The Land of Rivers Heavy Combined Arms Battalion's steel tide raced at full speed through the Land of Wind's desert. Tracks churned up yellow sand like mad, and the swirling dust blotted out the sky, forming an earth-yellow dragon stretching for several kilometers. More than a hundred heavy tracked armored vehicles maintained strict tactical spacing, their diesel engines roaring louder than every natural sound of the wind.
Colonel Ka, his cheek still swollen high, cowered in the corner of an infantry fighting vehicle. Through the bulletproof window, he stared fixedly at the right side of the formation. There, his Golden Tank, forcibly integrated into the regular army's column, jolted along with the main force. The vehicle he regarded as his lifeblood looked ridiculous and conspicuous amid the uniform mass of army-green armor. His hands rubbed together anxiously, his teeth grinding, yet he did not dare voice a single complaint. General Quan's kick earlier had kicked every trace of temper out of him.
Inside the lead command vehicle, General Quan braced both hands against the tactical sand table. The cabin was dim, lit only by the cold glow of electronic displays. Ignoring the sandstorm outside, he kept his eyes fixed on the terrain data around the Rōran Ruins that the Konoha Intelligence Center had just transmitted.
His fingers moved swiftly across the screen as General Quan checked the elevation of every dune along the route, the soil's load-bearing limit, and the wind direction parameters one by one.
"Track Vehicle Three, adjust the tension on your left track. Fourth Battalion, maintain radio silence." General Quan issued orders through the communicator. He had to ensure this heavy unit's advance route was foolproof. Even the slightest mechanical failure in the desert could turn into a fatal tactical delay.
Midway through the march, a piercing