Upon hearing the Savior's proactive reflection, the agitated crowd around quieted down. Since even the Savior openly admitted misjudging the Mastanians' actions, no one dared to question Dream Jia's attitude towards the Savior. However, those still upset clearly didn't want to let Dream Jia off easily and redirected their anger towards her stance on the Savior. After all, if not for the Savior's intervention, this world might have fallen long ago! Even you, just born a few days ago on Earth NX, might have been perforated by Mastanians! So as a newborn white person, why do you dare to disrespect the great Savior like this?
"Your name is Jia Meier, right?" Elsie walked up to Dream Jia and asked. Although Elsie maintained a modest smile, her smile made Haoyun and the others feel extremely uncomfortable.
"Yes," Dream Jia lightly shook hands with Elsie and replied.
"Ah, very good. You remind me of Eileen. Like her, you are intelligent, spirited, independent, and confident. So I hope you can be as promising as her, and become someone with great potential. I have high hopes for you!" Elsie patted Dream Jia's shoulder gently, very satisfied, then turned to look at Eva. Eva quickly turned her head away to avoid making eye contact with Elsie.
Curious about Eva's reaction, Dream Jia couldn't help but ask, "Eileen? Who's Eileen?"
Although unexpectedly reluctant, Elsie preemptively answered after hearing Dream Jia's question, "Ah! Eileen is my older sister. Actually, we are both little white people. I was just over a year old at the time, and she was over ten years older than me. We appeared near a battlefield during a fierce battle. If it weren't for my sister's cleverness, I guess we wouldn't have had a chance to survive, nor would we have been discovered by Judge Yan, who led that battle, and grown up under his guardianship to become the backbone of the Skeleton Special Operations Team!"
"Then... where did Eileen go?" Haoyun asked cautiously on the side, but as soon as the words came out, he regretted them somewhat. Because from Eva's emotional response, it was clear that he had asked a question that he shouldn't have asked without thinking.
"She sacrificed herself," Elsie quickly answered this time.
Then, raising her voice a bit, Elsie continued, "Alright! Let's leave the past behind us! No matter what happened in the past, we need to keep moving forward."
Then, raising her voice again to address the officers and soldiers present, Elsie said, "We don't know if the Mastanians will attack Lenata City or when they will launch a large-scale attack against us. But from now on, while accelerating the construction of defensive fortifications, we must maintain a state of readiness level one. In addition, given the unclear situation near Lenata City, for safety reasons, we will temporarily stay in Lenata City to assist everyone through this crisis."
Upon hearing that the Saviors would temporarily stay in Lenata City, the atmosphere at the scene immediately became lively again. Because the Saviors have always been able to turn the tide and help humans defeat the Mastanians in times of crisis, the confidence of the officers and soldiers increased significantly. Even though the current defensive strength of Lenata City has not yet reached an ideal state and it is difficult to sustain a prolonged large-scale battle, as long as the Saviors personally oversee it, the soldiers have enough confidence to repel the enemy. So much so that some more aggressive warriors, upon hearing that the Saviors would stay to assist them in combat, immediately looked forward to the battle with the Mastanians.
After the incident on the playground at the Service Center ended, the Skeleton Special Operations Team was quickly assigned to several large defensive trenches built on the plains outside the Lenata Mountains, designed to divide the battlefield. The reason they were assigned to these seemingly well-hidden trenches, even on a flat battlefield, was not due to any special treatment between Eva and Elsie, but because the Skeleton Special Operations Team itself is an experienced special operations team with rich experience in behind-enemy-lines operations.
Therefore, once the battle begins, the Special Operations Team will need to conduct high-risk reconnaissance or sabotage operations according to the situation on the battlefield, to ensure that the command center of Lenata City can always grasp the enemy's movements and make tactical adjustments in time. At the same time, under the cover of friendly artillery fire, they will also look for opportunities to penetrate deep into enemy territory and seize the chance to destroy some high-value siege weapons, thereby reducing the defensive pressure on Lenata City.
Since Haoyun and the others have only received the most basic military training and lack sufficient combat experience, Eva arranged for them to be responsible for logistical support for the Special Operations Team on the battlefield. Of course, although Haoyun and the others' task is to ensure the logistical support of the Special Operations Team, Eva still allocated six cannons to them and required them to learn how to use the autonomous combat control system to operate these cannons in the shortest possible time, so that they can provide firepower support for the defenders while fulfilling logistical support.
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Carl thought he would stay behind to work with Haoyun and the others on logistical support, but what surprised him was that Wang Defa, with a wicked smile, specifically named Carl to accompany him for reconnaissance missions in the front lines. Eva did not intervene much in this decision, but she did warn Carl to be careful and cautioned Wang Defa not to take advantage of the situation to sell Carl out. Wang Defa continued to smile wickedly, saying he would definitely ensure Carl's safety. However, from Eva's perspective, she still expressed concern for Carl's safety.
Although Eva was very worried about whether Carl, who lacked much experience in field reconnaissance, could handle the tasks assigned by Wang Defa, and was also worried about Wang Defa, who had never liked Carl, could really protect Carl's safety on the battlefield, Carl was excited to have the opportunity to rush to the front lines to carry out the mission. Moreover, after getting Eva's approval for Wang Defa's expression, Carl patted his chest hard and promised to do his best to complete the task assigned by Wang Defa.
In the following days, the defense forces of Leinata City quickly deployed all available defenses. Although their military strength at this point was only half of what they normally deploy for a major battle that occurs once every hundred years, the overall firepower configuration of Leinata City's defenses remained formidable.
Shortly after completing their preparations, Leinata City received another message from Old Zion City. It was worrying news: the situation in Old Zion City was even worse than anticipated. Caught off guard due to incomplete defensive lines, the Xibo's unexpectedly fierce assault caused the outer defenses set around the Zion Mountains to show signs of collapse. This forced the defenders to retreat their defensive lines to the foothills of the Zion Mountains and prepare to withdraw into the city, holding the final line of defense.
Despite the natural geographic advantage of the Zion Mountains, where defensive fortifications on the hilltops allowed the defenders to launch attacks from above against the Xibo infantry (as the Xibo's floating battle tanks were unusable in mountain warfare), the heavy artillery of the Xibo could still target these hilltop defenses with precision strikes. Even though the mountaintop was beyond the range of their heavy firepower, they could still destabilize the fortifications by collapsing the mid-slopes, thereby destroying the defenses built on the hilltops.
In summary, if the defenders of Old Zion City couldn't stabilize their defensive line at the foothills of the Zion Mountains, their only option would be to retreat into the city. Then, relying on the last two lines of defense, they would continue to resist. Once these final defenses were gradually dismantled by the Xibo, Old Zion City would be completely exposed to the enemy's guns. The morale of the human defenders would undoubtedly suffer a severe blow.
Nevertheless, Haoyun had to admit that the courage and resilience of the humans on Earth NX were indeed remarkable. Despite anticipating the eventual fall of Old Zion City based on the ongoing battle, and thus worrying about the future of Leinata City, the people inside Leinata City did not despair. Instead, this concern became a driving force for everyone to work harder. Thus, everyone living in Leinata City redoubled their efforts to produce war supplies, ensuring that the defenders had ample ammunition to repel the impending enemy attack.
The atmosphere of war hung heavy over Leinata City. In the past week alone, the city had received multiple reports of large-scale surprise attacks by the Xibo on various main cities. It seemed evident that this was not just an isolated incident targeting Old Zion City but a coordinated large-scale assault planned against all major cities. It appeared increasingly inevitable that Leinata City would face a major battle.
As night fell once again, the worries and tensions among the people of Leinata City increased. Everyone knew that with nightfall, the Xibo would likely begin their assault. Tonight was not the night for friends to gather under the clear skies, enjoying barbecues and drinks, singing songs, and discussing the future. Instead, as the wind picked up over the plains and valleys outside Leinata Mountains, a vast glow gradually appeared on the distant horizon. The Xibo army had finally arrived.
Judging from the strong lights emanating from the distant Leinata Mountains, it was clear that the number of troops dispatched by the Xibo tonight was enormous. As the mechanized forces of the Xibo entered the view of Leinata City's defenders, they quickly spotted dense red dots in the dark, accompanied by the steady drumming of footsteps. Like a pack of wolves, the Xibo soldiers converged toward the direction of Leinata Mountains.
Upon entering the combat view of Leinata's defenders, the mechanized units of the Xibo halted their advance and began adjusting their formation on the spot. It seemed that until the defenses of Leinata City were significantly damaged, the Xibo's mechanized forces were not ready to continue their assault. Their current task appeared to be providing long-range fire cover for the infantry advancing ahead.
"All units, attention! All units, attention! The enemy has appeared! The enemy has appeared! All combat units, prepare for battle immediately!" As the Xibo forces pressed forward, commands from the command center of Leinata City's defenders repeated incessantly through their communicators. Apart from these commands, there was silence across the entire defense line, signaling the imminent outbreak of a major battle.
"Fire!" As the Xibo's frontline ground forces entered the firing range set up by the first line of defense of Leinata City's defenders on the outer reaches of Leinata Mountains, the command center of the defenders immediately ordered an attack. As the firepower of the first defensive chain drowned the first wave of charging enemies, the Xibo responded with their own gunfire, and their mechanized units immediately provided fire support to their infantry. Thus began an unprecedented large-scale battle erupting across the plains surrounding Leinata Mountains.
Haoyun and his two companions skillfully operated their artillery, assisting other defenders in providing covering fire over the front areas of the first defensive chain, cutting down the large Xibo forces that charged forward. Their goal was not just to defeat the attacking Xibo but also to delay their advance efficiency.