Chapter 382: Blood and tongues of flame
"Tooot..."
Several signal buglers immediately began sounding their bugles, passing the signals along until the calls rang throughout the camp. With electronic equipment unstable, restoring the bugle system had proved its worth.
A few blasts of varying lengths conveyed the order: emergency assembly, gear up, and move out.
The officers nearby quickly counted the soldiers under their command and got them ready.
"Move, move, move! Get your weapons! Each squad takes one ammunition crate and one portable radio set!"
Even if wireless communications were temporarily useless, they still had to bring the equipment.
Some squads were covered in dust from the earthquake; some soldiers were still shaking their heads to clear them. But their bodies reacted before their minds did, and they all started running.
The regiment's combat personnel gathered around the trucks and armored vehicles.
"Check the vehicles! Check the fuel! Everyone aboard! Everyone aboard!"
With his guard following behind him, the regimental commander flexed his still-aching arm, took his helmet from the guard as he ran, and jumped into a jeep with a Gatling Gun mounted on top.
"Move out! Move out! We can't wait any longer!"
"Toot-ta-ta... toot..."
The bugles sounded again. Several soldiers at the entrance worked together to carry away the half-collapsed gate. A dozen seconds later, the first military vehicle roared through.
"Vroom!" "Vroom!" "Vroom!" "Vroom!" ...
As a mechanized infantry regiment, the camp had nearly a hundred usable vehicles of all sizes. The surging convoy had the momentum of a torrent of steel.
Naturally, some soldiers had not managed to board in time. They either ran after the convoy or searched for usable vehicles.
Fortunately, these were extraordinary times. Aside from vehicles involved in production work, few were out on the streets, so the roads were