Dimensional Travels: World at War-Chapter 96: War (3)

Josh and Justin walked through the forest, having their units spreading out. Once they were half a mile from the Esponia foothills, they had the units stop.

"Alright. Spread out even more. Have the ballistae and Mana cannons set approximately every five hundred meters. We will not engage. Someone go to the rear and have the Brios brought to the foothills of Esponia. I want one cannon spread out every mile. Have the main army meet us here. General Hoaz and Heque, you will proceed as planned. Go."

The General’s nodded, gulping as they grabbed white flags and headed out from camp. Ten soldiers surrounded them as they walked forward. Each man jumped at every sound. The thrumming of Llrathels and equipment clang of weapons soon turned into the eerie stillness of the forest. Insects chirped as birds overhead cawed.

"I hate the forest." Heque said, his boots getting tangled by vines. "If they wished to execute us, they might as well as have done it right there." He growled.

Hoaz shook his head. "No. These heroes assured us that the otherworld soldiers wouldn’t kill us. Besides. What choice do we have? Lord Mithrael told us to follow the orders of those soldiers unquestionably."

Heque sighed. "Do you not think that our lord is trusting of those children too easily? It seems to me that it is not wise to give them power of our Army."

As Hoaz was going to respond, the glint of weapons shined under the dying light. "HALT!" A voice called out. The generals stopped. "Who goes there?"

General Hoaz held his hands in the air. He stepped forward and addressed the soldiers. "My name is General Hoaz of the Cartharic empire. I have come to discuss the terms of warfare as requested by Lord Mithrael."

The otherworld soldiers stared at the Generals, confused. They kept their weapons raised as they hesitated. Finally, a voice from the back came into the light. "What’s going on here?" A gruff voice called out. A man stepped forward, his grisled face and graying hair belayed his years. He took one look at the soldiers, then turned to the Generals. He then saw the white flag and shook his head.

"Master Sergeant Dryer, we have an envoy at the Northern front." He called into his radio. "Standing by for further orders."

A crisp voice answered him a few moments later. "Bring them in."

"Follow me. You will have to remove your weapons. We will return them after you leave."

One of the otherworld soldiers addressed the man. "Uh.. First Sergeant Hammond?"

The man waved his hand. "Stop. Let me handle it. Master Sergeant Dryer and General Milano will address it."

As the men were disarmed, he lead them into the camp. He grumbled inwardly as he walked to where Eric and Milano were conducting a brief with the company commanders. The radio went quiet as Eric turned to the new arrivals. He leaned against the truck, eyeing the Generals while Milano sat in his field chair.

"I’d offer you a seat." Milano said, crossing his legs. "But, as you can see our present environment isn’t suited for hospitality."

The Generals nodded, keeping up the pretense. "It is understandable, we do not take offense."

Milano smiled, his smile not reaching his eyes as he took out a cigarette. "You gentlemen have traveled far. So as to not waste too much of my time or yours, what is it you wish to discuss?"

Heque stepped forward, pulling out a document. He began reading.

"My name is Mithrael: God of Brishan. I understand that this war hasn’t been kind to the Cartharic Empire, or to you. I am sorry to inform you that Riemskin has lead you astray. Even though you are born from another world, I am a God willing to accept all mortals under my wing. You pitiful children have been lied to by the Goddess Triamal and King Remory. The Empire is a peaceful and prosperous nation. What more can a mortal ask for than to be ruled over by a God? I can accept you too. You only need to lay down your weapons and hand over your technology. Unconditionally surrender to my Generals, and I promise you will have the chance for a life of no war."

As the General had been reading, a large crowd of soldiers not on duty had gathered. A voice from the back yelled out "we ain’t gonna do that, right General?"

Milano sighed as he turned to the voice. "No. We aren’t, but you should remain quiet."

He then turned back to the Generals who were now fuming. "You would turn down our offer for piece? Your entire unit will die!"

Milano stood up, his arms clasped behind his back as he walked up to Heque. "That is the point of being a soldier of the United States Army. We earn our freedom, orders we die trying. We will never kneel to your God. Now, leave my warzone. I pray you survive what is to come, so I can show you how wrong you are."

Before leaving, General Heque turned back around. "Oh, Lord Mithrael says that if you use the Black dot again, he will unleash a brios on the cylinder facility."

The men then left. Their fists clenched and eyes red. They rejoined their soldiers, refusing to inform their escort what happened in the meeting as they began the trek back to the Heroes.

Once back at their main camp, Heque and Hoaz sat down next to Josh and Justin. Their clenched fists and red faces told the heroes all that had transpired.

"Steady yourselves." Justin called calmly, his voice even. "Remember your duties as Generals. We expected their response. We will do what is necessary to correct their intuition."

Josh clapped his hands, getting their attention. "While you were entertaining the otherworld task force, we successfully set up a perimeter around them under darkness. In the open plains we have a brigade of Artillery. Roughly 2-300 of the new mana cannons are primed, with soldiers manning them at all times. Along each coast we have three battalions of Llrathels, each battalion is accompanied by a company of Sraiaz systems."

Josh finished the brief. "In the forests, we have a division dug in, surrounding the soldiers. If they decide to push forward, they will be met with their own tactics."

The generals stared at the two heroes with awe. Their mouths stood agape as they looked at the map. Each unit was clearly marked. "How were you able to accomplish this in a few hours?" Hoaz said, his face pale as he wiped the sweat off his face with a handkerchief.

Josh smirked as he looked back at the mountains. "It was preplanned. The smoke and fog lingered for hours longer than anticipated. The initial plan was for the infantry to move in, but when the enemy retreated even further, we were able to bring the Armored units in. With the Armor in place, the Air defense followed quickly. Your doctrine before wasn’t wrong for how you fought against units of your era, but the soldiers you are facing now are advanced by around two hundred years. In our world, we have already learned to mobilize in stages. You get security first, and then move in your other equipment."

Hoaz nodded as he studied the map. He traced the line where the enemy was thought to be. "In our world, wars have been fought mainly with mana and overwhelming force. You use tactics and maneuver to create space for overwhelming force. So now we simply tighten the chain. I say we move the Triaz systems here." The General circled an area near where the nuclear facility was. "And target their back lines. You informed us before that if their logistics goes down, they fall easily. Let us attempt that."

Eric sat with Milano and Miher as he rubbed his eyes. ISR detected movement a few hours ago, and the three leaders were now staring at the pictures in their hands.

"I think it time I call Ricky, sir." Eric said, his hands trembling as he set the paper down. "We cannot let those systems bombard us like they have for the past day."

Milano sighed as he set his paper down on top of Eric’s. "Yes. I agree. We have already lost one fuel truck. We can no longer run as many fuel missions. If we lose the other, we lose the war."

Miher spoke up. "We should initiate a strike package with the Carrier. They have confirmed they will start having more frequent bombing runs. Due to the merchant Jonny Vargas, we have been able to refit all aircraft with munitions. I believe the best course of action is to target their launch capabilities."

Milano looked at his reports, then pulled out his notebook. "We use the FA-18’s. Contact the Carrier captain and inform him of the coordinates after cross verifying with ISR. Find the exact location before contacting the Carrier. Their ADA can hit our aircraft. I do not want to lose a jet just as much as I know we can’t afford another fueler loss."