Luring the Enemy Deep

The Mar- Sara Capital District, formerly the Martin Fortress Restricted Area of Terran Confederacy Military Fortress, Command Center Command Island Office.

Martin Fortress is as old as the Mar- Sara settlement, built in the seventieth year after the Terran Confederacy regained control of the Warp Drive. It is a stone building constructed of marble and concrete.

Today, the ancient stone walls have been replaced by defensive fortifications consisting of two layers of Plasteel plates filled with a powerful binder and high-strength synthetic resin filler. Originally designed to defend against Mar- Sara's rogue bandits and large beasts, these fortifications have been heightened and widened, and now equipped with Mark Electromagnetic Cannon and automatic machine guns, capable of destroying any Terrans army that dares to approach.

At the very center of the defensive fortification wall stood a massive command center, surrounded by numerous barracks, heavy factories, supply centers, and operating machinery loading and unloading workshops, all illuminated by flashing lights. Revolutionary Army warplanes and transport ships, painted in black and red, were taking off and landing in the only military airport.

Augustus remained in the same posture he had when he spoke with Edmond Duke; he sat upright, his gaze piercing through the translucent tempered glass of the command post. Only his flickering gray eyes proved that Augustus was real, and not a composite or pre-recorded 3D Holographic Projection.

Although Augustus many ways to deceive Duke, such as clones, incredibly realistic virtual images, and nanomasks, Augustus was indeed in the command center, not in the Fleets or elsewhere.

Duke thought he had just been speaking to a pre-recorded Holographic Projection, but it was actually the real Augustus. Duke thought Augustus wouldn't be foolish enough to reveal his location through a communication, but the truth was that Augustus was waiting for him there, ready to completely crush his forces.

At this moment, apart from the footsteps of the Revolutionary Army staff and soldiers, there was no other sound in the command post. Neither Corporal Faraday nor Kerrigan beside Augustus interrupted his thoughts.

A few minutes later, Augustus stood up and straightened his uniform and hat.

"Summon my staff and military advisors, and order the Fleets in orbit to continue monitoring the movements of Alpha Squadron and reporting to command," he said. "Integrate the operational demonstration map onto the Holographic Projection screen in command center."

"Sarah, get me a strong coffee. Faraday, give me the latest frontline briefing."

"Tychus Finley and Mira Han's two brigades have breached the outer walls of the capital district and are launching an attack on the Confederacy garrison outside the Governor's Mansion," Faraday reported to Augustus as Kerrigan, dressed in a black, tight-fitting combat suit, tossed her red ponytail and swayed her slender waist to make coffee.

"Major General Jim Raynor ' Raynor's Raiders, along with the 2nd and 3rd Divisions, has departed from Hilo State and Lorenzana State. Gustav Londerstein's 4th Division is marching rapidly through the southern desert, two hundred miles west of Raynor's forces, and is expected to arrive at Sacred Song Station in four hours."

"Very good, they carried out my orders excellently." Augustus lavish in praising his generals.

At that moment, a Holographic Projection screen suddenly appeared in front of Augustus, displaying a topographical map of the southern hemisphere of Mara Sara that he had seen countless times. Augustus already knew the lines and data that formed the highlands, plains, deserts, and valleys by heart.

This land, spanning over ten million square miles, is home to approximately four and a half million Sara people, scattered throughout small and medium-sized towns and outlying cities situated in mining and industrial areas. Between the towns and cities lie barren farmlands and small oases, where each farmer must cultivate dozens of acres of land just to make a living, and now the war has burned vast tracts of crops.

The Confederacy, led by Governor Martha Sara, naturally turned a blind eye to the losses caused by the war, regardless of whether it was struggling to survive itself. Augustus's Revolutionary Army, on the other hand, provided local farmers with compensation equal to the value of their crops. As a result, even those who had doubts about the revolution began to proclaim the Revolutionary Army as a righteous force.

Of course, these supplies all came from the large quantities of supplies captured by the Revolutionary Army from the Confederacy forces and the reserves of the local government. It is worth mentioning that even when 70 percent of the population was starving, a large amount of food was still exported to Tarsonis and other core worlds through the Mar- Sara airport.

The twelve interconnected states and free cities on the map, excluding the capital region, have been controlled by the Revolutionary Army, while the government forces control less than a third of the capital region. If Augustus n't deliberately refrained from launching a full-scale offensive, allowing the government forces to remain on their last legs, the capital region would have fallen three days ago.

Currently, after sending five more Port of the Deadman's Port divisions to Mar- Sara, the Revolutionary Army has more than 70,000 troops on the surface, including about 10,000 soldiers equipped with CMC-200 and a small number of CMC-300 Power Armor, and more than 30 Arclite Siege Tank and four Goliath Combat Robot companies providing fire support.

The remaining Revolutionary Army soldiers who were tasked with combat wore older, less armored Exoskeleton Armor that offered only minimal protection to the wearer. These Exoskeleton Armor were derived from the T-230 port unloading Exoskeleton Armor used in various factories to enhance the strength of workers. They featured an alloy mechanical skeleton that enhanced the wearer's strength and a simple servo system, and were powered by batteries.

Compared to the Kel-Morian Labor Auxiliary, who only wore combat suits sewn with kinetic plates, these Exoskeleton Armor provided considerable mobility to help Revolutionary Army soldiers keep up with elite troops in Power Armor. However, their protection relied solely on full-metal helmets, chest plates, and body armor, which were of little practical use against bullets accelerated to several times the speed of sound by electromagnetic forces.

The Federal Marine Corps carried by the Alpha Squadron were not only fully equipped with CMC-300 Power Armor, but even by the standards of the Guild Wars, the proportion of their Resocialized Soldier had long exceeded 70%, and they did not lack armored personnel carriers and other vehicles for rapid deployment of troops to the front lines.

Like other high-ranking officers of noble birth in the Terran Confederacy army, Edmond Duke not only did not reject commanding Resocialized Soldier who violated morality, but was also very willing to replace the soldiers in the Alpha Squadron with these rigid but fearless modified soldiers.

In head-on, one-way combat, these well-equipped Resocialized Soldier would undoubtedly be able to crush any human army of equal size. The complete rout of the Kel-Morian on the main battlefield was precisely because they were caught off guard by the Resocialized Soldier and Power Armor.

On the main battlefield, it would be almost impossible for the Revolutionary Army to defeat the Alpha Squadron. The Blood Eagles Alpha's combat power is by no means inferior to any well-known Confederacy army, not to mention that among them are Resocialized Soldier and veterans who have experienced many wars.

Augustus's strategy was to avoid direct confrontation and lure the enemy into a trap. Knowing Duke Augustus knew that underestimating him and acting recklessly would eventually cost him his life. But as soon as Duke heard Augustus's name, he would charge forward with the same ferocity as if he had been injected with adrenaline.

After staring at the map for five minutes, Sarah Kerrigan returned to Augustus's side with a strong cup of instant coffee.

"You're too reliant on coffee," Kerrigan said. "The Mengsk Family's personal physician has told you you should get more rest. You're always sleeping too little and working too long."

Kerrigan has now become an integral part of Augustus's life. This powerful Ghost operative is responsible for Augustus's personal defense and also uses her strong telepathic abilities to test the loyalty of his generals.

Whenever new recruits joined the army or new members of the Pan-Terran Revolutionary Party were admitted, Kerrigan and the other Psionics under Augustus would conduct a final test using mind-reading.

At the same time, Kerrigan also became Augustus's personal combat instructor, teaching him fighting techniques from the Ghost operative. Although Kerrigan believed that Augustus need her protection, Augustus himself hoped to be remembered as a brave revolutionary fighter.

"For today, four hours is enough." Augustus waved his hand. Ever since the Revolutionary Army was able to fight against the government army, he had always stayed in the command post. When the fighting started, Augustus stay up all night, sometimes forty hours straight, until his army won or was safely withdrawn.

"I can still hold on." Augustus sipped his coffee while waiting for the latest news from the various units at the front. All he could do now was wait. "I can't sleep thinking about my soldiers risking their lives on the front lines."

"I'm really worried you'll suddenly break down one day," Kerrigan said. "Isn't that Lisa Cassidy writing to you every day to ask about your health? She's practically doubting whether I can take good care of you."

"Of course I can take care of myself." Augustus was about to explain something when Lieutenant General Horace Warfield's dark face suddenly appeared on the Holographic Projection in front of him.

"Augustus, Alpha Squadron has begun deploying landing troops to the ground," he said. "In less than ten minutes, two hundred APOD transport ships and shuttles have departed the Fleets. By calculating the speed of these ships and their rotational speed at the landing latitude, we anticipate they will land on the eastern continent in the Southern Hemisphere."

"The enemy Fleets is approaching our Fleets at full speed." As Warfield was speaking, Augustus could see the bridge of the Steel Justice shaking violently.

"They have eleven Behemoth-class Battlecruiser and twenty-six Kraken destroyers; our Fleets is at a disadvantage."

"Relay my order to the entire Fleets: execute everything according to the predetermined plan, without any changes."

"I hereby hand over full command to Vice Admiral Warfield and execute the predetermined battle plan," Augustus. "The Second Fleet, with the Steel Justice as its flagship, should not linger in battle. Instead, it should make short jumps to the S-315, S-314, and S-708 star systems to lure the enemy Fleets into splitting up in pursuit."

"After the First Fleets completed its jump, the Second Fleet jumped from S-489 to the Sara System, surrounding the Alpha Squadron Fleets stationed in that system."

"Divide and annihilate them, defeat them one by one."

"Sir, the Marines from Alpha Squadron have begun their landing." Another image of a Revolutionary Army lieutenant appeared on the main screen; he was the officer in charge of managing the control center in the command center.

"Our radar detected the Alpha Squadron's landing forces over both the Bone Plains and the Red Plateau. Our fighter jets are taking off."

At this moment, Augustus's staff officers and military advisors rushed over.

"The Bone Plains and the Red Plateau are to our north and east, less than a hundred miles from the capital region. If they land there, it means that the troops attacking the capital region are sandwiched between the defending forces and the Alpha Squadron that are coming to reinforce them."

"Whose brigade is the closest to the enemy?" Augustus asked loudly.

"It's two brigades, one under Mira Han and the Tychus Finley," a staff officer replied. "Including other support units, the total is eleven thousand soldiers."

"Order a mobile infantry brigade from Tychus Findlay to snipe Alpha Squadron's reinforcements, and to retreat five minutes after the engagement—order Mira Han and the remaining troops to withdraw from the capital region and head south—towards command," Augustus.

Looking at the map in front of Augustus, his Martin Fortress was directly below the capital district, in between a desolate region consisting of highlands, hills, and canyons filled with jagged rocks. The terrain there was complex and particularly suitable for mountain warfare.

This place is known as the Barren Canyon, which is more than 600 miles deep. The first 200 miles are an open valley, but it becomes narrower and narrower as you go deeper. From the air, it looks like the cross-section of a narrow-necked bottle.

"Have the other troops arrived at their designated locations?" Augustus asked.

"Raynor and Gustav's armies have arrived in the Wasteland Valley, and Colonel Hank's Firebat have entered the bottleneck area of Barren Canyon. The First Division of Londerstein, west of the capital region, has launched a general offensive against the Governor's Mansion and is expected to break through its frontal defenses in half an hour, driving the Governor's army northward."

Immediately afterwards, a series of photos taken by Scout and drones, along with reports dictated by frontline generals, were transmitted back to the command center within two hours.

On February 18, 2490, at 11 PM local time, a total of 36,000 Confederacy soldiers from two Marine Corps divisions, two armored brigades, a combat support Draken Railgun artillery brigade, and a service support brigade of the Alpha Squadron arrived in the southern hemisphere of Mar-a- Sara by transport ships and APOD-33 transport aircraft in three batches.

The Confederacy troops landed in less than two hours on the reddish desert and wasteland of Mar- Sara in the low latitudes. Four air wings, about three hundred Wraith, were responsible for providing fire support for the landing forces. The science ship Amerigo descended below the planet's thin atmosphere.

If the intelligence is correct, then Colonel Edmund Duke, the commander of Alpha Squadron, will serve as the overall commander of this operation. With admirable courage, he will personally go to the front lines and lead the Confederacy forces to suppress the rebels.

The Confederacy army advanced towards the capital region in three columns from Bone Plains, Red Plateau, and Ridgecrest Plains respectively. Among them, the mobile force commanded by Tychus Finley would directly confront the two Confederacy armies, totaling approximately 20,000 Alpha Squadron soldiers.

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