitable, there was insufficient sunlight, and water resources were limited.
But Greenskins were tenacious; they thrived even in such an environment.
It was harvest season for their plants. Under the lights, they saw massive pods hanging from twisted plants, with something wriggling inside. Suddenly, the pod would burst open, and a Greenskin creature would fall out.
This process kept happening before their eyes.
Most of the time, what fell out was a type of beast with varying sizes but a similar appearance.
These creatures, known as Sku’gol, were a type of domesticated livestock within the Greenskin tribes. These animals, while not very intelligent, were aggressive, with sharp teeth and large mouths that could open wide. Yet, they served as livestock in the Ork ecosystem.
Some were used for grooming, others as food, and some were raised as pets by Ork boys. The largest ones could even be ridden into battle.
Sku’gol fed on all sorts of waste.
Sku’gol ate things the Orks wouldn’t, and the Orks, in turn, ate Sku’gol.
Together with fungi, they became a major food source for the Orks.
Besides Sku’gol, the next most common were Gretchins.
These were servants, cannon fodder, and, if necessary, food for the Orks.
Less frequently seen were proper Greenskin Orks.
Whether it was Sku’gol, Gretchins, or Orks, they all arrived fully grown.
This breeding farm was indeed in the midst of harvest season.
If all three breeding farms they identified operated at this rate, in just a month, the number of Greenskin Orks alone would increase by about twenty thousand, with another fifty to sixty thousand Gretchins joining them.
Martins was now grateful he had sternly warned Gu Hang of the risks and that Gu Hang had heeded his caution without ignoring the threat.
Otherwise, things could have gone very wrong.
After this, the task became straightforward.
It was just a matter of marking coordinates.
They couldn’t mark them precisely, as they still had some distance from the target areas. Even at this range, they encountered Greenskins several times, though they silently eliminated them.
Given the Greenskins’ lack of discipline, they likely wouldn’t even notice a few missing; they lost plenty of their own to infighting each day.
But even with approximate coordinates, it was enough. As long as the general area was covered, a macro cannon would obliterate everything in the blast zone.
One “Scalpel” missile could almost destroy a small wind farm, let alone a much more powerful macro cannon or the larger “Wrath of the Loyalist” macro cannon.
To improve efficiency, they categorized these areas by value.
The two highest-value targets were the main base and the launch site where Greenskin forces were gathering.
Next were deeper targets such as the weapons factory, breeding farms, and the “Kill Tanks” within the Greenskin army. They also marked several other likely valuable but inaccessible locations.
After completing these tasks, they distanced themselves from the Greenskin’s main base and relayed the information to Governor Gu.
Soon after, they received a message from the Governor:
“Leave the area promptly. You have 14 hours to move out of the orbital bombardment range. Ensure your safety, and verify the bombardment’s effects after it’s complete.”
“Understood.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
…
After responding to the special task force’s message, Gu Hang let out a deep breath.
Everything was finally in place.
He reconnected with Alicia, provided her with the strike coordinates, and informed the Commodore that everything would proceed according to plan.
Tomorrow, at 11:00 Terra Standard Time, the orbital bombardment would commence as scheduled.
His troops would complete their pre-battle preparations, have a proper meal, and after the bombardment ended, launch their offensive against the enemy head-on.
The Greenskin Ork frontline opposing them wouldn’t suffer intense bombardment, only a few “Scalpel” missiles would be targeted at key positions, while the macro cannons would not be aimed here.
The main reason was that the macro cannons had immense power and a wide coverage area, and compared to “Scalpel” missiles, their accuracy was somewhat lower. A slight miscalculation could easily end up covering their own positions.
It was better to use the “Scalpel” to target key areas, then leave the rest to their own troops.
…
At the frontline, Rugi Likoshi, the commander of the 3rd Independent Regiment, which was striving to reclaim their title as the “Beast Slaughtering Group,” had just finished a combat briefing, seeing off Tadius, the Chief of Political Affairs for the entire army who had come to inspect.
Lieutenant Colonel Tadius conveyed the Governor’s orders, announcing in a meeting with all company-level and above military officers and instructors that the 3rd Independent Regiment would serve as the spearhead and vanguard in the comprehensive counterattack planned for noon tomorrow.
Their objective was to pierce through the Greenskin defenses head-on from the central section of the frontline, completely taking over their positions and splitting the line in two, creating a breakthrough space for the three mechanized composite battalions to maneuver.
Afterward, once allied forces came up to secure the position, they were to detach troops, accompany one of the composite battalions, and execute a flanking maneuver from the north to cut off the northern Greenskin Orks’ retreat and join forces with the main front to annihilate the Greenskins entirely.
All commanders and soldiers listened in silence as Tadius outlined the battle objectives and requirements.
The silence continued.
But it was not out of fear or trepidation.
Likoshi could see a fire in the eyes of his subordinates.
And he felt the same way.
They had waited too long for this.
“Alright, everyone, go back,” Likoshi broke the silence. “Return to your respective companies, and make preparations. There are 13 hours left until noon tomorrow. The Operations Department will break down the tasks for the offensive, which you will receive by tomorrow morning at the latest. This is the battle we’ve long awaited, an opportunity we never dared to dream of before. I have only one request: make it a beautiful fight! Let’s be worthy of those we lost, of the hatred that compels us to fight, and of the chance the Governor has given us!”
“Hurrah!” the officers shouted as they stood up and returned to their units.
Andrei Aleksei, newly appointed Commissar to the regiment, was somewhat taken aback. He had planned to boost the officers’ morale as the Chief Political Officer, but it seemed there was no need.
Commander Likoshi patted him on the shoulder without explaining further.
Who among the soldiers of the Beast Slaughtering Group could really sleep soundly?
But they would force themselves to rest, all for the sake of performing at their best tomorrow.
The night was exceptionally long.
…
Even the longest night eventually passed.
At dawn, Likoshi, now fully rested, went to the front lines to inspect the troops.
He observed the soldiers as they ate, checked their weapons, and saw the officers speaking with them…
This scene inexplicably calmed his restless heart.
They had done all they could, and now awaited the order to attack.
The issued pocket watch ticked away, approaching 11:00 a.m.
The attack order hadn’t arrived, but he first noticed red dots faintly appearing in the sky.
Meteor shower?
No, he quickly dismissed the thought.
This was likely part of the powerful strike that Lieutenant Colonel Tadius had previously mentioned.
At the time, he had thought it would involve the artillery positions in the rear firing relentlessly, but it seemed to be more than that.
He watched as those red streaks fell from the sky, getting closer and closer until they hit the vast ruins ahead.
Then, two gigantic, almost city-encompassing balls of light suddenly appeared.
Alongside these enormous spheres of light, many smaller ones were visible, although obscured by the ruins.
The scene felt strangely surreal, as if watching a silent film, with light but no sound.
But soon enough, the awaited effect arrived.
The ground shook.
It was like an earthquake, with some soldiers even staggering as they tried to stay balanced. In places where the ruins had been weakened by previous battles, parts of the structure collapsed due to the tremors.
Fortunately, their fortified positions had been specially reinforced, and there were no casualties.
Then came the shockwave accompanied by a deafening roar!
It was like a gust of scorching wind blowing through, causing many to step back, feeling a pressure in their chests.
Despite the discomfort, every soldier of the 3rd Independent Regiment, from Likoshi on down, felt immense satisfaction.
The explosion had occurred deep within the High Tower Ruins, where the densest concentrations of Greenskins resided!
Even from dozens of kilometers away, the aftermath of the explosion could be felt vividly — the heat, the shockwave…
So what about the Greenskins at the core of the blast?
Even if those creatures had stronger life forces than humans, they couldn’t possibly survive such a strike!
All that was left was to eliminate the enemy directly in front of them, and this Greenskin calamity, which had plagued them for years and grown increasingly severe, would end by their hands.
Likoshi was already impatient to lead his troops in a charge.
But the time hadn’t come yet.
The order to attack still hadn’t arrived.
Instead, the sound of roaring came from above.
The artillery positions in the rear had begun their barrage.
On the combined artillery line, a hundred 155 howitzers were lined up, pointing to the sky, firing continuously.
There was a finite supply of shells. Supporting a total army of tens of thousands in Weihsing City required producing many items: armored vehicles, bullets, guns, equipment, explosives, grenades, rockets, and artillery…
Efforts to increase shell production had been intense, but they still couldn’t sustain high levels of consumption.
But since today had been decided as the final battle, there was no need to conserve.
Over a hundred cannons fired at full speed, raining artillery on the Ork positions in front of them at a rate of 500 shells per minute.
This was an unprecedented full-scale bombardment. The artillerymen no longer cared about barrel longevity or shell consumption.
Their goal was to unleash 15,000 heavy shells on the Greenskin Ork positions within half an hour. Currently, only 20,000 shells remained in total.
The remaining four to five thousand shells weren’t being saved, either; they were reserved for supporting the infantry assault.
Just as the artillery began firing, Rugi Likoshi finally received the attack order.
He relayed the command for an advance to the entire regiment without hesitation.
The 5,000-plus soldiers of the 3rd Independent Regiment had 25 minutes to move into position within 200 meters of the enemy line and stand by. They would have five minutes to rest, and when the bombardment ceased, they would launch an all-out attack on the Ork positions.