WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 421: Dawn, or Twilight (1)
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August 14, in the world where Gyeoul lived.
That morning’s news opened with a breaking report.
「Our first story. The Panama Canal, whose reopening has been delayed for more than half a year by facility repairs and salvage work on grounded vessels, has finally returned to full normal operation today. According to the Department of Defense, final inspections were completed at around 2:30 a.m. local time, and the first ship to use the restored canal will be the battleship Missouri.」
「USS Missouri has remained in Gatun Lake inland, serving as a floating battery since the northern locks were repaired first. After passing through the canal, she is scheduled to sail alone to San Diego for comprehensive maintenance. Experts say the fact that a seventy-three-year-old ship has caused no problems so far is impressive in itself, and that with regular inspections, she should be able to operate for another ten years without issue, as planned when she was recommissioned.」
「A White House spokesperson issued the following statement.」
『With this, one of the key objectives of Continental Separation Operation has been achieved. Today will be remembered as another turning point in the course of the quarantine war. We extend our deepest respect and gratitude to the servicemembers whose efforts and the citizens whose support made yet another victory possible.』
「The battleship Missouri is expected to take roughly seven hours to pass through the canal.」
「This network will provide a live broadcast of Missouri’s voyage through our website. The homepage address is www…….」
After that, the screen showed the shouts and cheers of the Marine Expeditionary Force personnel who had formed the core of the canal landing and defense. The defensive line they had built over several months looked, at a glance, solid beyond question. It was, in effect, a continuous line of walls and fortresses.
Watching it, Gyeoul thought.
How much closer had this brought the end of the apocalypse? The navy’s burden would certainly be reduced, and the large-scale influx of mutants from South America had been blocked as well. At this point, even if the chance of human extinction over the next ten years had not quite converged to zero, it must at least have come extremely close.
In truth, that might no longer be an important question. Still, having lived through several apocalypses, Gyeoul could not help being interested.
Lately, he had also been spending a lot of time thinking about the days that would come afterward.
For instance, how would his life change after he answered Bom’s question?
“…….”
As part of his routine, Gyeoul read the newspaper with coffee, rinsed his mouth with mouthwash, made his now-daily call with Anne, then attended the commanders’ briefing.
The briefing focused most heavily on changes in mutant distribution around the planned drop zone, whether any new special mutants had appeared, and their movement patterns. As the enhanced variant Whipper had proven, and as every special mutant before it had shown, one new special mutant could completely change the overall shape of battle. They could not airdrop into enemy territory without knowing the enemy.
As always, Lieutenant General Rogers led the briefing.
“I trust all of you are aware that their composition began changing rapidly after we released the Tricksters. So far, that was well within expectations, but the number peeling off toward Russia remains below what we had hoped. The Russian authorities must be breathing a sigh of relief by now.”
The worst-case scenario Russia had prepared for was the collapse of its mainland defensive line before the evacuation of its citizens and the relocation of its industrial facilities could be completed. The existence of Tricksters maximized that possibility. Those cunning special mutants were excellent guides before they were commanders. The ability to handle electricity meant sensitivity to magnetic fields as well. On top of that, they even shared information with their own kind.
Until now, Russia’s vast territory had itself served as a wall against mutants. This was not only about General Winter. The mutants of the Eurasian continent had no maps, no compasses, and no communication networks. A few highly intelligent individuals memorizing terrain on their own had obvious limits.
For that reason, Russia’s primary defensive strategy had been to lure mutant hordes in the wrong direction. With helicopters or mechanized units, that was not especially difficult. Depending on the situation and conditions, they could even collapse an entire mutant horde without fighting a single battle. They forced the mutants to keep moving, wearing them down through cold and starvation.
‘They say a lot of those places didn’t even have roads people could use before the apocalypse.’
A typical example was Kamchatka Krai in the Far East. Some regions like that, it was said, might remain Russian territory even after Russia actually occupied the southern half of Mexico.
Supposedly, the Australian government, which was somehow still clinging to life, had copied Russia’s strategy as well.
“Russia aside, this is not very good for us.”
The lieutenant general continued.
“Originally, we judged that there was no need to carry out a separate operation to disperse the mutants. However, since we cannot be certain when they will move, or whether they will move at all, a separate operation has become unavoidable.”
“Are we carrying out that operation too?”
The one who raised a hand and asked was a tired-looking airborne troops officer, Major Alexei Gushkin.
‘Still the same.’
Even when attached to the Independent Battalion as an adviser, he had been the sort of person who found everything irritating.
Lieutenant General Rogers denied it bluntly.
“No. This mission, operation name 「Fort Liberty」, will be carried out by a separate joint task force formed from personnel drawn from the 101st Airborne Division, the 10th Mountain Division, and Russia’s 11th Guards Air Assault Regiment. They will establish a separate base south of the Kunlun Mountains and take on the role of drawing the mutants out.”
“……The supporting attack is larger than the main attack.”
“Was that not the nature of this operation from the start?”
A new map was projected onto the screen.
“Meanwhile, on the Russian side, one month before the Ground Zero drop, they will conduct a feint offensive using the strategic reserve of the Far Eastern Strategic Direction.”
“When you say strategic reserve, do you mean a tank army?”
“In scale, it is an army, but they will not operate it concentrated in one place. Common sense says it would be hard to achieve operational objectives if two thousand seven hundred tanks and one thousand four hundred armored vehicles moved around as a single mass. They would certainly draw the enemy’s attention, but the enemy would choose to flee rather than face them. Like during the Boar Hunt.”
There were differences in temperament between individuals, but even a ghoul would withdraw and look for another chance if it sensed something was wrong. If the cluster included Tricksters, that would be even more true.
One of the American officers muttered that the vodka-drinking bastards were too stupid. The airborne troops officers who heard it snorted and ignored him. Gyeoul could feel the pride they had in their homeland.
Gyeoul skimmed the distributed materials.
‘They’re all old equipment classified as stored materiel…….’
Against mutants, the difference between old and new tanks or armored vehicles was not that large. That was why Russia tended to save its higher-performance armored vehicles. They would probably be transported toward Mexico in the near future. They might not be essential for the quarantine war, but when it came to keeping America in check, the latest tanks would be badly needed.
In that sense, perhaps the northern half of Mexico, where refugees would be settled, would be useful as a strategic buffer zone.
“Lastly, to ensure that inflow from surrounding areas is completely blocked, we have also decided to greatly increase both the number and coverage of the mines the air force will drop compared to the existing plan. The exact scale is still under discussion, but I expect it to be finalized at around three million.”
“Is that not too many?”
This time, Gyeoul was the one who asked.
“If the air force alone has to scatter that many mines, it will take a considerable amount of time. If things go wrong, the cunning ones may understand our intent.”
The original plan had been to start scattering mines three days before the operation. But if the number reached around three million, three days would be nowhere near enough. And mines were weapons that denied approach. There was no way the cleverest among the mutants would fail to understand what that meant.
To that concern, the lieutenant general answered without any change in expression.
“Even if they understand it, they will have no proper way to respond. The surest strategy to guarantee victory is to overwhelm the enemy with pure force and volume. Is that not so?”
“……Yes, Sir.”
“Then there is no problem.”
The lieutenant general looked around the room. No one, Gyeoul included, added anything else. It was an orthodox answer, exactly as stated.
The southern quarantine front, which had stalled after the appearance of the enhanced variant Whipper, had responded in a similar way. Unable to send enough military working dogs to the front, the military authorities had started producing thermobaric munitions, then simply made a lot of them. Before advancing, they detonated them first.
The soldiers, for their part, favored grenades along with portable thermobaric munitions.
Having thought that far, Gyeoul swallowed a bitter smile.
‘And yet they’re already digging up the land…….’
Perhaps selling war bonds had not been enough, because the U.S. government was in the middle of selling off that scorched land in northern Mexico to civilians. They could not use all that vast territory solely to accommodate refugees, and even among the shattered ruins, there were bound to be more valuable and productive plots. Opposition from refugees who had crossed over from Mexico and from some citizens who supported them was naturally ignored.
One journalist criticized it with lines like, “They are encouraging land speculation before Continental Separation Operation is even finished. How are they any different from the fraudsters who sold land on the Moon and Mars?” “Well, I suppose it’s possible now that the UN might as well not exist.” “A scam by the Kramer administration.”
The mention of the UN carried a double meaning. The UN denied ownership rights over celestial bodies, including the Moon, and President MacMillan, Kramer’s predecessor, had recognized the existence of that UN. In other words, it was a jab that Kramer was not only conducting an absurd business, but also walking the opposite path from his predecessor.
The problem was that this business was also being aimed at refugees with money and servicemembers of refugee origin.
They had even made sales performance one of the standards for evaluating refugee leaders.
Gyeoul, of course, was an exception. Distinguished service history was also included in the evaluation standards, and from the moment he received the Medal of Honor twice over, Gyeoul’s evaluation could only ever be perfect.
The latter half of the briefing was spent reconfirming information on special mutants.
For Gyeoul, it was a review of materials he had already read many times. The same was true for the other officers, so it did not take long. Still, they needed to keep a close eye on how the composition of the special mutants continued to change after Tricksters mixed into the hordes.
Someone spoke as if to themself.
“Oh, damn. Chucky’s ratio dropped again?”
Chucky was the nickname for Kagan, a special mutant similar to Grumble. It had received that identification code because it was first discovered in the Mongolian region. A separate subspecies adapted to mountain terrain was called Keshik.
The Mongolians would have found it unpleasant if they knew, but very few of them had survived. Their country had been landlocked, with no route of escape, and it bordered China, the source of the infection. Every neighboring country had prioritized evacuating its own citizens.
Gyeoul recalled his days in San Francisco.
‘So the thing called Taowu really did exist.’
As it turned out, Taowu was what the Chinese called Kagan. Since similar ones showed up even after they came to America, they had simply used the same name. When Gyeoul read the Chinese characters in the material with Korean pronunciation, one of the officers who heard it gave it the nickname Chucky because it sounded similar to “doll.” Apparently, it was the name of a possessed doll from some movie.
The mountain subspecies, Keshik, had abnormally long limbs, giving it an advantage on rough terrain. Yura, who had been startled by the photo, had grumbled that it looked like an eight-foot ghost.
After the briefing ended, the officers did not disperse right away. They gathered in groups of three or four around several laptops. Today, the Panama Canal was a topic of interest.
At Gyeoul’s table, an officer from the 82nd Airborne Division said with a sour look.
“Those Marine bastards are having the time of their lives. They already act like they’re the only ones fighting on normal days. How much more are they going to lord it over everyone after this?”
Oorah! Oorah! Oorah! On the monitor he was watching, the Marines were cheering nonstop. Most of the watching eyes were cold, probably because those people’s hardship was ending while this side had not even begun yet. Pride in being the real elite may have played a part too.
Click, click.
Gyeoul watched the Marines’ joy while fiddling with the pocket watch in his hand. It was a habit he had picked up after slipping Anne’s photo inside the lid.
“Oh. Is that a photo of your lover, perhaps?”
The curious one was Major General Kapralov of the airborne troops.
Gyeoul realized his mistake. After thinking briefly, he smiled and answered.
“Yes. We have even promised to marry. Once I return after finishing the mission, I’m thinking we’ll hold the ceremony then.”
It was his first time saying it openly to someone else, but so what? Everyone in Alpha Company already knew anyway. If anything, it was more surprising that it had not leaked to the public by now.
For some reason, though, the major general’s face stiffened.
“Is there some problem?”
When Gyeoul asked in puzzlement, the major general glanced around and muttered.
“Come to think of it, is Lieutenant Colonel Han Gyeoul the only unmarried person here……?”
Colonel Davydov nodded.
“It seems that way.”
Major General Kapralov grabbed Gyeoul by the shoulder and said seriously.
“Do not get married.”
“Yes?”
“I said don’t.”
“Why……?”
“Listen. If I say don’t, then don’t.”
“…….”
“You look unconvinced. I’m advising you as someone with more life experience. It is an extremely dangerous and foolish thing. Why would you throw a bright young man who hasn’t even turned twenty into a grave? Is there any need to send so many of life’s pleasures behind you already?”
“Behind me?”
While Gyeoul stared in bewilderment, Lieutenant General Rogers spoke.
“That is not wrong.”
“……Sir?”
“…….”
The atmosphere was strange. A bizarre sympathy that transcended nationality had formed between the Russian and American officers.
Footnotes:
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