Chapter 386 John and Clark

"Private John, what are you doing?"

A slightly tired and hoarse voice sounded in the communication channel. John, who was called, subconsciously stood up and looked behind him.

When he saw that it was his squad leader, he immediately raised his hand and saluted:

"Sergeant! I am cleaning the battlefield according to orders."

"At ease."

John's squad leader glanced at him, and he could even feel the other's eyes hidden behind the tactical mask scanning him up and down, and finally stayed on his left hand for a moment.

However, the squad leader didn't say anything in the end, and turned away after confirming that there was no abnormality.

"There may be hidden enemies in this area. Don't take it lightly. After cleaning this room, go downstairs and return to the team immediately. We will follow the main force to attack the core area of ​​the city."

"Yes, Sergeant, I'll be down right away!"

Looking at the sergeant disappearing at the stairs, this "country youth" from the border planet of the empire quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

In this period, "countryside" does not only refer to rural areas, but also refers to remote colonies that are not in the core galaxy circle in some contexts.

John thought that it might be because of his identity that his squad leader, Sergeant Banner, often kept an eye on him, perhaps because he was afraid that this "country boy" would cause trouble for the team.

After all, their current location was still the center of the battlefield where the enemy and us were fighting, and they might encounter the federal army entrenched here at any time.

As a mobile infantryman under a newly formed medium-sized synthetic brigade of the Imperial Army, John followed the troops to this planet that the Empire had just recovered in the great counterattack not long after joining the Royal Army because of the general mobilization order.

According to his comrades, this is an important industrial planet, which is much higher than the remote agricultural colony planet where John grew up.

It is precisely for this reason that the Federation deployed a large number of troops after taking over this planet. Not only did it send a large number of ground troops, but it also arranged three main fleets in the planet's orbit for defense.

Before the Empire launched a counterattack, this was actually one of the most intense points on the front line. The fleets of both sides were almost fighting in the orbit near the planet every day.

This is to cover the orbital attack ships and near-air assault ships to provide fire support to the ground, or to deploy ground combat troops.

However, after the Empire launched a large-scale counterattack, the Federal Navy began to retreat without warning, and even only had time to take away some ground troops.

John's mission after following the troops to the ground was to clear out the remaining federal soldiers on the ground with superior forces.

At this time, he and his medium-sized synthetic brigade were cooperating with other troops to attack a large industrial city. According to the few words revealed by his superiors and the enemies and friendly forces encountered by John and his team these days, this large industrial city may have gathered more than 10 brigades of troops from both sides.

And John was also lucky to have survived this fierce urban battle until now.

And in this process, he developed a habit - that is, after defeating the enemy every time, if there is a chance, go to take a close look to see what kind of federal person he killed.

And the reason why Sergeant Banner's eyes stayed on his left hand just now was also very simple. He was holding a photo that had just been taken out of the body of a federal soldier behind him.

At this moment, after the always serious Sergeant Banner went down the corridor full of bullet holes and charred black, John also picked up the photo in his hand that he had just found from the federal soldier.

This is a photo that has been partially stained with blood, and it is also a physical photo paper that is relatively rare in the Empire.

In John's impression, the price of this kind of photo paper is not cheap, so most families will choose digital versions after taking photos, and even if they want to show them, they will use cheaper digital photo frames or small holographic projection devices.

John, who is just a "country boy", doesn't know why such a thin photo paper would be sold so expensively. At least in terms of cost performance, it is completely inferior to those digital photo frames with more colorful colors and can store a large number of photos at one time.

But he knows that this photo should be very important to this federal soldier, otherwise he would not carry it with him.

This is a photo of a little boy and a woman. The boy is not very old and looks sunny and cute, while the woman's appearance has been stained with blood, but it can be seen that she should be the boy's mother.

Although the tactical mask of the federal soldier lying on the ground had been smashed to pieces by the piercing rod of the electromagnetic rifle in the indoor firefight, so his face could not be distinguished at all.

However, John guessed that the person in the photo should be the wife and children of this federal soldier.

He turned over the photo and looked at the back, and saw a line of rough and somewhat blurred words - 'Martha, Little Dior, my love'

"So why did you come here? Is it also because of the general mobilization order?"

John shook his head and sighed at the same time.

Every time he defeated the enemy and observed these enemies closely while cleaning the battlefield, he could more deeply realize that these enemies fighting with him were also living people.

They have families, friends, and their own lives, but for various reasons, they came here voluntarily or were forced to come here, and finally left their lives on this planet.

In this process, John did not show mercy to the enemy because he knew that the enemy was the enemy, and he would show mercy to the enemy on the battlefield unless he did not want to live.

But he kept thinking, what is the meaning of this war?

Why did they suddenly go to war with the Federation?

Why did the Federation come to their door while they were fighting?

Why was he farming well in his hometown, but suddenly he was dragged to fight on this planet he had never heard of?

Of course, such questions cannot be thought out in a short time, but are just planted in his heart like a seed.

John squatted down again, stuffed the photo back into the pocket of the Federation soldier, and wiped the blood stains of the "dog tag" on his neck with his hand.

"Clark?"

John muttered the name, then put down the "dog tag" and pulled off the remaining plasma grenades and high-energy batteries on Clark's combat exoskeleton - these were the only things that could be used on this corpse.

The penetration rod model of the Federation standard electromagnetic rifle is still different from that of the Empire, so it cannot be used directly.

The tactical bag containing food and medical supplies had been penetrated and smashed to pieces in the previous exchange of fire, and there was nothing useful to find now.

"Have a good rest. This war has nothing to do with you after this."

After picking up the usable items, John walked to the door, took a last look at the federal soldier who seemed a little pitiful to him, and then went downstairs.

Compared to the relatively intact second floor, the first floor of this building was much more "miserable". The wall where the gate was located was half collapsed. John could even see a heavy multi-legged chariot of the Pacificator passing by outside, as well as the infantry near it.

"Come down, John~ Did you find anything good?"

The comrades who were resting on the first floor took the initiative to greet John after seeing him. They still trusted this comrade who was not good at speaking but was serious and meticulous on the battlefield.

"Just a few plasma grenades and high-energy batteries, take them, I still have enough."

"What happened to the baggage unit? They were ambushed by the federal army."

"Who knows, but why don't the superiors try to find other ways to supply? Even if they can airdrop some urgently?"

"I heard that there is a noble coalition fleet above us. Maybe these nobles are reluctant to do it. After all, whether it is orbital attack or airdrop supplies, it is their money that is spent."

"Damn these nobles, we are fighting on the ground, and they are in the sky. Feeling sorry for their imperial golden dragons"

The comrades chatted with each other, and it was not difficult to hear a hint of complaint in their words. John casually said a few words, handed the plasma grenades he had just picked up to his comrades, and then walked out of the building.

At this time, the large force that followed took over the task of their "frontline attack battalion" and began to advance towards the federal army's defense line in the center of the city.

Looking at this scene, John always felt that the war in front of him seemed endless.

He couldn't help but think of his good friend Will. When they gathered at the military station in his hometown, this guy said he wanted to carry a sack of military medals back.

"I don't know what happened to this guy. I hope he won't be missing any limbs when we meet after the war."