169 First Blood (1/2)
The star troops had been preparing for three days for the war to cleanse the island of Bali. To make sure everyone was fully prepared, Alex had added one more day of tactics simulation for all regiments in their guarded locations. After that, he made sure the whole army took a full day of rest.
.
.
DDay +84
At dawn break, almost 150,000 soldiers of the Starbase were ready to start the war against three million zombies. Sharpened wooden barriers, moats, traps, etc. were set up in the seven regions that stretched 30 kilometers to the north of Denpasar city.
From the west to the east of Denpasar city, the regions of Krambitan, Tabanan, Mengwi, Abiansemal, Ubud, Gianyar, and Semarapura were guarded by the seven regiments, each composed of 1,000 elite troops, and 20,000 of first and second divisions troops.
The first regiment, led by Arief, guarded the Krambitan region.
The second regiment, led by Donny, guarded the Tabanan region.
The third regiment, led by Dario, guarded the Mengwi region.
The fourth regiment, led by Sandi, guarded the Abiansemal region.
The fifth regiment, led by Jerry, guarded the Ubud region.
The sixth regiment, led by Winter, guarded the Gianyar region.
The seventh regiment, led by Nathanael, guarded the Semarapura region.
Each region had three lines of defense. The 1,000 elite troops were the first line of defense, which was nearest to the yellow zone. The 10,000 first division troops were the second line of defense situated 3 kilometers away from the first line. And the 10,000 second division troops were the third line of defense also situated 3 kilometers away from the second line, which acted as the rear guard.
Fighting against millions of zombies couldn't be won with just a frontal attack. Unlike humans, these zombies would not divide their hordes evenly against the seven regiments. There could be a location where the hordes would be greater in number than in another location. That regiment needed to make sure they wouldn't be surrounded by thousands of zombies from all directions. So it was crucial for the seven regiments to coordinate and send reinforcements to where it is needed.
The troops are ready to face the 3 million zombies in front of them. They felt like they were ants about to fight an elephant. But ants weren't totally helpless against an elephant, they could defeat this elephant little by little.
It's almost time, the war against three million zombies on the island of Bali is about to begin.
.
.
.
Tabanan Region - Donny's Regiment
10,000 first division troops were on full alert guarding the second line of defense 3 kilometers from the yellow zone. The area entrusted to them was one of the three main roads that led to Denpasar City. Shops and houses filled the road along with dozens of small alleys. The troops in this area were further divided into five key locations. Each location was stationed with 1 main battalion and 1 reserve battalion.
At present, Battalion 08 was placed in the middle section facing the highway. Of the 10 platoons scattered in the region of Tabanan, this area included the platoon 077 led by Lieutenant Dylan.
Platoon 077 previously had only 36 people left, but it had been reinforced with 63 new recruits in order to form a full platoon. But despite having many new members, Dylan as a newly assigned platoon leader wasn't so worried.
It wasn't because he's confident in his leadership, but it was due to one person whom had just joined this morning made him more confident. Lieutenant Chris, the former leader of platoon 077, who should have been recovering, rejoined the army.
Chris was more experienced and should have replaced Dylan as the platoon leader, but since Chris had just recovered and hadn't participated in the tactics simulations, he was assigned as second-in-command to Dylan.
The fight was about to begin in the first line, rows of black-uniformed; fully armed troops were on standby ready to receive the signal.
”Lieutenant Chris, why are we assigned at the scariest position?”
”It's because the leader believes that we are capable soldiers. We should be proud.”
Lieutenant Chris replied trying to calm the new recruits. He also added, ”I think this is a very strategic place. Don't you know that other platoons are positioned in the middle of a forest and some event place in a paddy fields? At least here, we can easily shift our positions and we can clearly see the zombies advance. But more importantly, every zombie that comes here will be decimated by the machine gun.”
Each platoon was given two machine guns to use as their main weapon to defend an area against the zombies. Most of the soldiers were also given firearms. And in each platoon, there were 30 selected men trained in melee weapons who were given large shields and long spears.
”Why is Lieutenant Dylan taking so long...”
”He still hasn't finished the last briefing with commanding officer Milo.”
Milo was one of the newer Deathsquad recruits, but he had been appointed as the commanding officer of Battalion 8 which totaled 1,000 people.
A few minutes later, Dylan returned from the briefing.
”Get ready, my friends! The battle is about to start. We are just waiting for the elite division to lure the first wave of zombies. We can do this!”
Lieutenant Chris was pleased to see that the young Dylan leisurely led the troops. He also knew his recovery from his near-death experience was thanks to Dylan and Cynthia. So he forced himself to join this fight to look after them.
Dylan then looked at Chris and said, ”Lieutenant, please give us a lecture or two.”
Christ then turned serious and looked at the 100 troops in front of him. Out of these 100 people, only he had experience in a real war.
”Listen up, men! In all of our missions, we have fought several times against hordes of zombies. But fight on this scale is very different. The path of winning this battle is formation. When hundreds of zombies are upon us, focus your attacks only on what's in front of your eyes. Entrust your lefts and rights to your comrades! That's the secret to win this. Do you understand?”