Volume 10: Ancient Battleship Chapter 500 “The Twelfth Time”
"Base...Does the base have any emergency measures?" Maginot asked hurriedly. For some reason, he suddenly felt an indescribable fear.
Just after he asked this question, the ground shook violently and a loud "boom" sound came from outside the office.
The jade-like bone spur coffee cup with a gold-rimmed edge on the table swayed and turned a few times like a drunkard, then jumped off the edge of the table without hesitation and broke into pieces.
This was the favorite item in Lieutenant General Maginot's private collection. This cup was made on Earth before the Ark was completed. Even in the old era, it could be considered a fine piece of porcelain. In order to get this cup, Lieutenant General Maginot spent four years' salary, plus some undisclosed gray income, to successfully buy it at the auction.
He even used his personal connections to bribe the four appraisers at the auction house to "mistakenly" identify the cup as a replica produced between the 100th and 300th years of the New Era... Otherwise, even if Maginot's bid was increased fivefold, he might not be able to win the bid.
Collecting porcelain is a well-known hobby of Maginot. In his eyes, the white and delicate porcelain is like the delicate skin of a peerless beauty, and those breathtaking curves and glazes make people intoxicated by them.
This coffee cup was often placed on Maginot's table to show off, but he never used it to hold coffee. Whenever a new officer was transferred to Maginot's command, the old hands would tell the newcomer: When you go to report to the lieutenant general, as long as you are "inadvertently" attracted by the coffee cup on the table, and then praise it or ask a few questions, you can instantly increase the lieutenant general's favorability by several levels.
This trick has been tried and tested, and Lieutenant General Maginot was happy to introduce to his subordinates who were attracted by the cup what a precious work of art it was... But now, this work of art is broken.
A Venus with its arms cut off can still be called a masterpiece, but no one would appreciate the broken porcelain pieces scattered on the ground...even though it was once priceless.
A silent groan came from Lieutenant General Maginot's throat, and he felt his heart bleeding... But just as he was tremblingly trying to sweep the fragments on the ground together, the major suddenly threw him to the ground, took off the steel helmet hanging on the wall next to him, and put it on Maginot's head.
"General, danger!"
"Earthquake?!... No! Was the base attacked?" Sitting on the ground, Maginot finally reacted and reached for his waist.
He first felt for a pistol, was stunned for half a second, then threw the pistol aside, and continued to fumble around before finding his personal communication terminal in the big pocket of his windbreaker - a special mobile phone for commanders.
"Hello? Is this the Guard Battalion? What's happening outside? Report to me immediately!" Maginot pressed a quick dial button, the call was immediately connected, and a noisy sound came from the other end of the receiver.
"Report to the General! Inside the base, between the third and fourth walls, a small-scale strong earthquake of unknown cause occurred. A section of both walls, about 100 meters long, collapsed, and the other four walls also suffered varying degrees of damage!"
The person on the other end of the phone paused, then continued, "A deep pit with a diameter of about 80 meters appeared at the vibration point! The original location of the deep pit happened to be the hangar of the First Armored Battalion. Seventy percent of the mechas of the First Armored Battalion fell into the pit... The specific casualties are still being counted, but it is estimated that no less than 200 people!"
"Don't count casualties yet! Put the entire base into a level one combat readiness state! Have all troops on missions outside rush back to provide support! Also, request reinforcements from the Ark and the Air Force Fleet, and tell them that the Mukach base has been attacked by an unknown enemy! The situation is critical!" Maginot repeated what the major had said, but when the same words came out of his mouth, they added a bit of intimidating aura.
Even though he was still sitting on the ground in a somewhat funny posture when he said this, and the helmet on his head was still crooked.
No matter how dire the reality is, a person who can climb to this position cannot be a fool who can do nothing. Maginot quickly got into his role.
"General, it's no longer safe here. We have to go outside." The major helped Maginot up and put a composite lightweight protective vest made of carbon fiber and Kevlar on the lieutenant general.
This protective vest was the largest model that could be found in the warehouse, but when he put it on Maginot, he still couldn't zip up the front...
"Okay, let's go out." Maginot took a last lingering look at the debris on the ground and straightened his helmet. "By the way, Major, what's your name?"
"Levi, Levi Cruz. I am the commander of the 9th Infantry Battalion of the 7th Armored Combined Division, responsible for the daily defense of the base."
" Major Levi... no, it should be Colonel Levi. From now on, you are a colonel. In addition, you are no longer the battalion commander of the infantry battalion, but my adjutant." In just a few words, Maginot raised Levi's military rank by two levels.
He is a lieutenant general, and this situation is a promotion on the front line, so these two sentences are still very effective... Even if his merits are re-evaluated afterwards, the most he can do is to be demoted to lieutenant colonel... If this Colonel Levi unfortunately dies in the attack, then the title of colonel is basically set in stone.
However, there was no joy on Levi's face - he had been in the Mukach base for four full years, and the last time the Mukach base was breached was exactly four years ago.
He arrived at Mukach as part of the second batch of reinforcements. At that time, the remaining enemies had basically been wiped out, but the tragic scene in the base was still deeply imprinted in his memory. At that time, the garrison at the Mukach base was also an armored mixed division with about 11,000 people. But when the casualties were finally counted, excluding the missing, including the seriously injured, there were only 29 survivors left in the entire division.
Of these twenty-nine people, six died of their injuries after being sent back to the Ark. To be precise, the number of survivors should be twenty-three.
Out of more than 11,000 people, only 23 survived...
This does not include the casualties of the first batch of reinforcements...
If the Mukah base was breached for the twelfth time... Levi couldn't help but close his eyes tightly, trying to put those horrific scenes behind his mind.
