Chapter 6 (2/2)

It was very easy to be emotionally affected on a battlefield. Seeing Qin Hao desperately return to save his companions, the recruits who bore the same weapons also went back without hesitation!

“You lot, get going!” Qin Hao yelled at the mess cooks who were carrying the body.

“Yes!” The men also knew that time was running out, so all three of them joined forces and lifted the body up as they ran ahead.

“Alternate suppressive fire!” Qin Hao shouted as he first withdrew from the battlefield. After he ran for a dozen meters, he turned around and opened fire at the swarm of giant beetles.

When retreating, escaping without thought would often result in being pursued from behind. In the end, no one would survive. After all, a two-legged human could not outrun a six-legged bug, so someone had to cover the retreat.

If anyone was sent to be a rearguard, it was as good as sending that person to his death. So, alternating suppressive fire had become a common tactic during retreats. While the new recruits had not been on an actual battlefield before, this tactical maneuver was nothing to them thanks to their professional military training.

Whenever Qin Hao re-opened fire, the new recruits would cease and retreat. Once they pulled themselves a distance away, they would start firing again to cover Qin Hao’s retreat.

Just like that, Qin Hao and the recruits covered each other as they slowly moved toward High Ground Z3. The cooks supported each other too and carried Ol’ Four’s body all the way back to the grounds.

“Oy, you goons, not even one short?” The bear-like company commander, Ralph was already at High Ground Z3, but the soldiers under him were not as lucky as him. The 2nd Company had a total of more than a hundred people, and less than fifty had arrived at High Ground Z3 so far. Even if some soldiers were still on their way, the 2nd Company had pretty much suffered more than a thirty-percent loss!

When more than thirty percent of a combat unit were casualties, the unit would normally be pulled back and rested. Based on the Federation’s doctrines, combat units that had lost more than thirty percent are considered badly damaged, and those suffering more than fifty percent were considered combat ineffective.

For a landing battle, however, no matter how many they managed to gather, all would have to charge forward. Such a battle was literally fought using human lives, and all units that landed on Alpha had experienced grievous losses. Thus, when Ralph saw Qin Hao and his mess squad all arrive at High Ground Z3 (while Ol’ Four was K.I.A1, he too had arrived at High Ground Z3), he was quite surprised.

“You, get back to your units!” Ralph shouted at the new recruits. These individuals were ultimately combatants, while Qin Hao and the rest were mess cooks.

“Company commander, what should we do?” a cook asked.

“Find a place to lay low and stop bothering me!” Ralph roared as he walked off to assemble the troops. He could not be bothered to see mess cooks like Qin Hao and the rest. Unless it was time to eat, who would think of them?

Thump!!!

A massive thud later, a massive Gauss Cannon was airdropped onto High Ground Z3. The next second, heavy weapons arrived in succession, and the soldiers of the 106th Mechanized Infantry Division began to lay out defensive positions to secure their battle lines.

“Twelve o’clock! Enemy attack!” Following that shout, a massive swarm of bugs appeared north of High Ground Z3. Aside from the most basic giant beetles, there were also many plasma worms!

“Boom!!!!” A plasma worm in the distance had its back to High Ground Z3. Its huge belly, which shone with blue light, sharply contracted, and immediately after, a blob of plasma shot out of its tail toward the defending troops at the top of the grounds.