"How is the situation, Mirko?" General Becker asked his friend Colonel Tiwana. The situation was dire since the horde was three days from the city, and Frant's army couldn't thin their numbers enough for the militaries to ensure nothing terrible would happen.
Becker and his men and women were discouraged. They employed massive amounts of resources, and people did decrease the thaids' numbers, but with each step they took, another thaid joined the massive horde. It was scary.
Tiwana shrugged helplessly as he stared into a cup of tea. "We are doing our best with what we have, but the thaids are almost in the city," he said in answer to the army general's question. He glanced at his men, sitting on benches or standing guard outside the tent; all looked exhausted but determined despite it being late afternoon. The general nodded grimly, understanding the gravity of the situation.
"We already called the Fierce Lioness and the Band of Giants; they are currently heading here with their vehicles. Aside from that, we started stationing mechas around the barrier, and we are concentrating our forces at the east gate." His voice trailed off as he thought about something else. We also dispatched a scout team to gather more information about our enemy's movements. However, we must consider the possibility that they may be able to breach the eastern gate. Despite our efforts, we cannot guarantee its security."
"There isn't much more we can do right now," Tiwana said. "If we do not station as many people as possible at the gate, the monsters will surely breach the gate. If they break in, we can only ask for the Fierce Lioness's help."
"Why can't things go well just one time...?" Becker said with evident frustration. "What about Volkov?" he then asked.
"He said that as soon as the situation is under control, he and some people will come here to give us a hand in finding the Heniate, but they won't make it in time for the attack..." Tiwana replied. Becker was sure Volkov would be able to find the Heniate, but his absence from the battlefield was a huge problem, and he couldn't go into battle as he needed to coordinate the troops. He was an important figure in the command center. The only problem was that it would lead to many casualties.
The general sighed heavily before speaking again. "Are the troops still trying to hinder the monsters?"
"Yes, sir!" Tiwana answered. "But they aren't getting anywhere because there are simply too many thaids..."
"Ok, then make all active personnel head back to the city starting tomorrow and get some rest before the battle. We need fresh troops, not exhausted people..."
"Of course! When should we tell them?" Tiwana asked.
"Give the order now; let them leave before 20:00 o'clock."
"Yes, sir."
"Oh, and..." Becker considered things carefully. "Ensure you send the message to the civilians that every person who can't fight must head to the shelters. I also want the police to manage public order. " Becker said.
"Understood. Anything else?"
"Yes, how are things progressing regarding the extraordinary conscription?" Becker was referring to the fact that they would force adults to join the city's defense. This idea had been discussed a few days earlier when the thaids were still relatively far away. However, after seeing the number of monsters approaching, everyone involved quickly approved this proposal.
"It seems like everything has gone smoothly, even though this is unprecedented. Everyone seemed motivated by your speech," Tiwana stated.
"Good. How many people are going to join?" Becker asked.
"Around ten million. If we add the two million available soldiers, we would be around three or four million away from the thaids' horde. It's like all the monsters in the east banded together to destroy the city..."
"That's not too bad... Considering the circumstances, we have a chance of survival with the number of people we have available. However, we must still prepare ourselves as best we can in the remaining days. While our numbers may not be ideal, we can still build a strong defense with the proper tactics and weapons."
The major problem in a world like theirs was that getting troops from other cities was not straightforward due to the thaids around. Besides, the soldiers had to defend the cities' borders constantly, so getting troops from another place was really complicated.
"Is there anything else?" Becker asked.
"No, sir, that's all."
"Ok, you are dismissed."
"Yes, sir."
***
After talking with the general, Mirko headed towards his office at the east gate, where the command post for this operation was located. As he got closer to the area, he saw several big cars surrounded by guards and police officers talking to each other. Some were obviously worried, while others appeared confident. Mirko knew this would be a complex operation, but the sight of those confident officers reassured him.
All around the place, the vehicles were unloading the mechs one by one while their pilots got on them and started moving outside the barrier. All of them looked strong and sturdy. Their design wasn't new; however, most had the latest technologies mounted on them. In addition, some were modified to make them better suited to combat inside the forest. The only problem with mecha was that their weapons were as effective against thaids as all the others the military could employ, meaning that they could only kill low-ranked monsters. However, the term low-ranked monsters indicated many kinds of monsters. The army had an internal way of classifying monsters, but it wasn't that common outside of the army. This led to confusion among civilians who believed mechas were the ultimate solution to the monster problem. In reality, those mechas were a valuable asset but not a definitive solution to the varied and ever-evolving challenges presented by thaids since only brain crystal powers were beneficial up to a certain point.
As Tiwana got closer, he noticed that many soldiers were moving around with various pieces of equipment on their backs. Each of them carried a personal weapon and was armed with laser rifles, grenades, and the like. Countless vehicles were walking through the east gate, and many other soldiers started mounting cannons and every kind of artillery over the eastern gate's buildings.
Tiwana observed as another vehicle arrived. It was an enormous truck that was loaded with numerous weapons. Soldiers immediately moved out of it carrying heavy machine guns, anti-thaids missiles, and every sort of cannon imaginable. They started assembling them onto platforms above the building next to the barrier, ready to fire upon any monster coming close enough. Some were even mounted inside the barrier in case thaids managed to break in. Besides, since the forest in front of the barrier had been cleared, inside the ground, there were countless hidden artillery weapons that could come out of it in case of necessity, and there was even a three-meter tall reinforced wall that could do the same. At the moment, the army was taking the wall out, waiting to place defenses on it as soon as the process finished.
Mirko couldn't help but sigh. He knew what was happening was a major threat to the city's safety; they were preparing to shoot down as many monsters as possible.
Mirko entered the east gate and went to his office, where he would meet with Sergeants Greene and Sergeant Sinclair. Both sergeants came to his office as soon as he arrived. The two were currently employed on the front lines, trying to kill as many thaids as possible and coordinating different groups for specific missions. Greene actually managed to kill an Hekratinl some days prior, the biggest threat to the eastern gate's safety.
On the other hand, Sergeant Sinclair coordinated some other teams to kill various dangerous thaids that were spotted inside the horde.
Both women sat in front of Colonel Tiwana, patiently waiting for him to settle. Once the Colonel was seated, both sergeants reported what had happened in the past hours.
"So, did you find out anything new?" Tiwana asked.
"Yes, sir. Unfortunately, it appears that the weird Blirdoth that team Delta had previously spotted has joined the thaid's horde..." Sergeant Sinclair said. "However, we have already sent a company to deal with it."
"Fuck..." Tiwana sighed; he knew that if a beast like that arrived at the gate while joining the monsters' army, things would become much more complicated. Besides, judging by what team Delta said, this creature was really powerful, and it would be easy to kill it even with an entire company.
"We've already sent word to the rest of the units, asking them to keep their eyes open," Sinclair continued. "However, considering the horde's size, I don't think we'll see any more reports about strange creatures joining the horde anytime soon."
"I agree," Greene added. "There is a limit to how many monsters can join the horde right now. The number of available thaids roaming the place should have reached an all-time low."
She wasn't wrong. It was true that the Heniate probably managed to get a hold of most of the thaid's population in the east, but it was also true that for several months Frant observed thaids' mass migrations heading westward. So, it was clear that many thaids were still alive somewhere.
"Let's just hope that the situation has stabilized for the moment," Tiwana concluded.
Then, a soldier barged into the office without asking for permission. He was sweating, had a pallid look, and seemed very worried. Tiwana observed him carefully before speaking up.
"What is it?" he demanded.
The man hesitated before speaking. When he finally spoke, his voice trembled.
"Sir! The second brigade has been completely wiped out! They're dead, sir. Every last one of them... We lost contact with the second brigade after the thaids' began attacking. We decided to send reinforcements, but they found only bodies!"
Tiwana stared at the young officer. His face turned pale as he realized things would be more complicated than expected.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺