WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 411: Wind from High Places (9)

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The mutants had learned the concept of trenches long ago. Together with Central America’s mountainous terrain, that was one of the reasons air strikes had become less effective and each hilltop had grown harder to capture.

So Gyeoul had staged a crisis for the Independent Battalion.

From the perspective of a cunning monster, the best way to stop steel lightning was to use the human army as a shield. Once they got in close, they no longer had to worry about being bombed. Even coming within a few hundred meters was enough to sharply reduce the frequency of air strikes. Danger Close, meaning the possibility of catching allies in the blast. Sometimes a single errant bomb decided the fate of an entire unit. Through the fracture left by that bomb, through the gap in firepower, the plague army would surge in.

That meant the Independent Battalion, stopped in front of the collapsed bridge, must have looked like an extremely attractive target to the Trickster. Thanks to the winding terrain, closing the engagement distance would be easy too.

On top of that, there was a need to secure information.

‘Because it needs to learn the traits of the things that came down from high places.’

Gyeoul had insisted on it, and the airborne regiment commander had been half-convinced by that predicted Trickster behavior pattern. They were the equivalent of commanders among the mutants. Surely learning new information and spreading it was also one of the roles given to them. That was why Gyeoul had been certain they could draw one out of the nest.

This was the result.

The airborne troops, their momentum rising, slaughtered the mutant horde that had left its trenches. The mutants’ basic tactic was to spread out while moving, then gather at the attack point. It was a method they had learned to minimize damage from artillery and air strikes, but it was bound to be weak against an offensive hitting them from behind.

Unable to open a path in any direction, the mutants gathered exactly where planned, and their end came in the form of two guided bombs, JDAMs, detonating in their center. The GPS receiver mounted on top of an aerial bomb was relatively free from the effects of jamming. The bomb’s body blocked the jamming signal. Since inertial guidance was used alongside it, unless the bomb was defective, this was violence that could not miss.

The roar killed every other sound, and the black nightscape was flooded with the bright madness of powder smoke.

Kiiiiiii-

The Trickster’s death scream paralyzed several frequencies for a few seconds. When it ended, Gyeoul checked the situation with the communications officer.

“What about our jamming?”

Captain Evans nodded.

“Thankfully, we activated it properly, right on time. If the Silent One is within reception range, it should have plenty to think about by now.”

The radio waves a Trickster emitted at the moment of death contained a vast amount of information. They transmitted the circumstances that had led to its death to others of its kind nearby, especially the Silent One.

Originally, this had been no more than a strong hypothesis, but Hwangbo Esther had confirmed it as fact. Of course, there had been no official announcement. The existence of the girl who had become a monster was still a secret. Gyeoul had simply spoken with Esther herself over the phone.

Their countermeasure was to jam the signal in reverse at the moment the Trickster died. In practice, it was almost impossible to use in actual combat, but this time the situation had allowed them to match the timing exactly.

With this, the true nature of the armored airborne troops would remain secret a little longer.

A new radio transmission came in through the channel, now clear after the noise vanished.

“Sir. It’s Colonel Davydov.”

At Evans’s words, Gyeoul held out his hand.

“Give it here.”

Gyeoul spoke with the airborne regiment commander.

“It’s me.”

「Oh, Lieutenant Colonel. That was a very fine battle just now. Everything is falling into place exactly as planned.」

“It was possible thanks to the 331st Regiment. Thank you, Vasily Petrovich.”

「How humble of you.」

Colonel Davydov was one of the people whose attitude had changed after Cole Rogers’s promotion.

After a suitable exchange of courtesies, Colonel Davydov stated his business.

「We’ll hit the nest on our side. It’s nothing serious, so I don’t think your side needs to get involved.」

He wanted a victory. A nest whose main force had left would obviously only have mutants below fighting strength remaining. Ones that had not finished growing yet, or ones like Humpbacks that were not suited for combat in the first place. There might be Deadlers stockpiled as living shells, but even so, as the colonel said, they were not much of a threat. Without support from other mutants, they could not even fly on their own.

After a brief thought, Gyeoul agreed with a condition.

“I have no objection, but if you happen to find any tunnels-”

「I know. We’ll request bombing support then.」

They had discussed this beforehand. Mutants had recently been learning the concept of excavation. It was still no more than a primitive attempt, but if left alone, there was a high chance it would become a major nuisance later. So the military authorities were trying to crush the mutants’ attempts early.

The method was simple. Cause strong vibrations with intermittent bombing in every suspicious area. A dirt tunnel that did not even have supports was bound to collapse from the aftershock of an explosion. Mutants would not stubbornly cling to useless effort for long.

The problem was the possibility that they would not request air support even when necessary, all to make clearing the nest a feat accomplished solely by the airborne troops. Since the Independent Battalion had already dropped in first and carried out the more dangerous role, the colonel might think that his regiment also needed to accept some degree of risk to balance things out.

‘I couldn’t care less about achievements...’

Gyeoul had no reason to be bound by such things. Colonel Davydov was different. The face and interests of the airborne troops, and on a larger scale, his homeland, were at stake. Given the weight on those shoulders, it was hard to see it as simple selfishness, but Gyeoul was worried about needless loss of life. Even more so because the colonel’s reply had been perfunctory.

Pointing it out would offend him.

Gyeoul only said this.

“Then I’ll wait.”

「Thank you. Keep that road well blocked.」

After the transmission ended, it took a little over twenty minutes for the airborne regiment to rejoin them. There was no way to confirm whether they had suffered losses.

“Let’s move.”

At Gyeoul’s signal, the entire column began to move. Once again, the Independent Battalion led the way. Crossing the river whose bridge had been cut was easy. Every vehicle the battalion possessed had amphibious crossing capability. If the waves were not high, they could even navigate at sea, so a stream running through the mountains was nothing.

After seeing the name of the river marked on the map, Gyeoul found it oddly coincidental.

‘Rio Salinas. Salinas River, huh.’

It was not especially surprising, but it made him think again about how America was a nation of immigrants. He wondered how Latino immigrants would react to the Kramer administration’s plan to cede the southern half of Mexican territory to Russia. And if they resisted, how Kramer planned to respond.

The road southeast was long and grueling. As expected of a road that cut through harsh mountains and plateaus, there were many rockfall-warning sections, and such places were also favorable for mutant horde ambushes. Launching drones alone was not enough to feel completely safe.

In the end, whenever they passed through those sections, infantry had to dismount and secure both sides of the road, but even that could not be done quickly because they had to watch out for Whippers.

At least mutant attacks were rare. Once in a while, they spotted creatures that seemed to have come out on distant reconnaissance, but it never led to a full attack.

Operations officer Foster viewed the heavy silence that had settled over the mountain night with suspicion.

“This is strange. I thought we’d have to fight several more battles like the first one before we reached Oaxaca. It’s so quiet it feels unpleasant.”

Mm. Major Singh, who had been tapping an upper arm with folded arms, offered a new opinion.

“Could it be because of the jamming we used earlier?”

“What do you mean?”

“Since it failed to receive the dead Trickster’s information properly, from the Silent One’s perspective, we must be a completely unknown enemy. If it examined the battlefield after we left, what do you think it would have thought?”

“You mean they’re being cautious for now because we’re enemies they don’t understand.”

“Yes. Of course it would be wary.”

Optimistic or not, in Gyeoul’s view, the guess had logic to it. This region was no different from the mutants’ backyard. In a place like that, a large armored unit had appeared without any trace of intrusion from outside. It was plausible enough that the creature would be suspicious after seeing countless track marks and signs of one-sided slaughter.

Captain Foster’s uneasy expression did not fade.

“I hope that’s the case, but I’m worried these things have some other scheme.”

Gyeoul tilted his head.

“Another scheme?”

“It’s just a feeling. They said the force stationed at the airport before the Rangers was wiped out overnight, didn’t they? Honestly, during the briefing, it gave me chills.”

“...Well, it’s not time to relax yet.”

Gyeoul was also bothered by what had happened behind the scenes. Nothing had been revealed yet about how the mutants had broken through the outer defense line. The battlefield the Rangers found had looked like a scene from a mystery horror movie.

Despite that unease, no further engagements occurred before they passed through the most dangerous area in the southern plateau.

The footage coming in from the reconnaissance drone showed a dam and reservoir. It was Pilgrim Matias Lake. Once they crossed the Negro River flowing below it, they would reach the turning point in their route.

After they made contact at the intersection ahead with the 217th Regiment coming down another road, they would be far less likely to be exposed to a sudden large-scale attack on the road south. That area was within range of the artillery deployed at the airport, and it had been steadily buried under fire and brimstone for weeks. Artillery fire was more efficient than air strikes. If each ridgeline was being plowed under, how could anything stand there without retreating?

At the very least, it would be difficult for any mutant stronghold to remain within that range. The mutants were responding by occupying deeper, rougher terrain and intercepting the U.S. forces whenever they tried to enter the mountain region.

The Independent Battalion and the 331st Regiment had just trampled one of those very nests.

Evans reported.

“Sir. We’ve confirmed the light signal from the 217th Regiment. 1-1-Alpha is approaching.”

Gyeoul also watched the blinking light through the monitor. He could see Alpha Company’s 1st Platoon, 1st vehicle, moving in that direction. It was an agreed-upon procedure meant to completely rule out Trickster radio interference, and also practice in preparation for the Ground Zero Vacuum. Their side was aiming for a thorough surprise attack. Otherwise, they would not have insisted on a nighttime high-altitude drop. It minimized both visibility and noise in the sky.

After a moment, Evans sounded relieved.

“Contact established. They say the 217th Regiment has arrived safely as well.”

Yes! Intelligence officer Murray clenched a fist.

Gyeoul looked at Murray.

“It’s not over until it’s over. You know that, right?”

It was a saying left by a legendary catcher for the New York Yankees, something he had heard from Brock Hunt of the Department of Homeland Security.

“Let’s do this right all the way to the end. If we get careless, we’ll end up taking attacks we could have avoided.”

“Ahem, yes.”

Murray looked embarrassed.

The Independent Battalion and the 331st Regiment to the south, and the 217th Regiment slightly north, confirmed each other’s presence but did not immediately merge. Even now, the armored column was long. Since they would meet another branch point on the road into central Oaxaca, it would be better to merge there for a nimble response. The distance between them was only six kilometers at most anyway. If a mutant horde was caught between them, they only had to attack from both sides.

‘We need room for maneuver too.’

To make use of a mechanized unit’s strengths, securing enough space was essential. A suitable open area stretched between Route 1350, which the Independent Battalion was taking down, and Route 190, used by the airborne troops to the north. Going down from this side meant crossing some mountainous ground, but since it was near the city, there were many decent maneuver routes. The farmland built along the slopes was also suited for armored vehicle movement.

After thinking that far, Gyeoul wondered.

‘Am I doing this well?’

Thanks to the tactical 「Insight」 that increased as he learned, he had quickly absorbed the theory, but since this was his first time commanding a battalion-sized force, there were moments when his confidence wavered.

At least having a staff led by Major Singh beside him reduced the burden. He expected they would apply the brakes if he veered off course.

Dawn arrived. Even with the rain falling, the surroundings began brightening little by little. In the images transmitted by the drones, the devastated cityscape became clearer.

Major Singh expressed regret.

“Not one thing was left intact. I heard the city itself was a cultural heritage site...”

Talk of cultural heritage would only apply to the old downtown, but it was true that the ruins, like the end of the world drawn in a picture, stirred up a particular feeling.

The plague was not what had destroyed Oaxaca so thoroughly.

Before securing the airport, the U.S. military had poured several rounds of carpet bombing onto this city. The same went for other cities in Mexico. On the mainland, they avoided bombing urban areas when possible, taking into account casualties and property damage, the opinions of disaster refugees who held voting rights, and the difficulties of reconstruction. Toward Central America, there was no reason for that kind of restraint. At least, that was Kramer’s policy. The possibility of survivors remaining there was so low that considering it was meaningless.

Only industrial complexes and key facilities directly tied to American interests had been preserved as exceptions.

The border cities secured during Operation Boar Hunt had also remained relatively intact. That was thanks to the mutants, desperate to preserve their numbers, leaving only a small force behind as a delaying measure.

At 8:13 a.m., every unit participating in this operation finally merged at the branch point north of Oaxaca.

After they went a little farther south from there, Gyeoul saw a single statue left standing in the middle of the ruins. It was a statue of Benito Juarez, the former Mexico’s only president of Indigenous origin. The drone’s high-resolution camera even caught the inscription below the statue clearly.

With their numbers increased and their field of view opened up, the intelligence officer’s tension had loosened, and Murray clumsily mumbled the inscription.

“El respeto al derecho... Hm, I can’t read it. What does it mean?”

There were no Spanish speakers among the staff. That was also why they did not know the proper pronunciation of Oaxaca. But Gyeoul knew what it meant.

“It was the favorite saying of someone I knew. 「Respect for the rights of others means peace.」”

He said someone he knew, but it was only a brief connection from an apocalypse already past.

The president’s statue had many marks left by flying shrapnel. It looked almost as if the wounded president was looking over the desolate ruins.

Footnotes:

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