Meanwhile, on the Third Defense Line along the southwestern fringe of the Landing Unit, Britannian reinforcements from Area 18 had just finished deploying.
They had arrived in a completely different fashion from India's heavy divisions, which crawled into the war zone one trainload at a time.
Two brigades of Sutherlands, Gloucesters, infantry, combat engineers, medical units, and ammunition modules were dropped directly into their designated areas by large transport platforms in operational order. Before the first batch of transport frames had fully withdrawn, the Sakuradite drive chips on the machines' backs were already running; the energy-fill cartridges locked into place, the high-speed glide wheels on their feet touched the ground, and the integrated sensors opened upward. The tactical network then linked every unit to a single situational map.
Less than four minutes passed between the first Sutherland touching down and the brigade command system establishing its connections.
Standing just 4.39 meters tall and weighing 7.48 tonnes fully loaded for combat, they could hardly be called enormous beside a sixty-six-meter Fortress-Class. Their L307 reinforced tungsten alloy armor lacked the sheer bulk of traditional heavy tanks, but it was enough to preserve their structural integrity during high-speed gliding, collisions, and close combat. The Flying Swallow Claws on their chests handled pulling, climbing, and forced changes of direction; the electroshock tonfas on the outsides of their forearms were already extended, their 25mm Assault Rifles were loaded with armor-piercing magazines, and the fire-support machines carried heavy cannons and rocket launchers.
The Gloucesters, whose appearance most closely resembled traditional Britannian knights, held High-Frequency Vibration Cavalry Lances.
The lances themselves were still made of high-strength composite alloy. Their real killing power came from high-frequency vibrating blades powered by Sakuradite energy. When a lance contacted its target, its tip and the cutting edges on either side tore