"Wooo—wooo—wooo—"
The shrill wail of the alarm tore through the snowstorm above the Northern Frontier Theater like the roar of an enraged ancient beast.
It was the highest-level combat readiness alert!
The vast base seemed to wake all at once, like a slumbering beast of war opening its eyes.
Barracks doors were kicked open. At the sound of the alarm, soldiers who had been resting, training, or eating moved on sheer muscle memory.
There was no panic. Not a word was wasted.
They rushed to their equipment racks, pulled on their combat uniforms, and checked their weapons and ammunition. Every movement flowed into the next, so fast it was hard to follow.
"Move! Move! Move!"
"First Company! Xu Siduo, pick it up! Don't make me look bad!"
"Medics! Check your first-aid kits!"
Officers' shouts rang out across the barracks.
Within minutes,
fully armed soldiers poured in from every direction like a black tide, converging on the enormous assembly square at the heart of the base.
At the same time, ground crews raced to the hangars to load missiles onto fighter jets and fill their fuel tanks.
Tank and armored vehicle engines roared to life. Steel tracks crushed the snow and threw up clouds of white as the vehicles rolled out of their garages one after another and took up their assigned positions.
The entire Northern Frontier was in motion!
The atmosphere was deadly serious and tense, yet perfectly ordered. Anyone who saw it would have found it hard to breathe.
Ten minutes.
Just ten minutes.
When Zhao Mengsheng strode onto the raised platform in full military dress, a warblade at his waist,
a hundred thousand elite soldiers of the Northern Frontier had already assembled below.
Their dark formations stretched beyond sight, a forest forged of steel and flesh.
A hundred