This Game Is Too Realistic-Chapter 381.2: Scorched Earth

And this time, the number was 10 times that of the day before, with a full 200 men...

Although he guessed it was bad news, the old man still moved his lead-filled legs and bravely stepped forward. "Sir, I'm the village elder here, we met yesterday."

His face was full of pleading smiles, but the leading officer didn't look at him.

Glancing over the camp, Colwey narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke in an unhurried voice, "Yesterday, one of our patrols nearby was attacked."

Hearing what was said, the old man immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

He had indeed heard gunshots the night before, but they were quite far away. From the sound of the shots, it came from at least 3 to 4 kilometers away.

Such incidents were not uncommon in the wastelands, whether it was groups of wastelanders clashing or encountering mutants active in the forest or other things... He hadn't taken it seriously at all.

"That has nothing to do with us. It... It’s definitely the people from the Enterprise! I seem to have seen those guys in exoskeletons!"

Those people had said before that they could simply blame everything on them when danger arrived. They wouldn’t mind it. As such, Mudka certainly didn't hesitate to reveal their identities.

Uninterested in this information, Colwey continued expressionlessly, "Whether it's related to you or not, this area has become a war zone."

"Until we flush out and deal with those bugs, you'll need to relocate with us to a designated camping site."

As he finished speaking, everyone started to stir, and the faces of the survivors standing by the camp showed surprise, astonishment, and even fear.

"Relocate?" Mudka looked at the officer in a daze, his voice faltering, "But, but why..."

Colwey curtly cut him off. "There is no why, this is an order."

"We are protecting you, I hope you appreciate that."

Actually, the whole thing was a plan devised by General McClennan.

The Army would build a large camp near Falling Leaf Ridge on the northwest side of Lucky Valley Municipality to accommodate survivors within 100 miles.

Located at the junction of mountains, forests, and plains, with abundant water resources, the planned camp could accommodate 100,000 people.

Once everything was ready, they would head east, destroying survivor settlements along the way and relocating the conquered population and spoils to their location.

Controlling the western exit of the southern corridor would effectively block the throat leading from the Sunset Province to the eastern provinces.

General McClennan's ambitions were not satisfied by being commanded by General Griffin, and blocking an escaping Enterprise employee or stopping reinforcements from the East Coast didn't count for much.

He planned to expand the Army's influence further east by 5 kilometers, laying the foundation for the Army's next expedition.

Since there were no vassals worth supporting in the area, they might as well create one themselves.

It wasn’t a difficult thing anyway.

They didn't need to worry about how so many people would survive. To them, humans were like weeds. They could survive under any conditions as long as they kept lowering the standard of living and moral baseline.

They would support some compliant individuals to lead the survivors, having them farm, pick up trash, and work. And those leaders, pushed to the forefront to avoid being lynched by the slaves, would have no choice but to do their utmost to please those holding the guns.

As masters of these minions, they wouldn't need to do anything themselves but could more efficiently collect supplies from their hands.

It was a win-win.

Mudka's lips trembled, too terrified to utter a word.

Instead, a young man stepped forward, speaking courageously, “We don't need your protection, we've been living here for many years, and it's always been fine.”

Uninterested in talking to such a minor figure, Colwey didn't even glance at him. He simply checked the time on his watch, then looked back at Mudka. "You have one hour to pack your belongings."

"Whatever is left, I will burn for you."

The next morning, 3 young players arrived at the entrance of Katin Station. The dense tents that once filled the camp were now gone, leaving only a mess.

From the wooden fence gate to the center of the camp, the ground was littered with torn rags and broken crates.

Everything that could be taken was gone; what couldn't be taken was burned.

The entire camp showed no signs of ever having been inhabited.

"Holy shit, these bastards are really ruthless."

Looking at the devastation, Battlefield Cheerleader couldn't help but swear.

Following him, Darkest and Kakarot also wore shocked expressions.

"Is this the legendary scorched earth?"

"Damn... They really left nothing."

"But there seems to be no signs of battle here, nor any blood."

That wasn’t the only place. The camp they passed earlier was the same.

After pondering for a while, Battlefield Cheerleader said, "Let's search around here first."

The other players nodded.

"Roger."

Maintaining radio silence, they agreed on a meeting place and time, then spread out to carefully explore deeper into the camp.

Their attire, with a straw hat on the head and patched rags draped over their bodies, completely hid the exoskeletons and the equipment attached to them, making them indistinguishable from the scavengers commonly seen in the wastelands.

Forests, mountains, and urban areas allowed for easy concealment of movements, but survivor settlements were mostly located on the plains at the edge of forests, likely to be closely monitored by the spotters on the Heart of Steel. No matter how they spread out, as long as the enemy wasn't blind, they should at least be able to spot an exoskeleton walking across the plains.

Even though the skin they chose to equip was unsightly, it helped them avoid the eye in the sky.

Even if the Army didn't mind injuring bystanders, it wouldn't waste artillery on a few passing scavengers.

If that were the case, even if they brought 2 more airships, they wouldn’t have enough ammunition!

Ignoring the distant airship, Battlefield Cheerleader casually searched the camp, occasionally picking up charred pieces of wood and throwing them into a sack.

Firstly, they had to look the part. Secondly... They had to cook instant noodles later.

Their purpose in visiting this survivor settlement was both to gather information about the Army and to fill their water bottles.

Unfortunately, both goals were now unattainable.

Battlefield Cheerleader noticed that the only wells in the camp had been filled with trash. Sealing off the water source effectively doomed the village.

"No bodies found." Kakarot returned from nearby and continued speaking to Battlefield Cheerleader, "The Army took everyone here. Men, women, elders, children, and their two-headed ox... Everyone is gone."

Battlefield Cheerleader nodded, deep in thought. "It seems they're getting desperate.”

In 3 days, they've launched over 12 attacks according to plan, targeting weak patrol teams and strictly limiting each attack to 3 minutes or less.

No matter the outcome, they retreated immediately after 3 minutes, never getting bogged down or giving the enemy a chance to call for artillery support.

Their tactic was extremely effective

In fact, most 10-man squads couldn’t last 3 minutes against a 4-player team.

As for ammunition consumption...

That was a non-issue. When the LD-47's ammo runs out, they could simply scavenge weapons from the Army.

The Marine Corps' Blade assault rifles, while not as finely made as the Youth Army's "Falcon," are no less powerful.

Maintaining this self-sustaining combat mode, they not only depleted the Army's manpower but their ammunition supplies grew, increasing their firepower.

Facing continuous harassment from guerrilla forces, the Army was forced to reduce patrol ranges and enlarge each patrol team's size.

What he hadn't expected was that the Army, ever ruthless, simply demolished the survivor settlements within their projection range.

Indeed... Trained in the same military school, the tactics employed by the Heart of Steel were nearly identical to those the Bonechewer Clan had used in West Continent Municipality.

Darkest couldn't help but frown. "Where will those survivors be taken?"

Kakarot shook his head. "I don't know, but I don't think they'll be taken to the airships, probably to some kind of concentration camp, where they'll be put to work gathering supplies in nearby cities."

The Army and marauders differed slightly, at least the Army didn’t resort to cannibalism.

Hearing Kakarot's guess, Darkest paused. "Are those survivors so compliant?"

Kakarot rolled his eyes. "Traders and mercenaries aside, it's not difficult to control local survivors who have families."

Whether using food or other means as leverage, or employing marauders and mercenaries as overseers, he could think of more than a dozen ways off the top of his head.

Not to mention those professionals from the Army...

The simplest method was exactly what they were looking at. They would demolish their homes.

With no home to return to, unwilling to sleep in the wilds and become mutant fodder, they had no choice but to stay in the Army-controlled camps.

Survivors who could live alone in the wilderness were, after all, a minority.

Most people, removed from the stability of survivor settlements, wouldn't fare much better than losing their freedom.

"But this might be an opportunity for us." Battlefield Cheerleader stroked his chin. "If we find where they're holding the survivors, we might be able to sneak in and cause some trouble."

Kakarot's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea."

He was surprised that the brute that could only run down the front lines actually came up with a good idea.

Darkest hesitated, then suggested cautiously, "I suggest we head back to the base and report the situation here to Spring Water Commander."

"Also, our supply train should have arrived; we should go back and regroup."

"That makes sense," said Battlefield Cheerleader after thinking for a moment, "let's split up. You and Kakarot head back first, and take my exoskeleton with you. I'll follow their tracks for a bit. Once I confirm the location of that camp, I'll head back and find you guys."

While the tracks were still fresh, following them shouldn't be too difficult.

If he waited and it rained, it would be a lot more difficult to locate them.

Darkest, though hesitant, nodded. "Be careful."

Battlefield Cheerleader grinned, giving his brothers a reassuring look. "Don't worry, don’t you guys know what level I am?”

Darkest’s expression sank, and Kakarot simply rolled his eyes. “Shut the fuck up and fuck off.”

Battlefield Cheerleader chuckled, "Come on, I can't strip here, right?"

Looking at a nearby grove, he grinned. "Give me a second."

The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr(e)𝒆novelkiss