"You... just you wait! Ursus won't let you get away with this!"
The guard captain of the mine crashed heavily onto the ground, head spinning from the impact. He watched helplessly as his subordinates were slaughtered.
"You damn Infected," he spat, glaring with pure hatred at the Guerrilla fighters. "The Council has already passed the proposal. Your end is coming!"
"Just wait until the warships and the army arrive..."
Before he could finish, a Shieldguard's heavy boot slammed into his head.
"Babbling about what, exactly?" Paur picked up his weapon. "I just hadn't found the time to deal with you yet. What, did you think we wouldn't dare touch you?"
"Of course you dare. What wouldn't you dare do, you bold, heavens-defying Infected?" Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, the captain stood up unsteadily. "In just a few months, you've directly attacked every mine in the vicinity. Stupid. Utterly stupid!"
He glared at Paur with loathing. "One of the Empire's vital sources of wealth is these mines scattered across the tundra. You attack us so recklessly—do you really not fear the nobles going mad with rage?"
Believing himself a dead man, the captain's voice grew more arrogant. He turned toward the ragged Infected who had been rescued by the Guerrilla.
"You think they are your saviors? No! They're just using you as cannon fodder!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs, "The Imperial fleet is heading north! Any resistance will be utterly crushed and purged! They're desperate, that's why they're attacking mines everywhere and gathering Infected!"
"They just want you to charge the front lines with weapons when the time comes!"
"This..." Hearing this, the Infected who had been cheering earlier began to hesitate.
On the Guerrilla's side, Paur had long wanted to cut this captain down, but Talulah held him back.
"Ursus has sent a fleet to surround us?" Talulah stepped forward and asked. "It sounds like quite the commotion if even a lowly guard captain like you knows about it."
Actually, this was quite normal. Imagine being a guard captain responsible for a mine, and within this single year, every mine in northern Ursus had been subjected to fierce attacks by the Guerrilla.
Mine after mine fell; Infected were liberated. You spent your days hearing news of the Guerrilla's triumphant advance, then looked at the map only to realize their activities were drawing closer and closer to you.
At that moment, you felt you couldn't sit and wait for death. You reported to the nobles backing you, frantically seeking support. But those nobles only offered constant "reassurance" while providing zero actual reinforcements.
Oh, wait—actually, there was something. A newspaper. It stated that to quell the Infected rebellion, the military had dispatched ten warships and corresponding troops to the north. In that moment, your heart felt incredibly fulfilled.
Those were ten high-speed warships! For many armies, lacking units capable of countering them meant war became a simple massacre.
And ten of them at once... what a massive undertaking.
The news filled the captain with confidence, as if the Imperial Heavenly Soldiers would crush the local Infected forces at any moment. And then, the Guerrilla kicked down his door.
"That's ten warships! Ten! Warships!" The captain was pinned to the ground but still struggled to lift his head and shout. "You hillbillies, do you even know what a warship is?"
"Honestly, three would be enough to chase you across the entire tundra. Sending this many only means you've completely enraged Ursus!"
"I won't escape today, but none of you will escape later! We all—"
Before he could finish, Talulah decapitated him with a single stroke of her sword.
Watching his body fall, Talulah sheathed her blade and turned to the uneasy Infected behind her.
"I admit, what he said just now was the truth," Talulah said bluntly. "The Guerrilla has indeed enraged Ursus, and ten warships are indeed sailing toward us."
"I will give you two choices."
"First: I understand your feelings. You may take a portion of the food and supplies seized from this mine and run. Flee as far as you can."
"Do not get caught. If possible, leave Ursus entirely. Go to Yan or any other country. Just get far away."
"Second: follow us back to the base. We will do our best to treat your Oripathy and provide you with a life where you are fed and clothed—at least for a time. As for the price, you should already know it."
"That is to face the Ursus fleet alongside us. I will not promise victory here; anyone can see the disparity in our strength is vast."
"But at least, in this unjust and suffering world, we chose to resist."
Having said this, she turned toward the supplies gathered from the mine. The Shieldguards were already efficiently sorting them.
"Come, choose. Whether you stay or leave, I have only one thing to say to you."
"Live. Live as best as you can."
Hearing this, a middle-aged man stepped out and walked toward the supply pile. Guerrilla soldiers, already prepared, handed him his portion.
"...Can I really leave?" he asked, trembling with anxiety.
"Of course you can, though I suggest you wait for a few people you know," the soldier in charge said patiently. "The winter tundra is too unpredictable; having companions is a safeguard."
"But not too many. Between five and ten people is about right."
"Right, right... thank you... thank you..." The man thanked them repeatedly, then gestured to the back. A child squeezed through the crowd and ran toward him.
Seeing the father and son move, the remaining Infected gradually made their choices.
"Ragnar, let's go," a friend patted a young man's shoulder. "They keep their word; they're actually handing out supplies!"
"...You go. I'm staying," Ragnar shook his head and looked toward the Guerrilla. "I'm going with them!"
"Are you crazy? Those are high-speed warships!" the companion said, face full of disbelief. "What are you going to use to fight a high-speed warship?"
"The Imperial army can't stay on those ships forever," Ragnar's eyes burned with a fierce fire. "I can't beat a warship, but don't I know how to run?"
"In the vast tundra, can a warship chase me forever? They'll have to send people down to clear us out. When that happens..."
"What are you even hoping for?" The companion shook his head.
"My whole family is gone except for me," Ragnar said, his face masked in hatred. "They all died in this mine. What am I hoping for? Besides, with this Oripathy, I could die any time. Better to run into the face of the Ursus army and blow up in their faces!"
"...This... sigh, well, good luck then."
The companion could only leave with regret, knowing he couldn't change the young man's mind.
Ragnar walked toward the Guerrilla, and there were many other Infected who made the same choice.
★ ★ ★
"We'll probably bring back about a hundred Infected," Paur observed the scene below and spoke to Xia Yu. "After finishing this mine, the sweep of this area is basically complete."
"Mm. Next, we should return and prepare for battle with everything we have," Talulah said, looking south. "But... ten warships. Has Ursus truly been poked in the lungs?"
"Yes, Ursus has definitely been poked in the lungs," Xia Yu said in the briefing room, pointing at the map. "I thought they'd send maybe three or five. Ten? Heh, they really think highly of us."
"Doctor, when the time comes, take the children and evacuate first," Patriot said, his voice heavy with worry. "Ten warships... the Guerrilla cannot stop them."
According to the original plan, he could have found a way to grit his teeth and fight two or three ships. But ten...
"The mobile town cannot be fully repaired in time, so relocation is unrealistic. We can only rely on the town's structural layout to inflict as much damage as possible on Ursus personnel from within."
"But outside the town, on the endless tundra, any group is a sitting duck for a warship."
Xia Yu remained noncommittal. "How many people does the Guerrilla have now?"
"A little over twenty thousand," FrostNova answered, her dark circles under her eyes prominent. "We've optimized the personnel structure as much as possible. Most of those twenty thousand are able-bodied young people who can carry weapons."
"The remaining elderly and children will be evacuated when the time comes."
"And that's only because we didn't bring back all the Infected when we were breaking the mines; we let them choose their own futures. Otherwise, this mobile town wouldn't be able to hold so many."
"Over ten thousand able-bodied youths," a Shieldguard captain noted. "Engaging in a close-quarters meat grinder within the ruins of a town... it sounds like a brutal battle."
"We should hurry and train them now. To choose to stand with us even knowing the situation means they must hate Ursus to the bone. We don't need to doubt their loyalty."
Xia Yu nodded.
This was precisely why she chose not to tell anyone she could handle those ten warships on her own. She needed this crisis to filter out those truly worth trusting.
It wasn't that the Infected who chose to leave were untrustworthy, but compared to them, companions who chose to face death with you were certainly more reliable.
Moreover, if she spoke too soon, the Black Snake would surely be on guard. It had already gone all-in by sending ten warships... it really was willing to pay a heavy price.
The fuel costs alone to move that fleet were no small sum.
"Then, let us confirm the battle plan," Patriot said, looking at the map. "Everyone, speak freely."
"Originally, we wanted to set up several defensive lines outside for interception," a Shieldguard captain sighed. "But ten warships... it's just too many."
"Two or three would be fine. Ten... they can just blast through any defensive line. We don't have enough troops to tie them down."
"How else can we fight? We can only rely on this mobile town," FrostNova shook her head. "As said before, the main force abandons all surface structures and enters the interior to hold out."
"This is a mobile town, after all. Naval guns can't completely destroy its frame. The Ursus army will have to surround us and send men in to grind us down inch by inch."
"We have stored plenty of supplies and weapons, and we aren't short on soldiers. We can afford to wait them out."
"But there is no future in that. Ursus has deep pockets; if they surround us, they will eventually wear the Guerrilla down," Patriot spoke. "We need a team on the outside to act as support and be ready to attack the Ursus supply lines at any time."
"Their personnel and supplies aren't infinite. The long supply lines across the tundra are their weakness. If we can control that line, it remains to be seen whether the fleet wears us down or we wear the fleet down."
"And after you go out, you can continue attacking mines to grow the force while hitting the supply lines. Only your spells can keep growing a team outside until they are strong enough to break the siege for us!"
"This is our only chance for victory!"
Having said this, he turned to look at Xia Yu.
"Doctor Xia Yu, I must hold this position; I cannot leave. I'm entrusting that outside force to you!"
'Fine, so that's why you insisted on dragging me into this meeting. You were waiting for me here.'
No doubt, once the fleet surrounded the town, this supply-line raiding party would fight further and further south... until they completely left the tundra, or even Ursus.
The plan seemed beautiful, but it had a fatal flaw.
Ursus could send more than just ten warships. If the battle went poorly, they could send another ten, and another ten after that... they would eventually drown the Guerrilla.
She didn't believe Patriot failed to see that.
Xia Yu knew they were doing this for her own good, so there was no need to argue. She readily agreed.
"Alright, leave the outside force to me," Xia Yu said with a smile.
"It's wonderful that you are willing," everyone sighed in relief. They had feared the Doctor would stubbornly refuse to leave and insist on dying with them.
To this, Xia Yu only smiled.
'Heh, I have wings. Where I choose to fight won't be up to you.'
Still... ten warships. She had to plan this well.
Of course, it wasn't a matter of being unable to win. But since Ursus had already sent the fleet over, it would feel like a loss if she didn't snatch one or two!
'Mm, I'll focus on psychological warfare. Let's see if I can keep a couple of those ships.'
Those were good things. If the Guerrilla had to build them from scratch, who knew how long it would take to develop that far.
While everyone in the briefing room was worried sick about how to fight, Xia Yu was already considering the spoils of war.