They had rebelled for the sake of rebellion, risen up for the sake of uprising, only to be swiftly crushed by the enemy's airtight, overwhelming suppression. Wasn't that a form of reckless adventurism? Yu Lian couldn't help thinking of Teacher Li's assessment of Comrade Che.
He felt that if he'd been there in Ice Valley City, he would at least have led a group of capable rebels in a breakout at the first opportunity. There was no helping it: given the Alliance military's reaction speed and combat strength, their only chance of survival lay in escaping before the blockade was fully in place.
To the west of Ice Valley City lay the Yarel Plateau. To the east, however, after crossing more than thirty kilometers of hilly terrain, they could flee into the vast Nivi Great Forest. It was a subarctic forest covering more than eight million square kilometers, and the second-largest forest in all of Nefi.
Of course, with the Alliance's control over Nefi, even that mere thirty kilometers of hills would become a road to death. Even if they managed a breakout against overwhelming odds, they wouldn't last long waging guerrilla warfare in the forest, and surrounding the cities from the countryside was out of the question. Still, they might at least live a little longer—and perhaps preserve some seeds of revolution.
He'd barely had the thought when Colonel Singer continued, "The Alliance has confirmed that a group of rebels escaped the city and hid in the Nivi Great Forest to the east. If that suspicious fellow, Polder, is still alive, he's very likely hiding among them. Once the Alliance wipes out the rebels and captures him, our suspicions will be cleared."
Oh? Some people really had escaped? Yu Lian's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help seeing those