Xu Yunlai hugged his electromagnetic rifle tightly, feeling extremely nervous.
His comrade Yang Tao nudged him and said, "Man up a little, don't be a coward. We're up against a bunch of natives with flintlock guns and smoothbore cannons, and you're scared of that?"
Xu Yunlai retorted stubbornly, "I'm not scared; don't talk nonsense!"
Yang Tao laughed heartily and hugged his fellow soldier, as both were clad in camouflaged individual armor that clinked with the sound of metal or plastic upon collision.
"Being scared is nothing to be ashamed of. Among all of us on this ship, the whole platoon, who has actually been in combat?" Yang Tao couldn't help but exclaim.
Just two months ago, they were all soldiers going through various forms of training and drills in an orderly fashion. Although they shouted about everything being in preparation for actual combat, few believed they would really take to the battlefield. But now, they were only tens of minutes away from the battleground.
For the 19-year-olds Xu Yunlai and Yang Tao, the experiences during this time could be described as surreal. They were issued a headband-like device in their dormitory, and then a group of them entered another world. There they learned new knowledge and became acquainted with new weapons.
After a month of intensive training, Xu Yunlai and Yang Tao boarded a spaceship that traversed the stellar galaxy, arriving at Emerald Sea Star. There they underwent Genetic Advantage Liberation, and every one of them encountered the "fellow" they had used in the world of their dreams.
Xu Yunlai could feel that the armor on his body seemed to contain immense power. After three weeks of acclimatization training on Emerald Sea Star, Xu Yunlai had realized that, clad in Saber-toothed Tiger Power Armor, he was practically a superhero!
Yang Tao patted his shoulder and comforted him, "Don't overthink it, just carry out the mission, the sooner we finish, the sooner it's over."
Xu Yunlai nodded and fell silent again. The cabin of the Y-20 transport aircraft was once more engulfed in silence. Over a hundred mobile infantrymen, having just completed their training, were all somewhat nervous at this moment, realizing that as soon as they jumped out of this aircraft and landed on the ground, they would be taking live lives.
Meanwhile, aboard a space-air destroyer behind the assault aircraft, Brigade Commander Fang Han also felt equally tense and silent.
He was well aware that the war they were about to engage in was almost zero in military difficulty. However, the military's objective was not simply to participate in the Star Alliance's military activities or to seize something.
The real intent lay in testing new weapons and new command systems, and even allowing the regular army, which had not seen blood for decades, to taste blood anew—it was a thorough game of killing—C Military General would no longer exist merely to deter foes and maintain national economic construction, but would become a ferocious and deadly war machine.
Yet, this was their fate.
"Brigade Commander Fang."
The call broke Fang Han's reverie, and he immediately turned his head to see the commander of this military operation, also the Governor of Emerald Sea Star of the United Empire, Xiao Yu.
For this war, Bai Zhongqi had prepared up to two hundred thousand bionic soldiers, but due to Country C's intentions, the C army ended up leading the charge.
However, it was impossible for the command to fall into the hands of the C military, who had no concept of modern warfare, so this time, the C army fully adopted a learning mindset to observe how the Iridium Star military organized and commanded such a war.
Xiao Yu also had practical combat experience, and although he had never commanded a large-scale troop of tens of thousands, with the help of the Iridium Star system, to him, commanding tens of thousands was no different from commanding hundreds of thousands.
"Commander Xiao," Fang Han responded.
"We can begin now," Xiao Yu said with a smile.
For him, this was an excellent opportunity to enhance his resume. Also, due to the lack of planetary war officers under Bai Zhongqi, Xiao Yu was the only option Bai had, thus he was dispatched to command the war.
In front of Fang Han, Xiao Yu was not as pretentious as usual, but rather appeared to be quite helpful and approachable. He even explained to Fang Han, "Under the new warfare conditions, since the command system can fully realize top-down, vertical control, the practical need for grassroots commanders is reduced. What we need more are strong grassroots officers leading troops.
As high-level commanders, we can control the war's progress and arrange troops in real-time from thousands of kilometers away, or even from other planets."
Fang Han nodded thoughtfully and said, "So it's really like a computer game."
"Pretty much," Xiao Yu laughed.
He turned his head to face the huge holographic sand table and pointed towards a unit in the sand table, which was Fang Han's Sky Cavalry Company in the mechanized infantry brigade. The newly formed mechanized infantry brigade's Sky Cavalry Company mainly equipped with Strong-9 Black Panther Armed Machines.
Powered by electric thrust plasma turbofan engines, they could fly low to the ground, ignoring the terrain, serving as both air tanks and artillery. They had also completely replaced the role of ground-attack aircraft and armed helicopters, capable of anti-armor operations, reconnaissance, fire support, and battlefield denial tasks.
Xiao Yu pushed the Sky Cavalry Troops forward, ordering, "Carry out an aerial strike on Shangduohan's Royal Capital, indiscriminate fire coverage, fire two rounds of ammunition first."
Then he pointed to another unit, a mobile infantry battalion, and said, "The mechanized infantry provide cover for the Sky Cavalry Troops."
Fang Han immediately understood Xiao Yu's plan; the tactic was essentially similar to the combined arms tactics of modern warfare. The Sky Cavalry Troops carrying out the strike could face enemy attacks, and on the Shangduohan battlefield, these attacks came from Samurai. Therefore, the Sky Cavalry needed the cover of mechanized infantry.
If ground Samurai retaliated, then the Sky Cavalry and mechanized infantry would concentrate their fire to eliminate or capture these Samurai.
Even though Fang Han already had a clear understanding of how the entire command system operated, he was still amazed. Commanders only needed to move units on the sand table and give orders, and AI would assist in conveying the commands directly to the specific units.
The grassroots units also had AI support, allowing them to quickly devise strike and combat plans based on actual battlefield conditions.
On the sand table, the real-time actions of all units could be reflected. If any military unit's actions did not meet the expectations of the high-level commander, the high-level commander could directly override the command chain and order adjustments. This was much like the micromanagement in RTS computer games.
This is true digital warfare, where all battle and command nodes have the ability to communicate information. Commanders can better understand the details of the battlefield and conduct commands. With the support of powerful AI, such an army's combat power is formidable.