About seventy kilometers west of Nijia.
The capital of Aksang State,
Gadalai.
The Aksang Brigade's base, brigade headquarters.
As the closest military unit, the Aksang Brigade had learned of the "National Liberation Alliance's attack on Nijia" very early, even a few minutes before Sankara's Ministry of National Defense.
Yet even now, they showed no sign of setting out to provide support.
Even though they had received orders from the Ministry of National Defense forty minutes earlier.
"The Ministry of National Defense? Hah-"
An officer with a full beard and a cigar between his lips leaned back in his chair, his feet propped on the desk, and said disdainfully:
"When I feel like giving them face, I call them my superiors. When I don't, they aren't worth a fart. The Vidal Brigade was wiped out before they even had time to react, and now they want me to go get myself killed? Dream on!"
"Brigade commander, if we do this and the Ministry of National Defense holds us accountable later, what do we do?"
The adjutant standing beside the bearded officer looked a little worried as he asked.
"What do we do?"
Perhaps hearing the hint of worry in his adjutant's voice, the bearded officer waved dismissively, then pulled his sidearm from his waist and gave it a shake as he said:
"Relax. Hold us accountable? As long as we've got these in our hands, would those bigwigs at the Ministry of National Defense dare? Give them a hundred times the guts, and they still wouldn't!"
"Besides, what have we done? Ever since we received the Ministry of National Defense's orders, we've been diligently and actively making preparations, haven't we?"
"It's just that we don't have enough food, enough bullets, enough shells... anyway, we're simply not ready yet. As soon as we're ready, we'll immediately set out to reinforce Nijia. Pfft-"
At that, the bearded officer couldn't hold back his own laughter.
Just then.
Tap, tap, tap-
A burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the door. Then an officer ran in excitedly, holding a telegram and saying over and over:
"Brigade commander, good news! Wonderful news!"
"What good news has you this happy?"
The bearded officer took the telegram curiously, shifting his gaze from the officer to the telegram as he read aloud:
"Heh, those bigwigs at the Ministry of National Defense really are dreaming big. They actually want our four brigades to..."
The next second,
"What the hell!? A billion North African francs!? Whoa, whoa, whoa..."
Overcome with excitement, the bearded officer carelessly lost his balance. If the adjutant beside him hadn't reacted quickly, he would have toppled to the floor, chair and all.
"Could this be another big pie those bigwigs at the Ministry of National Defense are dangling in front of us?"
After his brief surprise, the bearded officer regained his senses, a doubtful look appearing on his face. He casually tossed the telegram onto the desk and said:
"I'm not that stupid! This has to be..."
But before he could finish, the officer standing in front of the desk interrupted him:
"I just checked the billion North African francs mentioned in the telegram. It's already been transferred to our brigade's account in Switzerland. They also said that as long as we lift the siege of Nijia, they'll give us another billion as a reward after the war ends!"
Crash!
"Owww-"
This time, the adjutant standing beside him failed to react in time. Losing his balance in shock, the bearded officer fell hard to the floor with his chair, making a tremendous crash.
A few minutes later.
Every regiment under the Aksang Brigade received orders from brigade headquarters to immediately set out to reinforce Nijia.
At the same time.
The other three brigades-the Drago Brigade, the Ailidun Brigade, and the Duojialong Brigade-also issued the same orders.
"A billion North African francs, divided equally among the brigade's seven thousand-plus men, would only give each person about a hundred and forty thousand North African francs."
"But if it's only divided among officers of regimental rank and above, each person would get at least fifty million North African francs. And if it all goes to me alone, hehehe..."
The bearded officer had moved from his office chair to the back seat of a military vehicle.
Thinking of the billion North African francs in the account, and then of the other billion still to come, he was all but drooling.
At that moment, money had completely swallowed what little reason he possessed.
Nijia.
Ten kilometers east lay a dense forest.
Ratatat-
Bang, bang, bang-
Two different kinds of gunfire rang out in the forest.
Boom-
From time to time, explosions startled birds into flight in the distance.
Half an hour later.
As time passed, the gunfire from one side gradually weakened. It looked as though this battle in the forest would end with one side routed, or even annihilated.
The view shifted into the forest.
Bang-
A soldier wearing the uniform of the Republic of Burkina raised his weapon and pulled the trigger without hesitation, killing a middle-aged man already pinned beneath his foot.
Although the middle-aged man also wore camouflage, its style was noticeably different from the soldier's uniform. He had also wrapped his entire face in black cloth, leaving only his eyes exposed.
Bang-
Bang-
Bang-
Scattered gunshots continued to ring out through the forest. It appeared that these soldiers were executing enemies they captured or discovered while clearing the battlefield.
Beneath a towering tree that reached into the clouds.
"Have you finished counting? How many men do we have left?"
A young officer whose rank was merely second lieutenant actually questioned an officer ranked major.
Then the major actually saluted the second lieutenant and answered in a deeply respectful tone:
"There were over a thousand of us who escaped at the start. After that battle just now, I made a careful count. Including you, there are only three hundred and ninety-seven left."
"..."
Hearing that over a thousand men had dwindled to fewer than four hundred, everyone around them fell silent for a moment.
After a brief silence.
An officer with reddened eyes slammed his fist hard against the tree trunk beside him and said furiously:
"That son of a bitch Keluofu actually sold our entire brigade out to those National Liberation Alliance terrorists! If not for Second Lieutenant Krov, all of us would probably have died under the National Liberation Alliance's guns and artillery long ago!"
"What should we do next, Second Lieutenant Krov?"
A first lieutenant looked at Krov, who stood surrounded by them, and asked in a dispirited voice, his expression at a loss.
Hearing the question, the others also turned their eyes to Krov, waiting for his answer.
Although they had known him for less than two hours, they already had tremendous trust in this young man of only twenty-three.
Krov walked around the group, looked west, and spoke with unprecedented firmness:
"I'm only a second lieutenant. I have no right to order you to do anything, but I'm going back to Nijia, because my family is still there!"
With that, Krov ignored the others, picked up his weapon, and walked alone toward Nijia.
Watching Krov's retreating figure, an officer lowered his head and said softly:
"I'm sorry!"
Then the officer ran off in the opposite direction in utter disarray, with more than a dozen soldiers leaving along with him.
The remaining officers and soldiers looked at one another.
Finally,
They picked up their weapons and chased after Krov's retreating figure with the courage of men heading to their deaths.
"Second Lieutenant Krov, don't go so fast, wait for us!"