Breaking Through to Reinforcements (Part 1)

"What happened?"

Rogg Muth came to the front of the column and questioned Captain Krentz, who was wearing a troubled expression.

Krentz was greatly surprised to see the regimental commander here.

"It's just a track failure..."

Rogg Muth noticed a tank disabled at the very front of the column. It was an MOU-2 tank provided by the New California Republic, a heavy armored vehicle weighing thirty-four tons.

As one of the Imperium's most elite field forces, the 23rd Heavy Armored Regiment had been given priority in receiving these donated weapons. Though these armored vehicles boasted excellent firepower and protection, flaws in their suspension design made them break down with alarming frequency.

The logistics personnel had even nicknamed them "Hammer Killers."

"A breakdown isn't something we can afford to spend time fixing right now, especially in a place like this."

Rogg Muth cut Krentz off. He could see the vehicle's condition for himself. It had clearly broken down completely, with one track scattered across the ground.

"Does no one here understand the meaning of 'emergency'?"

Rogg Muth's tone was exceptionally stern. Born into a military family, his elders had all held important posts in the Imperium's military. That was why he could occupy such a high position despite having barely any actual combat experience.

"We have a mission! How can we be delayed by such a stupid mechanical failure on a single tank? This damned track had to break at the worst possible time. Fine, the track broke—but this tank just happened to be leading the vanguard column, and it had to break down on this narrow mountain road! There isn't even room for two tanks to drive side by side here! And as if that weren't enough, why did it have to block the bottleneck? While making a turn, no