Chapter 1: Revised - 1 The Fleeing Mechanic Soldier
Tian Xingjian lay motionless in the shell crater, the mud on his body blending him in with the surrounding environment.
In this former artillery base far from the battlefield, there was no other living being besides him.
Not even a mouse.
In fact, there weren't any mice on Miloke Star to begin with.
This small hillock, covered in dense jungle, originally housed a Federation Artillery Battalion, which had turned to ash under bombardment a few days ago.
Various debris lay scattered around Tian Xingjian, including both metal and flesh. The sympathetic detonation of ammunition had decimated hundreds of meters of surrounding jungle, and the wildfire it sparked burned for two days before subsiding.
Tian Xingjian felt a bit drowsy, his eyelids drooping uncontrollably, so he gently slapped his face, forcing himself to stay alert and watch the battlefield.
This was the twenty-first battle for Tian Xingjian, a corporal in the Federation Air Marine Corps.
From the Galileo Star System to the Newton Star System, the retreating Federation Army had lost twenty-two resource planets and five human immigrant planets. Miloke Star was one of the two immigrant planets in the Newton Star System. The other, Miloke II Star, had been entirely captured by the Imperial Army two months ago.
If this planet fell to the Imperial Army as well, the Federation would have to relinquish the Newton Star System, which contained over thirty resource planets.
None of this concerned Tian Xingjian; his sole concern was how to survive the war.