Chapter 155: What's with those Black Boxes?
When Gu Hang received the news, the battle was already over.
Early that morning, the 1st Battalion of the Extinguishing Wind Brigade, under Pobov's command, launched a fierce assault and quickly located the Greenskin forces, who were still locked in internal strife and hadn’t bothered to cover their tracks.
They seemed to have split into several groups, fighting each other incessantly.
Pobov didn’t bother to provoke them.
There was no need; the Greenskins were fighting each other so fiercely, he was content to let them continue, hoping they’d kill each other off—or better yet, wipe themselves out entirely.
It would be foolish to sacrifice his soldiers’ lives to fight when he could simply watch the enemy destroy themselves.
He relayed the information back, dispatched a few squads to search for the missing Special Task Force, and had the main force monitor the area from a safe distance, patiently watching.
A few hours later, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions arrived as well.
With the gathering of three combined battalions—nearly two thousand troops in total—Pobov saw that the Greenskins were about to finish their brawl, with a larger one consolidating power, while some orc boys had even begun fleeing in all directions.
Pobov decided to strike then.
He didn’t want any surviving Greenskins escaping, which would complicate subsequent clean-up efforts.
Before launching the attack, Pobov requested artillery support from the rear.
Had they moved earlier, the artillery wouldn’t have been able to help much; the artillery crews had just mounted the towed guns onto trucks, reaching the designated firing positions late last night.
This morning, before they’d even had a chance to catch their breath, they received Pobov’s request for bombardment support.
With limited shells and weary artillerymen, they could only field about twenty cannons and fired five rounds, delivering a hundred shells.
But it was enough.
The Greenskins, who had just been brawling amongst themselves, hadn’t had time to establish any kind of artillery defenses, and they were bombarded into chaos.
After the bombardment, the three mechanized battalions launched a ferocious charge.
Pobov’s battalion led the way, while the 2nd and 3rd Battalions flanked from either side.
With a numerical advantage and a fully mechanized force, including tanks, armored vehicles, and transport trucks carrying infantry—apart from the artillery, which remained at the joint artillery position in the rear—their combat power was formidable.
On the other hand, the Greenskins numbered only about a thousand initially, many of whom had already fallen in their infighting.
The deadliest threats among them—the Kill Tank walkers—had been partially destroyed during the internal brawls, and more had been blown apart by artillery fire.
The remaining ones still posed a threat to armored vehicles and tanks, but they became priority targets.
Fortunately, the Kill Tanks were not as heavily armored as the Death Dread tanks or the heavily armored orc warlords, which could rival the power armor of Star Warriors.
The Kill Tanks, being smaller and more lightly armored, couldn’t withstand the concentrated fire of at least ten twin-barreled autocannons, which battered the metal plating, eventually penetrating and tearing it apart.
Besides the autocannons on the armored vehicles, the locally made Challenger tanks were equipped with 76mm smoothbore guns, and combined with the autocannons on the Walkers, they could deal significant damage to the Kill Tanks with a single shot.
If the Greenskins had unified command and enough armored force, with their strong physiques, they might have had a chance to break out.
But clearly, they didn’t.
Greenskins didn’t surrender; they fled, charged recklessly, and fought independently.
Exterminating this group of Greenskin orcs was not a problem.
There would inevitably be casualties, but this should be the last organized force of Greenskin orcs.
This was the final battle before victory.
…
After the battle, while cleaning up the battlefield, Pobov received news from the search teams he’d sent to look for the Special Task Force.
They had found the Star Warriors.
The battalion leader of the Phoenix Battalion had requested to see the commanding officer.
Thus, Pobov met the cold-faced Martins.
The two didn’t exchange many words; Martins only informed Pobov about the underground space where they had previously hidden.
Martins had previously ordered several Storm Squad soldiers to thoroughly investigate the area, intending to find alternate exits, prepare escape routes, and avoid being ambushed. But unexpectedly, the Storm Squad soldiers made another discovery.
It turned out that the location was indeed a research facility that conducted biological research, dating back to Fury Owl Planet’s prosperous era before its destruction.
The data contained within could potentially reveal the origins of the strange, rapidly developing Greenskin orcs in the High Tower Ruins.
However, their focus at the time was on combat, so they hadn’t delved deeper.
Martins advised Major Pobov to secure and protect the site for future exploration.
After explaining this, Martins took his four brothers, including the bodies of two fallen comrades, requested a transport truck, and departed.
The two Star Warriors, carrying two bodies, headed for Revival City.
Their mission was complete; it was time to leave.
Meanwhile, Martins headed directly to the rear to meet Governor Gu.
…
Gu Hang met Martins on his way to the pre-war research facility.
He had already received a report detailing what had happened, especially noting the loss of two Star Warriors.
Frankly, it wasn’t what Gu Hang had wanted.
He’d previously considered using the Phoenix Rebirth event, which allowed for the exchange of gene seeds, to create a legion of super-soldiers once the Star Warriors were all gone.
But even if he wanted to proceed with that, now was not the time.
Not only would it consume a significant amount of Grace Points, but he also hadn’t even found a place to purchase power armor yet.
He’d already experienced the invaluable role of these super-soldiers in war, and the Phoenix Battalion led by Martins had been cooperating well with him, consistently accepting his missions without complaint.
So, he wasn’t hoping for their deaths.
In fact, he felt a genuine sense of loss over the two deaths, akin to losing two elite subordinates.
Upon meeting Martins, he consoled the battalion leader for the loss of his brothers, then assured him that he could request anything needed for future operations.
For instance, he’d already arranged to purchase the equipment required for gene-seed implant surgeries.
This wasn’t merely a hollow promise; through Alicia, he’d indeed contacted a merchant from the Empire’s trading guild. The merchant caravan had agreed to adjust its route to pass through Fury Owl Planet and was expected to arrive soon.
Yet despite hearing this, Martins’ expression remained grim.
Having come to meet Gu Hang, he was prepared to speak openly.
"Governor, what’s the story with those black boxes in your secret research lab?"