Having once counted Han Qingyu, Wu Xu, and Rusty Sister among its ranks all at the same time always made the subsequent Squad 1777 feel weak by comparison.
Yet in truth, they now possessed two top combat powers.
Over the past five months, Zhao Erzhu and Qin Guowen, both of whom had been teetering on the cusp of the top tier, had successively broken through in the wake of Captain Lao's bloody wedding.
Although both had reached the top tier within the last six months, looking back, the Golden and White Erasers from four years ago had each been anchored by merely a single peak top-tier warrior. (During periods of stable defense, whenever an elite squad produced a new top-tier warrior, they were usually reassigned to lead independent squads to bolster overall defensive capabilities and enhance army-wide combat power.)
In short, boasting two top combat powers made them undeniably formidable by any ordinary standard. At the same time, the overall caliber of the rest of the squad had risen steadily over the years.
The only reason Squad 1777 had not yet claimed an Eraser color of their own was that their point deficit from the preceding three-plus years had been far too severe.
To make up for that lost ground as quickly as possible, perhaps all they needed was a single major campaign.
...No matter how the world changed, no matter how high and far Qingzi and the others had climbed, the Blood Eraser promised all those years ago remained Captain Lao's enduring obsession.
It was an honor Squad 1777 should have attained over four years ago.
Last September, Lao Jian had been offered a promotion to chief of staff of Regiment 425, but he had turned it down... all for this very reason: he refused to leave any regrets behind.
"Any issues?"
The voices of Regimental Commanders Li Wangqiang and Yang Wudong crackled through the communicator. Judging by the volume, their heads were huddled close together, but the one holding the receiver was undoubtedly Regiment 425's Commander Li Wangqiang.
This time, the two old romantic rivals were both serving as deputy commanders of the CA Formation's 3rd Battalion, and Squad 1777 was the 3rd Battalion's undisputed spearhead.
Naturally, Li Wangqiang spoke with much greater authority, leaving Yang Wudong sullen with no room to argue.
"No issues," Lao Jian answered when he found a spare second.
A single blue-sheened and one black-armored Great Spike stood no chance against the current Squad 1777. What was more, another squad was coordinating with them.
On the battlefield, Zhao Erzhu and Qin Guowen had already teamed up to cut down the black-armored Great Spike in short order, and were now leading the rest of the unit to encircle the remaining blue-sheened Great Spike.
The battle would soon be over.
*Boom!* Not far away, another shuttle craft crashed to the ground.
This was likely the vessel the Rejectors had warned about earlier.
As the new shuttle craft hit the dirt, two black-armored Great Spikes ejected from the hull. On the slope, two more combat squads leaped down to encircle and eliminate them.
Combat strength could not be exposed all at once. Under normal circumstances, deploying two squads per craft was Azure's operational doctrine at this stage.
Since the Great Spikes in the sky were bound to disperse and intercept the fleeing civilians, Azure would protect the populace while whittling down the enemy's active strength bit by bit.
This would ease the pressure on the subsequent large-scale decisive battle when the main spike swarms descended en masse or when the Antarctic spike forces arrived.
In other words, what the 3rd Battalion and Squad 1777 were doing right now was playing out in much the same way in numerous locations across Oceania.
Within fifteen minutes, both skirmishes concluded one after the other.
Practiced in the routine, Lao Jian gathered the metal blocks from the ground, shoved them into his pack, and led his squad back up the slope to lie in ambush while treating minor injuries.
The column of evacuating civilians continued to arrive, passing before their eyes...
This time, right up until dawn, no more spike craft came down.
After daybreak, as follow-up troops landed, the CA Formation received orders to advance deeper toward the southeast, skimming the edge of the Great Sandy Desert and pushing toward Barrow Creek.
On the second day, the fighting grew considerably harder.
While escorting a massive evacuation column of roughly seventy thousand people, the 3rd Battalion encountered a spike swarm of twenty shuttle craft. The battalion had to deploy in full force, fighting bitterly for two hours before finally bringing the battle to a grueling close.
Furthermore, Squad 1777's vice captain and top combat power, Qin Guowen, was wounded in the engagement, leaving his combat strength severely diminished.
By this point, the lighthearted, playful anticipation that had previously hung over the expeditionary forces had vanished almost entirely.
On the third day, the CA Formation underwent an ad hoc reorganization on the battlefield, consolidating ten battalions into eight. After evacuating the critically wounded, they pressed deeper toward the southeast, skirting the Simpson Desert and advancing toward Milparinka.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, their route would eventually take them to southern Oceania, around the heavily covered city of Melbourne, where they would prepare for the final decisive battle.
***
To the north of Oceania, resting on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, over a dozen large submarines lay in total silence. This served as Azure's primary command system for the decisive battle of Oceania.
In truth, Great Spikes were not afraid of water; for now, they simply showed little interest in venturing deep into aquatic territory... Even if something befell this group, Azure had a secondary command system ready.
Of course, up to this point, Azure's established tactical strategy could still be considered a resounding success.
*Scritch, scratch...* Inside one of the submarines, Xin Yaoqiao sat beneath an overhead lamp at a small square table, her hair slightly messy and her eyes bloodshot, hunched over and writing rapidly on a sheet of paper.
Radiating outward from her, over a dozen Great Spike linguistics researchers from various nations were likewise hard at work with their heads down.
Known fact: Daie understood human languages—likely the vast majority outside of regional dialects—and learned at an astonishing pace.
Reflection and action: How could vital orders be transmitted in secrecy? How could they attempt to subtly feed it misinformation?
Known fact: The Great Spikes did not yet realize humanity had partially deciphered their language.
Reflection: This was one of humanity's greatest advantages in this war. How to intercept intelligence and swiftly analyze their movements to formulate timely, accurate countermeasures was a vital component in determining whether Azure could prevail.
These two points were the very reason Xin Yaoqiao was stationed here.
Over the past several days, through her own efforts and those of her fellow researchers, she had already made significant contributions to many of Azure's operations and decisions.
*Clack, clack...* The sound of combat boots against metal decking echoed behind her. Xin Yaoqiao did not look up.
"The latest intercepted intelligence, Major. And your coffee."
A soldier set down an intelligence folder along with a cup of coffee.
"All right, thank you," Xin Yaoqiao replied without raising her head. In truth, she hadn't really processed what he said; she merely offered the polite reply upon seeing the items set down.
The soldier hesitated, then reached out and tapped her shoulder. When she turned around, he gestured for her to remove her headphones.
Puzzled, Xin Yaoqiao complied.
"Also, from the liaison submarine, Colonel Tu Zi of the Rejectors asked me to send you his regards," the foreign soldier continued. "He said if I saw you looking exhausted, Major, I should tell you for him: 'Greetings, Sister-in-law! Thank you for working so hard, Sister-in-law!'"
"Ah, haha! So he came too..." Xin Yaoqiao gave an exhausted yet brilliant smile. "Thank you. Please pass along my regards to him as well. Tell him: Little Tu Zi is quite considerate."
*What is that supposed to mean?* A flicker of confusion crossed the soldier's face, but he didn't press the matter and turned to leave.
After he departed, Xin Yaoqiao turned swiftly and handed a dossier of nearly finished calculations to another researcher. "This doesn't seem to hold much value. Take another look to see if I missed anything or made a mistake."
"Understood." The only researcher who had a spare moment took it and began recalculating.
In reality, most of the intelligence Azure painstakingly intercepted proved meaningless, and certain pieces yielded no reliable conclusion even after thorough deduction, forcing them to tie up personnel in endless analysis and re-examination.
Even so, Xin Yaoqiao and the others dared not overlook a single syllable. The linguistic structure of the Great Spikes was bizarre; outside of specific set phrases, the exact same syllable could carry completely different meanings across different combinations.
Turning back, Xin Yaoqiao slipped her headphones back on and loaded the newly intercepted recording into the playback device...
She transcribed the incoming syllables one by one...
Once.
Then cross-checked once more.
Then, just as she did every single day, she began calculating and deducing all over again.
Chapter 666