After receiving the message, Gu Hang couldn't even enjoy his meal.
There were ten thousand Green Skins, over three thousand of which were proper orcs, and their numbers were still growing.
There was already a disparity in single combat capabilities, with the greatest difference being in their ability to withstand attacks. Now, the enemy also had all sorts of crude, laughable, but absolutely formidable heavy firepower and equipment...
This was already a very huge threat.
Well, Gu Hang had been planning to wait two days to call for orbital bombardment before launching a full counterattack, but now were those Green Skins going to launch a full-scale attack first?
Luckily, this intelligence was gathered in advance. Had they been caught completely unprepared by such an onslaught, there would have been serious trouble.
Gu Hang was considering solutions.
First and foremost, the mobilization of troops must be accelerated.
The troops that were resting at the joint military camp now had to be urgently assembled.
The soldiers currently on the front lines had actually been reduced to about fifty thousand strong. Roughly another fifty thousand were resting and reorganizing in the rear.
Even though the front line was short-handed by half, it was definitely much more stable than when those adventurers from Rubbish Town were stationed there. The soldiers, who had been reorganized and equipped more reliably, and whose military skills had dramatically improved, were much more effective than the adventurers.
But wasn't the plan to prepare for an onslaught, even a full counterattack?
The follow-up troops, of course, needed to be brought forward as a reserve force, ready to be deployed at a moment's notice.
Of course, if they weren't needed at all, that would be for the best.
The orbital strike firepower that had been requested previously from Yelisia was meant to address this kind of situation, wasn't it?
If those Green Skins were scattered, hiding in the ruins of the city, they would be difficult to hit. Orbital strikes may be powerful, but could they reduce an already ruined city to dust? Those Green Skins hiding in the rubble, with their strong vitality; those in the core area of the bombardment would be doomed, buried alive. But those in the peripheral areas might well survive.
Now, however, they had gathered together and even cleared an open space to use as a staging ground for their attack. Wasn't this just setting themselves up to be targeted?
Gu Hang was even tempted to ask Yelisia to first conduct a small-scale, yet more targeted bombardment.
With a few 'Heat Hammer' Colossal Cannons and ten 'Scalpel' shipborne missiles directed at that staging ground, it might not be possible to kill all the Green Skins assembled there, but taking out ninety percent of them was likely doable.
But after some thought, Gu Hang restrained this tempting impulse.
Haste won't bring success. To strike now would not maximize benefits.
Yelisia could secure just one chance for bombardment; it had to be timed well.
Be patient, just a little more patient. What he needed to do now was ensure that his troops were ready for any challenge and for taking the offensive before patiently waiting for front-line reports to make his decisions.
Deep within the ruins of a tall tower, while on the move, Matins suddenly posed a question to Schneider by his side:
"These Green Skins are not quite right, do you feel it?"
After pondering for a moment, Schneider replied, "They themselves are not a problem, they're no different from the Green Skins we've eliminated in the past."
"That is the biggest problem." Matins said, "They shouldn't be this powerful. Their numbers are not enough, just a few tens of thousands, insufficient to sustain a disaster.
If the Green Skin spores landed on this planet due to some reason, took root and sprouted, and then this tribe developed from scratch, by this stage, at this number, they should only be able to maintain a very primitive state of technology.
Even the natives of Rubbish Town who gave those Green Skins some intelligence in battle to accelerate their development shouldn't have allowed them to reach this level of technology so quickly."
"Are you suggesting that these Green Skins did not develop purely from the local environment?" Schneider's attitude became more cautious.
If that were the case, and these Green Skins came from a powerful, interstellar tribe, it would be a big problem.
But soon, Schneider dismissed the idea: "It's unlikely. No reports have ever suggested Rage Owl Star has been attacked by an extraterrestrial force. If a Green Skin tribe with star-traveling capabilities set its sights on this planet, they wouldn't just send a very small team.
Several large warships carrying hundreds of thousands or even millions of Green Skins to rapidly reproduce and inundate the planet—that's their usual modus operandi."
Matins agreed with Schneider's reasoning: "That's what makes this whole affair contradictory. We must remind our brothers not to treat these Green Skins as mere savage or primitive orcs. They must heighten their vigilance. Losing a brother in the battle at Revival City Outer Power Plant is something I truly do not wish to see again."
Hearing the squad leader speak this way, the other four also fell silent.
They spoke no further.
Following the Green Skins' supply routes and troop reinforcements to track down the enemy headquarters was not challenging.
By the evening of the second day of their journey, they had already found their target.
Those Green Skins were, of course, busy preparing for war. Their headquarters were brightly lit, and their factories were bustling.