A Crooked World

"Mechanic, mechanic! Oh, Uncle Karl, is that you? Go, turn on all the sentry guns! What, only half are working? Then turn on all the ones that do work, and put them all in front of the city walls! Sergeant Rul, you and your men help out!"

The elderly supply station mechanic Karl and his deputy Rul went off in confusion.

"Ina, Ina, what are you having them climb to the very top for? Standing so close together! Are you lining them up for execution? Crossfire! Don't you understand oblique fire? Sergeant Mark, take your men to the outer wall, bring all your machine guns! And Sergeant Baka, get out of the city! Yes, dig a trench for me outside the city! I don't care what you think, I care what I think! If you don't go, I will!"

Yu Lian exploded in rage. He could only sigh speechlessly at a world that had gone so wrong with its technological development. He had complained many times in his past life, but back then, he was just a lone ranger and didn't have much insight. Moreover, his active years were decades later. In that era, various tactics had finally become much more normal after reforms and revisions by famous generals born from the great era.

But it was still the year 829, and there were still several years before that great era officially began.

The bearman sergeant, who was fierce to enemies but very good-tempered to his own people, raised no objections. He took a few strong soldiers with tools and went out. Although everyone's tactics were primitive, the portable engineering machinery had very futuristic appearances and performance. Digging a trench temporarily was still quick.

"Ina, go to the wide-angle sentry guns over there. You don't need to command the ones on the city wall!"

"What about the monitors? The communicators? Still can't be used?"

"Uh, they've been having minor glitches since yesterday, I..."

"Nine Star Communications, right? That trash company makes personal terminals that explode, yet they can still get military contracts? Tsk, I hope you go bankrupt and your whole family jumps off a building soon! What are you standing around for? Go fix it quickly! If you can't fix it, I'll hang you on the flagpole to generate electricity!"

"...Yes, yes, understood!" The signalman was instantly terrified and ran off, also sweating profusely.

"Youyou, Youyou!"

"Ah, yes, Warrant Officer, ah no, sir, I'm here!"

"Where's my steak?!"

The sergeant conjured a frying pan from behind his back and trotted over happily.

Yu Lian was shocked to find that the other person was still wearing an apron. Without caring about the heat, he snatched the beef and cursed, "Get lost! Go put on your armor, then get back here and help!"

Everyone felt Yu Lian's anxiety; everyone knew Yu Lian was a Moonfolk, a promising "elite of elites"; everyone probably also knew Yu Lian was a psionic sensitive. Therefore, no matter what they thought in their hearts, they dared not disobey the orders. Didn't they see that Lieutenant Mondsen, the actual commander of the supply station, hadn't said anything? Although he had a helpless wry smile on his face, as if thinking, "See? See? He's a Moonfolk, of course, he'd be arrogant and overstep the nominal commander's authority, wouldn't he?" But at least he was still smiling.

In fact, the lieutenant was about to say something. He saw Yu Lian shove the beef into his mouth in a few bites. The steak, cooked to at most medium-rare, still had a lot of blood streaks. It looked like a man-eating savage feasting on raw flesh. He couldn't help but shudder, then walked closer and whispered, "I say, Warrant Officer, are you perhaps a bit... uh... that, this..."

Yu Lian swallowed the half-cooked steak in a few large gulps—he was indeed hungry—and asked, "Overreacting? Nervous? Paranoid?"

"That, uh, actually, I didn't mean that. Of course, it's good to make everyone tense, let's just treat it as an emergency assembly combat drill."

"Sir, I've already said, this is all too much like a test for biological weapons! Even if it's just my paranoia, we can't afford to gamble!"

"But, this..."

"Just consider it me calling everyone for an emergency combat drill! Oh, right, let's bring out the armored vehicles from the garage!"

"Uh, the energy packs, that..."

"Take them to the batteries by the city gate, there must be some, right? I need the two Vulcan cannons on the roof! Baka and the others digging trenches outside the city are the most dangerous, and we'll need armored vehicles to cover them if necessary!"

The lieutenant mumbled, then finally nodded heavily. He didn't feel any sense of crisis about being sidelined. After all, for a "Moonfolk," this small supply station was just a transit point. Once Yu Lian left, he would be in charge again.

Instead, he was curious about Yu Lian's city defense arrangements. Why deploy troops on two city walls? Why have people set up a trench at the city gate? Why not have everyone line up on the highest inner city wall, so they could shoot further?

Also, why were all the machine guns placed at the ends of the city walls and trenches? Wouldn't placing them in the center have greater killing power?

Supply Station No. 12 was built against the mountainside, with a solid rock face behind it. The front was a gentle slope leading down to the vast wilderness below. The front had two high walls, both reinforced concrete structures. The outer wall was five meters high, and the inner wall was eight meters. Between the two walls were the garage, guardhouse, and a training ground the size of a basketball court. Behind the inner wall were the main buildings of the supply station, including barracks, warehouses, infirmary, radar room, and command room.

The two city walls were each equipped with a total of six quad-barreled air-to-ground sentry guns, though only half, or three, were usable now.

It was said that a Wind Missile Launcher was also assigned a few years ago, but it was later removed by the governor's office due to cost issues. The reason given was sufficient—"Who are you going to shoot with missiles? The Sandfolk natives? Can they fly?"

In addition, the supply station had a fire support squad equipped with two Phase Particle Cannons, but they were also later removed by the governor's office due to cost issues. The reason given was even simpler—"High-tech equipment like energy weapons, which require highly educated personnel to operate, would be a waste in your hands! Besides, who are you going to shoot with them? The Sandfolk natives again? They don't even have houses made of anything other than mud!"

Of course, even so, the terrain and defenses of this supply station were undoubtedly as solid as a fortress... by medieval standards.

If the attacking enemy had heavy firepower, no, even equivalent firepower, they wouldn't be able to escape. Yu Lian thought.

However, at least based on the "history" he knew, the Bugs (currently) did not have heavy firepower. He hoped that the butterfly effect of his rebirth wouldn't change such a major event.

"So, what's the purpose of this arrangement?" the lieutenant finally couldn't help but ask curiously.

"This is the arrangement that can maximize firepower. As long as you've studied middle school geometry, you'll figure it out."

The lieutenant, who had slept through elementary and middle school and barely managed to get into a no-name sports school, felt like he had been dealt 10,000 points of damage and sulked, unwilling to speak. However, he soon felt that he should say something to a subordinate who was half his age, so he stiffly nodded and said, "Hmm, that makes sense! I've thought about it, and this firepower configuration is indeed foolproof. Alright, Warrant Officer, let's treat it as new positional warfare training! I support you."

I really wish it were just training! Yu Lian glanced at him helplessly.

The undeclared standoff between the two major factions, the discovery of the Star Gate, and the development of the new galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy, seemed to have ushered in an era of great progress for the entire galaxy.

However, no one knew if those new warships and weapons, those massive armies, and those psionic warriors who roamed the star rivers were truly suitable for total war. Even fleet battles in the star rivers had devolved into head-on assaults, dogfights, and boarding actions, a dark path. What about ground combat?

Both sides, wearing powered exoskeletons, approached each other while firing, forming skirmish lines around their heavy firepower units, then closing in to brawl with sabers.

Yes, yes! Before I transmigrated, whether it was Star Wars or something like that, or even powerful silicon-based intelligent mechanical life forms from beyond the galaxy, they all fought like this. Perhaps in the galactic era, this is how it should be to satisfy everyone's aesthetic!

Thus, things like crossfire and oblique deployment, tactics that were already outdated in the 20th century, were actually being treated as something new in the space age...

Indeed, theoretically, the crossfire of two heavy machine guns could block a 500-meter frontal battlefield. And I not only have heavy machine guns but also three autocannons that can blast armored vehicles, and I've arranged oblique fire according to the terrain. Theoretically, if the enemy were still Zerglings, Hydralisks, or Roaches, Yu Lian was indeed confident that he could hold out with everyone, even holding out until Tulon Port finished its operations.

However, this idea was also long outdated.

Although the technological trees and warfare studies of all known civilizations in the universe were skewed, they at least understood that the battlefield was never flat. Many civilizations, even in the cold weapon era of their home planets, understood how to utilize the sky.

The Bugs, of course, would too!

"Warrant Officer! Target approaching in the sky!" Ina's voice came from the sentry gun tower at the highest point.

Yu Lian looked at the distant sky. Under the scorching sun, he couldn't see clearly at all. On the barren wilderness, he could only vaguely see dust and smoke on the horizon. However, he still firmly believed in Ina's judgment. Compared to the radar and detectors produced by Twelve Star Communications, the eyesight of a future interstellar top sniper was more trustworthy, even if she hadn't awakened or even realized she was a sensitive herself.

"Prepare for battle!" Yu Lian naturally strode past the lieutenant and began issuing orders. "Get me an exoskeleton," he added.

The "exoskeleton" he referred to was, of course, the powered armor. Yu Lian recalled there were seven or eight spare units in the armory. If their batteries had also been sold off, Yu Lian had decided he would shoot the lieutenant's dog head off right then and there! Then he'd report that he'd been carried off by a husky.

Fortunately, the lieutenant stated that the spare powered armors were all intact. However, he added, "But, Ensign, your spine is broken. You can only move now thanks to that tube of nanobots, so you can't operate a powered exoskeleton."

"...Then take all the exoskeletons out and distribute them to everyone! Whoever can wear one, wear one!"

"Uh, the powered armor belongs directly to the Governor's Mansion. We don't have the authority to deploy them. Besides, most people here don't have licenses. If they scratch or dent them, the reports will be difficult to write later!"

Yu Lian casually snatched a rifle from a passing private and aggressively inserted a magazine.

Lieutenant Mondsen flinched and said with a nervous smile, "I'll go now, I'll go right now!" He then fled in a panic.

Yu Lian suppressed the urge to shoot him in the backside and grabbed the bewildered private whose rifle had just been taken. "Come with me to the wall. You'll be my loader!"