After Schneider had killed the biggest, greenest orc chieftain, the battle was almost at its end.
His four battle brothers, along with the twenty-eight 'Storm Squad' soldiers who were considered quite capable in the eyes of the interstellar warriors, and with the covering fire from the infantry battalion, killed all four or five dozen orcs that had charged with the chieftain.
The abilities of the interstellar warriors need not be mentioned; apart from encountering a genetically-enhanced, somewhat capable green-skinned chieftain that made him exert himself a little, his battle brothers scarcely found any opponents of note.
The ordinary green-skinned brutes stood no chance against the electromagnetic rifles in the hands of the Storm Squad's special operations soldiers. Unlike the G9 rifles, which they could resist, a dozen or so bullets from these would typically kill them.
Once he was sure that all the orcs had been killed and there were no survivors to leak any information about their own party, he could finally relax.
They hadn't planned on taking action originally.
The proactive strike by the 4th Infantry Battalion was meant to cover their operations. It would certainly be best to eliminate all the orcs in the area, for the most perfect infiltration is achieved by killing every enemy.
Even if the attack failed, it didn't really matter. After drawing enough attention, the 33-man special task squad could completely bypass the battlefield from the flank while the front lines were hot, just as stealthily.
In fact, that was their original plan.
However, upon observing the situation on the frontline, the respected commander changed his mind and decided to execute the first strategy: eradicate the enemy.
Schneider knew that their Commander Matins couldn't bear to watch those mortal soldiers dying in droves, especially to cover their mission.
Of course, he didn't object either. After all, as long as they killed every orc so none could run back with news, it was fine. With only a few dozen left, it wouldn't be a hassle to kill them all.
The key point was also to satisfy a thirst for combat.
After the battle, Schneider removed his helmet, revealing his shiny bald head.
He felt a peculiar gaze, so he turned his head and saw that red-hatted soldier staring at him.
Ordinarily, Schneider would disdain and outright ignore these mortals, but at this moment, he couldn't help but remember the red-hatted Tadeusz who had achieved what his dead brother could not.
And the one before him, though he had performed no feats of valor, nevertheless faced danger without fear, maintaining a warrior's dignity in the face of death.
Almost involuntarily, he nodded to the red-hatted soldier, then turned and walked away.
Reed Meshako also snapped out of it.
He had actually survived.
Given the combat between that interstellar warrior and the orc, there was no doubt that if it were him, he would have died eight hundred times over.
It seemed that the gap between him, a mere mortal, and those monstrous demons was still vast.
But regardless, they seemed to have won the battle.
Slowly lowering the gun in his hand, he turned to find their commander.
They still needed to sweep the area, and then transport the wounded and even the bodies of dead comrades back, even those whose deaths were particularly gruesome, taking at least the identifiers, such as armbands or breast badges, that symbolized soldier status.
After cleaning up the battlefield, they would retreat.
This position couldn't be held for long. The fortifications made by the orcs were shoddy to begin with, and now they were even more so after the bombardment; moreover, this place was far from other friendly lines and difficult to support.
All these issues meant that they couldn't possibly stand a chance if the orcs counterattacked.
But abandoning this position didn't mean their sortie was in vain.
In addition to providing cover for the special operations squads, the casualties they inflicted on the enemy were considerable.
In this battle, nearly five hundred orcs had died. In contrast, on the human side, the toll was over three hundred and twenty casualties.
This casualty ratio even exceeded their defensive battles.
Of course, there was a special reason for this.
After all, the cost to the human side wasn't just over three hundred lives but also included six hundred rounds of heavy artillery shells.
Had they not recently received a shipment of newly manufactured shells from Weixing City, they would have hated to fire off so many in just one hour.
At least half of the orcs killed were blown up during the initial artillery barrage. Of the remaining two hundred or so, more than fifty were dealt with by the special operations teams, and the real achievements of the 4th Infantry Battalion were just over a hundred orcs.
Yet, a nearly 3:1 exchange rate was still acceptable.
What couldn't be ignored, however, was the inherent risk.
They had won this time, completely annihilating the enemy.
But what if they hadn't won?
If it wasn't for Meshako decisively executing several officers by his iron hand during a moment of wavering morale, mandating that supervisors at all levels maintain discipline, and leading by example at the front to boost morale, they might well have crumbled at that time.
Once collapsed, the death toll during the retreat would likely have skyrocketed. Not only would they fail to outkill the orcs, but during the pursuit, their casualties could have multiplied several times, and if pursued fiercely, even upon returning to their original positions, they might not have been able to stop a total collapse, leading to serious trouble.