Volume 10: Ancient Battleship Chapter 498: Frontline Base Mukah
Ke Lan did not answer her, but this time, it was not because Ke Lan could not be distracted, but because he could not hear the sounds around him at all.
The members of the reconnaissance team, the power room, the giant pit, the boulder covered with crystal circuits...even the stone pillars under the control console, have all disappeared from Ke Lan's sight. Only the metal ball emitting a faint fluorescent light is still floating in front of him.
He lowered his head and could see that his body was suspended in the air like the metal ball, and around him was flowing magma emitting a blazing glow...
The magma seemed to be separated by some invisible position and kept rolling down - no, it should not be said that the magma was falling down, but Ke Lan's perspective was rising rapidly.
"This battleship... is breaking through the magma!" Ke Lan quickly figured out the current situation - everything he saw should be the external observation perspective of this ancient battleship!
The control technology used by this civilization is to directly connect the warship with the consciousness of the operator, which is commonly known as "man and ship are one, the ship is the man-ship, and the man is the ship..."
"Ugh, whoever wants to be a 'ship man' can do it, I'm not interested anyway." Ke Lan complained in his heart, while gently pushing the metal ball in front of him with both hands...
Suddenly, his perspective changed drastically - originally his standing direction was perpendicular to the rising angle, but now, it was almost parallel.
He just floated on his back, watching the layers of magma being broken open above him.
But what Ke Lan didn't expect was that with just a gentle push, he could cause great harm to others...
The members of the reconnaissance team were struggling to endure the G-force applied to their bodies, but at this moment, the ground suddenly tilted to one side. The Hound lying on the ground was caught off guard and slid down. If Valkyrie had not extended a mechanical arm to catch him in time, he would have rolled and slid to the bottom of the slope.
The "bottom of the slope" here was the wall of the power room a few seconds ago.
"Damn it! Is this place going to collapse?" shouted the hound who was hanging in the air by the mechanical arm.
"It didn't collapse... It's the 'Aguna Tor'... This battleship is taking off... Just like our airships raise their bows to gain altitude." Layton replied, and a sharp claw popped out from his mechanical arm and nailed deeply into the ground.
The airship lifts its bow when gaining altitude in order to reduce its own air resistance... and this ancient warship is now being pressed to the bottom of the pool by billions of tons of magma, and the resistance it encounters is countless times greater than that in the air.
The entire power room is tilted at an angle of nearly forty-five degrees, and the direction of G-force application has also changed from directly above to diagonally above.
The others also used similar methods as Layton to hang themselves on the slope. Valkyrie even directly turned on the bombardment mode and hammered the support nails on several legs directly into the rock.
Fortunately, the floor of the power room is made of ordinary rock. If it were made of Nino alloy, the entire reconnaissance team would have rolled to the bottom of the slope with both the people and the mechas.
"Old dog, go ahead." Layton used his free hand to take out a pair of climbing suction cups from his backpack and threw them to the hound. Then he raised his head and glanced at Ke Lan who was still "standing" in front of the console.
Ke Lan's body seemed to be completely unrestricted by gravity. He was like a human-shaped spike hammered into the ground, always remaining perpendicular to the inclined ground.
…
…
Field Corps, 7th Armored Combined Division, "Mukakh" military base.
Lieutenant General Maginot was in a bad mood.
To be precise, "bad" is not enough to describe how depressed he is right now... If the coffee cup on the table was not a priceless antique handed down from the old era, he would definitely smash the cup against the wall without hesitation.
" Did I offend some important person?" Machino thought in annoyance, resting his hands on his forehead.
Two days ago, he was handling daily official duties in his office when a special encrypted and expedited transfer order instantly changed him from a commander of a garrison force in charge of public security to the military chief of a front-line combat unit of a field corps.
Although from a certain perspective, this wave of transfers promoted him half a level (officers of the same level in field troops and fleets are by default half a level higher than those in garrison troops), and the soldiers under his command were transformed from the original 3,000 old and weak soldiers to 7,000 elite soldiers...but Maginot could not be happy at all.
The reason is simple - the new defense zone he is in charge of happens to be the "Mukakh" military base .
The location of the "Mukakh" military base is very important. The four directions are connected to the widest plains of Alpha Star. And passing through the "Hell Corridor" sandwiched between the "Western Plains" and the "Mud Swamp" is the famous "Molten Mine Area".
The location of the "Mukakh" military base is the most important transportation hub in the northern hemisphere of Alpha Star, without a doubt. If it were placed on Earth, it would surely gain a reputation such as "the thoroughfare of five provinces" and "a place of contention for military strategists".
But convenient transportation also means that this base has no safe haven... If you look down from the sky, the "Mukakh" base, which is located alone on the open plain, is like a nail house right in the middle of a highway, as conspicuous as it can be.
In the old era, it was equivalent to sending a general who was responsible for maintaining public security in the rear to the front line, but the problem was... Maginot had been serving in the garrison since he joined the army. Over the past few decades, he had only left the Ark three times... only three times!
Otherwise, the lieutenant general's belly would not have hung from the waist to almost the hips.
“Damn it, at least give me some experienced assistants…” Maginot looked at the holographic map on his desk and couldn’t help but feel a headache… He was very good at handling official documents, but he had a hard time managing the dispatch of combat units, especially in this “Mukakh” military base. From the list of ammunition replenishment sent by the logistics management to the investigation of the abnormal movements of the heretical sects, no matter how big or small, he had to deal with it as the highest military director of the base…
This was different from when he was in the garrison. At that time, he only had to wait for the officers under him to plan the solution, and then he would take a few glances and sign. But now, even if it was a box of active ammunition, he had to call back to the Ark and haggle with the people from the General Logistics Department, the Security Bureau, and the Equipment Department of the Research Institute.
Maginot had once secretly laughed at his colleagues in the field forces who had fought with others for a little bit of supplies, but he had never imagined that he would end up like this...
"Fortunately, it has been relatively peaceful during this period, except for the Molten Mine Area in the southwest... But the trouble in that place should not spread here..." Lieutenant General Maginot muttered to himself. Fighting is really not his strong point.
If this happened in the old era, if you lost the battle you could at least surrender. As a general, even if you became a prisoner, at least your treatment would not be bad... But in this era, the word surrender is basically synonymous with suicide.
Whether it was the heretical sects or the indigenous creatures, they would not give him a chance to surrender. Rather than being transformed into a biochemical monster or being torn to pieces by sharp animal teeth, it would be more refreshing to shoot himself in the temple.
In 918 of the New Era, the construction of the "Mukach" military base began, and it took four years to complete in 922. During these 29 years, there have been 35 military commanders at the "Mukach" base, 17 of whom died in this base.
In the past 29 years, the "Mukakh" military base was attacked eleven times and recaptured and rebuilt eleven times. Ten of these times, the enemies were the indigenous creatures of Alpha Star, and the other time was a joint force of heretics and exiles.
Lieutenant General Maginot was the 35th. Excluding himself, half of the previous 34 military commanders died in office.
"It's a 50-50 chance..." Maginot couldn't help but wipe the non-existent sweat from his forehead and continued to stare at the holographic map on the table. A dozen blue dots were arranged in a straight line, approaching the base from the northeast - this was this week's supply convoy, carrying a week's worth of daily necessities for everyone in the base.
Lieutenant General Maginot felt that his life had always been smooth sailing and he had always had good luck, so he shouldn't be one of those who died in the line of duty...
But then again, most of the military supervisors who died in the line of duty died in the first few years after the "Mukakh" military base was built. At that time, the four plains were still "undeveloped areas" with no human habitation at all. Land transportation was intermittent, and the daily supplies of the base personnel often had to rely on the air force fleet to help transport them.
During the four years of building the base, at least three thousand soldiers and an almost equal number of workers and technicians were sacrificed. In the first year after the base was completed, it was breached three times by the beast tide.
This place is a major transportation hub and a must-go place for many migratory beasts. Large-scale offensive and defensive battles take place several times a year... During that period, any new soldier who could serve at the "Mukach" base for a month would receive the "Brave" medal when he returned. The service experience at the "Mukach" base also became a very important topic of conversation for the veterans.
However, with the repeated expansion of the base and the addition of various defensive equipment, the wall was expanded from two circles to six circles, and the height and thickness were increased several times... The casualty rate of the "Mukakh" base has finally gradually decreased, but compared with other places, it is still considered a high-risk stronghold that ranks among the top.
"At least the previous three military commanders all left office peacefully..." Lieutenant General Maginot comforted himself in his heart.
At this time, an orderly came in with a tray.
"General, your lunch."
"Oh... just put it on the table." Makino was stunned, turned off the holographic projection, and glanced at the clock next to him.
"It's already twelve o'clock, and I've spent the entire morning arguing with the logistics department..."
When Lieutenant General Maginot turned his attention from the clock to the dinner plate, his brows couldn't help but frown again.
The food on the plate was very simple - a few pieces of synthetic chicken cooked in plain water with almost no oil on them; a "fresh orange" poured from a can, full of the sweetness of inferior sugar substitutes; a bowl of watery soup with a few bean sprouts and a few slices of radish floating in it; and a pool of "staple food" that looked like batter with too much water added...
The most outrageous thing is the few vitamin capsules placed in the corner of the plate - the daily diet at the base can only meet people's energy needs, and the lack of vitamins and some trace elements even needs to be supplemented by such capsules and tablets.
If the military commander's food is so bad, one can easily imagine what the soldiers under him eat.
This is also one of the reasons why Maginot was unwilling to be transferred here.
When he was in the garrison, although he could not eat meat every day, he could at least eat real vegetables and meat. When the work was not so stressful, he could also eat steak and ice cream. Honey-coated waffles were also one of Maginot's favorites. On weekends, he would take time out to go to a Japanese restaurant or a Chinese restaurant to enjoy an authentic oriental meal...
But now, Lieutenant General Maginot looked at the dish on the table. The difference was so big that he didn't even have the desire to lift the spoon.
"I must have offended some important person..."
Just as Maginot reluctantly scooped up a spoonful of "batter", another soldier rushed into the office - unlike the previous orderly, this soldier just barged in the door.
"What are you doing? Didn't I tell you not to disturb me when I'm eating?" Machino said with some dissatisfaction, "I've been busy all morning, can't I even have a good rest during lunch time?"
"General...something happened!" the soldier said breathlessly, supporting his knees with his hands.
"What did you say? What happened?" Maginot's hand trembled, and the spoon fell directly into the plate, and the splashed batter splashed onto his lapel.
However, Maginot had no time to care about his clothes. He stood up from his seat, completely ignoring his bulging belly and overturning the plate on the table. He strode around to the desk and asked anxiously, "Tell me, what happened?"
"The Ark's transport convoy...the signal has disappeared!"
