"L-Lin Mo, sir." Elder Muyu's voice was somewhat dry.
"These... these bridge-laying vehicles, how many do you have?"
"Oh, these?" Lin Mo patted the hood of the off-road vehicle beside him and answered casually,
"Heavy modular pontoon bridges. Standard equipment. We didn't bring many this time, just five vehicles. Ten meters each, enough to span a fifty-meter river."
Fifty meters!
Kael and Elder Muyu exchanged a glance, each seeing profound shock on the other's face.
A river fifty meters wide was already a natural barrier.
Something occurred to Elder Muyu, and he asked,
"What if a mountain blocks the way?"
Lin Mo waved a hand.
"That won't happen. When we drew up the march route, we'd already surveyed and planned the entire route by satellite."
Elder Muyu recalled those flying iron birds. Thinking they had scouted the way, he understood.
"Tweet! Tweet!"
Just then, a soldier blew a shrill whistle.
Rumble-
At the head of the column, a tank's tracks turned as it became the first to drive onto the newly assembled pontoon bridge.
The steel behemoth, weighing over fifty tons, pressed down on the bridge deck. The bridge merely shuddered slightly, remaining rock-solid.
Then came the second, the third...
The torrent of tanks began to cross, followed by wheeled assault vehicles, self-propelled gun-mortars, troop trucks...
The entire steel army began moving again.
The roar of engines merged into a deafening symphony. Wheels and tracks rolled across the bridge deck with a rapid succession of clanks.
"Let's go, everyone." Lin Mo patted their shoulders.
"Don't just stand there. It's our turn to cross."
The off-road vehicle started, merged into the stream of steel, and drove smoothly across the bridge.
Sitting inside, Kael looked at the rushing river outside the window, then at the silent Elder Muyu beside him, and could