Homo Sapiens

「The West Gate front of the Siliguri Corridor.」

Three Field Divisions had been transferred from the Deccan Plateau in southern Tianzhu. They joined the previously battered 36th Field Division, the 21st Garrison Division, and another unit, the 34th Field Division, from West Meng State.

This brought the total to six divisions, with a combined force of 76,000 men.

In addition, three fighter squadrons and one bomber squadron from the Tianzhu Air Force were present near the West Gate front.

The man in command of this joint operation was Army Lieutenant General Vichy Volvo. He was also the older brother of Ville Volvo, the commander of the 36th Division who had recently been killed in action.

Having learned his lesson from the previous shelling of the command post, Vichy did not establish his headquarters on the front line. Instead, he set it up near Bournia City, approximately 115 kilometers away from the front.

This location also served as one of the forward airfields.

Vichy's headquarters was located beneath a small hill on the outskirts of Bournia City. To avoid the detection of electromagnetic signals, all communications were conducted via landlines, with the radio station set up 2.7 kilometers away.

However, such stringent defensive measures were clearly useless against the pervasive cockroaches and flies.

Vichy stared at the sand table before him as his Chief of Staff, Shah Abad, placed small flags on it.

As he looked at the narrow stretch of land that was the West Gate of the Siliguri Corridor, a grim and helpless expression settled on Vichy's face.

In that area, only about twenty kilometers wide, hundreds of scouts had been blown sky-high in recent days. Their flesh and blood had paid the price to reveal a part of the situation to the Tianzhu Army.

The head of the reconnaissance department reported through gritted teeth, "The entire periphery of Siliguri City is now littered with various types of landmines. There are also hidden drone bases in the Darjeeling Mountain Area. Our scouts simply can't infiltrate."

"What about the air force's reconnaissance planes?" Vichy turned to look at Luke, the head of Air Force Intelligence.

Luke replied with embarrassment, "There are no civilians left in the entire Siliguri Corridor, and we can rarely detect any large, moving targets on the ground."

In truth, the Assam forces weren't overly concerned about the Tianzhu Air Force's reconnaissance planes. They intercepted them if they could, but if not, they simply let the planes see whatever they wanted.

After all, Assam had practically no surface-level facilities to speak of right now.

"Are they hiding underground?" Vichy asked, looking at the sand table with a pained expression.

Chief of Staff Shah Abad finished placing the flags. "Based on current intelligence, it's highly likely the Assam Rebel Army intends to use the entire Siliguri Corridor to bog down our offensive."

Vichy knew this all too well. Assam's sinister intentions were laid bare on the map.

The core region of the Seven States of Assam was surrounded by five powers—Huaguo, Hongsawaddy, Dongba, Zuyu, and Nepal. Only the narrow passage of the Siliguri Corridor provided a land connection to mainland Tianzhu.

"General, should we consider requesting passage through Dongba to strike directly into the Assam Region?" Shah Abad suggested.

"Passage?" Vichy shook his head.

He had, in fact, already considered the possibility, but the risks involved were enormous.

If it were merely the air force requesting passage through Dongba's airspace to bomb the Assam Region, Dongba might swallow their anger and not dare to protest.

But moving several Field Divisions through Dongba to reach Assam was practically impossible.

Besides, even if they successfully forced passage, how would they secure their supply lines?

Vichy finally made his decision. "We have no choice but to force a breakthrough via the Siliguri Corridor. Otherwise, our supply lines can't be secured. Prepare for a saturation rocket bombardment. We'll blast a safe corridor right through them."

"Very well! I'll make the arrangements at once." Shah Abad also knew this was their only option.

With the order from headquarters, the 26th Division, one of the three Field Divisions, quickly rolled a large number of rocket launchers out from their bunkers.

Fortunately, Assam had evacuated the entire population of the Siliguri Corridor, allowing the Tianzhu Army to attack without restraint.

「24 minutes later.」

A dense barrage of rockets let out a sharp shriek, raining down like a meteor shower on the West Gate Defense Line of the Siliguri Corridor.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Violent explosions stretched from the border defense line all the way to the vicinity of Siliguri City.

Meanwhile, under the cover of the rocket barrage, the highly mechanized 28th Division charged toward Assam's West Gate Defense Line.

The vanguard consisted of mine-clearing armored vehicles and an engineer regiment, with a tank battalion and a mechanized battalion providing security.

After the defense line was carpet-bombed by the rockets, not too many mines remained. Through the efforts of the mine-clearing vehicles and the engineers, the force advanced slowly toward Siliguri City.

And yet, the Assam side's Siliguri Corps showed no reaction whatsoever—not even a drone strike.

This did not please Vichy in the slightest. He ordered the frontline troops to heighten their vigilance and for the air force to be on standby for immediate support.

The advance went very smoothly.

For three consecutive days, the Tianzhu Army's 28th and 30th Divisions successfully took control of Siliguri City and several surrounding towns.

Meanwhile, the 26th Division re-established a defensive line at the West Gate, which would serve to support the 28th and 30th Divisions and act as a logistics base.

「In the command room on the outskirts of Bournia City.」

Vichy stared intently at the sand table. The smooth progress of the operation only intensified the growing unease in his heart.

This was why he had not pressed the attack further. He had deliberately left the 26th Division at the West Gate Defense Line to construct defensive positions and a logistics base, precisely to avoid advancing too deep too quickly.

Just then, Shah Abad rushed in.

"General, an urgent dispatch from Delhi."

"Hmm?" Vichy frowned. He opened the dispatch, and after reading it, his expression turned grim. "..."

Seeing Vichy's grim expression, Shah Abad asked, "General, did something go wrong?"

"See for yourself!"

After taking the dispatch and reading it, Shah Abad's expression also grew conflicted. "General, if we continue the offensive now, our ammunition consumption will skyrocket. Even with tomorrow's resupply, it won't be enough to support a push into Assam within a week."

The only reason they had managed to take Siliguri City was by using rocket bombardments to clear the way. Otherwise, with such dense minefields, there was no way engineers and mine-clearing vehicles alone could have advanced more than sixty kilometers in three days.

But Delhi was relentlessly pressuring him to intensify the offensive, demanding that he break into Assam within a week and completely crush the rebellion within two months.

This was simply asking the impossible.

Vichy took a deep breath and sent a telegram to Delhi, hoping they would reconsider and grant him more time.

Unfortunately, Dharma and the others in Delhi had their own considerations.

The reason they were so urgently demanding that Vichy crush the rebellion was that the economy could barely hold out. After all, purchasing fighter jets from Lucia cost a fortune, as did repairing the airfields.

On top of that, the daily consumption of ammunition and supplies for so many troops on the front line was also a massive expense.

The loss of control over the Assam Region meant Tianzhu had lost a major oil field and a coal-producing area.

If the Assam War could not be concluded in short order, Tianzhu's national finances would surely collapse.

After all, Tianzhu wasn't America with its nuclear-powered money-printing machine. Every day the war dragged on, they were burning money—and specifically, their foreign exchange reserves.

Therefore, in response to Vichy's telegraphed request for an extension, Dharma personally called him, demanding that he immediately concentrate his forces and crush the Assam rebellion as quickly as possible.

In Dharma's view, the Tianzhu Army now held an overwhelming advantage. If they didn't seize the opportunity to press their gains, what were they waiting for?

In short, it all boiled down to one sentiment: "The advantage is ours."

Faced with Dharma's direct order, Vichy could only bite the bullet and comply.

「The next day.」

After receiving his supplies, he immediately ordered the 21st Garrison Division to take over the West Gate Defense Line. He then had the 26th and 36th Divisions advance north to rendezvous with the 28th and 30th Divisions in Siliguri City.

From there, they would launch a full-scale offensive against the Darjeeling Region and the Seven States of Assam.