A letter from home
Vassell was in despair. When the Marleyan Airship appeared over the Slava Fortress, and without warning, the once clear sky was instantly shrouded in blinding golden light, accompanied by chilling and terrifying roars, Golden Thunder could be seen erupting everywhere in the sky.
Vassell's men and the Middle East Soldiers in the fortress all looked bewildered. They looked up and squinted at the Golden Thunder in the sky, many of them still confused and unaware of what was happening.
"General, what should we do?" the adjutant asked, his voice trembling with fear. Although he was scared, as a soldier, he forced himself to suppress his fear and asked General Vassell for orders.
Vassell sighed in dejection. From the beginning, he had disagreed with the Middle East's hasty war against Marley. The Middle East's preparations were too rushed. Although Marley lost its strongest weapons, the Colossal Titan, the Jaw Titan, and the Female Titan, on Paradis Island, a weakened camel is still bigger than a horse. Marley relied on countless lives and the surviving Titan Warriors, and even newly appeared Titan Warriors from who-knows-where, to inflict heavy losses on the Middle East.
Now, Vassell is very glad that he forced half of his army to retreat, at least giving the Middle East another chance for revenge. He only hopes that the Middle East will be fully prepared in the future.
However, it seems that the Marleyan used too much force in this war; even their enemy, Vassell, could see that the Marley were engaging in reckless militarism.
According to intelligence from the Middle Easterners, Marley has mobilized more than 30 divisions, nearly 600,000 troops. It should be noted that Marley's territory is very large, which means that Marley needs a very large army to defend its territory, not to mention Marley's many colonies, large and small. The standing army required for these alone is at least 500,000.
How many troops did the Marleyan have? More than fifty divisions, nearly a million men. It sounds like a lot, but is it really? No, not at all, it's pitifully small.
Marley has already mobilized more than half of its troops just to deal with the Middle East, revealing Marley weakness.
The Middle East's total workforce was only 200,000, and in the current war, the Middle Easterners has lost 80,000, while Marley has suffered almost double the casualties. Furthermore, Marley's two remaining Fleet, consisting of more than 50 Warship, were completely annihilated, crippling the Marley Navy.
Vassell knew that they were basically doomed to lose this war in the Middle East, but they had also accomplished half of Middle East objectives. Now the whole world had seen Marley's weakness, and would other countries with predatory eyes continue to tolerate the unworthy Marley continuing to monopolize so many resources?
The Middle East is just the beginning; the Marleyan's troubles have only just begun.
Furthermore, the Middle Easterners truly underestimated the threat of the Titan. They originally thought that without the Colossal Titan, Marley was a tiger without claws, but reality gave them a harsh slap in the Middle Easterners. The dense Golden Thunder in the sky seemed to be mocking the Middle Easterners' arrogance.
Anti-Titan Cannon are indeed incredibly effective, but even a few or dozens of Titan cannot wipe out thousands upon thousands of Titan that descend from the sky at once. Artillerymen get tired, but mindless Titan do not.
Vassell took off his Medal- laden uniform, looked up at the sky, and said, "Marleyan, you will reap what you sow. Relying on the power of demons, you will be devoured by demons sooner or later." Vassell seemed to have seen through something, and a smile appeared on his face.
"General! General! Reporting to the General, there's a situation! Marley, Marley Titan Warriors have been mobilized! The Fleet is under attack! There's something dirty in the sea! Armored Titan, long-clawed Titan, and that gourd-shaped Titan have also appeared outside the fortress walls!" the subordinate reported frantically.
Vassell walked to the edge of the Command Headquarters, raised his binoculars, and saw that the port of the Slava Fortress in the distance was also under heavy fire. Countless Cannon on the Warship were now aimed at the sea and were pouring fire into the water, splashing up countless towering waves.
"General! What should we do? Should we retreat? We only have 20,000 troops, how can we fight?" the adjutant quickly advised.
Vassell gave a wry smile, "Withdraw? How can we withdraw? Didn't you hear the report? The Fleet has been attacked. Look at the sky, where can we retreat to?"
The adjutant looked up and saw a horrifying scene he would never forget: amidst golden lightning, one after another, deformed Titan twisted their limbs and plummeted to the ground.
The adjutant's eyes bulged out, "General, general..."
Vassell sighed, then his eyes instantly turned fierce as he gave the order, "Deploy the Armored Train! All of them! There's only one requirement! Annihilate the Marleyan Titan Warriors with all your might! Also, prepare the soldiers for a final battle! God is with us; today, the Marleyan will pay a bloody price!!"
With this beginning, war Middle East and Marley will inevitably break out again in the future. Since there is no way to retreat, let's just give the Marleyan another good beating this time! Every Marley Titan Warriors we kill will reduce the threat to the Middle Easterners.
The Middle East Soldiers swallowed hard, but gritted his teeth and went to relay the order.
"Woo!!!" The warehouse door opened, and a long, piercing whistle echoed from the dimly lit warehouse, followed by a sickeningly sharp sound of steel twisting and turning. "Clang! Clang!" A dark, ferocious steel behemoth slowly emerged from the warehouse.
A Middle East Soldiers, staring at the cannon barrel thicker than himself, couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his brow. "Is this Armored Train?" he wondered.
"Brother Loa, why don't you go join the battle? This victory is practically guaranteed for Marley. Joining the battle is all about reaping the rewards. Why not take such a good opportunity, Brother Loa?" Bagg asked, his belly protruding.
Yago, with his legs crossed, retorted, "Why aren't you going, Brother Bagg? You're in the mood to sit here and have tea with me?"
Bagg laughed heartily, "Me? Forget about it, I'm terrified of dying, you know that."
Yago: "Really? Well, brother, just assume I'm afraid of dying too."
Bagg: "Brother, you flatter me. I know how brave you are. Besides, aren't all your Eldians? It's the same for them, isn't it? The credit is yours anyway. Aren't those Colonel who are just like you all eager to lead their troops into battle?"
Yago scoffed, "That's right, the Eldians fought to the death, and in the end, all the credit went to us Marley Officer. How wonderful!"
Of course, these Marley Officer who were eager to die probably won't get any credit. Selina has already arranged everything, and those greedy guys who don't treat Eldians like human beings will soon lose their chance to be human.
Bagg didn't detect the sarcasm in Yago's tone. As if remembering something, he took a letter from his pocket and handed it to Yago.
"Brother Loa, you were away the other day. This letter was written to you by your family, so I'm giving it to you now."
Yago was somewhat taken aback. A letter from home? Although he didn't know what was going on, Yago still took the envelope. The L-shaped logo on the envelope looked familiar; it seemed like he'd seen it somewhere before.