Firepower Was King

November 19, 829, Common Era, 8:30 p.m.

The 127 space marine gorillas of Company 101, along with one low-ranking security guard, had reached the area near the Alchi Heights. They lay prone among the steep peaks, watching their designated target across a ravine more than a hundred meters wide.

Everything had gone exceptionally smoothly—so smoothly that even Captain Winter and the officers of Company 101 were a little surprised. Yu Lian, who had guessed from the start how things would go, was probably the calmest of them all.

"See, Captain? I told you there was nothing to worry about. Now that we've made it this far, we're already halfway to victory."

Captain Winter agreed, but looked at Yu Lian with even greater surprise. "You knew from the beginning?"

He had watched Yu Lian's performance all the way here. Even he, a seasoned veteran of countless battles, had felt tense, while this "student soldier" had been so relaxed he seemed almost carefree. He'd worn an easygoing expression the whole time, as if he were heading out for a picnic. He might as well have been eating hot pot and singing a song.

"Yes. There's very little chance the enemy will spot us. I can say that with almost complete certainty. And even if something unexpected happens, we can handle it."

Seeing the confusion on Captain Winter's face and those of Company 101's burly men, Yu Lian decided it would be best to explain. He didn't want them thinking he was crazy.

"The Sandfolk have gathered because of Elder Hesen's personal authority. They're still 'barbarians,' and simply can't establish a reliable scouting or surveillance network. The major tribes don't even speak the same language, and plenty of them are sworn enemies. If anything kicks off, it makes a huge commotion, which also helps conceal our movements."

And it wasn't just a bit of commotion. Two tribes, each several hundred strong, had even started fighting, drawing in more than twenty times that number of onlookers from all over. It had been quite a spectacle, almost as lively as last year's Celestial Galaxy Cup final. Elder Hesen had been forced to send people to break it up, and they still hadn't finished sorting things out.

Besides the numb, ignorant, heedless onlookers—the kind not even a medical degree could wake up—the Sandfolk elite tank crews had also unwittingly made things easier for them.

That was right: the tankers had all received at least a little education, and had some sense of national duty and pride. Naturally, they regarded yesterday's crushing defeat as a terrible disgrace. The Sandfolk tankers knew that, to a large extent, it had been caused by their own lack of skill. That couldn't be helped; most of them had only gone through a basic tutorial, driven for a few hours, and then been shoved straight onto the battlefield. Their poor skills were understandable.

But poor skills weren't a problem. The real problem would have been if they lacked even the most basic sense of shame. Fortunately, these Sandfolk elites were made of sterner stuff. They had cleared several open spaces inside the vast encampment and were practicing tank driving through the night. The camp was filled with the roar of engines and the shouts of young Sandfolk—a fine, bustling scene of intensive training.

"With all that noise, even if the Black Panthers and tanks on the Hiriqa side accidentally gave themselves away, they might be mistaken for our own forces. But all our mechs have optical camouflage and sound suppression, so we've done everything possible to stay hidden. The enemy has plenty of troops, but they're divided among different commanders. The tankers and gunners look down on the city-state lords, while the city-state lords treat the nomad khans as bandits and keep them under constant watch. They lack coordination and cooperation. The armies of tribe and tribe, city-state and city-state, are sharply divided. They instinctively treat the empty spaces between them as buffer zones and don't bother keeping watch there. That makes it easy for us to slip through."

"So the route you led us along was the gap between the enemy encampments." Captain Winter nodded in admiration. "That was a surgical march!"

Uh, that was your original marching route.

"You spent all those days watching from the mountains for this, didn't you?" the captain asked.

So what exactly was "this" supposed to be? I've spent the last few days up there waiting for you to arrive and enjoying the show. At most, I made a serious effort to find Elder Hesen's main camp, so I could save my senior's tragic fate of spending half a year in the hospital. Yu Lian thought.

After all those days of careful reconnaissance, he must have memorized the layout of every enemy camp and their patrol routes, then worked out the perfect infiltration path by identifying all the gaps they could exploit. That was what the captain thought.

Thinking of this, Captain Winter didn't quite draw in a sharp breath, but he couldn't help raising his opinion of Yu Lian yet again.

This young man was truly terrifying! Could all "Moon people" be like this?

He immediately dismissed the idea. He had served in the Outer Ring Fleet for quite some time and had met countless officers from prestigious families. He knew all too well what those "elite bureaucrats" were like. They strutted around like peacocks every day, but in the end, they were no more than marmots wrapped in feather blankets, eating with silver knives and forks. The so-called "Moon people" were rare, but he had met a few. At heart, they were just marmots with fancier blankets and more refined cutlery.

"Second Lieutenant, have you considered serving in the Outer Ring Fleet after graduation?" the captain asked out of the blue.

Uh, what was this? Was he trying to recruit him? Yu Lian was a little bewildered.

"Oh, but I've heard you're in the Strategic Studies program. Even if you did join the Outer Ring Fleet, you'd probably go straight to headquarters. General Pailis is a warm and honest commander. I'm sure he'd appreciate you."

Yu Lian almost laughed, but he was also a little touched. He hadn't fully decided what he wanted to do in the future, so all he could say was, "I'm very grateful for your trust and esteem, sir. But I haven't decided what lies ahead for me. Besides, as a soldier, I still have to follow the National Defense Committee's orders first."

"That's true. Graduating from a military academy doesn't mean you have to serve in the military. Someone as capable as you has a bright future wherever you go. It'd be a shame to become a soldier."

If even an excellent frontline officer like Captain Winter thought this way, it was easy to imagine the prevailing attitude throughout the Commonality—and even across galactic civilization. It wasn't hard to understand how things would end up the way they did in the future.

The conversation ended there. After a few more quiet remarks, everyone settled in to wait for the time of the general assault.

Yu Lian checked the time. The battle on Ina's side should have begun by now, but he hadn't heard a thing. He couldn't tell whether that was a good sign or a bad one.

As he wondered whether he should call her, Ina's voice finally came through the communicator built into his helmet. "Sir, everything's going smoothly."

"...By 'everything's going smoothly,' do you mean your infiltration went well, or the attack?"

"We've taken the enemy position. We're setting up the firing positions according to your plan!"

That was even faster than I expected!

"...And that fellow's cooperating?"

"Mr. Stein's been a huge help. He's been very cooperative and brave. He seems able to spread something like a field that conceals our movements. He also led the attack when we reached our destination, which is why everything went so smoothly."

Of course. Travelers were among the few psychics who could give a group a buff from the outset, and they also had pretty good stealth abilities. That was exactly why he had chosen this path in his previous life.

"Also, there really are two quad-mounted anti-aircraft guns here. Uncle Karl is working flat out to modify them."

"Good. Don't rush. Just follow the original plan and have the firing positions ready by nine."

"The positions are almost ready. Most people are in place. Um, I can see you from here now, sir."

Hearing that, Yu Lian looked toward Ina's position. Under the cover of night, he couldn't make out a thing.

"When you hold off the enemy, keep an eye on everyone. Don't charge recklessly. If you can destroy the enemy with artillery, use artillery. We've got plenty of firepower! Above all, don't get carried away! Understood?"

"...Understood." Ina agreed, though her voice didn't sound entirely convinced. Still, given her temperament, if she said she understood, she would follow his instructions.

Yu Lian ended the call and noticed Captain Winter giving him a strange look.

"There's a theory at General Staff that 'infantry are useless,' Second Lieutenant. Do you agree with them?"

"Sir, that's just a bunch of idiots who think robots and 'psychics' can completely replace space marines and assault troops. I'm not against hand-to-hand combat or charging, and I'm certainly not against mechanized infantry. But our army's tactics do have problems. At the very least, we're choosing the wrong moment. If we can destroy the enemy with firepower, why risk everyone's lives by getting close to them? Firepower—more firepower, more and heavier firepower, more, heavier, and more accurate firepower—that's the essence of war!"

Captain Winter seemed moved, but he still asked, "What makes you say that?"

"During the Ten-Year War, more than three times as many people died in orbital bombardments as in ground combat. And within ground combat, more than three times as many died from long-range shelling and low-altitude bombing as from firearms. Finally, four times as many died from firearms as from close-combat weapons like swords, axes, and hammers!"

Yu Lian had fudged the figures a little. He had ignored boarding actions in space, as well as close-range "duels between masters" like those involving Starrealm Knights and rangers. A high-ranking psychic's death only added one to the casualty count, but the impact on an entire battle—and on morale—could be no less than the annihilation of a legion or the sinking of a dreadnought.

Even so, Yu Lian still believed he was right.

Someone with a stronger theoretical background would probably have argued back and forth with Yu Lian at that point—some of his classmates, who would later become famous, for instance. But Captain Winter was only a frontline officer. He wanted to refute him but didn't know what to say. He even thought Yu Lian made sense. After a moment's thought, he finally sighed. "Doesn't that just prove that infantry are useless?"

"I never said that. Orbital suppression, boarding actions, capturing strongpoints, and mopping up the enemy all require excellent mechanized infantry. More importantly, the presence of mechanized infantry—the people doing the most dangerous work—is the source of an entire army's courage. They are the last line of defense for a nation's and a people's will to fight. Sir, that's why I advocate firepower. Assault troops and space marines, your duty is to be on the most dangerous battlefields at all times. Our job—or rather, my job in the future—is to make those battlefields as safe as possible for you."

Captain Winter and the other soldiers around him, who had been listening intently, remained silent for a long time. The silence lasted several more minutes, until the timer in the captain's helmet sounded its alert. It was time for the general assault.

He took a deep breath and checked the gun in his hands, the Vulcan cannon at his side, and the chainsword on his back. Then he couldn't help asking again, "Second Lieutenant, are you really not considering serving in the Outer Ring Fleet?"

"Uh..."

"Heh, I'm just kidding. Come along with us, then. Let's prove why we're here!"