Battle Report, First Task Complete

Chapter 35 Battle Report, First Task Complete

While the conference participants fretted over the two menacing beasts: the Beast King leader and the injured Vulcan Eagle Beast King; another discussion unfolded atop an adjacent mountain of the first front line.

Captain Zhang, Captain Ren Ya, and their team members meticulously reviewed and analyzed the previous night's battle.

Their skirmish commenced with the first encounter with the Vulcan Eagles pack at 24:26. Engaging in a fierce clash, their combined forces, including Captain Vlad's team, totaling 800 members, confronted 137 Vulcan Eagles with the assistance of garrison soldiers.

Remarkably, the three teams successfully vanquished 136 Vulcan Eagles, including 2 formidable beast kings. They also dealt a severe blow to a Level 8 Beast King, who managed to escape amid the chaos.

Lasting 41 intense minutes, the battle concluded with minimal casualties: 0 fatalities, 3 severe injuries, and 219 minor injuries.

Of these casualties, 1 severe injury and 67 minor injuries were sustained by Captain Vlad's team, 22 minor injuries from Captain Zhang's team, and 33 minor injuries from Captain Ren Ya's team.

With the immediate need to tend to the wounded and prepare for the impending battle against the first wave, compounded by the stealth and elusive capabilities of the Vulcan Eagle beast king, the teams failed to pursue the fleeing beast king.

Following a brief one-hour respite, at 26:07, the first wave of the beast horde breached the 70km mark.

By 26:10, as the military maximized the number of beasts within the bombardment zone, they initiated a relentless bombardment, significantly delaying the approaching beast tide. The attack also decimated a vast number of the lower-level beasts and induced chaos among the horde.

The beast horde's first wave reached the first defense line at 26:11 and the battle lasted for over 11 hours and 31 minutes.

After a grueling fight, the battle was officially over by 07:42 in the morning.

In this battle against the first wave of beast tide, they exterminated 42,132 beasts, including 28 Level 8 and 39 Level 7 Beast Kings. This brought the number of slain beast kings to 69, counting the earlier two Vulcan Eagle beast kings.

Impressively, 34 of these beast kings were neutralized through the combined efforts of Captain Zhang's and Ren Ya's teams.

Despite their elite composition, Captain Zhang's team incurred 7 severe injuries and 24 minor injuries, while Captain Ren Ya's team suffered 13 severe injuries and 31 minor injuries.

Considering the complexity of the operation amidst the chaos, their execution of the Decapitation Operation was nothing short of remarkable.

Despite the impressive numbers of beasts slain and the tactical success of the operation, the faces of Captain Zhang and Captain Ren Ya remained solemn and dignified. The reality of war was harsh, and the toll it took on their team weighed heavily on them.

Out of the 600 members that embarked from the base, a staggering 75 soldiers, amounting to 12.5% of their force, were injured.

Thankfully, everyone in their team consisted of elite soldiers who had awakened. While the awakeners' innate healing abilities provided hope for the swift recovery of the less severely wounded, the fact that such a significant portion of their force was injured, was worrying.

But, there were still 20 seriously wounded individuals who would need to be withdrawn from the frontline for extensive recovery.

This was not a good sign to the captain.

This outcome was particularly troubling especially when they considered the favorable conditions they had enjoyed in the initial engagement, benefiting from fortified defenses and bombardment support.

If they were sustaining such losses even under these advantageous circumstances, it raised apprehensions about their ability to endure the forthcoming battles of attrition.

"It appears that we need to reassess our strategy in light of the casualties we've sustained," Ren Ya said. 

On his front, Captain Zhang nodded in agreement.

"That's true. Though our main objective remains unchanged, with our current situation, we may need to adjust our tactics to minimize further losses."

The two discussed several strategies and whether or not these strategies were feasible to be implemented.

Their original plan was to remain behind the horde and ambush beast kings while avoiding frontage confrontation.

Using their speed to maneuver between the mindless beasts crazily charging forward, they planned to flank the beasts from the side when the beasts gave chase during the tactical retreat of the first defense line.

They planned to use the advantage of the familiar terrain and the mountain's high vantage point to execute fire-and-displace tactics, or kiting tactics in gaming terms.

Slowly, they can bait and lure the enraged beast kings away from the horde while flanking them through the mountain.

They have already established the various attack points along the mountain paths.

But, considering the casualties they had suffered, Captain Zhang and Captain Ren Ya recognized the need to adapt their approach to avoid the risk of being surrounded by the beasts.

This way they can ensure the safety of their team members while still making a significant impact on the battlefield.

Captain Zhang proposed, "We should request suppression fire from the rear at pinpointed target locations.

We needed to designate several attack points along our path to funnel the enemy forces and prevent large numbers of beasts from overwhelming us."

Ren Ya nodded in agreement, adding, "Indeed. Along our flanking path, there are several valleys that we could use to serve as ideal locations to thin out the enemy ranks significantly."

Ren Ya's observation struck a chord with both captains.

Indeed, given the teams' formidable strength and capabilities, they could handle any strong beasts that slip through. However, their primary concern was the potential of being surrounded by ordinary beasts, which would require them to divide their attention and firepower.

By employing suppression fire and targeted bombardment, they could effectively eliminate these surrounding threats, ensuring that the teams could focus on engaging the beast kings without being overwhelmed by lesser enemies.

Of course, to achieve effective results, they needed to guide the timing and location of the suppression fire and bombardment in real time.

Ren Ya added, "Plus, this way we not only can achieve our objective, we can also lessen the burden of the retreating soldiers. Especially since we'll be luring every beast king on their heel."

It also gave them more time to retreat safely into the second defense line.

And looking at the topography, they may even establish a more fortified position away from the beast path. It would be a good chance for them to slip to the rear when the beast tide's third wave reached their current position.

"That sounds like a good approach," Captain Zhang said while looking at the map. "If I remember correctly, there's an abandoned outpost on this mountain some time ago. It was abandoned after the last beast tide was over."

Hearing this, a glimmer of hope sparked on Ren Ya's face. "If we establish our forward base at the abandoned outpost, it not only could serve as a safe retreat point but also allow us to regroup and recover while we wait for the main beast horde army to arrive."

"Okay, that's it. Let's move forward with this plan," Captain Zhang said with a smile.

The two captains meticulously fine-tuned their strategy, scrutinizing every detail to ensure its effectiveness. They divided their team into several groups: one consisting of soldiers with minor injuries and several escorts to advance to the abandoned outpost to scout and prepare the forward base, the other remaining 500 soldiers were divided into smaller groups and stationed along the designated path.

With this setup, they could capitalize on their long-range suppression and bombardment support from the rear defense line. As one group baited and engaged a beast king, another group would lure and confront another. This would allow them to systematically and continuously eliminate the beast kings, one by one.

Their plan was carefully crafted to maximize their impact on the battlefield while minimizing the risks to their teams. Once they had finalized their strategy, they submitted it to their commanding officers for approval, confident that it would bolster the city's defenses and turn the tide in their favor.

-

17th March 11AE, 09:41 in the morning.

The suburbs of Asma City

Inside one of the rooms on the first floor of Azure Building.

As Ceid was engrossed in meditation, a prompt reminded him of something he had totally forgotten.

[Ding!]

[Task 1: Establishing foothold!]

[Task Details: To facilitate the candidate to complete your task, you would require a necessary foothold as your base of operation.

Task Objective: Designate a premise as your foothold (0/1).

Task Limit: Three (3) days.]

[Success Reward: Beginner's Gift Pack.

Failure Punishment: Failure of Assessment.]

[Task Limit: 0 hours 10 minutes.]

Seeing the prompt, Ceid's eyes widened in shock!

Wyd, why didn't you remind me?

<I'm sorry, Host. I was under the impression that you were aware of task at hand.>

<Last night, when Borris reported the completion of renovation work on ground floor, you acknowledged Borris's good and happily went to inspect other floors.>

"Doesn't that mean that the ground had been qualified for completing the task last night?"

<Affirmative. >

"Urgh. Fine. Submit task completion immediately," Ceid said with a sigh.

[Ding!]

[Submission of Task 1...completed.]

[Evaluating Completion of Task 1: Establishing foothold!...

Task Limit: 0 hours 9 minutes.

Task Designated Area: Ground Floor (Hall - 4000 sqft; Side Hall - 2000 sqft; Warehouse - 1800 sqft)

Task Completion Rate: 100%]

[Congratulations on completing task 1. Task reward had been given. Please check your system's inventory for the reward.]

[You've obtained Beginner's Gift Pack]