"These Resistance Army troops don't seem quite right."
The Army commander's deputy, who had been observing them all along, was somewhat puzzled. The Resistance Army troops had not charged out of the houses shouting that they would fight the Federal Army several hundred meters away to the death.
Instead, they had suddenly abandoned their concealed positions and exposed themselves to the snipers' line of sight.
It was strange. These people's condition seemed off too.
He was very young—only forty-five or forty-six—and held the rank of colonel.
He came from no particularly distinguished background, but he had been lucky enough to enter the Federal Army Academy and later graduate with excellent marks.
He had once thought he would become one of the youngest generals in the Federation, but reality had slapped him hard across the face.
He had been stuck at the rank of colonel for many years. He also understood that his long-delayed promotion was not because his military abilities were lacking, nor because he had offended anyone.
It was simply because he had no one backing him.
This time, he had exhausted all his connections and favors to secure a position as the Army commander's deputy on the Maliro front.
A colonel serving as a deputy might have been somewhat beneath his station at the lower and middle levels, but serving as the deputy to an Army Lieutenant General was clearly quite suitable.
In truth, he knew what was happening, but sometimes he could not appear too clever.
The Army Lieutenant General, who was also watching the battle, chuckled. He gripped the pipe in his hand and seemed to be laughing, but upon closer inspection, there was hardly any amusement in his eyes as he said, "Their spirits have already snapped."
The single sentence struck the heart of the